Some once-in-a-lifetime events leave an indelible mark on your consciousness altering the remaining course of your life. Two such events in my life were Woodstock and the Kumbha Mela. I was eighteen years old in 1969 when I attended the Woodstock music festival. Although my mind was considerably altered most of the time, I remember [...]
The tradition of kirtan was brought to these shores by gurus, saints, devotees and musicians as the kirtan scene seems to explode exponentially, the call-and-response form of participatory chant continues its democratic ascendancy into Yoga studios, living rooms and thousand-plus seat theaters. Along this trajectory, audience members,Yoga teachers, professional musicians and novices are all learning [...]
Ayurveda has been practiced in the US for only about 30 years, yet it is one of the systems of medicine native to India and is thousands of years old. Readers are invited to submit questions for “Ayurveda Q & A” to ayurveda@layogamagazine.com. Q: I am pregnant and am having trouble figuring out which herbs are safe [...]
When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. Yoga Bear chose me. For quite some time, I had been talking about wanting to get involved in charity work. Talking about it and actually doing it are very different things. When my nephew Blaise was born three years ago with Prader-Willi Syndrome, a very rare [...]
It is believed that bathing in the Ganges River, the Ganga, during Kumbha Mela cures the bather of all sins and evils and grants the bather salvation. Sweet deal, right? In 2012, I attended the second royal bathing day of the Kumbha Mela in Haridwar, India. It is unknown exactly how many people attend this auspicious [...]
Amidst the accusations of China’s belated response to the devastating earthquake that hit the Tibetan area of Yushu in the early hours of April 14, 2010, the downplaying in the Chinese media of the key role that Tibetan monks have played in the rescue efforts and mourning ceremonies, alongside reports of Chinese rescue workers who [...]
Constructing The Yogi’s Journey Geoffrey’s journey of discovering the deeper practices of Yoga is a familiar one; with its different iterations, it could almost be called the Yogi’s Journey, a variation of the Hero’s Journey. His journey goes like this: While working construction in San Francisco, in 1997, he began experiencing problems with [...]
Sutra 16, Verse 39 From the Radiance Sutras, A New Translation of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra The universe is an expanding shout of joy. A jam session is vibrating throughout creation – tune in. Feel it humming in your body. Hear it in the sounds of nature all around you. Listen to the deep, blissful [...]
Dr. Sarita Shresta Ayurveda has been practiced in the US for only about 30 years, yet it is one of the systems of medicine native to India and is thousands of years old. Question: I have stage four endometriosis with adhesions on my bowel. I was operated on using laporoscopy three times. I am [...]
Shifting The Healthcare Paradigm When it comes to the current state of health care, there is agreement across allegiances and party lines that this country is currently facing a crisis. There is little consensus, though, either about viable solutions or even the exact nature of the problem. How do we begin to find [...]