MEET OUR FOUNDER, MICHAEL
I established Anukala Yoga Community to share the knowledge, practices and experience I gathered in India and the years beforehand on Yoga, Vedanta, Tantra and holistic therapies. To provide practitioners with the foundation needed to move towards a more spiritual existence whilst still living a modern lifestyle.
Strengthening the bond between Western practicality and Eastern spirituality for the betterment and well-being of all.
Every Blessing,
Michael
'And there I spent the initial, five tentative months of India’s first lockdown. Far removed from the villagers of the four townships that patch the mountain’s faulted scarp. Rather, alongside one irascible, but kind-hearted, elderly monk. Becoming interim custodian of the temple. Thankful to have regained distance between myself and the authorities, hazmat suits, news reporters and volatile situation I had met with before my time in the jungle'.
'As weeks passed and the initial fear of the virus lessened, the mountain’s communities started to return and pay homage at the temple. Gradually, ritual and ceremony again filled the grounds with mantra, kirtan and the scent of homa, and I was initiated into the practices of Sanatana Dharma. An inner-science that allows a person to control the modifications of the mind and ultimately transcend its limitations'.
'In early-August, lockdown restrictions eased, bringing my stay at Vimleshwar to an end. Once more the search for a guru continued, and after making my farewells, I ventured down the mountain to the banks of the Bhagirathi River, before upstream towards the source of the Ganga and gates of Swami Premanand’s, Sivananda Ashram in Ganeshpur'.
'Swami Premanand, a Himalayan Master of immense repute and a direct disciple of Swami Sivananda, would conduct a daily satsang on ‘Yoga Vasistha’. A Sanskrit text of profound size and great prestige that comprises the teachings of Yoga and Vedantic philosophy. Governing principles of existence that, when accepted into a person’s heart, enables them to navigate a surer course over the many ebbs and flows of life with greater ease and joy'.
'Aside from studying under the guidance of my Guru, teaching English at the nearby foundation school and writing poetry next to the turquoise waters of the Ganga, I would busy myself with the ashram’s daily activities. Taking on the role of cameraman for its many events and composing articles on Vedanta to feature in their monthly publication'.
- Excerpts from ‘Elosee’, a book written on Michael’s Indian experience throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
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