Within the Yoga Sutra, an ancient text on the practice of yoga, only two verses mention asanas, or the postures we commonly associate with yoga in the West. Patanjali, the legendary sage and author of this 2,250-year-old-work, was concerned not solely with physical development, or even mental development. In fact the original purpose of yoga was – and remains – to function as a complete spiritual path where the body serves as a gateway to enlightenment.On The Yoga Matrix, the renowned instructor Richard Freeman immerses us in the rich teachings and sutras that inform the many schools of yoga, and reveals how the body can serve as the ultimate laboratory, temple, and place of pilgrimage for spiritual inquiry. Looking back 5,000 years, Freeman uncovers the living roots of yoga philosophy, and observes how they have grown into many schools, techniques, and philosophies that are united by a vast, interpenetrating “matrix” which holds the key to understanding yoga’s full depth and greater purpose.
Created Especially for Serious Students of Yoga in the West Freeman first traveled to India in 1968, where he began a lifetime of study with the living masters of yoga and its mysteries. Now he teaches these authentic lessons and their original subtleties, with the questions and concerns of the serious Western student in mind. What is the yogic view of reality? Why was yoga first developed? How is progress traditionally measured? What are the principles of working with the body’s subtle energy? Where do I start? From profound concepts at the center of this ancient cosmic philosophy, to the cherished teaching stories and chants that enrich its daily practice, here is a complete audio curriculum with the power to catalyze your daily yoga practice.
A good yoga posture, it is said, is one in which a meditative state occurs spontaneously. Thus “the knowable can show us the unknowable,” Freeman teaches, as the body allows us to directly experience reality as it is, in the present moment, with The Yoga Matrix.