Yoga & Psyche Dialogue Series features Mariana Caplan and Roger Walsh

Since December 2012, the Yoga & Psyche Dialogue Series has enriched our understanding of Yoga, psychology, and trauma research with insights from Mariana Caplan, Richard Miller, Rick Hanson, Reggie Ray, and other leaders in the field. Produced by Diana Justl for publication on Mariana Caplan’s Real Spirituality website, the dialogues are free. They could open up a new world of understanding for anyone interested in discovering how the practice of ancient yoga integrates with the contemporary Western mind and psyche.

This week, Mariana Caplan dialogues with Roger Walsh, author and psychiatrist. Mariana Caplan writes:

This week our research continues in dialogue with Roger Walsh, an esteemed psychiatrist, author of many books and extensive research, and a highly experienced teacher and practitioner of meditation. I have personally always been fascinated by the relationship of psychiatry to spiritual practice, and the rampant bias people have against medication on the spiritual path, as well as a great deal of shame and secrecy among the many spiritual students and teachers who make use of these medications at various junctures on their spiritual path and path through life. In this dialogue, I talk extensively with Roger on this subject.

In addition, Roger delves into these other topics:

• The challenges and benefits of a sustained spiritual practice
• The value of having a teacher on the spiritual path
• The psychosomatic symptoms that may emerge during yoga and meditation
• Relationships as advanced spiritual practice
• Spiritual crisis vs. psychological crisis
• The maturation process and our need for interdependence
• Exploring what kinds of transformations deep experiences produce in people and what aspect they leave unchanged
• Reframing difficult experiences as potential opportunities
• Wisdom as a function of seeing oneself and reality clearly and deeply

To listen to this free dialogue, click here.

Mariana Caplan, PhD, MFT, is a licensed psychotherapist, lifelong yogi, and the author of seven books in the fields of psychology and spirituality, including Eyes Wide Open: Cultivating Discernment on the Spiritual Path, The Guru Question: The Perils and Awards of Choosing a Spiritual Teacher, and the seminal Halfway Up the Mountain: the Error of Premature Claims to Enlightenment. She is currently working with nine interns conducting living research on the intersection of yoga and Western psychology, and is in the process of writing a book, workbook, and academic article on the subject.