Is Yoga Cultural Appropriation?
Swami Ji, the OG
What is cultural appropriation? Cultural appropriation is defined as the process by which Intellectual property, artifacts, dance, clothing/fashion, language, music, food, religious symbols, medicine, wellness practices and more are used for purposes that were unintended by the original culture and may even be offensive to that culture. With yoga, this can often be seen through the adaptation of practices in ways that sterilize them for the West by stripping the spiritual aspects of the philosophy, by refusal to use Sanskrit words, or by removing the symbols or stories that exemplify the...
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Journey Into Your Being Plus a Meditation Practice
Swami Ji, the OG
Today we are going to discuss the components of who you are, and then you will be guided through a short meditation. Feel free to listen to the discussion portion, but then stop the recording before doing the meditation if you are not in a location where you can sit quietly and still with the eyes closed. You may have heard the common definition of yoga is “union” and it comes from the Sanskrit word ‘yug’ meaning to yoke. If we think about how buffalo are yoked together or horses or sled dogs are joined together, the purpose of yoking is to unite multiple forces to create...
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Making Life Simple and Easy
Swami Ji, the OG
Is your life simple and easy? I believe it can be and for the last couple of years, I’ve challenged myself to create a life that is becoming simpler and easier. Prior to this time my life was so full it was overflowing, and it often left me drained to the point where I felt so weighted down that I could barely keep moving forward. In 2019, I was in the twenty second year of running a yoga center that employed about 16 staff members and served several hundred students per week. I was also the education director and president of the board of a nonprofit yoga academy, housed in the center’s...
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3 Steps to Healthy Boundaries
Swami Ji, the OG
A boundary is a limit or space between you and another person. It is a clear place where you begin and the other person ends, physically, mentally, energetically and spiritually. The purpose of setting a healthy boundary is, of course, to protect and take good care of yourself at all levels of being. Do you have unhealthy boundaries? Unhealthy boundaries involve a disregard for your own and/or others' values, wants, needs, and limits. Unhealthy boundaries can also lead to dysfunctional and potentially abusive relationships. I’m going to ask a few questions that will help you...
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Letting Go To Find Balance
Swami Ji, the OG
When we feel we are losing our balance we grab hold of something to feel secure and to prevent falling. This is a normal reaction to be able to maintain our physical balance and hopefully prevent pain. At that moment of uncertainty, that moment of being out of balance, we would think it strange if someone told us to “just let go.” But what about our mental balance? What are we grabbing hold of to feel secure? And are we holding on to hopefully prevent the mental and emotional pains? In the ancient text, the Yoga Sutras, within the very first few sutras we are told that it is possible...
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Still Body - Still Mind
Swami Ji, the OG
Sometimes we keep busy moving from one thing to another and believe this will keep us from thinking too much. However, we are only creating a distracted mind, the part that is overdeveloped to start with, and all this busy-ness keeps feeding this part of the mind that is processing sensory information and tries to make sense of the world. We need to develop the part of the mind that connects us with our higher self. When we go to bed at night, we become still and gradually the mind slows down and we fall asleep. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to slow down the mind at any point during...
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5 Keys To Improve Discipline
Swami Ji, the OG
When you think or hear about the word discipline what comes up for you? “Oh, I wish I had more of it,” or “I don’t have time for discipline,” or even “did I do something wrong?” The last implying that the word discipline is a form of punishment. Today we are going to discuss our misperceptions about discipline, its importance, and how we can improve our discipline to be more successful in our lives. Let’s start with the dictionary definitions. 1) the practice of training people to obey rules using punishment to correct disobedience or 2) a branch of knowledge,...
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From Change Comes Growth
Swami Ji, the OG
Today I will discuss the inevitability of change, why we find it difficult, how change and growth go hand in hand, the importance of having goals, and to welcome change! WHEW! That’s a lot to think about! And all of those thoughts are also part of the mechanism that keeps us “stuck” where we are and resisting changes. It has often been said that the only constant is life is change! Yet most of us find it difficult to change, especially when it takes us away from our routine, our conditioned ways of thinking. In actuality we’ve been changing our whole lives! Some of the changes...
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Just Relax!
Swami Ji, the OG
Just relax! I’m sure someone has said this to you at some point in your life! As if the ability to relax is like flipping a switch and something so easy you can just do it spontaneously at any time. When we were growing up, did anyone ever teach us how to relax? Do you know how even now? From my experience teaching yoga since 1995 and practicing yoga since the early 1980’s, I know that relaxation can be difficult to achieve, and few people have a method that supports them to become deeply relaxed. Today this podcast will have a brief introduction to the practice that I’ve done and taught...
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What Is Resilience and Why Do You Need It?
Swami Ji, the OG
Some think of it as endurance, but when I think of endurance, I think it means the power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process without giving up. Or fortitude? Fortitude is courage in the face of pain or adversity. Indeed, both of these words can be a part of resilience, but don’t thoroughly encompass the whole concept. Resilience is the ability to bounce back quickly from difficult situations and actually thrive when faced with challenging circumstances! Some ways of thinking about resilience includes being tough, quick to recover, buoyant, irrepressible, adaptable, flexible and...
info_outlineThis week on Swami Ji, the OG we are talking about how the various types of yoga practices can help change the current state of the mind and emotions to free yourself from negative thoughts and actions. Yoga isn’t just about bending into unusual shapes-it helps you lead a more positive life! So in this episode we will touch on what practices you can implement in your life to experience more positivity. Some of these practices include asana, pranayama and meditation but that’s not it. Tune into find out more!
To follow along on social media, find me on Instagram @atmarupasaraswati or on Facebook at Swami Ji, the OG.
To learn even more about these practices come check out the Atma Center in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. You can find our schedule on our website.
Using Asana
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Forward bending is introverting and calming – use to overcome anxiety and anger
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Backward bending is extroverting and stimulating – use to overcome lethargy and dullness
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Spinal twists can yield insight and untie the “knots” of life – use to increase energy and help to see the twists and turns of life more proactively
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Balancing improves steadiness and concentration – use for relief of stress and mental dissipation
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Inversions improve self-confidence and allow us to see things differently – use to release old patterns of behavior
Using Pranayama
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Basic breathing methods are introverting and improve concentration – use to overcome anxiety, agitation and mental dissipation
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Vitalizing pranayama increase energy and release held stress – use to overcome lethargy and depression
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Balancing pranayama introvert the mind, balance the energies and hemispheres of the brain – use to create calmness, focus and insight
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Tranquilizing pranayama calm and the mind and create serenity – use to overcome states of agitation, stress and dissipation
Using Mudra
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Yoni mudra improves concentration and balances energies and hemispheres of the brain – use to gain focus and insight
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Hridaya mudra increases energy to the heart physically and soothes emotions in times of crisis – use to release pent-up emotions and unburden the heart
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Nasikagra drishti is calming, focusing and grounding – use for disturbed states of mind and to attain focus
Using Mantra - Japa
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Om chanting – chanting with a long ‘o’ is more extroverting, with a long ‘m’ more introverting
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Om Gam Ganapatayah Namaha – Ganesh mantra to help remove obstacles
Meditations
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Yoga nidra – calming, restorative, rejuvenating and transformative
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Antar mouna – become the witness to thoughts with less reactivity
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Antar Darshan – become the witness to the emotions and ego
If you learned something new from this episode, please share with a friend who might learn something too! You can copy and paste the link from the episode right into a text message or email. It’s a great way to support the podcast and spread the word about how yoga can help change your life! Thank you for your support.