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

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

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,

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.

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

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,

Ancient treatise “The Narrative of Hatha yoga” states that the habit to practice yoga every day is the main criteria of success on the way to understanding yoga. But what do they mean by the word “habit”? “A habit is a set of behaviour patterns that are repeated regularly and in certain circumstances become the

Probably each person at least once in a lifetime wondered what happiness is and where it can be found. And at least once each of us was feeling happy. But you would find it difficult to describe this feeling in words. How can you explain something that is beyond any words or definitions? From the

Using physical exercises yoga helps to keep the body in harmony and to reach the next level in self-knowledge. Yoga teachers passed the tradition of leading a healthy lifestyle through the ages. Men and women trained hard their bodies to feel their physical and inner strength and to bear and bring up healthy posterity. The

Yoga for beginners, yoga for men, yoga for women, yoga for seniors. So, what is yoga – is it a way to enlightenment or just another method for making easy money? Where did this teaching come from? What are the basic laws of it? How many types of yoga exist? Let’s try to figure this

«The ability to create is a great gift of nature; the act of creativity in the creative soul is a great sacrament; a minute of creativity is a minute of great sacred rite.» V. Belinsky Yoga is a process of self-knowledge, it is when we direct all our attention to studying ourselves and the world

Is Savasana possible in a large family? Will yoga classes really have to be postponed until better times, when the children grow up? How do we avoid mental obscurity and handle stress? Where do we look for inspiration and what not to miss forever? You will find answers to these and many other questions related

Tips for a newbie leader ● Learn to control yourself ● Will is the main tool of a successful leader ● What yoga techniques will help to establish the strength of your Higher Self; ● Types of workers and how to approach each one ● Where can a leader draw inspiration from? ● Praise, words

1. What is Santosha?  2. Manifestation of maya in our life  3. How does ignorance give rise to karma?  4. How can the principles of Yoga help us in achieving Santosha?  5. Specific Practices for Finding Santosha  6. Planting the Seeds of Good Karma by Practicing Santosha  7. Santosha’s place in the Patanjali system Everyone

1. Energy Method and Consciousness Method in yoga practice  2. How to feel harmony?  3. Bhava as a well-deserved gift from the Universe  4. Move, feeling the rhythm of the Universe  5. Practical application of yoga knowledge in life In yoga, we often encounter the concept of harmony. This happens so often that the meaning

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

In the Open Yoga School yoga is spoken of as a system of self-knowledge which is neither science nor religion, yoga does not replace them, but being self-sufficient and independent, perfectly complements them. Science and religion have radically opposite approaches to world exploration which practically do not intersect in any way, but the polarity of

With the birth of a child, a woman’s life changes dramatically. Changes begin to occur during pregnancy at the level of body, mind and emotions. When the child is born, so many new worries are coming up that many mothers don’t know how to cope with them most effectively. Yoga can come to the rescue!

When you hear about the existence of such type of yoga as yoga of dreams, which promotes self-knowledge in a dream, many questions arise. What is the nature of sleep? What kind of dreams are there? How can you use them for self-actualization? How to realize yourself in a dream? Let’s try to reflect a

Going through life, sooner or later, a person begins to ask the question: What is the world? How do I perceive it and how do others see it? Is this the same idea, and what happens in my mind when I receive information from the outside? As always, in yoga there are keys to any

Each of us has felt anger at some point. Everyone gets angry from time to time, but the range of intensity of this feeling is different for everyone. Often people evaluate anger negatively. They are convinced that experiencing it is harmful and unworthy for a conscious person, so they try to fight it. Anger arises

In the article “Where do chakras begin” we looked into the questions of what chakras are, how they manifested and what main ideas should be understood  before a closer examination of them. In this article, we will look into each chakra, find out what our manifestations they are associated with and how it is connected

Chakras … There is something mysterious and captivating in them … That’s why the interest in this topic has been growing recently. When we study the information from different sources, we can come to the conclusion that chakras are some kind of “a magic pill” that can change life for the better in an instant.

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

I want to share a completely new experience of using pseudonyms for me. Before entering the International Open Yoga University (IOYU) I didn’t even think of taking any pseudonym for myself, much less starting to use it. However, at the very beginning of the training, we were strongly recommended to choose a pseudonym, or even

Regular practice is an indicator of success in yoga. But practicing yoga everyday can be difficult. At the beginning the practitioner enthusiastically practices yoga in a group or alone at home. After a few months most practitioners stop practicing regularly. Changing your lifestyle is rather difficult. The new lifestyle seems unusual and uncomfortable. You can

“The Veda of hymns” Hymn of Munificence (book 10) People have always been attracted by road and journey. Going on a road opens so many things up. “Following the paths” – is the ancient practice of self-exploration, which was a part of tradition all over the world over many generations. Travelling pilgrims, wanderers, wayfarers, travellers

Success in yoga is defined by the habit to practice regularly. Let’s see why a habit to practice is of key importance. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle Forming the associative links The theory of yoga includes the concept of associative links. Each of us

When we spend our time in nature, we feel much better than in the big cities. That is why, even intuitively, we strive to spend our free time more often in parks, summer cottages, villages, hiking, etc. This is especially important during the warm season. If we spend most of the time in cities where

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

Meditation nowadays is often mentioned as a practice which helps people to solve problems in the modern world. Meditation is a way to harmonise our personal life and our interaction with the Universe. The ancient history of this practice is a proof of its effectiveness and makes it trustworthy. There are many questions regarding the

Did you ever wonder why we dream? Why is it important not to reduce our sleep time? How can we  benefit from sleeping? How can Dream Yoga help us? “Life and dreams are leaves of one and the same book.” Arthur Schopenhauer Everybody has dreams. Sometimes they are vivid and sometimes we can’t even remember

What is the meaning of my life? What goals should I pursue? What are the values that lead to human fulfillment? These questions are so old, and every generation tries to find the answers in the context of its own reality. Religions, philosophical schools, scientific communities have different perspectives, but there is no ultimate answer.

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