Durga Leela is the founder of Yoga of Recovery, a comprehensive program that integrates Ayurveda and Yoga with recovery tools for a holistic mind, body, and spirit. In this podcast, Avi Gordon (director of the Integral Yoga Teachers Association) talks with her about...
It was 1968 and I was in my 20s in New York City. I started practicing Yoga at the Integral Yoga Institute. I am now in my 70s, it is 2020, and I live in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I am still practicing Yoga. I’m sure you can do the math. Since my 20s, I have been...
"The enlightened person does whatever is appropriate," explains Dr. Amrita, in the latest Integral Yoga Podcast. Avi Gordon (Integral Yoga Teachers Association director) discusses enlightened action and a number of wellness topics with Dr. Amrita— founder of America's...
We have an expression, “He or she is fighting the flu or fighting cancer.” I don’t recommend fighting with disease. That creates more disease. Instead, understand the disease. Because disease is nothing but dis-ease, disturbed ease. You were at ease and that ease got...
We all want to become healthy, both mentally and physically, but somehow there are a lot of toxins in our bodies and minds. The more we clean the mind, the more we bring out the true light within. I can compare what happens in the oil industry to what happens within...
When Prevention magazine published two articles about Integral Health Services—a groundbreaking integrative medicine clinic in Connecticut, the waiting list at IHS grew into a 2-year wait! Possibly the first health center of its kind in North America (and even the...
I've found myself feeling weird amid the COVID-19 crisis. I use this vague and understated label “weird” because I’ve yet to find a more specific adjective to properly encompass what’s happening internally. As a yogi, I’m supposed to be all zen during a crisis, right?...
In November 1977, Prevention magazine published the first of two articles about Integral Health Services—a groundbreaking integrative medicine clinic in Connecticut. Possibly the first health center of its kind in North America (and even the world), it was based on...
Have you heard the saying, “our tissues hold our issues”? Our bodies remember each fall we took as a child, each scraped knee, each angry word hurled at us, each trauma and abuse that we endured, as well as each loving embrace and joyous occasion. In acupuncture and...
You have to be strong to face things. Going into seclusion, or into a protected environment, helps you make yourself strong. You don’t need to be afraid of this always. Once you build up physical and mental stamina you don’t have to be afraid of anything. Nothing can...
Over many years, Swami Satchidananda made recommendations for keeping our bodies strong, our minds calm, and our hearts open, which all apply especially in this age of the Coronavirus or what I like to call: the “Karuna”-virus. Karuna is the Sanskrit for “compassion.”...
Right now, all of us are whirling through space on this tiny ball we call Earth. It is our common home. With each spin, we mark a day. With each revolution around the sun, we all add a year to our lives. On this fragile ball—a mere speck in the inconceivable vastness...
When your body is sick it needs the help of a strong mind to repair it. Your fear worsens the situation; fear makes the body weaker. Fear is not in the body. Fear is in your mind. When you don’t accept what is happening in the body, and when you identify yourself as...
Dean Ornish, MD—lifestyle medicine doctor and Integral Yogi, is featured in the new Amazon show "Love, Gianna." In this new series, actress Gianna Simone explores the benefits of Veganism as she interviews world-renowned doctors and experts in the field of plant-based...
There is a village proverb in South India: “It doesn’t matter who pounds the rice; as long as I get the rice, it’s fine.” I think this also could be the motto for health and wellness providers. It doesn’t matter what approach you take, what “pathy” you use: allopathy,...
Based on his personal experience with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic attacks and anxiety, Boris Bhagavan Pisman, MS, NCC, developed a Yoga-based approach to recovery. In this interview, he talks about his journey and how he integrates the best of Yoga...