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United Nations Declares December 21st as “World Meditation Day”

The United Nations General Assembly has set a powerful intention for global harmony by unanimously declaring December 21st as World Meditation Day. This landmark resolution on December 6, 2024, invites the world to pause, reflect, and embrace the transformative...

Health Benefits of Pranayama

In this talk hosted by the Integral Yoga Institute of New Jersey, Integral Yoga master teacher and senior monastic Swami Karunananda explains the benefits of the practice of pranayama (yogic breathing techniques). She also shares the instructions she received from her...

The Essential Quality for Spiritual Growth

A few years ago, I read an article titled “Humility, The Virtue No One Wants.” It was a good title, I thought, because humility is maybe just a little too close to the word humiliation for comfort, a bit like shame, the sort of thing we think we’d like to get away...

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Keeping Our Balance

Keeping Our Balance

Relax, recharge, and stay centered with this multilevel Hatha Yoga class offered by Swami Ramananda (filmed at the Integral Yoga Institute of San Francisco). Integral Yoga is a complete system developed by Swami Satchidananda to address all levels of the individual,...

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Yogic Deep Breathing

Yogic Deep Breathing

Many health care providers have addressed the importance of keeping the lungs healthy, especially during the pandemic. The classical practice of deergha swasam (deep, 3 part-breathing) is an ideal practice for its health—body/mind—and spiritual benefits. This...

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Guided Deep Relaxation to Help You Sleep

Guided Deep Relaxation to Help You Sleep

These are stressful times. You may be one of the many who feel stressed and tired but find it hard to sleep. This short Integral Yoga Guided Relaxation, with Integral Yoga senior teacher Nalanie Chellaram, is designed to help you relax, fall asleep, and rest well....

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More than Just an Eagle: Garudasana

More than Just an Eagle: Garudasana

Garuda, the Eagle god as depicted in the Mahabharata, is the vehicle that carries Lord Vishnu. Vishnu is the deity representing preservation, sustainability or, in a more tangible way, Garuda is the vehicle that carries the True Self. Garudasana, is a pose that...

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Healing PTSD: A Yoga Teacher’s Story

Healing PTSD: A Yoga Teacher’s Story

When deadly floods and mudslides devastated communities across southwestern Japan in 2018, many survivors were afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They had lived through complete devastation and the loss of home, family, friends, and all sense of...

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Finding the Joy in Self-Discipline

Finding the Joy in Self-Discipline

Question: Why do Yoga practices appear as disciplines when they are the source of joy? Yoga practices don’t appear as discipline—they are discipline. And who said that a disciplined life is an unhappy life? This seems to imply that discipline doesn’t make us joyful....

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How Meditation Helps

How Meditation Helps

People used to think that Yoga only meant standing on the head and doing some breathing techniques. But a very important practice is meditation—working directly with the mind. After all, the body is only a concrete expression of the mind. If you change the mind, you...

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Why I Hate Meditation

Why I Hate Meditation

I have a friend who has told me, on multiple occasions, that she cannot meditate. Up to this point, I have failed miserably to convince her otherwise. I have used all the best quotes, like the old Zen saying, “You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day,...

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Bringing Our Intentions to Life

Bringing Our Intentions to Life

We’ve all probably experienced times when we felt bounced around by too many stressors and we struggled just to keep our balance. In stressful times, we may be happy just to make it through the day, have something nice to eat, and a little entertainment to relax with....

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