“Who would prefer the jingle of jade pendants if he has once heard stone growing in the cliffs.”
Around the age of 15, I first read those words of Lao-Tzu in the Tao Te Ching. My world was California—San Francisco of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s—endless golden days of experimentation and searching, where the possibility of ultimate transformation seemed as real as the sun gleaming over the blue Pacific. It was there that I first began to walk the path of yoga. Many years would pass, however, and many trials and challenges would test me to the limit before the pieces started to fit together and the power of yoga became a daily reality in my life.
In 1968, I met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a great Indian teacher who initiated me into the practice of Mantra Yoga, a form of meditation which brought much joy and peace into my life during the many years I practised it regularly. Eager for a deeper understanding, I studied Eastern Philosophy and Religion at UC Berkeley, and began a life-long programme of self-study into a variety of spiritual traditions. A Catholic priest introduced me to various Buddhist meditation practices. A Native American woman showed me the power of Earth Wisdom and the magic of elemental energies. The mountains, the forest, the ocean became my teachers too.
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During this time, I had yet to discover the incredibly transformative power of asana practice. I was training in dance and had no energy left for another physical practice—so I thought. I was also following an academic path, obtaining a BA from UC Santa Cruz in Literature and Dance and afterwards an MA in English. |
A few years later and pregnant with my first child, I began to practise yoga according to the teaching of Jeannine Parvati Baker, an independent midwife, Indian-trained yogi and mother of five children. This yoga very much in tune with the Moon energies—inward, conscious, receptive, fluid, yielding—helped me channel the powerful forces of labour and give birth naturally and joyously. All three of my children were born at home, with independent midwives attending. I remember each birth as an incredibly high experience of altered consciousness and union with all of life.
After the birth of my second son, I felt called to share my yogic understanding of birth with others. I trained as a Childbirth Educator and Labour Coach/Doula, and after qualifying in 1986 began to teach Birth Preparation classes and assist at births, both at home and in hospital. I studied traditional midwifery with Elizabeth Davis, pioneer midwife and author of “Heart and Hands: A Guide to Midwifery” and apprenticed for one year with Ann Fuller, an independent home birth midwife and spiritual healer.
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For deeply karmic reasons, I moved to Ireland in 1991 and have lived in Dublin ever since, integrating the various strands of spirituality that have been my life, and passionately walking the sometimes difficult road of my own awakening. During this time, I wrote a novel—in itself a profound experience of healing. In 1998 during a visit to California, I received the benefit of an incredible Shamanic Soul Retrieval. Shortly afterwards, I started to practise yoga seriously, embarked upon the study of Buddhist Counselling and Psychotherapy with the Amida Trust, UK, and began to train in shamanic practices with the Sacred Trust, the UK branch of the international Foundation for Shamanic Studies.
After over three years of study, I completed the Advanced Certificate in Applied Buddhist Psychology with Amida Trust. Regular shamanic practice has become a part of my life, and my spirit guides my greatest teachers. I have continued training with the Sacred Trust as well as the Scandinavian Center for Shamanic Studies (UK) and the Foundation for Shamanic Studies (USA), where I completed a training course in Shamanic Counselling.
But yoga has been the central theme of my life, integrating as it does the spiritual, physical, psychological and energetic. I have experimented with various styles of practice and trained directly as a teacher in three traditions. For nearly three years, I did the Iyengar teacher training with Elizabeth Connolly in Dublin. I completed David Swenson’s Teacher Training Course in Astanga Yoga. I also trained in Sivananda Yoga at the Sivananda Ashram in Quebec and the Sivananda-Vedanta Ashram in Kerala, Southern India, where I earned an Advanced Teaching Diploma.
Shortly after I discovered it, Astanga-Vinyasa became my personal choice of practice and major passion. Why? Because
for me, it works!
On a physical level, the imbalances of strength and flexibility in my
body leftover from my dance training began to change, freeing joints and
muscles and releasing old pains. Subtle and not so subtle changes happened
in my life as well—greater energy, patience, tolerance, understanding
and JOY. On a spiritual level, something was happening, something big.
Every morning, my day begins with a strong and deep Astanga practice. I feel I have come full circle—the meditation I learned from Maharishi and the words of Lao-Tzu now supplied with the rocket fuel they need to get me somewhere. I have travelled abraod to study Astanga Yoga with many top teachers like Graeme Northfield, David Swenson, Danny Paradise, John Scott, Nancy Gilgoff and others. For three years, I did 4 to 6 week summer intensives in Greece with Graeme and Leonie Northfield. I have travelled a number of times to Mysore, Southern India to study directly with Pattabhi Jois and his grandson Sharath.
Mysore remains the place where I return to deepen and grow in yoga. In 2007, my practice expanded into a new dimension when I began studying with Venkatesh and then met Vinay Kumar. An amazing yogi and promising young teacher, Vinay introduced me to Prana Vashya Yoga, which I studied with him intensely (6 hours a day!) for five weeks in Mysore.
In 2006, I completed a two year course in Yoga Philosophy, History, Literature and Tradition with Georg Feuerstein, Phd., foremost yoga scholar, Sanskrit translator and author of over 30 books. In 2007, I completed another course with Georg Feurerstein, this time in the Classical Yoga of Patanjali. For me, the learning never stops!
My spiritual teacher and revered guru is Ramesh S. Balsekar, the living master who resides in Bombay.
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Marianne with Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois |
As a teacher, I want to share with all who come to me the joy, peace and understanding that yoga has brought to my life. My approach is flexible and non-dogmatic, drawing from all the traditions and teachers who have graced my life. I strive to help others walk the path of yoga—in whatever form is right for them. Ultimately all the dimensions of my work—teaching, counselling, healing-- are about one thing: transforming suffering into joy--into light, love, creativity and planetary vibrancy--and celebrating the Sacred Cosmic Dance which is everything.