Consciousness, Happiness and Liberation

Integral Yoga® Magazine, Issue No. 255 “Integral Yoga”

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Integral Yoga

Satchidananda Ashram–Yogaville and the Integral Yoga organization celebrate the 55th anniversary of Swami Satchidananda's arrival in New York on July 31, 1966. Thank you Gurudev for the gift of Integral Yoga!

“People think Yoga means always standing on the head or doing some poses. Even animals can do that. The aim of Yoga is to calm the mind. ‘Equanimity is Yoga.’ That's why what we do is called Integral Yoga, because we integrate everything: body, mind, spirit.” –Swami Satchidananda

(photo: Swami Satchidananda poses in front of the State of Liberty
soon after his arrival in New York City, 1966.)

The Pursuit of Happiness
By Sri Swami Satchidananda

Yoga is now known and practiced all over the world. This is because it’s not only for people who believe in religion, spirituality, or a particular philosophy. The yogic teachings comprise the very same foundation that is found in all faiths and religions. And, even atheists can practice Yoga because of its universal ethical and practical applications. We include the person who doesn’t have any formal faith, because that is their faith. Through Yoga, you see the essential part of any faith’s basic foundation. MORE

Liberation
By Swami Sivananda Radha

Yoga is a path of liberation, and liberation has to begin in the here and now of our daily lives. We have to liberate ourselves from our own self-made prisons. These are prisons of attachments, concepts and habits, and the compelling forces of mechanical reactions and untested beliefs. Where are you imprisoned? You may feel there are areas, such as your work situation, where you didn’t create the prison—the eight-hour workday five days a week, the tough boss, the lack of recognition... MORE

Meditation:
Ananda, the Peace That Passeth All Understanding

In this inspiring meditation, Rupert Spira (teacher of the "direct path," a method of spiritual self-inquiry) uses the analogy of a person watching a movie in a cinema to explore the imperturbable nature of awareness. The peaceful presence of awareness, as if watching from a premium seat in the back row, has a view of the person watching and of the movie, and is not affected in any way by the content of the movie or its effect on the audience.

Teaching of the Month:
What Does Self-Realization Mean to You?
By Swami Ramananda

At a satsang in New York some years ago, I raised the question, “What matters most to you?” I spoke about the importance of clarifying what we value and reflecting on the ultimate purpose of our lives. Speaking to a group of yogis, I was not surprised that someone suggested right away that moksha or spiritual liberation was most important. We all might understand liberation, or Self-realization, to be the goal of Yoga, but what does that really mean to us? MORE

Loss Life Love
By Nalanie Chellaram

Nalanie Chellaram, Integral Yoga teacher and Gibraltar and Sotogrande, Spain centers head, recently published a book, Loss, Love, Life. In this article, she shares the inspiration behind writing the book and her journey through loss into life and love again. The book is available at the centers in Gibraltar and Spain and on Amazon.
I had read many books about death and dying. I had contemplated the subject often. I truly understood that we all die. I myself had been on my deathbed four times. I had lost my beloved Dad and my great Guru, Swami Satchidananda... MORE

The Language of the Earth

In this short video, ecologist Stephan Harding shares a simple practice to transform our relationship with the natural world and to help us engage more fully with the real vs. the unreal.

Trauma Healing in the Yoga Zone
By Joann Lutz, MSW, LICSW, C-IAYT, E-RYT 

Integral Yoga teacher and therapist Joann Lutz has a new trailblazing book out for mental health professionals, Yoga therapists and teachers working with trauma utilizing the science of Yoga. The book includes a foreword by Dr. Sandra Amrita McLanahan. In this article, she shares her personal and professional journey in Yoga and Yoga therapy.
Though I have been practicing Integral Yoga for fifty-one years, now is the time to formally introduce myself to the Integral Yoga community. Yoga found me in 1970, at age 21, when I returned home from college in a major depression. MORE

Inspiring Meme of the Week

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