Hridaya Yoga Blog:
Posts by Tasha Friedman

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 exist in peace and harmony,

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 Sahib, “the friend of God,”

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 am Shiva, I am Shiva…”

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

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 on which the bodhisattva of

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 answer. When you’re learning to

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 ripples from a stone dropped

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 tremendous courage to live with

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 of creation and dissolution is

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 bang. Sometimes, maybe most of

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 the trees in the Jewish

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 mat. Once you step onto

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 to the West, is perhaps

Happy Birthday, Ramana Maharshi!
Happy Birthday, Ramana! By Tasha Friedman What to say about Ramana Maharshi? If you have participated in a silent retreat or Hatha Yoga module at

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 a single care or contraction,

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, everything would appear as a

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 your heart that is soft

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 to be alone together. When

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 spiritual practice in itself. Have

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 hours shrink, many cultures around

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 mouth-watering as the smell of

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 same. So, no two yoga

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 of the most widely celebrated

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, and perfectly useless moments do

¡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 is celebrated throughout the Latin

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 the feast day of St.

Navratri – Celebrating the Divine Mother
Navratri – Celebrating the Divine Mother By Tasha Friedman Navratri begins today! It is one of the most important Hindu festivals, spanning nine nights of

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 now? And how much are

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 life, and must be lived.”

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 demon: Hiranyakashipu, a king among

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 in the Book of Life!

Happy Birthday, Swami Sivananda!
By Tasha Friedman Happy Birthday, Swami Sivananda! “Love, serve, give, purify, meditate, realize.” –Swami Sivananda On this day in 1887, one of the greatest

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

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 not pity, which comes from

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 speaking to itself. It is

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. Shivaratri (the “night of Shiva”)

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, or is it possible that

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 sea of other limited things?

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 Nachman of Breslov Even while

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 this very moment, humanity is

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 Assisi) As the Earth’s northern

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 it for them. When you’re

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 Yoga.

Buddhas Everywhere
By Tasha Friedman There’s a special kind of paranoia that the Tibetan Buddhist tradition says you should cultivate: a sneaking suspicion that everyone around you

Transfiguration Ritual at Hridaya
By Tasha Friedman During Hridaya Yoga Modules, we offer our students an opportunity to participate in a sacred transfiguration ritual, where we practice Shiva/Shakti Adoration

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 yogis and yoginis can enjoy

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 there something more? What does

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 much to get into it,

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 down the highway to Mazunte.

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 progressing, or you’re even backsliding?