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Swami Sivananda Jayanthi Puja

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Enroll/In-person

By donation $0, $5, $10, $15 Sliding scale, pay what you can.
ONLINE & In-person (held in the Living Room, max. capacity 10)

This is an in-person offering with an online option. Pre-registration for limited in-person attendance required.

These devotional services are a time to come together for blessings from our spiritual teacher Sri Swami Sivananda, to offer gratitude and ask for guidance. A puja (spiritual service) with participatory chanting will be performed. This service will include our noon meditation.

“Life is a pilgrimage. The wise man does not rest by the roadside inns. He marches direct to the illimitable domain of eternal bliss, his ultimate destination.”

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.

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.

Diana Meltsner, C-IAYT and e-RYT 500, has been teaching yoga in the Bay Area since 2001. Diana has been a lead teacher trainer for 200-hour Integral Yoga Teacher Trainings since 2012. The classes she teaches include chair/gentle, various levels of Hatha yoga, prenatal, guided mindfulness meditations, and various yoga, pranayama and meditation workshops. She’s been working as a health educator and yoga instructor for Kaiser Permanente since 2014.
She is C-IAYT certified yoga therapist and San Francisco center manager for the Integral Yoga Therapy 800-hour certification program. Diana offers individual therapeutic sessions with focus on physical and mental wellness. Her offerings help people to find a deeper sense of well-being and ability to move through life with increased ease, intuition, and stress resilience.
www.dianameltsner.com

2021-08-04T21:46:21-07:00August 4th, 2021|Tags: , , , , , |

Satsang: Sri Swami Sivananda, The Life and Teachings

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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.

2021-08-04T20:37:38-07:00August 4th, 2021|Tags: , , , , |

The Spiritual Journey of Death and Rebirth

by Swami Vimalananda

He’s alive! He’s alive! What an amazing discovery! Jesus survived death on the cross and appeared from the cave alive. There are so many stories of near death experiences which end up with a person no longer fearing death. These people often report that their journey from then on is one of love, to love everything just the way it is.

We have evidence all around us of seeming death only to see rebirth: the trees dormant in the winter, bring buds, blossoms, and then leaves in spring; the wildflowers that rise out of the soil pointing out to us the glories of new life.

As I am in the throes of old age, with a slower moving and creaking body, I can see what Sri Gurudev meant when he said, “I will be a prisoner in my own body.” What freedom there is in casting off the worn-out and entering into a fresh, healthy, growing body, like a new life bursting into fullness with abundant energy and vitality. It is like a road ahead appearing to end at the horizon only to stretch out to the next horizon, the next, and the next.

It is the resurrection that shows us how Jesus led his life and offered up his body for all of us to see — it is all about love and everlasting life.

Happy Easter!

Love is the Funeral Pyre
by Hafiz

Love is
The funeral pyre
Where I have laid my living body.
All the false notions of myself
That once caused fear, pain,
Have turned to ash
As I neared God.
What has risen
From the tangled web of thought and sinew
Now shines with jubilation
Through the eyes of angels
And screams from the guts of
Infinite existence
Itself.
Love is the funeral pyre
Where the heart must lay
Its body.

Please join us for a Satsang to celebrate Easter on Saturday, April 3. On this evening, we will contemplate the spiritual presence and resurrection of Jesus as Swami Vimalananda clarifies how the same truths are found in the teachings of Yoga. We will make time for discussion and personal sharings and Swami Ramananda will offer a meditative worship ritual called puja. People of all faiths are welcome. Details HERE.

 

Swami Vimalananda Ma, RYT500, is an Integral Yoga sannyasi – monk. She has been involved with Integral Yoga since 1971 and Director of the San Francisco Integral Yoga Institute from 1992-2011. She specializes in teaching yoga philosophy and spiritual counseling.

 

 

 

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.

2021-04-02T15:19:51-07:00March 22nd, 2021|Tags: , , , |

Satsang: Sufi Poetry Night

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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.

During this satsang we will focus on the wonderful poetry of the Sufi mystics.

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.

 

Susan Ford, C-IAYT, RYT-500, began teaching in 2011 and has been an assistant trainer for the Basic Yoga Teacher at 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 the 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 and e-RYT500, has been teaching yoga in the Bay Area since 2001. The classes she teaches include chair/gentle, various levels of Hatha yoga, prenatal, guided mindfulness meditations and yoga and meditation workshops. Diana has been a lead teacher trainer for 200-hour Integral Yoga Teacher Trainings since 2012. She is C-IAYT certified yoga therapist and offers individual therapeutic sessions with focus on physical and mental wellness. Her offerings help people to find a deeper sense of well-being and ability to move through life with increased ease, intuition, and stress resilience. www.dianameltsner.com

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.

 

2021-03-10T21:32:16-08:00March 10th, 2021|Tags: , , , , |
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