By Karuna Kreps I first learned of Swami Satchidananda when I was 16 and saw his striking photograph on the front page of the Village Voice. The caption read something like, “Flower children meet Swami Satchidananda at JFK Airport as he returns to New York, after...
By Kali Morse and Rashmi Galliano We have been leading Basic Integral Yoga Teacher Trainings for many years now and of course, one of the first practices that we share with the teacher trainees is Surya Namaskaram. My (Kali) first experience of Surya Namaskaram was in...
An Interview with Dean Ornish, M.D. Integral Yoga Magazine (IYM): Please tell us about your relationship with Swami Satchidananda. Dean Ornish (DO): Let me begin by saying that I wouldn’t be alive today if it weren’t for Swami Satchidananda—because I was very close to...
By Peter Max Since meeting Swami Satchidananda, the last 50 years have been the best years of my life. I’ve learned so much from Gurudev; even the way I met him was miraculous. It was 1966—a time of psychedelic experimentation among the youth and Yoga was virtually...
त्यं ब्रूयात्प्रियं ब्रूयान्न ब्रूयात्सत्यमप्रियम् । प्रियं च नानृतं ब्रूयादेष धर्मः सनातनः ॥ satyam brūyat_priyam brūyan_na brūyāt_satyam_apriyam priyam cha nānṛitam brūyādéṣha dharmaḥ sanātanaḥ ~Manusmriti 4:138 The above verse is from an ancient Sanskrit scripture...
By Mark Nepo It is no accident that those who survive being broken and who make a home for the terrible knowledge are, in turn, at the threshold of enlightened living. Often, in our one-sided logic, we try to theorize that suffering is a prerequisite to deep living....
By Sevika Laura Douglass, Ph.D. Turn on the radio or television and it becomes clear that those of us who live in North America are encouraged to be fearful. Advertisements, websites, articles, and relatives warn us to fear fat, illness, refugees, terrorists, identity...
By Karla Dharmini Helbert When he was three months old, my firstborn child was diagnosed with a rare, highly aggressive brain tumor. Two weeks and three surgeries later, he endured his first chemotherapy treatment. Three days later, a CT scan revealed that his brain...
By Swami Sarvaananda Ph.D., B.C.C. Recently, we received a request from an Integral Yoga teacher to address yogic practices, traditions, and advice on preparing for death. Here are some tips, from our own expert in the field, that may be helpful in preparing for your...
By Amy Weintraub, M.F.A., E-RYT 500 Every March, for the past ten years, I’ve led practices on and off the mat at the Psychotherapy Networker Symposium, a mind-expanding four days of workshops, keynotes, dancing, and schmoozing with old friends in Washington, D.C....
By Tania Taravati Turcinovic Think about a great Yoga class that you attended. What made that class great? It could have been as simple as where your own body and mind were on that particular day. Or it might have been the space, or the other students. For most...
By Rajesh David Music is an integral part of my life. My being born into a family of singers and growing up in a musical atmosphere led naturally to my being trained in Indian classical vocal music. My first encounter with the concept of Nada Brahma was my teacher’s...
By Swami Ramananda In this pair of articles, Swami Ramananda and Claudia Huddleston explore the issue of spiritual activism as a form of Karma Yoga. For a long time, both these yogis have manifested their spiritual practice in the world. Recently they participated in...
An Interview with Rev. M. Mala Cunningham, Ph.D., by Laura Sevika Douglass, Ph.D. In this interview, Dr. Cunningham discusses the growing field of Medical Yoga and the new, groundbreaking course she’s developed for the University of Virginia: “Foundations of Medical...
By Karuna Karen Kreps, RYT 500 The curtain had not yet opened in New York City’s Carnegie Hall for the sold-out lecture on Yoga by Swami Satchidananda, when I and three other young Yoga teachers stepped out from behind the velvet drapes onto the lip of the iconic...
By Amy Weintraub, M.F.A., E-RYT 500 My Journey I took my last antidepressant in 1989. Through the 1980s, I wore depression like a suit of armor, but you can’t exercise in a suit of armor, much less practice Yoga. I had meditated since receiving a mantra in 1970 and...