How Meditation Can Help
in Times of Loss and Heartbreak
In grief and loss, the mind is powerfully affected. The way we think is changed. The content of our thoughts is altered. Particularly in early and traumatic grief, we forget things, we lose things, we are distracted and inattentive. Alternatively, we can be utterly focused on thoughts of our loved ones and what we have lost. We zone out, we draw blanks, we review, we scrutinize, we reject, and we ask unanswerable questions. We may question the very foundation of our most deeply held beliefs. The way we see the universe, other people, relationships, life itself, and the way things are can change drastically. We think about who we are now that this has happened to us, and try to decide how that makes sense based on who we were before grief came and what that will mean when we become whomever it is we will be in the future. We contemplate the strangeness of the loss of past interests and the inability to care about things that were once important. We wonder why other people continue to...
Couve: Brazilian-style Collard Greens
Couve is a delicious Brazilian dish of thinly sliced collard greens, cooked with garlic and onion and traditionally served as a popular accompaniment to feijoada, the Brazilian national dish comprised of black beans and pork. For Ranjani Tutia, E-RYT 200 and Ashram...
Sacred Sounds, Healing Sounds
The use of sacred sounds for healing dates back to ancient civilizations worldwide. From chanting and mantra in Eastern cultures to the shamanic songs of Icaro in the Amazon Rain Forest, The effects of sound have been used to balance the mind, calm emotional...
More Recent Articles
Your Roadmap to Happiness
In the world today, most people approach the study of Yoga through the asanas (physical postures). And for many schools, that’s where the study of Yoga ends. People want to be healthy and have a trim physique. One may ask, why do you want a trim physique? In some...
Five Reasons to Teach Yoga to Teens
Imagine if you had access to Yoga as a teen—how would it have impacted your life? There is a good chance that if you are reading this article, Yoga has influenced your life in a profound way. Teens are at a ripe age, impressionable to new ideas and experiences as they...
Yoga for Arthritis: More than Modifications
Research on the effects of Yoga has found that Yoga practice has numerous benefits for physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Dr. Steffany Moonaz is a Yoga therapist who has been involved in such research to gather clinical data about the health benefits of Yoga....
Support Through Life’s Biggest Challenges
Illustration by Rachel Brown Smith, Anahata the Heart Chakra Grief and loss are some of life's biggest challenges. Yogini, author, and psychotherapist Karla Helbert opened her heart in the following interview and offered an intimate sharing of her personal experience...
Form Versus Action in Our Yoga Practice
Have you ever been in a Yoga class and been given a subtle cue by the instructor that completely changes the way the body feels in an asana (posture)? It’s not uncommon for Hatha Yoga practitioners to feel that they’ve mastered a pose by achieving its outward form....
Yoga—A System for Healing
The following is an excerpt from Nischala Devi's book, The Healing Path of Yoga: Time-Honored Wisdom and Scientifically Proven Methods that Alleviate Stress, Open Your Heart, and Enrich your Life. Yoga As Healer Yoga allows us to bring expanded consciousness of...
Ayurvedic Recipe: Coconut Cilantro Potato Salad
It’s summertime! Light, sharp, hot, intense… A fundamental principle of Ayurveda, the Science of Optimal Living, is that we adjust our lives with the cycles of nature so we can experience radiant health and achieve deep healing. Thus, it is time to make a conscious...
Step Out of the Studio for 2017 Yoga Festivals
It’s almost officially summertime, which means that it’s festival season! Yogaville is gearing up to take Integral Yoga into the outdoors for local Yoga festivals. Yogaville will be present at several festivals this year, the biggest of which are Shensara, Floyd Yoga...
Restoring Health with Medical Yoga
What is Medical Yoga? The Medical Yoga program is a holistically-based health education program that focuses on bringing the body, mind, and spirit into a higher state of health and alignment. This program helps an inidual in the management of stress and in choosing a...
Setting a Sankalpa for Change
How Yoga Nidra Can Help with Changing Behavior Yoga Nidra, or “yogic sleep,” is rapidly gaining in popularity these days, mostly because it’s so blissfully exhilarating. Yoga Nidra is a powerful experience of progressively relaxing and restoring physically,...
The Ten Commandments of Back Pain
Physical injuries or complaints are often what motivate people to seek a Yoga practice for their health and wellbeing. A common, yet unfortunate, physical ailment for many is back pain. With respect to back pain, Dr. Loren Fishman, a back-pain specialist and...
Ayurveda, Addiction, and Recovery
This post is an edited excerpt from Ayurveda Journal of Health, vol. XIV, issue 2, Spring 2016, (16–21). Read the full, uncut article here. Ayurveda is often introduced and practiced alongside its sister science of Yoga, which has been heartily embraced by a large...