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Compassionate Communication: Creating Connection through our speech
How can we promote peace at home, at work and in the world through the language we use? Nonviolent speech is a spiritual practice. Join Judith Hanson Lasater as she offers a fresh approach for Nonviolent Communication based in yogic philosophy. She shares practical exercises to help improve and deepen all our relationships.
Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.D in East-West Psychology, is a physical therapist, and has taught yoga since 1971. She is a founder of Yoga Journal Magazine as well as the California Yoga Teachers Association, of which she is President Emeritus. She has studied directly with Marshall Rosenberg, and has been sharing his Nonviolent Communication for years, incorporating her study of yoga philosophy into her NVC teaching. She is the author of 11 books on Yoga.
THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: Judith Hanson Lasater started the conversation with a quote from one of her poems, “Words are my paintbrush.” Such a beautiful introduction to discussing the power of speech. What we say matters - speech changes the world. The question is whether we are going to speak intentionally or unintentionally. Judith shared many stories to give an insight into the power of speech. Through her stories she gives listeners insights on how to remain truthful (satya) and non-harming (ahimsa). I highly recommend this interview.
DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: I really appreciated Judith Hanson Lasater’s deep understanding of the power of what we say. As she writes in her book, “our words change the world every time we speak”. In combining the Yogic practice of truthfulness, the Buddhist practice of Right Speech, and the principles of Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication into what she calls “spiritual speech”, she provides some suggestions about how we can put these principles into action. Our discussion of the relationship between harmlessness (Ahimsa) and truthfulness (Satya) was helpful. I found her advice about self-compassion very powerful, and thought that the phrase she suggested, “how human of me” to be very useful as a way to practice that self-compassion.
Nurture Active Hope and Make a Difference
How do we ready ourselves to contribute to the great shift needed for social and ecological change? Join Dr. Chris Johnstone, co-author with Joanna Macy, of the book Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re In with Unexpected Resilience and Creative Power; Revised Edition as he shares how we can navigate these difficult times without fear or despair.
Chris is the is a codirector of ActiveHope.Training, a nonprofit organization offering online courses that help people grow their own resilience and increase their capacity to make a difference in the world. His online classes and programs now reach thousands of people with participants in more than 60 countries. An activist since his teenage years, Chris first encountered Joanna Macy’s work while he was a medical student in London. He’s been a trainer in her program Work that Reconnects and has worked closely with her for more than three decades. He now lives in Scotland
Chris Johnstone’s co-author on the book Active Hope is Joanna Macy, is a respected voice in the movements of peace, justice and ecology, a well-known author, and founder of the Work that Reconnects which helps people transform despair and apathy into constructive, collaborative action.
DR. LAUREL TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: I really enjoyed having Dr. Johnstone on the program. I found his explanation that there are actually three stories happening now in the world very useful: the Great Unraveling, Business as Usual, and the Great Turning. We see evidence all the time of the Great Unraveling, as that is the narrative that is covered by news media. We see Business as Usual in the world and sometimes in our own lives. It was helpful to see that there is also evidence of The Great Turning all around us as well, if we look for it. Dr. Johnstone and Joanna Macy’s distinction between feeling hopeful (thinking that things will get better) and feeling hope (about how we want things to be), was very useful to me as well. Sometimes I may not feel hopeful, but I see that I can feel hope as I can see how I want things to change and that I can play a role in that (making it Active Hope).
Live Life to the Fullest: Thriving in The Third Stage of Life
How can our later years be the most vital time of life? Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian shares how Yoga philosophy and practice light the path for healthy, vital, and purposeful living at every stage of life. Learn how these spiritual teachings can inspire your life journey and help you prepare for and navigate your later years.
Yogacharya O’Brian is a western woman who teaches the riches of Indian philosophy in a fully accessible and inspiring way for newcomers and longtime practitioners alike. Ordained by Roy Eugene Davis, a direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda, she has been teaching Kriya Yoga philosophy and practice, and leading meditation retreats for more than four decades. On her author website EllenGraceOBrian.com she offers many online learning programs. You will also find many inspirational blog posts and other resources for your study. She is also the founder and spiritual director of The Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, a meditation center in the Kriya Yoga tradition.
The Third Stage of Life Retreat Online or In-Person October 6 through 8, 2022.
THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: I thoroughly enjoyed the program and learned so much from Yogacharya about the stages of life as described in the Vedas and especially the third stage, that can be described in English as the retirement stage. She shared that these stages in life are related to archetypes that are within us all—at all times we have some level of all these stages within; the student stage, the householder stage, the retirement/hermit stage and the renunciant stage. All these stages are related to dharmic living, living our lives in the highest way with the higher purpose of Self- and God-realization. Yogacharya said that despite what our culture tells us about getting older, she sees it as an exciting time. It is a time to simplify and discover what is important in life; a time to let go and discover what connects me with my soul's joy and do that. This topic is so important to not only those of us in that third stage of life, but to everyone, no matter what age and stage they are in.
DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: It was wonderful to have Yogacharya O’Brian as a guest on The Yoga Hour to discuss the four Vedic stages of life, and how to thrive in the third stage. She says that the anchor of all four stages is living a dharmic life, living with higher purpose. I appreciated her comments that the four Asramas can also be viewed as separate life paths as well as sequential stages of life: student, householder, hermit or forest dweller, and renunciate. Our conversation about how these four stages of life tie-in with the four life goals was illuminating: student with dharma(living with higher purpose), householder with artha (prosperity), forest dweller with kama (pleasure) and renunciate with moksha (liberation). Her final advice to listeners, that it is imperative to fall in love with your life, regardless of the stage, was inspiring.
EMBRACE THE POWERFUL, PEACEFUL AND PROSPEROUS GODDESS WITHIN - PART Two
Acharya Shunya is a renowned Vedic teacher and the first female head of her family teaching lineage. Join us as she shares that by learning about the goddess qualities within, women can step into their innate divinity and lead powerful, abundant, and wise lives.
Acharya Shunya is an award-winning and internationally renowned spiritual teacher and scholar of Advaita (nondual wisdom) and is a classically-trained master of Yoga and Ayurveda. She offers many courses and retreats and she is author of numerous books. Her new book, that is being discussed on this program is Roar Like a Goddess: Every Woman’s Guide To Becoming Unapologetically Powerful, Prosperous and Peaceful.
WEBSITE: AcharyaShunya.com AwakenedSelf.com social media @acharyashunya
THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: In Part Two of this interview with Acharya Shunya, we learned more about the Goddess Durga and how Durga’s goddess powers apply to our own lives today. I loved how Acharya teaches us that the Goddess Lakshmi is said to bestow grace on us that makes our lives so much easier. She says Lakshmi bears auspicious tidings with a wealth of cheerfulness and a sense of peace with what we have and with our relationships. The Goddess Sarasvati represents the freeing of knowledge, feminine intuition, artistic inspiration, music and spiritual insights. There is so much more to learn about how we can embrace these goddess qualities in our life and live a life that is worthy of us.
DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: I really appreciate Acharya Shunya’s deep knowledge of the Vedas and how she tells us that qualties of the goddesses are who we are as women. We just need to recognize these strengths in ourselves. In Part 2, Acharya Shunya shared the importance of understanding and embodying the goddesses within, particularly at this complex time in our world as we come out of the pandemic and face challenges of climate change, concerns about racial equality and other conflicts. We discussed Rosa Parks as displaying Durga energy when she refused to give up her seat on the bus. We also discussed Lakshmi, goddess of prosperity, and Sarasvati, goddess of wisdom.
The Healing Power of Writing Your Life Story
How does writing about life events bring magic and healing? Nancy Slonim Aronie, author of Memoir as Medicine, says that everyone has a story to tell. Join us as she shares how writing through where we have been provides a pathway to deep understanding, profound healing, and unexpected joy.
Nancy Slonim Aronie is the author of Writing from the Heart and the book we are discussing in this program, Memoir as Medicine. She has been a regular contributor to National Public Radio's All Things Considered. She was recognized for excellence in teaching all three years she taught at Harvard University for Robert Coles. Aronie has joined with physicians and writers from Columbia University's program in narrative medicine to lead workshops using her Writing from the Heart.
Website: ChilmarkWritingWorkshop.com
THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: This conversation with Nancy Slonim Aronie about writing is extremely motivational. She acknowledges that while everybody has every excuse in the world on why there isn’t time to write, we need to get stuff out of our system. “Get the rage on the page.” We all have secrets, mysteries that no one has seen before. Nancy says write it down without worrying what other people think. Be honest with yourself. Writing can acknowledge what hurts. Truth heals. Her book, Memoir as Medicine, has short chapters each with a prompt at the end to help start the process. The chapters that are discussed here (Why Write, Insights, Solitude) definitely wet my appetite to pull out my pen and start journaling. There was a comfortable free flow to this conversation with the many “aha” moments.
DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: It was intriguing to me to discuss how writing about the events of our lives can be healing, and can allow us to see things in a new way. We talked about the importance of writing through our emotions, even those that are challenging to us. As she write in her book; "But the biggest healing and the biggest teaching, the most surprising thing: I would not have known how exquisitely beautiful the whole trip was. That’s how I know writing is medicine.” Writing helps us with the Kriya Yoga practice of Self-Study. Nancy and I discuss several prompts for listeners to write about that I hope will be inspiring to them.
Embrace the Powerful, Peaceful and Prosperous Goddess Within - Part One
Acharya Shunya is a renowned Vedic teacher and the first female head of her family teaching lineage. Join us as she shares that by learning about the goddess qualities within, women can step into their innate divinity and lead powerful, abundant, and wise lives. Acharya Shunya is an award-winning and internationally renowned spiritual teacher and scholar of Advaita (nondual wisdom) and is a classically-trained master of Yoga and Ayurveda. She offers many courses and retreats and she is author of numerous books. Her new book, that is being discussed on this program is Roar Like a Goddess: Every Woman’s Guide To Becoming Unapologetically Powerful, Prosperous and Peaceful.
THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: In Part One of this two part interview, Acharya Shunya's shares about the tools of the mythology of the Divine Goddess in the forms of Durga, Lakshmi and Sarasvati. She wants to encourage women and all those who identify as feminine to embrace their divine power unapologetically. Dr. Trujillo shared that Yogacharya O'Brian wrote a review for the book saying “the book is not about the Goddess; it is the voice of the Goddess, bold and clear, with a message ancient and ever new: You are That.” As Acharya Shunya explained, we have these qualities of power, abundance and peace within us, but we allow outside forces and traditions to tell us that we are not worthy. Most of this first program focuses on the Goddess Durga. She is the one who exemplifies power and who protects us from our own negative thinking, addictions and limitations that we feel have been placed on us or that we place upon ourselves. I really enjoy Acharya's outspoken style and how she brings the example of the attributes of these goddesses to us so we can learn about and embrace these qualities in ourselves. I am looking forward to tuning in to Part Two.
DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: In this program I appreciated Acharya’s comments about the need to be unapologetic in claiming the goddess power within. We discussed several of the goddess qualities: being bold rather than fearful, abundant rather than scarce, and joyful rather than sorrowful. It is helpful to me to think about the different goddesses as all being facets of the One goddess Shakti, different aspects of the One. In this program we discussed the Goddess Durga as being powerful, not for power’s sake, but in the service of the greater good for all.
Experience the joy in aging
How do we find joy even in the impermanence of our lives? Join Susan Moon, Zen teacher and author of Alive Until You’re Dead as she discusses death as part of living and the journey of aging. With humor and wisdom she encourages us to expect enlightening discoveries in our later years.
Susan Moon is a writer and Buddhist teacher in the Soto Zen tradition. She is the author of several books, including This is Getting Old , The Hidden Lamp and the book we are discussing in this podcast, Alive Until You’re Dead. She is a contributor to Lion’s Roar, Tricycle and other publications. She leads retreats in California and internationally.
Her website is susanmoon.wordpress.com
THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: Susan Moon offered many wonderful perspectives on aging. I particularly enjoyed her lighthearted acceptance of her age as she said, “There is a relief in accepting myself as an old person. There’s a sense of accomplishment even.” One of the perspectives she offers is that of Virya, a Sanskrit word that she translates as joyful effort, which doesn’t involve the effort of strength, rather an alive and joyful vitality. She also offers specific supportive practices for contemplating death, one of which is realizing that the ability to love doesn't end as we age.
DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: I really enjoyed our conversation about experiencing the joy in aging. I loved her comment in the book “I see now that doing battle against aging is not a good use of my time and so letting go of that fight is a big relief. I have a wider view, and it’s not because of my lens implants.” I found our discussion of the importance of virya, or joyful effort to be reassuring, as we are never too old to make an effort and to be joyful. I appreciated her comments about the importance of being triggered into feeling curious when we are faced with challenges, and that we can cultivate the attitude, “Can I be curious about this?”
Enhance Your Recovery with Yoga and Ayurveda
How can Yoga and Ayurveda empower recovery from addiction? Join Durga Leela, author of Yoga of Recovery, as she shares how tools from these ancient sciences enhance traditional recovery pathways and offer healing, hope, and transformation for those on the path of recovery.
Durga Leela is a person in long-term recovery, a certified Ayurveda Practitioner, yoga teacher and yoga therapist (IAYT certified) from the UK and now based in the US. She has shared Yoga as a recovery pathway in several recovery conferences over the last 20 years. She has also served as the Director of the Ayurveda Programs at the Sivananda Ashram in California since 2003 and is a professional member of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA). Durga is author of the book Yoga of Recovery.
Her website is YogaOfRecovery.com
Facebook and Instagram: @YogaofRecovery
THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: This is an excellent program for not only those in addiction recovery but also those who want to understand healing, using Yoga and Ayurveda. Durga Leela's experience of recovery along with her deep study of Yoga philosophy and Ayurveda offers the integration of these two sister sciences to help people shift their life trajectory. Her discussion of the gunas, the qualities that imbue all of nature, gives us a real understanding of how addiction comes about and also how we can deal with addictions in a positive way. I appreciated her quote from David Frawley, the renowned teacher of Yoga and Ayurveda — “Addictions are a [another] form of psychological disorder. They occur from too much Tamas or inertia in the mind. This is often caused by excess Rajas, or mental disturbance, which is compensated for by providing an artificial calm." Durga Leela says, "Get off the addiction roller coaster and become a master of your life." I highly recommend this program.
DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: I really appreciated our conversation about how yoga and Ayurveda can enhance the recovery journey. I was particularly struck by the first sentence of her book Yoga of Recovery: “Our understanding of our suffering defines the nature of our solution.” This begins by realizing that the root of all disease is spiritual (as she has titled the first chapter of her book), and that it arises when we forget our true nature as spirit. I enjoyed our conversation about the three gunas, sattva (luminosity), rajas (motion), and tamas (inertia), and their effects on the mind. Durga’s inclusion of David Frawley’s definition of addiction, that it arises from an excess of rajas in the mind that we compensate for by providing an external calm offered insight into the cause of addiction.