Yashoda Devi Ma is a master teacher of Vedic Meditation, Sattva Yoga and the founder of Cosmic Women’s Tribe. The foundation of Yashoda’s teachings are to attain the most natural, simple, innocent and effortless approach to meditation, yoga and life...a practice she brings to her bathing rituals.
Moon Bath: Yashoda Devi Ma is such a beautiful name - what does it mean to you?
Yashoda Devi Ma: Yashoda is the Mother of God - The Sustainer of Life. It is the vibration of the divine unconditional mother love energy.
Devi means Goddess or heavenly, divine, anything of excellence.
Ma comes from simply choosing to be in the grace of Mother Divine. One of the greatest female saints of all time was Anandamayi Ma so I chose to carry a piece her with me. To remind me I am Mother Divine and my Dharma (purpose) is to live the embodied mother love energy while being in this body.
Moon Bath: What was the turning point when you feel like you first truly stepped onto the path you’re on today?
Yashoda: My turning point was 15 years ago when it was at my lowest point. I was 25 yrs old, not happy on the inside yet I had an awakening. I felt I had been living life in a deep sleep and someone threw ice water on me. It was shocking and agonizing to realize I was living a life stuck in the ever repeating known (relationships, jobs, friends, behavior patterns, etc) that I didn’t desire. I wanted to live a life full of passion, expression, love, co-creation, depth, success and my life felt far from that.
I was bewildered on how to leap towards what I deeply desired within my heart and live it authentically. I was highly aware of what behaviors and thinking patterns were causing me internal suffering though I did not know how to rise above them. I simply didn’t have the tools to actually get me out of my head, into my heart and move me towards progressive change. Most self help things I tried did not work. They didn’t change my thinking patterns nor irrelevant behaviors. I found it a little frustrating and hopeless.
Luckily I came across Vedic Meditation and by merely doing the practice regularly twice a day it revolutionized my entire life. I knew in the first week of taking the Vedic Meditation course that I would become a teacher. I knew it was the path to empowering myself as well as others and a vehicle to radical aliveness.
Moon Bath: What does having a meditation practice mean to you?
Yashoda: Wow, this is a loaded question. Let’s begin with the word human. Hu means light. Man means mind. We are a ‘light mind’. We are here to live in a body that has a mind as pure as light and connected to the Source of all Being. It is our mind/consciousness which navigates our actions (karma- action sourcing from outward or kirya- action sourcing from inward). If one is not meditating daily and going beyond the individual intellect (transcending) than one is not accessing the Source daily in a way that is sustainable which leads to suffering. Actions speak louder than words. Living a life connected to Source in every moment and producing high level creative intelligence to give to the world is why we are here. Create, give, receive. For the world to truly transform individuals must take personal responsibility in becoming the embodiment of Universal peace, unconditional love, friendliness, happiness and graceful strength.
So to practice meditation twice a day, everyday means I am taking personal responsibility in ending my own personal suffering, establishing inner fulfillment, activating my full mental potential, contributing to raising the collective state of consciousness, aligning myself with Nature, becoming the need of the time and living from a deep connection to Source. In the most humble way I say I am the change the world desires to see. I don’t just talk. I walk the walk. I have done the work and I live what I speak.
Meditation is everything. It is the beginning of radical change, the activator to awakening a human being to live fully and subtly.
Moon Bath: It’s clear to see that being a mother to your son, Narayan is a huge role in your life - did you always know you wanted to be a mother?
Yashoda: I can’t say ‘I’ wanted to be a mother yet I knew it was part of my path. I was the odd woman who never wanted to get married nor have lots of kids and the house with a white picket fence. I desired to live my Truth, heal and impact the world more than anything. When I surrendered to what Nature designed for me I realized that as a mother we have the opportunity to change world from the way we consciously raise our children. It is all in the palm of our hands. I consider mothering to be the number one most important thing I have to offer this world. To raise a child to be the change we all want to see in the world is powerful. I am passionate about teaching young women meditation so that one day they can mother with the same impact. Conscious parenting that is evolutionary.
Moon Bath: How has being a mother changed the way you approach your personal meditation practice and also your teaching?
Yashoda: Honestly I hardly remember life prior to being a mother. I have spent more time as a meditating mother than as a single meditating person. Luckily the technique I practice and teach is in alignment with adapting and not be rigid. It is easy and effortless to fit into my crazy schedule of teaching, traveling and mothering.
As a mother your life is in service to another so my practice is never at ideal times yet is it absolute priority. It is my saving grace to pause and take time for myself. I am a better mother, teacher and human due to my practice so it is non-negotiable.
Moon Bath: How have you connected to the lunar phases within your practice and community and why?
Yashoda: When you meditate regularly it naturally begins to align you to the laws of Nature. When there is less stress in the body, mind and subtle energy we are unable to unify with lunar cycle. Women are ruled by the moon and as we become more in harmony our menstrual cycles align with the different phases of the Moon. It gives us information on if our body full or depleted depending on if we are connected to the new or full moon.
I believe it is an awakened time for women to have ritual during new and full moon. For the last 6 years I have gathered women on these nights to do meditation, pranayama, kriya and deep purifying to help balance our emotions, body and mind. It is our most powerful time to rejuvenate, reconnect, gather information to know what is relevant and irrelevant and use these potent nights to connect to our power and intuition. To harmonize.
Moon Bath: What is your vision for the future of your practice and teachings?
My vision for the future of my practice and teachings is to essentially be a game changer. To help revolutionize the world by teaching as many people who have the willingness to end their own personal suffering, enhance their creative intelligence, activate full mental potential and live through love.
I am passionate about normalizing meditation, educating people on the importance of mind health and creating holistic approaches to balancing mind, body, energy. The world needs to focus on unconditional love, becoming a universal being and creating in the most sustainable, intelligent way possible. It is time to learn how to regenerate oneself so we are able to do the same for Mother Earth.
The meditation + conscious living center I am opening in Boulder, Co is the vision of the world I desire. One that is abundant, intelligent, creative, loving, fun, beautiful, full of light, awake, wise, playful and universal. A space that makes you feel everything is possible.
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Yashoda Devi Ma can be found online www.yashodadevima.com.
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