A Guide to Authentic Spiritual Practice or Sadhana with Mother Maya Tiwari

Join us and absorb the wisdom of modern sage Maya Tiwari as she shares insightful perspectives on how to connect to an authentic approach to spiritual practice or sadhana. Fondly called Mother Maya, spiritual pioneer Maya Tiwari is an international teacher of Ayurveda and the founder of the Wise Earth School of Ayurveda, the first of its kind in North America. Author of several bestselling books in Ayurveda and self-healing, she has been trained in the Vedas, Vedanta, Ayurveda, Sanskrit and Vedic Chants by Sri Swami Dayananda Sarasvati, and in Ashtanga Yoga and The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Dr. Narasimha Rao. Maya served for two decades as a Vedic monk, belonging to India’s prestigious Veda Vyasa lineage. In 2010, she made the radical decision to renounce her monastic title. This decision was made, as she puts it, to “walk a simpler and more accessible life in service of the populations in need” which she continues to do to this day. Maya shares the journey from her early years in Guyana, abruptly contrasted with her arrival in the hustle of New York’s fashion scene. We discuss her battle with ovarian cancer, which served as a catalyst for a monumental shift in her life’s direction; an exploration of Vedic wisdom, the deeper connections between our health and our lineage, and the power of ancestral memories, which she believes carry both the weight of past traumas and the potential for holistic healing. Maya fondly recalls her disciplined studies in Rishikesh, India with Vedic scholar Sri Swami Dayananda Sarasvati, sharing the transformative effect of Sanskrit chanting and the purifying rituals that have been integral to her path of self-realization. Maya speaks of how we never teach what we don’t need to learn ourselves. The complexities of healing from trauma, she insists, require a compassionate approach that honors the wisdom of our ancestors while discerning which aspects to carry forward on our unique path. Finally, we converge on the simple yet profound practices of self-love and ahimsa. Maya illuminates the path to tranquility, emphasizing the significance of pausing in our frenetic existence, the powerful simplicity of conscious breathing, creating an inner sanctuary amidst life’s tumult, and the perennial wisdom of letting go.

Maya established the Wise Earth School of Ayurveda in 1981, with the vision of restoring the long-lost Inner Medicine principles and practices of Ayurveda. Her global conferences and workshops have touched the life of more than 1 million participants. For thirty years, she has inspired and created change in human behaviour, through education, outreach, and service to humankind.

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