The Yoga Hour

Breathing is essential to life, and unique in that breathing can either happen unconsciously or be controlled deliberately. Pranayama, or conscious breath regulation, is one of the eight limbs of yoga described in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, the primary text of classical yoga. Amy Wheeler, Ph. D., professor of kinesiology at California State University at San Bernardino, yoga therapist, and yoga teac...

The practice of yoga frees us. Physical poses help release patterns of tension, while meditation and present-moment awareness help free us from the prison of our minds. These benefits apply to everyone, even those in the most trying circumstances. James Fox, author of Prison Yoga Project: A Path for Healing and Recovery, has been teaching yoga twice a week at San Quentin Prison for the past 13 yea...

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...

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 oft...

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. Felic...

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 o...

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 impo...

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 st...

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. Laur...

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...

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. •          Ex...

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 wa...

The spiritual path contains some inescapable paradoxes. For example, one teaching says you are already enlightened; then we find there is still a long way to go. Discovering how to navigate paradoxes on the spiritual path is part of the journey. Listen in as Philip Goldberg joins Yogacharya O’Brian to discuss spiritual paradoxes and how to navigate them: ·      Learn tips about how to access your...

We all want to live life well, in a way that is deeply satisfying. How do we do that? In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna, the seeking soul, asks for and receives the highest advice for living a healthy, happy life—advice that is completely relevant for us today. Join Yogacharya O’Brian and Swami Bodhananda Saraswati for an enlightening conversation about five principles for healthy living described in t...

Yogacharya O’Brian and Acharya Shunya Pratichi Mathur, founder of Vedika Global, explore the nature of compassion, how yoga and Ayurveda support the evolution of compassion, and what compassion looks like in action. Learn how yoga and Ayurveda are inherently compassionate as they provide ways to alleviate suffering. Open your heart to being peace in our world as we consider these questions: ·     ...

Poet, teacher, and storyteller Mark Nepo joins Yogacharya O’Brian for a conversation about how the soul works in the world, and how by engaging our soul in the world, we are shaped by the endless practice of becoming the person we were born to be. To bring who we are out, and to let the world in, is a brave and endless practice that clarifies and solidifies the gifts we are born with.             ...

How good do you want to feel? How well do you want to be? Join Yogacharya O’Brian and Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar for an enlivening discussion about Ayurvedic principles for a healthy diet and clear mind. Learn how a spiritually conscious approach to eating can support radiant health and your ideal weight for the long run. ·      Rekindle your metabolism and keep your digestive engine burning brightly ·...

Intentional living supports our complete well-being and spiritual fulfillment. Find out why self-discipline, study of higher realities, and surrender of the illusional sense of self are essential for spiritual progress and realization. Roy Eugene Davis, a direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda and author of The Science of Self-Realization, a commentary on the Yoga Sutra, joins Yogacharya O’Brian...

Learn about superconscious states—what they are, why they are important, the various ways they can be realized, and how to overcome obstacles that may impede your progress in meditation. Roy Eugene Davis, a direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda and author of The Science of Self-Realization, a commentary on the Yoga Sutra, joins Yogacharya O’Brian for a two-part series on spiritual practice for...

Our stress response helps our bodies to respond to perceived threats. However, when stress becomes chronic, it can result in an imbalance in our bodies and affect our well-being. Join guest host Dr. Laurel Trujillo in a conversation with Dr. Claudia Welch to discuss ways to regain balance in your life. Dr. Welch has training in both Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine, and wrote the book Bal...

Yoga philosophy teaches that our essential nature is whole, and within us all is the healing potential needed to bring our body, mind, and spirit into balance, which reflects as total well-being. This holistic approach of yoga has scientifically proven beneficial effects, which are detailed in the book Yoga as Medicine: The Yogic Prescription for Health and Healing by Dr. Timothy McCall, a general...

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra is the primary text of classical yoga. Written more than 2,000 years ago, it offers timeless teachings of Truth—the truth of our inner divinity and innate luminosity. Yogacharya O’Brian is joined by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait for an enlightening conversation about the wisdom of the Yoga Sutra: how to be free here and now, and experience our everlasting self-luminous joy. This e...

Ayurveda and yoga are sister sciences with Vedic roots in ancient India. Yoga recognizes that our body/mind is our vehicle for awakening, and Ayurveda instructs us in the proper maintenance of that vehicle. When we live in harmony with nature, we thrive on all levels. Ayurvedic practitioner Vishnu Dass joins guest host Dr. Laurel Trujillo for an exploration of how Ayurveda can support our complete...

Are you suffering from sensory overload? Do you yearn for more inner peace? Tune in and learn how pratyahara can help. Pratyahara, often translated as "withdrawal of the senses," is that and much more. Pandit Vamadeva Shastri and Yogini Shambhavi of the American Institute of Vedic Studies join Yogacharya O’Brian to share insights and practices from pratyahara, the fifth limb of Patanjali’s Ashtang...

“Yoga is a wonderful tool for everybody: young or old; healthy or sick; man, woman, or child. Whether you begin with the aim of becoming spiritually enlightened or just stretching your legs is not important. The point is to begin and see where the journey takes you.” Tara Fraser, author of Total Yoga: A Step-by-Step Guide to Yoga at Home for Everybody, joins guest host Dr. Laurel Trujillo for an e...