Dear Woman of the Woods, I’ve been wondering about what I could say about yoga to someone who tells me they know nothing about yoga. Yoga is commonly translated as ‘union;’ the yoking of two things. The yoga sutra says that yoga is the cessation of modifications of the mind. The Tantraloka says that, “that…
What is acupuncture? Most people know that acupuncture is a practice where very thin needles are inserted into the body to balance or open the channels of Qi (pronounced ‘chee’). Qi is basically life force or energy that brings all things into being; the equivalent of Prana in the East Indian tradition. Many people in…
I don’t normally post the words of others in my blog, but these words seem somehow important to me these days. The following is an excerpt from Shyam Ranganathan’s commentary on Pantanjali’s Yoga Sutra. “To study the self is to be introspective. It is an effort to discriminate between the true self and the contingencies…
Yoga is life. Dharma is the path of our life. Indifferent Atman is being carried along this path thru maya by the body. Know what maya is! Know what Atman is! Know your dharma. Know yourself! Know God! The Eight limbs. Practically speaking. 1. How we treat ourselves. 2. How we treat others. 3. our…
Yoga is a complete system. I’m sure it’s not the only complete system, but in it’s ability to integrate other systems it really is a complete system. What more do I need? Every aspect of myself can be made healthier thru yoga: physical emotional, mental, respiratory, pranic body, spiritual….. Yoga is also very inexpensive. I’m…
When I was 16, I slipped a disk in my back for the first time. The pain was horrible and it caused me to miss much of my last year of high school. I was fortunate that my teachers were sympathetic and gave me adequate grades to get into university when i eventually chose that…
In my last article, I mentioned that yoga was even good for lazy people, and of course it didn’t take long for someone to write to me challenging this assertion. But have you ever began a day off work just wanting to spend the day doing nothing but sitting around the house, only to find…