Tag: meditation

A Yoga Teaching: Fear Favours Ignorance

Yoga, as described in sacred texts such as the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the Upanishads, views fear primarily as a manifestation of underlying mental afflictions and a misidentification with the physical body and ego. The key teachings see fear…

Helen Maupin

A Yoga Teaching: Collapse Ends Every Monstrous Era

The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) Both Peter Turchin, a Russian-American scientist and author, and Sarah Wilson, an Australian author and minimalist, agree that political…

Helen Maupin

The Yoga of Self-realization — Concentration

For all students determined to follow a spiritual path toward enlightenment, the first discipline Eknath Easwaran defines as a necessary ingredient is meditation. However, the practice of meditation not only involves such techniques as repeating a mantra but also requires…

Helen Maupin

The Yoga of Self-realization — Meditation

Eknath Easwaran, in The End of Sorrow, laid out a spiritual path that enabled him to “fulfill the supreme goal of life, self-realization. As he counseled, the following disciplines are available to everyone who embraces them willingly and with dedication.…

Helen Maupin

Easing into Urdhva Dhanurasana (Upward Bow) — Part II

The aging process is most often marked by a spine that slumps forward. When our inner core and spine are no longer strong and flexible, we further demonstrate aging by hunching the shoulders up and forward. Both these misalignments are…

Helen Maupin

Suspended Animation: a Time for Meditation

Each week another once taken-for-granted freedom returns as the number of COVID-19 cases declines. For our quarantined three months, a sense of suspended animation left time for us to experience a new normal. Although this journey appeared to be occurring…

Helen Maupin

Chakra Seed Sound Meditation for Revitalization

Through . . .  meditation we can master the quieting of our habitual flows of thoughts, which normally block deep spiritual reflection.  Then in this calm state of consciousness, we can observe and participate in the infinite life-force as it flows through…

Helen Maupin

Breathe Your Way Out of Depression and Anxiety

For millennia, yogis practised asanas (poses) as well as breath regulation (pranayama) for whole-being wellness.  As mind-body-spirit beings, humans are more complex entities than merely a physical body or a collection of emotions and thoughts.  Nonetheless, western medical practices still…

Helen Maupin

Practice + Non-attachment = Navigation Skills for Being Human

Both practice and non-attachment (nonreaction) are required to still the mind.  Yoga Sutra 1.12 For millennia, the yoga sutras have provided its practitioners with aphorisms or truths meant to increase understanding and provide direction with regard to the mystery of…

Helen Maupin

Clear Seeing Unveils Confidence

by photostock freedigitalimage.net If you have followed my blog conversations over the past two weeks, their content has ranged from self-sabotage to self-mastery via real-time dialogue between myself and “Sandy”.  This continued instalment depicts the shift into clear seeing and…

Helen Maupin