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Swami Sivananda’s Sampoorna Yoga for Modern Seekers

If you asked Sri Swami Sivananda what a busy person in the West should actually do each day to grow spiritually, he would likely point you to a deceptively simple framework: do a little meditation, a little prayer, a little study, a little service—every day—with...

The Greatest Victory

Gurudev Sivanandaji used to say that we should watch our thoughts because they create habits. Once you develop a habit, it becomes your character. And then your character becomes your destiny. So, it all originates with your thinking. That is why it is so important to...

How to Practice Viveka

Viveka is the spiritual practice of discrimination—distinguishing between the real and unreal, the eternal and temporary, the Spiritual Presence and ego-identity. Here are some ways to put viveka into practice. See which of these resonates with you and supports you to...
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The Humble Vegetarian

The Humble Vegetarian

In this article, Integral Yoga teacher April Gauri Hunziker (pictured here) explores the issue of how a yogi and vegetarian remains humble and avoids self-righteousness while remaining faithful to his or her principles. She poses some hard questions we may want to ask...

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A Yogic or Sattvic Diet

A Yogic or Sattvic Diet

To fully understand Swami Satchidananda’s teachings on the relationship between Yoga and diet, specifically, the psychological and spiritual benefits of a vegetarian/vegan diet, it’s important to know something about the three gunas, or the qualities of nature. The...

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Vegetarianism & Ahimsa

Vegetarianism & Ahimsa

Diet plays a very important part in people’s lives. Food not only makes the body, it makes the mind. It has a direct connection to the attitudes of the mind. Today we do not think much about the different qualities of food and its effect on the mind. In Yogic...

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Diet for Transcendence

Diet for Transcendence

In preparation for writing his book, Diet for Transcendence, Steven Rosen surveyed the world’s religions with the intention of proving that at their foundation—and as reflected in their scriptures—these faiths encouraged vegetarianism, nonviolence, love and compassion...

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Enlightened Eating

Enlightened Eating

The ancient yogis noted that the universe goes through cycles of potentiality and manifestation, similar to the speculations of modern-day physicists about an oscillating universe. During the process of creation, out of primordial matter known as undifferentiated...

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The Healing and Transformative Power of Chanting

The Healing and Transformative Power of Chanting

An internationally acknowledged master teacher, Jonathan Goldman has studied with masters of sound from both the scientific and spiritual traditions, including the Dalai Lama’s Chanting Gyuto and Gyume Monks. In this interview he gives an overview of some of the...

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Kirtan and the World’s Sacred Chant Traditions

Kirtan and the World’s Sacred Chant Traditions

If we look into creation narratives from different cultures, in almost every case the world is said to come into being through sound, through chant. Kirtan is the essence of Yoga, for by chanting the holy names, we experience a linking, a union, with the Divine. In...

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Music of the Universe: Our Relationship with Sacred Sound

Music of the Universe: Our Relationship with Sacred Sound

Everything begins with a seed. The ancient scriptures describe this seed, or bija, as sonic in origin. They paint mystical pictures of a primordial sound from which the entire cosmos sprang. They describe planets, stars and galaxies as being magically strung together...

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Nada Yoga

Nada Yoga

Yogi Hari is a master of Hatha, Raja and Nada Yoga. He is well known and respected around the world as an exceptional and inspiring teacher. Yogi Hari comes from the Sivananda lineage. When he met his gurus, Swami Vishnu-Devananda and music master Swami...

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Sankirtan Yoga

Sankirtan Yoga

Sankirtan is the Svarupa (essential nature) of God. Dhvani is sankirtan. Sankirtan is the essence of the Vedas. The four Vedas originate from sound. There are four kinds of sound, viz., vaikhari (vocal), madhyama (from the throat), pasyanti (from the heart) and Para...

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