Rev. Jaganath, Integral Yoga Minister and Raja Yoga master teacher, has spent a lifetime delving into the deepest layers of meaning in Patanjali's words within the Yoga Sutras. This series continues with the third and key sutra of Chapter 1— Tada drastuh...
Nirodha as the Root of Intuitive Insight One of the major themes in the Sutras is the ability to distinguish between the mind, even the completely tranquil mind – and the Self, our True Nature. This ability is called viveka (discriminative discernment) or Yoga...
Nirodha’s Adversary: Vyutthana Vyutthana, externalization of the mind, is the predominant characteristic of ordinary consciousness. The temptation might be to characterize nirodha as a mind in meditation and vyutthana as a mind tempted by distractions of the outside...
Rev. Jaganath, Integral Yoga Minister and Raja Yoga master teacher, has spent a lifetime delving into the deepest layers of meaning in Patanjali's words within the Yoga Sutras. In Patanjali's Words, his latest work-in-progress, Rev. Jaganath explores the Sutras word...
In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali speaks of the different stages of samadhi. The mere understanding of these different states is very little compared to the experience, but still, for the sake of understanding, Patanjali describes them. The first stage of samadhi is the...
A few years ago, as I approached my 68th birthday, I begin typing words to describe what it feels like to age with Yoga as my support system. You see, I now have been practicing the art of Yoga for over five decades. It has always been the backdrop of virtually every...
Santosha, the second niyama in the Raja Yoga system, means contentment. We also have a saying in the West that “Contentment is golden.” Why? Contentment is golden because it doesn’t depend on the things around you, the things that you have. Whenever I think of...
In this article, Swami Satchidananda, founder of Integral Yoga, and a trained naturopath himself, discusses the essential elements that comprise classical Yoga therapy. When I came to this country in 1966, I met Dr. Ramamurti Mishra (who became Swami Brahmananda), the...
In this interview, we talk to two of the leading teacher trainers—the founders of the Jivamukti Yoga Method—Sharon Gannon and David Life. They discuss the role of the Yoga teacher and the special qualities needed to be a modern day Yoga teacher. Integral Yoga Magazine...
Deborah Adele says that the yamas and niyamas (the ethical precepts that are the first two foundational limbs in Patanjali’s eight-limbed system of classical Yoga) offer us tools to help us stay centered in the midst of the ups and downs of life. She’s written a book...
Our whole experience of life is based on the stories we tell ourselves about what unfolds. Swami Vivekananda describes it like an oyster making a pearl. A parasite gets inside the shell, and then the oyster reacts to the irritation by producing enamel around it, which...
As a practitioner and as a teacher of Yoga, (the late) Mukunda Stiles pondered the Yoga Sutras for over three decades. He brings not just a philosophical understanding to the Sutras, but a deep personal experience that helps illuminate the text. In this interview from...
In this article Yogacharya Dr. Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani gives us an overview of the four chapters of The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali—the foundational text for the classical Yoga (Ashtanga/Raja) system. This system is neatly unpacked by Dr. Ananda, who gives us key...
As a yogi, mainly in the Krishnamacharya lineage, and as a practitioner of Buddhist meditation for many years, Chip Hartranft’s work bridges the traditions of Yoga and Buddhism. His deep contemplation and study of the Yoga Sutras is evident in this interview,...
To hear Dr. M. A. Jayashree chant the Yoga Sutras in Sanskrit is to be transported to the time when this great text was transmitted in the oral tradition. Her melodious voice, flawless pronunciation and classical articulation of the Sanskrit, replete with meaning and...
Ruth Lauer Manenti (affectionately known as "Lady Ruth" in the Jivamukti Yoga tradition) has been offering her students “dharma talks”—stories from her life that accompany her classes and represent the yogic commitments to ahimsa (non-violence), compassion and...