LIGHTING THE LAMP
प्रदीप
Contextualizing your physical practice within a traditional yogic framework.
A 5-session Online Course
Yoga is often likened to a “lamp” of knowledge that illuminates our inherent peaceful nature. What would it mean to engage more fully with this path and way of being? After all, yoga is not a fitness trend, it’s an expansive body of spiritual practices with a long history and profound purpose. Skillful practitioners come to understand that yoga requires effort on the physical, mental, and spiritual levels.
So, for all students and teachers curious about how the postural practice functions within the broader traditional context, and those wanting to go a step further and light the lamp of wisdom - this is for you. These five classes will help you taste the sweet nectar of yoga through its traditional context. (Jump to course outline below). Note: this course is not designed to be entertainment, it’s a container of serious study.
Updated for Winter 2026/2027
Last year I offered The Bridge course, and here in Lighting the Lamp I’ve reorganized that content to allow more space for integration and discussion.
How “The Bridge” Came to Be
Three of my wholehearted beliefs formed this program: 1) with it’s roots in India, the yoga system provides a very practical set of skills to be good to ourselves, good to others, and to live in good relationship with the world around us; 2) the depth of yoga and yogic life should be easily accessible to all practitioners, not limited to teacher trainings; 3) the efficacy of yoga hinges upon both practice and philosophy (study).
If I think back, even when I took my first yoga class in 2004 I was aware that poses were not the whole story of yoga, but I had absolutely no idea what the “whole story” was. This course provides the context that I wish I had access to many years ago. But in these unsteady times, it’s also a response to the strong draw many people are feeling towards greater stability, wisdom and connection. There’s a lovely term in Sanskrit: yogastha, meaning one who “stands in yoga” or is “established in yoga.” Maybe now more than ever, we need more people firmly rooted in yoga. You can start Here & Now!
Why The Study of Yoga Matters
“It takes dedication to keep the quality of yoga alive. Quality is a way of living a spiritual life, that’s what we are seeking from yoga, a more spiritual way of being in the world.”
- Maty Ezraty
Yoga offers a broad range of techniques to guide us to our inherent steadiness and goodness. Therein - at heart center - lies a well of resilience, the true strength of yoga! When grounded in this understanding we are more in harmony with the natural way of things during our everyday lives, and can go beyond the habits of mind that hinder us. In other words, we become more free. And yet, our connection to that innermost peace (shanti) gets obscured by our naturally active, ever-changing minds. Such is our predicament: often feeling distant from that which anchors us.
The path requires skillfulness not only with our body and breath, but also mental practices to focus the mind and spiritual reflection to soften the heart. By bringing these aspects together we have a clear way to balance and fortify our inner spiritual life. It is this holistic experience of the yoga system that inspires us to continue and to live in relationship with the practice.
We can use the physical practice to develop an ability to pay attention, and to continuously nurture that ability - like watering a garden. The word yoga in fact means “concentration.” And, such present-moment perception puts us in touch with a sense of inner aliveness and well-being that shape an understanding of our purpose alongside of appreciation for life’s beautiful mysteries.
Course Structure
The content is divided into five parts: starting with an historical overview; then studying the Self (Soul), the mind, and key concepts related to technique; and ending with a discussion about T. Krishnamacharya and modern postural yoga. You’ll find a detailed outline of the sessions below.
We will slice across traditions to illuminate key threads that will enhance & inspire your existing physical practice, drawing from the teachings of Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (the Father of Modern Yoga), classical yoga of Patanjali, Hatha, Tantra, and Bhakti. And of course, I’ll share insights from my over 20 years of personal study and practice.
My aim is to demystify fundamental concepts, bring even more purpose to your practice, to give a really good map of the yogic terrain, and fire up inspiration so you can then follow the your own curiosity. As my teacher AG Mohan has said, “There needs to be both clarity about what is to be done and the determination to do it.”
The recordings will be available for three months so you can rewatch and harvest whatever makes your heart sing.
Yoga impacts our lives with a generous beauty and will only continue to call us in further. Let’s follow the poses home to the person we are and to the wellness of the greater whole.
Jump to course outline below.
“Nowadays, the practice of yoga stops with just asanas…. There is a need to search once more to reestablish the practice and value of yoga in modern times.”
— Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya
WHO IS THIS FOR?
Yoga practitioners who wants to establish themselves more deeply in the practice of yoga, expand their understanding beyond the poses.
Teachers: if you’ve completed a YTT, I expect most of this material will be new to you. And for any aspects that are already familiar, you’ll get to hear things presented in a fresh way.
Anyone seeking to live in harmony with the way of things and with more compassion and mindfulness.
Studio owners/managers or anyone involved in yoga business who would like hold their work in a more informed way.
Ordinary seekers & those holding holy space who are interested in yogic perspective.
"Your own Self-realization is the greatest service you can render the world."
— Sri Ramana Maharshi
WHAT WE’LL COVER
SESSION 1: YOGA योग
An historical orientation to yoga, towards an understanding of how, when and why the postural practice developed
The many traditions of yoga (there is not just one!)
Why practice?: the goals of yoga according to historical texts
SESSION 2 : SELF आत्मन्
Who are you according to the yoga system? (knowledge of the Self)
A brief look at the Sāṃkhya view of reality
OM! And the peace within you
SESSION 3: MIND चित्त
Mind training: Yoga as a meditative system
“Yogi psychology” - the workings of your mind
Ego, attachment & other hurdles to inner contentedness
SESSION 4 : LIGHTING THE LAMP प्रदीप
Key concepts and techniques
The role of mental and physical discipline (tapas, abhyāsa, vairāgya)
Regulation of inner and outer actions (niyamas, yamas)
SESSION 5: KRISHNAMACHARYA & VINYASA विन्यास
Introduction to Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, the Father of Modern Yoga, and his key teachings
The origins of vinyasa yoga and surya namaskar (sun salutations)
Physical body and subtle body
(Please note: Being even smaller than a small business, I am unable to offer refunds.)
