COVID-19 Updates

Updated June 10, 2020

During the last three months, the Himalayan Institute and its residents, members, and students throughout the world joined together with the utmost care, compassion, and professionalism in implementing and observing public health best practices concerning social distancing, travel restrictions, and overall health risk mitigation in response to COVID-19. Since temporarily suspending in-person retreats and programs in mid-March, the Institute doubled-down on its already comprehensive cleaning and safety protocols at our Honesdale retreat center while offering immensely popular online educational opportunities through a myriad of live webinars with the Institute’s faculty.

While we certainly longed to see you here in person, it was very uplifting to stay connected with you digitally as we monitored COVID-19 developments on a daily basis, and made plans for our eventual reopening. Recognizing that we all have a shared responsibility to follow best practices for everyone’s health and peace of mind, we’ve now implemented extensive safety protocols for our retreat center guests given our assessment of current reopening guidelines from federal, state, and local public health agencies. This includes a commitment to the Pocono Promise—a shared commitment by large and small businesses in our region to protect the health, safety and well-being of employees and customers.

As a result, we are pleased to announce that the Institute will reopen for in-person retreats and programs beginning on June 25th while our PureRejuv Wellness Center will begin offering health services by appointment on June 12th.

Campus Safety Protocols Wellness Center Protocols

As you’ll see in the safety protocols, there are many things behind the scenes that we are doing to keep you safe such as additional deep cleaning throughout our retreat center. However, here are a few specific things you’ll notice when you join us for a program:

Meals will be served to you instead of self-serve buffet
Proper physical distancing will be observed in teaching spaces and the Sri Vidya Shrine
Wellness checks will be performed upon your arrival
Keyless entry to the main building (you’ll receive your code upon arrival)

We invite you to visit our program calendar online to view a listing of our upcoming Mission Programs. We will be adding additional programs as we finalize our schedule for the second half of 2020 so please check back often!

The Institute’s PureRejuv Wellness Center is currently taking appointments for integrative medicine and ayurvedic health consultations, chiropractic care, yoga therapy, and building resilience sessions for service dates beginning June 12th. You can also request to be placed on a waitlist for massage therapy as we expect to resume these services shortly after June 12th. Please call us at (570) 647-1500 to book your appointment.

Of course, we understand that you may not be able to join us here in Honesdale as soon as you might prefer. In the meantime, here is a list of some of the ways you can follow the Institute’s activities and teachings online such as timely, practical, and inspiring educational webinars:

Webinars

Deepen your study with online webinars and trainings. Join us live or re-watch anytime.

Webinars & Trainings

Digital Courses

Empower your practice with engaging courses led by our core faculty. Study at your own pace.

Digital Courses

Wisdom Library

Instantly stream hundreds of yoga and meditation classes, resources, and articles.

Wisdom Library

We invite you to come and experience opportunities to grow, relax, find inner peace, and share with like-minded souls, on our beautiful campus. We are thrilled to be able to welcome you back!

In Service,

Greg Capitolo, Mission Programs Director
Brian Fulp, Retreat Center Director

COVID-19 Care Package

Our care package to you—meditations, classes, and inspirational messages for building mental, emotional, and physical resilience in these unprecedented times. Free for everyone—share with your loved ones.

COVID-19 Support / Spiritual Community

Year Long Meditation Closing Ceremony

Join us in celebrating the conclusion of the Year Long Meditation! Our global group practice has inspired nearly 9,000 meditators from 136 countries to come together with one common intention—to heal and nourish our connection to collective consciousness. This intention is more important than ever before and is the key to bringing forward the best of ourselves so that we can be a force for positive change. In this celebratory closing ceremony, Pandit Tigunait shares his reflections about what we can take away from the Year Long Meditation as we move forward in our personal practice and in our quest to create a bright and peaceful future. The closing ceremony features a guided group meditation followed by a special prayer by Panditji to officially conclude the Year Long Meditation.

Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD

COVID-19 Support / Spiritual Community

The Power of Spiritual Community

Life is a journey to find the fulfillment our soul has been eternally seeking. As we progress on our path, we discover numerous sources of spiritual nourishment, yet often feel there is a deeper hunger that remains unsatisfied. The yoga tradition clearly tells us that spiritual community (sangha) can fulfill this longing. In this livestream we explore the role of inner connection, satsanga, service, and wisdom in creating spiritual community, and how this can nourish and protect us on deeper levels. Learn the art of using your personal practice to awaken a living experience of spiritual community, regardless of whether you are physically close to other seekers or able to practice together and share wisdom. The livestream concludes with a guided practice of shvasa-prashvasa pravahi pranayama. This unique preparatory practice for Vishoka Meditation brings a potent experience—the awareness of underlying pranic energy—that is the shared essence of spiritual community.

Ishan Tigunait

COVID-19 Support / Inner Connection

Tantric Techniques for Unleashing Pranic Elixir

We are in the midst of an unprecedented storm of fear and grief. It is time that we override this storm and attain freedom from worry, anger, anxiety, helplessness, uncertainty, political bickering, and self-righteousness. It is time to discover our pranic elixir, nourish our body and mind, and extend that elixir to nourish the larger world we are a part of. Ancient masters have given us the tools. In this livestream, Pandit Tigunait shares with you what these tools are and how to use them wisely and constructively. Tune in to learn the tantric techniques for recovering and upholding our collective and individual well-being.

Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD

Articles / Wisdom

Unconditional Gratitude: Finding Our Way in an Era of Fear

How do we retain our feeling of gratitude in the midst of a pandemic? How do we keep our gratitude and sense of interconnectedness from being swallowed up by fear, anger, selfishness, and isolation? Shiva Tigunait shares a Vedic mantra to remind us that we are guided and protected on every level by the divine forces, a mantra that calms our mind and fills us with hope.

Shiva Tigunait, PhD

COVID-19 Support / Spiritual Community

Buddha & Patanjali’s Solution to a Pandemic

Drawing upon the time-tested wisdom of the Yoga Sutra and the Lotus Sutra, Pandit Rajmani Tigunait offers a yogic solution to the COVID-19 pandemic, which began as a health crisis and has grown into a humanitarian and economic crisis. This livestream offers us an opportunity to see this pandemic through the eyes of Buddha and Patanjali. Find out how their wisdom can help us to discover and utilize the spiritual resources inherent in all of us to overcome this crisis. Join us to find inspiration and support from the perennial wisdom of ancient masters.

Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD

COVID-19 Support / Spiritual Community

Living Without Fear in the Era of COVID-19: Unleashing the Power of Healing and Service

COVID-19 is here. All of us have valid reasons to be concerned about the virus and its ramifications on many levels—health and well-being, social, and economic. The ethical and spiritual implications of this pandemic are beyond anyone’s comprehension. And yet, yoga gives us tools that will help us on every level. Now is the time to turn to the 5,000-year-old tradition of yogic wisdom and to put that wisdom into practice. By tapping into the pool of our inner healing force, we can eliminate fear and mobilize the time-honored power of service. Join Pandit Rajmani Tigunait for this timely livestream, and become a force of global healing and positive change in these troubled times.

Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD

Articles / Meditation

The Real Meaning of Meditation

What is meditation? How does it work? Can meditation help us achieve genuine peace and happiness in today’s hectic, often chaotic world? Swami Rama explains the various aspects of meditation: how to turn inward, how to cultivate stillness, how to pay attention, and how to tell that we are making progress.

Swami Rama

Articles / Yoga Practice

Pranayama and the Autonomic Nervous System

Can we consciously change our heart rate and other automatic, or involuntary, functions of our body? Swami Rama explains how pranayama—controlling the breath—enables us to bring all the processes regulated by our autonomic nervous system under our voluntary control.

Swami Rama

Articles / Wisdom

The Yamas: Creating Harmony in Daily Life

It can be hard to change unproductive habit patterns. Yoga’s yamas (restraints) and niyamas (observances) help us to do just that. Learn how the five yamas alert us when our actions are out of sync with our spiritual aspirations and how they help us understand and manage the emotions driving our actions—allowing us to relate to ourselves and others in a more harmonious and balanced way.

Rolf Sovik, PsyD

Classes / Meditation

Foundations of Meditation

When our body is comfortable and stable, our mind can flow peacefully inward toward a deep state of meditation. In this workshop, Luke Ketterhagen shares ways that we can refine our posture and breath to increase the length and quality of our meditative practice. Move through an exploration of sitting styles, a sequence of supportive asanas, and techniques of yogic breathing.Then tie it all together with a guided meditation, and experience the difference. Format: Multiple videos with audio download Length: 1 hr 8 mins

Luke Ketterhagen

Classes / Yoga

Release Tension & Increase Awareness

When we are comfortable and stable in our physical and energetic body, we find it easy to direct our awareness inward. As our inner attention increases, we become even more firmly established in a luminous sense of ease. In this workshop, Judy Moulton leads us through practices that help us experience this relationship between releasing tension and increasing awareness. Join her in breath-connected movements and a systematic relaxation that serve as opportunities for deep self-exploration. Format: Multiple videos with audio download Length: 77 mins

Judy Moulton

COVID-19 Support / Emotional and Mental Resilience

Well-Being Meditation

A systematic practice of meditation is an opportunity for deep rest and nourishment. Leading us inward step-by-step, Rolf Sovik introduces techniques for releasing tension in our mind and body. Relax into a profound sense of well-being and awaken to the peace and joy already within you. Format: Audio streaming with audio download Length: 15 min

Rolf Sovik, PsyD

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