Satsang: Kumbh Mela and the Quest for Immortality

Online and In-person
$5-$20 | Enroll for free, use promo code FREE.

Please register in advance; a Zoom link will be emailed 1 hour before the session, or join Zoom directly via your Momence dashboard.

We appreciate advance registration.

Join Swami Ghanshyam Puri’s as he shares his journey from an Integral Yoga Institute teacher to a renunciate reflects a deep transformation shaped by the Kumbh Mela and its enduring quest for immortality. Drawn from the structured, service-based path of IYI into the austere world of the Nāga sannyāsins, he encountered the living traditions that interpret amṛtatva—inner immortality—as the fruit of discipline, devotion, and renunciation. His initiation into the Juna Akhara marks both a turning point and a commitment to an ancient lineage that continues to express its power and purpose at the vast, mythic gathering of the Kumbh Mela.

Everyone is welcome to stay for tea and light snacks afterwards.

Satsang is a special time for us to come together as a community. In Sanskrit, Sat means truth and Sangha means community. Satsang offers an opportunity to come together to share spiritual teachings. The philosophy of Integral Yoga is explored often through an informal discussion. Although our spiritual paths may diverge, the act of sharing spiritual teachings with others is inspiring and creates a solid foundation for continued practice.

People of all faiths are welcome.


Swami Ghanshyam Puri is a Bhakta who has practiced yoga for over twenty five years and is certified to teach all levels of Hatha Yoga and Stress Management. He is a former attorney who became an Integral Yoga Teacher in 2010. He has taught in the United States, Mexico, Spain, and India. “Yoga can point the path to the Divine”, he sustains. His devotion to the Guru, Swami Satchidananda, led him to India to experience the teachings of Gurudev directly. Puri resided temporarily at the Divine Life Society in Rishikesh, India, where he studied at the Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy. The following years, Swamiji went on extensive pilgrimages throughout all India, Nepal, and other countries. In 2017 he completed the Maha Yatra or great trip to the Twelve Temples of Lord Shiva known as Jyotirlingas. Subsequently, he took Vel Kavadi for purification purposes in 2018. The following year he attended Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj and took Shahi Snan (holy bath for purification) with the order of Naga Babas of Juna Akhara. Puri took Diksha or initiation and became a member of Juna Akhara in February 2019 at Kumbh Mela, a path leading him to Juna Akhara Sannayas. Swamiji is an Ayurvedic Life-Style Consultant, leads yoga retreats in Mexico, teaches classes online, and since 2011 has been leading community classes in San Francisco.

2026-01-12T21:15:49-08:00January 12th, 2026|Tags: , , , |

Satsang: What Do We Do Now?

Online | $5-$20 | Enroll for free, use promo code FREE

Please register in advance; a Zoom link will be emailed 1 hour before the session, or join Zoom directly via your Momence dashboard.

How’s everyone holding up out there? How are you managing while the world feels like it’s on fire? Many of us don’t like to think about it—but we all feel it. Something just isn’t right. And yet, we keep moving forward as if everything is fine.

This Satsang is a call to a community ready for activation and transformation, with guidance from a spiritual practice like Yoga. I’ve seen that when a true community comes together, the impossible becomes possible.

Let’s talk.

Satsang is a special time for us to come together as a community. In Sanskrit, Sat means truth and Sangha means community. Satsang offers an opportunity to come together to share spiritual teachings. The philosophy of Integral Yoga is explored often through an informal discussion. Although our spiritual paths may diverge, the act of sharing spiritual teachings with others is inspiring and creates a solid foundation for continued practice.

People of all faiths are welcome. This session will not be recorded.


Mia Velez, E-RYT 500, entered the Integral Yoga Sangha in 2016 through the kitchen by helping to cook Thursday community lunches and silent retreat meals. In 2018 she was certified as an Integral Yoga teacher to learn more of the IYI approach and be part of the lineage. Mia is a disciple of the Moy Yat Ving Tsun Kung Fu lineage and is highly influenced by her martial arts training. After completing her first 200-hour teacher training in 2008, she began to see undeniable parallels in Yoga and Kung Fu. When she began teaching Kung Fu in 2014, she incorporated Yoga insight and principles in her classes. Her goal in teaching is to connect with the students and to facilitate a safe space for exploration and self-inquiry. Yoga and Kung Fu are integrated into her daily life as a mother, a preschool teacher, and an advocate for gender, race, and class equality through multiple non-profit groups.

2025-12-01T16:50:48-08:00November 3rd, 2025|Tags: , , , , , |

Satsang: An Anchor in the Storms of Life

$5-$20 | Enroll for free, use promo code FREE.

Please register in advance; a Zoom link will be emailed 1 hour before the session, or join Zoom directly via your Momence dashboard.

We appreciate advance registration.

Life inevitably presents us with a series of challenges, and the current events unfolding in our country and around the world serve as a powerful reminder of this truth. In times of hardship, it is often the storms of life that push us to dig deeper within ourselves, revealing strengths we may not have known we possessed. In other words, you GOT this! We GOT this. Let’s acknowledge, and even celebrate, that we have been building a strong yogic foundation to weather these kinds of storms.

Join Saeeda and Ramananda for an insightful discussion on how our Yoga practice can help us tap into the vast potential already within us, empowering us to rise above adversity and create meaningful change. You may have more influence and impact than you realize and discovering this can be inspiring and exciting.

Satsang, a special time for us to come together as a community. In Sanskrit, Sat means truth and Sangha means community. Satsang offers an opportunity to come together to share spiritual teachings. The philosophy of Integral Yoga is explored, often through an informal discussion. Although spiritual paths may diverge, the act of sharing spiritual teachings with others is inspiring and creates a solid foundation for continued practice.
People of all faiths are welcome.


Swami Ramananda, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500, is the Executive Director of the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco, C-IAYT, 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 co-founded 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.

Saeeda Hafiz is a yoga teacher and wellness expert with certifications from the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers and the Natural Gourmet Institute. As a holistic health educator with the San Francisco Unified School District, she focuses on sharing her 30+ years of knowledge in physical and mental wellness with diverse groups. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. saeedahafiz.com

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