Kirin Mishra

Kirin Mishra (Parvathi Nanda Nath Saraswati) brings the ancient and timeless tradition of the Saraswati Masters to America.

Born in Bihar India, she came to this country as a young girl, bringing with her the lineage and tradition of the Saraswati River Yoga Masters. A tradition that merged in the mountains of Kashmir with the great and original teachings of the yoginis and later traveled North into China and Tibet as Chan and Dzogchen, and East and South as Shakti Sadhana. The direct teachers of Kirin were in the unbroken lineage of Kashmirian yoginis and Shree Vidya, the highest yogic science.

This tradition has never been for renunciates; it is and was practiced by those living in the world. In Kashmirian yoga, a yogini is understood to be a practitioner (female or male) who is one with what s/he is doing, perceiving, feeling. A yogin is the one who is in awe and wonder of this relationship.

While this tradition is predominantly a non-postural yoga style, Kirin studied asana with Indian masters in order to integrate this branch of yoga into the beauty and perfection of the Saraswati River tradition.

Kirin began studying the texts and languages of this tradition as a young girl. Lalleshwari of Odyyagiri (Lalita Devi), a yogini from Kashmir initiated and oversaw her training into the wisdom lineage of yoga practice. This lineage of yoga emerged in the beautiful mountaintops of Kashmir and verdant river valley of ancient Western India. It is a tradition that is intrinsically in harmony with Nature and seeks to fulfill the beauty of the ascent of humanity to Divinity. The texts, stories and mantras are ripe with the poetic vision of ones in accord with nature, and knowing the proper relationships of the universe.

Living a householder's life, in the world, and integrating yoga practice daily has given Kirin a unique perspective. She weaves the timeless wisdoms and ancient practices and texts into everyday life. Finding grace and wonder in life through the myriad of relationships is the aim of her yoga practice.

The Saraswati River Yoga Tradition was born when the ancient saints and sages appreciated and respected the power of the Feminine principle. At SRY we seek to recover this through practice and through action. The Feminine principle (Shakti) is the power of wisdom and compassion in action. This principle is not exclusive to any gender, it manifests in all beings, male and female. This is the interplay of life through senses, through desire, through justice and through relationships. In these practices, the cause of wonder, the power of creativity, spontaneity and wisdom are revealed. Yoga means the great union of life back to its original source, creativity and beauty.

The classes and workshops offered at the center reflect Kirin's experience of yoga through the direct transmission from the great yogini Lalita. Yoga brings us into the world and a deeper relationship as the experience of self changes. We become empowered and knowledgeable. Wisdom emerges into our lives as the power of compassion and justice; this is a yogic lifestyle. As self shifts from a fixed centralized position into a dynamic relationship of human consciousness... unbounded energy, potentiality and freedom are experienced.

The yoginis, the teachers of this tradition used meditation, mantras and working with the mind and senses to recover this freedom. The many sages and yogis that practiced in the Saraswati River area influenced this tradition. Practice at SRY is an integration of the many paths of yoga and wisdom traditions. We integrate the paths of Hatha, Jnana and Bhakti yogas and also wisdom traditions such as Taoism, Kashmir Shaivism, Shakti Sadhana and Dzogchen.

This integration is what distinguished the greatest yogis of the Saraswati River tradition and what Kirin and the teachers of SRY offer today at the center.