Ep117: A Life In Yoga - Angela Farmer
In this interview I am joined by internationally renowned yoga teacher Angela Farmer.
Angela recounts the story of her life in yoga, from her birth in 1939 pre-war England, to her studies under yoga guru BKS Iyengar, to her international teaching career spanning over fifty years.
Angela reveals how after a decade of rigorous training under Iyengar, she broke away from strict asana practice to find her own path of listening to the body. Despite the resultant blacklisting by the yoga community, Angela uncovered a radically different way of practicing yoga.
Angela also shares what it means to be receptive to life in the face of fear, trauma, and change, and offers her heart advice to women of all ages.
Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.
Topics include:
00:00 – Intro
00:45 – Angela’s childhood during WW2
04:37 – Differences between girls’ and boys’ education
08:02 – Major childhood injuries and surgeries
14:20 – Reading Huxley and discovering yoga
16:30 – Meeting B.K.S. Iyengar and time in India
22:01 – Challenges teaching yoga in English schools
25:37 – Teaching career in America and meeting Victor van Kooten
27:31 – Breaking from Iyengar and beginning to feel the body
31:25 – Injuries incurred practicing Iyengar yoga
35:34 – Radical change in teaching style
39:38 – Connecting to the woman inside
44:18 – How to be with the body
47:18 – Working with fear and trauma
53:17 – Do you really want to hug?
55:54 – Receptivity vs passivity
59:56 – Being a woman
01:05:34 – Being blacklisted by the Iyengar school \
01:12:36 – Angela’s heart advice to women
To find our more about Angela, visit:
https://angela-victor.com/
Angela Farmer, Yoga Trek in Nepal 1985
Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James