Photo by Khadeeja Yasser on Unsplash

“However men try to reach me, I return their love with my love. Whatever path they may travel, it leads to me in the end.” —Bhagavad Gita 4.11

In 2005 I attended a retreat on Maui led by Krishna Das and Ram Das. During this retreat they told me a story I will never forget. In fact, I felt so awakened by this story it forever changed my perspective of my moment to moment interactions with my life and nature.

Krishna and Ram Das were staying at an ashram in India where Neem Karoli Baba—a great Indian Saint of the Himalayan lineage—taught. Krishna explained that Baba never gave instructions or techniques for meditation. He just did not work that way. He said that when he asked Baba, “How do you find god?” Baba would reply, “serve people.” And when he asked, “How do you raise kundalini?” Baba would say, “feed people.” Krishna and Ram did not know what to make of this.

One day, someone new to the ashram asked Baba how to meditate and he answered, “Meditate like Jesus.” This answer only added more confusion to the group of devotees. However, they trusted Baba and figured that he must have known how Jesus meditated. This made them desperately want to practice even more.

So finally Ram asked Baba, “Baba, you said we should meditate like Christ. How did he meditate?” After a long pause and a few tears, the famous Indian saint replied, “he lost himself in love…that is how he meditated.”

Bhakti Yoga

The term “Bhakti” comes from the Sanskrit root word bhaj, which means devotion, love or adoration.

Bhakti is one of the three primary yogic paths laid out in the Bhagavad Gita (the other two being Jnana––the path of knowledge––and Karma––the path of action).

Bhakti as devotion

Traditionally bhakti involves devotion to a guru, a deity or deities, but it can also include devotion to what is “formless” or what might be categorized as “the great mystery.” The Rig Veda, one of the most ancient teachings, states: “The truth is one and the learned call it by many names.” This interpretation gives you freedom to worship the divine in whatever form resonates with your heart the most.

Bhakti as love

Bhakti is a deep yearning to experience love in its purest and highest form. It is sometimes described as “love for love’s sake.”

“It is like when we fall in love with different people—there can be various forms that capture the heart,” Professor Edwin Bryant explains in his book Bhakti.

Since people have different perspectives and proclivities it makes sense that love could take on more than one form.

For example, Baba chose Hanuman as his deity and channel for love. Baba became famous for the unconditional love that radiated from his being.

It has been said that anyone who was in his presence, as well as those who never met him but established an energetic connection to him, were showered with rays of love.

His teachings were simple: “All is One. Love everyone, serve everyone, remember God, and tell the truth.” His Bhakti was so powerful it attracted influential people like Ram Das, Krishna Das, Jai Uttal, Daniel Goldman, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Julia Roberts (just to name a few).

Just like these famous figures, love is something we all want and desire. So, how do you acquire more of it, so that it just oozes out of your pores like Baba?

By doing the one thing that seems counter-intuitive.

You must give it away.

Giving your love away

As St. Francis of Assisi once said, “it is in giving that we receive.”

When you give your love outward to a chosen source you receive love back. Practice long enough like Baba and the outer form disappears. Eventually you become completely immersed in love and become the ocean of love itself.

It might seem impossible to become “an ocean of love,” but you will not know unless you try. For me, I can say that when I practice more love, gratitude and devotion, my state of mind and being literally elevates and feelings of ease, peace and expansion pervade.

Bhakti is incredibly easy when I am in the right place at the right time. For instance when everything is going my way, I am in a beautiful setting, I am in a community that shares my views or the people in my life are not in conflict with me it is easy for me to feel love. But when my fears dominate, and/or I don’t feel my needs are being met, I notice my nervous system reverting to survival mode. It is in this mode, that it becomes hard to feel the love and send it back out.

And perhaps that is just it. The idea of wanting to feel the love first and then sending it out instead of sending it out first in order to receive it.

We are wired to have a bias toward negativity. The nervous system is designed to survive and protect. So under stress it might not feel natural to ooze love out of your pores. But what if you did it anyway?

How to practice Bhakti Yoga

Notice the train of your thoughts.

Have they spun out of control into rumination? And when they do, do you recognize it happening?

One of my practices for when I am feeling clouded or confused is to write in my gratitude journal. I keep several quotes nearby that help put things into perspective for me. One of my favorites is,

“Whatsoever things are true,

Whatsoever things are honest,

Whatsoever things are just,

Whatsoever things are pure

Whatsoever things are lovely

Whatsoever things are of good report;

If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

—Phil. 4:8

I think about the things and people in my life that are pure, lovely and feel nourishing to my heart and I journal about them.

At first, this journal was called my “happy journal.” I received it 20 years ago. I used to just write things in it that made me smile or laugh. But then, after a while I realized that the things I was writing about were actually things I loved and highly valued. The more time passed, the more I realized, that these things were blessings and different expressions of divinity in my life.

Today, when I open that journal and review past entries, I am immediately reminded of the many blessings that have been sent my way. Feelings of devotion and praise fill my being and a desire for higher love-making sweeps my spirit upward.

Other traditional ways to practice Bhakti Yoga include: Kirtan (devotional chanting or singing); hearing or reading stories that are related to your chosen source and contemplating their meaning; meditation; performing rituals; and prayer, especially “Meta”—directing loving-kindness to others—whether that is through meditation or service in action.

In Bhakti Yoga all senses, emotions and actions can be used to express love and offer them to whatever form of grace that suits our personalities and cultural upbringing. Especially in times of challenge, Bhakti yoga can be the best medicine. There is so much to be thankful for and so much beauty in each moment, that we could literally have a romance with life if we chose to.

Krishna Das loves to share that story he told us, at the retreat on Maui, of how Neem Karoli Baba instructed meditation. A story about losing yourself in love.

It makes one think, “Where can I place my attention in this moment?”

Will your choice fill you with feelings of peace, connection, expansion? Will you get lost in love with that choice?

These are the inquires in the practice of Bhakti Yoga.

A Yoga Unplugged collaboration - written by Jennifer Reuter, edited by Sarah Burchard

Krishna Das tells the story of Maharaji telling devotee to meditate like Christ- from Open Your Heart in Paradise Dec 9 2011

“Try something different – surrender.” —Rumi

Photo by Erriko Boccia via Unsplash

How do you feel when you are told to surrender, let go or soften into the present moment? I don’t know about you, but for me those words only work when I am feeling relaxed and peaceful. During times of stress, especially when I am caught off guard, surrendering does not happen automatically. It is a behavior that I have to practice.

According to Patanjali, the author of The Yoga Sutras, there are three actions or (kriyas) that constitute yoga: self-effort (tapas), self-study (svadhyaya) and self-surrender (ishvarapranidhana). He believed that these kriyas were the key to easing struggles, living fearlessly, and finding fulfillment in life.

Ishvarapranidhana can be translated in the following way:

Ishvara: a personal choice (in relation to the mystery of life)

Pranidhana: surrender, devotion

Patanjali was a non-dogmatic theist and a genius. He knew that if he wanted to teach the masses about the true meaning of yoga then the general term “Ishvara” would be more digestible. My guess is that he intuited that if you give people the choice of who they can worship they will be more open to listen to what you have to say.

Your personal choice

Over the past few years I have discovered new insights and strategies for embodying the kriya of ishvarapranidhana. The part that resonates with me the most is this concept of “personal choice.” The idea is that by following your heart, and making choices from this place, you are practicing self-surrender. This is much different than feeling like you have to surrender to a force that is distinct and different than yourself, like for example: Jesus, the Buddha, the Divine Feminine, Krishna or Allah.

There will always be suffering

What about surrendering to a state of being, in which all experiences arise, unfold and pass away? Could ishvarapranidhana also mean having reverence for the present moment?

When I think of this question I am reminded of a quote from the Bible: “for the place in which you stand is holy ground.” Is this ground in which we are currently standing holy and perfect in every way? Many of us may answer no. Daily stresses and emotional problems that come up are real and often debilitating—nothing feels “holy” about them. It is no wonder then, that both Patanjali and the Buddha taught that the universal human condition is suffering.

Modern neuroscience now agrees with these spiritual teachers. There is something about our human brains that cause us to suffer. Feeling disappointed with others or yourself, regretting not doing “enough”, the fear of getting older, feeling like you have “no time”––notice your tendency to judge and hang on to negative emotions like these.

The software of the mind has a “looping mechanism” and if nothing is done to attenuate and counteract negative emotions they will loop on relentlessly. This is called “negative neuroplasticity” and is what holds us back from happiness. This built in neurobiological system can either be helpful or harmful depending how you use it. So how can you hack the negative loops and re-wire with positive ones?

Say YES to life

There are new insights and strategies that can lead to positive loops. Adopting a daily practice of saying yes to the present moment is an excellent way to surrender and create a positive loop. “Always say 'yes' to the present moment... Surrender to what is. Say 'yes' to life - and see how life starts suddenly to start working for you rather than against you.” This Eckhart Tolle quote reminds us of what is possible when we say yes to life. Think of it as a form of “self regulation”, or a “devotion in motion.”

Saying yes to life is a way of training the circuitries of your brain. It is also a practice that encourages you to act more from the heart and less from your head. It is not easy to ask the ego to step aside. Letting life inform and guide you is a practice, and the bad news is life might have a different plan for you than what you want. I read once that we are born with one third of our traits and the other two thirds we need to cultivate. What kind of traits have you cultivated? By saying yes to the present moment you start to train yourself to become more resilient when unpredictable stressful moments arise.

Stay open and curious

A startling insight I have developed practicing ishvarapranidhana is the realization that I really don’t understand anything. My ego thinks it does, but that is where I get into trouble. Understanding that I don’t really understand myself, others or the world has become an interesting entry point into self-surrender. My ego shrieks at the idea of deferring power outside of itself, but for some reason (call it grace maybe?) when I stay open and curious, let my ego go and trust in a higher power, magic really does happen.

The power of mindfulness

In order to say yes to life, and allow a higher intelligence to direct us, we need to be “in-tune” to every moment in our lives. If your natural tendency is to rush through your day, you will likely miss meaningful messages that are being transmitted to you at any given moment. How many unconscious mental and physical routines do you have each day? Are tasks like driving home from work, checking the mail, doing the dishes or having your morning coffee things you do mindfully or do you do them on autopilot? If we are not paying attention we can easily become identified with our stories, cravings and phobias and become blind to the extraordinary moments of being alive. Hence, don’t take any task big or small for granted. They are all opportunities to practice living mindfully.

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness

Below are the Buddha’s teachings of mindfulness. You can practice one or all of them, it makes no difference. What matters is your intention.

1. Pause and become aware of your body. Notice your breath. What is your body’s relationship to the environment in this moment? Where is your body in relation to space and time? Sometimes we are so lost in our thoughts we don’t pay attention to where we are. Note how everything is constantly changing. We become mindful to such a degree that we become detached. It is then that we discover we are more than just our bodies.

2. Pause and become aware of sensations. What information are your senses bringing in? Are they pleasant, unpleasant or neutral? These inquiries can lead to powerful self-mastery skills especially with addictions. Just having a devotion to this pause itself can prevent us from behaviors that don’t serve us.

3. Pause and become aware of the thought patterns that are in our consciousness. What are the characteristic thoughts? The memories? The images? Note how you can be dragged here and there by them. The pause itself can be a way to observe thoughts without getting involved, and overtime you can learn to disidentify with them.

4. Pause and become aware of the totality of the previous three. What are the overarching ideas and concepts that shape your daily experiences? The ideologies and structures of your own reality? Eventually you will get better at analyzing them and their constituents.

Meditate on this

Meditation has helped me tremendously with getting in-tune, detaching and disidentifying from all of the labels and fears I like to believe are real. It helps me focus and and get centered on the astonishing reality of my existence right now. When I am not ruminating over my worries I notice I have so much more brain power that can be channeled into my actual reality.

I am not a purist. I value various wisdom traditions available to us on this planet. Patanjali was a yogi and the Buddha (no shocker here) was a “buddhist”. Both had similar views, but different ways of teaching. We can learn from these great masters if we stay open and willing to surrender.

The Bhagavad Gita teaches that “yoga is skill in action”. This always reminds me that life is dynamic and it is how we bring our consciousness to life that makes all the difference in our experience.

A Yoga Unplugged collaboration - written by Jennifer Reuter, edited by Sarah Burchard

Decision Fatigue often results in poor choices. It’s the end of a busy day, your brain is tired of making decisions, so it becomes lazy and impulsive.  

Photo by Vladislav Babienko via unsplash.com

But, decision fatigue can be subtle. Unlike running a marathon until you are physically exhausted, decision fatigue mentally drains you until you are disconnected from your core values.  

Whether you are a CEO, an athlete, a parent or retired—nobody is exempt. Our brains get tired because they work non stop. Getting enough sleep and making sure you have proper glucose levels in your brain are helpful strategies. But, when it comes to ensuring your important decisions will be aligned to your core values on a daily basis—meditation is one of our greatest tools. 

Meditation not only offers a reboot for the brain, it restructures it. The theory of neuroplasticity states that you can re-wire your neural connections in any way that you desire. You can unplug from the circus wheel of life and find inner calm, shrinking the amygdala —the part of the brain that is quick to panic during states of distress.

The foundational teaching used to describe authentic meditation is called “yogas citta vritti nirodha.”  

According to the Yoga Sutras 1:2 this translates to:

Yoga: Union/Meditative absorption

Citta: Stuff in your mind

Vrittis: To turn

Nirodah: To calm, quiet and even stop

This means that yoga is what happens when the stuff in your mind, that is always turning, quiets down and/or stops. Simply put, it pauses a panicky brain.

In this teaching, yoga is used as a noun. It is the result of getting your mind and body to settle down and be quiet. Meditation quickly reveals mental patterns or conditionings-- the stuff in your head that is continually “turning.”  What if the turning quieted down? What if your not so helpful thoughts stopped all together?  

What if you had moments of restful alertness where you could “step outside" of your mental constructs and for once not identify with them? What if, instead, you could see them for what they are: twirling and turning conditions of a “limited nature.”  What if you could then step back into life with a bigger view or perspective along with fresh and new possibilities accompanied with a stronger will power?  

All decisions deplete mental energy to a certain degree. Deciding what to wear, which way to drive, what to eat for dinner, how to answer a text, where to take your next vacation, what kind of action to take in a time of conflict, how to be a better parent, how to spend money more wisely, and on and on. These are just daily typical decisions. These are the easy ones compared to life’s surprise interruptions. The challenges that you were not expecting, but are now forced to solve.  

Studies show that by 4:00 p.m. our will power and self-control are at their lowest. By early evening we are more susceptible to irrational decisions or just avoiding life altogether.  

How To Avoid Decision Fatigue:

1. Embrace a daily meditation practice

2. Aim to make your toughest decisions of the day in the morning from 9:00-12:00 p.m.

3. Get plenty of sleep every night

4. Mind your glucose levels. Don’t allow yourself to get “hangry.”

If these tips feel impossible or unrealistic know that, just by reading this and informing yourself, you have already taken the first step. Changes happen over time and there are no quick fixes.  There is a lot of knowledge out there and finding the kind that works for you and putting it into action will create effects you would have never imagined. 

Gandhi once said: “Strength does not come from physical strength but indomitable will.”  The strength needed to move mountains or simply get out of bed in the morning comes from will power. Will power comes from the ability to unplug, rest, reboot and recalibrate, so that you can stay steadfast and be your best self. The goal is to do all this without ever having to compromise your core values.  

A Yoga Unplugged collaboration - written by Jennifer Reuter, edited by Sarah Burchard

In this episode Sarah speaks with the founder of Yoga Unplugged, Jennifer Reuter, about the importance of the breath. 

Learn breathing techniques helpful for managing stress, why it's important to breath from your belly, how posture affects vitality and why the yogis believed that the breath was the key to achieving a long life.

Welcome to our very first episode of Yoga Unplugged Conversations!

A show dedicated to helping you grow, thrive and gracefully make tough life decisions, so you can lead a happier, healthier life.

Yoga Unplugged Team member Sarah Burchard is your host for this podcast. Sarah is a freelance writer, natural foods chef and certified health coach who is passionate about promoting local businesses and food through her writing, farmers market tours and farm-to-table events under the name The Healthy Locavore. When she is not knee deep in food she's marketing events for Yoga Unplugged and supporting the yoga community here on Oahu.

In this episode Sarah interviews our very own Jennifer Reuter. Jennifer is a teacher of yoga, level 2 iRest yoga nidra and Neelakantha meditation. She is also a sound healer and the founder of Yoga Unplugged. She has been practicing and teaching for over a decade and studies several philosophies and religions, as well as the science behind meditation in order to give her students a well-rounded and advanced spiritual education.

Jennifer leads meditation workshops, sound baths, yoga teacher trainings and retreats all over Hawaii. You can also find her teaching weekly public yoga classes at Aloha Yoga Kula in Kailua.

In this episode, Sarah and Jennifer discuss how to follow your intuition and why it is so important when it comes to important decision making. They also address acting on internal messages, signs from the universe, taking advice from others and what to do when your gut lets you down.

Jennifer Reuter is a meditation and yoga teacher, sound healer and founder of Yoga Unplugged. She has been practicing and teaching Neelakantha meditation for well over a decade. In our first episode of Yoga Unplugged Conversations she talks with host Sarah Burchard about how to trust your gut. During this show they address: Acting on internal messages, signs from the universe, taking advice from others, what to do when your gut lets you down and inquiries that are helpful for solving problems. Learn more at www.yogaunplugged.org

When I was in my 20’s I made up a story in my head that I had to have a yoga mat and move through meditative postures in order to practice yoga.

When I got to my 30’s the story grew into something more meaningful. Now, yoga meant that practicing contemplative and meditative exercises would help me understand myself and what would bring me inner peace.

Fast forward to the present moment, now in my 40’s, and my story has changed once again. I still believe what I believed in the past, but I also now believe that yoga is nothing more than universal love.

I often share these perceptions with my students in class to show them what my yoga journey has looked like and how they have influenced my practice.

The reason why these stories have changed so much over time, however, is because of a practice I use called––Jnana Yoga.

The stories you make up

Storytelling is a powerful tool. Recounting past events that happened in your life or making up imaginary fantasies can inspire, teach and entertain.

But what happens when you make up a story about an event that is untrue?

The stories you make up are your brain’s way of “protecting” yourself.

But, instead of helping they can often create unnecessary complications.

Brene Brown is a professor, public speaker and best selling author whose work focuses on courage and vulnerability. She encourages people to use the phrase “The story I’m making up is…” at the beginning of difficult conversations.

For example, have you ever been in a relationship with someone who did or said something that caused you agitation? Did you make up a story around why they did it or what it meant? And did you find out that that story was untrue later?

The danger of storytelling, versus basing your reaction on fact, is that you may be accusing that person of doing something that isn’t true. It is the basis for miscommunication.

“Anybody who's been in — or out of — a relationship can tell you that they're full of miscommunications, misreadings, and other misunderstandings. You say one thing, they hear something else,” says Brown.

By beginning a tough conversation with “The story I’m making up is…” you are telling the other person your perception and admitting that you might be wrong about what really happened.

Another helpful practice is to take those stories and use them for introspection. This is the practice of Jnana Yoga.

Jnana Yoga

Jnana, pronounced as “gya-na,” means knowledge.

Jnana Yoga is a practice that uses knowledge to help purify the mind of misperceptions, which may be blocking you from connecting with others and living in harmony with life.

The yoga texts translate the word misperception, or “avidya” in Sanskrit, as “actively not seeing true knowledge.” They teach, that these misperceptions are the number one cause for all human suffering, making the mind run wild, causing you to cast doubts about your self worth, block solutions to problems and prevent you from taking action.

The benefits of Jnana yoga, or the pursuit of higher knowledge, is that it soothes a restless and broken soul. It purifies the mind, burning the self-made stories you make up, and creates wisdom love and compassion––enabling you to create a more meaningful connection with life.

In Jnana yoga there are three phases. First, knowledge has to be heard and received. Second, knowledge has to be repeated thousands of times in many different ways. Third, knowledge has to become a part of you.

The practice of Jnana yoga begins by asking yourself hard questions like: Who am I? What am I? What do I fear? What am I grateful for? What is joy or love?

It can also include an inquiry into your life’s purpose and/or anything else related to your relationship with the universe.

Brown’s “What is the story I’m making up” approach also works well here. For example, What is the story I’m making up about the nature of my reality? Is it is the same story my parents had? Is it a story I heard in church or from my teacher or guru? What is the story I’m making up about the career path I have chosen or my purpose in the world? What is the story I am making up about who I am?

Neti neti

Neti neti is a Sanskrit term that means “not this and not that.”

It is helpful to use neti neti when you begin asking these deeper questions. It encourages you to not settle and keep asking until you find the truth, admitting that your beliefs are not 100% accurate.

Neti neti creates wiggle room for new perspectives and insights.

Jnana yoga is practiced the same way one would peel an onion. You keep peeling back the layers by asking the same questions over and over until you can get closer to the center, or the truth.

Year after year the inquiries reveal new understandings, insights previously missed, and a penetration into the heart of the matter one seeks.

The story I told myself about yoga in my 20’s is radically different than the story I tell myself today because I keep peeling back these layers and asking more questions.

Listening to the truth

How well you can peel back the layers and find truth depends on how good you listen.

Krishna Murti––Indian philosopher, speaker and writer––is a great example of someone who practiced Jnana yoga. He pointed out the problems we have with our listening by asking these questions: “How do you listen to knowledge? Do you listen with your projections, through your ambitions, desires, fears, anxieties, through hearing only what you want to hear, only what will be satisfactory, what will gratify, what will give comfort, what will for the moment alleviate your suffering? If you listen through the screen of your desires, then you obviously listen to your own voice.”

The practice of listening is challenging, but if you desire thriving relationships, either with others or the universe, then it is important to try.

This is where a daily meditation practice is helpful and essential. It makes you a better listener.

An invitation to practice

“The Yoga Sutras” says that ignorance is the greatest poison.

When you make up stories that are not true they can create toxicity and separation at both the individual and relationship levels.

Instead of getting caught up in your story can you take the time to connect with your heart and ask yourself deeper questions to see what surfaces before taking action?

I invite you to use the practice of Jnana Yoga to prevent stories from turning into suffering. Find out for yourself how Jhana Yoga can make your life change for the better.

A Yoga Unplugged collaboration - written by Jennifer Reuter, edited by Sarah Burchard

Photo by Keegan Houser on Unsplash

Every year we take another wild journey around the sun. I have come to the conclusion, that if I don’t consciously try and “map” this journey out it can start to take a life of its own—good or bad. As we all know, life is what we choose to make it, and every new year is another chance to craft it into something special.

When you sit down this month to plot your course for next year, consider using this strategy...

1. Identify your Samkalpa

Samkalpa (Sanskrit: संकल्प)

Sam:  Connection with the highest truth; your heart

Kalpa: the rule to be followed above all other rules; time

A Samkalpa is one of the most practical tools of the ancient yogic tradition. It is an internal compass that gives your life meaning, direction and purpose. Without it, you may experience the feeling of being lost.

The word Samkalpa can be translated to “heartfelt desire.” It becomes an overarching theme for your life, a personal vow.

If you are pondering what this word means for you, I recommend getting quiet. The task of identifying your Samkalpa requires getting into alignment with your core being. When you slow down, get still and sincerely listen, you will feel your Sampkalpa start to bubble up. It will become a clear knowingness, that cannot be denied, and will be the driving force behind all that you do.

A new years intention that I often hear is, “I want to get into shape.” This is a great intention! But, it may fall by the wayside, if you don’t ask yourself the deeper question of “why.”  

When you ponder the reason behind your intention, you will discover your Samkalpa. Using the example of, “Wanting to get into shape,” a Sampkalpa may be a vow to be happier, more radiant or have more energy to play with your kids.

I like to think of my Samkapla as my co-pilot for traveling each year. I remind myself several times a day because the reality is, that change and unforeseen interruptions will happen. So no matter what is brewing, my Samkalpa will help me stay aligned, strong and resilient.

Write down and state your Samkalpa out loud, matter-of-factly, like you are living it now! Feel it in the body as if it is true and real already.

For example, “I am radiant!”

2.  Reflect upon your Samkalpa in three categories

1. Personal

2. Professional

3. Social/Family

Explore the following inquiries in all three categories of your life, in relation to your Samkalpa.

What is going well?

What is not going well?

What do I want more of?

What do I want less of?

What do I want to experience?

How do I want to live?

Who would I like to be?

This reflection process reveals insights that will allow you to craft and plan your upcoming journey.

3.  Plan Time to PLAN

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”  —Benjamin Franklin

In order to steer 2019 in the right direction you need to create time for planning. I schedule a series of days, at the end of each quarter, for planning out the quarter ahead. During these sessions I revisit the original journey I mapped out at the beginning of the year, along with any new future opportunities that may have manifested along the way.

In addition, I check in daily and weekly to review what was initiated in my quarterly planning sessions to stay on track.  

4. Choose a companion word

You can help cultivate your character with a “companion word”.  Last year my companion word was “courage.” I chose that word as a reminder to help me trust my intuitive hits, no matter how bizarre they were. It was a good lesson for me that helped me turn my intuition into a trusted source. I wrote the word in the front my journal, so that I would see it every day and not forget it.

What is your companion word for 2019?

5. Align your intentions with an ancient mantra

There are many auspicious mantras that help channel and direct universal energy. For example, the ancient mantra Namah Shivaya, as taught to me by my teacher, is called the “Panchakshari Mantra.” It is known as the 5 syllable mantra—each syllable representing one of the five elements: space, air, water, fire and earth. Chanting this mantra constitutes its universal oneness. It calms the mind, brings spiritual insight and knowledge, enhances your perception and instills hope and faith.

Practice chanting an ancient mantra like, Namah Shivaya as you move forth on your new journey.

6. REPEAT

Did I mention that change and unforeseen interruptions will happen? The material world from which we operate is constantly changing. That means, that the outside world will knock us off course eventually.

Find your super power of "starting again.”  Meditate, remember your Sampkalpa, adjust your plan as necessary, stay true to your companion word, chant mantra and repeat.

Have faith in your Sampkalpa. Be kind and gentle to yourself. Rest when you need to and practice self-love. Remember, no one else can do it the way you can.   

How will you plan your next journey around the sun?

A Yoga Unplugged collaboration - written by Jennifer Reuter, edited by Sarah Burchard

Did you know that two-thirds of adults, living throughout all developed nations, fail to obtain the recommended eight hours of nightly sleep?

Sleep is crucial to our health and well-being. I have always taken sleep seriously, but after reading the book, Why We Sleep: Unlocking The Power Of Sleep And Dreams, I now have a greater understanding and appreciation for the health benefits of getting a decent night’s sleep on a regular basis.

The following bullet points are taken from Why We Sleep:

*Routinely sleeping less than six or seven hours a night demolishes your immune system, more than doubling your risk of cancer.  

*Insufficient sleep is a key lifestyle factor determining whether or not you will develop Alzheimer’s disease.

*Inadequate sleep, even modern reductions for just one week, disrupts blood sugar levels so profoundly that you would be classified as pre-diabetic.  

*Too little sleep is a proven recipe for weight gain: hormones that signal hunger are released while hormones that signal satiation are suppressed.

*The ability to learn, memorize and make logical decisions and choices are compromised, as well as our psychological health, because our emotional brain circuits cannot be recalibrated.

The science of Ayurveda, one of the world’s oldest holistic healing systems, has a lot to say about sleep.  It says it is important to “wind down slowly” around 6pm each night, and to try and be asleep by 10pm, in order to avoid catching a “second wind,” which has the potential for keeping you awake for many more hours. It places great importance on synching your life rhythms with the rhythm of the planet.

I think the key words here are, “wind down slowly around 6pm.”  For me, my “ideal night” means wrapping up dinner and reducing all stimulating activities by 6pm. By 7:30pm I am reading, not social media or news, but something that is calming and relaxing. By 8:30pm the lights are out.  

Ideally, you want to be mindful of the following things in order to get a consistent good night’s sleep. I call this my “sleep damage control” list:  

• Keep your bedroom dark, cool and quiet.  

• Make an effort to go to bed at the same time every night.

• Do a “wind down” activity,  like taking a warm epsom salt bath or reading a good book (that isn’t too stimulating) before bed.  

• Refrain from excessive alcohol consumption and avoid drinking right before bedtime.  — It has now been proven that although alcohol might help induce sleep, after 90 minutes it actually disrupts sleep.

Need a little help? Here are 8 of my personal go-to’s for when I can’t sleep:

1. Rasayana Ayuvedic sleep tonic.  My first Ayurvedic teacher in 2004 taught me about this, and I’ve been drinking it regularly ever since. Rasayana means “rejuvenation.” It is a warm drink made of milk, honey, ghee and spices. You can substitute almond milk if you are lactose intolerant.

2.  Ashwagandha. This Ayurvedic adaptogen helps promote sleep and calms the nervous system.

3.  Lavender essential oil. I keep a bottle on my bed stand and apply a few drops to my wrists and pillow to promote a feeling of calmness.

4. Melatonin. Take 30 minutes before bed.

5. CBD oil (no THC). I have recently been trying this, it does make me feel more calm and relaxed.

6. Diaphragmatic Straw Breathing (favoring the exhale). Practice Diaphragmatic breathing, inhaling through the nose and exhaling through a straw, for 3-5 minutes to create a calming effect. You could also practice deep breathing techniques without a straw, but when you are holding the straw it keeps your mind on what you are doing and you will exhale more powerfully with it than without it.

5. Exercise. Often times when I can’t get to sleep I realize I have not gotten my heart rate up in awhile. It does make a huge difference.

6.  Yoga poses that help you fall asleep, like “legs up the wall” or easy forward bends.

7.  Yoga nidra. This practice can help you get to sleep and/or make up sleep debt. If I am experiencing “monkey mind” I will illicit the first stage of yoga nidra (rotating attention throughout my body). Granted this takes tenacity, but with patience and practice I have proved to myself that I can shut down my monkey mind and self-soothe myself to sleep using this technique. When I need to make up sleep debt, I do yoga nidra during the day. Just 30 minutes of yoga nidra is likened to 3-4 hours of sleep. plus a bonus 65% dopamine boost.

8.  Seated Meditation. This practice is at the heart of my life. I really believe that in the end, when we are not connected to our inner compass, life speeds up and spirals into many directions. Learning how to meditate in the upright position, and marinating in silence has been my greatest tonic.  

If we can learn anything from the animal kingdom it would be that human beings are the only species that deprive themselves of sleep. My sleep gurus are my cats. They constantly demonstrate to me, how much they appreciate sleep and how blissful it can be.

I read once, that a nurse recorded the most common regrets patients recalled before dying, and among the top listed were, “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.” It is the constant “doing” we as humans get sucked into and without the “tools” of learning how to not “do” we become restless and overstimulated.

It is no wonder sleep becomes elusive, interrupted and secondary.  The saying “I will sleep when I am dead” is no longer working for the well being of our society. I encourage you to take action in your own life, if you are neglecting sleep, and reap its many health benefits. Not just for yourself, but also for the people in your life.  

Recommended reading:

Why We Sleep: Unlocking The Power Of Sleep And Dreams by Matthew Walker, PhD

Matthew Walker is a professor of neuroscience and psychology at UC Berkeley, the Director of its Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab, and a former professor of psychiatry at Harvard University. He has published over 100 scientific studies and has appeared on 60 Minutes, Nova, BBC News, and NPR’s Science Friday.

A Yoga Unplugged collaboration - written by Jennifer Reuter, edited by Sarah Burchard

Photo by: Gregory Pappas

Yoga nidra is a powerful meditation technique, that has many benefits for the body and mind and is easy to develop and maintain. For those reasons, yoga nidra is quickly becoming more and more mainstream. This practice, once reserved for “Ashram life” and advanced yoga trainings, is now growing in popularity as a main offering in yoga studios from New York to L.A. 

The reason for this demand is that yoga nidra seems to be an “antidote” for the high-paced digital world. Modern lifestyle has most people over-stimulated and operating from their sympathetic nervous system, a.k.a. “The fight or flight response”. Yoga nidra offers a way to deactivate this response, in exchange for the parasympathetic, or “rest and digest”, nervous system. 

Although you can sit up during this practice, it is usually done while lying in “shavasana”. This 30-minute systematic guided meditation begins with a heartfelt prayer, or an intention you might have for yourself or another. You are then invited to direct your attention into the different layers of your being. The layers consist of the physical, the breath, the mind, and the bliss bodies.

Bringing your attention to each of these layers induces a deep sense of relaxation and well-being which occasionally can lead you into a light "slumber". This light slumber is known as “yoga nidra”, a state of consciousness which is somewhere in between wake and sleep.

Whether you fall completely asleep during the practice (which is quite common) or not, you will start feeling more rested and restored. According to the highly accredited text - Yoga Nidra, “One hour of yoga nidra is as restful as a few hours of sleep.” So, it is also a great tool if you are feeling sleep deprived. 

Other benefits also include: deep relaxation throughout the body and mind, reduction or elimination of stress, anxiety, fear, anger and depression and an engagement of deep states of meditation. 

The Yoga Nidra map:

1. Set your intention.

2. Heartfelt prayer for yourself or another.

3. Physical body: Sense and perceive your physical body and arrive in the present moment by doing a body scan.

4. Energetic body: Count breaths, elongate breaths, and experience the sensation that arises from the breath work. This raises awareness of where energy is stuck and where it's flowing.

5. Emotional body: Invite the polarity of opposite feelings and sensations into your practice, like warm and cool, left and right, safety and fear. Often we experience emotions on this polarity. For example, someone living in fear desires safety. Yoga nidra teaches that you don't need the positive end of the polarity to be comfortable, safe, fearless, joyous, and vulnerable.

6. Body of intellect: Notice thoughts, beliefs, and images that arise in the guided exploration of opposites. They offer insight into your long-held belief systems and answer why we are the way we are.

7. Body of joy: Recalling memories that are pure joy and ease helps reset a mental baseline, and can alleviate anxiety levels while offering an ever-present sense of calm.

If you are interested in learning more about yoga nidra research visit: www.irest.us/research

If you are interested in learning more about the practice I recommend the following books:

Yoga Nidra: A meditative Practice for Deep Relaxation and Healing by Richard Miller, Ph.D. 

Yoga Nidra: The Art of Transformational Sleep by Kamini Desai Ph.D.

Yoga Nidra by Swami Satyananda

If you are interested in finding a practice on the go I recommend: 

The Insight Timer meditation app

A Yoga Unplugged collaboration - written by Jennifer Reuter, edited by Sarah Burchard

Photo by: Brandon Smith

Meditation is no longer a new age, hippie or eccentric concept.  It is now a common household practice that people embrace to help maximize the best outcomes of their lives. 

The field of neuroscience now demonstrates the amazing benefits of meditation: enhanced memory and creativity, reduction in depression, better sleep, compassion towards self and others, and an overall more relaxed disposition (to name a few).  It is true, meditation makes life better.  

Meditation is sometimes referred to as a restful alertness. Fundamentally, it is a journey from a lot of activity to less activity. It is a process and a practice of attempting to go beyond the conditioned, “thinking” mind and into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness. 

By turning your attention to a single point of reference, or focal point, you can train the mind to discover the unbounded and vast inner spaces that lie under thought.

Natural vs Artificial practices

There are two categories of meditation: natural (aktrima) and artificial (krtima).  According to the great sage Abhinavagupta, both are necessary. Aktrima practices work with your innate inner silence, and ktrima practices work with effort or the thought that something needs to be done. Ktrima practices could include: reflection, prayer, contemplation, visualization, walking and/or eating.

Some of the biggest misconceptions around meditation include: I can’t stop my thoughts, I have no skill or talents in that area, I am too busy to meditate, I tried it one time and nothing happened.  

My teacher says, that in order for a meditation to be successful, you need to have the “theory” or deep understanding of the practice, as well as, the practice itself.  You can’t have one without the other.  Often times people want to meditate because they have heard it is beneficial, but because they don’t understand the “nuances” it becomes challenging and/or frustrating.   

In this world of constant challenge and change, meditation is the antidote.  It is a “practice” that trains your mind to settle down, and enables you to discover that there is a place inside of you, that is NOT constantly changing. The place inside that Deepak Chopra describes as: “the silent field of infinite possibility”. 

This place inside of you, is really the better version of yourself that you may be seeking.  It is the change-less place that will stabilize, strengthen and calm you, so that you can be in the world with more well-being and harmony. It is the place that is located under the inner narrative. By learning how to "tap" into this place you can restore health, purify your heart, strengthen your spirit and bring more compassion to yourself and others.

Meditation is a “natural” activity that all humans need especially in this stressful modern day world.  It has been proven that it works, and you can see benefits immediately.   However you might read or hear about meditation, it will always be an experiential journey and never an intellectual one. You must give it a genuine try and be the judge for yourself.

A Yoga Unplugged collaboration - written by Jennifer Reuter, edited by Sarah Burchard