Yogic Studies

The Bṛhadīśvara temple, in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, dedicated to the “great lord” Śiva. Today it is a world UNESCO heritage site, and one of the great exmplars of Chola temple architecture. Also known as Rājarājeśvaram named after its patron Rājarāja I, the influential Chola empereror who led naval conquests to Sri Lanka and across the Indian ocean to parts of South East Asia.

Bṛhadīśvara was completed in 1010 CE and still today is one of the largest and certainly most impressive Hindu and Śaiva temples in all of south India. It’s towering vimānas and many maṇḍapas adorned with inscriptions and exquisite sculptures, paintings, and iconography create an embodied sacred text in stone.

🇮🇳 Want to see it in person? The Bṛhadīśvara is just one of the incredible temples on our upcoming Sacred Sites of Tamil Nadu tour, which runs from Jan 14-23, 2027. Click the link in bio to learn more. Limited spaces remaining!

📷 All photos by Dr. Seth Powell.

✨ Enrollment is now open for our next course, BS 114 | Theravāda Buddhism taught by Dr. Aleix Ruiz-Falqués!

📚 This course offers a dynamic introduction to Theravāda Buddhism, the only living Buddhist tradition that preserves and transmits the earliest strata of Buddhist thought in an unbroken lineage. As the sole surviving representative of the ancient schools often grouped under the label “Early Buddhism” or “Hīnayāna,” Theravāda occupies a unique position in the history of Buddhism.

Its canonical texts, preserved in Pāli—an Indic language closely related to the language of the earliest teachings—provide unparalleled access to the doctrinal, philosophical, and contemplative foundations of the Buddhist tradition. Today, Theravāda remains a vibrant and influential form of Buddhism, practiced widely across South and Southeast Asia and increasingly studied and practiced worldwide. This course is designed to clarify common misconceptions by highlighting what makes Theravāda distinctive, and by carefully distinguishing it from Early Buddhism as a historical construct, from other ancient schools now lost, and from later Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna traditions.

The course runs for four weeks, each devoted to a core dimension of the Theravāda tradition.

Module 1 — History: The Historical Development of the Mahāvihāra School

Module 2 — Literature: Orality, Canon, and Scholasticism

Module 3 — Philosophy: From Silence to Abhidhamma Debate

Module 4 — Meditation: Concentration, Insight, Love, and Compassion

🎧 The course runs live from February 16 - March 13, 2026 with sessions on Fridays from 10:00-11:30 am PT. Can't attend live? Recordings will be available!

🦚 Save 20% with Early Bird Tuition through Friday, Feb 6 @ 2pm PT.

👉 For course details and registration, click the link in bio or visit: yogicstudies.com/bs-114

🎙 It's been a while folks, but we're back! Episode 52 of the Yogic Studies Podcast is now available. Tamara Cohen | Exploring the Mokṣopāya and Yogavāsiṣṭha.

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Tamara Cohen about her background in Siddha Yoga, meditation, and how she came to pursue a PhD at the University of Toronto on the Yogavāsiṣṭha. We discuss the dream-like nature of the text and its unique nondualism, the textual history of the Yogavāsiṣṭha and its earlier recension known as the Mokṣopāya, the role of the term haṭhayoga within the text, and in what ways the Mokṣopāya/Yogavāsiṣṭha should be considered an important work on yoga.

We conclude by discussing her online course, YS 218 | The Yogavāsiṣṭha, which is currently live and still open for enrollment.

📚 You can learn more about the course here: https://www.yogicstudies.com/ys-218

🎧 The YS Podcast is available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and more. So please hit that “subscribe” button to follow along. And if you would like to help support the Podcast, please consider leaving us a review on iTunes or commenting on YouTube.

👉 Watch the Podcast here, or click link in bio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvyEm1FN9mg

Airavateśvara temple, Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu. This exquisite 12th century Chola temple was built by the emperor Rājarāja II and is today a UNESCO world heritage site. The temple is dedicated to Śiva, though it also features beautiful carvings and iconography dedicated to Vaiṣṇava and Śākta themes, yogis, dancers, as well as unique narrative depictions of the Nāyaṉmār, the early Bhakta saints who worshipped Śiva in Tamil Nadu.

🇮🇳 It is just one of the incredible temples on our upcoming Sacred Sites of Tamil Nadu tour, which runs from Jan 13-24, 2027. Click the link in bio to learn more.

📷 All photos by Dr. Seth Powell.

✨ We are thrilled to announce that registration is now open for our next trip to India! Join Dr. Seth Powell and Kory Sheffer on an unforgettable journey through the sacred sites of Tamil Nadu, January 13-24, 2027.

🇮🇳 If you've always wanted to go to India, with an incredible community, trusted guides, in a safe and uniquely curated program, and immerse deeply in the history, temples, and culture—this is the trip for you! This is our most highly anticipated event of the year. Space will be limited, so reserve your spot soon.

🐒 WARNING: This is not your average trip to India. This 10-day journey through the sacred sites of Tamil Nadu is unlike any other tour you will encounter. Each day we will visit special historical sites connected with the ancient traditions of Hinduism—all with a special eye towards the history and philosophies of yoga. This "Embodied History" of yoga tour allows participants to uniquely uncover yoga's past by experiencing the rich visual and material culture of India preserved through the millennia in its many sacred temples, caves, mountains, rivers, and shrines. Imagine—Indiana Jones meets spiritual pilgrimage meets academic study abroad program. We hope you can join us for this special educational and cultural journey into the spiritual heart of South India.

Tamil Nadu’s unique cultural landscapes and stunning Hindu temples are not merely tourist destinations, but sacred texts in stone—embodying centuries of artistic innovation, architectural genius, ritual innovation, and theological sophistication that have shaped South Asian religiosity and aesthetics. Participants will discover these enduring cultural worlds with expert guidance, live the rhythms of local life and devotion, and deepen their understanding of the historical, philosophical, and iconographic dimensions of yoga and the civilizations from which it emerged.

Reserve your spot today with a fully refundable deposit!

👉 For all trip information and registration options, click link in bio or visit yogicstudies.com/tamil-nadu-2027

✨ We are pleased to announce this year's summer retreat in Greece! Located on the exquisite island of Aegina, this unique Yogasūtras immersion offers a special opportunity to engage in both practice and study, surrounded by a supportive and inquisitive community of like-minded students from around the world.

🇬🇷 Join Yogic Studies founder Dr. Seth Powell and special guest yoga teacher Moritz Ulrich. Over the course of five nights and six days, we will immerse in yoga history and philosophy, study and chant Sanskrit, practice yoga and meditation, eat delicious local vegetarian Greek cuisine, visit an ancient temple of a Greek goddess, relax poolside, swim and enjoy the picturesque waters of the Saronic Gulf, and more!

📚 The curriculum for this year's retreat will focus on a deep study and immersion into the Yogasūtras of Patañjali—yoga's most ancient and influential text.

🌎 Our annual retreats offer a special opportunity to step out of the "Zoom classroom" to study and practice in person with community. Will you join us this summer?

👉 Space is limited so sign up soon! Click the link in bio, or visit https://www.yogicstudies.com/greece-2026

As we step into 2026, we offer profound gratitude for the growth, community, and inquiry that defined 2025 at Yogic Studies — from immersive in-person retreats and workshops in Europe and the UK, to numerous online seminar’s charting new research on South Asian philosophy, religion, and languages. It’s been a pleasure to connect with so many students and scholars from around the world. 🌍📚🙏

In the coming year, we invite you to continue your exploration of yogic and Indic traditions through new courses, community, and in-person events and retreats designed for teachers, practitioners, and scholars alike alike. 📖🧘‍♀️✨

🌟 What’s ahead in 2026:

• New live online seminars — including the Yogavāsiṣṭha, Theravāda Buddhism, Tibetan Haṭha Yoga, and more.

• Spring and Summer language terms in Sanskrit, Hindi, Tibetan, Pali, and Greek.

• In-person retreats including Greece (June) and South India (Jan 2027) — more info coming VERY soon!

• Continued opportunities for deep engagement with ancient traditions through scholarship, study, and collegial dialogue.

May this year be one of clarity, depth, and compassion — grounded in evidence, enriched by tradition, and enlivened by community.

🌿 From all of us at Yogic Studies — Happy New Year 2026!

📷 “SanskrItaly” Retreat August 2025, Mandali Retreat Center, Italy

🎄 Merry Christmas from all of us at Yogic Studies! Enjoy these incredible Christ(mas)-themed Mughal miniatures from India.

Illustrated manuscript of the Akbarnāmā, c. late 1590s. Painting of a Christmas celebration, including the infant Jesus sitting in Mary's lap. British Library, London.

Presentation of the infant Jesus in the temple at Jerusalem, 40 days after his birth, c. 1600-1610. Possibly painted in Bijapur. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

The Birth of Christ. Mid 18th century, Muhammad Shah period. National Museum, New Delhi.

See more: https://scroll.in/article/697185/astonishing-christmas-themed-mughal-miniatures-from-the-courts-of-akbar-and-jehangir

We recently interviewed Dr. Shahid Rasheed, who after studying Sanskrit for a year online at Yogic Studies, began teaching Sanskrit to students at The Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) in Lahore, Pakistan. We discuss his academic background, the impact of Yogic Studies on his teaching and career, and how the recent Sanskrit course in Pakistan made international news.

While there have been other efforts, this marks one of the few for-credit university courses in Sanskrit offered in Pakistan since prior to Partition. Yogic Studies is incredibly inspired by Dr. Rasheed's efforts to revive classical Sanskrit education in Pakistan, and we are proud to have played some small role in this initiative.

👉 You can read the full interview at https://www.yogicstudies.com/blog/reviving-sanskrit-in-pakistan-with-dr-shahid-rasheed

Had a great visit to the Institut Français de Pondichéry (IFP), where I was able to look at some original palm leaf Sanskrit manuscripts, including a bundle which contains the Śivayogapradīpikā and Amanska yoga texts. I was kindly welcomed by Dr. Vinoth M and Dr. Deviprasad Mishra. The IFP holds over 8,000 palm leaf manuscripts and has a great team of researchers working hard to digitize, edit, and preserve this intellectual heritage of South India. We will be bringing students to the IFP to see these efforts and look at Sanskrit manuscripts first hand on our upcoming Sacred Sites of Tamil Nadu tour, in January 2027!

✨ We are pleased to announce that enrollment is open for our next course, and the first course of 2026, YS 218 | The Yogavāsiṣṭha taught by Dr. Tamara Cohen!

📚 The Yogavāsiṣṭha (11-14th century CE) is one of the most influential philosophical-literary works in the history of Yoga in South Asia. Told as an extended dialogue between the young prince Rāma and the sage Vasiṣṭha, its teachings revolve around the nature of consciousness, the unreality of the world, and the means to liberation through self-knowledge and breath-awareness.

However, the Yogavāsiṣṭha is not the earliest form of this work. The oldest recoverable version is the Mokṣopāya, traced to Kashmir around 950 CE. Although the two texts share the same central narrative and many of the same stories, the Mokṣopāya differs in its doctrinal orientation: it avoids Vedānta terminology, rejects scriptural authority, and lacks the story-frames added in the Yogavāsiṣṭha.

Over the course of six weeks, we will read together key stories from the Yogavāsiṣṭha, highlighting points where the Mokṣopāya and the Yogavāsiṣṭha diverge; we will examine subtleties in terminology, structure, doctrinal emphasis and philosophical orientation.

🎧 The course runs live from Jan 5 - Feb 13, 2026 with live sessions on Tue/Thur from 12-1:30pm PT. Can't attend live? Recordings will be available!

🦚 Save 20% with Early Bird Tuition through December 22nd at 2pm PT.

👉 For course details and registration, click the link in bio or visit: yogicstudies.com/ys-218