Jason Birch is a scholar of medieval haṭha yoga and a founding member of SOAS's Centre for Yoga Studies. His research includes locating and translating early yoga manuscripts, and preparing critical editions, such as of the Amaraugha. In this episode, Jason and Jacob discuss:

• what inspired Jason to pursue the study of Sanskrit texts
• the historical importance of the Amaraugha, a 12th century text attributed to Gorakṣanātha
• the account of 4 yogas discussed in the text
• what mantra, laya, haṭha and rāja yoga practices looked like for the yoga tradition associated with the Amaraugha
• the relationship between Buddhist and Śaiva yogas
• what this corpus of haṭha yoga texts might mean for modern practitioners
• how the forthcoming translations of haṭha yoga texts could enrich the landscape of yoga study

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