Yoga and altered states of consciousness

As part of the Bohush Neuro Academy project, a series of interviews was recorded with the leadership of GLOBAL SIDDHA YOGA TANTRA FOUNDATIONS — Yogi Brahmashri Ratanath (Yevhen Radishevsky) and Yogini Janani Devi (Yuliia Ostrovtseva). The conversations are devoted to yoga, spiritual practices, the mechanisms of self-regulation and higher states of consciousness — samadhi and siddhi.

Bohush Neuro Academy is holding a series of conversations with practitioners of different traditions who work with the psyche, altered states of consciousness and health. The Academy brings together neuroscience, psychology, evidence-based approaches and metaphysical practices.

Main topics of the conversations

The interviews cover key questions:

• What is samadhi, and can a person learn to govern the states of their own consciousness?
• How the approaches of Patanjali (the Yoga Sutras), Advaita Vedanta and the Tamil Siddha tradition differ.
• Physiological changes in the body during deep meditation.
• The eight principal siddhis (ashta siddhi) of the Indian tradition and how they might be interpreted in terms of how consciousness works.
• Combat intuition: why a soldier sometimes senses danger before becoming aware of it; how the brain reads micro-signals from the environment, and how extreme stress changes perception.
• Hallucinations, fantasies, depersonalisation and derealisation during meditative practice. How to tell a subjective experience from a physiologically measurable response.
• The need for gradual preparation, supervision and feedback from an experienced teacher when working with altered states of consciousness.

Kriya yoga, kundalini, the limits of human perception and the link between traditional practices and today’s understanding of the brain and military psychology are also discussed.

Videos

No. 1. The origins of yoga and the secrets of self-regulation

Interview with Yogi Brahmashri Ratanath

• Ukrainian version
• English version

No. 2. Yoga and spiritual practices

Interview with Yogini Janani Devi

• Ukrainian version
• English version

No. 3. Samadhi and Siddhi: unveiling the mysteries

Second interview with Yogi Brahmashri Ratanath

• Ukrainian version
• English version

The materials are available in Ukrainian and English. The series is part of the educational programme of Bohush Neuro Academy devoted to the study of consciousness, self-regulation and the practices that affect the psyche and health.