Interview with Ajay Kumar, Owner of Sthalam8 and Ashtanga Yoga Teacher in Mysore

"You have to be aware of what you are doing, feel everything. What does your elbow, shoulder and all joints do when you make this movement? This is yoga. Go!" - AJAY KUMAR -

Sri Lanka Travel Tips: From India to Sri Lanka and Back

(Updated 24-08-14) If you are planning to travel to Sri Lanka to get a new Indian visa, or just for holidays, and you wonder where to stay in Colombo, where to eat in Colombo or which is the best beach to visit in Sri Lanka during your Indian visa run then I'm sure you'll find this Sri Lanka travel guide helpful.

No More Plans, No More Goals, Simply Free to Go With the Flow

Before starting this "path to yoga", back in March 2010, I wrote down a two years plan with all the things that I wanted to do in India. The two years passed and I've been lucky enough to be able to do almost all those things included in my plan, yet somehow something didn't feel right.

Finding a Balance With Social Yoga in Mysore, India

I came to Mysore to practice ashtanga yoga, an intense and demanding yoga practice, but I had no idea for how long I would stay. When I arrived I was not in my best mood and I didn't like the area where I was staying, Lakshmipuram.

Reflections on Suffering, Compassion and Karma

In one of the group discussions during a Buddhist course that I did last July at Kopan monastery in Nepal we were asked to share between the group any painful experience from our past. The purpose was to develop a compassionate attitude towards each other and to ourselves, without any judgments. These are my reflections on suffering, compassion and karma, the three main lessons that I learned during this exercise.

How to transform our minds to deal with challenging situations

Have you ever experienced a difficult situation in your life that triggered some negative emotions like anger, jealousy, depression, fear and so on? If you haven't then congratulations, you are already enlightened and have nothing to worry about. The rest of us, unfortunately, still need to learn how to transform our minds to deal with challenging situations that trigger these disturbing emotions in us.

Buddhist Philosophy to Learn How to overcome disturbing emotions

I recently completed two courses in Buddhist Philosophy to learn how to overcome disturbing emotions: the five days "Overcoming Disturbing Emotions" course and the 10 days "Mind Training - Cutting the Root of Disturbing Emotions" course. After three months teaching yoga in Boudhanath, from April till June 2013, it was time to change the routine and taking these courses at beautiful Kopan Monastery in Kathmandu was a good way to end my last month in Nepal.

What it's like Living in a Buddhist Monastery in Nepal (Kopan)

How you ever dreamed of living in a Buddhist monastery to enjoy some peace and harmony surrounded by Buddhist monks and to have the opportunity to enrich your life with the Buddhist teachings? Well, I had the same dream and it became reality when I visited Kopan Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal.

The Secret to Develop Confidence and to Achieve Your Dreams

What is the yoga secret to develop self-confidence and to achieve our dreams? Imagine for a moment if your words were so powerful that whatever you say with intention would come true; you could basically achieve whatever you wish, you could manifest all your dreams. Imagine how much self confidence you would feel. Well, this power does exist and to develop it the yogis gave us a simple rule to practice.

Video of Tibetan Buddhist Monks Chanting in a Buddhist Monastery

I recorded this video of Tibetan Buddhist monks chanting in a Buddhist monastery in March 2013. This was during a special puja (act of worship involving different rituals) at the Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery in Boudhanath, Nepal, better known as the "White Gompa". This special annual puja is called the Ngak-so ("Ocean of Amrita Mantric-Mending") Drubchen and it last for 9 days.

How can we attain world peace? Ahimsa: the philosophy of love

How can we attain world peace? How can we learn to live in peace and harmony? Every time that we hear news about wars, terrorism or any other form of violence most of us probably ask ourselves these questions. The ancient Indian yogis however gave us a very basic yet powerful principle to attain this peace and harmony. This principle is called ahimsa or non-violence, the philosophy of love.

What is Yoga? Practical Philosophy and Science of Self-Realization

What is Yoga? Although yoga is still considered by many as merely a popular physical practice that has some mental benefits it is actually the science of Self-realization. Yoga offers a practical philosophy of life which includes scientific techniques developed by the ancient yogis to help us discover our true nature.

Awaken Sadhaka! And Realize Your Divine Nature

What is the message of the ancient and modern Indian yogis to humanity and to all sadhakas (spiritual aspirants)? Their message is a message of strength and power, of courage and self-confidence. "Awaken sadhaka! and realize your Divine nature". Again and again the yogis try to remind us that we are not mere human beings but truly Divine in Nature.

My experience with Bikram Yoga. Is this really yoga?

The first time that I saw an online video of a Bikram Yoga class I was shocked. "Is this really yoga?" I asked myself. I thought that I would never try such a "style of yoga" but of course the only way to experience what Bikram Yoga is is to actually practice it, so while I was visiting my sister in Miami, US by the end of 2012 I decided to give it a try.

Being Honest and True to Myself: Following My Dreams

Besides yoga and meditation playing guitar has always been one of my dreams but for some reason or another I always stop practicing, sometimes even for several years in a row. When I started this path to yoga I thought a lot about taking a guitar with me but can you imagine traveling around India or Nepal by bus, train and budget flights with a 20kg backpack, a 5kg backpack, a yoga mat and on top of that a guitar?I already get stuck while walking in the aisles of the Indian trains and sometimes I can hardly get in the buses.

Why We Gotta Celebrate Even the Smallest Miracles in Our Lives

So what am I up to these days? Well at the moment I'm in Sheffield, Massachusetts volunteering at the Option Institute but before writing about the interesting stuff that I am doing here, and believe me is not only "Gangnam Style dancing", I want to write about where I've been and what I've been doing since I left Nepal, about six months ago.

No more Yoga, only Gangnam Style

It's time to take a break from the yoga talk and just have a good laugh. Check out this video, it's hilarious. This was an spontaneous moment at the apartment of my friend Gina in Sheffield, Massachusetts.