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Satsang: Taking Refuge from the Storms of Life

Online & In-Person | By donation $0, $5, $10, $15

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

Enroll/In-person
Please review our In-person Safety Guidelines. https://integralyogasf.org/attending-in-person

As hard as we may try to manage our lives with care and skill, we all inevitably encounter times when life is especially challenging, overwhelming, or unbearable. Our normal coping skills may not be enough and when we are anxious, grieving or under pressure, we may make poor choices that make things worse.

In this Satsang, Asokananda and Ramananda will present the distilled wisdom of all the Yoga teachings as practical principles that lead to skillful action and wise choices. We will explore how to take refuge in the unchanging source of wisdom within us and how each of us can learn to access that presence in a unique way.

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.

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.

Swami Asokananda, E-RYT 500, a monk since 1973, is one of Integral Yoga’s foremost teachers—known for his warmth, intelligence, and good humor. His teaching comes out of his own practice and experience, having absorbed the wisdom of his Guru, Sri Swami Satchidananda.
While he enjoys sharing the practical wisdom of yogic philosophy (especially the great Indian scripture, the Bhagavad Gita), he also loves his practice of Hatha Yoga. He is one of Yogaville’s primary instructors for intermediate and advanced Hatha Yoga teacher trainings.
He presently serves as president at the Integral Yoga Institute in New York City. Before this position, he served as the President of Satchidananda Ashram–Yogaville and Integral Yoga International.

2023-04-27T14:56:47-07:00March 28th, 2023|Tags: , , |

Satsang: Mystical Poetry Night

Online & In-Person | By donation $0, $5, $10, $15

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

Enroll/In-person
Please review our In-person Safety Guidelines.

Join us for an evening of shared poetry that reflects the voice of our soul. We will read and discuss that which awakens inspiration, delight and peace in the heart. All are welcome to have a poem or two to share or simply listen and enjoy.
Mystical poetry and sacred songs are powerful expressions of the human experience, a dynamic meeting of the mind with the Grace of the Divine that crosses the lines of time and specific religious views.

A simple vegetarian meal will be offered after this in-person Satsang with a suggested donation of $5-10. Pre-registration is required for all in-person attendance.

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.

Susan Ford, C-IAYT, RYT-500, began teaching in 2011 and has been an assistant trainer for the Basic Yoga Teacher Training at Integral Yoga Institute (IYI) since 2012. She specializes in gentle yoga and yoga therapy working with people with disabilities, cancer, heart disease, arthritis, aging, bone health, anxiety, depression and asthma. Her focus is to help students to meet their bodies where they are by introducing and incorporating Therapeutic Yoga, Raja Yoga, Hatha Yoga, pranayama and meditation.
Susan has been a writer of poetry, short stories and plays most of her adult life and has been repeatedly featured in storytelling events in Northern California. She has led writer groups, tutored many in writing, and regularly hosts poetry reading Satsangs at the IYI.

Diana Meltsner, E-RYT 500, YACEP, C-IAYT, has been teaching Yoga since 2001. Her focus is on healing aspects of Yoga ranging from stress reduction to injury recovery as well as personal and spiritual awakening. She is a certified Yoga Therapist and offers individual therapeutic sessions as well as group sessions. She offers classes and health education workshops for Kaiser Permanente. Diana is a lead trainer for 200-hour Yoga Teacher Trainings and a Meditation Teacher Training at Integral Yoga Institute San Francisco, where she serves on the Board of Directors and also provides continuing education.
Diana has recently started writing poetry and a personal blog focused on meditation and understanding of the mind.
dianameltsner.com

2023-04-17T17:48:31-07:00March 28th, 2023|Tags: , , , |

Infinite Blessings

by Snehan Born

Patanjali tells us that our practice is well grounded when it is attended to with zeal over a long period of time and without breaks in regularity.
How many of us have truly committed to our spiritual growth with inspired regular practices?
A well attended, regular practice will yield unlimited benefits. These benefits may be subtle or dramatic, but they are assured. They come as a result of giving ourselves the time to practice with humility, preparing the system to sustain our spiritual growth.
Personally, I can attest to becoming generally much more peaceful and non-reactive over the years. Like many, my heart has felt knocked around enough that I have good reason to have constructed barriers of protection….and yet, the opening of heart that occurs during chanting mantra and Kirtan practice is unfailing and undeniable for me.
During the pandemic I challenged myself to learn the Hanuman Chalisa and it was truly cathartic. For months I attended daily 90 minute morning Sessions on Zoom with a global satsang….all of us learning this difficult Chalisa together. On some mornings, I would break down sobbing for no apparent reason other than the processing of ancient wounds re-presenting themselves in giant waves of emotional release for healing. This went on and on and still occurs sometimes as I get completely transported in Mantra vibration.
Hanuman is considered a wish-fulfilling Deity. I am not in the habit of asking for “things” from God, so I didn’t think much of it. Then one day in class we were discussing this quality of Hanuman, I considered what I might ask for. Without hesitating, I requested a singing voice that would be pleasing to others for the purpose of worshipping Hanuman and inspiring others to chant the Holy names together in Kirtan. Within 4 days, my throat opened up and I gained notable ability to control my developing singing voice. I was astounded and I attribute any singing ability to these devotional practices.
Now, I regularly have feelings of such bliss that I rhetorically question…..How and what did I do to get to this place of profound and reliable joy? I still enjoy attending the morning Hanuman Chalisa sessions as often as I can and marvel at how far the group has progressed. It is truly amazing! And there are endless benefits from a sustained and deepened Pranayama practice to share. Just as I’ve heard from some of you, I too feel I’d be lost without these practices and a life of dedicated service to others.
Raama and I want to share our inspirations, along with some of our collective experiences and results with you and we certainly look forward to hearing about some of your experiences with your practice.
Please join us for Satsang on January 21, 5:30-6:30pm. We’ll be covering some of the infinite blessings of an established and regular spiritual practice (Sadhana).

Raama Das, C-IAYT, is a former director of the Integral Yoga® Teachers Association and has been instructing Integral Yoga since 2009. He is a lead trainer for the Integral Yoga 200-hour Teacher Training at Yogaville and co-presenter for the 200 and 500-hour Yoga Alliance programs at Heal Me Institute in Fredericksburg. Raama recently received certification as a Yoga Therapist through the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT), having studied Yoga programs for specific health conditions, including, anxiety, depression, cancer, heart disease, arthritis, and addiction. He is also certified as a teacher of Intermediate Hatha, Raja Yoga, Meditation, Stress Management, Yin Yoga, and Yoga for our Elders.
Raama has studied and served extensively at the Integral Yoga Academy at Yogaville and managed the Integral Yoga Therapy Program. In addition, he has participated in many months of deep Tantric and classical Yoga sadhana (practice) at the Scandinavian Yoga and Meditation School in Sweden under the direction of Swami Janakananda. He currently serves as Institute Manager at the Integral Yoga Institute San Francisco.

Snehan Born, E-RYT 500, has over four decades of experience with yoga. He resides at the Integral Yoga Institute of San Francisco, where he teaches yoga classes and is a lead teacher trainer. 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. Chanting mantras and playing the harmonium are part of his regular practice and classes.
Snehan has lived and traveled extensively within India 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.

2023-01-14T13:58:15-08:00January 14th, 2023|Tags: , , , |

Satsang: Mystical Poetry Night

By donation $0, $5, $10, $15 | Online & In-Person

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

Enroll/In-person
Please review our In-person Safety Guidelines.

Join us for an evening of shared poetry that reflects the voice of our soul. We will read and discuss that which awakens inspiration, delight and peace in the heart. All are welcome to have a poem or two to share or simply listen and enjoy. Mystical poetry and sacred songs are powerful expressions of the human experience, a dynamic meeting of the mind with the Grace of the Divine that crosses the lines of time and specific religious views. A simple vegetarian meal will be offered after this in-person Satsang with a suggested donation of $5-10. Pre-registration is required for all in-person attendance.

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.

Susan Ford, C-IAYT, RYT-500, began teaching in 2011 and has been an assistant trainer for the Basic Yoga Teacher Training at Integral Yoga Institute (IYI) since 2012. She specializes in gentle yoga and yoga therapy working with people with disabilities, cancer, heart disease, arthritis, aging, bone health, anxiety, depression and asthma. Her focus is to help students to meet their bodies where they are by introducing and incorporating Therapeutic Yoga, Raja Yoga, Hatha Yoga, pranayama and meditation.
Susan has been a writer of poetry, short stories and plays most of her adult life and has been repeatedly featured in storytelling events in Northern California. She has led writer groups, tutored many in writing, and regularly hosts poetry reading Satsangs at the IYI.

Diana Meltsner, C-IAYT, RYT-500,has been teaching variety of classes and workshops since 2001 and since 2017 offers yoga therapy sessions privately and at Integral Yoga Therapy Clinic in San Francisco. She has worked in the clinical setting for Kaiser Permanente since 2005 as a yoga teacher, yoga therapist, and health educator and is teaching mindfulness and meditation to the medical staff.
Her focus is on the healing aspects of yoga on the mind as well as the body by applying the teachings of Yoga, practices of breath-control, mindfulness and meditation. Diana helps her clients to find healing and the ability to move through life with increased ease, stress resilience, and intuition.
Diana Meltsner works as a programs manager and serves on the board of directors at Integral Yoga Institute, an urban ashram in San Francisco. She is a yoga teacher trainer for the 200-hour and Meditation Teacher trainings.
dianameltsner.com

2023-01-12T08:59:02-08:00January 11th, 2023|Tags: , , , |
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