A Family Photo Album Sometimes you're born into a family, sometimes you marry into one and sometimes you find your family in a room filled with sweaty headstanders. But whether you are bound by blood, love or belief, family means family photos. Usually the family comes first. But recently I discovered a part [...]
Teaching the Yoga of Respecting Nature Trees were some of my best friends when I was a kid,” Jen Jivani Futterman recalls. “I would come home from school and spend hours sitting up in the loquat trees in my backyard.” Jivani looks for ways to encourage the connection to nature she valued. She explains, “Right [...]
Continuing a Tradition of Musical Families FOR MANY IN THE YOGA community, an introduction to classical Indian music comes through joining in a kirtan and feeling the bliss, devotion and energy of this call-and-response musical form. This participatory spiritual group musical experience is one facet of Indian music. Throughout the centuries Indian music evolved from [...]
With the uncertain rollercoaster state of the worlds’ economies and the vociferous political race occurring in our own country, this cacophony of tribulations has all but drowned out continued exposure to the ongoing human rights struggles still raging in places such as Burma, Darfur and Tibet. Woeser One voice that is determined not to [...]
A New Experience of Community Waves lapped against the gentle beach in the darkness as I listened deeply to the ocean, and the lingering exhalations of the other sixty people around me. The moon was rising over the water behind Snatam Kaur, GuruGanesha Singh and Manish Vyas, who watched us silently with light in their [...]
An Interview With Andrew Hahn, The Kirtan Rabbi Rabbi Andrew Hahn, known as the Kirtan Rabbi, has been facilitating Hebrew bhajan (sacred song) over the last several years. His goal is to create a cross-fertilization of song and wisdom by bringing Jewish teachings to the Yoga world even as he presents bhakti (devotion) to the [...]
Exploring The Healing Effects Of The Gong’s Resonating Sounds THE POWERFUL VIBRATION OF THE GONG ripples through the air. The succession of sound waves progressively excites each and every cell of the body before gently allowing them to rest. Chinese gong makers kept its metallic composition secret, so the instrument has long had a sense [...]
Robert Kiyosaki, Vietnam War veteran turned millionaire entrepreneur and best-selling author of Rich Dad Poor Dad recently teamed up with his sister Emi Kiyosaki, a peace-loving, working mother now known as Ani Tenzin Kacho, ordained Tibetan Buddhist nun. Their new book is Rich Brother, Rich Sister; the topic of which is...money. Ani Kacho recently faced [...]
Timeless Wisdom From The Dalai Lama For Challenging Times It was a drizzly morning as I walked up to Thunderdome, the basketball stadium at University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) to attend a day of teachings with the His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Once inside, I looked around to see that not all 3,000 [...]
Shri Krishna Pattabhi Jois, the highlyrespected guru of the intense vinyasa flow style known as Ashtanga Yoga, died at 2:30 A.M. local time in Mysore, India, on Monday, May 18, 2009, at the age of 93. Jois was among the most influential, prominent and beloved figures in the Western Yoga community. Along with B.K.S. Iyengar [...]