Yoga with Karen at Aruna Yoga

06/11/2025

Tree Response to Love: A Non-Local Experiment
Imagine if human love could actually nourish a tree. Could collective love and appreciation ripple across distance and spark a change in nature itself?
A large group of approximately 380 people from around the globe participated in a non-local experiment sending love and appreciation to one of four Sugar Gum Maple trees for 10 minutes each day over 4 consecutive days.
Participants joined a scheduled zoom meeting each day and were guided in a 10-minute heart focused meditation directing love and appreciation to the tree.
During the meditation, a live video of the tree was spotlighted to help participants energetically connect with the tree that was being focused on. The other three nearby trees were the same species, and all of them were planted at the same time, around 25 years ago and served as the controls for the experiment.
The tree receiving the focused love (top black trace below) responded with increased amplitude in the circadian rhythm amplitude after the first day of the experiment, which is a key indicator of a tree’s health.
View more Tree Research, https://treerhythms.net/trees

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05/11/2025

Our hearts are not isolated organs but instruments in a global symphony of connection…

05/11/2025

29/10/2025

Scientists from Kyoto University have discovered that human cells can actually respond to sound waves changing gene activity, physical behavior, and even decisions about becoming fat. When researchers played pure tones, like 440 Hz and 14 kHz, directly into cell cultures, the cells reacted within hours. Over 140 genes linked to inflammation, stress, and repair altered their expression, suggesting that sound isn’t just noise it’s a physical force our bodies can feel and interpret.

Even more fascinating, continuous sound exposure reduced the activity of two key fat-forming genes (Cebpa and Pparg) by more than 70%. In other words, the tones stopped stem cells from turning into fat cells. While it’s still early research, this study opens the door to exploring how sound could influence healing, metabolism, or even future acoustic therapies showing that the language of life might also be spoken in vibrations.

Source/Credit: Kyoto University / Biophysical Journal (2024)

05/09/2025

Treasure

We are frequently heedless of the clutter of thoughts and feelings that crowd our minds from one moment to the next. Of the thousand thoughts that flit through our minds every hour, we are aware only of some, we act on a few, and we drift with the rest.

Many find it difficult to discipline the unhealthy longings of body. To eat less or exercise more, for instance, requires a feat of will. And even for those of strong will and consistent discipline, mastering the mind is a harder quest by far. The goal of classical yoga is to discipline this scattered mind, to turn it from wayward rambling to focused concentration.

The authoritative work on classical yoga—the Yogasutras of Patanjali, along with its traditional commentaries—explains the practice of meditation and the psychology of yoga in detail. Patanjali’s yoga is sometimes called raja (“king”) yoga: it is the “king,” or highest, among the practices of yoga—the “royal path.” The title is well-deserved.

The yoga described by Patanjali is a systematic method for making the transition from the distracted mind that rules our decisions to a steady and peaceful mind that waits upon our command. As a logical necessity and to be deemed “classical” or “traditional,” any method of yoga must be concordant with the greater path described by Patanjali.

⭐️ Book link: Krishnamacharya: His Life and Teachings. See more at: https://geni.us/Z9FZe.
👉 The Svastha Yoga Therapy Training (IAYT accredited) offers comprehensive 300 and 800-hour programs, now available online. Explore more at: on.svastha.net/3QTTMm3

03/09/2025

The beauty you see outside yourself is a reflection of the beauty within…

02/09/2025

Sound is so much more than something we hear, it touches us and can move us deeply ✨🎼🪘🪈🪇🎷🎹🎻🎸🌊🕊️💨

Sound isn’t just something we hear — it’s something our cells can feel. In a groundbreaking study, researchers from Kyoto University have revealed that audible sound waves can directly influence how our cells behave, opening a new frontier in non-invasive medical therapies.

Using a custom-designed system to deliver precise sound vibrations to cell cultures, the scientists discovered that even low-intensity acoustic waves could suppress the formation of fat cells and activate or suppress specific genes. These findings suggest that sound isn’t merely a sensory experience — it’s a mechanical signal that can alter biological processes.

At the heart of this research is the idea that sound is a form of mechanical energy. Like waves rippling through air or water, sound travels through our tissues and cells. The Kyoto team used this principle to design an experiment that bathed cultured cells in sound pressure and then analyzed how those cells responded. The results were striking: over 190 genes were found to be sound-sensitive, and one of the most pronounced effects was a reduction in adipocyte differentiation — the process of fat cell formation.

This discovery could mark a turning point in how we view sound and its potential in medicine. Unlike drugs or surgery, sound is non-material, non-invasive, and can be precisely controlled. As such, acoustic stimulation may offer a safe, fast-acting way to influence cell behavior — from altering gene expression to modulating how cells stick to their surroundings.

Beyond the medical implications, the study also challenges the traditional belief that sound perception is solely the domain of the ear and brain. Instead, it turns out your cells may be “listening” too — and responding in ways we’re just beginning to understand.

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📄 RESEARCH PAPER

📌 Masahiro Kumeta et al, "Acoustic modulation of mechanosensitive genes and adipocyte differentiation”, Communications Biology (2025)

09/08/2025

Y'all, I keep seeing posts for courses on how to integrate somatics into your yoga teaching - and I wanna say something about that.
If your practice and your yoga teaching aren't already somatically oriented - then what the heck have you been teaching?!
Please consider retraining.
Viniyoga, Kripalu, and other styles have ALWAYS been somatically oriented.
And here's a graphic to better describe how I feel about this situation.

21/07/2025

Yoga is accessible to everyone. This ancient holistic system offers many ways to discover our authentic selves through the body, breath and mind. We start with simple ranges of movements, which can be adapted to suit every body. We then integrate breath and movement which steadies the mind. As we de...