CHITHEADS with Jacob Kyle (Embodied Philosophy)
50 episodes listed below
Yoga philosophy without the easy answers.
The gist
CHITHEADS with Jacob Kyle treats spiritual language as something to be examined, not merely repeated. Its conversations move through karma, Sanskrit, pilgrimage, yoga teaching, manifestation, and the politics of who gets to interpret tradition.
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About CHITHEADS with Jacob Kyle (Embodied Philosophy)
CHITHEADS with Jacob Kyle is a long-form space for yoga philosophy, contemplative education, and the uneasy work of bringing inherited traditions into present-tense life. The show moves slowly on purpose. It gives guests room to speak at length, then turns their ideas back toward practice, ethics, embodiment, and the question of what spiritual language actually means. Recent episodes ask how a sacred life can remain fully inside the world, not apart from it. The hero’s journey becomes a way to understand hardship without collapsing into self-blame. Karma is treated less as cosmic accounting than as a field of intention, consequence, compassion, and unresolved mystery. Manifestation is examined with suspicion and care, especially when popular spirituality turns egoic desire into metaphysical certainty. Sanskrit studies become political when marginalized voices, wild women, goddesses, and Shakta traditions complicate the old academic gaze. Yoga teaching is discussed as a relationship between knowledge and experience, where discernment matters as much as openness. The humanities appear not as ornamental learning, but as part of a larger crisis in how people imagine education, wisdom, and the future of institutions. CHITHEADS is comfortable with Sanskrit terms, theological argument, and philosophical abstraction. It is also attentive to shame, anger, devotion, humility, and the body. The show’s best moments resist both piety and cynicism. It can honor a text while naming its patriarchal frame. It can speak reverently about pilgrimage while still asking what changes in ordinary life. It can critique spiritual simplification without reducing practice to academic distance. The tone is warm, discursive, and intellectually serious. The listener is expected to follow nuance. For yoga teachers, meditators, scholar-practitioners, and spiritually curious skeptics, it offers conversations where belief is neither mocked nor allowed to go unexamined. Its center of gravity is wisdom as something lived, argued with, studied, and practiced.
Made for: For yoga teachers, meditators, scholar-practitioners, and spiritually curious listeners who want depth, history, and critique alongside practice. It especially suits people drawn to contemplative traditions but wary of slogans and spiritual bypassing.
What sets it apart: The show combines intimate spiritual conversation with serious attention to Sanskrit, religious history, non-dual thought, pedagogy, and social power. It lets reverence and critique occupy the same room.
In their own words
Chitheads is a smorgasbord of contemplative education. Each episode is like a mini masterclass, exploring the diverse landscapes of spiritual practice, philosophy, and the transformative power of embodied knowledge. Each episode is crafted with the curious and open heart in mind, aiming to illuminate the path of self-inquiry and empowerment for yoga teachers, scholar-practitioners, meditators and other spiritual seekers and contemplative folks from around the world. From the profound teachings of Yoga and Buddhism to the sometimes complex theories of contemplative psychology and the vibrant tapestry of indigenous wisdom, our guests share insights that awaken, challenge, and inspire. With eve…
As heard by us
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · August 2026
CHITHEADS ties Sanskrit, yoga, karma, and practice to the social questions of how people learn, teach, believe, and live.
CHITHEADS with Jacob Kyle belongs on the Society & Culture shelf for listeners who take spiritual practice seriously without wanting it flattened into lifestyle talk.
Why you'd press play
This is the yoga-philosophy table where your easy certainties have to take their shoes off.
Press play if you want
- to hear Sanskrit, yoga, and karma treated as living arguments, not incense labels
- a host who lets scholars and practitioners complicate your favorite spiritual shorthand
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Episodes
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How to Live a Sacred Life Without Leaving the World with Mary Reilly Nichols
Hidden gemCHITHEADS host Jacob Kyle interviews Mary Reilly Nichols — a longtime yoga and contemplative traditions teacher associated with Swami Muktananda's lineage — about living a sacred life within the world, the hero's journey as a framework for suffering, and the Bhagavad Gita.
Mar 17, 2026·1h·4 clips - 2
What Karma Actually Means with Philip Goldberg
Hidden gemCHITHEADS host Jacob Kyle interviews author Philip Goldberg about his book 'Karmic Relief,' examining how karma has been misunderstood in Western popular culture.
Jan 26, 2026·1h 3m·4 clips - 3
Why the Humanities Are Dying and the Revival of Holistic Education with Athena Potari
Athena Potari discusses the decline of humanities in modern universities and advocates for a revival of holistic education inspired by ancient academies.
Dec 2, 2025·1h 18m - 4
Manifestation Isn't Magic with Jacob Kyle
Jacob Kyle debunks popular manifestation myths and presents a philosophically rigorous view from the Nandosha Keshava tradition.
Nov 26, 2025·1h 7m - 5
Everything is the Goddess with Nataraj Chaitanya
Nataraj Chaitanya discusses living life as a pilgrimage, where every experience is part of the divine play and a path to self-realization.
Oct 8, 2025·1h 7m - 6
Spiritual Bypassing, Non-Dualism Explained, and the 4th State of Consciousness with Jacob Kyle
Jun 16, 2025·42m - 7
The Power of Poetry in Medieval Kashmir with James D. Reich
Apr 10, 2025·1h 24m - 8
Ritual, Reality & the Sri Yantra with Kavitha Chinnaiyan
Mar 12, 2025·1h 19m - 9
Change Your Breath to Change Your Life with Jacob Kyle
Jan 24, 2025·17m - 10
Abhinavagupta, A.I., and the Matter of Wonder with Loriliai Biernacki
Dec 3, 2024·1h 40m - 11
Anxiety from a Philosophical Perspective with Samir Chopra
Oct 14, 2024·1h 37m - 12
Jain Philosophy Through its Primary Concepts with Shree Nahata
Aug 2, 2024·1h 30m - 13
Bhāva: A Theory of Imagination
Jun 19, 2024·16m - 14
The Lineage of Immortals with Jason Birch
Jun 5, 2024·1h 44m - 15
This Crack in Time with Shambhavi Sarasvati
Apr 19, 2024·1h 15m - 16
Ancient Greek Wisdom with Athena Potari
Mar 12, 2024·1h 25m - 17
The Wisdom of Zero with Jacob Kyle
Hidden gemJacob Kyle, host of CHITHEADS and founder of Embodied Philosophy, is interviewed by Kelly Blazer for the Power of Meditation Summit about the scholar practitioner concept and the synergy of academic study with contemplative practice.
Mar 4, 2024·1h 1m·4 clips - 18
Yoga Teacher Travails & Transformations with Leslie Kaminoff
Feb 21, 2024·1h 54m - 19
Yoga Teacher Travails & Transformations with Leslie Kaminoff
Feb 20, 2024·1h 54m - 20
The Vibratory Power of Sanskrit with Lucy Crisfield
Dec 14, 2023·1h 25m - 21
Subversive Sanskrit Studies with Bihani Sarkar
Hidden gemCHITHEADS host Jacob Kyle interviews Bihani Sarkar — his former Sanskrit teacher at Oxford and now a lecturer at Lancaster University — about what she calls 'subversive Sanskrit studies': engaging Sanskrit texts free from right-wing Hindu nationalist ideology.
Nov 29, 2023·1h 24m·5 clips - 22
On the Role of the Guru with Hari-kirtana das, Ken Rose, Trish Tillman & Stephanie Corigliano
Nov 14, 2023·1h 52m - 23
The Luminous Self with Tracee Stanley
Oct 11, 2023·45m - 24
Body by Breath with Jill Miller
Sep 19, 2023·48m - 25
TRIBUTE [Best of]: Sally Kempton on the Divine Feminine, Deity Yoga and Spiritual Pragmatism
Jul 25, 2023·53m - 26
Options For Yoga Teachers Today with Ava Taylor
Jul 11, 2023·55m - 27
Knowledge, Experience, and the Yoga Teacher with Daniel Simpson
Hidden gemCHITHEADS host Jacob Kyle interviews Daniel Simpson — author of 'The Truth of Yoga' and master's graduate in yoga studies from SOAS — about the gap between yoga scholarship and yoga philosophy, and what it means to have an authentic relationship with yoga tradition.
Jun 20, 2023·56m·3 clips - 28
Best Of: Yoga for Recovery with Nikki Myers
Jun 6, 2023·55m - 29
Joe Loizzo on The New Mind-Body Research & the Yogic Science of Integration
May 16, 2023·1h 19m - 30
Ashtanga Yoga in Sutras and the Gītā: A Comparison with Edwin Bryant
Apr 25, 2023·1h 39m - 31
Is the West Ready for Tantra? with Andrew Holecek
Mar 28, 2023·1h 6m - 32
Following the Non-Dual Path of the Divine Feminine with Sally Kempton
Sally Kempton discusses goddess practice as a spiritual technology and leads guided meditations on experiencing the Divine Feminine.
Mar 14, 2023·1h 14m - 33
Nikki Costello on the New Yoga Classroom
Feb 14, 2023·1h 18m - 34
Rabbi Rami Shapiro on Living the Golden Rule
Jan 24, 2023·1h 7m - 35
Ketamine Therapy with Christi Myers
Christi Myers discusses the pronunciation and nature of ketamine, its use as a veterinary tranquilizer, and the differences between human and animal brain function, particularly the prefrontal cortex.
Aug 30, 2022·1h 21m - 36
Yoga World Past, Present & Future with Nikki Vilella
Jul 12, 2022·1h 37m - 37
Is Academia a Religion? with Marcy Braverman Goldstein
A conversation exploring whether academia functions like a religion, focusing on ideological conformity and the potential for contemplative education beyond traditional academic boundaries.
May 20, 2022·1h - 38
Shamanic Healing, Divine Feminine, Buddhist Meditation, and the 4 Yogas Mini-Trainings
May 8, 2022·28m - 39
Yoga & Western Esotericism with Anya Foxen
Apr 27, 2022·1h 4m - 40
The Tao of Now with Diane Dreher
Apr 12, 2022·46m - 41
Gavin Flood on Hindu Monotheism & the 12 Kalis (Radical Theology Series)
Mar 30, 2022·1h 9m - 42
Matthew Fox on Creation Spirituality (Radical Theology Series)
Mar 15, 2022·1h 29m - 43
A Queer Dharma with Jacoby Ballard
An interview with Jacoby Ballard about his book 'A Queer Dharma' exploring yoga and meditations for liberation within queer and social justice contexts.
Mar 1, 2022·51m - 44
Intellectual Bhakti (Tarka Journal Podcast Ep.1) with Stephanie Corigliano & Jacob Kyle
Feb 22, 2022·54m - 45
Body Theology with Michelle Voss Roberts (Radical Theology)
Feb 15, 2022·1h 9m - 46
Theology Without Walls with John J. Thatamanil (Radical Theology)
John J.
Feb 1, 2022·1h 29m - 47
Andrew Harvey on Sacred Activism and Radical Regeneration (#140)
Oct 12, 2021·1h 1m - 48
Stephen Porges On Trauma & Polyvagal Theory (#139)
Sep 28, 2021·51m - 49
Krishna Das on Chanting Divine Names (#138)
Sep 23, 2021·1h 1m - 50
Cornel West on Spiritual Citizenship (#137)
Sep 14, 2021·1h 17m