• Table of Contents
  • Stories and Parables of Power by Swami Veda
  • Collective Happiness by Swami Rama
  • Full Moon Message By Wolfgang Bischoff
  • The “New Meditation Hall” by Rabindra Sahu
  • Narada Bhakti Sutras
  • Yoga and Family Life
  • New Online Workshops by Yuko Metsugi
  • New SRSG Organic Garden by Divya Gupta
  • Motto Future Silence Days by Swami Veda Bharati
  • Dear Yoga Mentor, My Question Is
  • 2021 Events and Beyond
  • Full Moon Meditation Dates
  • Location of our SRSG ashram
• AHYMSIN Newsletter Archive

Yoga and Family Life

by Sofia Foteina, John Sellinger, and Divya Gupta

The dual purpose of life, as taught in the ancient tradition of yoga, is the experience and enjoyment of the limited manifest reality; and the realization of the infinite in moksha (spiritual liberation). Family serves as a core foundation of both of these purposes and is the first experience, as well as the training ground, of relationships. The roles we play in the family (spouse, parents, children, siblings, grandparents and grandchildren, etc.) then become foundational elements of our personality.

This workshop is offered to all who are interested in gaining and exchanging inspiration in the spiritual purpose of family life as taught by the Himalayan Yoga Tradition as taught by Swami Rama and Swami Veda Bharati.

Dates: Six consecutive Saturday workshops, beginning on the 6th of February and concluding on the 13th of March 2021.

Time: All workshops consisting of two hours of both lecture and group discussion, from 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM Indian Standard Time (IST).

Medium: All sessions will be run online via Zoom. Persons from all countries are invited to join.

As our Master Swami Veda Bharati would often remind us that it is not possible to put a price on the teachings received, there is no course fee for this course. Loving donations from the heart may be offered and will support the ashram during the pandemic.

Programme Outline:

Session 1: Family as the Means for Both Worldly Joy and Spiritual Liberation – Refining the married relationship, material life and spiritual sadhana.

Session 2: Family as a Pool of Shared Karma – The 16 samskaras (sacraments or sacred rites) of children and parents, ideas of discipline, cooperation and conflict-resolution. (Practicum of diaphragmatic breath).

Session 3: Preparing for Parenthood – Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Yoga.

Session 4: The Spiritual Purpose of Family – From ancient traditions into the modern day.

Session 5: Education and Parenting for Peace* – Raising children to be healthy, joyful and courageous. (Practicum of nadi shodhanam pranayama).

Additional Session: Questions and answers, open group discussion and expansion on points of interest.

Sofia Foteina has been studying in SRSG since 2010, including the Himalayan Yoga Tradition -Teacher Training Program (HYT-TTP), and continues to be a student learning from the experienced teachers of the Himalayan Tradition. Today she is a yoga instructor for adults and children RYT 600 from the HYT-TTP, accredited by Yoga Alliance and CYAI (Council of Yoga Accreditation International). She is a mantra initiator and a member of the AHYMSIN Adhyatma Samiti (Spiritual Committee).
She studied the Montessori Method at St. Nicholas Training Centre in London and then founded, coordinated and taught at the Kindergarten “Our School” that functioned according to the Montessori Method for 8 years in Athens, Greece, during which she also helped primary school children with so called “learning difficulties”. Then, as she understood that the parents are the greatest teachers for their children, she created a “Parents’ School”, being qualified as a family psychotherapist.

She taught in France, Italy and India (SRSG).

Today she coordinates the non-profit organism “Himalayan Yoga Meditation of Hellas”, translates and publishes Swami Veda Bharati’s books into Greek. She also teaches, at a kindergarten school and a primary school, “Relationships”, for teachers, parents and children.

Dr. Shirin Venkatramani, MD, is an obstetrician and gynecologist practicing in India. She is the centre leader of Swami Rama Himalayan and Yoga Centre in Pune, India, which is affiliated with AHYMSIN. She is also a member of the AHYMSIN Executive Committee. She has authored two books titled – Holistic Motherhood and Jeevansar Kathamrut. She has completed the SuPraBha Ganga yatra - a walkathon of 2400 kms done along the Ganga river with the aim of spreading the message of safe motherhood. She continues to teach and guide Joints & Glands exercises, Pranayama, and Meditation to many expecting mothers (her 'patients').

John Sellinger has been involved in yoga since early childhood, having practiced first under the guidance of his parents. While travelling the world continuously with his family from the age of one-year, yoga meditation and philosophy became a unifying force for them. In his late teens, he began serious and regular practice of meditation, which had a great impact on his life as a student in the medical field.

From 2010 until recently, he lived in Rishikesh, India, at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama (SRSG). During this time, he had the privilege of practicing under the guidance of many renowned teachers, with a focus on meditation and silence. He began teaching early on in India and continues to share practices and philosophy of the Himalayan Tradition with students in many countries.

John serves as an editor in Himalayan Yoga Publications Trust, which publishes books on yoga meditation, philosophy and silence.

He now lives with his wife and young son and spends much time with family in both Switzerland and Australia.

Formal Qualifications: Bachelor’s Degree in Nuclear Medicine (BMEDRAD NuclMed); Yoga Alliance E-RYT-500; YACEP; Yoga Alliance Australia RYT-500

Website: https://digitalpilgrim.org/

For Registrations/Enquiries/Donations: ahymsin@ahymsin.org

Editor's Note:

"A book list suitable for parents who want to raise children with a glow of divinity." - Swami Veda Bharati. Please see "Reading List for Parents."