Sevika Ford, Author at Integral Yoga San Francisco

About Sevika Ford

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So far Sevika Ford has created 243 blog entries.

The Importance of Spiritual Community

by Swami Ramananda

As we gather for various events celebrating the 50-year anniversary of Integral Yoga in San Francisco, we are reminded again and again of the importance of spiritual community. We have committed ourselves this month to making good use of the support and inspiration we derive from practicing Yoga together, and contributing to the strength of our community in any way that we can.

Both the Yoga and Buddhist traditions use the word sangha to signify spiritual community – those who share the same spiritual values and offer a source of support to each other. In Buddhism, sangha is considered one of the three forms of refuge for a spiritual seeker, along with the Buddha and the Dharma. Yoga teachings also consider spiritual community to be an essential element of a spiritual path.
Walking the spiritual path challenges us to examine the moments when we find it difficult to be at peace in ourselves and compassionate with others. It requires a steady effort to disengage ourselves from habitual, self-centered thinking and most of us need a regular meditation practice to be free of such deeply ingrained patterns.

Both of these efforts—to self-reflect on our behavior and to meditate regularly—can be difficult when we feel upset or overwhelmed, and we can easily get discouraged when we don’t have any support. Sharing our struggles with like-minded seekers puts things in perspective, helps us develop self-awareness, and brings relief from feeling alone with our efforts.

The support and safety of a group can help us let down defenses and be more honest with ourselves. It can inspire us to have more compassion for ourselves and each other and be a great source of inspiration. When we practice Yoga or meditation together, the group energy helps us focus and uplift the mind beyond what we can do alone.

Our culture instills in us the belief that happiness can be acquired, which keeps us stuck in the head, measuring, judging and planning to arrange our lives. Spiritual community brings us back into our hearts where we can feel our natural connection to the whole web of life. In the heart, we can sense that the events in our lives are part of a bigger picture than our limited minds can know.

I encourage all Yoga practitioners to gather with sangha whenever possible to share the ups and downs of living a spiritual life, to give and receive support. Even when it’s not possible to practice Yoga together or attend a scripture study group, books and videos can be another source of sangha. Technology makes it possible to share the spiritual journey even with those living far from us. We don’t need to walk the path alone.

I invite those of you living close to us in San Francisco to join our weekly scripture study group on Mondays at 6:30 pm, where Swami Divyananda will guide us in a study of the Bhagavad Gita during the month of March. Please also consider joining us for any of the many free events at our 50-year anniversary celebration March 14 and 15.

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 Ford2020-03-04T10:19:09-08:00March 3rd, 2020|Tags: Sangha|

50 Years: Integral Yoga Takes Root in San Francisco

by Rev. Premanjali and Chandra Sgammato

The Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco reaches a milestone in 2020: Fifty years of service on Dolores Street in San Francisco. Fifty years ago, Americans knew almost nothing of Yoga. There were no Hatha classes at the local YMCA. Health food stores contained only bottles of vitamin supplements and photos of bodybuilders. Few understood the meaning of karma. When most people thought of a yogi, they remembered a popular cartoon man sleeping on a bed of nails. All that changed when Sri Swami Satchidananda arrived in America in 1966. He was one of a handful of teachers to bring yoga to America during those early years before yoga became more mainstream, and his influence has blossomed all over the United States and internationally.

He taught what he termed Integral Yoga, a combination of physical and spiritual practices, of psychological and philosophical approaches to life. He encouraged selfless service to others, which would help anyone discover and maintain the peace and happiness that were, he said, the birthright of all. His message resonated with many people in the 1960s who were looking for something greater and deeper than what they perceived as a superficial, materialistic, and unjust society. His talks drew crowds of young seekers.

Swami Satchidananda first taught classes in Hatha Yoga, led kirtan chants, and offered Yoga in the living room of a large apartment at 500 West End Avenue in New York City. Soon the classes and lectures moved to a larger venue, the Universalist Church on Central Park West. In August 1968, a group of students, mostly hippies, took up residence in an apartment adjacent to 500 West End Avenue so that they could immerse themselves in a Yogic lifestyle.

This initial group of students was trained by Swami Satchidananda to first practice Hatha Yoga and then to teach it. With some good experience under their belts, several of those students set their sights on the West Coast. If Integral Yoga was beginning to take root in the Big Apple, why not spread the love to the City by the Bay? And so they did. Setting out in a VW bus, they headed west in 1969 and began teaching Yoga classes from a house they rented in Berkeley. In 1970, the building on Dolores Street was purchased and the rest is history, as they say…

In 1972, Swami Satchidananda spoke to his students about his vision for Yogaville, a Yoga village where seekers would live together practicing Yoga. It would be a large community where they could grow their food, educate their children, and create an economy based on yogic values and high ideals. In 1972, Yogaville West was founded in Lake County. Later, a second Yogaville West was formed near Santa Barbara. These properties were later sold when it became clear they couldn’t accommodate the vision for a larger Yoga village and, eventually, an interfaith shrine. After singer/songwriter Carole King donated her Connecticut estate called “Music Mountain” to Integral Yoga, that property was sold (with her blessings) so that a larger piece of land could be purchased. In 1979, Yogaville Virginia was established. While many students flocked to central Virginia to be part of this dream, Swami Satchidananda felt it was important to have city centers, such as the IYI in San Francisco, in order to serve its residents.

Few organizations of any kind can claim to be 50 years old, and in the Yoga world, there are even fewer. So, the SFIYI’s golden anniversary is a significant milestone—the kind of marker that offers an opportunity to take a step back and to reflect on the impact the organization has had on the local community and the western Yoga world at large. The Integral Yoga practices and philosophy have influenced a generation and spawned a Yoga culture that is flourishing today.

So, during this anniversary year, we remember and reflect on the teachings of Swami Satchidananda and Integral Yoga. And as we celebrate the dedication of active IYI practitioners, we also hope to inspire those who may be new to Integral Yoga. We hope you will join us for the cornucopia of anniversary events planned for 2020 and wish us well for the next 50 years and beyond!

Sevika Ford2020-03-02T07:02:25-08:00February 26th, 2020|Tags: Integral yoga|

Compassion

by Swami Ramananda

We are witnessing an era of polarization in the United States and in many places in our world. For this reason, we have chosen to open our hearts with the practice of compassion for the month of February. Compassion is a cornerstone of all spiritual paths and a primary virtue in all faiths. It arises naturally from the awareness that we are all a part of an interconnected web of life, with the same spiritual consciousness at the heart of each being. It is a positive expression of Ahimsa, or non-harming, which is one of the most fundamental precepts in the eight-limbed path delineated by the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

Showing compassion for ourselves can be a simple way to begin this practice and ensure that it does not reinforce an unhealthy habit of self-denial. We can each direct this intention to the body when we practice asanas, responding to its messages instead of imposing how we would like it to be. Then we can develop that same compassionate awareness towards our minds, witnessing its moods, desires, harmful attachments and aversions, then patiently correct ourselves without unhealthy shame. When I can see, for example, how attached I am to a plan that serves me and disregards others, I realize that it’s my struggle to control things that creates tension or conflict instead of the happiness I seek.

When we are openhearted and honest about our own darkness, we develop an understanding of the whole human experience and can relate with more compassion to others as well. The Buddhist teacher, Pema Chodron, writes in her book, Start Where You Are, “The basic ground of compassionate action is the importance of working with your own unwanted, unacceptable stuff, so that when the unacceptable and unwanted appears out there, you relate to it based on having worked with loving-kindness for yourself.”

It can be particularly challenging to practice this with those whose behavior is hurtful. If we look deeply into another person’s behavior, we can often see that he or she has also been a victim and is suffering as well. When we truly consider how painful it must be for someone to hurt others, how it poisons the heart, we can wish for them to be free of suffering, even as we protect ourselves from their behavior.

It may be wise to start with simple acts of kindness for those close to us and learn from experiencing the joy of serving and giving. When we take a moment to actually feel the energy of genuine care in the heart, we will appreciate it and can gradually learn to extend it towards others. We have hundreds of opportunities every day to be a little more considerate when we are driving, listening to, or working with others. Practicing kindness in even a few of these moments has a ripple effect, softening the hearts of those around us, and makes a positive contribution to the collective consciousness of our world.

Even when we correct each other, we can wait for the right moment and speak from a baseline of care and respect. We can practice seeing others with eyes of compassion, assuming the best and forgiving acts of negligence and compulsiveness that we witness.

Ultimately, compassion represents a shift from me-centered to we-centered thinking, and the realization that loving others is loving yourself. My teacher, Sri Swami Satchidananda, beautifully articulates this essential truth when he says, “Real love is possible only when you see everything as your own expression. All others are none other than you; they just appear to be different. We always need to go beyond the name and form. When we rise above the worldly limitations, we will find that the essence is the same.”

Sevika Ford2020-02-04T10:17:13-08:00February 5th, 2020|

If My Yoga Mat Could Speak

by Jaymie Meyer

If my yoga mat could speak, it would articulate both the indescribable joy and deep sorrow I’ve felt through the thousands of hours we’ve shared.

Every morning, I bring this aging body to my practice, grateful for the ways I am still flexible and not-so-flexible. I listen to the sounds my body makes – sounds that have become old friends: the pop in my left hip when I externally rotate that femur; the click in my right hip when I extend into triangle on that side; the familiar snap from my thoracic spine when I twist to the right.

It’s a good morning when it’s all there. When I’m tight or injured or have slept funny, my body is silent. Trying to hold it all together, perhaps, it refuses to say a word.

These are the days I know to take it easy – to give up the high-energy movement I favor for a restorative practice, just for that day.

Having just the right mat surface is essential. It’s also highly personal. I require just enough stick – but stick it must! – with not too much give, ensuring the safety of my wrists in my beloved inversions. The rubber must be smooth. Not too rough on my hands or feet. Odorless.
In the 30-some years I’ve been practicing, I’ve cycled through maybe a dozen mats, and it’s been a bitter discovery that they’re like lipstick: No matter the manufacturer, once you find one you like, the next time you need it, it’s been re-formulated or discontinued.

The sweetest moments on my mat are those in yoga nidra or “yogic sleep,” also known by the less popular name “corpse pose.” In this supine position, one transcends deeply through the koshas or layers of being: body, breath, mind, wisdom, and bliss. During a 20-minute practice – or longer – I am taken to a place that is deeply restorative. I often shed tears, spontaneously, seemingly unrelated to anything specific.

I arise from practice renewed, lighter, and feeling younger. I see this same lightness of being in the students and clients I’ve worked with these past 20 years.

When a mat has begun to reach the twilight of its life, as my current mat has, after practice I lovingly pick up the tiny flecks of rubber from the gouged-out places where my calloused heels have made divots. I roll those little pieces between my fingers, pieces that have separated from the source, and I discard them, pretending perhaps that the mat isn’t as old as it seems, that it has many more moons to go.

Interestingly, every cat I’ve ever owned has enjoyed many a nap on my folded mats after I complete my yoga practice. Animals are so wonderfully in tune. No doubt they are drawn to the invisible lingering essence from hours of practice: peace, joy, surrender.

My mat is so much more than a sheet of rubber. It’s a throne, a magic carpet, a sacred place. It’s where everything takes place.

Jaymie is the founder of Resilience for Life®. Over the past 19 years, she’s educated thousands of people in stress reduction and resilience. A National Board-Certified Health & Wellness Coach, Jaymie is a licensed HeartMath provider with certifications in Ayurveda, and yoga therapy (C-IAYT). A veteran yoga therapist and educator, Jaymie most frequently serves those in mid-life who have any combination of concerns including stress, anxiety, back pain, poor sleep, balance issues, heart disease, insomnia, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and chronic pain. In addition to teaching the Therapeutic Class on Wednesdays, Jaymie serves as a Yoga for Arthritis mentor. As a Health and Wellness coach, she works online with clients, focusing on stress reduction, weight control and optimal sleep. www.resilienceforlife.com

Sevika Ford2020-01-30T06:27:30-08:00January 29th, 2020|Tags: Restorative Yoga, yoga nidra|

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