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Healing from Anxiety
How can we find inner peace and lessen our anxiety even in times of chaos? Guest Hala Khouri, therapist and yoga teacher, discusses practical strategies to understand our body’s signals so we can release stress and find healing.
Hala Khouri, MA, has been teaching yoga and movement for over 25 years and has been doing clinical work and trainings for 15 years. Originally from Beirut, Lebanon, she has dedicated her life to the study of trauma and building resilience on a personal, interpersonal, and systemic level. Hala is a co-founder of Off the Mat, Into the World, a training organization that bridges yoga and activism within a social justice framework. She is a sought-after speaker and trainer on the subject of trauma, yoga, and social justice and author of the book we are discussing today, Peace from Anxiety; Get Grounded, Build Resilience and Stay Connected Amidst the Chaos.
THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: A wonderfully encouraging conversation. I resonate with Hala Khouri’s emphasis on the need to go beyond our inner work in order to make peace with trauma and anxiety. She relates that the feeling of warmth and belonging which comes with developing a relationship ecosystem provides a necessary support for healing. "It helps you feel like you are held by something bigger than you." I also like Hala’s vision of changing our stress impulse from the fright-flight-freeze reaction to a tend and befriend response. She considers it a "radical act of social justice" to move our stress, anxiety and trauma response from a stance of strength and power to one of understanding and assisting. Particularly powerful is her concluding message of positivity: to find joy in the journey without letting trauma and anxiety get in the way.
DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: I enjoyed our conversation about healing from anxiety, and appreciated that Hala Khouri says that healing needs to go beyond the personal to the interpersonal and global levels. She says that one of the first ways to transform our trauma into personal growth is to look for support, and that this support can come from our networks of connections which can include our neighbors and work colleagues in addition to our core relationships with family and close friends. Hala shared an important practice, that of orienting ourselves: noticing what we notice when we look around our environment or when we look within ourselves, and how often we notice the negative ( for example; what needs to be cleaned, where in our bodies we are holding tension) rather than what is beautiful or working well. This orienting or noticing can be part of how we feel the support that we need when dealing with anxiety.
Stop Reacting and Reclaim Your Power
How can understanding our triggers help us find peace and lasting emotional well-being? Psychotherapist David Richo, Ph.D., author of Triggers, discusses how we can look deeply at the roots of what provokes us so we can develop the resources to stay calm under pressure and to heal.
David Richo, Ph.D, is a psychotherapist, writer, and workshop leader whose work emphasizes the benefits of mindfulness and loving kindness in personal growth and emotional well-being. He is the author of several books including How to Be an Adult in Relationships and The Five Things We Cannot Change. The book we are discussing in this episode is Triggers: How We Can Stop Reacting and Start Healing.
SHOW NOTES: Dr. Richo’s website is DaveRicho.com His books are available HERE
THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS:I found this conversation on triggers to be interesting and enlightening. Being triggered is common to most of us and it helps us to understand what the trigger is, discern where it comes from and then make choices to lessen or overcome it. Dr. Richo said a trigger moves you into a reaction that you don't choose. When you are able to choose that is freedom. Triggers come from our fight or flight system which is a necessary survival mechanism. Our thinking brain turns off when the fear center of our brain is triggered. Dr. Richo says that the good news is that we are not totally at the mercy of our triggers, if we can pause until our thinking mind comes back online, then we have a choice. Meditation is one way to train ourselves to be able to pause before we react. I appreciated his re-stated version of the Serenity Prayer. It supports us in accepting what cannot be changed. You find the inner resource that supports you and then you realize that that inner resource is God or however you perceive God to be. He shared that saying yes to what is, accepting what we cannot change, turns the triggers into opportunities for spiritual growth. I appreciated his simple examples of what some triggers could be and also his examples of some ways we can deal with these triggers.
DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: I enjoyed our conversation about triggers and the science behind them, as well as the work we can each do to be triggered into curiosity rather than reaction when they occur. I appreciated Dr. Richo’s rephrasing of the serenity prayer as “May I have the serenity to accept what can’t be changed, the courage to change what is ready to be changed, and the wisdom to know the difference”, as well as your daily affirmation of "May I say yes to all that happens to me today as an opportunity to love more and fear less.” I think our discussion of inner resources like courage, wisdom, serenity, and self-discipline will be helpful to our listeners as they explore the forest of their own triggers and reactions.
Live a Life of Oneness
What does it mean practically to live a life committed to Oneness? Jeremy David Engels, author of The Ethics of Oneness: Emerson, Whitman, and the Bhagavad Gita, explores this question as an antidote to our current climate of separation.
Jeremy David Engels, PhD, is an award-winning professor of Communication and Ethics at Penn State University as well as a yoga and meditation teacher and co-owner of Yoga Lab Studios in State College, PA. Dr. Engels is author of several books including the book discussed in this program, The Ethics of Oneness: Emerson, Whitman and the Bhagavad Gita. He considers himself to be an American Transcendentalist and writes that “the best scholarship is poetry, the best communication, yoga”.
SHOW NOTES: Dr. Engels’ website is JeremyDavidEngels.com Instagram: @jeremydavidengels
The book we discussed in this episode is The Ethics of Oneness: Emerson, Whitman and the Bhagavad Gita available on Amazon.
THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: I was very inspired by the conversation today with Jeremy Engels about living a life committed to Oneness as a yoga practice. The look into the history of Oneness practice was enlightening.
Bhagavad Gita: seeing Oneness as the secret truth, how we can see the divine in all beings
Emerson: the founder of American yoga, that is bringing awareness and respect to the teachings of the Gita; seeing Oneness as speaking to the soul; addressing the divine in all beings
Whitman: showing the best of ourselves; celebrating the divine; looking for the face of God in everything.
Dr. Engels ended with a call for a declaration of interdependence - recognizing a world of Oneness.
COMMENTS FROM DR. TRUJILLO: I loved how Dr. Engels described the three great crises of the breath that will require us to recognize and live our interconnectedness: the COVID pandemic, climate change, and racial justice. It was lovely to discuss the beginnings of yoga in America through the work of Emerson. I also found the idea of "communication as yoga" a powerful one that I hope will inspire our listeners.
Yoga for Cancer: Healing, Thriving, and Surviving
How can yoga practice address the specific physical and emotional needs of cancer patients and survivors? Tari Prinster, founder of yoga4cancer, discusses the science and benefits of yoga for cancer patients and survivors and the tools to create a safe home yoga practice.
Tari Prinster is a cancer survivor, master yoga teacher, author of the book Yoga for Cancer, and founder of Yoga For Cancer and of the Yoga for Cancer Foundation which bring Oncology Yoga to cancer survivors worldwide. Her organization has trained over 3000 yoga teachers in the US and abroad and and provided help to tens of thousands of cancer survivors.
SHOW NOTES: Yoga For Cancer’s website is y4c.com Tari Prinster’s book is Yoga For Cancer available on Amazon.
THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: Another very important and engaging program. The discussion of how the practices of yoga postures (asanas) and pranayama are shown in scientific studies as an important adjunct to cancer treatment confirms what many yoga practitioners have experienced for a long time. As a long time yoga practitioner and teacher, Tari Prinster has focused on the benefits of yoga for cancer in a way that makes a lot of sense and is easily accessible to all. Dr. Trujillo’s experience as a physician and yogi really enhanced the conversation.
COMMENTS FROM DR. TRUJILLO: This program has great information for our listeners as cancer touches so many lives and families today. I thought Tari’s two mantras of “Cancer steals your breath and yoga gives it back” and “Yoga is as scientific as it is spiritual” were both uplifting and inspiring.
Living in Peace: The Secret of a Happy Life
Feeling out of sorts with life’s challenges? Paramahansa Yogananda taught that living with inner peace is the secret to a happy life. Join Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi as they share Yogananda’s tools, stories, and right attitudes to help connect with your source of peace within.
Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi are dynamic emissaries of Paramhansa Yogananda, and Global Peace Ambassadors. Jyotish and Devi serve as Spiritual Directors of Ananda Sangha Worldwide, and in this capacity travel the world, sharing Yogananda’s teachings, and blessing people with the practical and heart-opening path of Kriya Yoga. Jyotish is the author of several books on meditation and related subjects, and the creator of Meditation Therapy(TM). Devi is the author of Faith is My Armor: The Life of Swami Kriyananda. They are co-authors to the book being discussed on this episode, A Touch of Light: Living the Teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda
SHOW NOTES: Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi’s website is www.ananda.org. Their books can be purchased at CrystalClarity.com
YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: Thank you for this conversation with these two dedicated devotees of Paramahansa Yogananda. I love their story about the sea birds and how they survive in terrible storms. Instead of fighting the wind, they go with it until they find the calm center. This is a metaphor for how we can deal with "the storms" in our own lives.
Have faith that God is with us and whatever storms come to us we can find the inner resources in the calm, peaceful center of our being. Embrace the challenges that come to us, remember that they are important for our spiritual evolution and learn from them.
The Nayaswamis reminded us of Yogananda’s poem God, God, God. In one of the verses he says:
When boisterous storms of trials shriek
And worries howl at me,
I drown their noises, loudly chanting: God! God! God!
FROM OUR HOST, DR. TRUJILLO: I enjoyed our conversation about finding inner peace during challenging times, and especially enjoyed all the tips we gave our listeners about how to do so: having a regular meditation practice; using superconscious meditation to access our unconditional inner peace and joy and then sharing it with others; being more conscious of what we take in from the world and focusing on bringing in the positive and avoiding “doom scrolling”; finding joy through doing something that we love (“I enjoy”); and practicing gratitude (“I care”).
The Yoga of Consciousness: Moving Beyond Body and Mind
How does our consciousness, identity, and prana differ in different states of consciousness? Dr. David Frawley discusses how observing and contemplating our daily movement from waking, dreaming, and deep sleep can lead to boundless wisdom and enduring bliss.
Dr. David Frawley (or Pandit Vamadeva Shastri) is a Vedic teacher and educator who is the author of over forty books in several Vedic and Yogic fields published worldwide over the past thirty years. He is the founder and director of the American Institute of Vedic Studies, which offers on-line courses and publications on Ayurveda, Yoga, Vedanta, mantra and meditation, and Vedic astrology. He is involved in important research into ancient Vedic texts and is a well known modern exponent of Hinduism and Sanatana Dharma. He has a rare D.Litt in Yoga and is a recipient of the prestigious Padma Bhushan award, one of India's highest civilian awards for "distinguished service of a higher order." His work is highly respected in traditional circles in India, as well as influential in the West, where he is involved in many Vedic and Yogic schools, ashrams and associations.
SHOW NOTES:
To find out more about Dr. David Frawley’s programs and books his website is www.vedanet.com. The book discussed in this episode is The Yoga of Consciousness: From Waking, Dream and Deep Sleep of Self-Realization
YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS:
The show with Pandit Vamadeva Shastri was very thought provoking and motivating. He shares the idea that Yoga is the very movement of our lives, our journey moment to moment through the four states of consciousness; that everyday we have been to the divine and back again and we missed it. Through Yoga practices including manta, meditation, visualization of our inner Self we can move beyond the ego to become aware and focused to have an understanding of the inner powers that create the Universe.
FROM OUR HOST, DR. TRUJILLO: It was lovely to discuss the possibilities for transformation that open as we develop the yoga of consciousness, and pay more attention to the four states of consciousness in our daily cycle. This will be a valuable gift for our listeners.
Transforming Ourselves and the World Through Selfless Service
How does a heart of service respond to the difficulties of our times? How do we overcome fear and awaken the compassion that is innate within us? Nipun Mehta, founder of ServiceSpace.org, discusses how small acts of service can transform us and transform the world.
Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace, an incubator of projects that works at the intersection of volunteerism, technology and gift-economy. What started as an experiment with four friends in the Silicon Valley has now grown to a global ecosystem of over 500,000 members that has delivered millions of dollars in service for free. In this past year, KarunaVirus.org, a play on the words Corona virus, is one of the many programs that have grown out of ServiceSpace. KarunaVirus.org offers good news, uplifting stories and inspiring ideas sent to subscribers daily. This is a volunteer project offered freely without ads or solicitations.
Nipun has received many awards, including the Jefferson Award for Public Service, Dalai Lama's Unsung Hero of Compassion, Goi Peace Award in 2019.
SHOW NOTES: Nipun Mehta websites: ServiceSpace.org, KarunaVirus.org. Note that the quote “The winds of grace are always blowing, but you have to raise the sail.” is actually from Ramakrishna. Dr. Trujillo apologizes that she couldn’t remember the correct attribution during the show.
YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: What an inspiring discussion today with Nipun Mehta on Karma Yoga, the path of selfless service. I love the insight that in Karma Yoga, it is not the action that is as important as the mindset. We grow compassion as we decouple from the focus on outcomes and serve from the space of love. "The reward for service is service." Powerful! I also enjoyed his teaching about 3 types of service, beggarly, neighborly and kingly and that if we realize we are offering beggarly service (expecting something in return) we can evolve to giving without motive.
Curbing Chronic Inflammation with Yoga and Meditation
Medical science has increasingly illustrated the role chronic inflammation plays in the development of disease. Yoga therapist Baxter Bell, M.D., discusses how yogic practices, breath techniques, and meditation can curb inflammation and support us in living a healthier life.
Baxter Bell, MD, has been actively deepening his understanding of the power of yoga since making the stress-reducing move from a career as a busy family doctor to that of a yoga teacher and medical acupuncturist. He is on faculty for several Yoga Teacher Training and Yoga Therapy Training programs around the country. Baxter is a Certified Yoga Therapist. He is also co-author with Nina Zolotow of the book Yoga for Healthy Aging. Baxter teaches public and specialty back care yoga classes and yoga for healthy aging online, as well as workshops and retreats around the United States and internationally.
SHOW NOTES
Website: BaxterBell.com
YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: I highly recommend this podcast. Amazing information. I didn't realize how much chronic inflammation affects almost all aging diseases. What really piques my interest are the hard scientific studies Dr. Bell cites that show the remarkable beneficial effects of yoga and meditation. Best of all, specific yoga poses, breathing methods and meditation practices are included.