Soul Sisters

Tri-Dosha founder Sunita Passi talks to meditation teacher Swami Saradananda and spiritual wellbeing entrepreneur Ashley Wray

Swami Saradanda has been part of my life for some years now. She is into her fifth decade of yoga practice, and combines a serene presence with keen focus. A metaphor she returns to is treat your body and mind as a laboratory. It’s an attitude she learned when she was young, and polio left her paralyzed.

“Doctors told my parents that I would never be able to walk. My mother used to say she thought the reason I learned to walk was that I was too young to understand the doctors. I just kept jumping up and trying to walk until I could do it.”

Saradananda rediscovered her capacity to walk, but was left with balance problems. She came across yoga through a newspaper ad. “I found that it worked better for me than any other kind of exercise I had done, so I started practicing on a regular basis. I think I did asanas every day for about 25 years – after 8, I did my yoga teachers training and started to get interested in the meditation and spiritual aspect of the yoga teachings. That part of yoga gradually became my main focus.”

That experience with polio could have been a cue to give up. For Saradananda it took her on a journey she’s never regretted. It’s a reminder that whatever spirituality is, it emerges from physical and social realities.

Ashley Wray works with that same realisation differently. Meditation has long been part of her practice, and Mala Collective is the online portal she created to offer spiritually-engaged people worldwide access to beautiful artisan bracelets, necklaces, cushions, and other items, all made by women.

“Since starting Mala 8 years ago, I have seen meditation become more and more mainstream. I love that! I hope in the future it continues to grow and that people talk and share their experiences more. I’m hoping that the more people talk about meditation, the more it demystifies the practice! I love that we are able to join people on that journey, and I hope we get the opportunity to share that part of people’s lives with them.”

There’s a practicality about what both Ashley Wray and Saradananda are doing. The world is teacher, presenting us with challenges we can learn from and respond to. And the world is there to be shaped with our responses, so that others may benefit from the journeys we are taking.

It’s true, we all want to make big changes to help our people and planet, but sometimes we need to start small. Join us for our meditation teacher training, and learn how to send ripples out to your family, your friends, your students … and into the world.

Until next time … Namaste!
Sunita x

Founder, Tri-Dosha
tri-dosha.co.uk