My teachers at Arhanta Ashram defined Gyan Yoga (Yoga of Knowledge) as the use of true knowledge acquired from reliable sources to increase awareness, reduce ego and ultimately achieve spiritual liberation. Dr. Jayadeva Yogendra, son of the founder of The Yoga Institute in Mumbai, India and now its President, remains my most reliable source for […]Read Post ›
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Heavy with my own inaction in the face of recent violence in the headlines, I set out for a morning bike ride. Just outside Iowa City, black-eyed susans, cone […]Read Post ›
Last fall, I taught an 8-week session on Karma Yoga (yoga of duty or action), one of the four paths of classical yoga. This session was followed by 10 weeks where I read a poem (or two or three) at the beginning of each class. It was not my intention to follow the session on […]Read Post ›
Classical yoga provides four paths to attain yoga’s ultimate goal: union with the true self. These are: Karma Yoga (yoga of duty or action), Bhakti Yoga (yoga of devotion), Gyan Yoga (yoga of knowledge) and Raja Yoga (yoga to tame the mind). Each yoga student will generally gravitate toward one of these paths, although many […]Read Post ›
Yoga often compares the mind to a monkey. My monkey encounters in India gave new meaning to this analogy. An example: Seth and I were celebrating our fourth wedding anniversary in Matheran, a lovely mountain town a few hours from Mumbai. Less lovely was getting mugged by audacious bands of marauding monkeys. First, we were […]Read Post ›
In my pre-yoga life, I envisioned myself as a strong person, someone who could overcome obstacles and take on tough challenges. Yoga helped me realize that this feeling of strength is in fact coming from ego. It is a distorted and unsteady strength measured in the quantum of achievements reached and difficulties surmounted, dependent on […]Read Post ›
I’m providing this brief outline of Patanjali’s 8-Fold Path for students’ reference. The highest purpose in classical yoga is self-realization, union with the soul or the true self. In the 8-Fold Path, Patanjali lays out a step by step process to attain this goal through a progressive practice which culminates in the highest states of […]Read Post ›
Repetitive strain injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis are notorious for sneaking up on people. They are slow to develop and slow to heal. That’s what happened to me. I pushed through the warning signs of fatigue, tingling and minor aches. I continued to put in long hours at the computer without breaks. I […]Read Post ›
Dr. Jayadeva Yogendra, son of the founder of The Yoga Institute (and today it’s President) tells students, “Sit quietly for 15 minutes every day. It will change your life.” These words encapsulate the practice of dharma bhava (an attitude or state of being related to the concept of duty). We can cultivate dharma bhava by […]Read Post ›
For the past few weeks I’ve been teaching about bhavas (attitudes, states of being) in yoga. Students have raised a lot of questions about this! In my attempts to answer them, I have revisited the concepts and reflected on my own related experience. I’ll share some of these reflections in upcoming posts. In the meantime, […]Read Post ›
