Yama # 2: Satya (Truthfulness)
SATYA: Truthfulness Living Integrity Beyond Convenience (part of 10 part series on the Yamas and Niyamas for My Yoga Online) Truth is liberating. It can also be complicated. And it is always powerful, so powerful that the Yoga Sutras tell us that when we are “dedicated to truth and integrity, our thoughts, words and actions gain the power to manifest.” Truth is full of consequences – positive and negative. That is why so many people avoid it, preferring the convenience of white lies, because as this sutra teaches, truth moves...
read moreParagliding Meets Yoga Therapy
Para-Ascending – A new Yoga Therapy perspective Life is all about perspective – whether we feel up or down, fearful or exhilarated, blessed or needy. This became abundantly clear as I hurled myself off a cliff recently, trusting that I would be held by the air currents sweeping into the wing of the Paraglider strapped to the instructor behind me. No ordinary moment. Earlier forms of this activity were referred to as “Paraascending” and this moment of flinging myself into space reminded me a lot of what we do in Yoga...
read moreMeditation & Parenting
Meditation and Parenting Have a Lot in Common I have been parenting for 13 years and meditating intently for only two, but already the similarities are evident. Without a doubt, having a regular meditation practice has made me a calmer, more consistent parent. And the challenges of parenting make me aware of how much I need meditation! Whether you have a regular meditation practice or have just heard that it is beneficial, see if you can relate to these things they have in common. # 1 Showing up daily and being fully present are required No...
read moreHow Yoga Helps
Every time I step onto my yoga mat, it is like climbing onto a life raft. I know that no matter what waters of emotional circumstance surround me, I am safe inside my practice. Some days I jump on with buoyancy and glee, other days it takes every last ounce of life force I can muster to barely crawl on. However, no matter how I get to my life raft, with laughter or tears, energy or exhaustion, once there I rest. I rest knowing that like a gently rocking boat, my yoga practice holds me as I flow through the river of life. There on my...
read moreThe Eight Limbs of Yoga
“What is being taught (in America today) under the name of Yoga is a minute part of this great tradition, a microscopic focus on the physical. Yoga in its completeness is a way of life that allows for total transformation. But the physical postures, or asanas, can serve as an introduction to this distinguished wisdom tradition. Asanas reintroduce us to our bodies. Once we become friends with the physical, going inward to the spiritual becomes easier. Yoga in its completeness is a way of life that allows for total transformation.” ~...
read moreChoosing Love
We all know the results of mass fear. In fact we have been living with it around us every day lately. But what would the result of mass love look and feel like? Stop for a moment. Take a breath and imagine. What would a climate of mass love FEEL like? In polar opposition to the routine greed and self centeredness that so much of our world runs on, a world running on the energy of love would feel relaxing, nurturing even, inspiring and incredibly exciting. Our challenge in embracing an entirely new paradigm of functioning together as a...
read moreLiving the Truth with Yoga
The 8 Steps to Living the Truth with Yoga were formulated for Dr. Keith Ablow to parallel his 8 Steps to Living The Truth book. They are a practical application of the Yogic principles handed down by venerated teachers and taught in yoga classes all over the world for the past 2500 years. Breathe deep and slow. Tune in to your body’s needs and messages. Accept and respect your body as it is today. Reawaken tense or numb places with movement and breath. Focus single pointed attention on the moment. Cultivate...
read moreChanging the Mass Consciousness
As we sit most of today watching the devastation reports from Japan, thousands missing and dead, the nuclear alert pending as well as the damage in No. California and on the US east coast , it is just unbelievable what the Earth is throwing up. It is definitely this kind of event that makes us all reflect upon how fragile life is and how fleeting the things that we ‘think’ are so permanent. This is truly a time for world prayer. Although the imminent crisis is so obviously in Japan, we are all at risk from the disturbance of...
read moreA Yoga Practice for Peaceful Holidays
Holy days. Sacred days. Days spent honoring that which you cherish with gestures of love and acts of devotion. Sound like the “holidays” at your house? If you are like so many Americans, the house is filled with stuff, presents everywhere, chaotic schedules, too long “to-do” lists and people with very short fuses. The holidays look nothing like the holy days they sprang from and are meant to commemorate. Rather they resemble a race against time, money and pressure to do and buy more, more and more. As yogis, how can we practice a more...
read moreJennie’s Personal Journey Through Yoga Therapy
A Yoga teacher’s journey through dark territory to personal transformation through the practice of Yoga. When I found out I was pregnant I was angry. I had just got my life working exactly how I wanted it. A baby meant massive change. Immersed in an exciting career in entertainment, I was 34 and practicing Yoga for all its physical benefits—extreme flexibility, tight abs and the really hot male instructor I hoped would adjust me in triangle pose. Those seemed like the benefits to Yoga. But with a basketball in my belly...
read morejennie lee
Jennie Lee is a Yoga Therapist and International Retreat Leader. She lives on the island of O'ahu, Hawai'i. 
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