Answers to commonly asked questions:
What would my program of study look like?
This entirely depends on you. For meditation and yoga, most of my students have private sessions with me 1-2 times a week, plus frequent email exchanges and assignments, and others less regularly. I highly recommend a combination of meditation, gentle āsana practice, prāṇāyāma breathing practices, study of the resonant texts such as Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtras, weekly assignments, discussion, and healing work.
The most thorough program of study would include two full private 1 1/2-2 hour weekly sessions with me. One session of meditation and yoga asana practice- and the other dedicated to meditation, readings, and discussion of the philosophy behind yoga, tantra, or vedic studies. In addition, for my consistent students, I usually recommend some massage work. Depending on your physical requirements and financial resources, we can do this as much as seems beneficial.
Your ritual of study will always include a daily meditation practice. No matter which direction we are moving in, it is of utmost importance that you invite more discipline and silence into your daily life- and that you can both understand and accomplish the requirement of a personal discipline. For most people, a daily or every other day gentle moving asana practice is not only necessary but also highly desirable.
Will meditation center me? Can meditation help bring abundance into my life?
Meditation will certainly center you and bring both a feeling of abundance & possibility, as well as the clarity & ability for you to better understand how you are living your life, and make healthy changes, if you so desire.
I know that TM (Transcendental Meditation) is trademarked but is Vedic similar?
TM meditation and Vedic should have no distinctions. Although I am not an expert on TM, from what I know, it is simply a 20th century version that was presented in an accessible and widespread way.
Meditation is meditation. Just as yoga is yoga. It is erroneous and deeply contradictory to separate different styles of yoga. They should all lead to the same place. True one-pointedness is the highest aim of the practice of yoga. Even a particular meditation technique like Vipassana, which I have practiced, is ultimately relatable back to the same, in terms of what the internal experience is. I will expound upon all of this when I see you; but it is unfortunate that most people believe they cannot meditate, thinking there are some stringent rules applied to it. It is a much more fluid practice than that, with as many variations as there are people.
Are mantras used?
Mantras are not a necessary part of meditation. Though they generally creep into all practices at some point. It is a means of anchoring the mind, creating more of a desired energy, and helping to dispel or burn off disruptive energy. In Vedic and Tantra practices, mantra is one of the primary tools used. To clarify, tools are there for our benefit, to help us along the way. No specific tool is necessary though. We each find what works for us.
What kind of massage do you offer?
I offer the option of massage work strictly for my devoted meditation and yoga students, or for Āyurveda patients as required. It is an additional and often necessary component to healing and rebalancing your physical, mental, and emotional bodies. My knowledge and training are in specific Ayurvedic massage treatments.
With tantric meditation, is there any kind of sensual touching? Must I wear my clothes?
The easy answers are: No, there will be no sensual touching. And yes, you must wear your clothes.
Is Tantra a sexual practice? Can we do tantric massage or orgasm control?
What you are likely referring to is the Western idea of Tantra; I do not offer this hands on. There are many practitioners in New York who offer this kind of massage work and sensual practices.
What are the benefits of having a teacher? Why have one?
The benefits of having a teacher are the presentation of options which can activate your own opening into self-knowledge and compassion, and also to receive the intuitions and sometimes healing energy of that teacher.
"Meditation is one of the greatest arts in life- perhaps the greatest, and one cannot possibly learn it from anybody, that is the beauty of it. It has no technique and therefore no authority. When you learn about yourself, watch yourself, watch the way you walk, how you eat, what you say, the gossip, the hate, the jealousy- if you are aware of all that in yourself, without any choice, that is part of meditation."
--J. Krishnamurti, FREEDOM FROM THE KNOWN
(*I highly recommend picking up this 124 page meditation, very beautiful and accessible)