Healing from Suffering | Yoga Philosophy Club
with Daniel SimpsonA monthly online gathering for teachers and practitioners to reflect together on how ancient yogic wisdom speaks to modern lives. Concern for other people's well-being is an important dimension of yogic traditions. In this session, we discuss how that works, and whether suffering is also a teacher to listen to.
Overview
A supportive space to explore yogic wisdom
This monthly online gathering is a supportive space to explore yogic insights in dialogue — a place for teachers and practitioners of yoga to reflect together on how ancient wisdom can support modern lives.
What we inherit and how we act shapes who we become. We contemplate how to find meaning in this process.
• How do we define dharma and karma in contemporary terms?
• What gives us purpose? How free are we to make our own choices?
• How much of life is shaped by factors beyond our control?
• What distinguishes things we can change from those we can’t?
• Does it help to prioritise values instead of objectives?
Join Daniel Simpson to examine what gives life meaning, as well as the cycles of cause and effect that shape our lives. This interactive online session of the Yoga Philosophy Club offers space for discussion, reflection, and inquiry around what is meant by the Sanskrit words dharma and karma, and how we interpret them.
Who is this course for?
Course Dates
Good to know
- Attend any session as a standalone, or build a pathway through the year.
- Hours count towards 300-hour certification or CPD hours if you do 5 sessions ( 10 hrs in total)
- Sessions are recorded — catch up on demand for up to four weeks after.
- Prefer a different payment plan? Pay your deposit and email us to arrange. Full payment must be received before the course starts.
- Select bank transfer (BACS) at checkout — it helps us keep course fees down by lowering card processing charges.
- Bursary available: one 50% bursary place is offered each year. Learn more →
- FAQs Learn more →
- T&Cs Learn more →
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What you'll take away
A grounded, accessible understanding of yoga philosophy — ancient to modern — and how it connects to lived experience
Confidence to bring philosophical ideas into your own practice or teaching, without jargon or dogma
A community of curious practitioners reflecting together on how yogic wisdom applies to modern life
Yoga Alliance CPD hours that count towards 300-hour certification, plus a certificate of attendance on completion of 5 sessions
What Our Students Say
What participants say
"Daniel weaves effortlessly through the history of yoga, making philosophy feel alive and relevant. His clarity, honesty and humour create a space where genuine enquiry can happen."
M.G. · Long-time Participant"It's amazing how clear and grounded Daniel makes these ideas — his teaching carries real depth, and you leave with something to chew on for weeks."
Dr. L.G."Accessible, capable and generous. Daniel's sessions always strike the right balance between rigour and warmth, and I come away feeling both stretched and met."
E.C."Clarity, honesty and humour — a rare combination. Daniel holds space for genuine reflection and never lectures, which is why I keep coming back."
S.M."The sessions have deepened my practice in ways I didn't expect. Philosophy has stopped feeling like a separate subject and started feeling like the thread running through everything."
K.B."A genuine teacher — curious, rigorous, and warm. Daniel treats us as fellow enquirers rather than students, and that shift changes the whole quality of the room."
J.J.Your Teacher
Your teacher Daniel Simpson
Author of The Truth of Yoga, Daniel Simpson brings together scholarly rigour and a foreign correspondent's instinct for a good story. With more than three decades of practice and an MA in Traditions of Yoga and Meditation from SOAS, he teaches the philosophy strand of the Shala's 300-hour Yoga Teacher Training, hosts the Ancient Futures podcast, and contributes to courses at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. His approach makes a vast tradition feel approachable, alive and genuinely useful.
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