Category: Blog

Consider these three as perceptive senses: Emotions Feelings Thoughts They operate together in the mind, and form much of our day-to-day experience of ourselves and the world. They operate when we are awake, and to some degree, when we are asleep and dreaming. The mind, which is the field where thoughts, emotions, feelings, and memory…

There has been an innate pull in humans for thousands of years to seek calm states within and learn to self-regulate. This pull can be traced back to the times of the Vedas, which date back anywhere from 4,000 to 8,000 years. It is programmed into even a single-celled amoeba the drive to seek safety…

Our potential for mental absorption is described in a commentary of the Yoga Sutras by the Sage Vyaas as the five states that are common to the human mind. They are: Dull, mudha Infatuated, kshipta Semi-distracted, vikshipta One-pointed, ekagra Completely stilled, niruddha The first three are common and non-yogic mental states. The last two are the yogic states. Most people…

Yoga Sangraha is a balanced approach to yoga asanas in a format I have developed over the past several years. The idea was to build an easeful and effective yoga practice, with moments of challenge, that can be ramped up or down depending on time, energy, and circumstance. Here’s an overview of the sequence, and…

The Sanskrit word sangraha means “collection” or compendium.” It can also indicate a gathering or an assembly. The word is also associated with many texts that are collections of teachings. For example, there is: Tarka-Sangraha: A treatise on Indian logic and reasoning authored in the 17th century CE. Dharma-Sangraha: A Buddhist text that collects and…

The relaxation response is a complex response of the nervous system that works through several, interconnected physiological mechanisms. By stimulating the physiological changes described in the previous post (reduction of excitatory neuronal activity, neuromuscular arousal, cognitive excitation and integration of hypothalamic function) we can counteract the effects of physical and mental overexertion. Regular practice of…

Historical Context We have two states in our autonomic nervous system that govern much of our waking life: the stress response and the relaxation response. The relaxation response was described by Dr. Herbert Benson in 1975, and the stress response (“fight or flight”) was described by Dr. Walter Cannon in the 1920s. Cannon also described…