An Ayurvedic Approach to Asana Practice

Ayurveda and Yoga are sister sciences. In this interview, David Frawley, PhD (Pandit Vamadeva Shastri) addresses their complementarity and where asana fits into both of these ancient systems from a holistic perspective. He also clarifies the intent of asana and the...

Living a Healthy Life

Once, I was driving from one town to another in the region of Shillong, which is in the northeastern part of India. At that time, Shillong had recently won its independence. The politicians told the people that everyone was now free. Some of the country people felt...

Why Practice Hatha Yoga?

Many people think that anything involving poses and stretches is Yoga, but Hatha Yoga is a far deeper practice with very specific goals. These goals include bringing health, wellbeing, ease and steadiness to the body so that we can function happily in the world and...

Hatha Teaching of the Month: Sthira Sukham Asanam

In The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book II: sutra 46, Sri Patanjali describes asana as having two components: sthira—steady, sukham—comfortable. Swami Satchidananda’s commentary on this sutra tells us that “We need the strength of steel, but with steel’s flexibility.”...

Experience Your Feminine Nature in Yoga

The feminine nature of a woman’s body and her emotional makeup have unique qualities that need special attention. Many of the Yoga poses need to be adapted to the female body, yet our special needs as women are ignored if we follow traditional asana instruction rather...