Teacher
I teach the non asana (physical poses) aspects of Raja Yoga. I have been teaching Meditation, Pranayama, Yoga Philosophy, Sanskrit and Chanting since 2008. I speak on subjects such as: Yoga Beyond Asana, Meditation & Breathwork, Shaivism and Samkhya. I am passionate about using yogic principles to create a healthy, peaceful and harmonious life. I speak and offer advice to people from different walks of life about living a yogic lifestyle.
WEEKLY ONLINE MEDITATION CLASS
My Meditation & Pranayama (Breathwork) classes are geared towards cultivating a higher state of consciousness and sustaining that higher state for longer periods of time, even after one leaves the studio. I want to help people maintain this state during their day-to-day activities, thereby making even the most simple or mundane task enlightening and uplifting. We achieve this state through building equanimity, steadfastness, presence of mind, objectivity and wisdom. I use a number of meditation techniques during my classes, depending on the needs of the students and their level of practice: Vipassana, Chakra based meditation, World Peace meditation, Mantra & Japa, Yoga Nidra, Visualizations, Breath based meditations, Analytical meditation and more.
Online Classes are 45 - 60 minutes long. Each class comprises of 3 segments
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Preparation through breathwork and kriyas
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Meditation
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Q&A & Sharing Circle
My approach to the class: I do a brief introduction of the different techniques that will be practiced in the class and offer the necessary instruction to sustain oneself through the class. I rarely offer an entirely guided meditation. I am really interested in helping practice silence as much as possible and empower them to meditate by themselves, rather than depending totally on another person to meditate. I may play some light instrumental music in the preparation stage to get them into the meditative zone.
Venue: Online Class via Google Meet. Meeting Link: meet.google.com/wzm-vvbi-zvg
Dial-in: (US) +1 407-440-1461 PIN: 961 564 276#
Time: Sundays, 9 am, PST (California time)
Fee: Suggested Donation - $10 (Nobody is turned away for financial reasons). Click here to make a donation.
WEEKLY IN-PERSON MEDITATION CLASS
My Meditation & Pranayama (Breathwork) classes are geared towards cultivating a higher state of consciousness and sustaining that higher state for longer periods of time, even after one leaves the studio. I want to help people maintain this state during their day-to-day activities, thereby making even the most simple or mundane task enlightening and uplifting. We achieve this state through building equanimity, steadfastness, presence of mind, objectivity and wisdom. I use a number of meditation techniques during my classes, depending on the needs of the students and their level of practice: Vipassana, Chakra based meditation, World Peace meditation, Mantra & Japa, Yoga Nidra, Visualizations, Breath based meditations, Analytical meditation and more.
In-Person Classes are 75 - 90 minutes long. Each class comprises of 4 segments
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Preparation through breathwork and kriyas
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Concentration/Awareness meditation
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Analytical/Wisdom meditation
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Q&A & Sharing Circle
My approach to the class: I do a brief introduction of the different techniques that will be practiced in the class and offer the necessary instruction to sustain oneself through the class. I rarely offer an entirely guided meditation. I am really interested in helping practice silence as much as possible and empower them to meditate by themselves, rather than depending totally on another person to meditate. I may play some light instrumental music in the preparation stage to get them into the meditative zone.
Venue: Moksha Spiritual Center. 4021 Mount Pinos Way, Frazier Park CA 93225
Time: Sundays, 11 am, PST (California time)
Fees: Suggested Donation - $15 (Nobody is turned away for financial reasons). Click here to make a donation.
WELLNESS RETREATS
I lead 3 wellness retreats in the Sprint, Summer and Autumn of each year. Retreat dates are available here.
YOGA BEYOND ASANA
Yoga is a science of Self Realization and Self Manifestation. It offers a framework to discover our highest potential, the divine essence in every one of us. This framework has many components: Physical, Mental, Philosophical and Spiritual. Each component by itself is quite transformative, but the full benefit of yoga can be experienced when one integrates all these components in their practice. In my view, a true yogi is someone who lives by the principles of yoga (morals, disciplines and yogic philosophies). Most people begin their yoga practice through the physical poses, asanas. The Western yoga world has done a great job of perfecting and disseminating the wisdom and practice of the physical aspects of yoga. A lot more work needs to be done with regards to the non-physical aspects of yoga. I intend to bridge that gap. I usually cover the following topics in my workshops on Yoga beyond Asana:
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Definition of Yoga: Science of Self Realization & Self Manifestation. Philosophical, Physical, Mental, Spiritual dimensions of yoga
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Four different paths of yoga & their derivatives: Rāja Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnāna Yoga
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Three gunas: Sattva, Tamas, Rajas
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Limbs of Raja Yoga: Yama, Niyama, Pranāyama, Prathyāhāra, Dhārana, Dhyāna, Samādhi
SHAIVISM
I am a Shaivite. What this means is that I believe in the principles of Shaivism and live by these principles. In this lineage, Lord Shiva is considered the supreme being or the first principle, from whom the universe was created. It is widely accepted that Yoga was given to us by lord Shiva.
In my workshops on Shaivism, my goal is introduce students to Shaivism, the religion and cosmology of ancient India, going back to 10,000+ years. The Indian subcontinent was inhabited by the Dravidian tribe for a very long time now, at least 10,000+ years old. Shaivism was the cosmology and religion of the Dravidians. Around 5,000 years ago, a lot of kingdoms from the middle-east, west and north invaded India and settled in the northern and central part of India. The merger of the existing Shaivism in India and their own philosophies resulted in religions that followed: Jainism, Hinduism (Vedism), Vaishnavism, Buddhism, etc.
Shaivism as a cosmology/religion exists by itself very much in India now. It is also present in every other belief system that originated from India. If a person wants to understand Indian philosophies or Indian culture better, it would help to know about Shaivism, especially for yogis in the west. Yoga and Samkhya come from Shaivism.