Happy World Water Day

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We know, water is life.  And yet water is often taken for granted and worse, polluted and endangered.

Today let's join together in solidarity with those who are working hard to protect our planet's life blood.  

Honor, bless, and thank the water.

How? Here are just a few ways you can participate:

Register to watch the free UPLIFT film Water is Life on blessthewater.com

Make a donation to environmentaldefence.ca to help protect the Great Lakes.

Practice Pronoia Therapy with Rob Brezsny who asks,

What is the holiest river in the world? Some might say the Ganges in India. Others would propose the Jordan River or the River Nile. But I say the holiest river is the one that's closest to where you are right now.

Go to that river and commune with it. Throw a small treasure into it as an offering. Next, find a holy sidewalk to walk on, praise the holiness in a bus driver, kiss a holy tree, and shop at a holy store.

Awaken your second chakra, the swadisthana chakra through chanting the bija mantra Vam, embracing the juiciness of your own creativity and sense of play, and asanas for the pelvis and hips like Baddha Konasana (the Butterfly) and Bhujangasana (the Cobra).

And watch this video by my lovely friend Cindy Foley

You Can Learn to Read Sanskrit

The Rig Veda in Devanagari Script

I just came across this extremely helpful series of videos on YouTube for all of you who are interested in learning to read Sanskrit!

You may be wondering, "Um, Tara... why would I do that?  Isn't Sanskrit a difficult language?  Who has time for that?  Can't I just stick with translations?"

If you would like to experience the full benefits of yoga I encourage you to make a little effort in this matter.  It's not as difficult or as time consuming as you think to learn the sounds and read simple words and mantras.

Translations inevitably reflect the bias of the translator.  Yoga encourages us to use our intellects to study, and also to verify and integrate those learnings through our own experience.

Therefore, I think it is well worth the effort to compare translations and better yet, form your own interpretations of foundational texts based on knowledge of the original language, the wise counsel of your most trusted teachers and your own reflection and life.

The sounds of Sanskrit, which is described as a "perfect" language, have a resonance which may be diluted when mispronounced or when heard only in translation.  Even if you have no intention of becoming a Sanskrit scholar, you can benefit from the "good vibrations" of the sounds and the energies they invoke.

So go for it!

Learn to Read Sanskrit, Lesson One

Learn to Read Sanskrit, Lesson Two

Learn to Read Sanskrit, Lesson Three

Learn to Read Sanskrit, Lesson Four

Learn to Read Sanskrit, Lesson Five

Learn to Read Sanskrit, Lesson Six

Just in case you're still dubious about your ability to grasp this, check out these British schoolchildren reading, writing and chanting in Sanskrit!

Full Moon Meditation and Kirtan, August 10

Hari Om Kirtan with Narayan Jyoti

Even if you can't make it to the live events during Raja Yoga Summer Camp's first Nine Nights of Sacred Sound, there are plenty of ways you can enjoy devotional chanting and uplifting vibrations.

I'm currently hitting replay over and over again on this Hari Om Kirtan with Narayan Jyoti!

Narayan Jyoti is one of my dearest bhakti brothers and fellow students, son of my teacher Sita Chaitanya of the Sivananda Yoga Retreat, Bahamas (now Swami Hridayananda), and direct disciple of Swami Vishnudevananda who gave him his name!

All his life he has been immersed in sacred sound.  Listen, you will feel it.

The Power of Sacred Sound, July 19, 2014

Saturday, July 19, from 2-4 pm join me again at Yoga Within to experience the Power of Sacred Sound!

Nada Yoga, the Yoga of Sound, uses mantras, chanting, singing and storytelling to purify our hearing and speech, raising our vibrational resonance in the world and within.

Nada Yoga embraces the notion that the basic stuff of the universe is vibration. 

By attuning our resonance with it, using verbal, instrumental and subtle sound as a medium for meditation, we can not only enjoy, but elevate our lives.

No musical experience necessary!

Amazing Resonance Experiment

"If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration."  - Nikola Tesla 

Need evidence that sound affects form? 

Watch this Amazing Resonance Experiment and see sound vibrations create amazing geometric patterns in sand.

*Warning* Turn your volume way down, as the tones get quite ear piercing as they get higher!

The Power of Sacred Sound, June 27, 2014

Tibetan Singing Bowl, with Engraved Tara

This Friday, June 27, from 7-9 pm join me at Yoga Within to make some joyful noise!

Nada Yoga, the Yoga of Sound, uses mantras, chanting, singing and storytelling to purify our hearing and speech, raising our vibrational resonance in the world and within.

Nada Yoga embraces the notion that the basic stuff of the universe is vibration, and that by resonating with it, using verbal, instrumental and subtle sound as a medium for meditation, we can not only enjoy, but elevate our lives.



No musical experience necessary!