Honoring the Past

Meet the former and current Directors of Integral Yoga San Francisco

1970’s

David Vijay Hassin was the Founding Director of the Integral Yoga Institute of San Francisco and the first Yogaville West community. He was one of a core group of students of Sri Swami Satchidananda when Sri Gurudev came to New York City and established the first Integral Yoga Institute. He is the author of Modern Yoga Handbook. Vijay is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and currently works for a Telehealth Company, as well as having a private practice. Vijay maintains contact with his gurubais and continues to actively work for the continued promotion and dissemination of Sri Gurudev’s teachings.

1980’s

Swami Divyananda Ma is one of Integral Yoga’s senior monastics and foremost teachers. Over the years she served as director at the Integral Yoga Institutes in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Coimbatore, India and as the Ashram Manager in Yogaville. Presently she teaches and conducts trainings in the US and around the world, and leads an annual tour to the sacred temples and ashrams of India.

1990’s – 2010

Swami Vimalananda Ma, RYT500, is an Integral Yoga sannyasi – monk. She has been involved with Integral Yoga since 1971 and Director of the San Francisco Integral Yoga Institute from 1992-2011. She specializes in teaching yoga philosophy and spiritual counseling.

2011 – Present

Swami Ramananda, C-IAYT, is the Executive Director of Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco and a greatly respected senior teacher in the Integral Yoga tradition, who has been practicing Yoga for over 40 years. Ramananda offers practical methods of integrating the timeless teachings and practices of yoga into daily life, and transforming the painful aspects of human experience into steps toward realizing one’s full potential.
He leads beginner, intermediate and advanced level yoga teacher training programs in San Francisco, and offers a variety of programs in many locations in the U. S., Europe and South America. Ramananda trains Yoga teachers to bring Yoga into corporate, hospital and medical settings and has taught mind/body wellness programs in many locations. He is a founding board member of the Yoga Alliance, a national registry that supports and promotes yoga teachers as professionals. His warmth, wisdom and sense of humor have endeared him to many.

Learn about why Sri Swami Satchidananda is known as the “Woodstock Guru“.

Enjoying the Present

Our doors are closed but our hearts are open! Join us for live, online ZOOM classes, workshops, trainings and events!  Anyone, from any background, any age and any capacity, can come practice in community with others, find peace within themselves, and bring that peace and that light into their lives. Om Shanti.

Preparing the Future

Ensuring peace and transformation for another 50 years and beyond.

Building Fund Campaign

As the Integral Yoga Institute San Francisco has been serving the San Francisco Bay Area for over 50 years. we look forward to inspiring peace and transformation for another 50 years and beyond.

To ensure that our amazing spiritual community and facilities are well cared for and sustained for the next 50 years, IYI has held a successful building fund campaign.  In 2021 we set goals to preserve the significant historical and cultural aspects of the building, as well as modernize it to make our urban sanctuary as sustainable as possible.

We’ve raised $200,000 which was used to maintain the beauty of the ashram by painting and maintaining both the exterior and interior of the building, replacing the aging roof and insulating to reduce heating costs, added solar panels to generate electricity and incorporated recycled materials to retrofit windows and doors.

We look to update bathrooms to reduce water, and are considering a gray water system to support an, even more, edible garden and increase composting practices.

Please consider participating in this effort with a gift that is expressive of the joy and commitment you share for our community. Every gift, no matter the amount, is appreciated and is important!