Satsang: Creating Inclusive Yoga Spaces

By donation

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

In response to recent events, many yoga organizations and yoga teachers have publicly stated a commitment to supporting the dismantling of systemic racism and to standing in solidarity with BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color). For many, this commitment includes a critical examination and transformation of the lack of diversity in the yoga classes they host and teach.
In this Satsang, Rev. Kamala Itzel Hayward will share her thoughts on how you can begin to create inclusive yoga spaces. The gathering will include time for q&a and will conclude with a brief meditation.

About Rev. Kamala Itzel Hayward

Kamala remembers very early in life feeling sad and confused by how some people could perpetuate suffering upon other people for what seemed to her to be inexplicable and arbitrary reasons. She dreamed of a world that was just and kind. It was this dream that inspired her, at five years old, to become a lawyer.
And she did.
For 13 years, she practiced law full time, passionate about protecting the public—particularly those people whose voices weren’t heard, whose lives weren’t valued, whose power was subjugated, who weren’t given equal access to resources.
She found the work meaningful and rewarding in many ways… but a string of personal challenges and significant losses drew her to follow a different path.
She went on an intensive spiritual quest to try to understand her own suffering, what motivates others to cause suffering, and how to end suffering for herself and others.
She finally came to realize that all suffering is rooted in a mistaken belief of separateness—the idea that you are separate from anyone or anything else—and that the most direct way to end suffering is to heal that sense of separation.
Today, she holds meetings, retreats, classes, trainings, and private one-on-one sessions online, over the phone, and in person with people from all over the world.
From working with professionals dealing with challenges in the workplace, to couples in struggling relationships, to individuals looking outside of themselves for love or happiness, Itzel works with groups and individuals gently reminding you of your individual wholeness and your interconnectedness with each other and all of life.
Visit www.attunedliving.com to learn more.

2020-08-03T20:52:28-07:00July 7th, 2020|Tags: , |

3 Swami Satsang

 

$20, $27, $54, $108 – 100% of the proceeds go towards replacing the IYISF roof.

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

 

Special Speaker Series:
These three beloved swamis don’t just want to raise the roof—they want to totally replace it!

Join them as they share their spiritual journey with us, and help Integral Yoga San Francisco raise the needed funds to replace our roof.

Come with some of your deep, heartfelt questions. Each Swami will share a message and take questions.

 

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 Divyananda Ma is one of Integral Yoga’s senior monastics and foremost teachers. Over the years she served as director at the Integral Yoga Institutes in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Coimbatore, India and as the Ashram Manager in Yogaville. Presently she teaches and conducts trainings in the US and around the world, and leads an annual tour to the sacred temples and ashrams of India.

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.Integral Yoga Institute.

2020-07-24T13:28:10-07:00July 6th, 2020|Tags: , , , |

Satsang: Personal Relationships

By donation | Please register in advance, a zoom link will be provided via confirmation email.

Part 2 of 3, We are Never Alone, Yoga and Relationships series

All the love songs, I love you, do you love me? Lost love, found love— all the movies, girl meets boy, loses girl, does boy get girl back?— all the romance novels—all tell how much togetherness and intimacy, love is so desired

If we are all wanting romantic, intimate love, why is the divorce rate at least 50% of all marriages, and why such loneliness exists even in relationships?

Why is it so hard to stay in closeness and intimacy?

 

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.

 

Mark your calendars for the 3rd of this 3 part Satsang series on September 5th at 6pm.

2020-07-22T17:47:56-07:00July 6th, 2020|Tags: , , |

Spiritual Activism in a Violent World

In the wake of yet another gross example of racism and another senseless murder in the U.S., many people I know are searching for some way to actively respond to a world that has given birth to so much violence and injustice. In Integral Yoga, we often speak about how we can embody the spiritual principles and practices we embrace in proactive ways to make a real difference.  

For far too long, many committed spiritual seekers I know have limited their response to sending prayers for peace, expressing their dismay to each other, and recommitting themselves to spiritual practice to establish peace in their hearts. These are all very important choices, but right now I don’t think they are enough. These actions are invisible to the world around us—I saw a protest sign recently that read, “Silence is Violence.” Spiritual practice should lay the groundwork for further action.

It is crucial that we sustain a regular meditation practice to touch the ground of being we all share and to awaken the natural compassion that arises in the heart when we experience this interconnection. Understood in this context, our spiritual practice is a responsibility, not simply a personal pursuit. Only then, will this sense of oneness be strong enough that it manifests in our hearts and minds as we interact in the world. 

But we need not wait for some level of enlightenment to take Yoga off the cushion or mat and into the street. We can purposely practice moving, talking, and thinking with peace and compassion in our hearts. 

We bring compassion into conversations when we listen deeply to another person and make a real effort to understand and respect their needs, instead of stubbornly defending our own. We can approach even those with whom we disagree with an open heart and an effort to build on the common ground we share, instead of focusing only on the differences.  

At every opportunity, we must speak out against injustice when we see, hear, or witness it and be a presence of peace in moments of conflict. Even when we cannot help directly, we can offer support to those who are fighting against racism and violence. We must make our voices heard to those seeking election, so that policies that support social justice are enacted at every level of government.

We must stand in solidarity with the voices of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) stating that systematic racism and injustice due to police violence must end. We cannot just stand by and watch the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the many others who have suffered from our country’s failure to address the racial inequality that has plagued our society for centuries.

We must also speak up against the derogatory language, hate speech, and acts of violence directed at Asian populations since the outbreak of the pandemic. I’ve read more than once that we must act now to strengthen the immunity of our societies, not only against COVID-19, but against the virus of hate and discrimination.

A recent message from the Interfaith Council of San Francisco articulates our intention to join with many others in supporting changes that value all peoples, regardless of race, eradicate all forms of oppression, and recognize the unity behind all diversity.

“The overwhelming national response to George Floyd’s death, manifested in peaceful protests, not only honors his life, but powerfully expresses the threshold of tolerance we as Americans have reached for injustice, systematic racism and discrimination against people of color. This powerful resurgence of a long overdue civil rights movement will not be silenced until structural change is realized. We lift our voices and stand in unity and solidarity with our sisters and brothers of color in proclaiming that BLACK LIVES MATTER.” —Interfaith Council of San Francisco

For the last 2 months, the residents of the Integral Yoga Institute here in San Francisco have been gathering to send out prayers for all those who are suffering from the pandemic. We will continue to do so and keep equally in our prayers all those suffering from racial injustice.  We also commit to educating ourselves to uncover unintentional racism, to searching our own hearts for prejudice of any kind, and to using every opportunity to promote the yogic understanding that we are all one.

Please join us for a free panel and community discussion we will hold on Sunday, June 14, 4:30 – 6 pm PDT, entitled Responding to Racism – A Spiritual PerspectiveIntegral Yoga Minister Kamala Itzel Hayward will speak on the essential role that acknowledging racism and other forms of oppression plays in the spiritual journey. Mazin Jamal Mahgoub will follow with a talk on effective activism grounded in spiritual principles. 

Swami Ramananda is the President 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 35 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 trains Yoga teachers to bring Yoga into corporate, hospital and medical settings and has taught mind/body wellness programs in many locations. He is a founding board member of the Yoga Alliance, a national registry that supports and promotes yoga teachers as professionals. His warmth, wisdom and sense of humor have endeared him to many.

2020-06-07T14:58:33-07:00June 3rd, 2020|Tags: , |
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