Contentment is a deceptively simple concept that offers tremendous benefit if we fully embrace its practice. It is referred to as santosha in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and is not so easy to master because the habit of wanting and achieving is so deeply ingrained in...
Imagine a country whose citizens—maybe even its leaders—are brave, calm, and open towards each other; a country whose people realize that all human beings belong together as one family and must act accordingly; a country guided by Common Sense. This may seem more than...
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...
Many of us come to meditation for the first time to still our mind. We recognize that the source of suffering has something to do with the way our minds work (or don’t work) and we believe that by sitting still and taming our mind we will become calm and peaceful. One...
Often in life, we overlook the value of the simple and familiar: a kind word, a helping hand, a timely smile. Such everyday gestures impart meaning and a sense of connectedness as we wend our way through time and space. Similarly, the breath is our constant companion,...
In this episode of the Integral Yoga Podcast, Avi Gordon (director of the Integral Yoga Teachers Association) is in conversation with Carroll Ann (Prashanti) Friedmann. She shares her personal journey with the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the sankalpa (vow or...
Many years ago, I took other types of Yoga but also just regular Integral Yoga Hatha classes. And I noticed whenever I left an Integral Yoga class, I just felt so incredible. Everything was moving in slow motion, I was floating and everything was totally clear. I was...
Who am I really? Who am I being? These are two queries and discoveries to be made while practicing svadhyaya (self-study)—Yoga’s fourth niyama, as well as the second practice in the Kriya Yoga of Sri Patanjali. Svadhyaya includes the study of sacred texts and the...
Your practice of mantra repetition creates a sort of sound within. The sound is already in you. You are not doing anything new. That is the divine within you in the form of sound: namarupa, in Sanskrit. The Bible says that in the beginning there was the Word. That...
FireFlex Yoga, an online donation-based Yoga class designed for First Responders (anyone is welcome to register/attend), is happy to announce a new initiative. All proceeds go toward supporting a nonprofit that serves First Responders. The class will be LIVE and...
In this article, Laura Sevika Douglass shares the insights she’s gained from her own sadhana practice in the hope that readers can benefit from her experience and avoid some of the many challenges everyone encounters when trying to establish a regular practice Since...
With his unique humor and enormous depth of wisdom, Swami Asokananda is a master in presenting the great teachings of Yoga in ways that are deeply relevant to key issues in modern life. In this article, he shares the benefit of his experience from his personal journey...
The secret of spiritual practice is not what you do but how you do—that is more important. Sometimes a newcomer who gets into spiritual practice will make a big list of resolutions, “I will practice half an hour every day in the morning, pranayama, three malas every...
“Contentment is golden. A contented mind is a golden mind.” –Swami Satchidananda It’s funny how children enjoy the simplest of toys and teenagers relish in their relationships with their best friends, while a quiet transition commences during adulthood and suddenly...
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....
Integral Yoga® Publications is pleased to announce this new release: Practicing the Yoga Sutras: A Personal Study Guide & Journal by Carroll Ann (Prashanti) Friedmann. The book, which utilizes the sutra translations and definitions from The Yoga Sutras of...