Spirit in Action
Alignment Yoga
Scott Anderson is the founder of Alignment Yoga and Spectrum Yoga Therapy. His new book is Alignment Yoga - An Intelligent Approach to Ancient Wisdom. He's an insightful innovator and talented teacher, adapting traditional practices to the Western way of life.
- Broadcast on:
- 20 Nov 2011
- Audio Format:
- other
(upbeat music) ♪ Let us sing this song for the healing of the world ♪ ♪ That we may hear as one ♪ ♪ With every voice, with every song ♪ ♪ We will move this world along ♪ ♪ And our lives will feel the echo of our healing ♪ - Welcome to Spirit in Action. My name is Mark helps me. Each week, I'll be bringing you stories of people living lives of fruitful service, of peace, community, compassion, creative action, and progressive efforts. I'll be tracing the spiritual roots that support and nourish them in their service, hoping to inspire and encourage you to sink deep roots and produce sacred food in your own life. ♪ Let us sing this song for the dreaming of the world ♪ ♪ That we may dream as one ♪ ♪ With every voice, with every song ♪ ♪ We will move this world along ♪ - It's my great pleasure to introduce you to today's Spirit in Action guest, Scott Anderson. His home is the Blue Mounds Dharma Center of Blue Mounds, Wisconsin. And he's author of a brand new book, Alignment Yoga, an intelligent approach to ancient wisdom. Scott Anderson also originated something called spectrum yoga therapy, an approach bringing yogic wisdom and healing to those on the autism spectrum. Scott was a high school and college athlete with physics and math as his academic path, moving into graduate work in bio-mechanics. And all of that doesn't begin to touch his deeply spiritual side in spite of the religious antipathy of his parents. And finally, he's brave enough to join me face-to-face in the Northern Spirit Radio Studio here in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, in spite of my persistent cold. Before we talk to Scott Anderson, let's get into an India frame of mind with a little music from Devanak Premal, Om Mani Patmail. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] But what was interesting is that learning to quiet my mind and starting to become aware of my breathing is I had internal experiences. These internal experiences didn't really gel with physics and didn't really gel with anything I was learning with science. I was very driven to understand how the world worked, but I was very reluctant that there was any divine force in this world. So I was studying physics to understand how the world worked, but by God if there was a God involved. And I was doing yoga to understand how the world worked, but by God I wanted it to be not very God based. And I kept having experiences the way I started to see the world through the vantage point of interconnection and starting to see the joy in other people's eyes and in their hearts, it started to break down the walls that I built for myself. I don't think it was probably for another decade or so before I became conversant and comfortable with a G word, but I was starting to have distinctly spiritual experiences very early in my yoga practice. And it was quite a path of resistance to because I had really internalized the idea from my upbringing that ignorant people, people who are not educated, are the people who support churches and God. And that the superior people, the intelligent people and the educated people don't go for that sort of mumbo jumbo. And I struggled with that for a lot of years. You know, I tried on the various spiritual paths, you know, I was doing yoga, so I became interested in Hinduism. I had been meditating, so I became interested in Buddhism. But interestingly enough, the two isms didn't really seem to fit very well. So I was very clear there was a God, but I didn't know what kind of clothes he wore or she wore. It wasn't until I was on a bike tour in Italy. And this was probably about a dozen years ago. And I was in a mausoleum. It was a beautiful mosaic. The image of Christ is literally just lifted right off the wall and just came right into my heart. That was an absolute, empathetic moment. It was not a relationship that I had had since I was a young boy. Through the yoga, through the meditation, I felt like that was the least likely experience I could have ever had. In that one moment, it just was so sweet and so beautiful and so pure that there became this first-hand relationship once again. With this long lost, you know, friend is certainly not the word, but it's as close as I can come. That this practice was about redefining and reconnecting with that relationship. So people are often sort of surprised to hear that, you know, almost 30 years of meditation, you know, 25-plus years of yoga practice, you know, how to identify myself, well, against all odds of a Christian. So I view these practices now as supporting my capacity to open my heart to the teachings of Christ. At the same time, I also want to be very clear that I believe that Christ is one of the paths, but is not the only path. And that's to me what's beautiful about the meditation path and the yoga path is it allows you to find God, whatever form that may take. So I can be sitting here right now saying I had this empathetic experience with Christ, but far be it for me to say that's the only path. But what I am very enthusiastic about and have a fire in my belly is I think yoga and meditation are a good way to find your path to the divine. In my bones, I believe that there's a force bigger than any single one of us and bigger than all of us combined, and we're all a part of that same force. And that's part of the passion for me in this practice is finding that. I'm just blown away. I so clearly hear the truth speaking through you that I feel totally enriched. We've been speaking this hour with Scott Anderson. Alignment Yoga, an intelligent approach to ancient wisdom is his new book. Alignment Yoga is also organization. You can find the link via NorthernSpiritRadio.org. You can visit him at his home grounds, Blue Mounds Dharma Center in Blue Mounds Wisconsin, which is right outside of Madison. He also has yoga center in Madison called Mound Street Yoga Center. And don't forget to check out spectrum yoga therapy. So many good things you're doing in the world, Scott. Such a gift, certainly to my wife, to me today, to our listeners, to the world. Thanks for bringing greater wisdom, greater depth, greater spirituality into the world. Thank you for having me here tonight. It's been an honor to share whatever little I know about this path. And it's my hope that we can all come together to see that we each have our individual path that leads us to the divine. And as we come into that recognition, I think it'll be a better world for all of us. The theme music for this program is Turning of the World, performed by Sarah Thompson. This spirit in action program is an effort of NorthernSpiritRadio. You can listen to our programs and find links and information about us and our guests on our website, NorthernSpiritRadio.org. Thank you for listening. I am your host, Mark Helpsmeet, and I welcome your comments and stories of those leading lives of spiritual fruit. May you find deep roots to support you and grow steadily toward the light. This is spirit in action. With every voice, with every song, we will move this world along. With every voice, with every song, we will move this world along. And our lives will feel the echo of our healing.