Peter's Podcast
184 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 44 ratingsConversations with yoga master Peter Ferko about real yoga, actual happiness, and deep living.
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Episodes
From Us vs. Them to Us and Them
January 20, 2021 01:07 - 18 minutes - 16.5 MBI share some thoughts on a Martin Luther King Day conversation I had with a group of ISHTA Yoga teachers. Please join me for live-streamed class online at ISHTA. I teach both meditation and asana classes there. Support Peter's Podcast on Patreon.com and feel free to write me at peterspodcast108@gmail
Happy Holidays w/Wendy Newton
December 29, 2020 11:48 - 36 minutes - 33.2 MBIn this episode, Wendy Newton — yogiraj, polarity therapist, and wife extraordinaire — talks with me about the nature of our holidays. We touch on a bunch of fun topics. Enjoy! Wendy is hosting the next ISHTA Yoga Happy Hour, Wednesday 5pm NYC time. It's an informal forum to put some thought to the end of this year and the start of the next. Join her! Please support Peter's Podcast on Patreon, and rate the podcast so others hear about it. Namaste and happy holidays!
Solstice So Hum
December 22, 2020 14:28 - 30 minutes - 28.3 MBHappy December Solstice, whether it's the winter in the northern hemisphere or the summer in the southern! In this episode, I take us deep into the Sa Ham (or So Hum) kriya that we use at ISHTA during the movements of asana or at any time during the waking day. Please support Peter's Podcast on Patreon — and consider one of the levels of support that includes working with me one-on-one. Happy holidays of light!
On-line Teaching Tips w/Rachel Scott
November 20, 2020 02:22 - 46 minutes - 42.6 MBIn this episode, I get you some video tips from Rachel Scott, yoga teacher, teacher trainer and instructional designer. Learn about using mics, lighting, and more. Rachel mentions the course hosting site thinkific, but also recommends teachable and kajabi as worth investigating. You can learn more about Rachel on social media @rachelscottyoga or at rachelyoga.com. Join me for a Thanksgiving masterclass and for more classes at ishtayoga.com. Please support Peter's Podcast on Patreon. Nam...
Election Morning
November 04, 2020 11:49 - 7 minutes - 6.83 MBThoughts about the U.S. election the day after but before all votes are counted. On the Gita and the gunas: to life! Please support Peter's Podcast on Patreon. Class with Peter is online at ISHTA Yoga. Namaste.
Cycles: Beginning, Sustaining, Ending, Rebirth
October 22, 2020 02:03 - 24 minutes - 22.7 MBDiscussion of the cycles of existence known as Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra. Join me for online classes at ISHTA Yoga. Please support Peter's Podcast and work on your practice with me on Patreon. Namaste.
Equanimity and Compassion
October 03, 2020 02:53 - 21 minutes - 19.6 MBThoughts on current events and ancient truths.
The Chakras—a Tantric approach + Meditation
September 11, 2020 12:27 - 1 hour - 66 MBIn this episode, we head to meditation class. I'm using the technique of Bija Mantra with the chakras and introducing the idea of chakras as the blueprint of our personal path in life. You can listen to the talk or do the meditation, too. (There's a 15-minute silent meditation after the technique.) Enjoy! There's more about the chakras in my new book, co-written with Alan Finger, called The Genius of Yoga. Check it out wherever you get books. Please support Peter's Podcast on Patreon. It k...
Endings and Beginnings w/Wendy Newton
August 24, 2020 13:19 - 32 minutes - 29.4 MBIn this episode, Wendy Newton and I discuss the special opportunity this moment in history offers us, despite its immense challenge and disruption. We're sitting by Moreau Lake at the edge of the Adirondacks. Please support Peter's Podcast on Patreon as you would a drop-in yoga class. Thank you!
Be Here Now
August 03, 2020 03:14 - 18 minutes - 16.8 MBBackyard musings on yoga and political action. Join me for class, streaming at Ishta yoga. Please support Peter's Podcast on Patreon! It's like a pay-what-you-want yoga class with a high tech cash box. Namaste!
The Genius of Yoga w/Alan Finger
July 03, 2020 18:11 - 42 minutes - 38.8 MBIn this episode, I talk with my teacher Alan Finger, founder of ISHTA Yoga about our new book The Genius of Yoga: How Yogic Meditation Can Unlock Your Innate Brilliance. Al and I talk about why yoga meditation can take a practitioner beyond mindfulness, and how your meditation practice can help you address challenges as big as pandemics and race. You can now take classes online with Alan Finger (and me) at ISHTA Yoga. Please support Peter's Podcast on Patreon.com! Namaste
Time to Do the Work w/Reggie Hubbard
June 21, 2020 19:58 - 44 minutes - 40.6 MBToday I welcome an activist and yogi to share his perspective on current events. Reggie Hubbard is the Congressional liaison and Washington, D.C. strategist for the liberal progressive advocacy organization MoveOn. He has worked on gubernatorial and national campaigns, including Florida’s 2006 gubernatorial race and on Bernie Sanders 2016 primary campaign. He also served as senior advance staff for Joe Biden under the Obama administration. Reggie is a yoga teacher, and I got to meet him in o...
#Black Lives Matter
June 12, 2020 01:35 - 41 minutes - 37.6 MB#blacklivesmatter On today's podcast, I share excerpts from the following: Left, Right, and Center podcast from KCRW (May 29 and June 5 episodes) with Josh Barro, Christine Emba, Rich Lowry, and Robert A. George. Martin Luther King, I have a dream speech 1963 Course in Miracles, Introduction Tao Te Ching, chapters 1-3, by Lao Tzu (translation by Brian Browne Walker) James Baldwin, from The Price of the Ticket, 1979 Creative Quest, by Questlove, p. 117 Bhagavad Gita, II.54, translate...
A Meditation on the Warrior and Compassion
June 05, 2020 14:11 - 1 hour - 55.9 MBIn this bonus episode, I take you to meditation class where I drop some thoughts on the importance of silence, intuition, and action. We do the ISHTA Inner Smile meditation, which you can join. There is a 10-minute period of silence in the recording, followed by a samyama and regrounding practice. Namaste.
The End of the World
June 01, 2020 01:22 - 45 minutes - 41.9 MBIt feels like the end of the world, but it's not. In this episode, I try to share some yoga insights on two topics relevant to our current crises: The concept of detachment that is so prevalent in yoga literature, and Taking judgement away to experience the essence of namaste. My prayers and well-wishes go out to everyone in this challenging time. Please support Peter's Podcast on Patreon. Namaste.
Freedom in Confinement w/Wendy Newton
May 18, 2020 18:58 - 47 minutes - 43.6 MBIn this episode, Wendy Newton and I discuss the notion of freedom from the perspective of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and elsewhere in yoga language. You also learn what we had for breakfast! Check out Wendy's upcoming online workshop on the Yoga Sutras. Please support Peter's Podcast on Patreon.com and rate the podcast right on your app or on iTunes. Namaste!
The Silver Bullet Is Love, w/Wendy Newton
May 03, 2020 17:32 - 27 minutes - 25.2 MBIn reaction to my previous podcast episode encouraging us not to look for "silver bullet" solutions, I wanted to affirm that there is one silver bullet that addresses everything. I use Elyse Poppers' book The Little Love Book as a prompt to discuss love with Wendy Newton. Poppers, a visual and performing artist as well as a writer, produced this book as a culmination of a project looking for the language with the most words for "love." Her conclusion was that Sanskrit is that language. In t...
There Is No Silver Bullet
April 26, 2020 10:00 - 30 minutes - 27.8 MBIn this episode, I discuss the danger of focusing on finding a silver bullet, whether you're talking about the corona virus epidemic or anything else. The reasons I cover include: It distracts us from what we should be doing It dilutes learning the lessons of what brought us here It gets us invested in magical thinking It fosters conspiracy theories It reinforces tribalism I mention: Comedian Ronny Chieng's Netflix special. Ezra Klein's book, Why We're Polarized. Please support Pet...
Listen, a song tribute to Paramahansa Yogananda
April 20, 2020 17:30 - 3 minutes - 2.88 MBI used some of my "shelter-in-place" time to work on a new kirtan recording of a song that always moved me when we chanted it at Paramahansa Yogananda's Self Realization Fellowship. My nephew, Tucker Sody, a professional drummer in Tampa, provided a long-distance accompaniment. Taking a cue from my Psych Rock Kirtan partner Idgy Dean, I played all the rest of the parts myself. I'm looking forward to playing it live in the future, but for now, I hope it gives you some inspiration. In his bo...
Come Study (Yourself!) w/Wendy Newton
April 14, 2020 19:46 - 23 minutes - 21.1 MBIn this episode, Wendy Newton and I do a quick dive into svadyaya, the study of the self and the Self, and the self-reflection and reading of texts that help us "see the light" in the darkness. We're leading an immersion workshop this Friday 9-3 New York Time, and we set it early enough that hopefully some other time zones can make it, too. Details and registration are available at ishtayoga.com. If you're having financial challenges during this time, email me and we'll work something out. ...
A Walk in the Park (6 feet apart)
April 12, 2020 02:25 - 18 minutes - 17.3 MBI pause my walk in the park to talk about yoga as a practice and a new perspective. Join me and Wendy Newton in a day-long workshop Bringing Yoga Off the Mat. Details at ishtayoga.com. Please support Peters Podcast on Patreon.com and rate the podcast wherever you listen. Thank you!
If not now, when?
April 04, 2020 13:00 - 17 minutes - 15.7 MBLooking at this time as one to choose #deepliving
New Reality = New Opportunity
March 22, 2020 17:27 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MBHow our new challenges with social distancing can be put to constructive purpose.
Coping with Covid: a meditation
March 13, 2020 23:11 - 37 minutes - 34.3 MBIn this episode, I talk a little about the virus pandemic we're all dealing with. Then I lead us in a meditation to help us stay balanced during this time. A couple resources: Brian Lehrer show where there's a March 13 episode with NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/ All Sides Corona Virus news with reference to whether the sources are left, right, or center.
Bringing Ancient Wisdom into Modern Life w/Ulrica Norberg & Wendy Newton
February 20, 2020 05:08 - 39 minutes - 36 MBIn this episode, I speak with Ulrica Norberg and Wendy Newton about using traditional yoga texts as part of practice. We're going to be leading a workshop using the Gheranda Samhita, Yoga Sutras, and Bhagavad Gita this May in Stockholm. Details are on my website: peterferko.com. Please support Peter's Podcast on Patreon.
The Elements of Fashion w/Julianne Mirabello
February 03, 2020 00:00 - 44 minutes - 40.6 MBIn this episode, I speak to Julianne Mirabello about her unique approach to personal fashion and styling. Julianne studied fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City and has designed and created costumes and done personal styling in New York and internationally. She is also a Yoga Teacher who did her 200-hr training at ISHTA with me in New York and a Reiki practitioner. Julianne is launching sartorialstrategist.com, a service to help people figure out and c...
The Field and The Knower
January 20, 2020 19:07 - 1 hour - 63.2 MBIn this episode, I share a meditation class recording where we look at one of the Bhagavad Gita's chapters about our nature as the "field" and the "knower" of that field. It's an interesting metaphor and provides an useful map of our evolution. Following the talk you can join in a meditation, the ISHTA Diksha. Please support Peter's Podcast on Patreon. Find out about upcoming retreats, workshops, and training at peterferko.com
A Meditation: The Knots that Bind Us
January 15, 2020 20:17 - 1 hour - 70.7 MBToday we head to meditation class to loosen the knots of energy that keep us stuck in limited thinking and keep us from gracefully moving in the flow of nature's cycles. Listen to the talk at the front or join in the practice, too — just not while you're driving! Please support Peter's Podcast on Patreon. Find out about upcoming retreats and classes at home and abroad at peterferko.com. Namaste!
A Holiday Roadtrip!
December 25, 2019 04:50 - 48 minutes - 44.8 MBJoin Wendy and me on our trip across the midwest. We talk about the holidays and the challenges and joys of life! Happy holidays! Find out all about retreats, trainings, and more at peterferko.com
Stream of Consciousness: Karma
December 10, 2019 20:13 - 37 minutes - 34.7 MBMusings on life and karma, whether comedy, tragedy, or wholeness. Come to Bali! Details at siren-spirit.com. Support me on Patreon. Thank you! Take Wendy Newton's next training session on the Yoga Sutras. (There is no pre-requisite.)
Hormone Yoga Therapy and More w/Bridgette Shaw
November 27, 2019 02:57 - 44 minutes - 40.8 MBIn this episode, Wendy and I chat with Bridgette Shaw. We taught in a meditation training with Bridgette in October at YogaMCC in Calgary. Bridgette is a senior teacher and Sadhaka Yogi in the ISHTA lineage. She specializes in Yoga Nidra, Restorative Yoga and Hormone Yoga Therapy, the latter in which she is one of only three women in all of Canada certified by its creator, Dinah Rodrigues. Please join me, Aino Siren, and Wendy in Bali this February 8-15. You don't want to miss it! Details a...
A Life-Long Yoga Practice w/Brenda Zusman
November 08, 2019 18:14 - 31 minutes - 29.3 MBToday I speak with Brenda Zusman, a yoga student at ISHTA whom I've had the pleasure of seeing in class for a decade. Brenda shares her thoughts about the value of a yoga practice and how she has adapted the practice to suit her age and health. I speak about my upcoming retreat to Bali with Aino Siren. Come! (Details here) Thank you for supporting Peter's Podcast on Patreon. Join Wendy Newton and me for a Satsang at ISHTA Yoga Nov. 21 (Details here)
Tantra w/Wendy Newton
October 29, 2019 00:54 - 57 minutes - 52.7 MBToday I dip into a book I've been reading: Tantra Illuminated: The Philosophy, History, and Practice of a Timeless Tradition by Christopher D. Wallis. Wendy and I do a commentary on a chapter as way to lay out some of the fundamental premises of this key philosophical underpinning to ISHTA Yoga. Come to Bali on retreat this February with Aino Siren and me, with special guest, Wendy Newton. Details at siren-spirit.com Please support Peter's Podcast on Patreon.com. Take teacher training wit...
Chakras Ringing
October 07, 2019 22:37 - 1 hour - 60.8 MBThanks to Salma Allam for our special Siri/Samadhi intro! Today we go to meditation class. My opening lecture, or dharma talk, is about the nature of our energetic bodies and the chakras yogis use to influence our energy to help in meditation. I'm teaching a course in meditation with Wendy and Bridgette Shaw at YogaMCC in Calgary this month, and at ISHTA Yoga, with Alan and Sarah Finger, in December. Aino Siren and I have extended the early bird price for our February retreat to Bali. De...
Roundtable: Health Benefits of Meditation
September 28, 2019 03:34 - 1 hour - 69.9 MBIn today's roundtable edition, I chat with Kristin Leal, Kelly Eudaily, and Wendy Newton about current thoughts about the health benefits of meditation. All three are teacher trainers with lots of experience teaching meditation and the corresponding benefits. We have a good time talking about not only benefits, but the best way to share findings of research and how much research actually matters regarding meditation. Please support Peter's Podcast on Patreon! It feels good and keeps this po...
Unit 108 Yoga w/Serge Cashman
September 17, 2019 23:03 - 55 minutes - 51.1 MBPeter's Podcast is like a pay-what-you-will yoga class. Please support it by dropping your donation at Patreon.com. Thanks! In this episode, I speak with Serge Cashman, a former student of mine, now a teacher and owner of Unit 108 Yoga in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Serge started practicing yoga by accident, bartering photography for yoga classes with Sabine Heubusch, who introduced him to ISHTA Yoga. He completed his 200hr training at Namaste Williamsburg with Debbie Desmond and later went on ...
Finding Harmony with the World: Sat Yam Meditation
September 07, 2019 01:28 - 1 hour - 65 MBThis meditation class starts with a talk about how our stuck emotions make it hard to meditate. We use a variety of methods to deal with our emotional reactions, but when we don't get to deal with them, they can come back to disturb us in a variety of ways. Today's meditation is a kriya yoga practice that helps us let go of emotions we're aware of and those we no longer even remember.
Real Yoga on the Other Side of the World w/Tamara Graham
August 27, 2019 23:52 - 56 minutes - 51.9 MBIn this episode, I catch up with fellow ISHTA Yogiraj Tamara Graham in Perth, Australia. A yoga lover since her teens, Tamara Graham started teaching Yoga in New York at her friends' request. Soon after, she completed one of the first ISHTA Yoga Teacher Training programs, when it was Be Yoga. She had a complete a-ha experience with Al realizing that he was her teacher. She returned to Perth Australia, as a single mother of 3, and started teaching there. From her first classes in an empty ...
Contentment as the Ground Shakes– #RealTalk w/Erika Pahk
August 18, 2019 17:24 - 1 hour - 58.9 MBToday's episode is the second in our California correspondence with Erika Pahk. Erika has graced me with her presence in classes training and retreats over the past handful of years. This summer, she’s working in L.A., where she’s agreed to check in as our summer west-coast correspondent. In our first installment, we got to hear a little about Erika’s new home. In this episode we get real about facing challenges, whether they're dramatic or conversely, there's nothing going on. And we talk a...
Writing from the Heart w/Puy Navarro
August 07, 2019 16:51 - 52 minutes - 48.2 MBPuy Navarro is an ISHTA Yoga Senior Teacher, Spanish native actress and a theater producer, focusing on Social Issues and Human Rights. She has been working in New York since 2005. Puy began writing when she felt the need to turn the play she had produced at the United Nations into a film script. Puy's script "Life is a Dream" was selected at Dreamago 2014, Stephen Frears' International Writers Lab. She has a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing from NYU. She has worked for the Rubin Museum o...
Holding Space for Retreats and Workshops w/Aino Siren and Wendy Newton
July 30, 2019 04:19 - 59 minutes - 54.4 MBIn our first Peter's Podcast Roundtable, Wendy Newton, Aino Siren and I talk about what happens when you venture beyond yoga class. We talk from the perspective of teachers who want to lead workshops and retreats and of students who may not even know that one of these formats would mean a whole new understanding and practice. I share how much I learned from moving beyond yoga classes. Wendy is teaching a workshop on the Yoga Sutras at ISHTA on August 17. Aino and I are leading a retreat in...
Relationships and Self Journey w/Jenny Rhodes
July 21, 2019 04:05 - 1 hour - 56.3 MBIn today's episode, I speak to Dr. Jennifer Rhodes, whom I met when she took ISHTA Teacher Training and Meditation Training. Jenny is a licensed clinical psychologist, dating/relationship coach, image consultant, 200 hour ISHTA trained yogi, and founder of Rapport Relationships, LLC. Today, Jenny incorporates her intuitive and healing skills into her therapy and coaching practice. She is passionate about helping people cope with their own healing journeys and combines the science of psycho...
Evolution, Relationship, Teaching w/Jenny Bloom
July 10, 2019 03:55 - 45 minutes - 41.9 MBISHTA Yoga teacher and Polarity practitioner Jenny Bloom makes another wonderful appearance on the pod. We discuss how we evolve through practice and how that evolution can help your relationships, and helps make better teachers. I mention Shuddhananda Bharati, a tantra yogi who influenced ISHTA Yoga founder Alan Finger. Please support Peter's Podcast on Patreon. It's the donation box at the door of this yoga class! Namaste
Changing Perspective w/Erika Pahk
July 03, 2019 03:55 - 1 hour - 70.6 MBHappy Summer everybody! I mentioned a few weeks ago that I would be mixing up the conversations on the podcast, including some more monolog/discussions of topics. Another way is launching today thanks to Erika Pahk. Erika has graced me with her presence in classes training and retreats over the past handful of years. This summer, she’s working in L.A., where she’s agreed to check in as our summer West Coast correspondent. In our first installment, we get to hear a little about Erika’s new h...
Solstice and the Philosopher Queen
June 22, 2019 23:43 - 16 minutes - 14.8 MBHappy Summer Solstice and Midsummer! I talk about life as cycles and politics as an example of peaks vs. cycles. I also ponder Plato's idea of the philosopher king in light of this year's election. Enjoy! Support Peter's Podcast on Patreon. Thank you!
Vata Dosha & Happy Anniversary!
June 11, 2019 23:54 - 46 minutes - 42.2 MBHappy anniversary to Peter's Podcast! Two years in, I start off about Real Yoga and how to use it. Then I discuss the vata dosha and how the part of ourselves that is related to motion can create imbalances — and how to use real yoga to deal with the imbalances! I mention: Patreon, where you can support Peter's Podcast (please do!) The way to ask me a question: email [email protected] The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, which is the source of the great mantra asatoma sat gamaya. Than...
Tantra Tools and Chakra Meditation
June 03, 2019 21:44 - 57 minutes - 53.1 MBIn this episode, I share a meditation class, beginning with a description of Tantra's contribution to finding actual happiness. I mention the ISHTA 101, a chance to learn all about yoga philosophy in a day-long training. Thank you for supporting Peter's Podcast on Patreon to keep it commercial-free!
Teaching, Growing, Moving with April Puciata
May 17, 2019 19:49 - 1 hour - 50 MBIn today's episode, I talk with my colleague April Puciata, whom I got to teach trainings with in the Washington DC area over the years. April has been teaching yoga in NYC, Washington DC and New Jersey for almost two decades. She is the founder and creator of beyond OM, and teaches yoga trainings and workshops throughout the US and she leads retreats all over the world. April shares what she's up to and how she's overcome various challenges in her teaching career. We also touch on our use...
Real Yoga, Actual Happiness, &
May 10, 2019 21:00 - 1 hour - 60.6 MBIn today's episode, I discuss the subtitle of my podcast from the perspective of the Bhagavad Gita and the Buddha. I mention my upcoming workshop at ISHTA Yoga called "Real Happiness: The Bhagavad Gita as the Human Owner’s Manual." You can sign up for it here. If you're outside NYC, you can call in to the video chat. If you want to call, sign up, then contact [email protected] for the call-in details. Please support Peter's Podcast on Patreon and keep it commercial-free. Namaste!
Joy and Beauty are Within + a Meditation
April 26, 2019 00:23 - 1 hour - 80.3 MBFinding joy and the beauty of life is like a game of hide and seek. In today's episode, I look at this idea in light of the spring holidays. After a talk, I take us to meditation class, where I continue the theme and lead a meditation on the elements and our breath. Enjoy! Mentioned in the podcast: Yogananda singing Oh God Beautiful Psych Rock Kirtan performing Hey Hari Sundari Bhagavad Gita Workshop signup at ISHTA Yoga. Or inquire about the workshop or anything else at peterspodcast10...