The Yoga Hour

The Yoga of Sacred Conversation

Yoga means "union, coming together, connecting with the sacred nature of life." Each heartfelt conversation opens the door to experiencing and expressing our authentic self as we allow others the same opportunity to reveal their own truth. When we join together in sacred conversation, transformation becomes possible for individual lives, for our community, and for the world. Regular guest host Dr. Laurel Trujillo is joined by special guest Cecile Andrews, community educator and author of Living Room Revolution, for a conversation about coming together to create a new culture of caring and collaboration. Learn practical tips and concrete strategies for creating a joyful community through the ancient art of conversation. Discover how conscious communication can help us to enrich our own lives at the same time as making the world a better place. 
 

Karma Yoga: Serving the One in All

Swami Sri Yukteswar cautioned students that self-realization is not selfish realization. The awakened life naturally unfolds as selfless service. Through her own trauma-informed yoga workshops for service providers and the nonprofit organization Off the Mat, Into the World, Hala Khouri inspires and encourages others to be conscious leaders of change. If you have wondered how your yoga practice can support making a positive difference in the lives of others, tune in for a conversation between Hala Khouri and regular guest host Dr. Laurel Trujillo, and be inspired to express your yoga as service in the world. Learn why, if you want to heal the world, you have to start with healing yourself.  

Live the Eternal Way and Awaken to Your Full Potential

Within each of us lies a vast inheritance: our connection to unlimited joy, unshakable peace, lasting happiness, and abundant creativity. The Eternal Way refers to a set of principles that can show us who we are and how to live a life in harmony with our essential spiritual nature in a sacred world. Through the tools of yoga we can go beyond studying our inner potential to experiencing it directly. Join Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian and regular guest host Dr. Laurel Trujillo for a conversation about finding your true purpose and prospering in all areas of your life. Tune in and learn about the steps you can take to live well and awaken to your full potential.

Stronger and Wiser: The Yoga of Blossoming Through Adversity

What life skills does yoga help us develop that allow us to not only survive life’s challenging times, but to grow stronger and wiser? Mark Matousek’s book When You’re Falling, Dive: Lessons in the Art of Living presents many examples of how people use viriditas, the power of drawing passion, beauty, and wisdom from the unlikeliest places, to face difficult times. Mark will join Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian for a conversation about how yoga and viriditas can help us to get back up when we fall and plumb adversity for its transformative potential.

Yoga’s Four Paths: Ways of the Heart, Hands, Mind, and Technique

Although yoga philosophy teaches that there is only one Supreme Consciousness as the source and substance of all that is, there are many different ways to realize this oneness. Classical yoga includes four major paths to suit the varied temperaments of students: Bhakti Yoga, the path of the heart, or devotion; Karma Yoga, the way of selflessly using our hands in service to the Divine in others; Jnana Yoga, which uses the mind to go beyond the mind; and Raja Yoga, which uses meditation and other techniques to directly experience the Divine. Join Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian and her special guest Swami Sitaramananda, Acharya of the U.S. West Coast Sivananda centers and of the Sivananda mission in Asia, for a conversation about the four paths of yoga, and find the path that is right for you!

Meditation, Wisdom, and the New Story

In deep meditation we perceive peace and joy through allowing our attention and awareness to rest in the expanded consciousness of our essential nature. We feel connected to all of life. This change in our consciousness opens a space where wisdom develops. From this perspective we can create a new story that honors our essential wholeness. When we share this new story with others, we can reach a tipping point and change the current narrative about our world from a meaningless, material place to a world that works for everyone. Join Yogacharya O’Brian and her special guest Michael Nagler in a discussion about how the roots of daily spiritual practice can flower into improving our lives and the lives of others. Discover how you can live a life that is truly fulfilling by serving the sacred in all.

Embrace Your Openhearted Life: The Way of Compassion

Compassionate living requires wisdom and courage. Kindness toward oneself, other people, and all of life is a natural way of having both at the same time. They must be cultivated as we heal old wounds and become more skillful at offering our help to bring about healing in the world. Yogacharya O’Brian is joined by Ven. Thubten Chodron, an American-born Buddhist nun, the founder and abbess of Sravasti Abbey and the coauthor of An Openhearted Life, for a conversation about the way of compassion. What is compassion? How do we become more skillful at expressing compassion? What are the benefits of embracing an openhearted life? Listen and be inspired to live with your heart wide open. 

Stepping Into the Stream: Discipleship on the Path of Yoga and Vedanta

The guru-disciple relationship as a vehicle to pass on both the knowledge and spiritual consciousness of a lineage of awakened masters is revered in both the traditions of yoga and Vedanta. Join Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian and Pravrajika Brahmaprana, a nun of the Vedanta Society of Southern California and currently the resident minister of the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society of North Texas, in a conversation about discipleship. Who is the real Guru? What are the advantages of a lineage? Tune in and find out more about the way of discipleship. 

Yoga’s Path of Strength, Resilience, and Peace of Mind

Yoga offers exceptional tools for building resilience and healing from trauma. Scientific study has proven the effectiveness of yoga in engaging the relaxation response, sharpening the mind, improving recovery time, and promoting psychological well-being. Beryl Bender Birch has used the yogic tools of postures, breathing techniques, and meditation to help first responders and survivors of 9/11, as well as helping military servicemen and women to find their way as warriors, heal from injury, and adapt to a peaceful life at home. Join regular guest host Dr. Laurel Trujillo and author and yoga teacher Beryl Bender Birch in a conversation about how we all can gain strength, resilience, and peace of mind though yoga.

Self-Discovery Through Yoga

Self-discovery lies at the heart of yoga practice. The Sanskrit word yoga means "oneness, union, or unity"—the bringing together of our attention and awareness with our essential spiritual nature, or returning to our original wholeness. Yoga’s central practices of self-study, self-discipline, and self-surrender all rest on continuous self-discovery. Yoga is a process of finding out more and more deeply who we are, and then living from that realization. Join regular guest host Dr. Laurel Trujillo, with special guests Anil Surpur, president of Yoga Bharati and Ashwini Surpur, director of Yoga Education at Yoga Bharati, in a conversation exploring self-discovery through yoga at all levels of our being: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.