Blue Beryl

Nov 08 2024 29 ep. 57 mins 24
Blue Beryl Podcast artwork

Intelligent conversations about Buddhism, Asian medicine, and embodied spirituality.

  Religion & Spirituality  Health & Fitness
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Meta-Practice, with Volker Scheid

Nov 08 2024 50 mins  
PLEASE NOTE: Shortly, we will be changing our name to Black Beryl. Your subscription will automatically update and no action is necessary on your part. Thanks for your continued support! Today I sit down with Volker Scheid, an interdisciplinary scholar and longtime practitioner of Chinese medicine. Together, we take an intellectual deep dive into his thoughts about the importance o

Bonus: Embodiment and Pedagogy, with Frances Garrett (Rebroadcast from 2023)

Oct 22 2024 60 mins  
In this episode I sit down with Frances Garrett, a scholar of Tibetan culture, history, and language. We talk about Frances’s interests in embodiment and movement, and how her experiences as ballet dancer, surfer, and rock climber connect with her work on religion and healing. Our conversation focuses on her commitment to embodied and trauma-aware pedagogy, and how in the interes

Critique, Wonder, and Chinese Anatomy, with Lan A. Li

Oct 05 2024 55 mins  
Today I sit down with Blue Beryl's producer, Lan A. Li, a historian of Chinese science, medicine, and the body. We talk about their life-long practice of qigong, the limits of academic critique, and the integration of divergent epistemologies in studying Chinese anatomy. Along the way, we discuss Lan’s new book, Body Maps: Improvising Meridians and Nerves in Global Chinese Medici

The Body in Classical Hathayoga, with Ruth Westoby

Sep 05 2024 52 mins  
In this episode I sit down with Ruth Westoby a scholar, teacher, and practitioner of yoga. We discuss Ruth’s work on the body in early hatha yoga texts. We talk about the broad diversity of approaches to the material body in these sources, including their ideas about gender, the cultivation of powers, and approaches to liberation. Along the way, we touch on yogic sex, practices t

Yoga, Disability, and Animism, with Theo Wildcroft

Aug 08 2024 58 mins  
Today, I sit down with Theodora Wildcroft, a researcher, anthropologist, and long-time teacher of what she calls “post-lineage yoga.” We discuss Theo's ethnographic research on yoga in the UK, focusing on its connections with animism, paganism, and other somatic practices. We also dive into Theo’s personal approach to yoga as a liberatory practice that allows diverse bodies a

BONUS: Awakening the Body, with Willa Baker (Rebroadcast from 2023)

Jul 15 2024 57 mins  
Today I sit down with Willa Blythe Baker, a writer, translator, and teacher of meditation based on Himalayan Buddhist tradition. We talk about Willa’s early discovery of Buddhism with her mother, her time living as a nun, and our shared experience in graduate school at UVa. We then do a deep-dive into Buddhist tantra and the alchemical transformations of the body-mind that led to

Nondual Psychosomatic Chinese Medicine, with Brandt Stickley

Jun 23 2024 49 mins  
Today I sit down with Dr. Brandt Stickley, associate professor of classical Chinese medicine at the National University of Natural Medicine. We talk about Brandt’s approach, which he calls “nondual psychosomatic medicine.” We also explore how perceiving yin and yang moment by moment can be a portal to nondual experience, and how placing needles in a patient can open up a whol

The Enlightenment of the Body, with Naomi Worth

Jun 05 2024 49 mins  
In this episode, I sit down with Naomi Worth, a scholar and practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism’s postural yoga tradition. We dive into Naomi's experiences in yogic retreats, highlight the vigorous movement and intense visual elements of the practice, and explore yoga’s role in the Nyingma contemplative path. Naomi also shares how she balances her scholarship and practice of Tibet

Reiki and the Subtle Body, with Justin B. Stein

May 03 2024 58 mins  
Today I sit down with Justin B. Stein, a specialist in modern Japanese religion and the preeminent historian of Reiki. We discuss Justin’s new book, Alternate Currents, about the transnational origins of Reiki, and also get into his perspective as a both a scholar and a Reiki practitioner. Along the way, we ask what Reiki has to do with Buddhism, what subtle energy feels like up

Psychedelics, Mysticism, Aliens, and the Dao, with Dominic Steavu

Apr 02 2024 58 mins  
I sit down with Dominic Steavu, a historian of Chinese religion and healing from UC Santa Barbara. We discuss the central role of the body in medieval Daoist practices, and talk about the Daoist use of psychedelics to facilitate mystical experiences. Along the way, we touch on talismanic tattoos, internal alchemy, and embodied nonduality. Plus, Dominic reveals what he thinks about