In an earlier age the poets and sages knew that falling in love is an experience of the Divine. When two people become enraptured with each other, they feel ecstasy and the delight of a timeless state of being. Any sense of isolation, pain or anxiety dissolves into the bliss. Keep reading
Featured Workshop
Have you experienced a deep loss or upset that has left you feeling stuck and fearful about starting new relationships or moving forward in life? In fact, we all go through difficult times, and many of us are searching for ways to heal and release the pain that’s weighing us down. This August 17–19, the Chopra Center is pleased to offer its special Healing the Heart workshop at the nurturing Lake San Marcos Resort in California. Read more about Healing the Heart
"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive." –Dalai Lama
"Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place." –Zora Neale Hurston
What's in Store
Benefit from increased energy and vitality, try supplementing your harmonized daily routine with herbal Rasayanas. Find the right herbs for you here
Balancing Your Dosha
Ashwagandha is one of the most beneficial herbs in Ayurvedic healing. It has been used since ancient times for a wide variety of conditions but is most well known for its rejuvenating properties. It’s helpful for both Vata and Kapha imbalances and can serve as a tonic for all of the doshas because it has the three tastes of bitter, astringent and sweet. Read more about Ashwagandha
What We're Eating
Greek Goddess Salad requires minimal preparation and is a refreshing light meal. Read on for recipe
The Chopra Center & Spa @ Dream in New York is pleased to offer a special Primordial Sound Meditation weekend this August 25–26. Join us and learn how to experience quieter, more peaceful levels of the mind. Call today to reserve your spot! 888.424.6772 x1639 Visit the Chopra Center NY website
Keeping Pets Safe
Most pets, including cats, dogs and rabbits, are more susceptible to heat stress than people. When the temperatures soar, animals can suffer from serious heat exhaustion and even stroke. The signs of this potentially fatal condition include heavy panting, glazed eyes, a rapid pulse, an unsteady gait, vomiting and a purple or dark red tongue.
If you observe these symptoms, it’s important to lower your pet’s body temperature right away by applying cold towels or ice packs to the chest, neck and head only. Also allow your pet to drink a little bit of water or lick some ice cubes. The most important step is to get to the veterinarian immediately.
What We're Listening To
Words from the Heart By Jet Izabella Thurmann Piano Music by Werner Elmker When you hear these poems, I want to touch your heart – I hope you will recognize, cry, and laugh.
What would your life be like if every decision, every word you spoke or whispered, every thought, and every deed first went through a filter of love? The Sufi poet Hafiz is quoted as saying, “When all your desires are distilled, you will cast just two votes: to love more, and be happy.” What if we could live for love in each moment? Imagine if rather than reacting to a pointed question with defensiveness and protection, we instead reacted with a smile. Imagine if we could gaze lovingly upon someone or something we have disdain for with sweetness, forgiveness, and joy. All love is in essence self-love. If you love yourself completely then there is no need to be defensive. If you love yourself unconditionally then everyone you see is a reflection of you. If you love yourself and forgive yourself and only want the best for yourself . . . then the best is love in every moment.
This Namasté celebrates love in all its expressions and invites you to shift the world to a more loving place simply by loving yourself a bit more. You can begin right now by smiling and saying “I love you” to yourself. Try it. How does that feel?
The next time your viewpoint is challenged – express love to your challenger. The next time you feel anger towards someone – give them a hug. The next time you are about to lash out – understand that the person could benefit from compassion. And most important, the next time you are about to blame yourself or beat yourself up for feeling “less than,” remember that you are worth all the love in the world – give yourself some credit because YOU ARE LOVE.
Regardless of whatever else is going on in your life right now or whatever regrets you have, you are a pretty remarkable being . . . divine in design, and universal in spirit. It took you years to create the patterns that make you who you are. It can take but a few seconds each day to begin the shift back to the whole, sweet perfection from which you first entered the earth plane – to a state of pure love.
Every member of our global Namasté community can start the process right now! First give yourself a hug. Close your eyes and take a deep breath and smile at the thought that you are not a human being having occasional spiritual experiences – you are a spiritual being filled with love and light, having the occasional human experience. For the next hour (only 60 minutes) respond to every disappointment, frustration, criticism, and unmet need FIRST with a smile and an overwhelming feeling of love – love for yourself, love for others, love for those who irritate you, love for those you deeply love, love for those you have hurt, and love for those who have hurt you. When your first response is love – for others and for yourself – then the world becomes a sweeter, more forgiving, joyous place.
Make a commitment today to smile at three people you don’t know, and to say “I love you” to three people you do know. Can you imagine if hundreds of thousands of people start that flow within one hour of reading Namasté? Won’t the planet feel just a bit more love?
Here at the Chopra Center (and all places north of the equator), the sweet warmth of summer has begun, so we’ve entitled this issue Summer Love. Those south of the equator have just started their winter of love. But love is love whether you’re in Australia or Canada or here in southern California. Wherever you are, there can be love.
We’ve put our hearts into this Namasté so that love can grow as far and wide as the Internet can reach. We encourage you to share as much of it as you can with people you love – members of your family, co-workers, acquaintances – just forward it to a friend and let the loving begin.
In this issue Deepak shares aspects of divine love, while David brings love to its most personal essence – the self. These two columns provide great insight into a daily practice of loving. We’ve created a weekend workshop – Healing the Heart – to help those who struggle with self-love, forgiveness, and emotional turbulence find the peace within and truly, finally heal. This month’s Namasté features this transformational program as well as our Perfect Health 5-day program, where you can be loved and nurtured by the Chopra Center staff and experience the cleansing effects of panchakarma.
We invite you to enjoy our yoga and meditation Q&A and a loving recipe from the Chopra Center Cookbook. Words of wisdom are lovingly placed throughout this issue of Namasté so that whatever you are reading, you are not far from a loving word or phrase. Deepak’s global bestseller The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success has been issued in a compact booklet form and we’re excited to offer it for the first time on the planet right here in Namasté. We also want you to come enjoy an event with us, and we’re offering two more weeks to take advantage of our Summer Solstice special discount, which makes every Chopra Center experience more affordable for you.
Whether you can join us in the next few months or whether you will simply meditate along with us each day throughout the world – know that we love you dearly. And as always, we look forward to your feedback, your questions, and your suggestions. Share the love!!!
Q: Is it true that placing my hands on my heart when I make a decision will lead me to the right path?
A: Yes, this is a wonderful practice. When you have a choice to make, put your hands over your heart and ask for its guidance. If you get a message of comfort, you can go forward with confidence. However, if you feel a sense of discomfort, pause and use your inner vision to see the possible consequences of your action. Using this heart technique will enable you to make the most spontaneously correct choices for yourself and everyone around you.
How We're Stretching
The Sun Salute(Surya Namaskara) is a deeply healing series of yoga postures that integrates the mind, body and breath. The cycle of 12 postures exercises all of the major joints and muscle groups, improves blood flow and circulation, increases the spine’s flexibility, promotes relaxation and offers many other profound benefits. Learn how to do Sun Salutations here
Yoga Retreat
Chopra Center is offering a special four-day yoga retreat designed by Deepak Chopra and David Simon to deepen your understanding of yoga, develop your meditation practice and explore the healing benefits of Ayurveda. Join us September 6–9 in Carlsbad, CA, for the Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga Retreat to learn powerful techniques you can use on the mat and in your daily life. The weekend retreat includes instruction in Primordial Sound Meditation, Ayurvedic lunches and instruction by certified Chopra Center teachers.
"Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius." - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
"Love is the most difficult and dangerous form of courage. Courage is the most desperate, admirable, and noble kind of love." - Delmore Schwartz
"What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us." –Helen Keller
The essence of love is the expansion of Self. One of my teachers used to say, “I love you, but it’s no concern of yours,” meaning that the expression of love is for the lover, more than for the beloved. Love is the tangible experience of constriction becoming expansion. When a child says, “I love my Webkins dog,” she’s communicating the exhilaration that comes from connecting with something that expands her identity. Keep reading
"Some day after we have mastered the winds, the waves and gravity, we will harness for God the energies of love; and then for a second time in the history of the world, humans will have discovered fire." – Teillard de Chardin
"Love is the reduction of the Universe to a single being." – Victor Hugo
"Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction." –Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"He who comes to do good knocks at the gate; he who loves finds the gate open." –Rabindranath Tagore
Gemstones for the Heart
Ayurvedic medicine uses gemstones to harmonize the mind and help balance the doshas. For instance, pearls are said to calm the emotions, decreasing Vata and Pitta while increasing Kapha. Read about more gemstones for the heart
EarlyBird Specials
Manifest your dreams SynchroDestiny October 11-14 Paradise Point, San Diego (60 day special pricing expires Aug 11)
Gain Emotional Freedom Healing the Heart Aug 17 - 19 Lake San Marcos, CA (30 day special pricing expires July 17)
Soul of Healing Sept 3 - 7 Carlsbad, CA (30 day special pricing expires Aug 3)
The Signature Chopra Center Wellness Program Perfect Health August 13-17 (30-day special pricing expires July 13th) August 27-31 (30-day special pricing expires July 28th) Sept 10-14 (30-day special pricing expires Aug 10th)
Every member of our global Namasté community can start the process right now! First give yourself a hug. Close your eyes and take a deep breath and smile at the thought that you are not a human being having occasional spiritual experiences – you are a spiritual being filled with love and light, having the occasional human experience. For the next hour (only 60 minutes) respond to every disappointment, frustration, criticism, and unmet need FIRST with a smile and an overwhelming feeling of love – love for yourself, love for others, love for those who irritate you, love for those you deeply love, love for those you have hurt, and love for those who have hurt you. When your first response is love – for others and for yourself – then the world becomes a sweeter, more forgiving, joyous place.
We’ve put our hearts into this Namasté so that love can grow as far and wide as the Internet can reach. We encourage you to share as much of it as you can with people you love – members of your family, co-workers, acquaintances – just forward it to a friend and let the loving begin.
In just one hour, you can learn how to realize your dreams in all areas of your life. By applying the simple principles Deepak has distilled in this transformative work, you’ll effortlessly manifest material wealth, good health, energy, enthusiasm for life and fulfilling relationships. 
