I'm delighted James could join me on The Chai Sessions for a third time to chat about yoga and yoga philosophy.

For anyone who hasn't met James yet, he has been teaching yoga for over 20 years. I first met him in 2011 in Mysore, South India. He was not only sharing the teachings of yoga back then, he was also studying for an MA in Sanskrit!

James brings a holistic approach to his practise and teaching and works in direct relationship with the original Sanskrit texts. Since meeting and studying with James in Mysore, he has been a very regular visitor here at Merchant City Yoga and also teaches on our 200hr Yoga Teacher Training programme.

Ahead of his visit this spring, where he'll be guiding an exploration of the 8 limbs, I thought it would be helpful to ask James why they are so important to us as modern yoga practitioners.

James begins by introducing the 8 limbs set out in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. "Sutra means stitch and it also means the thread with which the stitches are stitched, with which the text is woven... The whole text is one body of teaching."

He continues, "The 8 limbs are special because one section of them are highlighted as essential practise. An all times, all places practice for yoga practitioners."

The 8 limbs of yoga are:

• Yama

• Niyama

• Asana

• Pranayama

• Pratyahara

• Dharana

• Dhyana

• Samadhi

Rather than linear steps, James describes them as 8 limbs of one body of practice. They all grow together and all support and are present in any yoga technique.

I also ask James how to use the teachings, the 8 limbs. How do we bring 'yoga' into our modern yoga practice and into life?

James says, "If anything is going to be a yoga practice, it has to address the whole human being - the physical reality, the energetic reality, the sensory/sensual reality, the emotional reality, the intellectual/mental reality. All parts of our self. Yoga means balance, joining, unifying. The only genuine union is one that includes all our parts.”

“The approach is yoga. A person could be body building and it could be yoga. They could be doing it in a very mindful, body-ful, sense-ful way. They could be doing it as a means to learn about themselves. A person could be practising art, craft or the approach/ethos they bring to the way they parent, run their business, operate in their day to day job. This could also be yoga practice if we're doing it in a way that is helping us understand more about how we can bring greater congruence, greater cohesion to this field of our human experience."

We could've talked for hours! I hope you enjoy listening in.

Listen below or look for 'The Chai Sessions' on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Amazon Music. You can also watch our chat on Youtube.

James will be here at Merchant City Yoga Friday 22 to Sunday 24 March. Join us for more exploration, unification, for more bringing it all together, more conversation and space for loads of questions.

There'll be five sessions across the weekend. Find all the details and book your place HERE.

Bonus Bits

When James and I met up to chat, we dived into a few conversations that didn't make it into the final episode. They were so good I just had to hit record and share them with you. The first bonus bit explores one of the yamas, bramacharya. The second explores yoga and religion.

Bonus Bit 1 - James on bramacharya

Bonus Bit 2 - James on Yoga and Religion

Judi x

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