Linda's Yoga Journey

"We are not separate;we cannot be separate from Nature,which sustains us in a vast interdependence with everything.The universe comes perfectlyand is awesome in its integration and infinite existence.It is our natural state." (Mark Whitwell)There are certain images in my head from my trip that are still affecting me. ...

Read more

"The obligation to go to "the place which the Lord your God will choose" (Deut. 16:16)""In religion and spirituality, a pilgrimage is a long journey or search of great moral significance.""Journey to a shrine or other sacred place undertaken to gain divine aid, as an act of thanksgiving or penance,...

Read more

The Yoga Journey Boutique"We only use clothing from North America, produced to be washed and worn for years. With regard to print quality, we use flex and flock leading technology and water-based ink. You will not wearing a low quality printed T-shirt!Wordans uses only trusted brands such as American Apparel,...

Read more

I mailed a check today to the Seva Foundation in the amount of $200 asking it to be used specifically for the Kilimanjaro Center for Community Ophthalmology. You can read about the eye clinic here.A big hug and thanks to:ShelleyBoband Svastifor their donations!If anyone else wants to donate, please...

Read more

Lots of good advice here, but my three favorites are nos. 21, 33, and 37.HEALTH:1. Drink plenty of water.2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like beggar.3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is...

Read more

photo ©Loba Landscapes, 2009An oldie but a goodie that I think is appropriate for this time of the year....Making Room for New GrowthWhenever I talk on mindfulness meditation (or mindfulness training as I call it now) I always throw out these questions: how many of you are working on...

Read more

This is all that any of us really need.Merry ChristmasHappy Holidayspeaceshantiasalaam 'alaykumMAY ALL BEINGS HAVE HAPPINESS AND THE CAUSES OF HAPPINESSMAY ALL BEINGS BE FREE FROM SUFFERING AND THE CAUSES OF SUFFERINGMAY ALL BEINGS NEVER BE PARTED FROM FREEDOM'S TRUE JOYMAY ALL BEINGS DWELL IN EQUANIMITY, FREE FROM ATTACHMENT AND...

Read more

I believe that all yoga is healing if applied in the right manner. No one called Krishnamacharya a "yoga therapist" and you were surely not able to become certified as one back in his day. When I took my first two courses of study at the Krishnamacharya Yoga...

Read more

(originally uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/photos/macchick1/)I'm leaving the country for eight weeks in 15 days so I've been feeling a bit scattered, making my lists and checking them twice. I have to sit down soon and concentrate on writing my dharma talks for Africa -- one is an introduction to mindfulness...

Read more

Did you know that two-thirds of the 45 million blind people in the world are female, yet women receive less than half of eye care services?The Kilimanjaro Center for Community Ophthalmology in Moshi, Tanzania (KCCO), supported by the Seva Foundation, was to be the recipient of the money I was...

Read more

I've been writing this blog since 2005 when I decided that nothing would stop me from traveling to the heart of yoga. On March 25, 2005 I entitled my first blog post "no turning back". I was reminded that I started planning for my trip in 2004, only...

Read more

My blogging time here is growing shorter. Thirty-three more days and I step on the plane for a yoga adventure of a lifetime (and yes, this woman of a certain age still feels blessed to be able to do this.) I'm starting out in Chennai, my second home,...

Read more

ancient stone carving of vrksasana at the UNESCO World Heritage Site,Mahabalipuram -- more than 100 years oldphoto © 2005 Linda-SamaKeep those comments comin' as you read the second installment of Svasti's guest blogger post. I give my sincere heartfelt thanks to Svasti (my yoga sister in more ways than...

Read more

The question went around the yoga blogosphere not too long ago about how old yoga REALLY is. elephant journal wrote about it here, Nick Rosen of the movie Enlighten Up! created controversy at YogaDork's house when he said that the asana thing is only about 100 years old, and...

Read more

Thanks to Nadine I found some cool software that is a free download. If you love the retro look of old Polaroids, say hello to PolaDroid! It's addicting but fun! Enjoy!(37 more day 'til Ma India!!)<!-- AddThis Button BEGIN -->addthis_pub = 'yogagal60510';<!-- AddThis Button END -->...

Read more

Even if you are not a vegetarian or a vegan, please remember to practice compassion and mindfulness in how and what you eat.I know that His Holiness the Dalai Lama eats meat, but the longer I'm on the yoga/Buddhist path, the closer I get to becoming a total vegan. ...

Read more

Prajnaparamita(The Prajñāpāramitā Sutras are a genre of Mahayana Buddhist scriptures dealing with the subject of the Perfection of Wisdom.) Brenda Feuerstein was kind enough to give me permission to publish this article by Georg Feuerstein. Georg has authored over forty books including The Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga, The Yoga...

Read more

“You are a life saver. Without you I would be a stressed out 20 year old bitching about everything. Now I live my life and I’m writing my own story and I have never felt better. I tell everyone about you and how you guide people to...

Read more

O Ganesha and Kali Ma, bless our yatra!I have one more train ride for which to buy tickets. What's so hard about that you may ask? Well, if you have ever dealt with the Indian rail website, believe me, I repeatedly chant Ganesha's mantra to remove any and...

Read more

"Repeated frustrations and disappointments, Sama, are always a reflection of repeated misunderstandings and presumptions. Oh, darn." - The UniverseSome of the most frequent search phrases for this blog are about "teaching yoga" or "how much does a yoga teacher make" or "I want to teach yoga." I've written...

Read more

Hmmmm....should I blog about teaching in Tanzania to global yogis.......or totally disappear once I hit India...no blogging, no Facebook updates, no tweets (which I'm beginning to think tweeting is a huge waste of time anyway.)The Yoga Adventure in Africa is sold out -- but no one from here (USA) is...

Read more

What is it about "restorative yoga" that gets me so agitated?I wrote here about my experience with restorative yoga at my Mindfulness Yoga and Meditation Training at Spirit Rock. I definitely was not the only person who had a strong reaction (aversion) to the practice and I believe it...

Read more

Here is an amazing video of Krishnamacharya, his son Desikachar, and Indra Devi from 1988. Sri Krishnamacharya was 100 years old in this video.When I am at the Mandiram I love listening to Desikachar's stories about his father's students. Desikachar told us a story about how perturbed he...

Read more

Meditating on Meditation by Srivatsa Ramaswami"I was watching a live television program in India some 30 years backwhen TV had just been introduced in India. It was a program in whichan elderly yogi was pitted against a leading cardiologist. It wasvirtually a war. The yogi was trying to impress with...

Read more

The Kali Yuga: the "Dark Age" lasting 432,000 years...when avarice and wrath are common, rulers become unreasonable, cowards have the reputation of bravery and the brave are called cowards...and lies are passed out as truth."In the age of Kali, every virtue had been engulfed by the sins of Kali-Yuga; all...

Read more