Samskaras: Unraveling the Conditioned Self

The unconscious is a hot topic lately, with scientific literature increasingly demonstrating the extent to which we are influenced by subconscious biases, prejudices, and orientations. Yet, long before Freud and other psychologists posited that implicit orientations and patterns subconsciously guide behavior, the yogic concept of samskara provided a sophisticated explanation for the causal forces that shape our unwitting actions and future responses. The word...

The Yoga Sutras: Demystifying Samadhi

What is Samadhi? You may have heard it defined in class as enlightenment, ecstasy, or complete absorption … or likened to Nirvana, Paradise, or Heaven. But thinking of Samadhi in mystical terms can make it seem mystifying—beyond the reach of an everyday yogi like you or me. In the Yoga Sutras (1.17-18), Patanjali defines Samadhi as a state of attention or concentration. Sounds attainable,...

Get To Know Your SI Joints!

Remember singing Dem Bones when you were a wee tyke? “The hipbone’s connected to the backbone” isn’t a bad beginning to anatomy lessons, but for those who practice asana, a few more details are helpful. The part of the backbone where the hipbones connect is the sacrum, and the connection is the sacroiliac joint, or SI joint for short. Refining your awareness of the...

Is Yoga Research Tantamount to Discredited Prayer Research?

Slate contributor Brian Palmer recently dubbed yoga “the new prayer: the risk-free, cost-free solution to all of your medical problems.” Scientific evidence to date, contends Palmer, is vastly outpaced by the cultural myth of yoga’s effectiveness, and yoga’s benefits are unlikely to outperform those of exercise. Yet while yoga and prayer have shared origins in spiritual or religious traditions, there are wide-ranging implications should...