Living In Alignment

Shantala Sriramaiah, founder of Veda Studies, continues a family tradition of devotional chanting that began in her native Bangalore, India, where her mother Saroja, a chanting teacher, taught a large community for over thirty years. She is a senior student of her guru, Sri M.S. Sreenivasan of the Challakere Brothers.

Through Veda Studies, she has built a vibrant international community of practitioners, offering both foundational programs and a teacher training program in collaboration with INDICA, whom she has also published prayer books that support students in their study and practice.

Alongside her online courses, Shantala leads in-person chanting retreats in India and Europe, creating immersive spaces for practice and connection. 

She now lives in Lugano, Switzerland, with her husband and two children.

IN THIS EPISODE:

– Rich insight into how to appropriately sequence (krama) mantras within your daily practice and also throughout seasonal occasions.

– Clarity on complex terms, such as shruti, stuti, shloka, sutra, mantra, and more.

– Important reflections of devotional singing, kirtanam, and bhajans

– The role of women in mantra traditions

– Convincing commentary on why proper, respectful, and articulate mantra recitation is so essential and transformative

– How to study with Shantala

CONNECT WITH SHANTALA:

Mother, mentor, poet, artist, volunteer, bestselling author, and host of the acclaimed Practice You Podcast, Elena Brower is a celebrated international yoga and meditation teacher on Glo, guiding transformative practices since 1999.

Her debut book, Art of Attention, has been translated into 7 languages. 

Her bestselling journals Practice You and Being You, her collection of poetry entitled Softening Time, along with her courses, classes, and talks, explore stages of studentship, practice, life, and listening.

With over 20 years of immersion in Vedic sciences, Kristin Marshall, offers a path steeped in tradition, authenticity, and transformative wisdom. Based in Australia, her journey into Jyotiṣa became a turning point—illuminating the deeper rhythms of karma, dharma, and time. Founder of Dharma School, she has taught yoga not just as a physical practice, but as a sacred path of inner alchemy—leading teacher trainings, retreats, and immersive programs across the globe.

IN THIS EPISODE:

- How we can understand an individual’s dharma through the lens of Vedic astrology 

- How this insight can be translated into lived action and how one moves through the world

- How and where karma is revealed through Jyotish

- How we can meet our karma more consciously, and feel less bound by it

- What Vedic Counselling is, and its capacity to steadily transform someone's life

CONNECT WITH KRISTIN

Harshvardhan Jhaveri is a yoga researcher from Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute, India. He has co-founded the Yoga Education Collective with Eddie Stern and Robert Moses and is dedicated to preserving and teaching classical yoga practices and philosophies in an increasingly modernized world. His mission is to live and enhance the awakening of the spiritual message of yoga. Harsh is a Member of the Ad-hoc Board of Studies for Yoga in H.S.N.C University in Mumbai. He loves to swim and explore the depths of breath in nature - be it in the mountains or the ocean. A cascadence of mighty peace is the greatest takeaway experienced by his students.

IN THIS EPISODE:

- Harsh's introduction to yoga and growing up in India

- An exploration of the meaning of pranayama

- Variations of pranayama across differing shastra and traditions

- How the current breathwork trend compares and relates to pranayama

- Some guidance for the development of Kumbhaka - breath retentions - and pranayama in general

CONNECT WITH HARSH:

Emma Balnaves is an internationally respected teacher of the traditional forms and philosophies of Hatha Yoga. She has been teaching yoga since 1995.

Emma was introduced to yoga in her early teens when she became intrigued by the mystery of the practices and the feelings they evoked inside her. After studying visual communication, majoring in photography at university, and working in the creative arts in Sydney, New York, and London, Emma committed herself to a life of teaching yoga. Her early training began with a three-year apprenticeship at the Hatha Yoga Shala in Bondi Junction, Sydney, Australia.

After decades of in-depth study and research in yoga, Ayurveda, and other internal arts, Emma began incorporating the full spectrum of the yogic process in her teaching.

In 2019 she completed her first film Agniyogana, which she was inspired to create as a way to share the essence of these teachings and bring a better understanding of all aspects of the practice.

IN THIS EPISODE:

— Emma sheds light on Nepal’s influence and contribution to yoga, particularly with respect the Hatha Yoga

— The teachings of Nrtta (“pure dance) and how it has informed the teachings of Shadow Yoga

— Explore nrtta, karana, and the forms relating to Lord Shiva that have arisen through and are associated with Chidambaram Temple in Southern India

— Teachings of the charana-s

— Emma’s suggestions and wisdom around the essential components that comprise complete practice and sadhana