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Yoga Nidra: A Gateway to Samadhi

Yoga Nidra is yogic sleep. But, it’s a sort of sleepless sleep. You are awake and at the same time you are sleeping. The scriptures call it “jagrat sushupti,” awakened sleep. You sleep, but you don’t sleep. During regular sleep, you sleep but you don’t know that...

My Spiritual Journey with Karma Yoga

I don’t know about you, but the spirit of sacrifice and service has never come easy for me. In the early days of my spiritual journey, due to my self-absorption in “taking care of Number 1,” I used to cringe whenever Swami Satchidananda (Gurudev) talked about Karma...

BOOK: Curious Poses: 30 Yoga Postures and the Stories They Tell

Curious Poses: 30 Yoga Postures and the Stories They Tell by Lucy Greeves introduces readers to the monks and maharajas, gods and gymnasts who shaped Hatha Yoga as we know it. Have you ever wondered why Yoga postures look the way they do, or how they got their names?...

How Our Lungs Affect Our Emotions

In Traditional Chinese Medicine it is understood that our lungs are a delicate entry point connecting us to the outside world. One of its functions is dispersing and spreading defensive or protective (wei) qi. This subcategory of qi lies just under our skin and...

Carrying Inner Peace Out into the World

It is a tradition in Integral Yoga that after daily meditation we repeat Shanti mantras, or peace prayers. These prayers are a beautiful way to end one’s formal meditation sitting and are a spiritual support in that they are affirmations of peace. The Yoga tradition...

The Magic Mat

As someone who enjoys crafting, the advertisement for the “Original Magic Mat” (a die-cutting crafting aid), suddenly took on an entirely new meaning after experiencing Yoga teacher training. I’ve seen this ad before, but I’ve never thought about anything more than...