Satsang: Mystical Poetry Night

Online | By donation $0, $5, $10, $15 sliding scale, pay what you can.

Please register in advance, a Zoom link and passcode will be provided via confirmation email.Join us for an evening of sharing words that reflect the voice of our soul. We will read and have discussions, awaken inspiration and peace in the heart. Mystical poetry and sacred songs are powerful expressions of the human experience, the dynamic meeting of the mind with the Grace of the Divine. It crosses the lines of time or even specific religious views.
All are welcome to have a poem or two ready to share or simply listen and enjoy.

We will end with a 15 minute writing exercise led by Susan. Have a pen and be ready to be amazed by what can happen at the end of this highly inspiring collaboration.

Satsang, a special time for us to come together as a community and an opportunity to share spiritual teachings. In Sanskrit, Sat means truth and Sangha means community. 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.

Diana Meltsner, C-IAYT and e-RYT500, has been teaching yoga in the Bay Area since 2001. The classes she teaches include prenatal, gentle, various levels of Hatha yoga, and yoga workshops. Diana is a lead teacher trainer for 200hour Basic Yoga Teacher Trainings at Integral Yoga Institute San Francisco. She is certified yoga therapist and offers individual therapeutic sessions with focus ranging from stress reduction to injury recovery. Her classes include physical postures, breathing, guided relaxation, meditation and other yoga teachings which help people to find deeper sense of well-being and ability to move through life with increased ease, intuition, and stress resilience.

Susan Ford, C-IAYT, RYT-500, began practicing yoga when she was 18 years old. Her first yoga teacher training was Accessible Yoga through Integral Yoga Institute (IYI) and began teaching in 2011. Susan has been an assistant trainer for the Basic Yoga Teacher at IYI since 2012. She specializes in Gentle Yoga and working with people with disabilities, heart disease, arthritis, anxiety, depression and asthma. Her focus is to help students to meet their bodies where they are by introducing and incorporating Raja Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Pranayama and meditation. Susan has been certified in Yoga for Arthritis, Therapeutic Yoga, Raja Yoga and Meditation Teacher Training.

Guru Puja

IN-PERSON & ONLINE. Pre-registration for limited in-person attendance required.

Please register in advance, a Zoom link and passcode will be provided via confirmation email.

Please review our In-person Safety Guidelines.

These devotional services are a time to come together for blessings from our spiritual teacher, Sri Swami Satchidananda, and to offer gratitude for his guidance and love. A puja (spiritual service) with participatory chanting will be performed. A short video of Sri Swami Satchidananda or talk may also be offered. This service will include our noon meditation.

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.

Deepening into Meditation

By donation $0, $5, $10, $15 Sliding scale, pay what you can. | Please register in advance, a Zoom link and passcode will be provided via confirmation email.

“You begin with ambition of some kind. Then, at a certain stage, meditation becomes instinctive. Then you cannot not meditate – it happens to you.” – Chogyam Trumpa

In this workshop we will explore and refine aspects of our meditation practices – how we sit, why we sit, and how that relates to our lives. The format consists of a group meditation with some direction, a talk on a related subject and a question/answer session with sharing.

Prajna Lorin Piper took her first yoga class in 1970 in southern California. Later that year she came through the doors of the Berkeley IYI, and since that time she has loved Integral Yoga. Over the years she has maintained an active involvement in movement, healing, and meditation. She has practiced yoga, tai chi, and various dance forms; co-authored two best selling books on Holistic Health; lived and danced flamenco in southern Spain; and since 2000, has taught Rosen Movement. In 2010, she completed her IYI Teacher Training at Yogaville, and began teaching yoga. She brings to her teaching four decades of meditation practice, the last twenty eight in the Buddhist tradition.

Attuning to the wisdom of the body/mind and opening to the present are the foundations of both Prajna’s teaching and personal practice.

2022-01-13T14:13:30-08:00November 30th, 2021|Tags: , , , |

Full Moon Chanting

FREE | Online | Please register in advance, a Zoom link and passcode will be provided via confirmation email.

We gather once a month to chant the Gayatri Mantra, the great mantra of Light and Liberation, to maximize the spiritual benefits of the full moon.

“oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ

tat savitur vareṇyaṃ

bhargo devasya dhīmahi

dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt”

– Rigveda 3.62.10[11]

Snehan Born, e-RYT500, has four decades of experience with yoga and has been teaching Integral Yoga since 2000. Snehan resides at the Integral Yoga Institute of San Francisco, where he serves as assistant to Swami Ramananda, teaches yoga classes and is a lead teacher trainer. He has also led trainings at Satchidananda Ashram, Yogaville, Virginia, The Integral Yoga Institute in New York City and privately in Hawaii where Snehan co-created the Metamorphous Yoga Studio. Snehan is certified in all levels of Integral Yoga Hatha and has received additional certifications in Pranayama, Meditation, Raja Yoga and Stress Management from Integral Yoga and “Life of a Yogi” certification from Sri Dharma Mittra. In 1997 Snehan studied with Deepak Chopra in Goa, India and again in 2001 in Agra, India where he was asked to teach an Integral Yoga class to about 250 participants. Also, in 2001 he received “Conscious Eating”, a live foods certification from Dr. Gabriel Cousens at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in Arizona.
Snehan has lived and traveled extensively within India (over 9 trips) and practiced with many teachers there. He has taught yoga all over the US as well as in India, Nepal, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Japan and Europe.

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