Sevika Ford, Author at Integral Yoga San Francisco

About Sevika Ford

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So far Sevika Ford has created 148 blog entries.

Supporting Lung Health During the Pandemic

by Vishnupriya Vanessa Doherty

When I first explored Yin Yoga, a new world of healing with energy opened up to me. I am referring to our energy channels, meridians (Chinese system) or nadis (Indian system), which are invisible pathways that house our vital energy. All of these transport energy (chi or prana), which flows through the organs, tissues, bones, joints and connect the exterior with the interior of our bodies. The topic of this blog is to explore what happens when, in particular, the lung and large intestine meridians go off balance and how Yin Yoga can assist in harmonizing the flow of this energy. Why did I choose these two meridians and omit the 10 others? According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), their qualities seem to be the most relevant to our current climate of COVID-19, allergy season, and how the shelter-in-place orders have altered our lives. With this in mind, I’ll review the lung meridian’s energetic qualities and the mental and emotional qualities of the lung and large intestine meridians to help us understand our potential responses to our current environment and a remedy.

The lungs are vital in filtering our breath, oxygenating our blood, fueling every cell with this oxygen, and expelling the carbon dioxide with the exhale. Energetically, the lungs are the first to take in external chi (upon the inhale) and mix it with our internal chi. According to TCM, if one gets frequent colds, the lung chi within the meridian is deficient (weak or lacks vibrancy). This can affect the whole body, in particular, the respiratory system. The symptoms present themselves via allergies, asthma, bronchitis, shortness of breath, coughing, hives and rashes. It also diminishes our sense of smell and taste. Because our lung chi is the foundation of our body’s network, when there is a breakdown in the network, respiratory illnesses, skin conditions and other conditions arise along with degeneration of the spine, spasm in the throat and esophagus, and rheumatic pain.

The energetic flow of the lung and large intestine meridians is key to balancing our emotional and mental qualities. This chi splits into two complementary polarities, Yin and Yang. The lung meridian (Yin) works in harmony with the large intestine meridian (Yang) and they share energetic characteristics in that they draw in nutrients and let go of waste. Emotionally, they are associated with our courage and reverence, meaning, Santosha (contentment) becomes more prevalent, and we experience our time in life as precious and accept what we cannot change. An imbalance in this chi can cause a sense of grief, isolation, loneliness and blocked emotions. Mentally, our thinking can be muddled, cloudy, or disconnected. When balanced, one has the drive and confidence to take on with grace the changes and difficulties found in life, lessening the desire to run away from what’s uncomfortable. Of course, all emotions are a natural part of life, but when they become never-ending or injurious to our health, look to the flow of chi as a remedy.

There are many ways to keep these channels free flowing, such as acupuncture, tai chi, qigong, and taking care of our diet, thoughts, environment and daily yoga practice. I would like to share a simple practice with you to be done 2 or 3 times per week. Some days it can be worked into your Hatha practice, beginning with sun salutations, backbends and inversion and ending with Yin Yoga, savasana, and Pranayama. Each Yin pose is to be held 3 to 5 minutes. This allows the body time to get deep into the connective tissue to gently load the tendons and ligaments, which is therapeutic for those with former injuries, illness, muscular tightness or blockage. When the pose is released, stagnant chi (distorted chi movement) and deficient chi starts to flow more freely. When these rivers of energy flow freely, optimal health is in sight.

Recommended poses:

Butterfly pose (Baddha Konasana)
Sphinx pose (Salamba Bhujangasana)
Child pose with wide knees (Balasana)
Dragonfly pose (Upavistha Konasana)
Seated Forward Fold (Paschimottanasana)

Like in a traditional Hatha practice, the mental focus is very important. While in the pose, direct the breath to areas that are tight, blocked, or intense. Visualize the breath moving energy, releasing muscles and revitalizing your energy. Never move into pain – sharp, stabbing, burning sensation. This will hinder your motives and stall the energetic flow. Only move to your “edge” – feeling pressure with unlabored breath. Take time to rest in advasana (reverse corpse pose) or savasana after each pose to settle your body.

Yin Yoga is a beautifully meditative practice that can be tailored to your own personal ailments. Whether it’s illness, injury, lethargy and/or anxiety, depression, fear, sorrow, there is a sequence for you. Find an experienced teacher, an online class and explore the poses and meditations, then do your own exploring safely and mindfully at home. It’s just one more way to make the most of our time at home.

We hope you join us online for our Yin Yoga class Tuesdays at 7pm PST.

Vishnupriya Vanessa Doherty, RYT 500, YACEP, is a California native and has been practicing yoga since the early 90s. Vishnupriya lives the life of a yogi, not just for her own benefit, but so she can dive deep and teach the traditional methods of yoga and serve others wholeheartedly. She has been teaching since 2010 and continues to obtain certifications that focus on yoga for healing and realizing our innate peace. She holds certifications in Classical Hatha Level 1, Integral Yoga Intermediate and Advanced, Yin Yoga, Therapeutic yoga Level 1 and 2, Reiki Energy Healing Levels 1 and 2.

Sevika Ford2020-05-14T11:10:36-07:00May 14th, 2020|

How Trauma Sensitive Yoga Changed My Life

by Kelsey Gustafson

There are few choices that stand out in my life as having changed everything.

Deciding to become trained professionally in Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga has been the most helpful and profound investment I have made in the last decade.

I’ve been reflecting on how I got to be here – teaching trauma sensitive movement full time. And there was a pivotal moment that changed everything for me.

Here’s the story…

I was deep into my personal healing journey when I first realized that something was missing. I had been teaching yoga for 5 years and was leading retreats, workshops and classes regularly.

While I was in Guatemala leading a retreat, one evening we facilitated a cacao-infused ecstatic dance with a live DJ.

It was a gorgeous scene with the sun setting over the lake and people dancing around, touching each other and laughing, all in their perfect outfits.

However, I felt myself inching away from the scene.

When I stepped back, I noticed a woman on the edge, also looking at the scene, just observing.

In my mind I called her “the girl in the shadows” – and I recognized her as part of me.

I started to get curious about her and I realized…

She wants to move slower.

- She wants to build safety before diving into intimacy.
- She wants support creating and upholding healthy boundaries.

She wants choice and agency with how she moves.

- She wants to be invited to go at her own pace.
- She wants to actually feel safe enough to connect to herself.

She wants to feel her body on her own terms.

- She doesn’t always want to touch other people or be touched.
- She can’t always access her body (let alone bliss).

So she sometimes feels left out or left behind in the yoga scene.

I realized that I needed to make space for that part in me.

I realized that so much of what I had been taught as yoga was inaccessible to her.

I realized that I wanted to learn how to teach to “the girl in the shadows.”

So I flew to the east coast where I began an in-depth training in Trauma Sensitive Yoga. This training changed everything for me.

I learned that cathartic, intense release is not always helpful for trauma survivors. I learned the importance of consent in facilitating. I learned to teach from a place that honors power dynamics and invites personal autonomy.

It became clear to me why I felt so uncomfortable pushing bliss.

Forcing or pushing happiness is just as toxic as forcing pain.

From my new perspective, I have the tools to hold space for the full spectrum of emotions and experiences that come up for people on their healing journey.

My compassion and love for my work has grown tremendously.

I am so incredibly grateful to be able to confidently work with trauma survivors.

If you are a yoga teacher, therapist, clinician or facilitator who wants to grow your skill in holding space for trauma healing, join me for an introductory training in trauma informed care.

In one afternoon, I will share the essential tools that I use in my full time practice as a somatic trauma resolution facilitator.

This training is perfect for yoga and movement teachers, therapists, counselors, psychologists, healthcare professionals, teachers, activists, healers, caregivers, and anyone who wants to learn the theory and practice of trauma informed care.

Join the growing field of trauma treatment. Be a grounding force in chaotic times. We need you!

Our next workshop on Teaching Trauma Sensitive Yoga will be offered online, Saturday May 9 from 1:00-5:00pm PST. More information and registration here.

Kelsey Gustafson, RYT 200, TCTSY-F, has been teaching yoga for 10 years and has over 1,000 hours of training in yoga and healing arts. In 2015, Kelsey became the first Trauma Sensitive Yoga Facilitator in the state of California when she graduated from the advanced TCTSY certification program through the Center for Trauma & Embodiment. She has a private practice in Oakland where she combines the Trauma Sensitive Yoga method with Somatic Experiencing. Kelsey is on the teaching team for the Rebloom Trauma Training and also facilitates group classes in somatic trauma healing and trainings for professionals who want to become more trauma informed.

Sevika Ford2020-05-04T12:29:08-07:00May 4th, 2020|

Sending Prayers

by Swami Ramananda

As some of us discussed the strange feel of this life with social distancing, we expressed both a sense of gratitude for being safe and healthy, and a deep pang of sorrow for those many souls who are suffering. Those in my immediate circle of friends are relatively unaffected, but we all know that there are millions struggling to survive or find a foothold of peace as their lives are being swept away from beneath their feet.

We may find small ways to serve our local communities, but how do we offer support to the many others far away who are in dire need? One of the most powerful things we can do is to send prayerful energies. In doing so, we open our hearts and express our compassion on a spiritual level where we truly are connected with everyone.

When I was young and searching to really experience something instead of just accepting things on faith alone, I rejected the whole concept of prayer. The idea of sending my love to others or reaching out to some Supreme Being that would hear and respond to my thoughts was just too abstract for me. Now, through the teachings and practices of Yoga, I have come to a much different understanding and experience of prayer.

It helped me to understand that our minds have a limited capacity to know the truth and to comprehend our interconnection with each other and all of life. Prayer is an action taken from a deeper place within ourselves that is unaffected by the fears and doubts in the mind. When we willingly step outside the confines of the mind, as we do in meditation, we touch the spiritual ground of being we all share. It is from here that we can consciously send our sincere prayers for others to suffer less, to be protected and to find peace.

Those of us living in the New York Institute when the twin towers came down in 2001 found praying to be a powerful way to express our heartfelt intentions to serve when there was little else we could do. Now, this crisis is showing us in ways that no other event has that we must come together as a global family to face this pandemic and support the already marginalized populations that are suffering the most.

Sri Swami Satchidananda suggested that we use whatever form of prayer comes naturally to us and engage our whole being in sending it. It may help to feel that we are generating a sense of peace or a healing energy within ourselves, and then sending these prayers outward through the heart. Creating such intentions circulates these energies throughout our own systems first, and directing them outward makes them accessible to all who are able to receive them.

I have led many gatherings of people in prayer this way and found it to be, without fail, a tremendous healing experience for those praying, and I feel certain for those being prayed for as well.

Soon after we began sheltering in place, the residents of the Institute here in San Francisco began to gather each evening to send prayers out to all who are suffering from the pandemic. The group transmits this intention by chanting 54 repetitions of the Tryambakam mantra, a traditional mantra used for protection, healing, and rejuvenation.

I’m glad for this but I still wonder: when the immensity of suffering and loss from this virus is eventually revealed to us in tragic detail, are those of us who are safe and secure going to ask ourselves if we did enough? Though it may seem insignificant to the mind, let us all make time each day to think of and send out prayerful thoughts to those in need. I feel sure this will bring solace to many in ways we’ll never know.

Swami Ramananda is the President 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 35 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.

Sevika Ford2020-05-02T06:35:56-07:00May 2nd, 2020|

The Woodstock Spirit is Alive and Well in San Francisco

by Rev. Premanjali

This year we’re in the midst of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Integral Yoga Institute of San Francisco on Dolores Street. Through the years, the sangha has been through some notable moments in history, but at the moment, we are experiencing an unprecedented shift in how we serve the community. As the COVID-19 pandemic spurs us to persist through the unexpected, IYISF continues to offer classes, workshops, and meditations online to stay connected with the community.

Going back to 1969—a year prior to its opening—the first Integral Yoga teachers arrived in San Francisco from New York. They began teaching classes in an apartment until the beautiful Victorian-style building on Dolores Street was purchased a year later.

1969 was also the year of an event that came to define the 60s counterculture, the Woodstock Festival. At the last moment, Swami Satchidananda was helicoptered in to open the festival by the organizers who were hoping he might bring a peaceful mood to what was beginning to unfold as a potentially chaotic scene. From the moment he chanted, “Om,” he did calm the more than 400,000 young people at the music festival on a farm in upstate New York. And, in doing so, Swami Satchidananda attained rock star status—much to his own surprise. The festival rapidly became legend as did he.

In August 2019, the 50th anniversary of Woodstock was celebrated. During that anniversary, Phil Goldberg (author of American Veda) wrote an article for Elephant Journal in which he noted:

“For my part, I want to commemorate one brief but highly significant moment that occurred in the opening hour, on August 15, 1969. It does not get the attention it deserves. Of all the iconic Woodstock images—writhing mud-soaked bodies; impassioned performers like Jimi Hendrix; ecstatic faces and strung-out faces—one captures the spiritual zeitgeist of the era: Swami Satchidananda addressing the multitude. It’s a potent symbol of the meeting of East and West that transformed America’s spiritual and cultural landscape. Fifty years on, millions of people meditate, chant mantras, and stretch on Yoga mats, and the swami who came to be called ‘The Woodstock Guru’ deserves much of the credit. The image of the Hindu holy man blessing the most famous rock festival in history will endure as a symbol of the time when a generation of Americans turned Eastward and inward. No one contributed more to the modern Yoga boom than Swami Satchidananda, who started training American teachers in the late 1960s.”

Over the past fifty years, the San Francisco IYI has been a continually welcoming presence, offering the teachings of the classical path of Yoga to all who have come through its doors. During this time, Integral Yoga teachers have positively touched the lives of thousands of students as they have shared the Yoga practices and teachings. Swami Satchidananda famously declared that, “More people have been killed in the name of God than in all the wars.” He called on all religions to abandon rhetoric and behaviors that create conflict and instead embrace the teachings of universal peace, love, compassion, and sisterhood and brotherhood common to all faiths. “Paths are many,” said Swami Satchidananda, but, “Truth is one.” Integral Yoga teachers have continued to invoke Swami Satchidananda’s universal message of peace, kindness, compassion, inclusivity—celebrating both our unity and diversity as spiritual seekers.

In looking back we also gain inspiration for looking forward. In his classic eleven-volume text, The Story of Civilization, historian Will Durant expressed the hope that India would “teach us the tolerance and gentleness of the mature mind, the quiet content of the unacquisitive soul, the calm of the understanding spirit, and a unifying, pacifying love for all living things.” That turned out to be prescient for as Phil Goldberg also noted, “The image of Swami Satchidananda at Woodstock will always be a symbol of the moment when a battery of unconventional baby boomers turned eastward—and inward—in such large numbers that the process became irreversible.

We can all be proud that the Integral Yoga Institute of San Francisco is carrying this legacy forward—hopefully for another 50 years and more! We hope you will join us in our online offerings. It is a great opportunity for those outside of the San Francisco Bay Area to connect with the teaching and sangha from a distance.

This is part 2 of a post from February 26, 2020.

Sevika Ford2020-04-29T15:49:07-07:00April 29th, 2020|Tags: Sangha|

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