Swami Asokananda: Yoga, Healing the Mind, and Inner Peace

Yoga, Bhagavad Gita, and the patient work of Self-Realization.In this conversation, Swami Asokananda, shares how we can continue to grow spiritually while resting in that which is already whole, complete, and perfect. He shares his experiences and insights on:1) Skillfully working with negative thoughts, while simultaneously loosening identification with thinkingness itself2) The Art of meeting reactivity with compassion and turning it into bliss3) Discovering the True Self beyond competition, comparison, and conditioning4) Cultivating discipline that is rigorous yet tender, structured yet flexible, and fueled not by anxiety and ambition but by devotionSwami Asokananda is a yogi and a monk of more than fifty years in the Integral Yoga tradition. He is a senior disciple of Swami Satchidananda, a formative figure in modern yoga and universal spirituality in the West. He currently serves as President of the Integral Yoga Institute in New York City and teaches internationally on the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and advanced Hatha Yoga Teacher Training.Follow his daily brief teachings on the Bhagavd Gita here: https://www.facebook.com/swami.asokanandaTo learn more about his life, check out this episode of the Integral Yoga Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLyP2KsVbjkInternational Yoga Institute, New York City: https://iyiny.org/Timestamps:00:00 Welcome00:54 Not reacting to thoughts05:21 The Soul disidentifies with the mind and seeks to return Home07:39 Compassion for Negative Thoughts, Without Identifying with Them09:57 Dullness, Energy, and Poise12:39 The Relationship Between Psychology and Spirituality19:01 Healing from Past Traumas28:17 Insights from the Psychedelic Experience40:39 Swami Satchidananda's Teaching: Letting Go of Competitiveness and Jealousy47:38 Moving past rigid discipline: Right Relationship with Food and Sexual Energy56:24 Swami Satchidananda's Teaching: 'Try Softer'01:01:45 Cultivating Right Discipline: Neither Tyrannical, Nor Complacent01:05:56 Where do you see God?01:11:27 Transcending Limitations to Seeing Perfection01:19:09 Stages of Spiritual Growth: We can't force ourselves to be what we are not01:22:44 You can't force yourself to be more loving than you are01:26:46 Faith, Prayer, and Surrender01:35:24 Student Question: Human Evil and the Will of God01:39:36 Student Question: Goodness without God01:41:56 Karma Yoga: Letting Go of Attachment to Results01:44:36 The Bhagavad Gita and Integral Yoga01:47:02 "Still Crazy after All These Years"01:48:20 A Prayer