Within the Yoga Sutra, an ancient text about the practice of yoga, only two verses mention asanas, or the postures we commonly associate with yoga in the West. Patanjali, the legendary sage and author of this 2,250-year-old work, was concerned not solely with physical development, or even mental development. In fact, the original purpose of yoga was—and remains—to function as a complete spiritual path where the body serves as a gateway to enlightenment.

On The Yoga Matrix, the renowned instructor Richard Freeman immerses us in the rich teachings and sutras that inform the many schools of yoga, and reveals how the body can serve as the ultimate laboratory, temple, and place of pilgrimage for spiritual inquiry. Looking back 5,000 years, Freeman uncovers the living roots of yoga philosophy, and observes how they have grown into many schools, techniques, and philosophies that are united by a vast, interpenetrating matrix that holds the key to understanding yoga's full depth and greater purpose.

Freeman first traveled to India in 1968, where he began a lifetime of study with the living masters of yoga and its mysteries. Now he teaches these authentic lessons and their original subtleties, with the questions and concerns of the serious Western student in mind. What is the yogic view of reality? Why was yoga first developed? How is progress traditionally measured? What are the principles of working with the body's subtle energy? Where do I start?

From profound concepts at the center of this ancient cosmic philosophy, to the cherished teaching stories and chants that enrich its daily practice, here is a complete audio curriculum with the power to catalyze your daily yoga practice.

Highlights:

Yoga, nondualism, and the present moment
• How the major schools of yoga relate to one another
• The Jeweled Net of Indra, and the metapattern of the yoga matrix
• Your body—its surprising place in the yoga matrix
• Asanas: containers for meditation practice
• Nadis—the body's rivers of energy
• Kundalini energy and how it awakens
• Five Element Theory—its application to yoga
• The Sankhya System—from solid earth to transparent mind
• The nectar of Tantra
• The nine obstacles to yoga practice, and how to overcome them
• Yamas and Niyamas—yoga's core moral precepts
• The ultimate guru
• More than seven hours of chants, divine lore, and advanced yoga teachings