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Published October 18, 2026 03:33AMIn Yoga Journal’s Archives series, we share a curated collection of articles originally published in past issues beginning in 1975. This article about Tadasana (Mountain Pose) first appeared in the January-February 1990 issue of Yoga Journal. Find more of our Archives here. As human beings, we find ourselves immersed in one of the most critical transition phases in the Earth’s evolution. Our technology now allows us to profoundly alter the state and direction of this evolution, and as all evidence from the natural world indicates, our technological intrusions can have a disastrous impact on the ecosystem and all…

On October 14, 1956, B. R. Ambedkar, the Dalit activist and chief architect of the Indian constitution, led nearly half a million followers in a mass conversion to Buddhism. The conversion set in motion the development of a religious movement known as Navayana, or New Buddhism, which positioned Buddhism as a fierce rejection of Hindu nationalism and caste politics. In Ambedkar’s reading, Buddhism was uniquely suited to support a revolutionary reconstruction of Indian society grounded in religious transformation. In the years since his death, many Dalits have followed his example and converted to Buddhism as a form of protest and…

Published October 16, 2026 11:16AMIn Yoga Journal’s Archives series, we share a curated collection of articles originally published in past issues beginning in 1975. This article about Marichyasana first appeared in the November-December 1987 issue of Yoga Journal. Find more of our Archives here. The symbols used in depicting the chakras are taken from Hindu mythology—conches, tridents, lotuses, cobras—and on the surface seem alien to the Western mind. But the meaning behind the symbols is universal and open for all to experience. The sixth chakra of the kundalini system, called ajna chakra, is located between the eyebrows, and is traditionally…

Spiritual practice is very important. However, it is not something we can force ourselves to do; our mind will generate aversion if we force it. Adoption of a practice has to be based on reasons, such as appreciation of the rarity of our precious human rebirth. When we understand the reasons for spiritual practice, the wish to engage in it will arise naturally.  Other forms of life, such as animals and even gods, are not really able to engage in spiritual practice, as animals lack the intelligence, and gods are too distracted to seek out practice. The best physical basis…

I’ve always believed you can never have too many books in your TBR pile—and that reading more than one book at a time isn’t a sign of distraction, but a reflection of our layered lives. Our moods shift, our attention ebbs and flows, and different seasons call for different stories. That’s why I love having a nightstand (okay, and a few shelves) stacked with novels, essays, and poetry collections ready to meet me exactly where I’m at, whether I’m seeking comfort, challenge, escape, or connection. If you’re looking to bulk up your to-be-read list or standing in front of your…

The value of a man was reduced to his immediate identity and nearest possibility. To a vote. To a number. To a thing. Never was a man treated as a mind. As a glorious thing made of star dust. —Rohith Vemula, January 17, 2016 On a January morning in 2016, a 26-year-old PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad left behind a suicide note that would shake India’s conscience. The Dalit student and activist Rohith Vemula had been suspended from his university, evicted from his hostel, and effectively erased from institutional life because of his caste and his activism with…

When I pick up my daughter from school I always ask her to give me the scoop. I frame it like I’m a reporter looking for a juicy story to break, hoping to get more details than the usual one-word response I can expect if I just ask how her day was. “What’s the scuttlebutt?” I like to say. “Tell me everything.” “When I pick up my daughter from school I always ask her to give me the scoop.” Usually, she starts with any big changes, or a report on who got in trouble that day, or if the teacher had…

Have you ever felt relief and gratitude coming home after a long day of work and seeing dinner ready on the table? Or felt that warm, fuzzy feeling after someone compliments your style as you pass by? We don’t always know how much a small act of kindness means, but gestures like these, big or small, create memorable moments that can brighten a tough day and turn it around. We’ve all struggled or had moments when we’ve felt lonely, and often it’s the kindness of our loved ones and community that makes all the difference in our day, or even our lives. You…

Grief and love are deeply interconnected, and it was my experience of both that led me to write the article “Contemplations on the Five Mindfulness Trainings: A New Paradigm for Racial Justice and the Global Pandemic.” I began writing in 2019 as I supported my brother, Sam, month after month during his treatment for chronic heart failure, which eventually led to his death in February 2020. I was not only grieving his death, but I was also mourning the end of my ambiguous and complicated fifteen-year marriage. This was followed by desperate months of quarantine, isolation, and physical distance due…

Published October 11, 2026 04:37AMIn Yoga Journal’s Archives series, we share a curated collection of articles originally published in past issues beginning in 1975. This article about Eight-Angle Pose first appeared in the July-August 2000 issue of Yoga Journal. Find more of our Archives here.  If you’ve watched children play with a new toy, you’ve seen them try to do all sorts of things with it, quite often having nothing to do with its intended purpose. Their play is tied into their sense of curiosity. This kind of experimentation is crucial in practicing yoga. For the student of yoga, a…