Hridaya Yoga Blog

Beyond the Mind: Integrating Philosophy and Experience

Beyond the Mind: Integrating Philosophy and Experience By Claudiu Vaduva What role does philosophy play on the spiritual path? At times,...

Viriditas, The Greening Power of the Divine

Viriditas, The Greening Power of the Divine By Antoaneta Gotea In the northern hemisphere, spring has sent her messengers to announce...

Burning of the Heart: The Inner Secret of Meditation

Burning of the Heart: The Inner Secret of Meditation By Naveen Radha Dasi Sometimes the deepest transformations are the most subtle,...

Upward and Inward Spirals: Yama and Niyama in Everyday Life

Upward and Inward Spirals: Yama and Niyama in Everyday Life By Tasha Friedman Patanjali’s system of Ashtanga Yoga culminates in the revelation of...

The Egg of a Duck: Inspirations on Renunciation and Divine Madness from Shams of Tabriz

By Tasha Friedman The Egg of a Duck: Inspirations on Renunciation and Divine Madness from Shams of Tabriz The door to...

Remembering the Way Home

Remembering the Way Home Q. Which way should I go? A. Go back the way you came. -Ramana Maharshi The...

The Still, Small Voice: Opening to Receive Divine Guidance and Intuition

The Still, Small Voice: Opening to Receive Divine Guidance and Intuition By Tasha Friedman The spiritual journey is inherently one...

The Metaphor of Shiva

The Metaphor of Shiva By Sebastian Teodor Shiva is the highest consciousness, anuttara—peerless, beyond the grasping power of the mind,...

A Dance with Darkness: Celebrating the Winter Solstice

A Dance with Darkness: Celebrating the Winter Solstice By Tasha Friedman Today is the winter solstice, the shortest day of...

In Love with Emptiness: Contemplations on the Five Bhavas in Bhakti Yoga (Part 2)

In Love with Emptiness: Contemplations on the Five Bhavas in Bhakti Yoga (Part 2) By Tasha Friedman “There are moments...

Divine Relationship: Contemplations on the Five Bhavas of Bhakti Yoga (Part 1)

Divine Relationship: Contemplations on the Five Bhavas of Bhakti Yoga (Part 1) By Tasha Friedman Devotion is nothing more than...

Hridaya Bhajans — the Yoga of Devotion

Hridaya Bhajans — the Yoga of Devotion By Antoaneta Gotea In Hridaya, every Saturday evening is a special celebration for...

Connections between Hridaya Yoga and Kashmir Shaivism

Connections between Hridaya Yoga and Kashmir Shaivism By Sebastian Teodor Hridaya has many roots, from Shankara’s Vedanta and Ramana’s introspection...

St. Giuseppe Moscati Feast Day

St. Giuseppe Moscati Feast Day By Tasha Friedman Today is the feast day of St. Giuseppe Moscati, the holy doctor...

Celebrating the Life of Thich Nhat Hanh

Celebrating the Life of Thich Nhat Hanh By Tasha Friedman Thích Nhất Hạnh was not only a monk and renowned...

Introduction to Kashmir Shaivism

Introduction to Kashmir Shaivism By Sebastian Teodor “God and the individual are one; to realize this is the essence of...

St. Francis of Assisi Feast Day

St. Francis of Assisi Feast Day By Tasha Friedman How far are you willing to go for the Truth? How...

The Call of Self-Awareness

The Call of Self-Awareness In Hridaya, we long to come to know ourselves by asking the question “Who am I?”...

Santosha: Contemplations on Contentment and the Fullness of the Present Moment

Santosha: Contemplations on Contentment and the Fullness of the Present Moment By Tasha Friedman We are all seeking happiness —...

The Art of Falling

The Art of Falling By Jair Lucena Falling is the secret ingredient in every authentic spiritual experience. If we know...

The Message of the Heart: Do Not Fear

The Message of the Heart: Do Not Fear By Tasha Friedman Whenever angels appear to people in the Bible, they...

How to Use Challenging Times as a Means for Awakening

How to Use Challenging Times as a Means for Awakening By Jair Lucena “Existence is suffering” is not really a...

The True Sense of Belonging

The True Sense of Belonging By Sahajananda Q: What is the meaning of belonging, especially when confronted with the relativity...

Celebrating Guru Purnima

Happy Guru Purnima! By Tasha Friedman Nisargadatta Maharaj, the great 20th-century master of Advaita Vedanta, used to do a strange...

Celebrating Padmasambhava

Celebrating Padmasambhava By Tasha Friedman The path is always before you, within you, all around you. But where it will...

Celebrating the Dalai Lama

Happy Birthday to His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama! By Tasha Friedman Happy Birthday to His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai...

Into Great Silence: Approaching the Divine Mystery through Prayer

Into Great Silence: Approaching the Divine Mystery through Prayer By Tasha Friedman Eventually, the questions disappear. Slowly, as the echoes...

Celebrating St. Joan of Arc

Celebrating St. Joan of Arc By Tasha Friedman What are you willing to give your life for? Although we might...

Praying to Goddess Tara in the Confusion of Our Times

Praying to Goddess Tara, the Compassionate Guiding Star, in the Confusion of Our Times By Sahajananda Perhaps the defining detail...

The Monkey and the Tiger: The Synergy of Effort and Grace in Spiritual Practice

The Monkey and the Tiger: The Synergy of Effort and Grace in Spiritual Practice By Tasha Friedman “Krishna may embrace...

How to Create a Home Altar and Keep It Alive

By Antoaneta Gotea “If a man prays to Thee with a yearning heart, he can reach Thee, through Thy grace,...

The Dance of the Void: Kundalini Awakening as the Union of Shiva and Shakti

Kundalini Awakening as the Union of Shiva and Shakti Of all the energies we might encounter through the practice of...

Choosing Peace: The Path From Conflict to Love

Choosing Peace: The Path From Conflict to Love By Tasha Friedman Let’s begin with a bold statement: all people can...

Celebrating Swami Lakshmanjoo, the Great Teacher of Kashmir Shaivism

Happy Birthday to Swami Lakshmanjoo, the Great Teacher of Kashmir Shaivism By Tasha Friedman Happy birthday to Swami Laksmanjoo—or Lal...

Celebrating Shankaracharya, the Father of Advaita Vedanta

Happy Birthday to Shankaracharya, the Father of Advaita Vedanta By Tasha Friedman “I am Consciousness and Bliss without form. I...

The Fire of Truth: Kundalini and Kundalini Yoga

The Fire of Truth: Kundalini and Kundalini Yoga If you’ve spent much time in a yogic environment, you have undoubtedly...

Tonglen: Awakening the Heart’s Compassion

Tonglen: Awakening the Heart’s Compassion Ananda, the Buddha’s personal attendant, once asked, “Would it be true to say that the...

Ode to Solitude

“I am the Cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me.” –Rudyard Kipling, The Cat That...

Spiritual Fasting: Being near the Divine

Spiritual Fasting: Being near the Divine “There’s hidden sweetness in the stomach’s emptiness. We are lutes, no more, no less....

Freedom and Balance in Meditation

Freedom and Balance in Meditation By Tasha Friedman There is a feeling that comes in meditation like letting go...

Celebrating Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion

Happy Birthday to Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion By Tasha Friedman Today is Guanyin’s birthday, or one of three birthdays...

Trust Is a Spiritual Attitude

Trust Is a Spiritual Attitude By Ava Irani As a woman, I find trust as a daily practice is the...

A Shared Solitude

A Shared Solitude: Reflections from a Silent Retreat By Mehdi Dumondel Our most recent silent meditation retreat will be concluding...

What Makes a “Good” Meditation?

What Makes a “Good” Meditation? By Tasha Friedman How’s your meditation going? A simple question, but not always easy to...

What Is Pranayama and How Does It Fit Into the Yogic Path?

What Is Pranayama and How Does It Fit Into the Yogic Path? By Marco Luethi Pranayama is composed of two...

Happy Birthday, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu!

Happy Birthday to Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu! By Tasha Friedman Chaitanya wrote no books and left few formal teachings, but like...

Courage and the Path of Love

Courage and the Path of Love Stepping out on the spiritual path takes the heart of a warrior. It takes...

Will Spiritual Manifestation Bring True Happiness?

Will Spiritual Manifestation Bring True Happiness? By Tasha Friedman You are the author of your own life. The divine power...

Patience, Surrender, and the Spirit of Karma Yoga

Patience, Surrender, and the Spirit of Karma Yoga “Be patient, be persistent. You’re bound to be successful.” –S.N. Goenka Patience...

The Secret Beauty of Constant Practice

The Secret Beauty of Constant Practice The Crack of Grace The yogic tradition says that there is a hiatus in...

A Moment of Freedom Can Change Your Life

A Moment of Freedom Can Change Your Life By Tasha Friedman Transformation doesn’t always come with a flash and a...

Tu B’Shevat: Happy Birthday to the Trees!

Tu B’Shevat: Happy Birthday to the Trees! By Tasha Friedman Today is Tu B’Shevat, the birthday or new year for...

Love Everyone and Tell the Truth: Satya, Ahimsa, and Living in Authenticity

Love Everyone and Tell the Truth: Satya, Ahimsa, and Living in Authenticity Yoga isn’t only what you do on the...

Happy Birthday to Paramahansa Yogananda!

Happy Birthday to Paramahansa Yogananda! By Tasha Friedman This beloved saint, who was influential in introducing yoga and Eastern spirituality...

Happy Birthday, Ramana Maharshi!

Happy Birthday, Ramana! By Tasha Friedman What to say about Ramana Maharshi? If you have participated in a silent retreat...

Shambhala: Opening to a Subtle History

Shambhala: Opening to a Subtle History From a materialistic viewpoint, it is difficult to understand that the subtle universes are...

Celebrating Christ Consciousness: Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! By Tasha Friedman It’s easy to see God in a baby’s eyes. A shining, smiling newborn creature without...

Shambhala: The Realm of the Bodhisattvas

Shambhala: The Realm of the Bodhisattvas Imagine a vast realm blessed with a gentle climate, majestic mountains, mysterious forests, fruitful...

Seeing the Miraculous: Celebrating the Virgin of Guadalupe

Seeing the Miraculous: Celebrating the Virgin of Guadalupe By Tasha Friedman If we could see the world as it is,...

Bittersweet Desire: Intimacy and Otherness in the Pure Land of the Heart

Bittersweet Desire: Intimacy and Otherness in the Pure Land of the Heart By Tasha Friedman There is a place in...

Sharing Silence: The Beauty, Power, and Challenges of Sangha

Sharing Silence: The Beauty, Power, and Challenges of Sangha By Tasha Friedman A sangha is primarily a place for people...

Take a Walk: Meeting Nature from the Spiritual Heart

Take a Walk: Meeting Nature from the Spiritual Heart By Tasha Friedman A long walk in the woods is a...

Happy Karthika Deepam! — Honoring the Inner Light

By Tasha Friedman Happy Karthika Deepam! This time of year, when in the northern hemisphere nights grow longer and daylight...

Onions, Garlic, and Ayurveda

Onions, Garlic, and Ayurveda: What Restricted Vegetables Can Show Us about the Yogic Lifestyle By Tasha Friedman There’s nothing as...

Yoga and Ayurveda: How to Develop the Best Practice for Your Dosha

Yoga and Ayurveda: How to Develop the Best Practice for Your Dosha By Tasha Friedman   No two people are the...

Happy Diwali! — Celebrating the Inner Light

By Tasha Friedman Happy Diwali! Today India is blazing with color and light. It’s the first day of Diwali, one...

Learning to Love Useless Moments: Natural Cycles and the Beauty of Doing Nothing

Learning to Love Useless Moments: Natural Cycles and the Beauty of Doing Nothing By Tasha Friedman How many beautiful, precious,...

¡Feliz Día de Muertos! — Celebrating the Day of the Dead

By Tasha Friedman ¡Feliz Día de Muertos! Día de Muertos (“Day of the Dead”) is iconic of Mexico, although it...

Hymn to Death: A Contemplation by Sahajananda

A Hymn to Death Those who die before death won’t die when dying. In Self-Inquiry, when asking “Who am I,”...

How to Dance in the Impermanence of Life

Q: How can I dance in the impermanence of life? A: First, simply let the dance of life unfold...

St. Teresa of Ávila — A Consummate Karma Yogi

By Tasha Friedman “How do we make love to God? How does the soul make love to God?” Today is...

What is Self-Awareness?

What is Self-Awareness? By Hadi Beyrouti Self-Awareness is the experiential knowledge of our being—a knowledge beyond the mind that comes...

Navratri – Celebrating the Divine Mother

Navratri – Celebrating the Divine Mother By Tasha Friedman Navratri begins today! It is one of the most important Hindu...

Beginner’s Mind, Open Heart: Living in Freshness and Simplicity

Beginner’s Mind, Open Heart: Living in Freshness and Simplicity By Tasha Friedman What do you believe that you know right...

Be a Whole Human: Integration on the Spiritual Path

Be a Whole Human: Integration on the Spiritual Path By Tasha Friedman “A spiritual life is first and foremost a...

The Equinox: Finding Truth in Liminal Spaces

By Tasha Friedman Celebrating the Equinox First, a story. Prahlada is a young prince, and his father is a...

Yom Kippur: Entering the Book of Life

By Tasha Friedman Yom Kippur: Entering the Book of Life G’mar chatimah tovah: May you be inscribed for good...

Happy Birthday, Swami Sivananda!

By Tasha Friedman Happy Birthday, Swami Sivananda! “Love, serve, give, purify, meditate, realize.” –Swami Sivananda On this day in...

What Can We Learn from a Changing World?

Q: What can we learn from being in a changing world? A: Yes, the world is changing, but our power...

Celebrating Pachamama Day

By Tasha Friedman Happy Pachamama Day! “Pachamama” is the Quechua name for Mother Earth or Mother Nature, translating literally...

Bhajans: Chanting from the Depths

By Hadi Beyrouti Bhajans are chanting to the Divine and its many faces. Chants not for an exterior force...

Meeting Pain with Love: The Grace and Paradox of Compassion

By Tasha Friedman Before we can say what compassion is, we should understand what it is not. Compassion is...

Saying Nothing: Prayer and the Spiritual Heart

By Tasha Friedman “I say nothing to Him, I love Him.” –St. Therese of Lisieux Prayer is the Heart...

You Are Always United with the Whole

By Simona Trandafir When you feel that it is not air that keeps you alive, and you suffocate from...

Karma Yoga: Finding Absolute Freedom in the Present Moment

Karma Yoga: Finding Absolute Freedom in the Present Moment By Hadi Beyrouti Walking, cleaning, working, playing, sitting, standing, running,...

The Felt Sense of Freedom: The Path of the Body

By Kyle Brooks “Here in this body are the sacred rivers: here are the sun and moon as well...

Hridaya Yoga France Reopening June 16th!

As the latest phase of the coronavirus pandemic has unfolded, our center in Longeval has been closed since the end...

Connecting with the Inner Guru

By Hadi Beyrouti “Your own self is your ultimate teacher (sadguru). The outer teacher (guru) is merely a milestone....

The Majesty of Love

By Hadi Beyrouti Love, a fire that consumes everything. The source, the path, the guide, and the truth. Love...

Parenting As a Spiritual Path

By Emma Carruthers Life as a parent of two small children is not always easy. It doesn’t often look like...

Sahajananda on Trust and Surrender

Sahajananda on Trust and Surrender It’s natural for the human soul to be called beyond the material frontier. A bird...

Devotion: Meeting God as One in the Heart

By Hadi Beyrouti One moment of Truth is enough, and devotion has found its way into your soul. It...

Cultivating a Healthy Ego: Finding Fluidity in the Moment

By Kyle Brooks In a simple sense, we can understand the ego as a function of the mind that...

Self-Inquiry: Awakening to the Mystery

By Hadi Beyrouti “You wander from room to room Hunting for the diamond necklace That is already around your neck.”...

Maha Shivaratri: Awakening to the Inner Light

By Tasha Friedman At night, all distinctions disappear. Falling asleep to the outside world, you awaken to the life within....

The Process of Awakening

By Sasha Medvedovskaya You may imagine awakening to be an experience of more and more Peace, Joy, and Love. You...

Transfiguration: Opening to Mystery and Seeing Truth

By Hadi Beyrouti They seem so real, our ideas and opinions about life—a vast force pulling our entire sense of...

How to Begin a Yoga Practice

General Recommendations for Yoga Practice Introduction The practice of Hatha Yoga is a profound undertaking that guides you to the...

Temporary Closure of Hridaya Yoga France

We Hope to Reopen in June! With this new phase of the coronavirus pandemic unfolding and the tightening of restrictions...

A 12-Week Contemplation on the Yamas and Niyamas

The Eight Limbs of Ashtanga Yoga There is much more to yoga than asanas, or physical postures. Since it is...

Satsang 1: Solitude, Aloneness, Confusion, Time, Conscious Shocks, and Trust

“Don’t go outside your house to see the flowers. My friend, don’t bother with that excursion. Inside your body there...

Satsang 2: Being Values, Cultivating Fearlessness, and Increasing Awareness

“Plant So that your own heart Will grow. […] Sing Because this is a food Our starving world Needs....

Satsang 3: Self-Awareness and the Undivided Space of the Soul

“Any movement or sound is a profession of faith, as the millstone grinding is explaining how it believes in the...

Satsang 4: How Self-Observation Leads to Self-Awareness

“If you want great wealth, and that which lasts forever, wake up! If you want to shine with the love...

Satsang 5: General Guidelines for Practicing Self-Awareness

“The effect and the purpose of Self-awareness is to give us a completely different idea of the things we know...

Satsang 6: Psychological Flexibility and Spiritual Centeredness

“There is nothing critical, there is nothing urgent, except Self-awareness.” –Sahajananda

Satsang 7: Spiritual Insight Is More Than Philosophy

“Enjoy your problems.” –Shunryu Suzuki

Satsang 8: Self-Doubt, the Comfort Zone, and Petty Tyrants

“No one outside ourselves can rule us inwardly. When we know this, we become free.” –Buddha

Satsang 9: A Further Exploration of the Art of Self-Awareness

“How wonderful, how marvelous, how perfect, how complete. Everything in existence is just like this.” –Buddha

Satsang 10: The Heart as the Cosmos and What Is Your Idea?

“The tendency towards the Absolute is difficult to realize in a heterogeneous soul—a soul lacking a center… Such a soul...

Self-Awareness and the Joy of Re-collection: Entering the Flow of Life

By Tasha Friedman Can the mind be your partner in spirituality? Does the path to transcendence only run through denial,...

The Undivided Space of the Soul

By Tasha Friedman Do you perceive yourself as just one limited thing, a body and mind, floating around in a...

Fear and Fearlessness on the Path to Truth

By Tasha Friedman “All of the world is just a narrow bridge. What’s important is not to be afraid.” –Rabbi...

The Grace of Uncertainty: Trusting in the Heart during a Pandemic

By Tasha Friedman Stop now. Close your eyes. Feel your heart. You are here, you are aware, right now. At...

A Message from Sahajananda
about Global Events

Dear one, As you have already realized, the spread of the novel coronavirus is a very serious threat, endangering the...

Winter Solstice–Friday Dec 21, 2019

By Tasha Friedman “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.” (St. Francis of...

The Heart Of Your Inner Child

By Beata Kucienska What is your Inner Child? It’s the one you have always been longing to meet, your deepest...

The Vision of Our Community
Development Department

Touching the Hearts of Our Local Community By Blanca Amezcua If you read our recent Community Development Department newsletter, you...

All of It Is for You: Serving in the 49-Day Retreat

By Natasha Friedman Give Them Everything It’s not about you. Sun. Sand. Waves. Vast, open sky. A simple place. Do...

Educando el corazón:
Sharing the Heart with Kindergarteners

By Sunny Rucker “The gift to each child in the world should be a sense of wonder so indestructible that...

Karma Yoga: Serving with Awareness and Love

By Tasha Friedman Few concepts in spirituality are so profoundly simple and dazzlingly complicated at the same time as Karma...

Buddhas Everywhere

By Tasha Friedman There’s a special kind of paranoia that the Tibetan Buddhist tradition says you should cultivate: a sneaking...

The Language of Beauty

The Language of Beauty By Sahajananda The Greek Cynic philosopher Diogenes used to carry a lantern in broad daylight, looking...

Transfiguration: Seeing Beyond the Form of any Form

Transfiguration: Seeing Beyond the Form of any Form By Sahajananda Transfiguration is a very important part of Tantric rituals because...

The Prayer of the Heart and Christ Consciousness

By Claud Vaduva For Christmas, I would love to inspire you with a beautiful talk about Christ Consciousness. An even...

Transfiguration Ritual at Hridaya

By Tasha Friedman During Hridaya Yoga Modules, we offer our students an opportunity to participate in a sacred transfiguration ritual,...

Recipe For a Yogi Snow Day

By Tasha Friedman Snow days aren’t only fun for kids! When the land outside becomes a frosty winter wonderland, we...

The Dance of Nirvana and Samsara

By Beata Kucienska There is a moment in life when you see the futility of all your efforts, ambitions, goals…...

From the Terrible to the Sublime: Beauty and the Spiritual Heart

By Natasha Friedman What is beauty? What makes something beautiful? Is it nice colors, elegant shapes or symmetry? Or is...

Why Practice Shavasana: The Benefits and Meaning of Yoga’s Simplest Asana

By Natasha Friedman It’s the most simple asana in yoga. It doesn’t look like much, you don’t have to do...

The Tears of Ramana: Living with the Full Embracement of Our Humanity

By Beata Kucienska After the ashram of the great Hindu sage Ramana Maharshi was moved from a wild place on...

Sharing the Love: An Update on Hridaya’s Projects in the Local Community

By Sunny Rucker Hridaya Yoga has been based in Mazunte, Mexico since 2012. It’s so beautiful here—the stunning land, the...

Karma Yoga: The Yoga of Action Done with Awareness, Detachment, and Love

“Life is a gift granted to us and we deserve it when we share ourselves.” –Rabindranath Tagore Introduction Karma Yoga...

Sri Ramakrishna on Karma Yoga: Devotion as a Safeguard

Beloved yogi Ramakrishna gives this advice regarding how to approach the practice of Karma Yoga: “First cultivate devotion. All the other things—schools, dispensaries,...

Examples of Great Karma Yogis

When we refer to spiritual models, true greatness lies in humbleness and surrender. Chogyam Trungpa has a very inspiring description...

The Union of Science and Spirituality, Part 2

By Sean O’Donnell Last week, we looked at how energy is perceived in both science and spirituality. This week, we...

The Union of Science and Spirituality

By Sean O’Donnell Something that people have consistently asked me since I changed careers (more accurately, dropped my traditional concept...

Why Hridaya Yoga Courses Are So Cheap

Why Are Your Courses So Cheap? When comparing our prices to those of other retreat centers, people often ask us...

Using Nature as a Guru

By Sean O’Donnell You meet many people along the spiritual path. Often, you cycle through looking up to different figures...

Lifeguards: Improving Mazunte Safety

By Sean O’Donnell The Hridaya Yoga Center in Mazunte is set in a really beautiful environment, where tranquility and intensity...

Expanding on the Ohsawa Diet

By Sean O’Donnell I’ll admit that when I first heard of Ohsawa diets, I thought that “Ohsawa” was a Sanskrit...

Mauna: The State of Silence

There is a reverential silence that can be felt by everyone in moments of sacredness, moments when the ego is...

The Power of Deep Listening

By Beata Kucienska An elderly man came to the library; he seemed to be bothered by something. I stopped my...

What is Neti Neti?

By Sean O’Donnell “Love says ‘I am everything.’ Wisdom says ‘I am nothing.’ Between the two, my life flows.” –Nisargadatta...

All Life Is Sacred: A Reflection on the 49-Day Silent Meditation Retreat

By Beata Kucienska “Where is the door to sacredness?,” I asked the Heart. The answer came when I was watching...

The Price of Enlightenment: A Reflection on Money and Spirituality

By Emma Carruthers When I was twenty-one, I spent four months hitchhiking across South America. Amazingly, I never spent a...

The Heart of Earthquake Relief in Mexico

By Sean O’Donnell In the month of September, Mexico suffered two devastating earthquakes. The first, on September 7th, was a...

Finding Advaita in Daily Life

By Sean O’Donnell “The higher goal of spiritual living is not to amass a wealth of information, but to face...

Beginning the Path of Pure Intention

By Sean O’Donnell “If you maintain the constant wish to benefit others, the power to actually do so will come...

Sitting and Health: Sitting Is the New… Sitting?

By Sean O’Donnell In many respects, trying to heal from sitting for long periods of time is what led me...

The Divinity of Laughter: The Natural State Is a Playful State

By Sean O’Donnell “To me, there is nothing more sacred than love and laughter, and there is nothing more prayerful...

Who Am I… Playing With?

By Karin Nyberg “Nothing kills the ego like playfulness, like laughter. When you start taking life as fun the ego...

The Limitations of Shadow Work: A Yogic Perspective

By Sahajananda The practices we share at Hridaya Yoga are aimed at helping us discover our Real Essence, the Truth...

Finding Nirvana in Samsara

5 Unexpected Moments in Daily Life That Can Bring You Into Awareness By Natasha Friedman Are you aware right...

A First Experience with Yoni Puja

By Sean O’Donnell There are many tantric rituals that are practiced with the intention of deepening devotion and raising awareness...

Coming Home to the Spiritual Heart

How to Come Out of Retreat By Natasha Friedman Everything is a kaleidoscope of color and sound as we drive...

4 Signs Your Spiritual Practice Is Going Deep Even When You Feel Stuck

By Natasha Friedman Are you and your spiritual practice going through a rough time? Do you feel like you’ve stopped...

The Unending Pilgrimage

How to Maintain Your Spiritual Practice While Traveling, and Turn Traveling into a Spiritual Practice By Natasha Friedman Travel and...

You are ...

A poem by Chris van der Weide The screaming of a mother Who lost her newborn cub, The passion of...

Seven Weeks in a Silent Meditation Retreat: A Song of the Heart

A Reflection on the 49-Day Pratyabhijna Retreat By Beata Kucienska The trees are wavering between life and death. They are...

A Journey of Self-Healing: Releasing an Ovarian Cyst

A Journey of Self-Healing: Releasing an Ovarian Cyst By Niamh Kavanagh “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right-doing, there is...

Men's Circles: A Gathering of Men

By Craig White A Short Poetic Journey through Men’s Circles The circle is prepared A sense of sacredness prevails Stillness,...

Tantric Rituals: Yoni Puja

Tantric Rituals: Yoni Puja By Antoaneta Gotea According to Tantra, all of creation is a play between Shiva (consciousness)...

Karma Yoga, What Else?

By Uma Esmeralda Ritstier Loving for the Sake of Love “You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your...

Motherhood and Self-Inquiry

By Emma Carruthers As I run a meditation center and mostly encounter spiritual practitioners in my daily life, I am...

The Howl of Presence

The Howl of Presence by Uma Esmeralda Ritstier Fully trusting the wave that is flowing through me and the ever-present...

The Value of Patience in Understanding People and Developing Spiritual Relationships

By Adina Riposan-Taylor (Saraswati Devi) In view of living with Pure Intention and an Open Heart, it is useful to...

Tantric Rituals

By Prem Nirav Tantra is often understood as the web of life in which the Divine connects all beings and...

The Spine of the Night

By Chris van der Weide We walk without sight On the spine of the night Despite the fright that every...

Benefits of Meditation Practice

By Dominique Didinal “OH, MY GOODNESS—How are you staying so calm??!?!! I would be so panicked if I were...

Psychology and Spirituality: Mutually Exclusive or Two Sides of the Same Coin?

By Naomi White Blending Psychology and Spirituality I’ve been met with both gratitude and curiosity as the Hridaya Yoga School...

Surrender to Grace: Learning to Trust

By Dee Lee I was trying to nap in the back seat when the car hit the barrier and started...

Integrating Daily Life into Spirituality

By Uma Esmeralda Ritstier You just had a life-altering experience that turned your world upside down. It made you...

The Framework for Living an Intentional Life

By Keith McGuinnes I’d like to dive into the idea of living an intentional life. First, what exactly is the...

How to Move from Fright to Freedom: Growing into Love Awareness

By Chris van der Weide Fear “Your task is not to seek love, but merely to seek and find...

I Am Highly Sensitive: 5 Tips for Being Sensitive in a World That Isn’t

By Uma Esmeralda Ritstier I Am Highly Sensitive Are you? Please just stop for a moment. Breathe. And promise...

True Man: A Journey into Wholeness

By Sol Lys Last week, I was invited into a men’s group on Facebook. The group is a space...

The Dark Night of the Soul: When Fear Becomes a Blessing

By Beata Kucienska “Oh, night that guided me, Oh, night more lovely than the dawn, Oh, night that joined Beloved...

A Yogi’s Guide to Trump: Examining Your Reactions

By Keralee Froebel “How can you win if you ain’t right within?” –Lauryn Hill “This is just a part of...

I Compassion, You Compassion, We Compassion: Cultivating Compassion in Daily Life

By Nicholas Currie Cultivating Compassion: What Is Compassion? Can It Be Cultivated? If So, How? Compassion can sometimes be viewed...

3 Questions to Ask before Doing a Meditation Retreat

By Ian Marshall How Do You Know You’re Ready for a Meditation Retreat? Despite the name of this article,...

The Dance Between Global Awareness and Inner Peace

By Molly Hock Bombings in Iraq. Racism and police violence in America. Attack after attack in Istanbul. Violence and...

Inner Transformation: Where Are You in the Journey?

By Beata Kucienska The Story of Inner Transformation The great stories cherished by humanity contain the essence of life. The...

Meditation Tips: Freedom and Relaxation

By Ava Irani The Gifts of a Meditation Retreat In a meditation retreat, we come to enjoy meditation and...

The Wound of Love: Our Guide Home

By Beata Kucienska During the 49-Day Hridaya Silent Meditation Retreat, the penetrating question “What does it mean to be human?”...

The Ups and Downs of Following Your Spiritual Aspiration

The Yearning of Spiritual Aspiration A student goes to his teacher in ancient India. He asks, “When will I reach...

Guardians of the Heart: My Experience in the Yazidi Refugee Camp

By Beata Kucienska My Experience in the Yazidi Refugee Camp in Greece People in the Yazidi refugee camp look straight...

What Is Tantra?

By Antoaneta Gotea I have been a practitioner and teacher of Tantra for about twenty years, and I have been...

A Walk Beyond Darkness: Transforming Suffering by Opening to Light

By Beata Kucienska “I said: ‘What about my heart?’ God said: ‘Tell me what you hold inside it.’ I said:...

Silent Meditation Retreat in Spanish: Found in Translation

Silent Meditation Retreat in Spanish: Found in Translation By Laura Samper G. I am a native Spanish speaker, but I...

Brotherhood: Powerful Circles of Men

Circles of Men: Unveiling the Power of Shiva By Laura Samper G. Going in Circles In today’s society, roles are...

New Masculinity: Beyond the Patriarchal

By Laura Samper G. Questioning the Masculine Does new masculinity mean being authentic? It is a hot topic of conversation...

Headstand for Beginners

By Laura Samper G. Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the...

The Art of Karma Yoga

Mud Building and Meditation—The Art of Karma Yoga By Louise Southwell I love mud. I realized it three years ago...

Walking into the Unknown

A Taste of the Void By Beata Kucienska At first, walking into the unknown was about letting go the external...

Tantra and Mandalas

By Laura Samper Tantra and Mandalas When I look at the stars, I wonder how all this is possible. What...

For the Love of Sangha

By Emma Carruthers It was the first thing that I noticed when I arrived at the Hridaya Yoga Center in...

Stay in the Present Moment

By Laura Samper G. Are you Living in the Present Moment? These last weeks have been intense for many people....

How to Let Go: Discovering the Joy of Farewells

By Laura Samper G. Love After Farewell I don’t have to close my eyes to see you. When I do,...

The Music of the Heart

Learn to Play the Music of the Heart by Learning to Meditate By Will Allen I meet many people who...

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Beyond the Mind: Integrating Philosophy and Experience

March 15, 2023

Beyond the Mind: Integrating Philosophy and Experience By Claudiu Vaduva What role does philosophy play on the spiritual path? At times, it becomes highly beneficial to have a mental framework or context through which we can interpret our experience and lead us in the direction of further deepening. At other junctures,

Viriditas, The Greening Power of the Divine

March 8, 2023

Burning of the Heart: The Inner Secret of Meditation

March 1, 2023