There is a village proverb in South India: “It doesn’t matter who pounds the rice; as long as I get the rice, it’s fine.” I think this also could be the motto for health and wellness providers. It doesn’t matter what approach you take, what “pathy” you use: allopathy, homeopathy, or naturopathy. It’s good to have all the “pathys” but the most important “pathy” is sympathy. Sympathy goes a long way in bringing health and happiness to someone who is unwell. There is another saying: “Half by medicine, half by the doctor.” It’s not the medicine alone that cures. It is also your attitude, your approach, your sympathy, your concern, compassion, your love for the person. That’s where Yoga and meditation come in. The essential point behind Yoga is to be able to see your own self in other beings, not only in other persons but in all of creation. As you provide care for someone, you should feel you are taking care of yourself. As the Golden Rule says, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” And you cannot do it unless you see your own self in the person. Then there is a beautiful rapport, a good communication. With that, all the rest happens naturally.  MORE

In my early career as a psychologist in academia, I valued being productive to the exclusion of other dimensions of myself. Outside of work, my relationships, play, and spiritual practice were of central importance to me. Yet I, and others around me, would have benefited if I had risked bringing more of myself into my work life. I say “risk” because in competitive environments, productivity is reinforced, often at the expense of an individual’s uniqueness. What I did not understand then, because I was too busy striving, was the importance of wise effort. Wise effort requires understanding when action is needed, as well as when it is not. And, most importantly, wise effort includes creating time for non-doing. Non-doing is an engaged restraint from action or effort. It is non-striving, a form of stillness and quiet. But non-doing is not inaction, nor is it disengagement, zoning out, becoming distracted, or wasting time. Because non-doing is foreign to many of us, it can feel inactive—but it is anything but. Cultivating non-doing is an important skill that creates internal spaciousness. The actions that arise from this place are infused with greater ease and clarity.   MORE

The benefits of Yoga have been widely documented by scientific research, but previously it was not clear as to how Yoga exerts its physiologic effect. Now a new study from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) proposes that Yoga can increase levels of Gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) in the short-term and completing one Yoga class per week may maintain elevated GABA that could mitigate depressive symptoms. Depression is a highly prevalent and disabling disease. According to the World Health Organization, depression affects approximately 16 million people in the U.S. every year and is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Given its high morbidity, extensive research has been done on effective treatment modalities for depression. GABA is an amino acid that acts as a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system and has been associated with decreased depressive symptoms.... Researchers noted: “A unique strength of this study is that pairing the Yoga intervention with brain imaging provides important neurobiological insight as to the ‘how’ Yoga may help to alleviate depression and anxiety."  MORE

The Integral Yoga Teachers' Council just released the latest update to the Integral Yoga Teachers Code of Conduct (IYTCoC). The  IYTCoC reflects the ethical principles of yama and niyama, which are found in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, as well as the current standards in the broader Yoga teaching community. This code applies to all Integral Yoga teachers and Integral Yoga teaching centers throughout the world.

Section 1: Statement of Purpose
The Integral Yoga Teachers’ Council is committed to and holds high ethical and professional standards for all Integral Yoga teachers. It is the responsibility of the Integral Yoga teacher to ensure a safe and supportive environment for imparting the teachings and for the well-being of the students. The Integral Yoga Teacher Code of Conduct provides clear guidelines for teachers so that the highest integrity is maintained at all times in the teacher-student relationship.  MORE