A yoga studio is a wonderful environment to begin and sustain your yoga practice. The benefits of attending classes at a studio include the opportunity for guidance and personal connection to a teacher, the companionship and motivation of practicing side by side with fellow students, the regularity of a set schedule of classes, and the access to explore different approaches and styles of yoga unencumbered by the distractions of our lives at home and work. Yet, through a combination of creativity and self-discipline, it can also be very rewarding to balance the experience of group practice with a solitary practice in the sanctuary of your own home. Honoring what you've learned in class, practicing at home can help deepen your practice and enable you to integrate the peace and vitality you create through yoga more powerfully into your daily life. Following are some ways to help nourish a yoga practice in the refuge of your home.

Create the Time for Your Practice

If you are just beginning your home practice, it is best to create gentle and realistic goals for your practice. It's not uncommon to set an ambitious goal, in a moment of energetic inspiration (I'm going to practice three times a day!"), and then beat yourself up when your energy falters, or the distractions in your life take over ("I don't have time, I'm tired."), and you're unable to follow through. So, I recommend you set a reasonable, easily achievable goal for your practice and gradually build from there. That way, if you do practice for longer than you planned, it will reinforce your efforts rather than sabotaging them by being overly ambitious. Also, when you feel like the demands and dramas of daily life with work and family are eclipsing your practice, remember something very important: that your yoga practice is not a selfish act-- it awakens the strength, peace, calmness, and equanimity within you that is ultimately a gift to your family and work mates. The time you spend practicing is an investment that enhances your presence in all moments. I always have to remind myself of this truth.

Create a Space to Practice

Design a refuge in your own home for practice. Be creative. If you have the space, devote a whole room to yoga and meditation. For instance, if there is a room in your house or apartment that is rarely used, such as a guest room, breathe life into it again by adopting it as your yoga room. If you are limited in space, then be creative: Claim a part of a room to devote to your practice. My wife and I live in a cozy little cottage without a spare room. So I have devoted a corner of the living room as my space to practice, and when the weather is nice, I practice on our screened porch, nourished by the breeze and sunlight. Surprise yourself by breaking your habitual perceptions of your home, building a sacred place to practice.

Let your yoga space reflect the qualities you are awakening through your practice. Remove clutter to mirror the spaciousness you're seeking inside yourself. Leave lots of room around your mat to reflect the space and freedom you're giving yourself to dance through your practice. Let the openness of physical space reveal the possibility for something spontaneous to emerge in your body and your inner space-- such as a new way of exploring a pose, a rising emotion, a fresh insight. If you feel the inspiration, create a simple altar that mirrors the qualities you wish to awaken within you. What you choose to put on your altar is very personal-- a reflection of your own spiritual path. I have seen altars with pictures of Christ, Buddha and other saintly teachers for inspiration; altars with natural elements such as flowers, plants, rocks and water to represent the powerful elements of nature; candles to symbolize the light of awareness; even photos of family and loved ones to help create a mood of love and devotion. The possibilities are endless. The most important thing is that your altar is meaningful and inspiring to you.

Ritualize Your Practice

Ally the intentions of your yoga practice with the sensuality of meaningful ritual. For example, before you begin your practice, create your own invocation by expressing an intention or prayer. Then support this prayer with a simple, symbolic gesture that is personally meaningful to you. Some traditional invocational acts include lighting a candle, burning incense, ringing chimes, chanting, or simply expressing gratitude. If these don't work for you, that's fine-- discover your own way to make your practice sacred, perhaps beginning with a particular pose that feels special to you. When you've completed your practice, circle back to your invocation, bringing gentle closure to your session. Giving yourself the space and time to integrate the practice of yoga at home can be a deeply rewarding act.

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Yoga is usually thought of as a solo practice, but the practice of partner yoga is an exception. Partner yoga, whether practiced in a class or at home, is designed for two people who want to nurture each other in their practice of yoga. This intentional act of giving and receiving, through the vehicle of yoga, can often create deeper awareness, learning, and connection between friends. A partner yoga class can also be a great date, and a unique and beautiful way for couples to connect. Given that we celebrate Valentine's Day this month, this issue's column explores the artful practice of partner yoga.

Partner yoga is centered around helping each other through the gift of touch. Cain Carroll and Lori Kimata, authors of the book Partner Yoga: Making Contact for Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Growth say " Like food and water, touch and intimacy are basic human needs. As naked and vulnerable newborns, we thrive on skin-to-skin contact with other humans. Yet somewhere between infancy and adulthood, this fulfilling nourishment from touch is virtually lost. In today's high-tech world, most of us are more comfortable connecting with each other through machines and modems than our own skin. Yet for optimum health, we all need to touch - and to be touched."

In partner-supported yoga, one person enters a yoga pose (the receiver), while the other (the giver) helps their partner, through resistance stretching, massage techniques, and conscious breathing. For example, if the receiver comes into a simple pose like a standing forward bend, the giver may help their partner relax into the pose in a variety of ways: guiding the receiver with their hands to hinge the hips as they fold forward; massaging down their back using a variety of simple techniques; combing into the scalp with the fingernails to help relax the head and neck; skillfully bearing their weight into the receiver to help them lengthen in the pose; and synchronizing the rhythm of their breath to their partner's to encourage greater connection. In a simple standing backbend, the giver stands solidly behind their partner compassionately supporting their gentle arch back, using hands to roll their shoulders open and to expand their chest-- helping their partner to cultivate trust and open-heartedness. There are a variety of fun, imaginative methods to help someone relax more fully into yoga poses. After a sequence of poses accompanied by assists like the latter, the roles of giver and receiver are reversed.

Participants are encouraged to communicate honestly with their partner as they teach each other how they would like to be touched and supported. In this way, the partner yoga experience becomes a safe and comfortable arena to practice sincere, open communication. One student describes this benefit of partner yoga: "As we took turns being both the "giver" and the "receiver", we were able to, in a very non-threatening way, work on deep relationship issues such as communicating our needs, likes and dislikes, allowing ourselves to be truly vulnerable to each other and learning how to love and nurture each other unconditionally.  So few couples get the opportunity to work on these issues outside of traditional therapy and they usually only do so when there is a 'problem.' It made such a difference having these things just emerge organically within the practice of yoga."

Through the cycle of giving and receiving, clear communication, and the incredibly relaxing effects of the postures- a deeper intimacy blossoms between partners. As a giver you help to release the physical, emotional, and mental tension in your partner through your kind touch, nurturing them into a deeper spiritual connection to life force through yoga. As a receiver, it can be a powerful, healing act to let go of the impulse to control, while surrendering and expanding into your partner's loving touch. As a session evolves, partners begin to tune into each other more deeply, and the verbal communication becomes less necessary. Partners learn the subtle art of channeling loving kindness towards each other through the quality of their touch. The giver begins to "listen" with their hands, guided by the "speech" of their partner's body. If the partners are open to it, the practice can become very meditative as the giving and receiving begin to blend together and a spiritual connection between partners is cultivated. Partner yoga is a fun and powerful method for restoring growth, depth, and harmony within ourselves and our relationships.

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Starting a prenatal yoga class can be quite exciting for pregnant women, as pregnancy is a very special time in a woman's life, filled with many surprises. Routine visits to the gynecologist, numerous ultrasounds reading pregnancy books or going online to google "pregnancy" can be quite overwhelming. Some women come to class to escape from this information overload, some are seeking to keep their bodies toned and healthy, while others are in class simply to release stress.

As a woman's body transforms during pregnancy, new aches and pains arrive as a result of the postural changes happening in the spine, hips and pelvis, caused by the sudden new weight gain. Yoga can help a woman experience a new appreciation for her pregnant body and help her tap into the beautiful energies she is experiencing, while adjusting to these sometimes unpleasant changes. It can help her connect with herself on a very intimate level as she travels on this most incredible journey of personal transformation.

The focus of a prenatal yoga class is quite different from traditional yoga classes, which guide students toward an open-ended practice that may not have a definitive goal other than increasing physical and spiritual health. By contrast, a pregnant woman who practices yoga has a very specific goal in mind: her due date. And she readies herself through yoga to reach that goal in much the same way that a runner trains for an upcoming race. Prenatal yoga helps a woman prepare her body and mind for labor, delivery and the demands of motherhood by teaching her techniques for releasing tension, maintaining proper posture, learning to relax intentionally, keeping a positive outlook and clearing the mind of the stresses of pregnancy.

The class offers body awareness and breathing techniques; transverse abdominal strengthening exercises, supported balancing postures, standing poses, seated poses, as well as meditation and relaxation techniques. Prenatal yoga can also help women open the pelvis and hips, strengthening the lower back and legs, while also alleviating aches and pains.

Just as every pregnancy is unique, so is each woman's yoga practice, therefore the instructor takes special care to evaluate each student's pre-pregnancy fitness level before class. The instructor's intention is to help each woman feel comfortable, safe, secure and nurtured during class to ensure that each woman is receiving the maximum benefit from their practice. It is not necessary to have practiced yoga before pregnancy. In fact most prenatal students are new to yoga.

Most importantly, the instructor will also modify the postures to ensure the safety of a pregnant woman and her growing baby. For example, the classic "child's pose" changes for the prenatal student so that instead of leaning over her closed knees, she separates her knees to the edges of the mat with the toes touching in order to make room for her growing abdomen. There is also ample wall space for the pregnant yoga student to lean and stabilize herself during the balancing postures, as a woman's center of gravity and sense of balance shifts throughout her pregnancy.

Most women experience increased strength and flexibility and an increased ability to relax during class. They also report that they were able to access the skills they learned in prenatal yoga while giving birth to their babies, and that their yoga practice contributed greatly to the stamina needed for childbirth, as well as the body awareness needed for more productive and supportive breathing during the most difficult contractions. In general, women have mentioned feeling stronger, more grounded and ultimately better prepared to give birth.

One very important benefit to prenatal yoga is that it provides an opportunity for a mother and child to begin creating the foundation for their relationship that will continue when the baby emerges from the mother's body. The practice of yoga not only helps a pregnant woman make a deeper connection to her own body, but also deeper emotional connection with her baby. One of the ways the class helps facilitate that is through the meditation practice that involves the mother placing a hand on her belly while breathing with awareness and concentration to direct this positive energy to her growing baby.

Experts have concurred - what women already know intuitively - that if the mom is relaxed, the baby is relaxed. It's not hard to imagine that subtle energy expressions may pass from mother to child through this intimate uterine environment. So it stands to reason that as a mom learns relaxation and breathing techniques, then her growing baby receives these benefits as well. Furthermore, she can certainly continue to benefit from these relaxation techniques after her child is born, which is when the next adventure begins.

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"Shut up!" "I hate you!" "You're stupid!" Sad to say, these are the phrases one may easily hear in the halls of any typical elementary school. Most kids receive a bombardment of negative words from their peers, mass media, and sometimes even their family members. And these verbal impressions go deep. Unkind words like these examples proliferate in this hurried, thoughtless culture of ours-a culture that does not encourage careful spoken exchanges. Impulsive by nature, children find it especially difficult to pause and meditate on the impact of their words before repeating the harsh messages they have absorbed from their culture. One great way to curb the impulsiveness of kids and to encourage them to see the goodness within themselves and others is to introduce them to a yoga class that is tailored specifically to their age group.

Yoga for adults evokes the stereotype of mellowed-out people contorting themselves into odd shapes and chanting incessantly in an attempt to achieve perfect bliss. Stereotypes aside, this is not such a terrible goal in a challenging world that seems to push us all toward speaking harsh words for the purpose of harming each other. As yoga flourishes in the mainstream of popular culture and continues to attract more and more people, studios respond to this increased demand by being more creative in their offerings. Those adults, who have been chanting and contorting their way to bliss, must be getting what they want because now they are seeking to extend their bliss to the ones they hold most dear: their children.

Kids' yoga can look and sound very different than yoga for adults, but the hope is that the end results-the feelings of harmony and inner calm-can be the same. For example adults' yoga is usually very quiet, and one individual's movement does not go beyond the space of a single mat. By contrast kids' yoga is often loud, and the kids have the run of the whole studio space for their movement. In fact, a casual listener at the door to the studio during the kids' class will be surprised by the sounds of barking, mooing, and meowing. The reason for the animal noises is that kids learn differently than adults. Instead of memorizing unfamiliar Sanskrit names, kids eventually come to understand the yoga poses if they first get to see a picture of someone in that pose, then do the pose themselves, and then attach an animal story and sound to each pose. Even better, kids can read a book or play a game involving different animals and then create their own yoga poses for each animal. Cat pose may vary from week to week, depending on the kids and the context in which they are making their bodies into cats. The best kids' yoga classes are the ones where the kids themselves take the initiative to lead the poses with minimal structure mandated by the teachers. This type of class allows room for the kids' natural creativity to express itself, using this new vocabulary of yoga.

That's not to say that kids' yoga classes are wild or unplanned. Kids' yoga teachers often plan classes with breathing activities, yoga games, sun salutations, stories, playacting, and meditation at the end. Safety, of course, is always at the forefront of each teacher's mind, as in yoga for adults. But in the kids' class there is a strong emphasis on individualized instruction and acceptance and encouragement for each child. There is often more than one teacher, and it is rarely quiet during asanas. While in an adult yoga class it's common to see all the adults doing similar movements at the same time, in a kids' class the requirements of safety (combined with creativity) mean that each kid is doing what is right for him or her on that particular day with guided support from the teachers. Teachers implement boundaries and sequences in order to impose a structure of safety and ritual. Then within those boundaries, the teacher may encourage the kids to foster a sense of community that nurtures and respects each person as an individual. 

Kids' yoga is one wonderful method of helping each child feel centered and special, as well as recognize and honor those qualities in others. Kids do yoga with their whole bodies in an active and engaged manner, and while they may think they are merely emulating elephants, dogs, and monkeys, they often arrive at the meditation stage of the class in a lighter and calmer mood than when they walked into the room. Often kids come into the studio bouncing off the walls in typical kid fashion, and by the end of class the teachers have to nudge them gently out of their deep meditation-a state of stillness that previously would have seemed unimaginable for these energized little people. The hope is that they will carry this peacefulness into their daily lives, that they will be more likely to speak kind and thoughtful words, a little more self-assured about their bodies, and a lot more aware of the light within other people and within themselves. Namaste.

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Kirtan, the ancient Indian practice of spirited group chanting, is becoming more and more popular in the West especially with the rising interest in yoga. Time magazine recently did a story on this growing phenomenon featuring some of the more prominent chanters spreading the seeds of this heart-centered yoga practice by blending the traditional sounds of kirtan with American musical sensibilities. This month's article introduces the art and practice of kirtan, and includes a suggested listening guide for people interested in exploring more deeply how this form of participatory musical prayer is awakening hearts from East to West.

The practice of chanting exists in all the world spiritual traditions in different forms. Gregorian Chant, praying the Rosary, and gospel music are more familiar examples of chant and musical prayer from the Christian tradition. Chanting is also a common way to pray or meditate in Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, and many native traditions.
Kirtan is the practice of singing sacred mantras over and over again in a simple melodic and rhythmic format, accessible to anyone. The word mantra comes from Sanskrit root words whose meaning is "to set free the chattering mind". Each mantra is often associated with a particular spiritual energy that we can awaken from within through heartfelt chanting. The practice of kirtan can be approached simply as a form of meditation, whereby the repetition of the mantra cleanses and clarifies the mind. And, if it's your intention, kirtan can be a spectacular form of prayer and means to awaken spiritual consciousness. The great Hindu saint Ammachi says "To gain concentration in this spiritually dark age, kirtan is better than meditation. By loud singing, other distracting sounds will be overcome and concentration will be achieved. If kirtan is sung with one pointedness, such songs will benefit the singer, the listener, and also Mother Nature."

One of the most popular ways of practicing kirtan is in a call-and-response fashion. The chant leader will sing the mantra and everyone else in the group will respond. As the chant is sung back and forth, often accompanied by lively musical instruments and drumming, the energy shared among the group becomes more and more powerful. Kirtan provides an opportunity to set free emotional energy stored in the body, and that release can be quite liberating. Chanter and recording artist Jai Uttal says "Walls constructed long ago come crumbling down. Wounds that we never knew were there begin to heal. Long submerged emotions, both joy and sorrow, come to the surface to be offered up into the chant. And somehow, effortlessly, we move into a meditative state that creates a safe, calm haven for the flower of the heart to unfold." 

What I love most about chanting is the freedom I feel when I sing and the serenity that comes afterward. Sir James Barie said, "If you cannot teach me to fly, teach me to sing." When the chant is concluded, participants often feel deep peace, renewed energy, and a measurable sense of aliveness and sensitivity that was not there before. According to chant expert Robert Gass, author of Chanting: Discovering Spirit in Sound, chanting improves one's health for many reasons: the repetition of the chant slows down and deepens the breath; the sound vibrations resonate and massage the body from the inside out; brain wave patterns are measurably altered, creating states of relaxation or heightened creative energy; muscle tension relaxes; skin temperature changes; and blood pressure and heart rate go down.

If you are interested in listening to the power of kirtan, the following kirtan recordings, which integrate Eastern and Western music, will provide a wonderful introduction: Krishna Das is one of the most popular of American chanters. His voice resonates a warm, deep devotion captured in all his recordings. I highly recommend "Live On Earth," a double CD live kirtan recording. He also does a wonderful segue way from mantra to the gospel classic Amazing Grace (with harmonies by Sting) on the album "Pilgrim Heart". One of my favorite chanters is Jai Uttal, who was nominated last year for a Grammy, for his kirtan-inspired music. Jai has a bold and passionate voice full of longing, shaped by years of studying Indian Classical and devotional music. He recently released an excellent double CD called "Kirtan: The Art and Practice of Ecstatic Chant." He also has another wonderful kirtan album called "Nectar." South Indian musician Russill Paul presents a potent and distinct approach to kirtan in his interactive CD set The Yoga of Sound, and AM and PM Yoga Chants which includes suggestions for interacting with the recorded chants. Other popular musicians who are integrating kirtan into their work include Deva Premal, Bhagavan Das, Dave Stringer, and Wah! There are also numerous recordings of traditional kirtan recorded in India and available on the web.

Listening to kirtan can be quite uplifting, but there is nothing like the experience of unifying your voice with fellow seekers in a group setting. To experience the thrill of kirtan near you, inquire with local yoga studios. No musical experience or "talent" is required, just a desire to open your heart through song.  

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With the stratospheric rise in popularity of yoga in recent years, more and more Americans are returning to the practice of chanting mantras as a form of meditation and spiritual expression. Chanting is likely as ancient as humanity itself and is heard in nearly all the spiritual traditions of the world. Christian monks and nuns sing the heavenly melodies of Gregorian chant in Latin to praise God. In Jewish temples, cantors lead worshippers in melodious Hebrew scriptures. In Islamic communities, each morning the Imam awakens Muslims with the Arabic call to prayer followed by the intonation of verses from the Koran. Brahmin priests lead Hindus in worship by reciting the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of India, often called "the song of God." Buddhists utter powerful mantras as a form of meditation and a means to cultivate compassion and loving kindness. Native Americans raise their voices and drum to attune to the powers of nature. In indigenous African traditions, chant is a means to connect with the soul of the world. But, what is it about this primal act of chanting sacred sounds that continues to capture the imagination of people in our contemporary, technologically-oriented society? Following are some possible answers. 

The World is Sound

Perhaps contemporary chanters are intuiting what our ancestors took for granted-that the fabric of the world itself is comprised of sonic vibration. We can find references to the power of sound and speech in the creation stories of many cultural and spiritual traditions. The Judeo-Christian tradition says, "In the beginning was the Word..." (John 1:1,14) and "God said, 'Let there be light,' And there was light." (Genesis 1:1-3) In the Ethiopian cosmology, God created the Universe by calling out his own name, and Egyptian and Babylonian myths tell similar stories. The aboriginal people of Australia say the world and its creatures were sung into existence. In the Vedas, India's oldest scriptures, the mantra "OM" is described as the vibrational force that forms the essence of all creation.

We could choose to dismiss these stories as fables devised by unsophisticated people trying to explain their world, were it not for the fact that contemporary science, in its own language, tells similar stories. Today's physicists state that subatomic particles in all matter-even the hardest, densest material-is in fact vibrating. In this light, we can see that both the poetic narratives of our ancestors and the empirical data identified by science are telling us that the world is sound. People who chant are deliberately participating in the song of life.

Chanting is Good for Your Health

The pioneering French doctor Alfred Tomatis, lauded for his breakthroughs in auditory neurophysiology, made significant discoveries about sound and chant. In 1967, Tomatis was asked to come to a French Benedictine monastery where many of the monks were experiencing a bizarre exhaustion and illness. Tomatis discovered that a new abbot had recently taken the helm of the monastery. In this post-Vatican II climate of change, the new abbot ordered the monks to cease chanting the Divine Office, the traditional six-to-eight-hour-a-day chanting practice, because he believed chanting was no longer useful. After Dr. Tomatis convinced the monks to return to their ritual of chanting seven times a day, their health and energy magically improved. The revitalized monks resumed their prodigious work schedule.

As a result of this study and others, Tomatis proposed that certain sounds, particularly higher frequencies, charge the brain with electrical potential, and are capable of creating more physical and mental vitality. He actually referred to sound, particularly self-created sound in the form of chant, as "nutrition for the brain."

According to chant expert Robert Gass, author of Chanting: Discovering Spirit in Sound, chanting improves one's health for many reasons: the repetition of the chant slows down and deepens the breath; the sound vibrations resonate and massage the body from the inside out; brain wave patterns are measurably altered, creating states of relaxation or heightened creative energy; muscle tension relaxes; skin temperature changes; blood pressure and heart rate go down.

Chanting Quiets the Mind and Frees the Spirit

"Mantra," comes from two Sanskrit words that translate "to set free the discursive mind." People who chant a mantra over and over again often report that the repetition of the sound washes away their distracting thoughts and creates a peaceful clarity that is difficult to achieve in daily life. Others find chanting to be an extremely effective way of entering into silent meditation.
In the Indian tradition, chanting is called by the Sanskrit word, "kirtan", which has its roots in the Bhakti tradition, the yoga of devotion. Kirtan is a heart-centered spiritual practice, in which people pour their emotions into prayerful song. In this style of chanting, the notion of musical or vocal "talent" is thrown out the window. Contemporary chanter Jai Uttal says, "There is no right or wrong way to sing kirtan. Kirtan can be breathtakingly beautiful, the music can be stunning and masterful; and it can be cacophonous, dissonant, and almost painful to the ears. Aesthetics don't matter. All that matters is the spirit, the feeling . . . Kirtan is an oil well digging deeper and deeper into the heart . . As we sing, we immerse ourselves in an endless river of prayer that has been flowing since the birth of the first human beings, longing to know their creator."

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Yoga is usually thought of as a solo practice, but the practice of partner yoga is an exception. Partner yoga, whether practiced in a class or at home, is designed for two people who want to nurture each other in their practice of yoga. This intentional act of giving and receiving, through the vehicle of yoga, can often create deeper awareness, learning, and connection between friends. A partner yoga class can also be a great date, and a unique and beautiful way for couples to connect. Given that we celebrate Valentine's Day this month, this issue's column explores the artful practice of partner yoga.

Partner yoga is centered around helping each other through the gift of touch. Cain Carroll and Lori Kimata, authors of the book Partner Yoga: Making Contact for Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Growth say " Like food and water, touch and intimacy are basic human needs. As naked and vulnerable newborns, we thrive on skin-to-skin contact with other humans. Yet somewhere between infancy and adulthood, this fulfilling nourishment from touch is virtually lost. In today's high-tech world, most of us are more comfortable connecting with each other through machines and modems than our own skin. Yet for optimum health, we all need to touch - and to be touched."

In partner-supported yoga, one person enters a yoga pose (the receiver), while the other (the giver) helps their partner, through resistance stretching, massage techniques, and conscious breathing. For example, if the receiver comes into a simple pose like a standing forward bend, the giver may help their partner relax into the pose in a variety of ways: guiding the receiver with their hands to hinge the hips as they fold forward; massaging down their back using a variety of simple techniques; combing into the scalp with the fingernails to help relax the head and neck; skillfully bearing their weight into the receiver to help them lengthen in the pose; and synchronizing the rhythm of their breath to their partner's to encourage greater connection. In a simple standing backbend, the giver stands solidly behind their partner compassionately supporting their gentle arch back, using hands to roll their shoulders open and to expand their chest-- helping their partner to cultivate trust and open-heartedness. There are a variety of fun, imaginative methods to help someone relax more fully into yoga poses. After a sequence of poses accompanied by assists like the latter, the roles of giver and receiver are reversed.

Participants are encouraged to communicate honestly with their partner as they teach each other how they would like to be touched and supported. In this way, the partner yoga experience becomes a safe and comfortable arena to practice sincere, open communication. One student describes this benefit of partner yoga: "As we took turns being both the "giver" and the "receiver", we were able to, in a very non-threatening way, work on deep relationship issues such as communicating our needs, likes and dislikes, allowing ourselves to be truly vulnerable to each other and learning how to love and nurture each other unconditionally.  So few couples get the opportunity to work on these issues outside of traditional therapy and they usually only do so when there is a 'problem.' It made such a difference having these things just emerge organically within the practice of yoga."

Through the cycle of giving and receiving, clear communication, and the incredibly relaxing effects of the postures- a deeper intimacy blossoms between partners. As a giver you help to release the physical, emotional, and mental tension in your partner through your kind touch, nurturing them into a deeper spiritual connection to life force through yoga. As a receiver, it can be a powerful, healing act to let go of the impulse to control, while surrendering and expanding into your partner's loving touch. As a session evolves, partners begin to tune into each other more deeply, and the verbal communication becomes less necessary. Partners learn the subtle art of channeling loving kindness towards each other through the quality of their touch. The giver begins to "listen" with their hands, guided by the "speech" of their partner's body. If the partners are open to it, the practice can become very meditative as the giving and receiving begin to blend together and a spiritual connection between partners is cultivated. Partner yoga is a fun and powerful method for restoring growth, depth, and harmony within ourselves and our relationships.

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Most people in the west associate the practice of yoga with Hatha Yoga, the branch of yoga that works intentionally with physical postures and breathing. Hatha Yoga is in fact the most popular form of yoga today in the west. Yet, there are many other branches in the glorious and abundant tree of yoga that should be recognized in order to have an informed vision of the full spectrum of yoga. The beautiful thing about this diversity of yoga paths is that each works in a different way to unite individual consciousness with universal consciousness. These branches include: Raja Yoga (which focuses on meditation), Karma Yoga (which emphasizes selfless service), Jnana Yoga (which stresses an intellectual, scholarly approach to spirituality), Mantra Yoga (the yoga of working with energy-based sounds), and Tantra Yoga (which focuses on ritual), I will be delving more into these other branches of yoga in future columns. However, in this month's column, the focus will be on the emotion-driven spiritual practice of Bhakti Yoga, the yoga of the heart.

Bhakti Yoga: Doorway of the Heart

Bhakti Yoga is the passionate yoga of the heart, the yoga of devotion, of channeling our emotional energy into our connection with spirit. In this form of yoga, practitioners are encouraged to experience a deep, heart-felt relationship with the divine in all things, and to let this spiritual relationship inform interactions with all creatures. "Bhakti yogis express the devotional nature of their path in their every thought, word, and deed-- whether they are taking out the trash or calming the anger of a loved one," says Yoga Journal columnist Mara Carrico.

Traditionally many Bhakti yogis would perceive the divine in a personified form in order to awaken their hearts and stir a deeply emotional connection with God. This passionate connection to God is apparent in many spiritual traditions. Renowned yoga teachers Sharron Gannon and David Life, in their book Jivamukti Yoga, tell us that the Catholic mystic Saint Teresa of Avila told of her ecstatic relationship with her beloved Jesus, and the thirteenth-century Sufi mystic and poet Rumi who described himself in poem after poem as a drunken lover intoxicated by the kiss of the Divine.

As opposed to other branches of yoga that emphasize solitary spiritual disciplines, Bhakti Yoga often expresses itself in a celebration of love and spirit within the sensuality of daily life as well as working with the creative arts as a form of spiritual offering. One of my most influential teachers Bhakti musician Jai Uttal, says, "In Bhakti yoga, we keep our minds concentrated on the eternal, but we lead with our hearts. We sing, we dance, we play music, we write poetry, we cook, paint, make love and do it all as part of our dialogue with our eternal beloved."

One of the most essential practices of Bhakti Yoga is chanting simple, sacred mantras in a practice called kirtan. Kirtan is a way of releasing emotional energy, from anger to love, through the vehicle of vocal sound. It is a deceptively simple practice which involves pouring emotional expression into the singing of repetitive melodies which has the effect of washing away the chatter of the analytical mind.

Uttal says, "Bhakti Yoga brings us into the world of mystery, a realm where the dissecting , discerning qualities of the intellect are powerless next to the vast ocean of feelings. Bhakti is about surrender; surrendering our personal heart into the Great Heart, offering our self will and all our efforts and actions to that vast Consciousness, to God. Not my will but Thy will be done."

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