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Integral Yoga for Pregnancy
Rev. Lakshmi Bertram is the mother of six beautiful children, and during her fifth pregnancy she filmed the Integral Yoga® for Pregnancy class on DVD. Integral Yoga Magazine (IYM): Did you practice Yoga through all your pregnancies? Lakshmi Bertram (LB): I had...
What is Restorative Yoga?
“That was joyful; I haven’t felt this good in a long time.” “This is the first time I’ve been pain free in a month.” “My breath feels so full and easy.” “I feel so relaxed, clearheaded and energized.” This may not be the typical feedback physical and occupational...
Chair Yoga is Accessible for All
Lakshmi Voelker-Binder has dedicated her life to creating accessible paths to wellness. By creating Chair Yoga, she was able bring adaptive fitness and exercise programs to those who could not benefit from traditional methods of physical activity due to age or...
Big Yoga for Bigger Bodies
Have you ever wanted to try Yoga, but didn't want to go to a regular class because of your size? Your age? A physical challenge? Well, you don't have to be thin, young, or flexible to enjoy the benefits of Yoga! Over 25 years experience of teaching Integral Yoga, has...
Meditation for Self-Mastery
Meditation starts with concentration. Meditation actually begins when the mind is well-focused and it learns to become totally still. When the mind becomes completely still it seems to be losing itself. That is what you call transcending the mental state. All...
The Best Method of Meditation?
Students often ask me if there is one method of meditation that is the best. There is no one particular way of meditation. Meditation is the same process for all of us, no matter what technique we use. It is only the object or idea for meditation which may vary...
Tratak: Meditation on a Form or Yantra
The mind can be steadied by practicing repeated concentration and meditation on a visual form. The particular form can differ according to the individual's temperament and taste. Some examples are: the steady flame of a candle, a picture of a beloved saint or...
How to Meditate
Whenever you feel in a peaceful state of mind, meditate. Just close your eyes and relax, even if it's only for a minute. If you wish to deepen your meditation, then schedule some time daily for this practice. From the physical to the mental to the spiritual Meditation...
How to Meditate with a Mantra
Japa, the practice of repetition of a mantra, focuses the mind, makes it one-pointed and leads it into meditation. In this calm state, the powerful forces which are stored up in the unconscious get released and raised up to the conscious or subconscious level. The...
Ajapa-Japa Practice
In this article, Swami Satchidananda explains the science behind the relationship between sound vibrations and prana (subtle energy). He teaches the practice of ajapa-japa—concentration upon the natural sound of the breath which continually repeats the mantras Soham...
Integral Yoga Pranayama: Practice Guidelines
Recommended Seated Postures Any sitting posture may be used for performing pranayama as long as the spine is erect and the hands rest on the knees. However, it is optimal if one of the meditation postures is assumed. The main meditative poses are Padmaasana (Lotus...
The Breath of Life
Quite other than this physical sheath which consists of food and interior to it is the energy sheath that consists of breath. This is encased in the physical sheath and has the same form. The one is filed with the other. This first has the likeness of a human being,...
Sanskrit: The Language of Enlightenment
Among the many marvelous gifts of the Sanskrit language is a rich spectrum of terminology that defines with impeccable precision a world of vision and clarity that opens through Yoga and meditation. Without this, the already difficult journey to self-knowledge could...
Sanskrit: a Sacred Model of Language, Part 3
From the perspective of Yoga, all life ultimately merges into samadhi. It could be said that samadhi is the essence of yoga, In the Yoga Sutras, samadhi is defined, "tad evaathamaatraanirbhaasam-svaruupa-shuunyam iva samaadhih" that (consciousness, engaged in...
Sanskrit: a Sacred Model of Language, Part 2
The primary characteristic of a sacred language is that the purpose for which it's being used is discovering one's own true nature. Sanskrit is so highly developed and refined as a tool for serving this purpose...
Sanskrit: a Sacred Model of Language, Part 1
What makes a language sacred is how we use it. If a language is used to discover the sacredness of life, it becomes a sacred language. Whether or not a language is sacred is determined by who is using it. This in turn has a great deal to do with whether a language is...
Sanskrit and the Yoga Sutras
The "certainty of freedom" is a striking concept. Although the concept of spiritual freedom expressed through a word such as "liberation" exists in the English language, the actual meaning as we hear it is quite abstract, somehow foreign to the reality of our day to...
Sanskrit: Divine Abode
Many of the universal chants sung in the Integral Yoga Institutes, as well as the ancient Yogic scriptures, are in the Sanskrit language. ''He who knows my grammar knows God," said Panini, the great Sanskrit grammarian and philosopher of ancient India. ''He who would...
Sanskrit, Sattva and Purusha
From Patanjali's perspective in his Yoga Sutras, there is ultimately one problem in life; not perceiving the difference between the transparent, luminous and reflective quality (guna) of the mind with its perceptual field known as sattva, and my true nature as "I"...
Yoga Nidra and Visualizations
One of the first visualizations to use could be the one of Sacred Space, finding the safe, secure place within oneself: “Close your eyes. Take in a few deep breaths. Today we all will go on a magic trip…We will have to cross the river to get to the other side…so, you...
Walking Meditation for Kids
Walking with a child or group of children is a perfect time to teach them about walking meditation. Begin by picking a path or trail your group already knows so the concentration need not be on finding your way. Begin by walking in single file or with kids alongside...
Teaching School Age Kids Sitting Meditation
This age group is used to sitting still at their desks for a determined period of time, which is a head start in teaching sitting meditation. For learning meditation the teacher and students sit in a circle on the carpet facing in, or the students can sit at their...
Teaching Preschoolers Sitting Meditation
Young kids love being outdoors and pretending, so images from nature for teaching beginning meditation fit this age group. In this lesson I've included the example of a puppy for the kids to visualize. Breathing lesson To introduce children to sitting meditation you...
Teaching Kids a Relaxation Meditation
Everyone needs relaxation periods to refresh and rejuvenate; kids, too. Did you ever notice how easily a baby can relax into sleep? They naturally know how to and take it when needed. Here is how to teach kids relaxation meditation when they feel stressed and need a...
Problem Solving with a Relaxation Meditation for Teens
Prayer, meditation, and study of virtues are useful in finding peace and abiding love within. These spiritual practices are a foundation for becoming caring teens and adults. We learn from a very young age about our innate spirituality underlying all religious...