Yoga Inspiration

• #203: An Ocean of Grace, Saumanasya - The Cheerful Disposition of the Yogi's Mind

  Many of us come to yoga seeking relief. Relief from pain, from restlessness, from uncertainty. And sometimes we find it. But over time, what we discover is more lasting than relief. We discover presence. We discover steadiness. We discover a kind of joy that doesn’t have to shout. It only has to be. So we practice. Not to get rid of pain, but to know it. To meet it with clarity and care. And in that meeting, we find something remarkable: joy is still possible.   It is a joy that knows sorrow. A happiness that is not threatened by difficulty. This is the depth of saumanasya. Saumanasya is defined by Patañjali as cheerfulness—it could also be translated as “mental clarity,” “gentle gladness,” or even “spiritual contentment.” But this is not about putting on a smile or chasing a feeling. It’s the natural radiance of a mind that has become unentangled. In Pāli, the same word appears as saumanassa, and it’s spoken of as a kind of mental vedanā—a feeling tone that arises not from external stimulation, but from deep, internal stillness.   It’s not the kind of joy that explodes in celebration or depends on everything going our way. It’s the joy that arises when the striving quiets down. When the noise fades. When the heart is unburdened. And perhaps most beautifully, it’s a joy that does not replace suffering, but includes it.   Practice LIVE with me exclusively on Omstars! Start your journey today with a 7-day free trial at omstars.com.   Limited time Offer: Sign up for an Omstars+ membership and Get my FREE course: Ashtanga Mechanics. Sign up Here!   Stay connected with us on social @omstarsofficial and @kinoyoga Practice with me in person for workshops, classes, retreats, trainings and Mysore seasons. Find out more about where I’m teaching at kinoyoga.com and sign up for our Mysore season in Miami at www.miamilifecenter.com

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• #202: How Yoga Grows a Heart of Unconditional Compassion

  In the closing prayer of the Ashtanga practice, we chant: svasti prajābhyaḥ pari-pālayantāṁ, nyāyena mārgena mahīṁ mahīśāḥ, gobrāhmaṇebhyaḥ śubham astu nityaṁ, lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu. These ancient words are an offering — a prayer for all beings to be protected, for the rulers of the earth to walk the path of righteousness, for all sacred beings to be blessed, and for every living soul across all worlds to experience happiness and freedom. The final invocation, Oṁ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ, repeats the call for peace three times — for peace in the outer world, peace within ourselves, and peace in the unseen cosmic realms.   This spirit of universal love is the very heart of yoga. In Sanskrit, the word for this love is prema — drawn from the root pri, meaning “to love” or “to gladden.” Prema is not an ordinary affection tied to desires; it is a pure, selfless love that flows naturally into service — seva. In the Bhakti Sūtras, it is said: sa tu prema-rūpā — “True devotion takes the form of pure love.” When we step onto our mats each morning, struggling and surrendering through the rhythm of breath and movement, we are invited into this deeper practice: not merely to perfect poses, but to offer every breath, every effort, as an act of prema — love — and seva — service — to all life.   Thus, Ashtanga yoga becomes more than personal discipline; it becomes a ritual of the heart. Every vinyāsa is an offering. Every challenge faced with patience is a prayer. Every fall and every rise is an act of love made visible. Through this spirit, we fulfill the timeless prayer: lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu — “May all beings everywhere be happy and free.”   Practice LIVE with me exclusively on Omstars! Start your journey today with a 7-day free trial at omstars.com.   Limited time Offer: Sign up for an Omstars+ membership and Get my FREE course: Ashtanga Mechanics. Sign up Here!   Stay connected with us on social @omstarsofficial and @kinoyoga Practice with me in person for workshops, classes, retreats, trainings and Mysore seasons. Find out more about where I’m teaching at kinoyoga.com and sign up for our Mysore season in Miami at www.miamilifecenter.com  

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• #201: Tears of the Path: Saṁvega and the Ocean Within — A Reflection on Feeling Deeply, Seeing Clearly, and Walking the Path with Urgency

  As we go deeper on the spiritual path—whether through yoga, meditation, or self-inquiry—we often discover a paradox: We feel more peace… but we also feel more pain. The highs become transcendent. The lows, unbearable. We start to feel everything more intensely. This intensity is not a mistake. It is the heart of the path.   The Buddha says: you have felt more grief than the ocean holds water. This isn’t just poetry. It’s a spiritual earthquake. This is not to depress us, but to awaken us—to stir our hearts. This stirring is known in Buddhism as saṁvega.   This feeling—though unsettling—is a sacred catalyst. It’s what Prince Siddhartha felt when he saw old age, sickness, and death. It’s what every sincere practitioner eventually encounters: not just the suffering of the world, but the raw truth of our entanglement in it.   You begin to see the pain in pleasure—how even joy is tinged with impermanence.   You see the subtle violence of craving, the ache beneath distraction.   Your old ways of coping no longer work.   This is grace, not failure. Because only when we see duḥkha clearly, can we begin to walk a path beyond it. These are cracks in the illusion. And through those cracks, truth pours in. The practice is not to patch them up, but to stay open.   Yoga gives us a container:   Asana: to ground the body as emotion rises   Prāṇāyāma: to stabilize the nervous system as old energy releases   Meditation: to witness pain without collapsing into it   Bhakti: to open the heart in devotion rather than despair   And ultimately, viveka—discernment—so that we can feel the pain of the world without losing our place in it.   Practice LIVE with me exclusively on Omstars! Start your journey today with a 7-day free trial at omstars.com.   Limited time Offer: Sign up for an Omstars+ membership and Get my FREE course: Ashtanga Mechanics. Sign up Here!   Stay connected with us on social @omstarsofficial and @kinoyoga Practice with me in person for workshops, classes, retreats, trainings and Mysore seasons. Find out more about where I’m teaching at kinoyoga.com and sign up for our Mysore season in Miami at www.miamilifecenter.com

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• #200: The Benefits of Strong Practice in Cultivating Tapas

  Sometimes we may not understand why it is necessary to engage in strong practice. This talk dives into how the effects we put into asana practice cultivate a powerful internal fire of purification. This was a talk given after a 4 day immersion with Kino and Tim in Bangkok.   Practice LIVE with me exclusively on Omstars! Start your journey today with a 7-day free trial at omstars.com.   Limited time Offer: Sign up for an Omstars+ membership and Get my FREE course: Ashtanga Mechanics. Sign up Here!   Stay connected with us on social @omstarsofficial and @kinoyoga Practice with me in person for workshops, classes, retreats, trainings and Mysore seasons. Find out more about where I’m teaching at kinoyoga.com and sign up for our Mysore season in Miami at www.miamilifecenter.com

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• #199: Honoring the Lineage and Understanding Merit in Ashtanga Yoga

  Kino and Tim discuss how to honor the lineage in the absence of our teachers. They further dive into the definition of what constitutes merit in the practice of Yoga. Ending with a Q&A that captures the spirit of the conclusion of their first week of teaching in Bali   Practice LIVE with me exclusively on Omstars! Start your journey today with a 7-day free trial at omstars.com.   Limited time Offer: Sign up for an Omstars+ membership and Get my FREE course: Ashtanga Mechanics. Sign up Here!   Stay connected with us on social @omstarsofficial and @kinoyoga Practice with me in person for workshops, classes, retreats, trainings and Mysore seasons. Find out more about where I’m teaching at kinoyoga.com and sign up for our Mysore season in Miami at www.miamilifecenter.com

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