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: , |

Community Meeting – Honoring the Past, Preparing for the Future & Enjoying…

Honoring the Past, Preparing for the Future & Enjoying the Present

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

 

Please join us for this online gathering to plan and to discuss:

Honoring the past:
• special speaker series and fundraising
• 50th anniversary celebrations

Preparing for the future:
• Financial Status of the Institute
• Replacing the roof and postponing the solar panel project
• Current & future online programming and new pricing
• Uncertainty about reopening the Institute

Enjoying the present:
• Maintain personal balance during uncertain times
• Raising awareness and steps towards racial equality
We would love to hear from you, especially to get your feedback on how we prepare the Institute for the future.

 

The Integral Yoga Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving the community through living and sharing the classical teachings of yoga. Anyone, from any background, any age, any capacity, can come practice in community with others, find peace within themselves, and bring that peace and that light into their lives.

Swami Ramananda is the Executive Director of Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco and a greatly respected senior teacher in the Integral Yoga tradition, who has been practicing Yoga for over 40 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.

 

2020-06-29T12:53:42-07:00May 28th, 2020|Tags: , |

The Woodstock Spirit is Alive and Well in San Francisco

by Rev. Premanjali

This year we’re in the midst of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Integral Yoga Institute of San Francisco on Dolores Street. Through the years, the sangha has been through some notable moments in history, but at the moment, we are experiencing an unprecedented shift in how we serve the community. As the COVID-19 pandemic spurs us to persist through the unexpected, IYISF continues to offer classes, workshops, and meditations online to stay connected with the community. 

Going back to 1969—a year prior to its opening—the first Integral Yoga teachers arrived in San Francisco from New York. They began teaching classes in an apartment until the beautiful Victorian-style building on Dolores Street was purchased a year later.

1969 was also the year of an event that came to define the 60s counterculture, the Woodstock Festival. At the last moment, Swami Satchidananda was helicoptered in to open the festival by the organizers who were hoping he might bring a peaceful mood to what was beginning to unfold as a potentially chaotic scene. From the moment he chanted, “Om,” he did calm the more than 400,000 young people at the music festival on a farm in upstate New York. And, in doing so, Swami Satchidananda attained rock star status—much to his own surprise. The festival rapidly became legend as did he. 

In August 2019, the 50th anniversary of Woodstock was celebrated. During that anniversary, Phil Goldberg (author of American Veda) wrote an article for Elephant Journal in which he noted: 

“For my part, I want to commemorate one brief but highly significant moment that occurred in the opening hour, on August 15, 1969. It does not get the attention it deserves. Of all the iconic Woodstock images—writhing mud-soaked bodies; impassioned performers like Jimi Hendrix; ecstatic faces and strung-out faces—one captures the spiritual zeitgeist of the era: Swami Satchidananda addressing the multitude. It’s a potent symbol of the meeting of East and West that transformed America’s spiritual and cultural landscape. Fifty years on, millions of people meditate, chant mantras, and stretch on Yoga mats, and the swami who came to be called ‘The Woodstock Guru’ deserves much of the credit. The image of the Hindu holy man blessing the most famous rock festival in history will endure as a symbol of the time when a generation of Americans turned Eastward and inward. No one contributed more to the modern Yoga boom than Swami Satchidananda, who started training American teachers in the late 1960s.”

Over the past fifty years, the San Francisco IYI has been a continually welcoming presence, offering the teachings of the classical path of Yoga to all who have come through its doors. During this time, Integral Yoga teachers have positively touched the lives of thousands of students as they have shared the Yoga practices and teachings. Swami Satchidananda famously declared that, “More people have been killed in the name of God than in all the wars.” He called on all religions to abandon rhetoric and behaviors that create conflict and instead embrace the teachings of universal peace, love, compassion, and sisterhood and brotherhood common to all faiths. “Paths are many,” said Swami Satchidananda, but, “Truth is one.” Integral Yoga teachers have continued to invoke Swami Satchidananda’s universal message of peace, kindness, compassion, inclusivity—celebrating both our unity and diversity as spiritual seekers.

In looking back we also gain inspiration for looking forward. In his classic eleven-volume text, The Story of Civilization, historian Will Durant expressed the hope that India would “teach us the tolerance and gentleness of the mature mind, the quiet content of the unacquisitive soul, the calm of the understanding spirit, and a unifying, pacifying love for all living things.” That turned out to be prescient for as Phil Goldberg also noted, “The image of Swami Satchidananda at Woodstock will always be a symbol of the moment when a battery of unconventional baby boomers turned eastward—and inward—in such large numbers that the process became irreversible.

We can all be proud that the Integral Yoga Institute of San Francisco is carrying this legacy forward—hopefully for another 50 years and more! We hope you will join us in our online offerings. It is a great opportunity for those outside of the San Francisco Bay Area to connect with the teaching and sangha from a distance.

This is part 2 of a post from February 26, 2020.

2020-04-29T15:49:07-07:00April 29th, 2020|Tags: |
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