001. Yoga of the Way of Life. Yoga in the modern era. Yoga lifestyle.

We are constantly faced with the need to make choices throughout our lives. There are life-altering decisions like choice of a future profession, educational institution, place of work, career direction, or a life partner; as well as “no-brainers”: buying this or that thing, choosing your style, places where to spend your leisure time, food to […]

Yoga has always been surrounded by a lot of mysteries. Nowadays there are not so many people who have a holistic view of this ancient teaching. In this article we tried to highlight the most common myths about yoga and people practicing it. Myth 1. Yoga is an Indian gymnastics First, a lot of scientists

Having received the first results from the practice of Yoga, we become interested in the mechanism of its impact on our state. However, not knowing in which direction to work, we can randomly perform actions for a long time that are not able to improve the practice and make it more effective. In order to

We all know about the importance of keeping our body clean. But it is equally important to maintain the inner cleanliness. What does the cleanness of the inner Universe mean? What recommendations does yoga give for impurities elimination? A well-known proverb says “Cleanliness is godliness!” It can be paraphrased as “Cleanliness is  a secret to

Unfamiliar situations force us to pay attention to ourselves and to concentrate on the problems. Having negative experience in the past we skeptically demonstrate distruction to new personal and situations. Our mind is activated and includes alertness, which helps us to avoid trouble. However, the ongoing mistrust of our environment becomes a big obstacle in

Open Yoga Journal In our lives, we often face a number of obstacles that prevent us from achieving our goals. In addition to the circumstances that we can not influence, there are those that are entirely dependent on us. It is in our power to manage our will, attention, effort, and time, and to make

Оpen Yoga Journal One of the first manifestations of a human being in this world and one of the earliest ways of interaction with the Universe is a sound – the first cry of a baby, or child’s cooing, which translates into words and speech in the course of time. Every day we see and

Оpen Yoga Journal  All of us have certain qualities that correspond with our perception of the world. Some like to work with their hands and make some useful things for other people. Others are capable of bringing a group of people together to achieve a common goal. They make excellent managers. Some of us are

Why do some people feel happy and others don’t? Some of us are strong, full of energy and luminous and others are passive, sluggish, dull and uninteresting. Why are some people successful in all matters and achieve their goals within a short time, and for others things fall apart, whatever they do? Why do some

How to upgrade your personal yoga practice? The answer to this question was given by the sage Patanjali in the 2nd century BCE in his treatise “Yoga Sutras of Patanjali”. He picked out eight main limbs that a person should go through to achieve the state of yoga – the restraint of fluctuations of consciousness.

Have you ever felt pain, either physical or mental? Surely, each of us at least once in a lifetime had a feeling of physical or emotional discomfort of various degrees of severity. Have you ever wondered what exactly pain is? Where does it come from and is it possible to avoid it? We shall try

Life is the most important thing in the Universe. All living beings, from the simplest to the most complex, desire to bear life. They support life by giving birth and fostering a new generation of their own species.  “If not for the source, the river would dry up.” A proverb   The Universe, allowing us

At least once in our life each one of us has been in a situation, which was dissatisfying or unpleasant for us, and caused suffering and pain. Someone did not get the desired job or did not achieve the goal. Someone had a serious illness or could not build a relationship. When something negative happens

In terms of evolution, the form of human life is the crown of creation and according to ancient treatises, the human body is a great chance for a spiritual breakthrough. What is the driving force behind the development of living beings: is it only natural selection and environmental conditions? What is spiritual evolution and how

Everyone sooner or later asks whether there is something permanent in this world: something that will never go away? The body is aging, emotions replace one another, people come and go. Is there anything we can rely on? If there is something eternal, where can we find it? “A thief picks a pocket, old age

Once upon a time there was a Higher Self. It was good, bright, and kind. It didn’t need anyone else. Once, unexpectedly, Egoism came to the Higher Self with a thick blanket of Maya and whispered in its ear: “My dear, my beloved, get under the blanket, I will protect you and warm you up!”

What is happiness? Do we need much in order to feel it? Where is the key to happiness and what does it depend on? How to be happy despite all twists and turns in life? “Happiness is a person’s state, corresponding with the most satisfaction of the living conditions, fullness and meaningfulness of life, and

Most of us, tired of a drab existence, strive to change our place and surroundings to experience novelty and diversity. But at some point, we realize that we have already explored a lot of things in the outside world and we surrender to a feeling of monotony. Wherever we go, sameness follows us everywhere. Even

Where does our time fly? What do we spend time on? Why do we have only 24 hours in a day? Why do some events last forever and others rush by us in a blink? We ask these questions from time to time, but it does not seem easy to get the answers.    Time is

Is human a free being, or are we entirely governed by the laws of our universe? How is the freedom of a person realized in the modern world? How does Yoga recommend to use our freedom?  In our everyday life we face with certain laws and mechanisms, which effect on all levels of our bodies,

Freedom is the main purpose of Yoga. However, what kind of freedom is it? Where is the fine line between our own freedom and the freedom of others? What do we owe and to whom? Today we shall contemplate two sides of the same coin: freedom and responsibility.  The purpose of  Yoga is very high

The reference to the above principle can be found in Vedas and in the Fundamentals of Hinduism Philosophy. It means non-aggressive, nonviolent interaction with the world around. It seems that nothing could be easier than living and letting live. Although, whether we realize it or not, very often we fail to follow this principle. Sometimes,

Many have probably heard about the amazing abilities of some yogis, who sometimes do things that seem strange and even absurd from the outside. Some sleep on nails; others starve themselves for several days or even weeks; the third ones retreat from society for a long time in search of solitude in caves. The truth

Where does self-exploration begin? Many people start this journey by inquiring what their mission or destiny is. Some people discover their path immediately, for others it remains a secret for a long time. Guidance by other people impedes us from hearing our inner voice. There are many training courses on similar topics that help us

Sooner or later every person starts thinking about starting a family, having kids and raising a new generation. Many new parents ask themselves: How should they bring up their children and what kind of personal example can they demonstrate? What does Yoga offer in this respect? The questions of relationship, family issues, the advent of

What is happiness? Do we need much in order to feel it? Where is the key to happiness and what does it depend on? How to be happy despite all twists and turns in life? “Happiness is a person’s state, corresponding with the most satisfaction of the living conditions, fullness and meaningfulness of life, and

Nowadays it is widely believed that before starting to practice yoga, a person must stop eating animal products and become a vegetarian. How much truth is in this statement? It is worth understanding.  It is important to understand that Yoga does not control our every movement and does not impose any binding rules. Yoga makes

Humans are social beings: they create groups and communicate with each other on a regular basis. We have different feelings in different groups: in one of them we may feel discomfort, and another group can become “a second family” for us. How should we choose a group according to our purpose of spiritual development? What

As it often happens, the inner weakness destroys our plans, our health and our life. At times, the following thoughts come to our mind: “This is not for me, I cannot do it.” Where does this lack of self-confidence come from?  Our past failures raise doubts about our own abilities. We perceive any personal mistakes

People start practicing yoga for different reasons. Some are looking for answers to spiritual questions; others are motivated by the desire to get into shape or to lose weight. When you choose yoga for losing weight, the following questions arise: “Is it possible to lose weight by practicing yoga? Is it necessary to become a

Human development nowadays is very fast. We have to perform a large variety of tasks, process a huge amount of information and try hard to succeed in different areas of our lives. It seems impossible to achieve all goals and objectives without forcing ourselves and without losing out on our health and happiness. Each of

In modern society, people are often faced with multitasking. Solving several problems at a time became normal and watching those, who succeed in being all over the place, we admire them and think, that it is effective. But is it right? What is multitasking? Where did this behavior pattern come from? Is it possible to

It is hard to define our fears, because we prefer to ignore them. We need to have considerable courage and to be honest with ourselves in order to face our fears. How can we learn not to be afraid of anything? How can we learn to be brave?  For a start, let us see what

All of us have heard the phrase: “Motion is Life”. However, every day we have to sit behind a desk at school, at the university, in the office, or in the car. Considering a sedentary lifestyle, we need to compensate lack of motion for our well-being. In a vanity of everyday life many people are

What is it — our Ego? Is there a difference between “Ego” and “egoism”? What is a fine line between reasonable individualism and fanatical satisfying of Ego’s desires? How can we get rid of pandering to selfish desires? In our life we got used to taking ourselves as a personality with certain characteristics that distinguish

When we are born, we have to trust this world, represented by our mother and father, our relatives, the society in which we grow, and the country where we live. Growing up, we become strong and independent, renouncing everything that, in our opinion, restricts our freedom and everyone whose opinion is in contrary to ours.

For many centuries relationships between a man and a woman have been a topic of great concern. There are always a lot of disputes, discussions and theories around it. Various teachings try to explain the “sacred conflict” of a man and a woman from their side. Today we’ll talk about jealousy. This is the side

Each of us is wondering what is our destiny. Some find the answer to this question in early childhood, while for others the decision comes not at once, but after years and years of searching. What does yoga say about the choices of life journey? In Indian philosophy there is a term “dharma”. The direct

When I decided to study at IOYU, I didn’t have any clue what was waiting for me. We are familiar with the main approaches in the educational process from the early days of school and barely anything changes at a later stage. “Learning is just learning” – but this is so only at the first

Many have probably heard about the amazing abilities of some yogis, who sometimes do things that seem strange and even absurd from the outside. Some sleep on nails; others starve themselves for several days or even weeks; the third ones retreat from society for a long time in search of solitude in caves. The truth

When you start to take interest in yoga as a system of self-exploration, you learn about its three pillars – the three principles of yoga. Considering these principles comprehensively and from different angles, we receive Knowledge about them. Logically and consistently accepting and applying them in our life, we are more and more convinced: that,