The Yoga Hour

Stress Less With Yoga and Meditation

The ancient system of yoga is ideally designed to counteract the effects of stress in our fast-paced lives. While medical research has linked chronic stress to negative health consequences and even many diseases, research has also documented the improvements available through the use of yoga and meditation. These ancient approaches not only reduce tension, they can also help us adjust our emotions and attitudes so we experience more relaxation. Carrie Demers, M.D., director of the Himalayan Institute Total Health Center, joins Yoga Hour cohost, Dr. Laurel Trujillo, for a discussion of the many tools within yoga and meditation helping us reduce stress and live with more peace and joy.
 

The Role of Poetry on the Spiritual Path

Poetry has long had a spiritual aspect. It helps us to be more deeply aware right where we are, contemplate our experiences, and return to what matters most. It has the ability to touch our hearts and speak directly to our souls. Through words, poetry can move us beyond words and thoughts to the indescribable essence of being. In the vast reaches of yoga philosophy and practice, poetry is most often seen as a part of Bhakti Yoga—a devotional path, which uses our love for God as a means to realize our own divinity. However, it can also instigate the sudden awareness signifying Jnana Yoga, the way of wisdom. Poet, storyteller, and teacher Mark Nepo joins Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian for a poetry reading and conversation focusing on how poetry can move us from our heads to our hearts and allow us to access deeper truths about ourselves and life.
 

The Dynamic Balance of Ayurveda and Yoga

Change is a constant element in life. Learn about essential tools that allow us to live in peace, harmony, and joy despite the ever-changing world. In yoga, balance extends beyond the physical skill we build doing postures to our mind, emotions, and spiritual life. Through Ayurveda, diet and lifestyle practices help us to harmonize our innate constitution so we experience optimum well-being. Felicia Tomasko, editor in chief of LA Yoga Magazine, joins Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian for a conversation about the unique tools and perspectives yoga and Ayurveda provide to help balance our lives. 
 

The Secret to Success

Each person longs to satisfy an inherent desire for happiness, both in the outer world and on the inner journey of self-knowledge and transformation. The ancient tradition of yoga provides a practical and comprehensive science for realizing life’s ultimate aims. Join Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian in a conversation with master yoga teacher Rod Stryker, author of The Four Desires: Creating a Life of Purpose, Happiness, Prosperity, and Freedom. Discover ways to live a fulfilled life with lasting happiness and inner healing, your best life imaginable.

Enjoy Your Life: Lessons From Ayurveda and Yoga

Among the many benefits of Ayurveda and yoga is increased enjoyment of life. Expanding from our awareness that all of life is connected, we develop an increased appreciation of the bounty of life from moment to moment. Join Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian and Gwen Nagano, president of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association, for a conversation about what Ayurveda and yoga teach us about the importance of enjoying life. Discover the practical steps you can take right away to experience greater well-being and abundant joy every day.

Ayurveda, Yoga, and the Power of Community

Join guest cohost Laurel Trujillo and Devi Mueller of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association for a look at the role of community in yoga and Ayurveda. Even though yoga and Ayurveda offer inward-turning practices, they also recognize that the community has an important role to play in supporting our own health, healing, and well-being. As we experience our own wholeness, our communities grow stronger, more resilient, and better able to support others in expressing their own divine potential.  
•           Learn how Ayurveda views the power of the community in creating optimal health.
•           Explore the impact the yoga principles of Harmlessness and Nonstealing have when expanded into caring for our community and environment.
•           Be part of the excitement around the emerging Ayurveda and yoga communities!

Yoga and the Vedas: The Eternal and Universal Tradition of Self-Awareness

The yoga tradition presents a remarkable system of spiritual and healing knowledge that can help us reach our highest potential in all aspects of our being. Whether it is practices of bodily postures, breath, mantra, or meditation—or a deep knowledge of the cosmos of energy, mind, or consciousness—the scope of yoga is as vast, detailed, and profound as the universe itself. Join guest host Dr. Laurel Trujillo and special guests Pandit Vamadeva Shastri and Yogini Shambhavi Chopra, from the American Institute of Vedic Studies, to learn more about the yoga tradition and its ancient roots in the Vedas, the oldest scriptures in India. The conversation will draw inspiration from Vamadeva’s most recent book Vedic Yoga: The Path of the Rishi. 

Take Refuge in the Truth of Loving Awareness

Discover how to enter the gateways of truth, love, and awareness—and find peace and freedom in your own awakened heart. When confronted with challenges, the conditioned mind tends to react with anger, self-judgment, and addictive behaviors—false refuges that do not provide lasting relief. We have another choice. At any moment we can come home to the true refuge of our own radiant awareness that is the presence of peace and love. Join guest host Dr. Laurel Trujillo and special guest Tara Brach, author of True Refuge and founder of the Insight Meditation Community in Washington, D.C., for a look at some practical ways to find our inner sanctuary in the midst of life’s challenges. 

Joyously Living the Journey of Spiritual Practice

Sustained spiritual practice builds our ability to live a life where the spiritual and the ordinary converge, bringing increased joy. Join Les Kaye, Abbot of the Kannon Do Zen Meditation Center in Mountain View, California, and author of Joyously Through the Days: Living the Journey of Spiritual Practice, in a conversation with The Yoga Hour’s regular guest host, Dr. Laurel Trujillo.
•          Explore ways spiritual practice can help you overcome life obstacles such as anger and stagnation.
•          Hear about how spiritual practice enhances awareness, patience, and generosity.
•          Learn how meditation brings balance, clarity, and increased understanding to the complexities of life.
•          Understand how you can increase your ability to respond creatively to the uncertainties of life.

Living From the Inside Out: The Way of Improvisation

A successful life involves both planning and improvising. Patricia Ryan Madson, author of Improv Wisdom, joins guest host Dr. Laurel Trujillo for a look at how the maxims of improvisation provide us with an antidote to the overly scripted, planned life. The wisdom of improv provides a natural way to live skillfully and soulfully—and it has nothing to do with wit, glibness, or comic ability! The way of improv is about being awake, not entirely self-focused, and moved by a desire to do something useful and give something back. Applied to your own life, the principles of improvisation can help you to:
            • Experience life brimming with spontaneity, even in the context of a plan.
            • Meet real-life challenges more skillfully and with a sense of humor.
            • Shake loose rigid patterns of thinking and doing.
            • Have fun living in harmony with yourself and others.