How Loud Is Your Environment? ~ Sheila Singh
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 25, 2012
Seemingly quiet. Sunday morning and the girls were at my Mom’s place. It was uncommonly quiet in the house, and equally serene and subdued outside. I enjoyed a warm cup of tea and brought my mat out to the deck. The scenery was lush and the air, warm and still to the touch. I came [...]
144 views
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(Real) Science & (Real) Spirituality: Three Questions To Consider.
by Julian Walker on Apr 25, 2012
Have you considered that “sacredness” may be a concept that denotes a state of being that is entirely natural and human and has to do with being in meditative absorption or in touch with deep compassion, or in a flow state and feeling really connected to oneself, others and the world around us?
713 views
Comments 131
Our Friends, the Crows. ~ Shielagh Shusta-Hochberg, Ph.D.
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 25, 2012
Often when I meditate, I get creative ideas. Back in the day I would stop the process and grab paper and pen to jot the ideas down.
275 views
Comments 11
Asana Is a Tool—Are You Acting like One?
by Chrispy (Bhagat Singh) on Apr 25, 2012
Most ‘yogis’ like to feel they’ve transcended the‘calisthenics’ and the gym-yoga and are now doing the yoga; perhaps it’s more accurate to say that we are all using the asana practice to help us connect with a greater technology known as yoga, but that simple physical movement without the union of stability and flexibility, root and aspiration, expression and surrender may not actually be yoga.
359 views
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My Broken Heart, Steve Jobs Yoga, & A Live Interview With Sri Dharma Mittra: A Potluck Post.
by Jennifer Cusano on Apr 25, 2012
Basically I was on the verge of tears for the first 24 hours, and I am pretty sure I turned 50 shades of red for each hand I shook or body I hugged.
459 views
Comments 6
How to Work with Shame: Buddhism & Embodied Spirituality.
by Benjamin Riggs on Apr 25, 2012
500 words that offer a simple and direct means of working with shame in your day-to-day life.
858 views
Comments 11
Beyond Fight or Flight: Opening to the Gifts of Spirit. ~ Margaret Paul
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 23, 2012
Learn about accepting the soul’s challenge of moving beyond the instincts of fight or flight, and choosing instead to be on the path of love.
165 views
Comments 3
Skip Your Morning Meditation & Watch this Instead.
by Kristin Luce on Apr 22, 2012
This video will do in five minutes what takes your meditation two hours.
314,858 views
Comments 144
I Am an Idiot. ~ Ira Israel
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 22, 2012
I never realized what an idiot I was until I started meditating.
246 views
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i am.
by Cameron Burgess on Apr 22, 2012
i measure this life by what my lips draw from it, by how its perfume stimulates remembrance, by how it brushes against my throat, tangles in my hair and seduces me, by how it sings to me, the stories it tells and the untruths i’m so desperate to believe, by the kaleidoscope of faces like fallen leaves collecting at [...]
79 views
Comments (0)
Review: Mindfulness for Urban Depression. ~ Rachel Meyer
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 21, 2012
And as much as I preach about finding stillness and balance, most days it’s a constant struggle to do so.
268 views
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Meditation for Extra Credit.
by Swami Matagiri Jaya on Apr 20, 2012
Most of my students are “the working poor,” and they need all the help they can get. But since it’s Florida, there are a few students every term who say they can’t meditate because their pastor said it’s dangerous.
303 views
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Thing 1 & Thing 2.
by Heather Dawn on Apr 20, 2012
Understanding the first and second Chakras.
263 views
Comments (1)
Hanging in the Balance. ~ Angela Morris
by Yoga Pod on Apr 19, 2012
Searching for the ever elusive enlightenment with the intention of staying there forever is just as out of balance as letting our petty worries run our lives or working for that perfect physique to the point of detriment and exhaustion.
468 views
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The Therapeutic Benefits of Spiritual Yoga. ~ Vicki Starfire
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 19, 2012
“In essence, spirituality deals with our relationship with what is beyond us as individuals. It is a very personal inner journey.”
212 views
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The Difference between Injury & Soreness.
by Chrispy (Bhagat Singh) on Apr 18, 2012
Your body is a vessel, it’s a container for essence and experience that is you – your body is not you, but rather what holds you. If you imagine you as a vessel, then a vessel for what? A vessel for prana, love, experience, service, fulfillment, overflowing? Imagine you are a vessel for service, and made of beautiful burnished shiny gold. Why be anything less if you can create this? So, your vessel of gold that contains the you that is saying these very words in your own mind’s ear right now is for service… and in that service, you are being used, sometimes even slightly abused. You get scratched, or dented or dinged or tarnished. That’s life, that’s service.
335 views
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![[fill in the blank] Yoga](http://images.elephantjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Yoga-Fashion1-100x100.jpg "Yoga-Fashion")
[Fill in the Blank] Yoga: The 5 Dangers of Practicing Fad Disciplines
by Kelli Harrington on Apr 18, 2012
Everything has yoga attached to it now: Yawning Yoga, Weight Loss Yoga, Fashion Yoga, Heart Yoga, you name it! Attach yoga to it and – guaranteed — it will sell for a while, even if it contains very little substance. We have bastardized the traditions that are legitimate and have fallen slave to the charms of Madison Avenue, Hollywood and the yoga magazine media to tell us what yoga should look like in a $300 yoga outfit. So, who cares, right? If people choose to pursue [fill in the blank] Yoga, how does that affect me personally? If I practice a discipline that has a real lineage, what does it matter what others believe is real yoga? At least they’re moving their bodies, right? Wrong. Here’s why.
438 views
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elephant’s Tadasana Festival Ticket Giveaway.
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 18, 2012
Post this on your Facebook page, or tweet this. Leave a comment below saying you’ve done so, and you could win a full pass. We’ll see you there! We’re giving away six 3-day Tadasana Festival tickets. We’ll choose the winners by 5:00 pm PST Thursday, April 19 (that’s tomorrow!). Post this article on your Facebook [...]
359 views
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Cold Depression. ~ Sarvasmarana Nithya
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 18, 2012
In the philosophy of Kundalini yoga, depression is not considered a psychological problem it is seen as an energy problem.
315 views
Comments 23
Yoga & Religion: It’s Complicated? ~ Jenifer Parker
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 17, 2012
Yoga is not a religion in and of itself. Like other disciplines, it doesn’t require a specific cosmology or historical and cultural context in order to “work,” or to get the outcomes that one receives through diligent practice.
283 views
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Steve Job’s Secret.
by David Romanelli on Apr 17, 2012
Steve Jobs had access to a state of consciousness available to each of us. However, most of us struggle to get out of our own way…
333 views
Comments 6
Compassion the Dalai Lama Way.
by Ed & Deb Shapiro on Apr 17, 2012
A Meeting with the Dalai Lama. Shortly after we were married, we went to India and spent our honeymoon in ashrams and monasteries, and then we went to McCleod Ganj, where the Dalai Lama lives in exile along with other Tibetan refugees. Once there, we went to the Office of Securities to request a meeting [...]
261 views
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A Guide to Earth-Friendly Yoga.
by Jill Barth on Apr 17, 2012
The structure of your yoga practice allows you to gently, naturally lean into a more ecologically-aware lifestyle. Skills you embrace to deepen your spiritual and meditative yoga bonds also support a sound connection with Earth and nature.
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Maitri.
by Waylon Lewis on Apr 17, 2012
Love Yourself. For my friend Leah (and my other lovely friends who are dreamers, and doers, but have not yet quite harnessed both together). And, for you. ~ ed. No different, really — a summer firefly’s visible burning and this body, transformed by love. ~ Izumi Shikibu Pema Chodron, on Maitri. “…There was a story [...]
3,035 views
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Dear Mum, Thanks for the Iron.
by Frances Frischkorn on Apr 16, 2012
Today was a wrinkly day, to say the least. I spent my whole gimpy Ashtanga yoga practice this morning in a mind-tornado, obsessing over all the caustic and scathing remarks that I wish I could say to this one particular person. Definitely not a positive or productive practice!
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A “Bad” Meditation. ~ Ram Giri Braun, Ph.D.
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 16, 2012
Can you fathom the depth in you the mind cannot see when it is embroiled in the force of the past? Can you remember the glow of a fire in the cold night?
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Comments (1)
Destroying the Hindrances. ~ Camella Nair
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 15, 2012
In this lesson of the ongoing series, A Taste of the Yoga Sutras, Camella Nair considers the use of meditation to control the hindrance of mental fluctuations.
161 views
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Someone Cared.
by Mae Sakharov on Apr 14, 2012
Breathing, touch, and simple caring in a time of need.
448 views
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20 Hard-Knock Life Lessons from Orgasmic Meditation.
by Candice Holdorf on Apr 14, 2012
In Defense of Orgasms. This past Monday night, I attended the launch party of The Best Sex Writing 2012, published by Cleis Press and edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel, in San Francisco. Many of the most prolific and controversial American sex writers attended and read from their essays, which are featured in the anthology. The [...]
2,810 views
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The Lake: The Yoga of the Practice of Peace.
by Josh Schrei on Apr 13, 2012
Just as the waters of the lake find their greatest clarity and reflection in times of stillness, it is only from a place of peace in our hearts that we can truly reflect light.
318 views
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In Between the Breaths. ~ Camden Hock
by Yoga Pod on Apr 12, 2012
In between the first breath and the last breath, we are presented opportunities for becoming who we are. These opportunities are choice points where we are presented with a situation and then given the supreme decision of where we shall go from there. Our choice in that moment affects that moment and the next moment, creating our day, our week, our month, our year and so on.
As yogis, we are aware of the breath. This awareness has gifted us life, love, truth, consciousness, wisdom, and possibility.
220 views
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Do Buddhas Cry?
by Ari Setsudo Pliskin on Apr 11, 2012
The Buddha’s response to his father’s death didn’t quite jive with my understanding of my Buddhist practice with regards to death.
1,226 views
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Activate Emotional Intelligence. {Meditation Video} ~ Julian Walker
by Big Happy Day on Apr 11, 2012
Enjoy a short meditation from one of Ele’s favorite bloggers, Julian Walker. This meditation focuses on activating emotional intelligence. As you breathe in love and peace and exhale, surrender and forgiveness, you begin to cultivate compassion for yourself and others and live more freely from your heart. Julian Walker lives in Los Angeles. He is [...]
451 views
Comments (1)
You Gotta Retox to Detox. ~ Tanya Maria Mah
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 11, 2012
Hedonistic Tales and the Relevance of Yoga in Today’s World
1,091 views
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Being Fearless.
by Craig Holliday on Apr 10, 2012
The freedom that I am speaking about is wisdom, fearlessness and knowing who we are all in one. Too often we think of fearlessness as not having fear, but I am not talking about the naivety of an eighteen year old. I am speaking about being fearless in relation to our own ignorance, passion, and aggression, and in relation to the movement of Life.
331 views
Comments (1)
Today you’re upset about X, Y, & Z. Here’s the solution.
by Waylon Lewis on Apr 10, 2012
DRAMA! Get over yourself. Get over myself. Let’s get over ourselves. How? Get outside. Connect with God/Mother Nature/Meditation/Prayer. Or, as Calvin & Hobbes put it… PS: Problem seeing the stars? Bonus, via Sakyong Mipham: “What about me?”
1,991 views
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If You’re Not Here, Then Where Are You?
by Ed & Deb Shapiro on Apr 10, 2012
Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. ~ John Lennon Who said life would be like walking the yellow brick road, or that the human condition would be easy? And why is it so important to be here? What’s the big deal? It appears that the reason we’re not happy [...]
434 views
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Three Steps to Making Every Day an Adventure.
by Lindsey Block on Apr 10, 2012
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” ~ Marcel Proust Step 1: Be irresponsible. Step 2: Don’t be afraid of anything. Step 3: Make it count. Via Laughing Squid: Filmmaker Casey Neistat was hired to film a commercial for the Nike+ Fuelband #Makeitcount campaign. Instead of making a straight commercial, [...]
2,796 views
Comments 5
Falling Lessons: Yoga, Zen, Sex, Love & Other Teachers.
by Aron Stein on Apr 10, 2012
When you are on a retreat in a monastery something interesting happens. You never know what, but it’s always interesting. Today the walls were melting. It might sound a bit like an LSD trip, but I have never taken LSD. In a monastery. A shimmering light poured over the hardwood floors and every surface seemed to [...]
788 views
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Mindful Coupon: Tadasana Festival elephant Reader Discount. $199 3-day Festival Pass through Friday, April 13th (thanks lululemon).
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 9, 2012
Click here to get your discounted Tadasana Festival Ticket. “With immense gratitude to lululemon and our friends over at Elephant Journal, a limited number of 3-day passes for Tadasana Festival are being made available for $199. Use this link to take advantage of this offer, which ends on Friday the 13th.” Just $199 for the [...]
162 views
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“Learn to be Genuine in Every Moment of your Life.” ~ Chögyam Trungpa
by Waylon Lewis on Apr 9, 2012
The Path of Meditation—and Living Life Fearlessly—is sometimes described as Warriorship. Brave yet Open, Vulnerable. Here’s a quote about that path, taken by myself in Barry Boyce’s office in Halifax. He’s a longtime editor at Shambhala Sun, and the editor-in-chief of Mindful, a new magazine coming out soon. He’s also a dear, fierce, jolly, hard-working, [...]
352 views
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Is That an Elephant in Your Pocket?
by Lorin Arnold on Apr 8, 2012
While we don’t have an elephant journal iPhone/iPad app yet, there are a number of apps available that align nicely with the interests of elephant readers.
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Helping Children Through Turmoil.
by Mae Sakharov on Apr 7, 2012
Family challenges are inevitable, but must attend to responses and needs of children during turmoil if we hope for them to become happy healthy adults.
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Even Puppies Need to Meditate. ~ Laura Mae Noble
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 6, 2012
If you want to learn about how to stay in the present moment, just watch your dog! ~ Laura Mae Noble was born in a cabin that is now a small pond. She grew up in Vermont, where she learned to listen & to love nature. She earned a BFA in Illustration from RISD, and [...]
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I’m human—there will be mistakes.
by Janet Auty-Carlisle on Apr 6, 2012
“OK pity party’s over folks, move on, nothing to see here”
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Three Ways to Bring Your Spiritual Practice into Daily Living.
by Ricardo das Neves on Apr 6, 2012
One of the things that I always find striking when I visit a predominantly Islamic country is the call to prayer. Five times a day you basically have a reminder to detach from everything that feels oh-so-important right now and reconnect with your spiritual source. So I started to think: how can I get something equivalent in my life? Here are three possibilities, in case they speak to you.
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What Does Karma Yoga Mean?
by Ed & Deb Shapiro on Apr 6, 2012
If we act with kindness and without focusing on ourselves, happiness will arise naturally, like a flower opening in the sun. Some people think that yoga means stretching, bending and twisting like a pretzel, or sitting crossed legged with our eyes closed and chanting om. But if that is all we did we would be [...]
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25 Amazing Zen Retreat Photos.
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 6, 2012
Minimalist Retreat, Leiria, Portugal Via our elephriends at EcoSalon. We live in an over-connected world of smartphones, social networking, and 24-hour news cycles. Sometimes, you just need to get away from it all. Whether you dream of a wood cabin in the forest, a cabana on an empty beach, or a treehouse outfitted in sustainable materials, there’s [...]
153 views
Comments (1)
From The Source.
by Joshua Plant on Apr 6, 2012
I found a light that was rooted deeply within me. Never had I seen such a thing before, let alone was I aware of its presence within me.
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Comments (1)
Acupuncture, the Writer & the Hologram. ~ B.J. Blackmore
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 6, 2012
Returning to this time and space, I have had the experience of being that person, and can start to bring those skills into my life and reality here and now.
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Comments (0)
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