Ever New Joy: Meditate For Calm and Clarity

Beginning or returning to a regular meditation practice is one of the most powerful things you can do to transform your life. Host Dr. Laurel Trujillo shares the benefits of meditation as well as the nuts and bolts of how to establish or re-establish a regular meditation practice.

DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: People are often drawn to beginning a meditation practice, at the New Year and at other times throughout the year.  The Yoga Hour team wanted to provide supportive information and inspiration to help listeners begin to meditate. In this episode, I describe what meditation is, the physical, mental, and spiritual benefits of meditation, and give detailed information about the four stages of meditation: Foster, Focus, Flow, and Finish described in more detail in Yogacharya O’Brian’s book The Jewel of Abundance. There are also lots of tips for establishing a home meditation practice.

Dr. Laurel Trujillo is the host and producer of The Yoga Hour. She is a meditation teacher in the Kriya Yoga tradition. She was ordained to teach by her guru and founder of this podcast, Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian in 2014.
Dr. Trujillo is a retired Internal Medicine physician and is a certified Hatha yoga instructor and student of Yoga Therapy and Ayurveda.

THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: This podcast is perfect for anyone wanting to begin or restart a meditation practice. Dr. Laurel Trujillo explains the physical and spiritual benefits of meditation then shares the four stages of meditation: Foster, Focus, Flow, and Finish. An added bonus for those that are able to listen in a conducive environment, the podcast ends with a short 15 minute meditation taking the listener through the four stages of meditation.

Reconnect to the Power of Silence

We all have a near-constant interior dialogue but we can discover the quiet place of peace and joy that lies beyond. Join author Sarah Anderson as she shares how we can fan the flame of silence so that we can be transformed and inspired by its power.

#silence, #yoga, #kriyayoga, #meditation

Sarah Anderson is author of the book The Lost Art of Silence: Reconnecting to the Power and Beauty of Quiet. Sarah is a writer, painter, and the founder of the Travel Bookshop in London, which was featured in the film, Notting Hill. She lives in London and enjoys finding pockets of quiet amid the noise of the bustling city.  You can find out more about her bookshop, her writing and see her art at her website

Website: UmbrellaBooks.com

THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: I enjoyed this conversation with Sarah Anderson. I appreciate how she shares her experience of silence and how beneficial times of silence is for our life. She says that silence is not the abscense of words or sound, but it is a presence, a presence that is healing. She has several recommendations for how we spend time in silence including meditation. After Ms. Anderson left, Dr. Trujillo and Rev. Ann Hayes had a helpful conversation about how to create a day of silence, based on the booklet, A Day of Silence, written by Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian.

DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS I really appreciated Sarah Anderson’s in-depth reflections in the book and in our conversation about the importance of silence and how becoming more aware of silence in our lives can be a helpful practice.  We discussed how silence can be more than the absence of noise, but rather a tangible presence that can help us connect to the larger Oneness of all that is.  She mentioned how we can find silence not only in nature, but also in looking at certain pieces of art or listening to music. When we pay attention we hear those silences within the musical piece.  Meditation is also an important practice to get in touch and stay in touch with our own inner silence.  

Top Episodes of 2023

We had so many wonderful guests discussing great topics this year.
Here are some that our team have highlighted for you.

January 26th with Mark Nepo 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.

February 9th with Brad Warner THE ULTIMATE UNITY OF ALL BEINGS The realization that everything in the universe forms a single, integrated whole can be difficult to grasp. Author and Zen priest Brad Warner shares, in a light-hearted way, how a true understanding of Reality, the ultimate unity of all things instills in us a sense of responsibility for the welfare of all life.

March 9th with Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE WITH KRIYA YOGA
What is it like to live as a Kriya Yogi? Yogacharya O’Brian draws inspiration from the Bhagavad Gita to explore this question about how to live a spiritually conscious fulfilled life in today’s world.

March 16th with Rick Hanson FOSTER LOVE AND BUILD CONNECTION TO MAKE GREAT RELATIONSHIPS 
How can we foster healthy and fulfilling relationships of all kinds? Author and psychologist Rick Hanson offers simple but powerful ways to improve relationships with our family, friends and with challenging people so that we can cultivate kindness and communicate more skillfully.

April 6th with Pamela Ayo Yetunde COMPASSION, COMMUNITY AND KINSHIP: FOSTERING SPIRITUAL INTERCONNECTION How can we, as individuals, contribute to the repair of the world and ourselves in this polarized time? Dr. Pamela Ayo Yetunde, author of Casting Indra’s Net, asks the questions “What happened to us? Why do so many choose brutality over mutuality? In this program she shares how we can do the necessary inner work to live as spiritual kin, caring for each other amidst global crisis and suffering.

April 21st with David McGrath LIVE A SPIRITUALLY CONSCIOUS LIFE: THE WAY OF THE YOGI - PART ONE The first limb of yoga consists of five ethical principles called the Yamas. How do these Yamas offer us a practical way to live a life that is worthy of us? Author and Kriya Yoga teacher, David McGrath shares how these principles and practices guide us to live in the highest way, a yogic life. David is the author of the book being discussed in this program, The Yogi’s Way: Living in Accord With The Yamas and Niyamas.

April 27th with David McGrath LIVE A SPIRITUALLY CONSCIOUS LIFE: THE WAY OF THE YOGI - PART TWO The second limb of yoga consists of five ethical practices called the Niyamas. David McGrath, spiritual teacher and author of the book The Yogi’s Way: Living in Accord with the Yamas and Niyamas, shares how the teachings of Kriya Yoga, specifically the practices of the Niyamas offer us a practical way to live a spiritually conscious life.

May 11 with Kate Johnson FRIENDSHIP AS A RADICAL PRACTICE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE   How can friendship offer healing and transformation for ourselves and for the world? Author and spiritual teacher, Kate Johnson shares simple strategies, grounded in ancient teachings, to help us embody our deepest values and show us the importance of working toward the collective well-being in all our relationships.

May 25th with Ivan Granger SACRED POETRY: INSIGHT AND INSPIRATION Listening to and reading sacred poetry can lift us up, inspire our days and take us to a deeper understanding of the Divine. Ivan Granger is a poet and editor of The Longing In Between: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry from Around the World.  Listen in and be inspired!

June 8th with Andrew Mellen IT’S TIME FOR A CHANGE! Do you feel there is just not enough time in the day? Andrew Mellen, author of Calling BS on Busy, combines cutting-edge neuroscience with common sense to change the way we think and act about time, bringing us into the present moment with clear intention, gratitude and abundance.

July 13 with Dr. Paul Mills SCIENCE AND THE SPIRITUAL LIFE Does science need to be separate from spirituality? Scientist and author Dr. Paul Mills shares stories from some of the world’s foremost scientists about mystical experiences that have transformed them and their work. Science, as a method, can be used to pursue spiritual goals.

August 3 with Sarah Ezrin THE WISDOM OF YOGA IN EVERYDAY PARENTING
How does the wisdom of Yoga inform the unpredictable, sometimes chaotic life of a parent?  Sarah Ezrin, author of The Yoga of Parenting: 10 Yoga-Based Practices to Help You Stay Grounded, Connect with Your Kids, and Be Kind to Yourself offers wise and practical strategies for understanding how the many challenges of parenting can be better managed with Yoga.

September 6th with Sky Nelson-Isaacs OUR QUEST FOR WHOLENESS
How can we remove filters--thoughts, feelings, and other reactions—that keep us weaving the same old patterns? Author Sky Nelson-Isaacs shares how we can open ourselves up to endless possibilities by aligning with life circumstances rather than fighting them.

September 14th with Rizwan Virk AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
What lessons can a modern seeker draw from Autobiography of a Yogi? Rizwan Virk discusses how universal principles such as karma, meditation, and yoga can be used to address issues and challenges of the present, such as the diversions of social media and the quick pace of contemporary life.

October 5th with Kabir Helminski RUMI AND THE ESSENCE OF BEING HUMAN
What is the secret that connects the individual soul to spiritual Reality? Author, esteemed spiritual teacher and longtime translator of Rumi, Kabir Helminski, shares how the sacred poetry of Rumi can be viewed through a contemporary lens to illuminate universal truths.

October 12 with Yogacharya O’Brian MEDITATION: IT'S SIMPLE AND NATURAL
How can we have a successful and enjoyable meditation experience? Yogacharya O'Brian shares what a successful practice is as well as easy and practical techniques to prepare our minds, our bodies and consciousness to create the conditions for meditation to occur.

October 19th with LaUra Schmidt RECONNECT WITH OUR PLANET AND EACH OTHER
LaUra Schmidt, co-author of How to Live in a Chaotic Climate: 10 Steps To Reconnect with Ourselves, Our Communities, and Our Planet shares practical steps that allow us to build momentum for healing and action in this time of climate crisis. She shares how we can embrace ‘Good Grief’ and embody the necessary actions to cool the rising temperatures in our politics, in our families, and within ourselves.

November 2 with Michelle Cassandra Johnson FIND JOY AND HEALING THROUGH CONNECTION
How can we heal and find joy in times of isolation, grief, sadness, and fear?  Michelle Cassandra Johnson shares spiritual teachings drawn from the Bhagavad Gita, mindfulness practices and rituals to show how to build community, summon support, connect with nature, and thrive.

November 9th with Yogacharya O’Brian CULTIVATE GRACE, GRATITUDE, AND GENEROSITY: THREE ESSENTIALS FOR A FULFILLED LIFE
What role do gratitude and generosity play in living a fulfilled life? Join Yogacharya O’Brian as she shares insights and practices we can use to find hope, resilience, and higher purpose in times of change or challenge.

Cultivate Grace, Gratitude, and Generosity: Three Essentials for a Fulfilled Life

What role do gratitude and generosity play in living a fulfilled life? Join Yogacharya O’Brian as she shares insights and practices we can use to find hope, resilience, and higher purpose in times of change or challenge. 

Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian is an acclaimed teacher, award-winning author, and minister who has served seekers of spiritual enlightenment from all walks of life for over thirty years. She has published several books, including The Jewel of Abundance: Finding Prosperity Through the Ancient Wisdom of Yoga and audio programs about meditation, mindfulness and spiritual living, offering a refreshing and authentic voice that makes timeless wisdom accessible to the modern mind. As a teacher in the tradition of Kriya Yoga, Yogacharya O’Brian serves people from all faith backgrounds who are seeking what is known as Self- or God-realization, or awakening. She is the spiritual director of the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, a meditation center in San Jose, California as well as the founder and spiritual director of The Yoga Hour podcast.

WEBSITE: EllenGraceOBrian.com CSEcenter.org

SOCIAL MEDIA: @ellengraceobrian

#kriyayoga #yoga #gratitude #grace #generosity

THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: This conversation was so rich. These are just a few of the many highlights for me. This seems like it is a simple topic that we hear a lot about, but the yogic teachings are very profound. Yogacharya shared that "These teachings of cultivating grace, gratitude and generosity are about helping us to awaken to what we are and aligning to the essence of all of life. The ego always wants something that we think will make us happy. Those things outside of us are all temporary and can only give temporary happiness. The yogic teachings tell us that this is about understanding the wholeness of life and that nothing is needed"  I also appreciated her poem, Lark Singing Through the Night, which came from how Yogacharya realized that she had received so much from her guru, that she could never repay what she had received. I was inspired by the definition of grace that Roy Eugene Davis gave us and which Yogacharya shared: "Grace is unearned, freely supplied support. It arises from within us and is the expressive aspect of Ultimate Reality."  This program is an essential teaching for those who are interested in diving deeper into the teachings of Kriya Yoga.

DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: At the beginning of our conversation we discussed the restraints, or Yamas, and I enjoyed the question Yogacharya O’Brian asked: What is being restrained? She pointed out that all of yoga is for the purpose of purifying the body and mind so that the innate radiance of the soul can shine through. By practicing the restraints, we are restraining the false self, the ego. The restraint of non-stealing, which is the basis for gratitude and generosity, is truly about understanding our relationship with the infinite.  As Paramahansa Yogananda wrote in the quote that I read at the beginning of the show, “You should be thankful for everything at all times.  Realize that all power to think, and speak, and act comes from God, and that God is with you now, guiding and inspiring you.”  When we are aware of how much grace we are given, and in touch with our innate wholeness, gratitude and generosity flow forth.

Find Joy and Healing Through Connection

How can we heal and find joy in times of isolation, grief, sadness, and fear?  Michelle Cassandra Johnson shares spiritual teachings drawn from the Bhagavad Gita, mindfulness practices and rituals to show how to build community, summon support, connect with nature, and thrive.

Michelle Cassandra Johnson is an author, activist, spiritual teacher and practitioner, racial equity consultant and trainer, and intuitive healer. Michelle teaches workshops and immersions and leads retreats and transformative experiences nationwide. As a dismantling racism educator, she has worked with many different organizations for over two decades. Michelle has written several books including the one we are discussing We Heal Together: Rituals and Practice for Building Community and Connection. She also has a podcast, Finding Refuge.

Website: MichelleCJohnson.com
Social Media: @SkillinAction
#kriyayoga, #yoga, #BhagavadGita, #community, #connection, #oneness

THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: It was such a pleasure listening to Michelle Cassandra Johnson share about her new book, We Heal Together: Rituals and Practices for Building Community and Connection.  I was inspired by her ideas about how to reconnect with others and bring community into our life after the isolation of the pandemic and the collective grief that we experience because of global events and pain from personal experiences. I appreciated how she shared that studying the Bhagavad Gita has informed her understanding of our Oneness with each other and all of life. Acknowledging the deep connection between the individual and the collective, she encourages us to build community for healing.  She shared how ritual is an important tool to heal together. She gives us great examples of rituals that we already do such as holidays, family cookouts,  but also shares specific rituals for healing that help us connect to our wholeness so that we are aware that we are loved and not alone. 

DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: I enjoyed speaking with Michelle Cassandra Johnson about the power of healing within our communities, as it is a natural outgrowth of the Oneness that is at the heart of yoga philosophy.  As she pointed out, we belong to each other, so thinking of ourselves as separate from the One is an error in perception.  She writes: “we are not broken…While many things need to be repaired in our world, we are not broken.  We are whole, and part of our work toward collective liberation is remembering our collective wholeness and that we are interconnected with every other living being and the planet.” I find this very inspiring.  

Reconnect With Our Planet and Each Other

LaUra Schmidt, co-author of How to Live in a Chaotic Climate: 10 Steps To Reconnect with Ourselves, Our Communities, and Our Planet shares practical steps that allow us to build momentum for healing and action in this time of climate crisis. She shares how we can embrace ‘Good Grief’ and embody the necessary actions to cool the rising temperatures in our politics, in our families, and within ourselves..

LAURA SCHMIDT is the founder (with Aimee Lewis Reau) of  Good Grief Network, one of the first peer-to-peer support groups for eco-anxiety and climate grief. GGN has grown quickly in the United States and has branched out internationally, with trained facilitators in over 15 countries.
GGN has been covered in Time, NPR, USA Today, CBS, NBC News, NY Times, and The LA Times. LaUra graduated with a BS in Environmental Studies, Biology, and Religious Studies. Her MS is in Environmental Humanities. LaUra has earned certificates in “Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy” and “Climate Psychology.” She is the co-author of the newly released How to Live in a Chaotic Climate: 10 Steps to Reconnect with Ourselves, Our Communities, and Our Planet.

WEBSITE: GOODGRIEFNETWORK.ORG
Social Media: @goodgriefnetwork, Instagram and LinkedIn: @howtoliveinachaoticclimate
#chaoticclimatebook, #heartcenteredrevolution, #kriyayoga, #meditation, #climatechange, #nonattachment

COMMENTS FROM OUR GUEST: It was a joy to be on the podcast and speak with Laurel. I’m looking forward to learning more about the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment.

THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: This was an important conversation with LaUra Schmidt about her book, which she co-authored with Aimee Lewis Reau, How to Live in a Chaotic Climate: Ten Steps to Reconnect with Ourselves, Our Communities and Our Planet.  The ten steps include meditation, not being attached to outcomes and embracing our feelings, even those that are painful. She says this work requires courage. I was inspired and came away hopeful after listening to this conversation. These steps can support us as individuals to participate in healing the despair, fear and overwhelm that many of us are experiencing because of what is happening in our world, especially with climate change. LaUra says that "change is happening and when we embrace the unknown and work cooperatively, we plant seeds that may grow into new ways of being for future generations". I really appreciated how Dr. Trujillo pointed out that these ten steps are in alignment with the Kriya Yoga teachings. LaUra says that only by doing the inner work of facing our fears and our emotions can we then move into right action and do whatever it is that is ours to do.  I feel we can include this conversation in our list of best programs this year. 

DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: I really appreciated LaUra’s focus on reconnection to ourselves, our communities, and our world, both in her book and in our conversation.  Experiencing ourselves as a part of the One Reality is central to yoga philosophy.  As she wrote in her book, “Reconnecting is arguably the most important thing that you can do for our planet.” 

One of the 10 steps she recommend is “Do Inner Work”.  I agree with LaUra’s perspective that doing inner work is so important because it can change our consciousness, which can then change the type of outer work that we feel called to do.  As part of this focus on inner work I share her awareness that meditation is a valuable practice for all of the proven physical, mental, and spiritual benefits that it brings.  As she wrote: “practicing meditation is one of the most radical self-care tools available to us."

Meditation: It's Simple and Natural

How can we have a successful and enjoyable meditation experience? Yogacharya O'Brian shares what a successful practice is as well as easy and practical techniques to prepare our minds, our bodies and consciousness to create the conditions for meditation to occur.

Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian is an acclaimed teacher, award-winning author, and minister who has served seekers of spiritual enlightenment from all walks of life for over thirty years. She has published several books and audio programs about meditation, mindfulness and spiritual living, offering a refreshing and authentic voice that makes timeless wisdom accessible to the modern mind. As a teacher in the tradition of Kriya Yoga, Yogacharya O’Brian serves people from all faith backgrounds who are seeking what is known as Self- or God-realization, or awakening. She is the spiritual director of the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, a meditation center in San Jose, California as well as the founder of this podcast

Website: EllenGraceOBrian.com , CSECenter.org
FaceBook and Instagram @EllenGraceOBrian

#ellengraceobrian, #kriyayoga, #yoga, #meditation, #yogasutras

THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: As a person who has meditated for many years, I still learned some things that are useful for my meditation practice. For a beginning meditator, I felt that Yogacharya O’Brian’s teaching was very clear, simply put and very supportive. She says that the mind wanders, that is its nature. Our meditation tools for focus help to settle it down. New meditators can use this program to greatly support their new practice.  I appreciated her explanation that we are taught to meditate superconsciously because superconsciousness is beyond the ordinary states of consciousness, beyond the identification with the body and mind. This is what brings us Self-realization. Yogacharya shared that the experience of meditation is a combination of our self-effort and then the shift into meditation occurs due to divine grace. Hearing this was very supportive for me. There is so much to learn about meditation, just in this one hour program. 

DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: In this episode Yogacharya O’Brian and I discussed the benefits of meditation and the four essential steps of meditation: Foster, Focus, Flow, and Finish.  We started with the question: how does this one practice of meditation help us with so many things?  It calms our anxiety, decreases our stress, increases our clarity of thought, helps us feel happier, and makes us feel more peaceful.  Meditation does all this because it increases our connection with our Self, our essence of being, which has peace, clarity, and joy as part of its nature. I found her description of the four steps of meditation to be helpful and clear, both for beginning meditators and those who are looking to reestablish their meditation practice. 

Rumi and the Essence of Being Human

What is the secret that connects the individual soul to spiritual Reality? Author, esteemed spiritual teacher and longtime translator of Rumi, Kabir Helminski, shares how the sacred poetry of Rumi can be viewed through a contemporary lens to illuminate universal truths.

Kabir Helminski

Kabir Helminski is an author of several books including the book we are discussing in this program, The Mysterion: Rumi and the Secret of Becoming Fully Human.  He is also the translator of numerous books of Sufi literature and especially Rumi and the co-director, with his wife, Camille Helminski, of the Threshold Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to sharing the knowledge and practice of Sufism. As the publisher of Threshold Books for some twenty years, he was largely responsible for making Rumi the most widely read poet of our time. Kabir’s translations of Rumi are among the most popular and respected for their literary faithfulness and beauty. Kabir Helminski is a respected teacher, a Shaikh of the Mevlevi Order, which traces back to Rumi.
website:Sufism.org
#kriyayoga  #meditation  #rumi  #essentialself  #oneness  #sufism

COMMENTS FROM OUR GUEST: It’s very meaningful for me to hear what touched you. Thank you all for your diligent preparations that helped to deepen our conversation.

THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: I was moved by the depth of the conversation with Kabir Helminski on his book The Mysterion: Rumi and the Secret of Becoming Fully Human. He considers Rumi a genius of spirituality and was easily able to recite poems by memory illustrating topics throughout the discussion.  Kabir began by sharing Rumi's message that the most important truth of the human being is to realize the connection to the Divine within us, the essential Self. The teachings of Yoga tell us the same. We live in a unified reality in the vibration of Divine Love. The Rumi poem that resonated strongest with me was the sun's transformation of the stone into a ruby. I highly recommend this podcast.

DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS:  I found the language in Kabir Helminski’s book, as well as in our conversation, to be really beautiful. This is illustrated when he discussed Rumi’s message that we live in a unified reality with Divine mercy, generosity, beauty, and love as the bottom line of that reality.  We are given individuality in order to discover this Oneness.  He also described a human being as the ripened fruit on the tree of existence, the culmination of conscious love expressing itself within the world.  The way that he incorporated Rumi’s prose and poetry into our discussion was very moving.