Satsang: Sri Swami Sivananda, The Life and Teachings

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

“Serve, Love, Give, Purify, Meditate, Realise; Be good, Do good, Be kind, Be compassionate.”

Swami Sivananda Saraswati (1887 – 1963) was a Hindu spiritual teacher and a proponent of Yoga and Vedanta. Sivananda was born in Pattamadai, Tamil Nadu. He studied medicine and served in British Malaya as a physician for several years before taking up monasticism.
He was the founder of the Divine Life Society (1936), Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy (1948) and author of over 200 books on yoga, Vedanta, and a variety of subjects. He established Sivananda Ashram, on the bank of the Ganges at Sivanandanagar, near Rishikesh. He was Swami Satchidananda’s beloved teacher’s Gurudev and you will find his photograph on many altars in Integral Yoga centers around the world.

“Do not love leisure. Waste not a minute. Be bold. Realize the Truth, here and now!”

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 Divyananda Ma, E-RYT 500, has had a wealth of experience teaching Integral Yoga around the world since 1973. She has taught at corporations, universities, the Commonwealth Cancer Center, and for the Dr. Dean Ornish Reversing Heart Disease programs. She has also served as one of Integral Yoga’s Basic Hatha teacher trainers.
Swami Divyananda Ma took monastic vows in 1975 from the great saint and yogi, Sri Swami Satchidananda. Over the years she has served as the director of the Integral Yoga Institutes in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and as Ashram Manager at Yogaville. She also served for ten years as the director of the Integral Yoga Institute in Coimbatore, India; this immersion into the South Indian culture has given depth to her understanding and practice of Yoga.

Now an itinerant monk, Swami Divyananda is constantly “on the road.” She leads the annual Sacred India Tours to sacred sites in India in addition to international Yoga retreats and trainings. Learn more at sacredindiatours.org.

Deepening into Meditation

Meets monthly on the third Wednesdays

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 Rinpoche

This ongoing group meets on the 3rd Wednesday of each month to 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 took her first yoga class in 1970 in southern California. Later that year she came through the doors of the Berkeley Integral Yoga Institute (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, VA 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.
Prajna has cooked professionally for many years at retreats centers, cafes and restaurants.

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]

Madhavi Maria Monserrat Becht, RYT-500 began practicing yoga and fell deeply in love with it in 2014 while living in Princeton NJ. She had a Tibetan meditation practice, but something was missing and since then yoga has been her life. Madhavi has a passion for cooking healthy meals, working with healing plants, cacao ceremonies, hiking and being in nature. She moved to IYI San Francisco in 2018 where she decided to go deeper into her practice and live in community. She feels like Integral Yoga is her home. While living in the ashram she has deepened her meditation practice, completed two 200 hour basic training, yin and yoga nidra. Madhavi’s goal is to help others to live more peacefully and in harmony with nature.

Deepening into Meditation

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.

“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 Rinpoche

This ongoing group meets on the 3rd Wednesday of each month to 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 took her first yoga class in 1970 in southern California. Later that year she came through the doors of the Berkeley Integral Yoga Institute (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, VA 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.
Prajna has cooked professionally for many years at retreats centers, cafes and restaurants.

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