Recently, I had to fill in a census, and at the end of it, it asked for my religion. I could not say ‘no religion’ and I could not say ‘all religions’ so I put down ‘universalist’. The first time I heard this term was when my my first teacher Sri Paul was explaining his… Read more »
When I was young I always had an interest in different religions and ideas; Philosophy surrounding the ideas of life and death in the universe. My mother used to ask, ‘what is it that you’re looking for?’ and I couldn’t really grasp it well enough to say! I was often slated for not sticking to… Read more »
“What is Guru Purnima?”asked a Yoga student of her teacher? The teacher replied, “Guru purnima is an old tradition celebrating the enlightened Gurus who have, and still are, sharing their wisdom and knowledge for our spiritual growth. It is a time of great respect and gratitude for these dear souls who often spent most of… Read more »
In a nutshell, whereas Hatha yoga is mainly concerned with the body, the ‘Seen’ (rendering it fit for asana), Raja yoga focuses on the unseen aspects of the breath, energy, the mind and meditation. Raja yoga employs many different techniques to suit all types of students; emotional, feeling types, intellectual questioning types, devotional prayer types.… Read more »
Q. What really is Meditation? A. There is so much talk of meditation, and there are so many variations and perspectives. This my favourite answer by Yogacharini Meenakshi Devi Bhavanani, as it says an enormous amount in few words… “Meditation is thinking more and more on less and less ,and becoming no thing and no… Read more »
To celebrate Swamiji’s Jyanthi at Janita’s place in France, I thought I would give a talk, based on a quote from Swamiji and finishing with a quote from Swamiji too. 30 years ago, Swami Gitananda told me: “PHYSICS and YOGA are on a crash course!” He did not mean that they would wipe each… Read more »
“Welcome”, said the Yoga Teacher to the new student; “What style of Yoga have you practiced before?”. “Only the exercise Yoga, 8 years – I am quite flexible”, replied the student, “I have been practicing the movements only, but not with much breathing”. “Exercise is good”, commented the teacher, “but it is a long way… Read more »