RAJA YOGA: The Superlative YogaEACH SOUL IS POTENTIALLY DIVINE.THE GOAL IS TO MANIFEST THIS DIVINITY WITHIN, BY CONTROLLING NATURE, EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL.DO THIS EITHER BY WORK(KarmaYoga), OR WORSHIP(BhaktiYoga), OR PSYCHIC CONTROL(RajaYoga), OR PHIL...

Ritucharya for Vasant- Spring season. Months of Magha(Sun Zodiac Pisces) and Phagun(Sun Zodiac Aries)Ritu(Season) +Charya(regimen/rules) is the Ayurvedic remedy to attain health and immunity through diet and behaviour so as to maintain internal body ...

DhanTeras: DhanTrayodashi: thirteenth day of the waning phase of the Moon in the month of Kartik. The day Dhanvantri emerged from the churning of the oceans bearing the pot of Amrit(nectar of immortality). DhanVantri is the God of Ayurveda. Dhan lit...

ShivaRatri =The night of Shiva falls on the 14th day/dark moon of the month of Magh. Zodiac Sun in AquariusShiva= Sha(the physical Body) + Ee(the spirit/Atman) + Va(the merging movement=to Be)Ratri=NightII Om Namah Shivaya IIShiva popularly...

Sharad Purnima. Full Moon in the month of Ashwin (Sun in Libra). Third full Moon during Sun in Southern hemisphere (Lunar Phase of Earth)Sharad season falls between the monsoon and winter. It covers the autumn as such which is marked by hot days with...

​श्री वक्रतुण्ड महाकाय सूर्य कोटी समप्रभा निर्विघ्नं कुरु मे देव सर्व-कार्येशु सर्वदा॥Ganapati- literally means deity of the people. The elephant head and voluminous size notwithstanding, He is one favourite deity with universal appeal. Ganesha is th...

 Wishes for Krishna Janmashtami(Krishna was born on the eighth day of the dark moon phase)Srimad Bhagavadgita, Chapter 4: 7-9यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत । अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम्‌ ॥ 7 O descendant of Bharata, whenever th...

Dinacharya=Din(day)-acharya(conduct): Dinacharya: Daily Routine for healthy body and mindThe ideal lifestyle for each day is called dinacharya. A lifetime of fitness requires daily fitness to be practiced on a day to day basis, for which a daily rout...

21 June: International Day of YogaBelated wishes for the International day of yoga: this blog was in the making since a while; yet, I needed to wait till all that yoga as asana energy had dissipated and now, the mind has emptied enough to absorb my n...

 // Mata Bhoomi Putroham Prithivyah //Atharva Veda, Prithvi Sukta, Shloka 12Is a solemn declaration of filial allegiance to Mother Earth by humankind, her offspring.Shloka 34: seeks forgiveness: whatever I may dig from thee, O Earth, may that ha...

​Yoga & Ayurveda: holistic health - mind body spirit connectionThe Yogic viewpoint is: that the mind and body are connected as one composite unit along with the spirit to work as an entity. The human is the only being blessed with a capability to...

Adhik Maas: Extra Month-13th Month of the Luni-Solar calender2018 will have 13 instead of 12 months in the Indian Luni-solar calendar system. This year, we will have an extra(adhik) month(Maas) of Jyeshtha (Sun in zodiac Gemini) beginning 16th May 20...

Rtucharchya for summer(Grishma) season(Rtu)Summer is made up of the months of Jyeshtha(Sun in Gemini) and Ashadha(Sun in Cancer). This year, we will have an additional(adhik) month(Maas) of Jyeshtha (beginning 16th May 2018) inserted in&nbs...

Vaishakh Purnima, Buddha Purnima, Kurma Purnima, Peepali Purnima, Satya Vinayak Purnima, Vesak PurnimaPurnima - full moon. The full moon days in the Hindu calendar are all marked as auspicious and assigned to various deities accordingly.The full...

Pancha(Five) Prana(the vital life force)The energy of the cosmos that exists in the physical body is known as prana. It is this energy that is manifest in all matter, and the same that flows within the body to keep every organism alive and active. Th...

Baisakhi (13th/14th/15th April) is the harbinger of summer days. It is the last of the winter harvest and brings in the summer during the months of Vaisakh and Jyeshtha. Traditionally, India and her farming community still follow a solar and lunar al...

​Asana- To be (established/seated in)The yoga sutra of Patanjali puts asana at the third rung of the eight steps of yoga. The first two being the Yama(social ethical codes) and Niyama(self discipline). In not so far history, an aspirant of yoga was t...

Vedic times gave us women Yogis such as the great Gargi who was the composer of many of the Rig Vedic hymns and debates the nature of the soul with sage Yagnavalakya (this is the Yoga Yagnavalkya:an important manual for yoga seekers); Maitreyi, wife ...

Holi- is most popular as the festival of colours in India.The colours of Holi are a reflection of spring with nature all around bursting into full glorious bloom and the birds in sweet song on a gentle cool breeze. It is time to shake off the heavy h...

 A yoga practitioner is a seeker and the means employed to that seeking is called Sadhana, while the seeker is a sadhaka. Sadhana is integral to the identity of the yoga practice: in fact, it is the summation of yogic practice.Whatever the path ...

A tribute of praise to the motherland. Today, being the ninth day of the Magh Navaratri(nine days of the feminine divine Refer: http://theyogaschool.in/component/easyblog/navratra-the-nine-nights-of-the-feminine-divine?Itemid=101) and the 26th of Jan...

"Suryah pratyaksha devata" (The Sun is the visible God) Uttarayana is the time Period of the Sun movement in the northern hemisphere from the zodiac of Capricorn to Cancer. The Indian calendar puts this date as fixed on the 14th January(Makar Sa...

The five elements-Panch Mahabhoota'यथा ब्रह्माण्डे तथा पिण्डें'All that exists in the universe exists within the body.Yogic practice helps in bhoota(Element) shuddhi(purification) and siddhi(power of transgression) to help overcoming the material ele...

Ayurveda defines lifespan(Ayush) as the number of breaths rather than a number of years lived. The average person takes 21,600 breaths per day which is around 15 breaths per minute.Breathing is the act of imbibing of the essence of life-force(prana)....

Swadhyaya: Swa(self)+ Adhyāya(study)Swadhyaya in its literal translation is a study of the self.स्वाध्यायादिष्टदेवतासंप्रयोगःSwadhyayad-ishta-devata-samprayogaha. Patañjali Yog Sutra 2.44Translation: The practice of swadhyaya leads to the actual meet...

SURYA NAMASKARSurya=Sun + Namaskar=SalutationHatha yoga has greatly emphasised the practice of SuryanamaskarThe twelve stances undertaken comprise six asanas that take a mirror movement from the half point to complete the twelve positions. At the bas...

 Ekadasi: is the 11th day of the moon phase of the full or new moonThe science: The moon revolves around Earth through 12 degrees in every 24 hour cycle of the day. When the moon is 180 degrees away from the Sun, we have a full moon and when it ...

JAI AMBE Navratra falls during the change of seasons, the two major navratras being the one in summer-chaitra navratra and the second one being in autumn, sharad navratra. Navratras occur at the equinox time. Nature or Prakriti undergoes ch...

​Shat: six + Karma: Action/Process (in this case, purificatory in nature)The shatkarmas of yogic science are physio-psychological cleansing processes. The aim of hatha yoga is to create harmony of the ida(moon channel)/left nostril/ sympathetic syste...

Amongst the traditional texts of yoga, the Patanjali Yoga sutra is the most widely referred. It describes yoga as an eight fold path to arrive at the truth of the self. The yoga sutras are comprehensively collated as a systemized approach within four...

Awaken early morningMy Grandma stayed with me during my college years and her stubborn resolution to wake me up from deep slumber at the crack of dawn caused many a resentment between us. She had a loud sing song way of calling out my nickname – ''La...

Sarvajan Sukhaya Sarvajan Hitaya cha- May everyone be happy and May everyone BenefitThe month of Bhadarva/ Bhado: End of the monsoon. 22nd August 2017- 20th Sept 2017 Some tips as per season- Rtucharya:Falling in Dakshinaya (movement of the sun...