How to Avoid Overcrowded Mat Syndrome. ~ Jenn Kashiwa
by elephantjournal.com on May 9, 2012
When yoga is pursued as a spiritual journey, it’s meant to be a solitary exploration with the individual seeking to unite with the Divine. So what happens when you become a habitual practitioner and begin to unite in friendship with fellow classmates? Is there room on that 2×5 foot mat for you, the Divine and [...]
418 views
Comments (1)
Activate Your Shakti—This Mothers’ Day.
by Bud Wilson on May 8, 2012
It is helpful to remember that both men and women embody the feminine essence and energy of Shakti as the ultimate power behind all creation.
461 views
Comments 6
The Stories We Tell Create the People We Become. ~ John Whipple
by elephantjournal.com on May 7, 2012
You have nothing to lose by living as full as you can. You are free to “follow your bliss,” as Joseph Campbell would often say.
325 views
Comments 6
You can’t stay happy forever.
by Rebecca Lammersen on May 7, 2012
Have you ever noticed that being happy is just as exhausting as being sad? That’s because it is. I have lived my life on the roller coaster of emotion. Disneyland’s Space Mountain doesn’t hold a snow capped peak to the summits and valleys of my feelings. I have spent most days holding on for dear [...]
244 views
Comments 6
Happy F**king Mother’s Day.
by Sara Lovelace on May 7, 2012
My mother has the mouth of a sailor. This would be a heartwarming and mildly curious habit if she weren’t a Presbyterian minister.
619 views
Comments 6
Is Spirituality really a Sign of Selfish Narcissism? ~ Ben Ralston {video}
by Ben Ralston on May 7, 2012
With all the problems in the world: starvation, poverty, war, corruption, abuse… do I deserve to focus on myself – is self development / spirituality selfish?
702 views
Comments 35
Rip that Fist of a Heart Open. ~ Kelly Morris
by elephantjournal.com on May 5, 2012
How pain can teach empathy and spiritual wisdom. The very words ‘open your heart’ make most people want to punch in a wall, me included. Other folks make that ‘heart’ sign with their fingers. That’s, uh, sweet, but it doesn’t answer why you would want to open your heart, or what actually needs to be [...]
2,057 views
Comments 14
Why America is Not a “Christian Nation.” ~ Andrew Cort
by elephantjournal.com on May 4, 2012
If the U.S. was founded on the Christian religion, the Constitution could easily have said so. The silence is deafening. Nowhere is there any mention of God, Jesus, or Christianity.
1,218 views
Comments 6
The Incredible Likeness of Being.
by Tom Grasso on May 4, 2012
Your eyes closed, your skin tingles at Her touch, and you relax into Everythingness. She takes you, and you in turn take Her. This is just not pleasure, It is something so much more.
308 views
Comments 8
IChant: the Ultimate App. ~ Chris Fici
by elephantjournal.com on May 4, 2012
The maha-mantra is, in one sense, a tool in the toolbox of apps that is part of my daily existence as a spirit in the material world. But in the ultimate sense it is so much more. By chanting this mantra, we are taken through the depth of complexity of our own being, allowing us to see and transcend all the illusions that we carry in our consciousness. We come to the simple core of our being, as eternal souls in a loving relationship with God.
291 views
Comments 3
I’ve Discovered Proof of Reincarnation.
by Tom Grasso on May 3, 2012
I hope you take some time to engage in this exercise, and that it helps you in any way it can. It has helped me in a tremendous way as I stand on the verge of great change with my arms and heart wide open.
358 views
Comments 4
Then I was unfriended.
by elephantjournal.com on May 2, 2012
Via Reddit…via Facebook: A true happy ending? Disagreeing without being disagreeable. Debating while remaining friendly, and friends. We’re working on it. Bonus, two relephant quotes: “We are all atheists about most of the gods that societies have ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.” ~ Richard Dawkins “I contend we are [...]
833 views
Comments 10
Using Social Media as a Tool for Spiritual Growth.
by The Good Men Project on May 2, 2012
A warrior writes from his heart in order to save the world.
98 views
Comments (1)
The Art of Committing Suicide. ~ Ramanjit Garewal
by elephantjournal.com on May 2, 2012
…
523 views
Comments 18
Mirror Me.
by Rebecca Lammersen on May 1, 2012
We all have those days; the days where everything goes wrong. I had one of those days last week. I was jolted awake at 5AM by a whiny three year old clocking me on the head with her Dora the Explorer microphone. My six year old was complaining that I didn’t get her favorite yogurt [...]
757 views
Comments 9
Why Do We Enjoy Making Fun of Others?
by Ed & Deb Shapiro on May 1, 2012
Two men and a woman videoed themselves enthusiastically laughing as they beat up an old man. Nineteen year-old Tyler Clementi committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge after his roommate and a friend secretly video taped him having gay sex and put it out on the internet. Children giggle when another child falls [...]
124 views
Comments 4
Yogi & Shaman Dance in the Fire: How Yoga Brought Me Home. ~ Patricia J. Heavren
by elephantjournal.com on May 1, 2012
My journey to becoming a shaman began as a desire to renounce all things earthly—or, at least, all things earthly that weren’t working the way I wanted.
142 views
Comments (1)
Buddha Got Beheaded & It Was a Bloody Beautiful Sight!
by April Dawn Ricchuito on Apr 27, 2012
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall; Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the King’s horses And all the King’s men Couldn’t put Humpty together again! The other day, my Buddha statue fell to the floor and his head broke off. My brother asked me how I manage to break everything I come in contact with. My [...]
117 views
Comments 2
Globalization Isn’t Just for Economists.
by Andrew Cohen on Apr 27, 2012
So, in my talks, which many young Indians did attend, I found myself in the odd position of explaining to them that India’s great gift to the world has been her rich spirituality and that her greatest luminaries have been powerfully enlightened men and women who all, in one way or another, courageously bucked the status quo in pursuit of their own higher development.
30 views
Comments (1)
A Letter to Parents & all Other Humans.
by Rebecca Lammersen on Apr 26, 2012
Please Listen to Our Children and Treat them With Respect. Dear Moms, Dads and Everyone Else, Please do our world a favor, start treating our children as the most intelligent, wise and saint-like beings that exist on the planet. Why? Because they are. Haven’t we learned a lesson? For decades upon decades, centuries upon [...]
407 views
Comments 10
How Talking to God Can Change Your Life. ~ Tom Rapsas
by Tom Rapsas on Apr 26, 2012
Every morning, I find and connect with the divine essence within. On some days, I take an additional step, recommended by the likes of Ralph Trine, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Ram Dass. I talk to and listen to God.
229 views
Comments 12
Your Eyes Are Desire.
by Susanna Harwood Rubin on Apr 25, 2012
What do you really want?
846 views
Comments 9
(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
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
Comments 6
Courage into the Unknown. ~ Sherri Rosen
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 25, 2012
Sometimes no matter how hard we work or how much courage we muster, things just don’t work out. After years of hard labor, we find ourselves staring at a what appears to be an impenetrable wall.
54 views
Comments (1)
Don’t Resist the Holy. ~ Chameli Ardagh
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 25, 2012
Yet, don’t fool yourself into believing that to stay and churn in those yucky waters is some kind of virtue, that it will get you any faster to Paradise. In your attachment to your suffering it is easy to turn your back on the open door, and you look for a deeper meaning to your pain.
496 views
Comments 10
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
Find Vajra, Be Strong. ~ Robert Piper
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 24, 2012
It is believed in the Buddhist culture that when one looks within through meditation and gains this Vajra, they become indestructible.
255 views
Comments 6
Love Your Fear. ~ Kathryn Visser
by Yoga Pod on Apr 24, 2012
Perhaps this seemingly frustrating emotion is one to be greatly respected.
216 views
Comments 4
FYI: We’re Not in Charge. ~ Anne Ondrey
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 24, 2012
“Inside the big world that you cannot control, you have the small world of you that you can control. In that small world, if you look, you can see whether to go this way toward good or the other way toward bad.”
172 views
Comments 2
My Inner Child Is the House of My Soul.
by Alexandra Folz on Apr 24, 2012
My inner child is the house of my soul. She is the framework that holds ancient wisdom from infinite times and travels.
264 views
Comments (0)
What’s Our Part in All This?
by Shawna Turner on Apr 24, 2012
Earth Day got me thinking. Spring is here—the birds are chirping, the buds are blooming, the layers are coming off and you can actually feel the pulse in the air. It’s got me thinking about The Law of Giving and Receiving by Deepak Chopra. When the world’s in bloom, there’s an extra little bounce in my step. I breathe in a bit deeper [...]
40 views
Comments (1)
What the Buddha Might Say to Mitt Romney.
by Ed & Deb Shapiro on Apr 24, 2012
“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.“ ~ Buddha One of the truly great things in life is to discover our genuine and authentic self, to dance to the beat of our own drum. And so, conversely, one of the greatest challenges [...]
283 views
Comments 5
How Buddhism Helped Me Let Go of My Ex. ~ Cassandra Smith
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 23, 2012
By integrating an understanding of emptiness into my own suffering, I began to realize how I set myself up for my own heartbreak.
433 views
Comments 3
Tonight I Seek. ~ Sonjia Weinstein
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 23, 2012
I want to say I know we are infinite. No equation can find what people are.
114 views
Comments 4
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
Loving, Striving, Trust and Time—Reflections on Cultivating Maternal Confidence.
by Liza Fox on Apr 23, 2012
For the renunciate, ten years in a cave might come close to what it is like to shepherd a new being (or two…) into this world, deprived of sleep, the ability to think clearly, pee when you need, and eat a full meal. If you allow the love of your children to work its magic you will be fully stripped of your lofty intentions, ideals, and armoring.
285 views
Comments 3
In 2012, “I will get out of my own way!” & 12 Other Transformational Manifestations.
by Melissa Smith on Apr 22, 2012
A beautiful and intimate festival this winter in Crested Butte gave me these nuggets of wisdom that have seeped into my life as affirmations for transformation. And, I’m working toward this powerful mantra from Shannon Paige “In 2012, I will get out of my own way!”
213 views
Comments 3
I Work for Love.
by Rebecca Lammersen on Apr 22, 2012
Yesterday, someone asked me if I’m paid for my writings on elephant journal. I found this interesting—as if receiving money for what I do makes it relevant, real and successful in the eyes of society. Am I paid to be a mother? Am I paid to give hugs and kisses? Am I paid to hold [...]
185 views
Comments 5
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
Comments 4
The Trance Dance. ~ Adri Kyser
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 21, 2012
When was the last time you found yourself completely free? When was the last time you gave yourself permission to try something new, let go of control and found complete surrender?
178 views
Comments 5
Spiritual Bullsh*t & New Age Nonsense: Don’t Relinquish Your Power.
by Ben Ralston on Apr 20, 2012
And the more you do this, the more joy you get from every moment you are here. And we don’t have that many moments… as you do this you increase your capacity for joy, for love, for freedom… and that’s a very beautiful thing.
1,063 views
Comments 29
Do We Need Faith to Believe in Progress?
by Andrew Cohen on Apr 20, 2012
Men and women of great spiritual commitment, whether they are realized Himalayan yogis, high Buddhist Lamas, wise and revered Rabbis, beloved Christian Priests, or ecstatic Sufi mystics, tend to emanate both a powerful positivity and an uplifting compassion. And it is their spiritual conviction—based upon either strong faith or direct mystical experience—that has made them, throughout human history, such important pillars of both solace and inspiration.
33 views
Comments (1)
A Tribute to Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati.
by Swami Matagiri Jaya on Apr 19, 2012
Ma Jaya used to say, “I asked to teach the hard ones,” and we came to her. She embraced us all. Now she is gone, only three months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. We gather in little groups and tell each other stories that make us laugh and stories that make us cry. Some [...]
932 views
Comments 12
Walking on Water. ~ Andrew Furst
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 19, 2012
Life is a mystery. And yet it is as obvious as the nose on our face. Taken away, there is nothing left. It’s our foundation and a great jewel. Life is the miracle of being awake.
186 views
Comments 3
Yamas, Yous & Yoga for Youth. ~ Elizabeth Reese
by elephantjournal.com on Apr 19, 2012
If we can show compassion for others, it often enables us to treat ourselves with more kindness or Ahimsa.
135 views
Comments 6
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
Comments 2
Popular Lately
Skip Your Morning Meditation & Watch this Instead. 3,237 views
Your Ugly Vagina Is Normal & Gorgeous. (Adult) 1,836 views
Six Tips on How To Get a Gig Teaching Yoga. 1,212 views
How to Really Know Someone. Really. 971 views
Chakras: The Energy Within. ~ Amanda Ramcharitar 963 views
18 Life Lessons I Want My Daughters to Hear. 834 views
10 Reasons Why Fifty Shades of Grey should never Tie any Self-Respecting Woman Down. 821 views
The Real Reason Downward-Facing Dog Is So Good for You. ~ Sara Calabro 683 views
A Meeting In Central Park With The Oldest Living Yoga Teacher In The World. ~ Photographed by Robert Sturman 647 views
John Friend moving to...Denver? 617 views
Tragedy at Diamond Mountain: an Update. 616 views
How to Get in a Girl's (Yoga) Pants. 601 views
Classic Interview. Respect, Anderson Cooper. 573 views
A Respectful Letter to Yoga Journal Magazine: Represent & Unify. ~ Shira Engel 534 views
Why Lying Broken in a Pile on Your Bedroom Floor is a Good Idea. ~ Julie (JC) Peters 527 views
Popular This Week
- Skip Your Morning Meditation & Watch this Instead. 22,005 views
- How to Really Know Someone. Really. 14,954 views
- 18 Life Lessons I Want My Daughters to Hear. 10,201 views
Bruised, Battered & Scarred. ~ Tiffany Cruikshank 7,166 views- Your Ugly Vagina Is Normal & Gorgeous. (Adult) 7,142 views
- A Meeting In Central Park With The Oldest Living Yoga Teacher In The World. ~ Photographed by Robert Sturman 6,337 views
- Tragedy at Diamond Mountain: an Update. 5,095 views
Popular All-Time
Someone asked the Dalai Lama (?) what surprises him most. This was his response. 413,145 views- Skip Your Morning Meditation & Watch this Instead. 306,978 views
- Why Lying Broken in a Pile on Your Bedroom Floor is a Good Idea. ~ Julie (JC) Peters 180,484 views
Eight things I Learned from 50 Naked People. 129,286 views
Rockstar / Yoga fanman Adam Levine of Maroon 5 gets sexy for prostate & testicular cancer prevention. 114,064 views
Shake the dust – this one is for you. 103,671 views- A Meeting In Central Park With The Oldest Living Yoga Teacher In The World. ~ Photographed by Robert Sturman 83,373 views
The 10 things you’ll do once you start yoga (that have nothing to do with yoga). ~ Lee Anne Finfinger 77,366 views
"You can hate PETA, but this is f**king bullshit." 71,858 views
This Poster Might Just Change Your Life. ~ Nicole Duncan 67,988 views
Dating a Yoga Goddess. 66,793 views
The video every yogi needs to see! 65,562 views
Sponsors $108/month (recurring) 
TIFERET: A Journal of Spiritual Literature
Bryan Bowen Architects
Lighthouse Solar
Incense Guru
2UYoga
The Green Pet Community
Joia Botanicals
Members $9/month; $108/yr (recurring)
