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Karma Yoga transforms karma into Yoga. Karma Yoga never binds you to good or bad results, whereas karma ensures that you must experience the consequences of your actions, whether pleasant or painful. If your actions are good, then you face that in the form of pleasure. If they are bad, you have to face that in the form of pain. But, if you do everything for the sake of others, for the sake of humanity, neither pleasure nor pain affects you.

Instead, everything simply moves through you because you no longer identify as the ‘do-er.’ You are the ‘be-er’ and everything just flows through you. It’s something like becoming a flute. Whatever the flute player plays, passes through the hollow flute. The flute follows no sheet music; it is simply an open, empty instrument through which the music flows. It is no problem for the flute if the music is nice to listen to or hurts the ears.

What is the real difference between karma and Karma Yoga? When you do things for your ego gratification, you get the karma. It becomes Karma Yoga when you are offering your actions as a benefit to others. You don’t get affected by the result of your action if it’s Karma Yoga. Karma is accrued when you do something for your sake and you are affected by the result of it. Whether the result is good or bad that result comes to you and that becomes your karma. You have to face it. You become responsible for it. It’s almost like you cook for yourself, you eat it, you have to then digest it, and later you have to eliminate—so it’s all your job. If you cook it and give it to somebody, you don’t have to worry about it. It becomes their business. Even if they get stomachache, it’s their business.

In a way, that is what is meant by renunciation. A good karma yogi is a good renunciate because whatever they are doing, they are not doing for the sake of their own ego gratification or fruit of their action. They become a true sannyasi. Whoever lives this way is totally free from the turmoil, the push and pull of the dualities—pleasure and pain, desire and aversion.

That’s why Karma Yoga is considered a supreme form of Yoga. In whatever you do, even your meditation can be Karma Yoga. You are not meditating for your sake. That is the reason why, in Integral Yoga after our meditation, we repeat the Kayena Vaacha sloka. That sloka affirms that whatever actions we engage in, we do so as an offering. Daily we say that, but if we don’t really understand it, mean it and follow it, then these are empty words and we don’t receive the benefit.

When the sense of egoic doership dissolves, then we are totally free, free, free from any bondage. Don’t think bondage means only bad, painful things. Even good things can bind. It’s almost like putting a parrot in a golden cage. The cage may be all gold, but it’s still a cage. The freedom is not there. You may have several million dollars but if you are holding onto it for your happiness, if you are constantly worrying about it, investing it, watching the stock market every minute, then, what is that? Freedom? It’s okay to have money and possessions, but if they possess you rather than you using them for the benefit of all, then you may be wealthy, but you are still bound. If you cling to nothing, if you feel that you are an instrument in the hands of a Higher Power who is doing everything through you for the good of all, then, you truly are the richest person, the king of kings, shah of shahs. Why? Because you are totally free. That is Karma Yoga.

By Sri Swami Satchidananda

The post From Do-er to Be-er: A Supreme Form of Yoga appeared first on Integral Yoga® Magazine.

We live in an age characterized by an increasing sense of uncertainty.  We are exposed daily to a world in crisis, from natural disasters to political upheaval, from tremendous violence to widespread injustice. Maintaining our well-being, living by spiritual values and finding genuine fulfillment can seem impossible when surrounded by a workaholic culture, rampant with greed, deception, and “image is everything” messages.

Swami Ramananda will present the distilled wisdom of the Yoga teachings as practical principles essential for building immunity and resilience, and creating a fulfilling life. Together we will reflect on how to empower ourselves and how a spiritual practice attunes our hearts and minds to the spiritual consciousness we share.

Together, we will explore:

• How the practice of asana, pranayama and meditation can heal and build physical and psychological resilience
• The integration the Yogic teachings into every aspect of our lives
• How group practice supports and deepens a sustainable spiritual practice
• The use of guided reflection to create a focused spiritual lifestyle
• Understanding painful life experiences as an opportunity to deepen our connection to the natural, unchanging source of peace within

More info and registration here.

The post Resilience in an Age of Uncertainty: April 18–20, 2025 appeared first on Integral Yoga® Magazine.

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Photo by DALL-E.

For many years, I’ve given a talk on New Year’s resolutions at our annual Integral Yoga New Year’s Retreat. I focus mainly on setting achievable goals for a regular spiritual practice of poses, breathing, relaxation and meditation. Here’s a few suggestions from that talk:

1. Set a small, reasonable goal for a certain amount of time for each practice you want to do daily. Then immediately cut it in half. That becomes your daily minimum. Try that. If you don’t succeed at that, then cut that time in half. Keep cutting until you find how much you really will do, even if it’s one minute for each practice. Then stick to that as your daily minimum.

For example, Swami Satchidananda recommends meditating a minimum of 15 minutes twice a day for meditation. So, when I started my regular practice, I set a minimum of 15 minutes once a day (which equaled half the time I wanted to do). That’s been my rock solid minimum for many years. Most days I’ll do far more, but if I’m very sick in bed, I lie there and do 15 minutes of japa. Even if the meditation is unfocused, I’ve still met my goal.

Setting a small goal and accomplishing it daily develops will power and gives you confidence in your own power to meet your goals in life, not just in spiritual practice.

2. Have a chart where you check your practice off daily. Studies have shown tracking your progress is one important key to success.
3. Make some small change to your environment to make it easy to do your practice. For example, if you want to do Hatha Yoga daily, leave a mat out in a corner of a room and don’t put it away. Then you can take a few minutes to do Hatha Yoga with no need for any preparation. Researchers found that as little as five minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity a day may have a positive effect on health in the long term.
4. Make your Yoga as yummy as possible. Make it feel as good as you can. You’re more likely to stick with it if you enjoy it while you do it. Challenge yourself for the fun of it.
5. Have a purpose partner, a supportive friend with whom you check in about your progress toward keeping your goals. This is another technique studies have shown to help you meet your goals. It’s best to set it up so you tell them how you did and they don’t express a negative judgment. They don’t offer advice, or chide you, unless you ask them to do so that day. They can offer a gentle word of support.
6. Don’t expect bliss in your practices every day, especially meditation. You’re often just cleaning out what will keep you from being focused and relaxed the rest of the day.

We often make the mistake of giving up if the meditation is unfocused or if painful thoughts come up. We underestimate the immense benefit of getting to know the mind on every level. Carl Jung said, “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” Our undigested past conditioning leads to knee-jerk reactions that cause so much pain and misunderstanding in our lives. Sitting with your mind for a given amount time, no matter what comes up, is a powerful, life-changing practice. You want to use some self-soothing technique like mantra repetition or simple breath awareness so that the mind knows it is loved and accepted exactly like it is, and it’s safe to let you see what’s going on. When you know your unconscious patterns, you can use the tools of Yoga skillfully to help you change them.

7. Prepare for backsliding. If you remind yourself that most people slip sometimes before they succeed, you’ll be less likely to give up when you do miss a day or a few. You’ll think, “Yes, that’s normal” and get back on the routine vs. telling yourself “I can’t do this!”

All these hints can be summarized in a saying I heard from our Ashram comedian Swami Murugananda: “Start slow, and then taper off.” To which I add: After you taper off, stick with your brief yummy Yoga. If you make it feel good, your minimum will gently, automatically get longer because you’re feeling joy and seeing your good habit build every day.

“Come, come, whoever you are
Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving.
It doesn’t matter
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times.
Come, yet again, come, come.”
~Rumi

About the Author:

Swami Vidyananda, E-RYT 500, C-IAYT has been practicing Yoga since 1969 and teaching Integral Yoga internationally since 1973. For many years she traveled with Sri Swami Satchidananda serving as his translator into French. She has taught in many therapeutic programs, including for people with cancer, Yoga for university students with eating disorders, and Yoga for children with learning disabilities. She has taught Yoga for Stress Relief around the world. She has served as a Yoga Therapist since 1979. She co-developed the Integral Yoga Stress Management Teacher Training program with Swami Ramananda and has taught it for over 25 years. Swami Vidyananda lives in Yogaville, Virginia, where she teaches meditation, Raja Yoga, and all branches of Integral Yoga. She also serves as chairperson of the Integral Yoga teachers Council, and as director of the Integral Yoga Therapy Training Program.

The post Resolutions That Last: The Art of Sustainable Spiritual Practice appeared first on Integral Yoga® Magazine.

Photo by Juno Jo via Unsplash.

Ahimsa is a Sanskrit word that translates as “without injury” or “nonviolence” in English. It’s a principle in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jainist philosophy that involves causing the least amount of harm possible to all beings. It’s the first ethical principle given as a practice in the eight-limbed path described in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. There are endless ways for us to incorporate this intention into our lives—I’ll share some of my reflections and efforts here.

One of the first ways I began to practice ahimsa was with my diet. I embraced a vegetarian diet as a young person, wanting to avoid causing unnecessary harm to any living creature. More recently, I began to eat a vegan diet after learning in detail how the dairy industry causes so much suffering to cows. But I see that when it is inconvenient for me, I too easily give up that commitment and consume some dairy product—case in point, pie at Thanksgiving. Reflecting on this makes clear how limited my commitment has been, and how easy it is to rationalize disregarding a spiritual principle for a little pleasure. I am determined to remember this principle of non-harming that I value and do better with this.

Another important way that I am trying to practice ahimsa is in communication. I have found the teachings of Non-Violent Communication especially helpful in practicing mindful listening and speech. I really appreciate the idea of listening carefully without interpreting the facts and jumping to conclusions. I also believe an important aspect of this practice is to not take to heart the comments that are spoken when someone is upset. If I can remain neutral and refrain from being triggered, I can better ascertain what timing and response will bring the most benefit to a relationship.

In the last 6 or 7 years, my vision of how ahimsa can be observed has been enlarged. I began to think more about the subtler energies that we all bring into being through even our thoughts, as well as our words and actions. I have been considering how the feelings of compassion or ill-will that I cultivate become my contribution to the collective consciousness of our world. This understanding makes me feel that I am responsible, first of all, for making peace in my heart by regularly practicing Hatha Yoga and meditation. These practices have made it possible for me to calm and clear my mind, and give me at least a chance to carry compassion in my heart as I go about my day.

In meditation, I have been cultivating an awareness of the ego — the me-centered thoughts that seem to identify me as a separate entity with beliefs and desires that pertain only to me. I am attempting to see how these habitual ways of seeing myself as separate pervade the way I interact with others, making it easy to identify them as either allies that support my personal desires, or obstacles to those desires. I am beginning to see how even in very small ways I end up being friendly and loving to those whose behavior is supportive, and indifferent or even unfriendly to those whose behavior is not aligned with my desires. Catching myself and interrupting that tendency is another form of this practice.

I do believe that regular meditation practice and the glimpses of freedom I experience are supporting the subconscious mind in a new way of seeing things, and that new values and beliefs can emerge from experiencing a sense of connection with all.

I hope this evolution in my relationship with my own mind is laying the foundation for practicing ahimsa as a gift, not just a way of feeling good about myself or building a spiritual identity. I envision that my efforts are integrating precepts like ahimsa more and more fully into my awareness in a way that will one day make them a natural response to life, implying a concurrent freedom from needing something from outside myself to feel secure and at peace.

At this point, one of the most difficult places for me to practice ahimsa, and even to recognize when I am not practicing, is with myself. I readily push myself to my limits in my service and always feel compelled to do more. This tendency is so familiar and feels so natural that it’s hard to catch it until I really suffer from it. I have improved from the days when I would go for long stretches sleep deprived and stressed, but I still struggle to remember that I can serve from a much deeper place, be more fully present, when I am rested and clear.

Clearly I have not yet learned to value my state of being, staying grounded in the source of connection and peace within, as much as keeping the to-do list down to some imaginary place that seems manageable. At least becoming aware of this is a start and it helps me to remember that those around me that I wish to serve as a leader and teacher, don’t need to see another example of a stressed-out person trying to do more instead of being fully present.

One last intention is to see the practice of ahimsa as a gift. I see all the yogic teachings as gifts in the form of principles that initiate the process of awakening, that bring ever subtler awareness of my behavior and its effects. In this same way, I see the suffering as a gift, the teachings and teachers as gifts, and even the changes in this body/mind as a gift. My prayer is to make good use of these gifts and offer as little resistance as possible to the process of realizing the truth.

About the Author:

Swami Ramananda is the Executive Director of Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco, a certified Yoga therapist, and a founding board member of the Yoga Alliance. He leads beginner, intermediate and advanced-level Yoga teacher training programs in San Francisco and teaches throughout the world. Having dedicated his life to teaching Yoga for nearly 50 years, Swami Ramananda is highly-respected senior teacher in the Integral Yoga tradition in Yoga communities worldwide. Swami Ramananda co-developed the Stress Management Teacher Training program with Swami Vidyananda, has trained many teachers to bring Yoga into corporate, hospital and medical settings, and has taught mind/body wellness programs throughout the US and abroad. He is also a co-founder of The Spiritual Action Initiative (SAI) which brings together individuals committed to working for social justice for all beings and for the care and healing of our natural world.

The post Ahimsa As a Gift appeared first on Integral Yoga® Magazine.

This may seem more than doubtful when we look around us and see what we have made of the world: “Things fall apart,” says the poet W. B. Yeats succinctly. A “blood-dimmed tide is loosed” upon the world, and in the face of this tide of violence “the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” Gratitude? The very word seems utterly out of place, even offensive, under the given circumstances. And yet, we speak of “given” circumstances. This is significant. Whatever is given is gift; and the appropriate response to any gift is gratitude.

But what could be the gift in this given moment of history? The gift hidden in our unprecedented world crisis is an equally unprecedented opportunity. The gift within every gift is opportunity. For us, these days, it is the opportunity to wake up—wake up to the madness of violence and counter-violence. For far too long we were able to ignore the vicious circle of violence against violence—international or domestic, our own or that of others. Let us face it: the supreme danger is violence—regardless who commits it, terrorists or legitimate governments. No rhetoric, no posturing can any longer obscure the fact that violence breeds violence. We must break that cycle of madness.

Violence has roots in every heart. It is within my own heart that I must recognize fear, agitation, coldness, alienation, blind anger and the impulse to retaliation. Here in my heart I can turn fear into courageous trust, agitation into stillness, confusion into clarity, isolation into a sense of belonging, alienation into love, and irrational reaction into Common Sense. The creative intelligence of gratefulness will suggest to each one of us how to go about this task. As examples I will list here five small gestures of gratitude that I have personally tested. They create a ripple effect to counteract violence.

Five Small Gestures of Gratitude to Counteract Fear

1. Say one word today that will give a fearful person courage

All gratitude expresses trust. Suspicion will not even recognize a gift as gift: who can prove that it isn’t a lure, a bribe, a trap? Gratefulness has the courage to trust and so overcomes fear. The very air has been electrified by fearfulness these days, a fearfulness fostered and manipulated by politicians and the media. There lies our greatest danger: fear perpetuates violence. Mobilize the courage of your heart. Say one word today that will give a fearful person courage.

2. Make a firm resolution never to repeat stories and rumors that spread fear

Because gratitude expresses courage, it spreads calm. Calm of this kind is quite compatible with deep emotions. In fact, mass hysteria fostered by the media betrays a morbid curiosity rather than deep feeling—superficial agitation rather than a deep current of compassion. The truly compassionate ones are calm and strong. Make a firm resolution never to repeat stories and rumors that spread fear. From the stillness of your heart’s core reach out. Be calm and spread calm.

3. Make contact with people whom you normally ignore

When you are grateful, your heart is open—open towards others, open for surprise. When disasters hit we often see remarkable examples of this openness: strangers helping strangers sometimes in heroic ways. Others turn away, isolate themselves, dare even less than at other times to look at each other. Violence begins with isolation. Break this pattern. Make contact with people whom you normally ignore—eye-contact at least—with the cashier at the supermarket, someone on the elevator, a beggar. Look a stranger in the eyes today and realize that there are no strangers.

4. Give someone an unexpected smile today

You can feel either grateful or alienated, but never both at the same time. Gratefulness drives out alienation; there is not room for both in the same heart. When you are grateful you know that you belong to a network of give-and-take and you say “yes” to that belonging. This “yes” is the essence of love. You need no words to express it; a smile will do to put your “yes” into action. Don’t let it matter to you whether or not the other one smiles back. Give someone an unexpected smile today and so contribute your share to peace on earth.

5.  Listen to the news today and put at least one item to the test of Common Sense

What your gratefulness does for yourself is as important as what it does for others. Gratefulness boosts your sense of belonging; your sense of belonging in turn boosts your Common Sense—not the conventional mind set which we often confuse with it. The common sense that springs from gratefulness is incompatible with a set mind. It is just another name for thinking wedded to cosmic intelligence. Your “yes” to belonging attunes you to the common concerns shared by all human beings—all beings for that matter. In a world we hold in common, nothing else makes sense but Common Sense. We have only one enemy: Our common enemy is violence. Common Sense tells us: we can stop violence only by stopping to act violently; war is no way to peace. Listen to the news today and put at least one item to the test of Common Sense.

The five steps I am suggesting here are small, but they work. It helps that they are small: anyone can take them. Imagine a country whose citizens—maybe even its leaders—are brave, calm, and open towards each other; a country whose people realize that all human beings belong together as one family and must act accordingly; a country guided by Common Sense. To the extent to which we show ourselves not hateful but grateful this becomes reality.

About the Author:

Brother David Steindl-Rast — author, scholar, and Benedictine monk — is beloved the world over for his enduring message about gratefulness as the true source of lasting happiness. Known to many as the “grandfather of gratitude,” Br. David has been a source of inspiration and spiritual friendship to countless leaders and luminaries around the world including Swami Satchidananda, Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Thomas Merton, and more. He has been one of the most important figures in the modern interfaith dialogue movement, and has taught with thought-leaders such as Eckhart Tolle, Jack Kornfield, and Roshi Joan Halifax. His wisdom has been featured in interviews with Oprah Winfrey, Krista Tippett, and Tami Simon and his TED talk has been viewed almost 10,000,000 times. Learn more about Br. David here.

Source: Grateful.org

The post Five Small Gestures of Gratitude to Counteract Fear and Violence appeared first on Integral Yoga® Magazine.

Also! Join Prashanti for an immersive Yoga Sutras workshop in Yogaville, March 7 – 9, 2025. Discover the transformative power of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras in this intensive weekend immersion. This course is designed for yogis of all levels seeking to deepen their practice and understanding of yoga philosophy.

What You’ll Experience in The Workshop:

• Sanskrit chanting to connect with the original texts
• Guided journaling for personal reflection
• Engaging lectures and group discussions
• Independent study to reinforce learning

The post A Journey into the Yoga Sutras appeared first on Integral Yoga® Magazine.

Photo: Swami Ramananda tends to the weeds in the San Francisco IYI garden.

If you want to see well through a window, you have to clean both sides. Practice (abhyasa) and non-attachment (vairagya) work much the same way. They are the complimentary practices given in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras as a means to quiet the movement of thought in the mind so that we can experience our true nature — a source of unchanging peace within.

In order to see clearly, we must remove anything that would cloud or color our vision. Practice implies a steady effort to calm any thoughts, emotions or prejudices that might prevent clear, neutral perception. For example, if you shake a snow globe with imitation snowflakes inside, and then hold it still, the snowflakes will gradually settle, leaving an unobstructed view. We may think primarily of sitting meditation as a means to still the mind, but practice can include anything done with meditative focus or mindfulness, creating a steady flow of attention.

But only learning to calm the disturbances in the mind does not insure our vision stays clear since we are so often disturbed by the difficulties that we encounter in daily life.  Non-attachment works perfectly as a compliment to practice by preventing disturbances from arising. While practice may be pursued by pausing from activity to meditate or quietly focus the mind, non-attachment is meant to help us relate in healthy ways to all the activity in which we engage.

Non-attachment guides us to learn that we cannot depend on anything outside of ourselves for our peace of mind. Non-attachment toward our goals means not depending on the results for that peace. We work with less tension and more clarity when we are not anxious about the outcome. Non-attachment toward the things we enjoy simply means that we can remain at peace even when those things are not available to us. In relationships, we can love more freely if we are not afraid of losing someone’s love or approval.

These two approaches to creating and maintaining a clear and focused mind support each other perfectly. Any effort to develop non-attachment becomes much easier if we begin to experience a natural sense of internal contentment as a result of a regular practice. Feeling this innate peace within, we more readily let go of desires and expectations as the source of our happiness. And if we learn to let go of attachment to the results of our meditative practices, we can pursue them steadily without becoming discouraged or disappointed.

­­­­­­­­­We can develop our practice by meditating regularly with sincere effort and by performing any action with one-pointed attention. Non-attachment can be a little trickier to cultivate. If we look deeply into any situation that causes us to suffer, we can usually find that we are wanting something so much (recognition, admiration, or some experience that we enjoy) that we become disturbed by not getting it. We unintentionally make our peace of mind dependent on acquiring or achieving something.

It can be difficult to observe and analyze our struggles with the clarity and neutrality to see the underlying motives that give rise to suffering. Here again, practice compliments the effort to free ourselves from attachment by calming and strengthening the mind sufficiently to look deeply and objectively at our desires. When we are able to see clearly what we are holding onto in an unhealthy way, we then have the choice to let go.

These two elements of spiritual life empower us to free ourselves from the illusion that we can gain happiness by arranging the people and events around us make our lives happy. It is ultimately our choice. We can all gradually build the mental strength to focus our minds in selfless ways that align our behavior with the Cosmic Will and reveal the natural peace that has always been there.

About the Author:

Swami Ramananda is the Executive Director of Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco, a certified Yoga therapist, and a founding board member of the Yoga Alliance. He leads beginner, intermediate and advanced-level Yoga teacher training programs in San Francisco and teaches throughout the world. Having dedicated his life to teaching Yoga for nearly 50 years, Swami Ramananda is highly-respected senior teacher in the Integral Yoga tradition in Yoga communities worldwide. Swami Ramananda co-developed the Stress Management Teacher Training program with Swami Vidyananda, has trained many teachers to bring Yoga into corporate, hospital and medical settings, and has taught mind/body wellness programs throughout the US and abroad. He is also a co-founder of The Spiritual Action Initiative (SAI) which brings together individuals committed to working for social justice for all beings and for the care and healing of our natural world.

The post Practice and Non-Attachment:  A Two Pronged Approach to Liberation appeared first on Integral Yoga® Magazine.

During a Hatha practice, we center our movements and poses around our breath. When a pose challenges us, we check in with our breath to see how it has changed and work to steady the breath. With a steady breath, we can make choices on how to proceed: do we ease back from the challenge and practice self-care, do we hold the pose and observe in stillness, or do we challenge our limits by pushing our boundaries? Depending on the person, any of those choices can push us out of our comfort zone. As the difficulty persists, we can observe what thoughts or emotions arise in response. For the achiever like myself, choosing self-care was a difficult choice even when my body needed the rest. What I discovered when choosing the more challenging option was the thoughts and emotions that surfaced were similar to when I was dealing with conflict in my life and relationships. From self-criticism to blaming others, these reactive patterns were there to protect me, but they did not serve me.

The physical engagements in Yoga are simply the entry point to the inner world. For instance, being honest with how my body moves and how it cannot has given me the courage to be truthful with myself. Yoga practice has inspired my ability to stay present and not fall into my reactive patterns. I have found that when we shift a small part of our life, everything else shifts with it. It may cause an unraveling in our relationship, an inquiry of our path in life, or a realization of who we truly are. This is how Yoga can help us gracefully accept change. It builds the muscle around centeredness in times of confusion and conflict. When we implement the teachings of Yoga, the transformation is accompanied by the grace of ancient knowledge.

Clarity achieved through stillness, steadiness in breath, and honesty in movement has allowed me to be in uncertainty without triggering the stress response or at least has kept me from succumbing to my reactive patterns that keep me stuck in a loop. When we begin to shift our awareness to the inner self, we start to discover the filters and the conditioned behavior that keep us from being our authentic self. I have many times left a Yoga class in near tears as I had uncovered an old emotional wound that had not healed. It gave me the opportunity to look at it and properly heal and release the hurt. Often times the internal change that occurs is simply releasing something from the past that was held by the body.

In a Yoga practice, we can be aware of our predictable reactive patterns and choose a different path. Having a relationship with my breath and my choices has given me the fortitude to face adversity that change often brings.

About the Author:

Mia Velez is a certified Integral Yoga teacher. She is a disciple of the Moy Yat Ving Tsun Kung Fu lineage and is highly influenced by her martial arts training. After completing her first 200-hour teacher training in 2008, she began to see an undeniable parallel between Yoga and Kung Fu. When she began teaching Kung Fu in 2014, she incorporated Yoga insight and principles in her classes. Her goal in teaching is to connect with the students and to facilitate a safe space for exploration and self-inquiry. Yoga and Kung Fu are integrated into her daily life as a mother, a preschool teacher, and advocate for gender, race, and class equality through multiple non-profits groups.

The post Hatha Yoga: The Art of Change appeared first on Integral Yoga® Magazine.

Photo by Abhijeet Singh via Pexels.

Contentment is a deceptively simple concept that offers tremendous benefit if we fully embrace its practice. It is referred to as santosha in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and is not so easy to master because the habit of wanting and achieving is so deeply ingrained in us. It does not mean that we give up having goals and striving for them, or give up enjoying sensory experiences.

But it does imply that we reflect on the prevailing messages of our culture that tell us that something pleasurable is a means to happiness. This can become an unconscious belief that distorts the present moment with anticipation over the next thing to do or get, and is never enough as it is.

Contentment does mean that we are at peace with what we have now and with ourselves as we are, even as we strive to learn and grow. It does mean that we can enjoy the process of pursuing our goals, giving ourselves fully to them, without fear of failure.

I really am drawn to this idea and teaching but I struggle to practice it when my to-do list gets too big for my comfort, or when some challenging issue remains unresolved. At such times, I can’t seem to help feeling that I’ll be happier after I finish a project or after this issue is resolved. I find myself pushing my limits, working longer hours, ignoring my resolves for getting exercise and enough sleep, and or doing everything with a simmering stew of anxiety on the back-burner of my mind.

It has really helped me to make a conscious effort to practice contentment. One way is to start my day, after my morning meditation, affirming that my essential nature is joy, and this joy is independent of anything that happens. It feels so good to assert this truth and really try to feel it, reminding my mind that nothing can make me happy or sad.

I encourage everyone to use this month to experiment with santosha by pausing and reflecting, “Can I be at peace with this moment as it is?” “Do I really have to have (fill in the blank) before I can be happy?”

This will certainly be challenging in some situations, but when we do succeed to feel moments of a natural inner contentment, we’ll be inspired to keep practicing.

About the Author:

Swami Ramananda is the Executive Director of Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco, a certified Yoga therapist, and a founding board member of the Yoga Alliance. He leads beginner, intermediate and advanced-level Yoga teacher training programs in San Francisco and teaches throughout the world. Having dedicated his life to teaching Yoga for nearly 50 years, Swami Ramananda is highly-respected senior teacher in the Integral Yoga tradition in Yoga communities worldwide. Swami Ramananda co-developed the Stress Management Teacher Training program with Swami Vidyananda, has trained many teachers to bring Yoga into corporate, hospital and medical settings, and has taught mind/body wellness programs throughout the US and abroad. He is also a co-founder of The Spiritual Action Initiative (SAI) which brings together individuals committed to working for social justice for all beings and for the care and healing of our natural world.

The post Santosha – Making Peace with the Present appeared first on Integral Yoga® Magazine.

St. Teresa de Avila

A few years ago, I read an article titled “Humility, The Virtue No One Wants.” It was a good title, I thought, because humility is maybe just a little too close to the word humiliation for comfort, a bit like shame, the sort of thing we think we’d like to get away from. I was looking for teachings on humility because at the time, I was reading a lot of St. Teresa de Avila and she considered humility, along with love, the quality most essential for spiritual growth.

St. Teresa is difficult to read, and part of that is because she spends pages and pages, over and over again, professing her humility, apologizing for being such a stupid woman, so much less than her superiors. From 21^st century standards, this is so over the top that I thought it might have been her way of surviving the 16th century Spanish inquisition and the male dominated church of that time. And that could be partially true. But I also could see that she was absolutely sincere – humility was the ground of her practice. At the same time she was very sure of her relation to God, and to her journey; she was confident.

The Webster dictionary defines humility as freedom from pride or arrogance. There’s certainly nothing shameful there. We can see this kind of true humility kick in when we finally give up any pretense of running the show. Humility includes the ability to be honest with ourselves about the inconvenient, painful fact that anything can happen at any time.

Maybe we think that, if we were really doing our practice right, nothing unpleasant or unwholesome would ever pop up or bother us, but that’s not the case. The pleasant, the unpleasant and the neutral can all show up, and if we let them they’ll also roll away. We see that when we sit down to meditate.

Another thing that brings up humility is the fact that the more present we become for our lives, the more willing we are to look at what arises, the more impurity we’re going to see. Spiritual practice is a purification process that calls for a lot of humility. The more we purify, the bigger and closer to the bone the impurities will seem. We become more sensitive to them and it can pain us more to see them. So in this process it’s important to not get lost in identifying with our impurities, our thoughts, our fears, our ‘spiritual progress.’ Those things are not who we really are – I say that to myself sometimes, ‘not who I really am’ – they’re just thoughts or feelings, ideas or constructs or moods or sensations.

There’s a teaching story about two little flies that lived in the barn with the farm animals, that were the best of friends, that flew around together every day. One morning one of the flies woke up and couldn’t find his friend. He looked all over the barn, high and low, and finally he gave up. But when the oxen came in from the fields that evening,  there was his friend, riding on one of the horns of an ox. “Where have you been all day?” the one little fly asked, and his friend puffed up his chest and said, importantly,  “We’ve been plowing.’ And the teaching is that we all think it’s us doing things, we’re all so busy and full of our importance, but really, we’re just riding on the horns of the great beast. Life carries us until it puts us down.

Understanding this brings us the kind of humility that Saint Teresa had, the kind of humility that supports confidence in our practice. When this happens we can stop referring to the constructed idea of ourselves and the personal gain or loss of that construction and start listening to the awareness that’s inside us that is unstoppable, unlimitable. We can align with that and learn to listen to it, in daily life and in meditation. And of course, a big part of the training ground for that is meditation.

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