“I had it in my head that spirituality was against science,” admits Mitra Malaekeh, who has 19 years of experience as a Microbiologist, “I came to understand that they are hand-in-hand for personal development and growth.”
Mitra felt called to expand her understanding of the human experience beyond the physical and biological, and let her curiosity lead her to enroll in both the Life Coaching program and Yoga Teacher Training program at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts.
Read MoreTopics: Great Graduates, Life Coaching, Yoga Teacher Training, Yoga Philosophy
The dominant culture would not just separate us from ourselves, it also separates us from each other. This is a way to keep us from being able to realize our collective power. But how do we balance acknowledging our individual lived experiences, with the need to come together to create the necessary shift? We must eventually move beyond our identities to see our cosmic connection to each other, and the Divine Source, and work together to create a world that reflects this cosmic union.
Read MoreTopics: yoga, Guest Blog, Social Justice, Yoga Philosophy, Samskaras
A mudra (Sanskrit for “mark”, “seal” or “gesture”) is a sacred and symbolic gesture found in yogic, Jainist and Buddhist traditions. Hasta mudras, meaning hand gestures, are performed with varying intentions and believed to impact and direct the flow of prana (vital energy) throughout the body.
Read MoreTopics: yoga, Meditation, Yoga Philosophy, Intention, Mudra
Yoga mythology is full of stories of love and war, enlightenment and disillusionment, victory and defeat. Like all mythos, the epic tales from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana provide important insights for understanding our cosmic place in the universe, exploring the depth of human experience through a spiritual lens, and what it means to be engaged and connected to the unexplainable.
Read MoreTopics: spirituality, yoga, conscious community, Yoga Philosophy, Bhagavad Gita
Yoga means union: The union of oneself and the divine source; the union of mind, body and spirit; the union of your internal Self with the self that manifests in the world. Yoga is not intended to be a passive practice of self-mastery, it’s a system for living that provides us with an ethical framework — the Yamas and Niyamas — for how we should treat ourselves, and how we should treat others.
The first pillar in this framework is Ahimsa (nonviolence or non-harming) which is often used to justify veganism as the standard diet for yogis. Stopping here makes ahimsa a one-dimensional practice focused on reducing violence against some beings (animals), while failing to look at the broader picture of reducing our harmful impact within society.
Read MoreTopics: yoga, Yoga Sutras, Social Justice, Ahimsa, Yoga Philosophy
