Meet the Storms of Life with Strength and Resilience

How can times of adversity be a time of personal transformation? Mark Nepo, esteemed poet and spiritual teacher, shares how we can traverse life's unavoidable storms by using the timeless teachings of the heart to deepen our roots and solidify our connection with Spirit.

With over a million copies sold, Mark Nepo inspired readers and seekers all over the world with his #1 New York Times bestseller The Book of Awakening. Beloved as a poet, teacher, and storyteller, Mark has been called “one of the finest spiritual guides of our time” and “an eloquent spiritual teacher.” A bestselling author, he has published twenty-three books and recorded fifteen audio projects. His most recent book is Surviving Storms: Finding the Strength to Meet Adversity which is being discussed on this program. Mark has appeared several times with Oprah on her Super Soul Sunday program on and was part of Oprah's The Life You Want Tour in 2014. He has also been interviewed on Good Morning America and is a regular columnist for Spirituality and Health magazine. Mark was given a Life-Achievement Award by AgeNation in 2015; in 2016 he was named by Watkins: Mind Body Spirit as one of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People, and was also chosen as one of Oprah Winfrey Network’s Super Soul 100, a group of inspired leaders using their gifts and voices to elevate humanity. Mark teaches and offers online webinars around the world.

Mark is offering a 3 session webinar based on his book Surviving Storms beginning February 4, 2023. For more information go to Live.MarkNepo.com

WEBSITE: MarkNepo.com FACEBOOK: @MarkNepo INSTAGRAM: Mark_Nepo

THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: Dr. Trujillo’s conversation with Mark about his book was very inspirational and helped me understand how knowing our true Self is most important in (using a tree metaphor) deepening our roots and strengthening our trunk so that we can survive the storms in life. He calls that our heart work. This is exactly what the teachings of Yoga are about, how to know our Self. Mark mentioned that the Hindu god, Ganesh, is not only the remover of obstacles but also the provider of obstacles. He said this means that the obstacles are put there to be our teachers. He says when we are confronted with storms in our lives, the only way is through. Our connection with God-or how we perceive what is greater than us, our connections with each other and all of life are what support us during difficult times. When we are going through the storms of life, it is most helpful to look at what is greater than ourselves—"how can I see that this difficulty is part of the greater whole of life and how can it become my teacher?"  These teachings are something we will all benefit from.

DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: I really enjoyed discussing Mark Nepo’s book Surviving Storms, which I found to be both lyrical and accessible.  I loved the way the conversation wove together both grief and joy, as he writes in his poem “Adrift”, which he read during the interview.  The perspective that the existence of the universe and our life within it is the result of small acts of goodness was inspiring. I particularly appreciated his comments that our heart is our greatest teacher and our strongest muscle, and also his advice to listeners to become intimate with the workings of their heart and to stay in conversation with life through their heart. 

The Power of the Vedas and Mantra: Deepen Spiritual Awakening

The Vedas are considered the source texts of Yoga, which through study, practice, contemplation and understanding help with a more complete yogic development. Shantala Sriramaiah discusses how the study of the Vedas and how properly chanting the ancient mantras support us in deepening our spiritual growth.
Her website is vedastudies.com where she offers a free, introductory, online course in Vedic chanting.

Shantala Sriramaiah is a Vedic chanting teacher, and the founder of VedaStudies.com. She was born and raised in Bangalore, India where she studied Sanskrit and chanting from an early age, as part of her family tradition as well as in school. Much of her inspiration comes from her mother, Saroja, who taught chanting classes in their family home for over 30 years. Shantala aspires to continue her family tradition, using her long background in learning and development. She offers classes internationally online and in Brussels, Belgium where she currently lives with her husband and two children.

THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: The discussion with Shantala Sriramaiah, on the Vedas and Vedic mantras was both informative and intriguing. Her explanation of the ancient Vedas as mystical high caliber poetry was clear and succinct. She shared how the ancient Vedas through structure and rhythmic sound provide an absolutely clear vision of The Truth. Shantala shared how Vedic mantras provide a practice based approach to deepen the yoga (Oneness) experience through divinely structured chanting which carries a particular energy. The deep pranayama (breath control) focus of the Vedic mantra leads to pratyahara (interiorization of attention). I plan to access and experience accurately vocalized Vedic mantras on her SoundCloud link. She also has a free introductory Veda chanting course online.

DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: Shantala Sriramaiah shared with us how the study of the Vedas can help with a more complete yogic development.  I appreciated her description of the benefits of Vedic chanting as increased power of attention and concentration, both of which are so helpful in our meditation practice.  I found it fascinating that the rules of Vedic Sanskrit pronunciation and chanting originate in the Vedas themselves, in the Taittiriya Upanishad.  Shantala’s description of increased clarity as the benefit of chanting the Gayatri Mantra was helpful, and I can see that this increased clarity can help us in whatever situation we encounter. She chanted the Gayatri mantra so that listeners can hear the difference between Vedic chanting and singing a mantra.

Build Equity and Inclusion On and Off the Mat

Yoga principles guide us to build more equity and inclusion in our practice and in the world. Dr. Stacie Graham encourages yoga practitioners and professionals to take action, aligning their practice with the powerful work of social justice.

Stacie Graham is a sought-after expert on leadership, equity and inclusion. Dr. Graham is the author of the book Yoga As Resistance: Equity and Inclusion On and Off the Mat. Stacie is also the founder of OYA: Body-Mind-Spirit Retreats, which offers holistic wellness experiences for Black women and women of color in the UK and beyond. She is also the co-founder of Radical Darshan, a 300 hour yoga teacher training school that helps students unlearn and disrupt normalized systems through critical thinking as well as compassion. She is a qualified life coach, certified mindfulness instructor, and registered with Yoga Alliance as an experienced yoga teacher (E-RYT 500).

THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: Stacie Graham’s main work is teaching hatha yoga and she is very steeped in the spiritual teachings of Yoga and brought that practice to this conversation and to her book, Yoga as Resistance. Dr. Trujillo’s question about how she brought these two words, yoga and resistance, which seem the opposite of each other, for the title of her book was an important insight for me. Her understanding of the word equity means that all people have the access to the programs and teachings without barriers, perceived or not.
This is a great program for those who run a yoga studio, yoga teachers, for students of hatha yoga and also for students of yoga philosophy. 

DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: In both our conversation and in her book Dr. Graham has a lovely way of guiding us to look at the inconsistencies between yoga philosophy and how yoga is often practiced in the Western world.  I appreciate her focus on yoga as a profound wisdom tradition that has much to offer in bringing more equity and inclusion to our world. I particularly appreciated looking at how the yoga practices of harmlessness (Ahimsa), non-stealing (Asteya)  and truthfulness (Satya), can guide our actions as we move toward a more inclusive future.

Compassionate Caregiving: The Transformative Power of Love

How can we find healing, transformation and spiritual growth through compassionate caregiving? John Baugher, PhD. is a teacher, author and end-of-life caregiver. He offers tools and practices that can support  caregivers through difficult times.

John Eric Baugher, PhD, has been a contemplative educator, social science researcher, and end-of-life caregiver for more than two decades. Dr. Baugher consults and offers workshops internationally on spiritual care, grief and transformation. He is the author of the book being discussed on this program, Contemplative Caregiving: Finding Healing, Compassion and Spiritual Growth Through End-of-Life Care.

WEBSITE: JohnEricBaugher.com

THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: This conversation with John Baugher on compassionate caregiving speaks brilliantly to caregiving as a spiritual practice. He shares profound experiences illustrating how there is an outer reason, an inner reason and a secret reason for doing what we do. I particularly resonated with the concept of “Loving our imperfect care”. Since we can be our own harshest critic, that moment can be used as an invitation to be a compasionate witness for ourselves as well as those to whom we are giving care. A moment of imperfection can be used for self-inquiry and compassion. John conveyed the profound understanding that through caregiving, we can discover joys we never thought possible. What a wonderful uplifting interview on an often difficult subject. 

DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: I am grateful to John Baugher for joining me today on The Yoga Hour to discuss his book Contemplative Caregiving. I appreciated his perspective that being a contemplative caregiver gives abundant opportunities for personal growth and transformation, in the setting of end-of-life care as well as care for children, friends, and parents or other loved ones.  We discussed how caregiving can be a spiritual practice, and how the act of caring itself is central to what it means to be human.  Since we are human, there will always be some ways that our care doesn’t match our intention, perhaps when we are stressed or overwhelmed ourselves.  In these situations, loving our imperfect care by seeing it in the wider context of our lives allows us to use self-compassion.

Reclaim the Power of Darkness: Restore Your Inner Strength and Wholeness

How can we develop insight, vision, and creativity from the darkness of uncertainty, grief, and fear? Join author, spiritual teacher and ecologist Deborah Eden Tull as she shares how the exploration of darkness helps us navigate the uncertainty of our times.

Deborah Eden Tull is the founder of Mindful Living Revolution. She is a Zen meditation and dharma teacher, author, spiritual activist, ecologist, and sustainability educator. Eden spent seven years training as a Buddhist monk and her teachings bridge personal and collective awakening. She is the author of numerous books including the one being discussed in this program, Luminous Darkness: An Engaged Buddhist Approach to Embracing the Unknown.

You can find out more about her and her programs on her website: www.deborahedentull.com

THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: Don't miss this episode! It is all about the inherent power of balance of life - the light and dark, yin and yang. A great thanks to Eden and Dr. Laurel for this conversation especially at the time of the winter solstice. Some of the top ideas discussed:  The reality that there is more to life than the rational mind. Deep meditation provides the path to move beyond the duality of the mind to experience the depth of receptivity and self study - of remembering who we really are. Once the hierarchy inherent in today's social pattern is recognized, one can show up to live life with a shared connection. Shared consciousness changes the approach to power and leadership. Once one learns to befriend the totality of their authentic self, it can go beyond that to take it out into the world. 

DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS:  I appreciated Eden’s focus in the book and in our conversation on darkness and its association with creativity. She said that it is a profound place of oneness that we can experience directly but not know with the rational mind.  I enjoyed her focus on deep listening as a practice, both deep listening to our own inner wisdom and to nature, resulting in both deepening our own inner connection as well as an experience of our interconnection with all that is. We discussed the value in staying curious as we notice parts of ourselves that may be difficult or painful, and the importance of self-compassion in avoiding spiritual bypassing.  

Top Episodes from 2022

The Yoga Hour team has enjoyed going back over all of the amazing episodes of this past year. There were so many we had difficulty picking out which ones to share in this list. They are all inspirational and informative. Click on the episode name and you will be taken to the episode page. Click on the player on the top of the page to listen. Enjoy!

Deepen Your Spiritual Practice with The Dharma of Poetry     Guest:John Brehm
How can poetry open up new ways of thinking, feeling, and being in the world? Author, teacher, and poet John Brehm shares how we can enter a poem, allowing its power to be a gateway to experience a deeper sense of wonder and mystery.

Change Your Destiny-Part One     Guest Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian
Is it possible to change your destiny? Join Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian, spiritual leader, writer, and poet, as she explores the wisdom of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, revealing how the tools of yoga possess the keys to transform your life trajectory.

Embrace Grief-Find Healing     Guest: Michelle Cassandra Johnson
How can we heal from the individual and collective grief we experience from the suffering on this planet? Author and teacher Michelle Cassandra Johnson shares spiritual tools that support us in experiencing our grief. We can take action with an open heart in heartbreaking times.

Spiritual Wisdom in Great Literature     Guest: Dean Sluyter
Can the literature we love convey the awakening we seek? Host, Dr. Laurel Trujillo welcomes Dean Sluyter, award winning author and teacher, on a journey for discovering dharmic pathways in Western literature. Find how inspiration and spiritual insight can be found anywhere, at any time, in any situation.

Yoga, Consciousness and Climate Change     Guest: Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian
Vedic wisdom declares: Take care of nature, and nature will take care of you. How do we take care of nature in a time of climate emergency? Yogacharya O’Brian outlines steps that begin to change the climate of our heart and our mind so yoga, consciousness, and climate change meet.

New Science, Ancient Wisdom and Highest Happiness     Guest: Rick Hanson
Join Dr. Rick Hanson, author of the books Neurodharma and Buddha’s Brain, as he shares how modern science and ancient wisdom show us how to cultivate inner peace and happiness in today’s increasingly complex world.

The Unity of the World’s Religions    Guest Rev. Paul John Roach
What is the unifying thread that runs through all of the world’s major religions? Rev. Paul John Roach, Unity minister, author, and host of the podcast World Spirituality discusses that beneath the surface of differences there is a golden thread of deeper mystical understanding that is common to all religions.

Find Happiness and New Freedom at Work    Guest: Bill Burnett
How can we transform our work lives and create the dream job? Join Bill Burnett, co-author of Designing Your New Work Life, as he offers real steps and a road map to transform our job and improve work experience, helping us reframe problems and move into action.

Frequently Asked Questions About Kriya Yoga     Guest: Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian
What is authentic Kriya Yoga? What does it involve? How do we find the path with the right teacher for us? Join Yogacharya O’Brian, author and Kriya Yoga teacher, as she addresses questions often asked about Kriya Yoga.

Yoga for Skillful, Joyful Living     Guest: Molly McManus
What does it mean to live skillfully? Join Molly McManus, yoga therapist and Ayurvedic chef, as she discusses the chemistry of joy and yoga. Discover how yoga therapy can help to promote healing of mind, body, and spirit through movement, postures, breathwork and meditation.

Enhance Your Recovery with Yoga and Ayurveda     Guest: Durga Leela
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.

Embrace the Powerful, Peaceful and Prosperous Goddess Within - Part One    Guest: Acharya Shunya
Join Acharya Shunya 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.

Nurture Active Hope and Make a Difference     Guest: Chris Johnstone
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.

Live Life to the Fullest: Thriving in the Third Stage of Life Guest: Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian
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.

Find Your Life Purpose Even in Difficult Times Guest: Stephen Cope
Can difficulties in life actually help us to find our purpose and step forward as our best selves? Author and spiritual teacher Stephen Cope takes teachings from the Bhagavad Gita as well as stories from the lives of well-known ordinary people to offer examples for finding meaning and purpose in our lives.

Light Your Way Through the Holy Days

Yogacharya O’Brian discusses how spiritual practices imbued with the symbols from the Christian tradition of Advent can be luminous tools to guide us through the dark days and nights of winter. Intentional, spiritual contemplation during Advent offers a remedy for the holidays’ overly materialistic focus that can leave us feeling empty im more ways than one. Instead, it gives us a soul-nourishing way to open our hearts and minds to the healing light within.

Yogacharya O’Brian is the founder of the Yoga Hour. She is a spiritual teacher, writer, poet, and the spiritual director of Center for Spiritual Enlightenment—a Kriya Yoga Meditation Center with headquarters in San Jose, California. She teaches and leads retreats nationally and internationally. Her work brings the timeless, universal wisdom of the Vedas from ancient India into the modern lifestyle of seekers of all faiths who yearn for a spiritually conscious life. Her newest book ‘Path of Wonder – A Meditators Guide to Advent’ is the book that is being discussed in this program.

WEBSITES: EllenGraceOBrian.com Center For Spiritual Enlightenment

THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: What a deep and enlightening Yoga Hour with Yogacharya O'Brian as she shared her thoughts about the importance of balancing our spiritual awakening with the busyness of this holiday season. Her insights about the benefits of exploring the symbolism of the Christmas story and our journey toward the birth of our own Christ Consciousness during this time of Advent was so uplifting. Yogacharya O' Brian encourages us each to take time to experience our own innate wholeness in order to transform our lives.

DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: Our discussion about moving beyond the secular approach to Christmas and diving deeper into the luminous symbols of this holy time was a very rich one for me. Yogacharya O’Brian quotes Paramahansa Yogananda in her book: “It is of utmost importance to all people, whatever their religion, that they experience within themselves the “birth” of the Universal Christ.” Holding the symbols of Christmas in this way will help me bring more light into this darkest time of the year. I appreciated the symbolism of “finding no room at the inn” as representing my consciousness at this time of year, full of to do lists and tasks, with the helpful encouragement to meditate as the antidote. A reminder about the mantra “Fear Not” was also quite welcome.

Contemplate Cosmic Manifestation

How can understanding the philosophies of Samkhya and Yoga help bring us a more profound sense of meaning and focus for our spiritual practices? Our guest Acharya Sundari Jensen, an esteemed Kriya Yoga teacher, shares how this map of the human experience shows us the way from pain and suffering to peace and bliss.

Knowing that what we think, what we intend, and what we believe is the basis for our experience, wise people change their lives by changing their consciousness.

Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian

Acharya Sundari Jensen has been offering classes and retreats in yoga philosophy and meditation for over 20 years, including her recent online, On-Demand course: Change Your Mind, Change Your Life: An Introduction to Samkhya Philosophy, which which is the basis of this discussion. It’s a course that we can take at any time and at our own pace. Acharya Sundari is a Senior Kriya Yoga Teacher at Center for Spiritual Enlightenment in San Jose, CA, where she met her guru, Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian, in 1992. She is a certified Hatha Yoga teacher, Vedic Counselor, and is a certified Yoga therapist with the International Association of Yoga Therapists.

THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: This program is very supportive for those of us who are studying and practicing on the Yoga path. I have briefly studied Samkhya as it has been introduced in several classes over the years. Acharya Sundari's deeper dive into this philosophy has helped me understand how studying Samkhya can really enhance and deepen my practice. Acharya Sundari discussed how learning about the 25 components of manifestation shows us how to experience the manifest world, helps us understand how the senses and sense organs inform our mind and subsequently our experience of God. I appreciated that Acharya Sundari shared how Purusha (unmanifest consciousness) and Prakriti (nature that is not conscious) come together. She gave the analogy of a magnet—Purusha is a great magnet and Prakriti is made up of metal filings. When the two come close together the filings are activated. Purusha activates and illumines and activates Prakriti and the rest of creation unfolds.