Laura Sevika Douglass, Ph.d. is a regular guest editor of Integral Yoga Magazine. In this article, she discusses the importance of creating a safe space in her Yoga classes and the role her personal spiritual practice plays in her service to others. Dr. Douglass...
Based on his personal experience with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic attacks and anxiety, Boris Bhagavan Pisman, MS, NCC, developed a Yoga-based approach to recovery. In this interview, he talks about his journey and how he integrates the best of Yoga...
In this article, Swami Satchidananda answers questions about Yoga and vegetarian diet. Q: Is it hypocritical to be a vegetarian for spiritual reasons and also to cook for others who insist on eating meat? A: Just because you have become a vegetarian, it doesn’t mean...
Once I was asked a question: “Do the Vedas teach vegetarianism?” The answer is, there is no Veda without the mention of ahimsa. “Ahimsa paramo dharmaha” means that the greatest dharma one can embrace is ahimsa. Saint Ramalinga Swamigal always said, “If you want the...
“Who will be the happiest? The one who brings happiness to others.” –Swami Satchidananda How we behave toward others and our environment reveals—more than anything else—our inner state of mind and the current condition of our personalities. When we are self-confident...
We are gathered here to find ways and means to be healthy, holistically healthy. We don’t need to do anything to be healthy. By nature we are healthy. We were born healthy. We don’t need to be doing anything to bring in positive vibrations. Instead, we should know how...
For a long time, Yoga was thought of as something mysterious, something fit for the so-called recluses, escapists and cave dwellers. It took a long time for the public to realize that Yoga is something that can be practiced by anybody who wants to live an easeful,...
“The spiritual teacher Swami Satchidananda was once asked, ‘What’s the difference between illness and wellness?’ He walked over to a blackboard [during Grand Rounds at the University of Virginia Medical Center] and wrote illness and circled the first letter, i. He...
It is not just one thing that creates disease. And it is not one thing that can heal us. It takes a holistic approach. Nature has tremendous regenerative and restorative energy. Many of you may know that if a lizard loses its tail, another tail will grow. If it...
We have an expression, “He or she is fighting the flu or fighting cancer.” I don’t recommend fighting with disease. That creates more disease. Instead, understand the disease. Because disease is nothing but dis-ease, disturbed ease. You were at ease and that ease got...
In this interview, Dr. Michael (Muktan) Sullivan, a chiropractor and Ayurvedic doctor, discusses the relationship between chiropractic, Ayurveda and Yoga. He also reflects on all he learned from Swami Satchidananda over the years. Integral Yoga Magazine: You have been...
I am honored to pay tribute to Sri Swami Satchidananda (Gurudev), an extraordinary spiritual teacher who we have had the blessing of knowing. I want to talk a little bit about the work that my colleagues and I have been doing as a manifestation of the vision that I...
In this interview, Dr. Mala Cunningham discusses the growing field of Medical Yoga and the new, groundbreaking course she’s developed for the University of Virginia: “Foundations of Medical Yoga for Health Professionals.” Integral Yoga Magazine: Integral Yoga has a...
The Integral Yoga ® Institute of San Francisco launched a pilot program in October 2007 that has now grown into a global movement: Accessible Yoga Teacher Training. Initially founded for people with physical challenges who want to become Yoga teachers, this inspiring...
The Integral Yoga Ministry was inspired by Sri Gurudev Swami Satchidananda's example and motto: "The dedicated enjoy supreme peace, therefore live only to serve." Some of his students have chosen the path of sannyas or monasticism. The first of his American students...
It was in July 1966, that pop artist icon Peter Max (spiritual name, Atman) invited Sri Gurudev Swami Satchidananda (known as “Swamiji” at that time) to the United States. Sri Gurudev had been invited to Europe a few months earlier by filmmaker Conrad Rooks...