Scripture Study: Yoga Sutras for Modern Times, 3-part series

Online | $5-15 sliding scale per session
3 Mondays, January 22, 29, & February 5 | 6:00 – 7:00pm
Each session offered individually | Please register in advance; a Zoom link will be emailed 1 hour before the session. You can also join Zoom directly via your Momence dashboard.

How do we cultivate peace and harmony when everything else around us seems to be in turmoil? How can our spiritual practice really affect change? Sometimes discipline isn’t accessible (for various reasons), and sometimes protecting our peace at all cost seems too selfish. Although written thousands of years ago, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali provide clues on how to conduct a life that leads to harmony and peace.
Join Mia Velez in this 3-part series to delve into the Yoga Sutras and get fresh perspectives on the age-old scriptures.
All are welcome to join any one or all of the sessions.

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.

Benefit Thanksgiving Yoga Class

ONLINE & IN-PERSON
$15-$108 (class card use available)

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

Please review our In-person Safety Guidelines.

Join us for a morning yoga class on Thanksgiving. As we move through a yoga practice, we will focus on gratitude and on the profound effects that the cultivation of gratitude has in our lives.

All the proceeds from this Yoga class will support the Institute’s outreach program “Serving our Community through the Practice of Yoga” to fund free in-person yoga offerings in the Mission’s Spanish-speaking yoga classes at Women’s Building and prenatal/postnatal yoga class at Casa Doula. We are motivated by love, respect, and a desire to serve our Latino people in this San Francisco neighborhood through sharing the classical teachings of yoga and helping members of our community to find peace within themselves, and bring that peace into their lives.

Mia Velez 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.

Your support allows for low cost access to living and sharing the classical teachings of Yoga; Cultivating peace within ourselves, our communities and around the world.Thank you for your support.


And join us after the Thanksgiving Yoga Class for Thanksgiving Puja, Sharing & Potluck with Swami Ramananda, Thu. NOV 23 @ 11:15 am – 12:15 pm PST
Online​ & In-person | Free

Whether join at the Institute or online gather together for a sacred ceremony to invoke the Spiritual Light and guide us in a reflection on the profound spiritual practice of gratitude. We will have time for personal sharing on the many blessings we have received. It’s our ability to be grateful for whatever we have that allows us to connect with the Joy and Divinity already within us.
We will share a potluck meal afterward and enjoy each other’s company. Please bring a vegetarian dish to share (no meat, fish or eggs).

2023-11-16T00:50:14-08:00October 2nd, 2023|Tags: , , |

Ripples for Change, 1-day Retreat

In-person | $200 or $185 Early bird, extended to Oct 11! Use promo code RIPPLES.

Your participation is a direct contribution to a scholarship fund that makes yoga training accessible to Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) teachers.

All BIPOC and allies welcome!

Your participation directly contributes to making yoga trainings accessible to Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC). Come together for day of rejuvenation and community action on a beautiful private estate among the redwoods in Woodside, CA. Lunch and snacks will be provided. Activities include:

    • Hatha Yoga
    • Drumming and Dance
    • Yoga Nidra and sound bath
    • Community empowerment
    • Henna
    • Intuitive reading
    • Poolside & more!

Can’t make the Retreat?  You can support diverse representation of Yoga Teachers in Yoga and wellness communities by donating to the BIPOC 200-Hour Teacher Training BIPOC Yoga Teacher Training Scholarship FundThank you!

Ripples for Change reminds us that everything is connected and has long lasting effects. The lotus symbolizes resilience, emerging through the mud out of the water. The frog symbolizes a complete lifecycle and transformation, which reflects our ongoing journey. The lily pad is deeply rooted and grounding the frog, giving it space to heal and reflect. The ripples in the water represent action/change, whether big or small it affects the self, the community, and our surroundings. We look forward to sharing a day of relaxation and activation with you all.

Hosted by

Andreína Maldonado (She/her) is a Venezuelan artist, consultant, and registered Integral Yoga practitioner. She’s the driving force behind BienStar Consulting, a hub that’s been fusing Performing Arts, Wellness, and Language Justice for over 6 years in the Bay Area and beyond. With a knack for bridging cultures and weaving connections, Andreína’s all about blending art, wellness practices such as yoga, and social justice into powerful actions. Currently, she’s sharing the joys of beginner-level Hatha yoga in Spanish, where mindfulness and self-care take center stage. Join her every Friday at Integral Yoga San Francisco for a revitalizing class that’s equal parts fun and intentional – you’ll leave not only refreshed but also more connected to yourself and those around you.

Mia Velez, (she/her), E-RYT 500, entered Integral Yoga Institute (IYI) in 2016 through the kitchen as a volunteer cook. She completed her first 200-hour teacher training in 2008 and certified with IYI in 2018. Mia is a disciple of Sifu Pete Pajil of the Moy Yat Ving Tsun Kung Fu lineage and is highly influenced by her martial arts training. To teach is a privilege and believes that learning is a reciprocal process between student and teacher. Her hope is to liberate herself and others from oppressive social conditioning. She teaches Ving Tsun Kung Fu, offers yoga to incarcerated men, and stress management techniques to new parents. She is a trainer for the Basic Teacher Trainings at IYI, including the BIPOC Yoga Teacher Training, and mentors new teachers. Yoga and Kung Fu are integrated into her daily life as a wife and mother, a preschool teacher, and an advocate for gender, race and class equity through multiple organizations.

K. Muktidevi Demafeliz is a born and raised San Franciscan and has been a yoga practitioner for 15 years. Her yoga practice began with her mentor Anthony “Tony” Garcia who guided her in the study of yoga in 2012. He encouraged her to pursue yoga teacher training, which she did, in the Integral Yoga tradition. She is certified in Basic Hatha I and Intermediate Hatha II, Accessible Yoga (Gentle) and her most recent certification, Mindful Resilience Training through the Veterans Yoga Project to teach trauma-informed yoga. She wishes to pursue future trainings in Prenatal Yoga and Yoga for First Responders as she is the Well-Being Champion for the San Francisco Police Department. YOGA IS HER PASSION, as she expresses her enthusiasm and love for the practice with those she comes in contact with, on and off the mat. Yoga has impacted and changed her life in such a positive and healthy way that she truly believes it is the saving grace for all. She is a Yogini who also lives with the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) for 25 years and uses the tools from yoga to help her maneuver through life’s challenges by continuing to live one breath, step, and day at a time – she would always say that she is still “learning and growing” every day, living her best life.

 Rasmi Lorrett, a San Francisco native, whose love for yoga began more than twenty years ago. Through consistent dedication to daily practice, she always found a sense of balance and harmony. In 2019, she completed her teacher training at IYI. It was during this transformative experience that she delved even deeper in her Hatha yoga practice and unlocked new levels of self awareness. Committed to lifelong learning, her purpose is to share the invaluable benefits of yoga with others, guided by the wisdom of Patanjali, ” If you can control the rising of the mind into ripples, you will experience Yoga”. She hopes to inspire and guide others in their own journey towards physical, mental and spiritual well-being.

Amanda Vigil, is a San Francisco-born and raised filmmaker, educator, & performance artist. Her work has been seen locally and internationally; Amanda believes in the power of the audience, through her work as a facilitator, director, and curator. Amanda is a recent graduate of IYTT 200 BIPOC teacher training program.She proudly focus her talents on making art/film, intergenerational impact and healing in the city of San Francisco.

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