Pick Your Yoga Practice by Meagan McCrary

Author:Meagan McCrary
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: New World Library

Soon Integral yoga teaching centers and institutes began popping up across the country, some of which included small residential communities where devotees could commit themselves to practicing and living the yogic path. Hundreds of Integral yoga teachers were trained, bringing the teachings of Swami Satchidananda to thousands of students in a variety of settings. His message resonated with those seeking greater meaning and depth than could be found in the superficial culture of American society at the time. They were after the lasting peace and happiness embodied in and promised by the influential swami. In August 1970 more than four hundred people attended the first Integral yoga interfaith retreat, held at Annhurst College, in Woodstock, Connecticut. Soon retreats were being held at multiple locations, attracting hundreds of people who were interested in experiencing ashram living. For up to ten days at a time, retreat attendees followed the same daily schedule as those followed by Integral yogis living in institutes and centers throughout the country (rising at dawn to meditate, engaging in the different yoga practices, and being of service).

As more and more students moved into the various Integral yoga institutes, Swami Satchidananda began sharing his vision for “Yogaville,” a spiritual community where residents could grow their own food, educate their children, and devote themselves to the study and practice of yoga, as well as conduct commerce and create an economy established upon yogic values and guidelines. In 1972 Yogaville-West was established in Seigler Springs, California, followed by Yogaville-East one year later in Pomfret Center, Connecticut. However, by the end of the decade the Integral yoga community had outgrown both ashram sites, leading to the purchase of a much larger piece of property (totaling nearly seven hundred acres) in rural Virginia on the James River and the establishment of Satchidananda Ashram-Yogaville (SAYA) in 1979. Surrounding the ashram is the Yogaville community, consisting of private homes, a monastery for the monastic, dorms for guests and single residents, the Integral yoga school (Vidyalayam), various small businesses, an organic garden and orchard, and five sacred sites, including the LOTUS (the Light of Truth Universal Shrine). With over two hundred residents, SAYA is a unique, dynamic spiritual community of diverse individuals unified in their dedication to living the precepts of Integral yoga and a life of service. Each year thousands of guests visit Yogaville (the international headquarters of Integral yoga) to attend workshops, seminars, retreats, and teacher-training programs. For seekers and devotees, Yogaville is considered the happiest and most magical place on earth and continues to thrive on the teachings and essence of Swami Satchidananda, who entered Mahasamadhi (the state enlightened beings enter into upon making the final conscious decision to leave their physical body) while visiting India for a peace conference in August 2002.

THE LIGHT OF UNIVERSAL TRUTH SHRINE

The centerpiece of Yogaville, the LOTUS is a temple dedicated to interfaith understanding and harmony. Within the domelike structure, designed to replicate a lotus flower, are altars dedicated to the world’s ten major religions as well

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