Practice

The field of the mind is endlessly fascinating to those interested in mastery and transcendence. So much affects us – from the external forces of the universe to the internal forces of our thoughts. The practitioner whose goal is to gain control over the mind must contend with both facets.

There are Five Samskaras of a Yogi: five ways to engage the practice based on our past karmas and mental impressions. Each of these brings with it a particular desired outcome, which informs the appropriate practice. For example, am I yoking or unyoking? Am I finding God as an aspect of myself, or am I in relationship to God as separate from myself? Is this my duty or my desire? As a result, each type of yogi will endorse or focus on particular aspects of the primary philosophical texts du jour, the Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita.

Steven is a Taoist teacher.

When we do yoga, we move our bodies around, so are working with gesture, tone, and posture, to embed in the bones the understanding that we are one with the underlying principle of Universal Being – Consciousness, (Sat-Chit-Ananda), which yogic sages sometimes call the deathless Self.

Out of Śiva’s Self-awareness and His joy in that experience, manifestation is created—including us as individuals. The power that Śiva uses to do so, kuṇḍalinī śakti, is the descent of the highest pure Consciousness into form. The practice of Kuṇḍalinī Sādhana is our pathway back to that primordial experience of non-separation. In Tantric practice and tradition, the liberation of kuṇḍalinī is the pathway not only to knowing God but to recognizing that we are God. There are three phases of that realization. The progression of Kuṇḍalinī Sādhana entails the arousal, awakening, and liberating of kuṇḍalinī śakti from our limited capacity and identity in order to realize our highest Self.

Spring integrates Ayahuasca and Buddhist practice on her intensive retreats.

Ayurveda takes the philosophical outline of Sankhya and applies it to the art of living, stretching its reaches beyond the confines of ascetic practice to the real world of relationship, career, conflict and even technology.

Rare is the yogic text or scripture that does not extoll Om as a method of Self realization. You will find there that Om is sometimes referred to with synonyms, such as “Pranava” – sound of the prana; “Udgita” – uprising song; “Shabda” – primordial word; or “Nada” – subtle sound. These readings indicate that Om itself is a universal teacher of the enlightened state.