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A Yogic Approach to Spring Cleaning

In North America, the Spring season will soon be behind us giving way to the Summer Solstice in June. Spring has long been a time of transition, when the dark and barren days of winter give way to light, warmth and new growth. Before summer is upon us, this month’s...

Working with Self-Judgment

In this episode, host Avi Gordon (director of the Integral Yoga Teachers Association) and his guest, Swami Asokananda, talk about how each works with self-judgment, resistances to daily sadhana (spiritual practice), pratipaksha bhavana, and other topics regarding...

Rethinking Spiritual Practice: Do We Walk the Inner or Outer Path?

Is the spiritual path an inner one? Do we have to leave the world behind to find ourselves? If not, how can we integrate our relationship with the world? Is there an outer path to freedom? I think it is time for us to rethink our relationship with what we are taught...

Self-Effort and Grace

You begin the spiritual path with self-effort. You begin with your own force, with your own will. As you begin to practice concentration and meditation, the mind becomes more one-pointed; it comes to a very calm condition. In that calmness, you are able to perceive...

Six Qualities to Cultivate in Sadhana

It may seem that some people are natural born yogis and that spiritual practice comes easily to them. Are there certain qualities that we see in people who have a well-grounded sadhana? The answer is yes, but they rarely appear full blown in anyone. They need to be...

Self-Reflection as a Spiritual Practice

As the daylight hours shorten in the northern hemisphere this time of year, it’s natural to spend more time indoors. Plant and animal life alike pause from growing and withdraw from activity. We too benefit from periods of rest and reflection as a preparation for the...

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How to Be Happy Always

How to Be Happy Always

Yoga theory sometimes leaves us nowhere; it’s mostly intellectual. What the mind can understand is very little. So in the name of Yoga practice, we do something that can expand the mind and then, little by little, we understand things in a better way. We don’t want to...

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The Benefits of Silence

The Benefits of Silence

Those who are interested in making gold should be silent. There is even a saying, “Silence is golden.” In Sanskrit there is a proverb. Silence in Sanskrit is “mouna.” And the proverb goes, “Mouna kalakanasti.” Kalakam means: problems or quarrels. Nasti means: don’t...

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Q & A with Swami Satchidananda on Spiritual Energy

Q & A with Swami Satchidananda on Spiritual Energy

Question: I sometimes experience the rising of the sacred Kundalini, accompanied by a soft humming sound and a certain degree of bliss or peace. Why does this energy remain only briefly? Swami Satchidananda: It’s a beautiful question. I’m glad to know that you have...

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How to Practice Yoga Despite a Busy Lifestyle

How to Practice Yoga Despite a Busy Lifestyle

It’s not difficult to practice Yoga, even with a very busy lifestyle. What do you think your Yoga practice is? Doing some postures, sitting in meditation and that’s all? No, there is a yogic way of doing everything; not that this is Yoga and that is not Yoga. Even the...

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How to Succeed in Yoga: Practice

How to Succeed in Yoga: Practice

Yoga means to control the mind, to master the mind. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras begins by saying: Control of thoughts is Yoga—Yoga chitta vritti nirodhah (Sutra 1.2). But how is it to be done? Even the ideal disciple, Arjuna, says to Sri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita: “My...

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The Aim of Spiritual Practice

The Aim of Spiritual Practice

The aim of all spiritual practice is to know your real Self, to know the Knower. Spiritual practices are done, essentially, to help clean your mind so that you can realize your spiritual truth—to realize the divine in you. Only when you have a clean mind can you...

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Sadhana Chart: Why Keep One?

Sadhana Chart: Why Keep One?

Over more than three decades, Bhaktan Eberle has kept a sadhana chart—a daily log of his Yoga practice—that he sent to Sri Gurudev Swami Satchidananda every month. Bhaktan Bhaktan says, “The sadhana chart is the one practice that yields the most dramatic results for...

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Sadhana: A Lifelong Process

Sadhana: A Lifelong Process

Sadhana is a lifelong process. Every day, every hour, every minute, is an onward march. Obstacles are innumerable in this great voyage. But, so long as you hold God as thy guide, there is nothing to worry about. You are sure to reach the other shore. You must have...

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Sadhana: What I learned from Doing it the “Wrong” Way

Sadhana: What I learned from Doing it the “Wrong” Way

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...

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Sadhana: The Effort Toward Self-realization

Sadhana: The Effort Toward Self-realization

Many westerners are first introduced to Yoga through asana, the practice of the yogic postures. As one’s practice deepens, it can lead to an interest in further exploring aspects of Yoga. In this interview, we talk with Dr. David Frawley—considered to be an acharya, a...

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