
lost ways of
knowing podcast
A Circle Yoga Shala Production
The “Lost Ways of Knowing” podcast teaches a basic history of the Indian traditions that feature centrally in modern yoga, focusing on the value of awakening or being liberated from ignorance. The ultimate aim is to establish a working definition of “Yoga as awakening” and initiate a dialogue about awakening as the systematic overcoming of self-deception, which leads to deeper intimacy with what is real.

S5E1 Essence & Meaning
This episode investigates the idea that human beings manifest an essential nature defined by the ancient Yoga tradition. We suggest that the modern world has mistaken this nature and that we have been educated incorrectly as a result. This in turn has made it much more difficult to experience meaning, which we need in the same way we need things like food and water, breath, and love. We trace the plausibility of these ideas from both Eastern and Western sources: from ancient models of the soul in the Taittiriya Upanishad, which identifies our essential essence as bliss (Ananda), to the work of Dr. John Vervaeke of the University of Toronto’s Cognitive Psychology department. What if loss of meaning means loss of contact with our essence?
Edited transcript available here.

S1E2 Shunned
This episode focuses on a body of sacred literature from the late Vedic period known as the Brahmanas. This literature has been largely ignored by modern scholarship due to certain biases at work in what are now known as the “first wave Orientalists”. These biases have affected the way modern yoga is understood via interpretation of ideas like the self, and the soul, and through the selection of certain texts over others. We trace the evolution of the Vedic sacrificial triad in the Brahmanas, and interpret a story about Prajapati, the primal creator god, as an early foreshadowing of modern practice.
Matt shares about his
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A must listen for any yoga teacher!
“The synthesis of information in these podcasts is a real gift! Matt takes so much information and shares it in such a concise and relevant way for today’s yoga practitioner. I really feel if you’re a yoga teacher or serious practitioner you must give this a listen! Can’t wait for more.”
Jayme
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Amazing!
“I need to listen a second time with a paper and pen! So much amazing information I feel like could easily be in a university type setting that would cost thousands. Thank you for making this available. I’m excited to listen to more!”
Rachel