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Affectionately known around the world as the “Mother of Holistic Medicine,” Dr. Gladys Taylor McGarey is a medical pioneer and visionary. Born to medical missionary parents in the jungles of India a century ago, in a place and time that filled her childhood experiences with imagination about what medicine could be, Dr. Gladys educates viewers about Living Medicine. Guiding viewers through the 5 L’s: Life, Love, Laughter, Labor and Listening, 100 year old Dr. Gladys ushers in the next medical paradigm shift. Dr. Gladys Taylor McGarey is a medical pioneer and visionary

Dr. McGarey was the only female co-founder of the American Holistic Medical Association in 1977. The year 2020 marks her 100th year on planet Earth, as she continues to usher in the next medical paradigm shift, Living Medicine. She is a treasured speaker nationally. She just provided the welcome and opening remarks at the Academy of Integrated Health and Medicine annual conference. She is the author of four books including her seminal book, LIVING MEDICINE, that is being published in November 2020. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

In this TEDxTalk, Dr. McGarey talks about Living Medicine, as well as how she addresses, health, healing, and the Coronavirus.

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Debunking the myth that a plant-based diet and high-intensity athleticism just don’t mix, The Vegan Athlete’s Nutrition Handbook is a comprehensive guidebook for anyone looking to dive deep into the science behind plant-based eating and peak performance. Making the choice to switch to a plant-based diet shouldn’t mean giving up your gains—in fact, incorporating more plant-based foods may even give you an athletic advantage — provided you know how to properly fuel your body while eating vegan.

The Vegan Athlete’s Nutrition Handbook features:

• Breakdown of key macro and micronutrients in a plant-based diet
• The latest information on healthy supplements
• Over 25 flavorful and fueling vegan recipes
• Sample meal plans to create nutrient-rich, complete vegan meals
• Guidance on the top athletic concerns, including bone health and rapid recovery

The book provides expert guidance for everyone from weekend warriors to professional athletes, whether you are plant-curious, transitioning to a plant-forward diet, or want to refine your existing plant-based nutrition plan. With easy-to-follow vegan menus, recipes, tips, and tricks that can enhance performance, boost recovery and improve health, there’s no reason not to be a vegan athlete!

The handbook’s author, Nichole Dandrea-Russert, MS, RDN, has been a registered dietitian nutritionist for 25 years, specializing in heart disease, diabetes, sports nutrition and women’s health. For the past ten years, she has focused on plant-based lifestyles through inspiring and educating people about plant-based eating to optimize their health and the health of the planet. Nichole has been featured in Yoga Journal, Veg News and Atlanta Journal Constitution through her plant-based chocolate company, Nicobella Organics. She also has a plant-based blog for wellness tips, recipes and inspiration called Purely Planted.

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Photo by Bill Geoghegan

The End-of-Life Project is a living, breathing, and ongoing initiative to bring the Integral Yoga teachings to the end of our lives and beyond. We are grateful to Integral Yoga Magazine for supporting this program.

During the dormancy of the pandemic a new branch of Integral Yoga was planted, has taken root, and is sprouting with great promise. It is the Integral Yoga End-of-Life Project. Its purpose is to create a new Integral Yoga offering that will serve a large population of aging baby boomers and those who love and support them.

It is taking the basic principles and teachings of Integral Yoga, as taught by Sri Swami Satchidandanda (Gurudev)—showing how to live a life that is peaceful, easeful, and useful—and applying these to the way that we take our leave from this worldly form. May we learn to make our exits with grace.

The idea was developed by Karuna Kreps, who began teaching Integral Yoga half a century ago, after meeting Gurudev. She had spent years working with Swami Sarvaananda and Reverends Bhagavan and Bhavani Metro on a way for any member of the Integral Yoga community to reserve a spot for their ashes to be interred in the Yogaville Memorial Garden between Chidambaram and the James River.

In January 2021, Karuna held a series of Zoom meeting with senior Integral Yoga teachers and Integral Yoga ministers to brainstorm the new end-of-life program. This resulted in the creation of a very long text document filled with notes, links to other websites, and papers on various aspects of hospice care and end-of-life planning.

Since Karuna is a professional web developer (she had built some of the first websites about Swami Satchidananda, Integral Yoga Magazine, and other Integral Yoga websites more), she figured that what she could do with the copious notes from those meetings was to build a website on the topic of yogic end-of-life. The resulting site may be found at https://yogicendoflife.org.  It was launched officially in July 2021, at the 40^th anniversary of the Integral Yoga Ministry. The Integral Yoga Institutes of both New York and San Francisco, along with Sam Eberle of Mercury Multimedia are co-funding the costs of hosting this official website.

The website organizes a vast amount of information into six modules: spiritual preparation, physical release, practical planning, memorials and interment, community service, and leaving a legacy.

After the site was launched, Chandra/Jo Sgammato, who was stepping down after serving as the General Manager and Executive Director of the New York Integral Yoga Institute for 18 years, proposed that Integral Yoga turn the six modules into workshops for the general public. Karuna offered to host the monthly Zoom meetings. Chandra and Karuna identified the senior Integral Yoga teachers who could best lead these workshops and the two women have been co-hosting each event—all as Karma Yoga. All the Integral Yoga Institutes in the USA and Yogaville promote the workshops and take registrations, which is free or by donation.

To date, we have offered four of the six planned workshops. We are awed and humbled by the positive results, the high attendance, and the desire for more learning that we had anticipated. It takes a village and, thanks to a village full of effort and support, this valuable program is reaching many people, changing lives, and promising to have a long life.

The first talk, in May 2022, Spiritual Preparation with Swami Karunananda, brilliantly illuminated what the yogic teachings have to say about the journey of life and how an understanding of these teachings can alleviate the fear of death and attachment to the earthly realm. In June 2022, Dr. Sandra Amrita McLanahan’s talk on “Physical Release,” outlined the concept of a “healthspan” beyond the better known term of “lifespan,” with teachings on maintaining the easeful body that can come from a conscious and healthy approach to food, exercise, stress management, and more.

Practical planning for our demise was the subject of a talk by David Deva Barrett, Esq., that laid out the nuts and bolts of wills, trusts, estate planning, and other final wishes we all need to put in place for ourselves and our loved ones. In August 2022, Swami Sarvaananda provided a talk on memorials and interments to help us plan for the physical disposal of our remains and introduced the idea of using the Integral Yoga classrooms and facilities to host memorial services for lost loved ones, lead by Integral Yoga ministers.

Two more workshops remain in the series. In September 2022, Swami Chidananda and Karuna Kreps will talk about community service: how to ask for help when you or a loved one needs it and how to be a source of help for others. Then, to wrap up the current series, in October 2022, Chandra/Jo Sgammato will explore the concept of leaving a legacy and the many ways we can understand our own lives’ meanings and be a source of positive memories for those we leave behind.

To benefit from this project, you can visit the website where we have posted recordings of the workshops with Swami Karunananda, Dr. Amrita McLanahan, David Deva Barrett and Swami Sarvaananda. Recordings of the last two workshops will be available a week after those take place.

We thank the program heads and center staff for helping to promote the workshops. We are also grateful that the website is listed as a resource on Nomis Publications, ttps://nomispublications.com/links.aspx, a major publisher for the funeral industry. We also appreciate all the technical assistance we have received in delivering the programs, editing the recordings, and posting them for the public.

During the Q&A sessions, the students participated in very candid, personal discussions about end-of-life issues. To enable continued discussion, we have set up an email group, integralyogaendoflife@groups.io. This many-to-many list provides a venue for students to continue to discuss what they learned in the workshops and to share resources they have found of value. Initial posts are moderated, and the list is being used appropriately.

So far, we are finding much interest in grief counseling, caregiving, downsizing homes, and dealing with family conflict, so Integral Yoga might offer talks and more interactive talkbacks on these specific topics. May the Integral Yoga End-of-Life Project continue to serve participants well into the future.

About the Authors:

Karuna Kreps met Swami Satchidananda in 1967. Initiated by him, she taught classes of all levels at the Integral Yoga Institute in New York,1968–1982. She has traveled with Swami Satchidananda, staffed Yoga retreats, and lived in the Integral Yoga Institute. In 1986, she was awarded the title of “Guru Tattwa Ratnam,” or “Jewel of the Guru’s Teachings” by Swami Satchidananda. She built the original websites  swamisatchidananda.org, lotus.org, iyta.org, and for a decade she helped to edit Integral Yoga Magazine and maintain integralyogamagazine.org and sent out the “Weekly Words of Wisdom from Sri Swami Satchidananda.”

Chandra Jo/Sgammato served at the Integral Yoga Institute of New York in many capacities for more than twenty years, mostly as General Manager. Today, she remains a certified Integral Yoga instructor in Levels I and II and teaches two regular Yoga classes over Zoom each week. She is the founder of Yoga At School™, which brings the Integral Yoga teachings into New York City public schools.

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Artwork by Dirk Czarnota

God created this world with the good intention of making all living beings lead a happy and peaceful life. All living beings seem to have the same intention. We don’t see any living being who doesn’t want to be happy. People work hard to have a long life of good health, happiness, and peace. We all know that good health is the foundation for all these requirements. There are some proverbs that remind us about the importance of good health: “When health is lost, everything is lost” and “Health is wealth.”

“There is no better strength than the Yoga strength
No better friend than the light of Wisdom
No worse bondage than the illusion
No worse enemy than the egotism.”
~Swami Satchidananda

America’s once wealthiest man and president of Ford Motors once said, “Though I was a multi- billionaire, I could not find happiness in my life. When I see an ordinary laborer working in my company enjoying eating some food, I am very jealous of him. At that time, I wished I could be an ordinary laborer rather than the king of automobiles.” The meaning and purpose of happy life is explained here.

Physical activity is the secret of a hale and healthy life. Even the newborn baby shakes and moves their hands and legs when hungry. Animals also do hard physical work. It is rare to see physical work in people who sit many hours in their place of work. Surprisingly, Yoga postures would help these people to have a healthier life.

In those days, it was thought that Yoga was meant for saints and monks or for those who would like to attain powers. Today, Yoga is meant for everybody, whether they are a farmer or a king. Yoga suits everyone. It helps one to have a healthy body. Yoga postures not only prevent diseases but also can cure them.

What is the significance of healthy life? Good appetite, good digestion, sound sleep, no disease in the body, always active, all the parts of the body doing their duty properly, good heart and pulse rates, happiness in the mind, interest to be of service. One natural force is responsible for all the body elements functioning properly. This natural force is running all through the minute nerves in our body. The ancient saints said that there were 72,000 nadis i(energy channels) in our body, to which the brain and the backbone are the primary connections.

Apart from these nerves, we have the endocrine glands: pineal, pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, etc. that are very important to the body. These parts produce the hormones, which are necessary for our physical growth and maintenance. The glands control not only our body movements but also when the mental agitation affects our mind they produce excess hormone and disturb our health. Yoga postures treat the muscles, nerves, bones, nerves and the digestive parts with good exercise and maintain proper blood circulation.

Saints and sages describe the above mentioned branches of the nerves as the support to the body in the abode of the soul in which the Shakti or power of the Goddess (Devi) resides. The same Shakti is believed to help awaken the kundalini. For this to occur, the practitioner has to awaken the fundamental nerve plexus in the body. This plexus is described as a four-petal lotus—situated at the perineum—known as Kundalini, the Shakti principle in the form of a serpent abiding in the muladhara.

They also further elaborate that the awakened kundalini should be brought to the center of the head—described as the 1008-petaled lotus—and attain the intense contemplation of God (samadhi). The saints have experienced the kundalini awakening—sometimes known as the “goodness of the soul”—by practicing Yoga. Even if we don’t have the desire to awaken the goodness of the soul by practicing these methods, we could still practice Yoga for the sake of our general health.

By Sri Swami Satchidananda
Translated from Tamil by: Sesha Chakravati; Published in the mid-1950s by the Divine Life Society Thapovanam, Guruthenia, Kandy, Sri Lanka.

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The title for the book was inspired by Swami Satchidananda teachings that all we need to do to do to tap into well-being and inner peace is to “undo” all the habits we’ve acquired that have led to our dis-ease. When often asked if Yoga was a religion or what his religion was, Swami Satchidananda would explain he was an “undo” and his religion was “Undoism.” Watch the “Super Soul Sunday” program here.

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Five Simple Ayurvedic Practices to Incorporate into Your Life

1. Seasonal Cleansing

Eating seasonally to gently eliminate toxins is a wonderful way to strengthen digestion. For example, many foods that come into season in the Spring are naturally cleansing – often astringent or bitter – think asparagus or leafy greens. Try a gentle cleansing diet of lighter, seasonal foods for a week to assist the body’s natural process of removing any accumulated toxins that can impede your body’s ability to cope with stressors. For your week of lighter eating, choose easy to digest foods such as cooked, lightly-spiced organic vegetables, whole grains and soups.

2. Dry Brushing

Try this before your next shower – take a few minutes with a natural bristle brush and gently brush your skin in overlapping circles, working your way towards your heart, starting with one leg, then one arm at a time. This invigorating practice not only exfoliates, leaving you with softer skin, it also has the benefit of detoxing by increasing blood circulation and promoting lymph drainage. Take care not to brush over any irritated or broken skin and use only enough pressure as is comfortable and brush only as often as feels good to your body, generally 2-5 times per week.

3. Drink Tulsi Tea

Consider incorporating functional herbal teas into your daily routine and enjoy benefits beyond taste. Ayurvedic adaptogens like Tulsi, commonly known as Holy Basil, offer benefits such as stress-relief, immune and respiratory support. Adaptogens including Tulsi and Ashwagandha help the body to adapt to physical, mental and environmental stress, something we could all use on a daily basis! For an added bonus, take a few deep breaths while you brew and think of three things you’re grateful for.

4. Spice It Up

There’s a saying that goes, it’s not what you eat, it’s what you digest. Agni, or digestive fire, is the cornerstone of Ayurveda. Lean on the ancient wisdom of plant-based medicine by adding Ayurvedic spices for flavor and nourishment to your meals. Ginger, well known for its stomach soothing qualities, is a spicy, warming herb that helps to stoke the digestive fire and assimilate nutrients. Try sprinkling Turmeric into your food to take advantage of this “pharmacy in an herb.” Enjoy the delicate, mildly sweet flavor of Ceylon Cinnamon, considered “true cinnamon,” and reap the benefits of its antioxidant value along with supporting healthy blood sugar levels.

5. Meditation for the Mind

Ayurveda and Yoga are sister sciences. Meditation is the timeless practice of staying present that over time, helps to settle the mind and clarify thoughts. It is thought to clear the Ama, or undigested energies, of the mind and spirit, from which the body springs forth. While meditation is simple in concept, if you have ever tried it, you know it’s not always easy in practice. Set yourself up for success by starting small. Aim for 1-5 minutes and add on one minute a day from there. A little effort can make a big impact!

The vivid uncertainties of the world have had an impact on us mentally and physically. It’s important to put energy into taking care of ourselves so that we can show up in a healthy, conscious way that makes the world a better place. By incorporating a few simple Ayurvedic practices into your life, you can help to promote physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

About the Author:

Kat Wiranowski is Organic India‘s USA’s Director of Brand & Retail Marketing. She is an outdoor enthusiast, wellness advocate and an avid Tulsi tea drinker. Organic India is a company founded by yogis!
(Article reprinted from LA Yoga magazine)

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Taking a fresh outlook on Yoga and engaging in a daily practice during the menopause can play a major part in everyday life to help manage and ease the physical and psychological symptoms that menopause presents. A few of the more common symptoms we hear about include trouble with sleep, weight gain and the loss of confidence. Menopause Yoga ‘hacks’ as I like to refer to the practice sometimes, can perhaps include a specific breathing exercise or a journey of visualization to help still the body and mind whilst twisting and turning in the middle of the night.

A targeted posture, such as a plank pose not only helps with improving bone density but also tones the tummy and arms, addressing weight gain and osteoporosis. And just for a moment, sit back and think about all the articles and news feeds you’ve come across over the years relating to Olympic athletes priming with breathing and meditation exercises before an event. Menopause Yoga adopts these same, effective priming principles when it comes to managing some of the psychological menopause symptoms that surface during the Autumn years.

There is no predicting how your body will react to the hormonal changes taking place but it is certainly a significant journey that your body will embark upon without a doubt. However, menopause is not purely just about physical symptoms, it is much more complex than that. And navigating the transformation of menopause could be an opportunity where women can delve deeper and connect to their inner spirituality. Maybe a discovery of linking your menopause symptoms to an unresolved trauma or childhood drama.

Perhaps, it is the perfect opportunity to incorporate a regular daily meditation practice and discover what unravels and reveals. For seasoned and experienced yogis, does this mean we need to change our approach to Yoga completely? Giving up inversions, back drops and contorting the body into pretzel shapes? Not necessarily. If you’re a yogi who enjoys that feeling of a juicy, dynamic flow, keep with that. A dynamic practice will help maintain your bone strength and will help with weight management and, of course, provide that up-lift in mood from the feel-good hormones surging through your body.

However, by branching out to embrace and respect this Autumn menopause phase, you can also benefit from a restorative and healing effect on the body, mind and spirit. Engaging in a slower-paced stretch class can nourish the physical body and vital organs and can support adrenal exhaustion. A daily meditation and breathing exercises could also make the difference to having a spring in your step as opposed to dragging your feet through the day.

As with all habitual practices, if we embed a few Menopause Yoga hacks into our cellular muscle memory, we can call upon these for support in our times of need. For example, when experiencing a hot flush, if you engage the menopause hack of breathing and visualization — and your body and mind is well versed in the technique — it could possibly help minimize the effects during an episode.

With the unpredictable estrogen fluctuation, Menopause Yoga could be a valuable and powerful practice well worth investing time into, helping you navigate the Autumn menopause stage of life with renewed confidence and appreciation. Try it and see.

About the Author:

SueYen Wan is in the midst of her Autumn years and is the founder of Triple Goddess Yoga, a platform designed specifically and dedicated to menopausal women. Originally from Hong Kong, SueYen now resides in London offering Yoga classes, sound healing and is a health and lifestyle coach.
(Reprinted from Om Yoga & Lifestyle magazine)

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When these toxins are not properly digested and eliminated, they stagnate and can begin to compromise our health. Signs of this build-up include a coating on the tongue, foul-smelling breath or body odor, mental fog or confusion, weakness, body aches, diminished appetite, constipation, diarrhea, bloating, fatigue, lethargy, and overall heaviness—physically, mentally, and spiritually.

The practice of using a tongue scraper not only helps to removes metabolic waste and bacterial contamination that can accumulate on the tongue but also gives you the opportunity to be more present with the state of your health. In Ayurveda, the tongue is a road map to your internal organs and its examination can offer insight to digestive, assimilation and elimination disharmony as well as potential disease patterns of the lungs, heart, stomach, liver, spleen kidneys and intestines.This should be done daily to insure the stimulation of the internal organs, improve digestion, strengthen appetite and enhance the taste of food while increasing clarity of the mind and your spiritual awakening by reducing ama.

Dental research has also concluded that a tongue scraper is more effective at removing toxins and bacteria from the tongue than brushing the tongue with toothbrush. Although brushing and flossing will loosen and move debris, they do not actually remove decay-causing bacteria from the mouth. Most of our oral bacteria live on and in the deep crevices of our tongue and scraping the tongue collects this bacteria and other toxic so you can remove it from the body.

Tongue scrapers are made from many types of materials, such as gold, silver, copper, stainless steel, and plastic. The neutral choice I recommend is stainless steel, which is inexpensive, durable and easy to clean by rinsing it off and drying it after use. The procedure for scraping your tongue is to hold either end of the tongue scraper in each hand. Touch the round middle of the tongue scraper to the back of the tongue and firmly scrape from the back of the tongue to the front. Repeat this across the entire surface 8-12 times. Avoid rubbing back and forth or using such a heavy hand that you create irritation.

The Neti Pot

After scraping your tongue, the next ritual in a supportive Dinacharya practice is nasal irrigation, commonly known as neti, often done with a neti pot. The yogis call this practice Jala Neti or Neti Kriya; the word kriya means cleansing practice. Neti rinses away buildup from the nasal passages and sinuses, including pollen, dust, germs, and other airborne contaminants and removes excess mucus. At the same time that it clears away these physical contaminates it can also help clear away the fog from the mind thereby increasing spiritual awareness.

Each day we take upwards of 17,000 inhalations and our nasal passages serve as an important filter between the atmosphere and our internal bodies, cleaning, heating and moisturizing the air as it enters the respiratory system. The moist membranes of the nasal passages secrete mucus which traps dust, dirt, and other airborne contaminants. This epithelial tissue also contains antibodies which is part of the body’s defense systems and with each breath the body’s natural defense system is active, collecting contaminants and protecting our lungs. Cleansing the nasal passages with a net pot helps to maintain the protective function of these tissues while clearing away dried mucus and stimulating fresh mucus.

The nose is divided into two passages separated by a septum; when you pour the salted water in one nostril, it goes around the back of the septum, and gravity helps it flow out the other side. The practice of using saline water in the nasal passages flushes out sinus fluids because the salt creates a higher osmotic pressure than water alone. The salt content of the water prevents the body from absorbing it, so it flushes easily for a cleansing effect.

According to Ayurvedic teachings a regular neti practice can have a positive effect creating overall balance to the entire central nervous, respiratory, circulatory, digestive and excretory systems. Yogis love neti for its ability to improve mental clarity, enhancing pranayama and meditation, and facilitating higher states of consciousness. Anyone can benefit from this practice, although it is especially recommended for people with chronic respiratory congestion, frequent colds, and sinus headaches but the practice is not recommend if you experience chronic nosebleeds, nasal polyps, or a deviated nasal septum.

When preforming neti it is recommend using distilled, purified or sterile water, which can be bought at the store, or use boiled water. Cleaning the neti pot is very easy by rinsing it with one of the waters above and let air dry.

When choosing a salt for your neti pot it is important to use a pure salt without caking additives, added chlorine, minerals, or flavorings. You can purchase specific neti salts or use food grade salt, including pure table, Kosher, Himalayan or Celtic salts. It is best to use a finely processed salt which will dissolve easily. After neti, you can use a nasya oil. It is important to note that the use of nasya oil should be done only after the nostrils are totally dry.

Benefits of Neti

Heightens and improves the sense of smell.

Relives respiratory conditions such as bronchitis, asthma, allergies, hay fever, colds, and postnasal drip.

Flushes out buildup from the nasal passages, including excess mucus, bacteria, dirt, and allergens.

Improves concentration and focus, visualization, and meditation.

Purifies the nadis (internal channels), which promotes awareness of the energetic system of the subtle body, facilitating the flow of prana (vital life force).

Moistens the nasal passages, reducing dryness.

How to Use a Neti Pot

*Place 1 cup of lukewarm water into your neti pot.

*Add ½ teaspoon of pure salt and allow to dissolve.

*Lean your head forward over the basin, gently place the spout of the neti pot inside your right nostril, forming a seal to avoid any leakage, and turn your head so your left nostril is pointed over the sink.

*Open your mouth slightly and breathe continuously through your open mouth.

*Slowly pour the solution into your right nostril and exhale through your mouth. The solution will flow through the nasal passage and out your left nostril and exit into the sink.

*Repeat with the neti pot inside your left nostril. When the neti pot is empty, remove the spout from your nostril and exhale through both nostrils.

*Gently blow your nose into a tissue a few times to expel all the water.

About the Author:

Jeff Perlman studied nutrition before graduating from the Cordon Bleu and worked as a professional chef. After an injury and a health concern, he turned his attention to a holistic path and became a Certified Clinical Ayurvedic Practitioner, Panchakarma Specialist, Certified Massage-Marma Therapist, Registered AHG Herbalist, Iyengar Yoga instructor, and, certified IAYT-Ayuryoga Therapist. For more information visit his website. (Article reprinted from LA Yoga magazine)

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Sara Novak’s article on Discover magazine’s website was clearly written pre-pandemic. It turns out she (a writer for Discover, Discovery Health, Popular Science, among others) was writing about a visit to Satchidananda Ashram, what drew her there, and

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If you eat natural, organic food then the stomach says, “Okay, you gave me good food and not too much, so I’m fine.” If you ate a poor quality food or if the quantity was too much the stomach lets you know. If the stomach didn’t tell you anything what would happen? You would continue the bad habit and get very sick. So these aches and pains are our friends; they are warning signals that tell you that something is going wrong somewhere, so you will take care.

Most of our problems—physical ones and also our worries, hatred, fear, anxiety, and disappointments—are caused by our own wrong attitude in life. We allow our senses to just run around. We eat whatever we see that looks good or smells good. We don’t worry about the stomach or pause and ask it if it needs food. We simply ask the tongue and if the tongue says “eat,” that’s what we do. We have allowed the senses to become unruly and to run here and there as they want. We are enslaved by our own senses, our own minds and they create problems for us. Instead of realizing that we are the cause we put the blame on  somebody or something else.

Yoga asks you to understand that you are the cause for your happiness or your unhappiness. If you have many friends that means you have made your own mind a good friend of yours and that is why you see others as your friends. If you have not mastered your mind and your mind acts as an enemy to you, you will also see others as enemies and not as friends. You are your best friend and you are your worst enemy.

Self-reformation is the aim of Yoga and that is the same thing that you see in every faith or wisdom tradition. The individual must reform themselves both physically, and mentally. Only then can we be useful to others.

Once somebody expressed this concern to me: “I know I have a lot of weaknesses and am restless, but if I have to reform myself before I serve others it will take forever. If I have to wait to serve others until I find peace, health, and happiness within myself I will never be a useful person. There are so many problems in the world; there is so much that could be done to help, I can’t just sit and think of my own peace.” I responded with this example: “Suppose you are walking somewhere with a gallon can of gasoline. All of a sudden you see a house on fire and think: I must go and put the fire out but I don’t have time to go home and get some water. So, instead of taking the time to get water, you rush to the spot with some gasoline to put out the fire. Could that be done? If you don’t have water, don’t go there and pour gasoline on the fire.

Another person asked me: “There is so much restlessness and so may problems in the world. What can I possibly do?” I said, “If you want to do something to bring peace you must bring it with you. If you don’t have peace within and if you say, “I don’t have time to find peace in in me I should just go and help,” then you are going there with your own distressed mind. That means you will be adding one more distressed person to the situation.

We are all eager to serve and that’s fine, but it is necessary to prepare yourself for service and that’s why we become Yoga students. As a student you are accumulating the proper knowledge and experience so that you can go and share it with others. Before acquiring enough knowledge if you try to do share what is that you are going to share? Your foolishness?

If you are standing on the bank of a river and see someone drowning, as a great bighearted person you will want to pull them out of the water. If you don’t know how to swim and if you jump in, you will be one more person that drowns. Instead, take time to learn how to swim and then in a similar, future situation you can help. Now all you can do is shout for some help, but don’t jump into the water. You are all ready to serve others but become qualified first by making yourself both physically and mentally fit. That is purpose of Yoga.

Yoga is very practical. You don’t need to change your occupation or change your faith. Just be what you are, where you are, and see that this kind of transformation happens in your own body and mind. Stay away from anything and everything that would disturb your physical ease and mental ease, which is called disease. You already are easeful and peaceful by nature, but you have allowed that to be disturbed. When you are at peace, you don’t worry and you don’t feel bad about anything. Have you ever gone to a doctor and complained: “Oh the past ten days I have felt so good, so peaceful?” But the moment you lose your peace or your ease then you run to a doctor. That itself is the proof that your very nature is peaceful and easeful and if you could retain that peace and ease then you can become useful too.

There are certain practices that help to make us strong both physically and mentally. There is no need for me to give you a long list. It has already been given in the Ten Commandments: “Thou shall not kill, thou shall not lie,” and so on. Unfortunately they are all worded in the negative- don’t do this and don’t do that. If I started to add a few more “do nots,” you would put me into a knot! We have done enough “do nots,” is it not? Instead, let us do something positive. That is where the Yoga practices come in. Replace unhelpful habits with good ones and then the undesirable habits go away.

By Sri Swami Satchidananda

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