Monthly Satsang
Coming together in Community.
The human mind is a very receptive instrument. If you place it in negative company, it will acquire negative tendencies. If you place it in holy company, it will acquire divine traits. When thinking of saints, the mind becomes molded into the shape of the qualities of which it thinks, and thereby it becomes pure… Real satsang gives the aspirant inner spiritual strength to face the struggles of life, overcome temptations, manage inner cravings and fill the mind with positive divine thoughts.
Swami Sivananda Saraswati
“Satsang” is a combination of two sanskrit words: sat meaning “Truth” and sanga meaning “in company of”. So when we gather for satsang we are coming together in the company or community of Truth.
The Yoga Academy of North America (YANA),are delighted to be host these monthly informal gatherings of spiritual reflection, discussion, meditation and other practices to support each other on the journey of living yoga from moment to moment.
Each month we invite master teachers (acharyas), aspiring yogis/yoginis, sevaks and devotees of the Satyananda Yoga community to offer support & inspiration on the path of yogic living.
YANA would love to hear how you’re supporting your own local community through classes, devotional practices, service work or any other project being offered in the effort to live yoga of the head, heart and hands.
If you have something you would like to offer or a discussion topic suggestion please email us at info@yogaacademyna.org
Mantra and Yantra
with Sannyasi Brahmananda
Sunday, April 19, 2026 | 12.00pm - 1.15pm EST
ONLINE VIA ZOOM
This is a free event.
Mantra and Yantra are the tools of Tantra. They represent sound and form and on the most fundamental level, the expressions of energy and consciousness, Siva and Sakti. The combined use of these tools is used to focus the mind, expand the awareness and develop an understanding of the more subtle layers of mind and personality.
In this session we will look at how sound and form relate to each other and the expression and use of this relationship in the practice of mantra and yantra in our sadhana.
The process of yantra drawing with accompanying mantra repetition creates a spontaneous one-pointedness of mind. The yantra is a symbol combining archetypal ingredients – squares, circles, triangles and petals, that resonate with the subconscious and unconscious mind and can reveal to us maps of our inner consciousness and the energies at play in inner and outer worlds. It can be a deeply healing and insightful practice.
The universal concepts of what is referred to as ‘sacred geometry’ will be explored and how this underlying fabric lies also at the base of the creation of yantra. It is a knowledge and practice of a universal nature, expressed by different cultures in different ways, all with an understanding of how the use of abstract symbols as a meditative tool has the potential to reconnect us with a deeper reality.
Verify your 12.00pm ET in your time zone here.
YANA is a non-profit organization and any monetary support allows us to continue to offer affordable programming to all. If you wish to make an offering, please CLICK HERE
Brahmananda was born in Africa to Indian parents and now lives in the UK. He has been involved with yoga for nearly 40 years and teaching since 2003. He was director and course coordinator of the Satyananda Yoga Academy Europe for ten years.
Since 1988, when he was initiated into karma sannyasa by Paramahamsa Satyananda in Munger, India, he has regularly spent time in ashrams in India attending programs and immersing himself in karma yoga.
Brahmananda has worked as a special needs educator for adults and children, and as a mental health social worker for over 15 years. During this period, he experimented with and adapted various yoga and meditation techniques to help address the spectrum of needs in these environments.
He runs regular courses and programs in the UK and abroad, on various aspects of yoga; meditation, yoga psychology and yantra drawing and painting. Exploring yantra’s deeper transformative effects on the personality is his main area of interest and expertise at present.
Brahmananda’s down to earth approach and deep understanding of yogic principles, combined with his Indian heritage and English humor, makes his teachings unique, being extremely clear, of high level and, at the same time, accessible.