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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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Hatha in a Hurry!

Hatha in a Hurry!

Integral Yoga teacher Bhuvaneswari Pipitone was inspired to share how asanas can be made more accessible (even in the kitchen & wearing jeans!). "I needed a gentle practice and it needed to be short," she noted. You can also use a chair or anything available in...

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Meditation in Action

Meditation in Action

Continuous meditation is meditation in daily life. It reminds me of the well-known tea ceremony in Japan. It’s a way of welcoming a guest into your home. And when the guest comes, you just give them a cup of tea, which we normally do, but in Japan, giving a cup of tea...

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Steps on the Spiritual Path

Steps on the Spiritual Path

Question: For people who are new on the path of spirituality, what do you recommend for them? Are there steps or procedures? Swami Satchidananda: You have already taken the first step by wanting to become a spiritual student. That is the most important thing. You want...

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How to Meditate

How to Meditate

Learning to meditate can be overwhelming for some. The mind can feel less like a place of quiet refuge and more like Times Square. In this video, you can follow along with Yoga master Sri Swami Satchidananda's instructions (read by Saraswati Ishaya from the booklet,...

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Hatha Yoga: The Art of Change

Hatha Yoga: The Art of Change

Change is the act of becoming different, a natural occurrence that makes life possible. So why does it cause so much stress? Change comes into our awareness at the end of comfort. When life is good, there is no need to change. Only when things are uneasy do we begin...

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How to Make Your Formal Meditation Practice More Effective

How to Make Your Formal Meditation Practice More Effective

Meditation is something we should learn to practice, not just in formal meditation, but all the time. But, for our formal, sitting meditation practice, preparation is most important. Is there not a saying, “Well begun is half done?” We often don’t begin well. We don’t...

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Savasana for the Yogis who Can’t Sit Still

Savasana for the Yogis who Can’t Sit Still

Savasana (or Corpse pose) is well-known for being the most important pose in our Yoga practice. It is the moment when all the physical hard work of class can seep into our muscles and bones, our body can melt into the floor, and we can finally do nothing but breathe....

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Spiritual Practice: Never Give Up!

Recently I was asked the question, “What can I do when I find I am lacking the discipline to practice my disciplines?” Follow the spirit: The spirit vs. the mind—that means your own inner consciousness and your outer mind. There is always a tug of war between those...

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Learning the Method of Direct Inquiry

Learning the Method of Direct Inquiry

It’s nearly impossible to calm the waves of the mind completely, but we can learn to dive under them. You don’t have to make all the waves calm. The Bhagavad Gita says that the mind gets tossed like a boat on the surface of wavy water. It’s very hard to keep the mind...

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Faith and the Crystal Clear Mind

Faith and the Crystal Clear Mind

In children, the mind is pure. It is the world that goes in and contaminates our mind, otherwise, the mind is always plain and pure, like a crystal. No mind is bad, no mind is dirty; it’s always crystal clear. But it is the proximity of the mind to other things that...

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