The Yoga Hour

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 intuition for guidance

·      Discover a balanced approach to using your intellect as a navigation tool

·      Explore the benefits of having a daily meditation practice

·      Find out the importance of living with nonattachment to end results

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 the Gita. Perhaps you wonder ... 

How do I stop worrying?

What is the best way to deal with problems?

How can I avoid unnecessary suffering?

How can I tap in to the Self that is a reservoir of infinite energy?

Listen in to this Yoga Hour discussion—and start living in a healthy and practical way that supports your highest potential.

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:

·      What is compassion and why is it important?

·      What are some practical ways to show compassion for oneself?

·      What are healthy ways to cultivate compassion as a virtue?

·      How is compassion based on understanding Truth?

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.

                • Explore the paradoxical nature of spiritual practice

                • Consider practical ways to deal with feelings and fears

                • Embrace the endless practice of making friends with being alive

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

·      Feel lighter, more energetic, able to accomplish more throughout the day

·      Experience fewer cravings and improve your mood and overall attitude

·      Establish a new relationship, not only with food and eating, but also with yourself!