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Love and Happiness
“Love for the sake of love, because loving makes you happy. That happiness cannot be taken away by anybody.
“God bless you. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.” —Sri Swami Satchidananda
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Happy 4th of July weekend! Swami Satchidananda said, "We cannot really celebrate Independence Day until we totally free ourselves from our dependencies. We can celebrate independence, freedom, but essentially it should come from within." In this video, he speaks more about the ties that bind us.
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Words often slip out of our mouths without much forethought. We casually share whatever we are thinking without considering how it will feel or sound to others. This may be fine in some situations, but we’ve all experienced the problems it can create. For this reason, we chose the practice of mindful speech for the month of July. A regular spiritual practice connects us to the Spiritual Self and the ground of being we all share. This sense of connection gives rise to a natural compassion and one of the most important expressions of compassion is in how we speak to each other. In the tradition of Yoga, the intention to express ourselves in harmony with our spiritual values is called satya, Practicing satya or mindful speech, requires that we speak with respect and care to friend and foe alike. Mindfulness implies that we are fully present and consciously chose our words. Satya is translated as truthfulness and is practiced in harmony with ahimsa, non-injury. For example, can I really be at peace with myself when I speak badly about others behind their backs or answer someone sharply because I’m annoyed? MORE
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Everything flourishes in the nourishment of our appreciation. If we are interested in greater flourishing in our lives, it will surely serve us to surrender the burden of incessant goals, shoulds, aspirations, and the need for accomplishments. We can release the litany of ideas about what we must have and need to fix, who we should be, and whose permission we might require before we can be grateful for who we are. We can even set down many of the confines of how we have learned to identify ourselves in the world. We do not need to do, have, or be anything to be worthy of receiving our own acceptance and kindness. Instead, we can turn towards ourselves, extending the gifts of more merciful appreciation for every aspect of who we are, exactly as we are. All of it. Here. Now. Perfectly imperfect. Imperfectly perfect. It is hugely human—and culturally encouraged—to want to work on, change, refine, and try to “better” ourselves. But before any efforts toward self-improvement, personal transformation, or transcendence, there is great wisdom in first learning to compassionately accept and attentively appreciate ourselves for the great fullness and truth of who we are and how we got here. MORE
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In this video, Nalanie Chellaram (Integral Yoga teacher trainer and Integral Yoga Centre director) explains what the koshas are and gives practical examples of how they affect our lives. According to Vedantic philosophy a kosha is usually described as a "sheath," and is a covering of the Atman, or the Self. There are five koshas or sheaths covering the physical and subtle bodies: Anamaya (physical body), pranamaya (energy body), manamaya (mental body), vijnanamaya (wisdom body), anandamaya (bliss body). They are often compared to, and illustrated as, the layers of an onion. (Filmed at the Integral Yoga Centre, Gibraltar, May 2019. Music courtesy of Bensound.)
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It's just a little more than a month away from the 50th anniversary of the legendary Woodstock Festival. Just in time, "The Spirit of the Woodstock Nation", a 50th anniversary song, has been released by Heidi Little and Artie Kornfeld. Bridging the waves of love, peace, care, respect, and music, Heidi and Artie have joined forces to bring a pop love song to the people. Artie Kornfeld, the co-creator and visionary spirit of the original Woodstock festival, unites with children’s advocate and humanitarian Heidi Little in embodying that great spirit—the spirit of the Woodstock Nation! Profits from the song will go to the Jamie Heather Kornfeld Foundation, a new foundation to build healing centers for people coming off of opiates.
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In this series of short talks, Swami Asokananda (Integral Yoga) shares his insights from years of study and contemplation on the great Indian scripture, the Bhagavad Gita. In part 9, Swami Asokananda continues his commentary on the 20th verse of Chapter 1. In this verse, Arjuna (representing the individual soul) asks Sri Krishna (representing the higher Self) to help him find a neutral zone in the midst of the battle going on. Asokanandaji notes that the practice of meditation is what enables us to be in the neutral zone, to observe what is—in our minds and the world. Yet, we'll come to see, as Arjuna did, that this is easier said than done.
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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. Our series continues with sutra 2.32. In sutra 2.30, we learned more about the first of the eight limbs of classical Yoga: yama, comprised of five universal resolves. In sutra 2.32 we learn more about the second limb: niyama.
Sauca is a strengthened form of suci. Purity for the yogi means overcoming the influence of ignorance, karma, subconscious impressions (samskaras), the klesas, and the gunas. It includes purity of body, mind, and intention. From this, we can deduce that an impurity – physical or mental – is anything that inhibits or obstructs the innate harmony among the various facets of the individual and the individual’s relationship to society and Nature. In the Hindu tradition, purity comprises physical, mental, moral, and ritual purification. In Yoga, we don’t see ritual emphasized, although we can regard regular practice as taking the place of ritual. Santosha is not about creating contentment by collecting as many pleasant objects and experiences as possible. The word carries a sense of being connected to something. To what? MORE
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For over 50 years, the Integral Yoga Academy has transformed thousands of Yoga practitioners into accomplished Yoga instructors. Our seasoned approach to teacher trainings allows students to not only gain the skills necessary to instruct a beginner level Hatha class, but grants the space to integrate Yoga into daily life. Even if you aren’t necessarily interested in teaching Yoga, there are still many reasons to take teacher training. 1) You want to invest in your health and well-being: For four weeks, you’ll be immersed in a supportive environment, focusing solely on your health and your studies. You’ll enjoy fresh, organic food straight from our farm. You’ll even get to learn about the medical benefits of a yogic lifestyle from Dr. Amrita McLanahan, Yogaville’s resident doctor. She spent over 20 years with Dr. Dean Ornish reversing heart disease in patients, and is a senior student of Sri Swami Satchidananda. You will have plenty of opportunities to ask questions (and get answers!) about your own personal health issues. 2) You want to learn about the subtle aspects of Yoga: Yoga goes far beyond just the physical asana (posture) practice. MORE
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I was a very lucky girl who didn’t realize how lucky I was. Growing up between Yogaville and Harlem was hard for me as a little girl. I was so jealous of the kids who lived in Yogaville full time. No one was telling them that they were weird for bringing tofu for lunch, or for thinking Yoga was cooler than Menudo (where are my 1980s babies at?!). By the time I got to junior high school I was too busy pretending to be cool to ever admit to anyone that my name was actually Sundari on my birth certificate. It’s Sanskrit, means cosmic beauty, and was given to me by Swami Satchidananda (photo: me and my mom, Anandi, with Swamiji) and the only man I’ve ever felt safe with besides John, my husband. Iana is a Russian name my father gave me, thinking it would make life easier in high school—being black and not rich was hard enough in Chappaqua, New York. I definitely wasn’t brave enough to invite friends over to my place to witness the chanting my mother was prone to break into or the crystals and written affirmations scattered around the house. By the time I was in college and in my early 20s, I had become a completely different version of what they wanted for me. MORE
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Next weekend is the annual Guru Poornima celebration, which will be celebrated in Yogaville and all Integral Yoga centers around the globe. This is a spiritual tradition in Indian religions, dedicated to honoring and paying tribute to one's Guru, or spiritual teacher. In the 1950s, Swami Satchidananda was inspired to expand the celebration to include not only one's personal teacher, but all the saints and sages from every faith tradition. In Yogaville and Integral Yoga centers, in addition to honoring our Guru, the program includes an interfaith worship service (the Light Of Truth Universal Service) and other interfaith activities.
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Inspiring Meme of the Week
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