Sevika Ford, Author at Integral Yoga San Francisco

About Sevika Ford

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So far Sevika Ford has created 243 blog entries.

Meditation for Mental Purification

by Diana Meltsner

“A person can rise up through the efforts of his own mind; or in the same manner, draw himself down, for each person is his own friend or enemy.”

– Bhagavad Gita, 6.5 chapter The Yoga of Meditation

Yoga offers a method for purification of the body, the energetic field and the mind. Most are familiar with the physical asana practice which conditions the body to make it a better functioning vehicle in our lives. Asanas help develop strength and flexibility. They improve circulation, function of the internal organs and balance the nervous system. Purification of the body and toxin elimination is part of the process. We let go.

Pranayama, breathing practices help to purify the energetic field. This is a more subtle region which is perceived with clarity by only a few. The process usually brings a little level of disturbance that is hard to pinpoint. When continued, pranayama starts to “clear the waters” and we begin to feel lighter and yet grounded. We start to think with clarity.

Mental purification comes indirectly from the practice of these two mentioned methods of yoga. The most direct path is through meditation. Some would say the mind is also purified through other paths like selfless service, prayer or spiritual study and inquiry.

What happens when meditating? We cultivate attentiveness in two forms, concentration and open-awareness state. Practice of concentration creates a one-pointed mind which allows us to stay present with what we choose rather than a mind which is being constantly distracted and tossed around like a leaf in the wind.

On the other hand, the developed broad sense of awareness allows many aspects of our being to coexist; the perception of the body’s sensations, the input from the senses and the mental world of thoughts and emotions.The practice of meditation gives us the ability to move with life while being aware of what is happening within us and around us with clarity. It gives us an opportunity to stay focused on what is important to us, what gives our life meaning.

What is this mental purification process in meditation? As we meditate, we direct our attention to a chosen point generating positive and steady vibrational states. The ancient yogic text, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, recommends focusing on something that is uplifting. As we focus, the mind comes in with stories and narratives. Such thoughts distract us. As soon as we realize it, we recover our point of focus. We do this over and over again. In this process, the mind starts releasing echoes of old emotions and thought patterns. Some meditations can be very relaxing, soothing, even blissful, and some will expose our unconscious mental tendencies which can be startling to us and unpleasant. We let them out and let them be.

Just as detoxification of the body brings a bad taste to the mouth and perhaps some body odor, as we start purifying the mind, there is debris of the old, which we need to release. We also get a view of our current mental patterns. We expose fears and discontents and recognize how they affect our life. We learn to accept them and let them go.

Our developed one-pointed mind allows us to stay focused, and the broad, all encompassing awareness helps us to find clarity of the big picture. It is from this place of clarity that we have a choice to cultivate new mental tendencies, such as joy, wonder, compassion and tranquility. We invite these positive emotional states to accompany us in life.

Tara symbolizes pure compassion and is believed to possess the ability to guide followers, like a star, on their spiritual path.

Please join Diana for her upcoming workshop Cultivating 4 Keys to Peace, 7-day Meditation and Raja Yoga online, May 20-26, 7:15-8:00am PT.

Diana also leads a weekly Guided Meditation online every Sunday, 5:30-6:00pm PT
and will be co-leading our Meditation Teacher Training online with Swami Ramananda this fall, which is an in-depth study of meditation.

Sevika Ford2024-06-28T11:29:04-07:00May 8th, 2024|

Join Us in Promoting Diversity and Inclusivity in Yoga

by Rev. Kamala Itzel Hayward (she/her)

This is the story of a dream that I had in 2020. A dream that was made real thanks to the generosity of the Integral Yoga sangha and people like you—people who contributed to the Integral Yoga Institute San Francisco’s (IYISF) 2020 Giving Tuesday campaign.

It all started with my first Yoga teacher: my mother. I still remember her lavender tights. She still remembers that my favorite part of class was hissing like a snake as I raised up into Bhujangasana, cobra pose. I was five years old. And there was no reason to question that I belonged or that the peace and joy, love, and light that the students wished for everyone included me, regardless of who I was, what I looked like, or what my body could do.

My practice has changed a lot over the years—my muscles need more time to warm up and I don’t hiss in Bhujangasana anymore—but one guiding principle has remained the same: perpetuating systems of oppression and living in liberation are mutually exclusive.

The teachings of Yoga identify ignorance in all of its forms as the root cause of suffering. This ignorance includes systems of white supremacy, the gender binary, capitalism, and other concepts that lead to the systemic oppression of individuals. However, this truth isn’t always reflected in the spaces where Yoga teachers are trained or teach. Nor is it reflected on social media or in Yoga publications that elevate one stereotype of “the Yoga teacher” over all others in their cover images, stories, and advertisements: the young, flexible, thin, heteronormative white woman.

So in 2016, after I had been teaching Yoga for 6 years and practicing it for decades more, I was thrilled to hear Lakshmi Nair talk about her work. Lakshmi is the creator of the Satya Yoga Cooperative in Denver, Colorado, which is one of the first Yoga cooperatives for people of color.

I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to be a part of a Yoga community where I saw myself reflected in the eyes of my teachers. One that shared my values and my commitment to the liberation of all people, while also having in its deep awareness the context in which we are learning and practicing Yoga: a society that does not share that commitment.

A society that is actively operating contrary to that commitment.

A society that was built on—and, in so many deeply rooted and systemic ways—sustained by the oppression of people based on their race, class, gender, and more. A society that isn’t always aware of or willing to acknowledge its biases, privileges, and limiting beliefs, in direct contradiction to Yogic principles of self-awareness and self-study.

I wondered, “What would it be like to practice and learn in a community intentionally focused on Yoga as a tool for dismantling such beliefs and oppressive systems in service of the liberation of all beings everywhere?”

Then I had my chance.

Four years later, in 2020, I had the opportunity to attend the Black Orchid Yoga Teacher Training, a prenatal/postnatal Yoga Teacher Training offered by Melylah Smith, Alexandra Rossi, and Jane Austin. In an effort to address the devastating racial disparities in prenatal care, they offered the training completely free to Black women.

When I heard about it, I registered immediately. I, along with over 250 Yoga teachers, doulas, pregnant women, and more … all Black. Not only did I love the program, I fell completely in love with the community that was created in the process.

And I loved knowing that, together, we could make a difference to improve outcomes for Black newborns and pregnant Black folks everywhere on the level of body, mind, and spirit.

The experience was so meaningful and powerful, I knew that I wanted to be a part of bringing something like that to IYI. So I went to Swami Ramananda, Executive Director of IYISF, told him my idea, and asked if he’d be willing to bring it to IYISF. Without a moment’s hesitation, he said yes.

So under his leadership, Integral Yoga’s first 100% scholarship-based Black, Indigenous, People of Color 200-hour Basic Yoga Teacher Training was held in 2021.

When I imagined the training, I imagined a space where not only all of the students were BIPOC, but so were all of the lead teaching team members, the monitors, and the support staff. I also wanted there to be folks of a wide variety of ages, body types, genders, sexual orientations, and physical abilities. I dreamed of a teaching curriculum that acknowledged the ways in which the teachings of Yoga have been offered that have harmed others, and how we as teachers could do things differently. I wanted to talk about racism, the gender binary, capitalism, xenophobia, cultural appropriation, colonialism, spiritual bypass, intersectionality, and other forms of oppression that we and our students come to Yoga to heal from. And I dreamed of a panel of guest speakers composed of those BIPOC Yoga teachers who most deeply influenced me and my thinking of Yoga in this way.

Finally, I wanted to make the teacher training 100% scholarship-based, which allowed for the elimination of any financial barriers to participation. Many students paid for the training at the highest level–reinforcing the notion that, while money is a very real obstacle to participating in teacher trainings that many BIPOC face, it’s not the only obstacle. BIPOC also need safe spaces to learn, explore, make mistakes, ask questions, practice, and simply be. Trainings like these help to create those safe spaces. They also increase the diversity of Yoga’s teaching community, which allows for the creation of more inclusive and welcoming Yoga spaces, makes the teachings of Yoga more accessible, and affirms Yoga as a teaching and practice for the liberation of all beings everywhere.

It was a big dream. But it was made possible by the support of community members and Integral Yoga sangha members who contributed generously in the form of donations, spreading the word, and love and encouragement.

The 2021 training was such a success that we garnered enough community support again to hold a second in 2022. And, with your support, we hope to hold yet another.

Lead trainers in 2022’s teacher training program included Integral Yoga teachers Mia Velez, Nitika Achalam, and Rukmini Ando, and anatomy teacher Arturo Peale—and I had the honor of sharing the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, one of the foundational historic texts on Yoga and Yoga philosophy. A team of Integral Yoga sangha members interested in serving as mentors, monitors, and guest trainers fell quickly into place, including Amanda Vigil, Belinda Todd, Cleopatra Altieri, Dharani Diana Diaz, Lorette Rasmi, Muktidevi Demafeliz, Oyámie Kali Ma’at, Ranjani Tutia, Renda Dabit, and Tinuola Bello. And other luminaries in the field of Yoga agreed to serve as guest presenters including Anjali Rao, Jay Miles, Lakshmi Nair, Mukunda Morozumi, Dr. Ram Bhagat, Saeeda Hafiz, Zawadi Nyong’o, and Shanna.

Congratulations to the 13 graduates of Integral Yoga’s second BIPOC teacher training: Aims Nirañjanā Villanueva-Alf, Cassiel Līlāvatī Owens, Erika Holmes Hamsini, Yesi Olivera, Monica Gupti Frangoul, Natya Bradford Niścalā , Rasheena Vimalā Vail, Selena Washington, Sienna Kateri, Simone Sadāgati Adkins, Tangela London-Henderson Jayasri, Tessa Kalyāṇī Anselm, and Tiarra Yamunā Gil.

May you all shine as examples of the glorious science of Yoga.

To voice your support please consider donating on GivingTuesday, November 29th, a global generosity movement that unleashes the power of radical generosity around the world:

Via our GoFundMe page for our BIPOC Yoga Teacher Training Scholarship Program.
Via Paypal to IYISF’s mission and future. We count on your generosity to make a difference in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.
Set up a monthly, recurring donation.

Thank you, Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.

Sevika Ford2022-11-17T08:31:12-08:00November 17th, 2022|Tags: Integral Yoga San Francisco|

Teaching of the Month – Spiritual Independence

by Swami Ramananda

Independence implies a freedom from being controlled or unduly influenced by an outside source. Spiritual independence suggests the freedom to live in harmony with the spiritual truth at the heart of our being. It implies freedom from depending on any outside source for our happiness, which becomes more and more possible as we begin to experience the profound and unchanging peace within.

Most of us experience daily ups and downs as the situations and events in our lives unfold. When things go our way, we feel pleased and cheerful; when they don’t, we may be disappointed and frustrated. This tells us that we have unintentionally tied—and thus bound—our happiness to the changing world of thoughts, feelings, relationships, external objects, name and fame, and so on.

It’s not surprising that the predominant beliefs of our culture have influenced the way we understand ourselves and our relationship to the world around us. All our lives, we’ve been fed the message that happiness lies in pursuing and holding onto, as well as avoiding, certain things. The teachings of Yoga help us understand that the more we depend on our reputation, bank account, achievements, or the admiration of others as the source of our peace of mind, the more elusive it becomes.

When we find ourselves feeling anxious or angry, it can be an eye-opening exercise to question ourselves, “What is it that I am wanting but not getting that is preventing me from being at peace with this moment?” Or we could ask, “Who is upset and who is aware of it?” If I am aware that I am upset, I can center myself in that awareness or Beingness that is the real I, and is always peaceful, balanced, and lacking nothing.

Working with the breath can assist us in this type of inquiry. Pause and ask: “Do I have to be upset or can I take some deep breaths and reconnect to the center of balance even as I pursue my efforts?” In such moments, it can be beneficial to challenge ourselves to find at least a foothold of contentment and remember that is our birthright.

If we are in touch with who we truly are, with a felt inner sense of contentment, our relationship to anything that we might acquire or achieve is dramatically different. We can still enjoy things that we accomplish or experience, but our happiness is not contingent on those things. We can still enjoy eating something, winning a game, and pursuing a career or a relationship, but we can also enjoy the process since we are not relying on the outcome.

Yoga teaches us that we all experience this spiritual independence when we are able to quiet our minds and its movements: all the worrying, obsessing, and mindlessness that often occupies them. Beneath the surface waves of the mind lies an ocean of peace, a deep sense of contentment and connection with all of life. Imagine going about your day with that feeling in the forefront of your mind. Over time, that sense of peace will permeate all your experiences.

Stilling the mind this way is no easy task, but even a little success through some form of regular meditative practice will give us a taste of that natural joy that is ever-present at the heart of our being. Better still, a whole lifestyle based on the teachings of Integral Yoga creates a comprehensive approach that addresses all the levels of our being, and provides fertile ground for growth.

This means adopting sacred standards, such as the Yama and Niyama of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, as our guidelines for living. It means practicing asana, pranayama and meditation to calm and focus the mind. It means letting go of preferences that don’t really serve us and attuning to the inner wisdom that is always in service to the highest good of everyone, including ourselves. It includes an effort to disentangle our sense of self from the ways we have defined ourselves—witnessing the stories of the mind rather than being imprisoned by them. And, it embraces serving others with selfless love and care, without attachment to the result.

As our practice deepens, we experience moments free from past conditioning and begin to see ourselves and our relationship to the world in a fresh way. We begin to feel our connection to each other and all of nature. Over time, such a dedicated life will gradually restructure even the subconscious mind so that we are no longer compelled by old beliefs and fears, and are free to approach life with a sense of deep belonging, inner contentment, and wonder. This is true independence—the birthright that we are all meant to experience.

You can join Swami Ramananda for his upcoming 3-part workshop (sessions offered individually) Service and Surrender: A Path with Heart – Sat. July 23 @ 11:30 am – 1:00 pm PT

Swami Ramananda is the Executive Director of the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco and a greatly respected senior teacher in the Integral Yoga tradition, who has been practicing Yoga for over 45 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 co-developed the Stress Management Teacher Training program with Swami Vidyananda, has trained many teachers to bring Yoga into corporate, hospital and medical settings, and has taught mind/body wellness programs in many locations. He is a certified Yoga therapist and founding board member of the Yoga Alliance, a national registry that supports and promotes yoga teachers as professionals. He is a co-founder of The Spiritual Action Initiative (SAI) which brings together individuals committed to working for social justice for all beings and for the care and healing of our natural world. His warmth, wisdom and sense of humor have endeared him to many.

Sevika Ford2022-07-03T10:47:01-07:00July 3rd, 2022|Tags: Swami Ramananda, teaching of the month|

Teaching of the Month – Compassionate Communication

By Swami Ramananda

If we pay attention to the world news, I think we can probably agree that our world is in dire need of more mindfulness, more justice and compassion. As individuals, a deeply- entrenched sense of separation, and the resulting insecurity, has given rise to so much mistrust and greed that we fail to experience the ground of being as something that we all share. This dynamic has translated into tremendous suffering and great injustice on the world stage

It’s understandable that many of us may feel powerless to bring light into the foreboding darkness that overshadows our world today. Yet the spiritual teachings of many traditions inspire us to engage in the world rather than retreat from it. Many great beings have served as role models for us, taking one step at a time, compassionately and mindfully, guided by the deeper understanding of our interdependence.

One of the ways a group of us have decided to focus our energies in this direction is the practice of compassionate communication. Communicating with a priority of genuine care for the well-being of the person we’re interacting with is a way of bringing spiritual values to the forefront of our daily lives.

We were inspired by a recent Satsang offered by Reverend Kamala Itzel Hayward, who offered a number of concrete steps that we feel can open the doors to deep listening, and problem-solving with open hearts. Here are a few of the principles that we are practicing, some of which come directly from Marshall Rosenberg‘s teachings on Nonviolent Communication.

The first principle is to observe the tendency to interpret what is actually said. There is often a strong tendency to interpret communications by using assumptions based on our personal history. For example, we may find ourselves concluding that someone dislikes us when they give us critical feedback. In reality, such remarks may be a way of showing care and a genuine desire for us to grow. We need to be able to see this tendency to interpret and to separate it from what was actually said.

The second principle concerns disagreements. There can be a great benefit to reflecting on the needs of the person we’re disagreeing with. Instead of just focusing on someone’s outward actions, it might make a considerable difference if we can shift our attention to curiosity about the needs behind their point of view. We may possibly defuse a charged conversation by making clear our intention to understand their view in a deeper way and it might also open their minds to hearing about our own needs and perspectives

Third, we are unlikely to succeed if we approach a disagreement dead set on changing someone or showing them where they are wrong. If we can show a genuine concern and respect for the other person’s perspective, our dialogue is much more likely to find common ground.

Rev Kamala told us about a friend of hers who had a potentially charged argument with someone who was in support of building a wall at the US-Mexican border. When Kamala‘s friend asked with compassion and curiosity about the need that this person had behind their support of the wall, the conversation shifted and the two found common ground in the basic need of wanting to protect their families.

Once we can understand the need behind someone’s assertions, we are capable of relating to them from the heart instead of simply judging their point of view. We may be able to dialogue instead about alternative ways to fulfill that need instead of simply making ourselves right and someone else wrong.

If you’re like me, it sounds much simpler and safer to simply avoid conflict and difficult conversations. But doing so may also mean compromising our commitment to practicing ahimsa (non-violence) and satya (truthfulness), as well as the intention to stand up for social justice.

Bringing compassion into a dialogue over polarized points of view has proven to be very powerful, especially when we look at the non-violent activism of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Thich Nhat Hanh. We can all make an effort to embark upon a pathway of mindful and open communication rather than judging someone’s point of view without understanding what’s behind it.

Can you imagine saying to someone something like, “I view this a little differently than you. I’d like to hear more about what your thinking and if you’re open to it, tell you more about my perspective.” Along with this kind of effort, it’s equally important that we have compassion for ourselves and discern when we are ready to engage in a difficult conversation or when we may be too upset to speak skillfully.

Compassionate communication is supported and enhanced by a regular meditative practice that brings clarity and equanimity to the mind. A committed practice will gradually enable us to disengage from the ways we define ourselves as separate, thus clinging to narrow perspectives. As we quiet the habitual thoughts that cloud our vision, we begin to experience a Spiritual Presence at the core of our being and a natural flow of compassion for ourselves and each other.

Join Swami Ramananda, for an upcoming 3 Swamis Satsang: Keys to Fulfillment on Sat. April 30 @ 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm PDT.

And his upcoming workshop Transforming Anger and Fear -Yoga’s Practical Wisdom Thu. May 5 @ 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm PT.

Sevika Ford2022-04-21T15:23:21-07:00April 21st, 2022|Tags: Integral Yoga Institute San Francisco, Swami Ramananda, teaching of the month|

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