Yoga as “Lifestyle Medicine”

I first came across the teachings of Swami Satchidananda (Sri Gurudev) in a transcript from a talk he gave in which he said, “We have a natural state of ease and when we lose it we get disease.” I was in medical school at the time, and nobody was really addressing the...

Sleep as a Spiritual Practice

There are many stories in the Zen tradition that offer a perspective on sleep, such as the enlightenment of Ananda, where he stayed awake for several days on end trying to attain Great Liberation. He finally decides to give up on attaining enlightenment and get some...

Yoga Nidra: Portal to Our Essence-Nature

Julie Lusk, MEd, E-RYT-500, NCC, has a new book out: Yoga Nidra Meditations: 24 Scripts for True Relaxation. Featuring twenty-four Yoga Nidra scripts written by author Julie Lusk and thirteen of the world’s master teachers—including Swami Satchidananda—this book...

Yoga for Mental Health

In recognition of  “Mental Health Awareness Month”  (observed each May in the USA),  Nalanie Chellaram’s (director of the Integral Yoga Institute Gibraltar and Sotogrande, Spain) gave a talk on how Yoga can help with mental health issues. In this...

A Yoga Nidra Experience

A beautiful relaxation experience led by Sri Swami Satchidananda. Yoga Nidra is a classical Yoga practice for de-stressing the body and mind that leads the practitioner toward the recognition of one’s essence-nature. The practice enables you to let go of...