GROWING UP
My heart-felt desire to heal has been ever present since I was nine and my father felt the healing touch flowing through him as I spontaneously put my hand on a painful place on his leg. My hands were an extension of my heart and even at that young age healing came naturally to me. Initially, I followed this calling as an Intensive Care pediatric nurse, caring for the young patients and guiding their grieving parents and family members. This role took a personal turn when in my twenties my father became terminally ill. I used all my training and experience to care for him each day as he moved toward the end of his life in body form. It was this transformational process that I experienced as a spontaneously arising relationship with Spirit – a presence which continues to guide me to this day.
GRACE
I began my spiritual journey with Vaidya Baba Kanhai Mishra in Holland, a bhakti yogi. He ignited the true love of God, the wisdom to follow the truth, and a longing to give service from the heart. I followed my longing to learn about holistic approaches to health by studying Āyurvedic medicine with Vaidya Baj Rathod who introduced me to Kiran Vyas, the director of Tapovan, the most respected Āyurvedic and Yogic ashram retreat center in Europe. I was mentored by him in the art and wisdom of Āyurveda for eight years through the teachings of Sri Aurobindo. I had the opportunity later to train interns and become a team member offering personalized treatments in personal and group retreat programs. By Spirit’s grace, I have studied with many wise elders. My only desire was, and still is, to absorb everything I could from my teachers and guides and share my experience with others. Throughout my spiritual journey I longed to find my beloved, someone with whom I could share my passion for the worldly and also the Spirit life. After 27 years that spontaneously revealed itself when I met Mukunda Stiles. The first time we laid eyes on each other we recognized each other as soul mates. He turned to me and said, ‘Finally you have come.’ Our relationship was beyond this world, overflowing with love, radiance and integrity. Teaching together was a joyful dance and merging of two souls effortlessly coming together. Three months after taking our sacred vows of marriage, Mukunda’s illness began to reveal itself. This became the highest teaching for both of us as we soon realized he was not going to love long. We learned how to live and how to die simultaneously. Most of all, we learned to accept the inevitable, gracefully embracing each other and passionately dancing the dance of life together until the last breath. On February 18, 2014, Mukunda transitioned in my arms. While I was holding him in utter love in that very moment, I witnessed expansion beyond the last breath. That was his gift to me.
MERGING WESTERN AND EASTERN MEDICINE
While Western medicine taught me how to work with the physical structure, Eastern medicine deepened my understanding of how to help people gracefully deal with difficulty, prevent illness, and live a joy-filled life. I feel that my true gift is my ability to identify the root cause of a disease (physical, emotional, mental or karmic imbalances) and understand how these causes can lead to health issues and deep suffering in the individual. We then walk together, down the path of empowered spiritual healing and physical wellbeing using the breadth and depth of my knowledge and expertise. Ultimately, each will form their own unique and deeply rooted connection to the Inner Source, resulting in long-term restored vitality and wellbeing.
TODAY
Chinnamasta continues to teach groups and guide people individually both in the US and Europe, living a purposeful life in radiant health. The teachings shared are emphasizing the philosophical back bone of the eternal teachings woven into a practical experience and embodiment. She lives in Healdsburg, CA and part of the year in Europe.
INITIATION
Chinnamasta received Shaktipat into the lineage of Baghavan Nityananda of Ganeshpuri through Mukunda. Shaktipat also would happen spontaneously through meditation on the image of Bhagavan given to her by her Āyurvedic Guru teacher Baba Biharilal. That image would literally come alive and lead her into tantrik experiences. She taught with and has been guided by Mukunda for more than 10 years. He gave her the name ‘Chinnamasta’ - one of the 10 tantrik wisdom Goddesses. This deity represents the embodiment of the Goddess of Benevolence and the attribute of transformation of the ego by surrendering to the Divine heart.
PUBLICATIONS
Chinnamasta is the editor of Tantra Yoga Secrets by Mukunda Stiles. Together they wrote the chapter Structural & Āyurvedic Yoga Therapy in the new comprehensive book Yoga Therapy and Integrative Medicine. Chinnamasta has published several articles on nutrition in the Light of Ayurveda magazine, US and The International Yoga Therapy Light magazine, Australia. She is currently working on an expansion of the Āyruvedic Yoga Therapy book.
TEACHING CREDENTIALS
C-IAYT, NAMA-CAYT, PK, LMT, PCPN-AC, AHC
General Nursing & Intensive Care Pediatric Nursing 900 hrs, Classical hatha yoga 750 hrs TT, 1200 hrs Āyurveda & Pañcha Karma, 250 hrs End of Life Counseling, SYT 800 hrs, AYT 200 hrs, 150 hrs QRA Health Analysis, 800 hrs AHC.
Chinnamasta is on the faculty of the 800 hours Inner Peace Yoga Therapy program and offers a Trilogy Healing Program combining Āyurveda, Yoga and Tantra in a multi-dimensional approach to health and well-being.
My heart-felt desire to heal has been ever present since I was nine and my father felt the healing touch flowing through him as I spontaneously put my hand on a painful place on his leg. My hands were an extension of my heart and even at that young age healing came naturally to me. Initially, I followed this calling as an Intensive Care pediatric nurse, caring for the young patients and guiding their grieving parents and family members. This role took a personal turn when in my twenties my father became terminally ill. I used all my training and experience to care for him each day as he moved toward the end of his life in body form. It was this transformational process that I experienced as a spontaneously arising relationship with Spirit – a presence which continues to guide me to this day.
GRACE
I began my spiritual journey with Vaidya Baba Kanhai Mishra in Holland, a bhakti yogi. He ignited the true love of God, the wisdom to follow the truth, and a longing to give service from the heart. I followed my longing to learn about holistic approaches to health by studying Āyurvedic medicine with Vaidya Baj Rathod who introduced me to Kiran Vyas, the director of Tapovan, the most respected Āyurvedic and Yogic ashram retreat center in Europe. I was mentored by him in the art and wisdom of Āyurveda for eight years through the teachings of Sri Aurobindo. I had the opportunity later to train interns and become a team member offering personalized treatments in personal and group retreat programs. By Spirit’s grace, I have studied with many wise elders. My only desire was, and still is, to absorb everything I could from my teachers and guides and share my experience with others. Throughout my spiritual journey I longed to find my beloved, someone with whom I could share my passion for the worldly and also the Spirit life. After 27 years that spontaneously revealed itself when I met Mukunda Stiles. The first time we laid eyes on each other we recognized each other as soul mates. He turned to me and said, ‘Finally you have come.’ Our relationship was beyond this world, overflowing with love, radiance and integrity. Teaching together was a joyful dance and merging of two souls effortlessly coming together. Three months after taking our sacred vows of marriage, Mukunda’s illness began to reveal itself. This became the highest teaching for both of us as we soon realized he was not going to love long. We learned how to live and how to die simultaneously. Most of all, we learned to accept the inevitable, gracefully embracing each other and passionately dancing the dance of life together until the last breath. On February 18, 2014, Mukunda transitioned in my arms. While I was holding him in utter love in that very moment, I witnessed expansion beyond the last breath. That was his gift to me.
MERGING WESTERN AND EASTERN MEDICINE
While Western medicine taught me how to work with the physical structure, Eastern medicine deepened my understanding of how to help people gracefully deal with difficulty, prevent illness, and live a joy-filled life. I feel that my true gift is my ability to identify the root cause of a disease (physical, emotional, mental or karmic imbalances) and understand how these causes can lead to health issues and deep suffering in the individual. We then walk together, down the path of empowered spiritual healing and physical wellbeing using the breadth and depth of my knowledge and expertise. Ultimately, each will form their own unique and deeply rooted connection to the Inner Source, resulting in long-term restored vitality and wellbeing.
TODAY
Chinnamasta continues to teach groups and guide people individually both in the US and Europe, living a purposeful life in radiant health. The teachings shared are emphasizing the philosophical back bone of the eternal teachings woven into a practical experience and embodiment. She lives in Healdsburg, CA and part of the year in Europe.
INITIATION
Chinnamasta received Shaktipat into the lineage of Baghavan Nityananda of Ganeshpuri through Mukunda. Shaktipat also would happen spontaneously through meditation on the image of Bhagavan given to her by her Āyurvedic Guru teacher Baba Biharilal. That image would literally come alive and lead her into tantrik experiences. She taught with and has been guided by Mukunda for more than 10 years. He gave her the name ‘Chinnamasta’ - one of the 10 tantrik wisdom Goddesses. This deity represents the embodiment of the Goddess of Benevolence and the attribute of transformation of the ego by surrendering to the Divine heart.
PUBLICATIONS
Chinnamasta is the editor of Tantra Yoga Secrets by Mukunda Stiles. Together they wrote the chapter Structural & Āyurvedic Yoga Therapy in the new comprehensive book Yoga Therapy and Integrative Medicine. Chinnamasta has published several articles on nutrition in the Light of Ayurveda magazine, US and The International Yoga Therapy Light magazine, Australia. She is currently working on an expansion of the Āyruvedic Yoga Therapy book.
TEACHING CREDENTIALS
C-IAYT, NAMA-CAYT, PK, LMT, PCPN-AC, AHC
General Nursing & Intensive Care Pediatric Nursing 900 hrs, Classical hatha yoga 750 hrs TT, 1200 hrs Āyurveda & Pañcha Karma, 250 hrs End of Life Counseling, SYT 800 hrs, AYT 200 hrs, 150 hrs QRA Health Analysis, 800 hrs AHC.
Chinnamasta is on the faculty of the 800 hours Inner Peace Yoga Therapy program and offers a Trilogy Healing Program combining Āyurveda, Yoga and Tantra in a multi-dimensional approach to health and well-being.
MUKUNDA STILES , BELOVED OF CHINNAMASTA 2/24/1949 - 2/18/2014
In his life, Mukunda had three profound experiences that would change his life: When he was almost 20- years old, he was in a car accident. The words "God protect me", came quietly to him. For the first time he felt the presence of Spirit. He walked away unharmed and from that day started making changes in his life.
While in the army, a friend shared a book on Yoga. It described how to slow down your breath and leave your body. Mukunda decided to try. He lay down on the floor and slowed his breath. Suddenly he was out of his body, floating just below the ceiling. It felt completely natural. Just as quickly, his mind took over and he was back in his body.
INITIATION
After leaving the army, in '74 he returned to California and went to Davis to see Swami Muktananda give Darshan. Mukunda stood at the back of the auditorium that was filled with thousands of people. He felt Muktananda’s eyes upon him, as though they were breathing life into him, a spontaneous Shaktipat experience. “My life was never the same after that,” Mukunda says. Baba gave him the name Mukunda, meaning "compassionate liberator" and authorized him to give spiritual initiation (Dhivya diksha) and spiritual names, and also to transmit Shaktipat (spiritual awakening).
Mukunda received a degree in religious studies with a thesis on Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. Mukunda undertook a year’s graduate study in physical therapy at California State University and in 1978 he developed Structural Yoga Therapy™. Through it he offers a unique approach to yoga therapy that profoundly respects and honors the complete individual from physical to spiritual by integrating Krishnamacharya’s principle of adapting to the individual with a solid foundation of anatomy & kinesiology of the physical body, a well-rounded approach grounded in the eight limbs of traditional Astangha yoga, an Ayurveda framework to health and lifestyle that facilitates a Yoga lifestyle, and a deep experience and understanding of the spiritual and devotional essence of Tantric Yoga.
AS TEACHER AND MENTOR
Mukunda was on the staff of the SYDA ashram in Boston. He taught at the Mind Body Medical Institute for two years. In 1995, with Rama Jyoti Vernon he co-founded the American Yoga College (AYC). Through AYC he gave trainings in Canada, England, Scotland, Russia, Brazil, Argentina and Israel and wrote their course manual Asana Practice and Teacher Training Manual. Mukunda was on the staff of the Rocky Mountain Institute for Yoga and Ayurveda and the International Ayurvedic Institute (IAI), working as the editor of seven books on Ayurveda, Yoga Therapy and a five-volume course manual written by David Frawley.
HIS TEACHERS AND MENTORS
Among his major hatha yoga teachers are Paul Copeland, BKS Iyengar, Rama Jyoti Vernon and Indra Devi. Following the Mahasamadhi (death) of Swami Muktananda, Babaji Prakashananda of Suptashring Devi became Mukunda’s spiritual teacher. Babaji initiated him into the devotional aspects of Tantric Yoga focused on the Divine Mother. Mukunda transmitted these teachings to Chinnamasta and passed on the torch to her, giving her blessings to continue to spread the teachings of Structural Yoga Therapy, Āyruvedic Yoga Therapy, Tantra Yoga Secrets and Patañjali Yoga Sutra's.
In his life, Mukunda had three profound experiences that would change his life: When he was almost 20- years old, he was in a car accident. The words "God protect me", came quietly to him. For the first time he felt the presence of Spirit. He walked away unharmed and from that day started making changes in his life.
While in the army, a friend shared a book on Yoga. It described how to slow down your breath and leave your body. Mukunda decided to try. He lay down on the floor and slowed his breath. Suddenly he was out of his body, floating just below the ceiling. It felt completely natural. Just as quickly, his mind took over and he was back in his body.
INITIATION
After leaving the army, in '74 he returned to California and went to Davis to see Swami Muktananda give Darshan. Mukunda stood at the back of the auditorium that was filled with thousands of people. He felt Muktananda’s eyes upon him, as though they were breathing life into him, a spontaneous Shaktipat experience. “My life was never the same after that,” Mukunda says. Baba gave him the name Mukunda, meaning "compassionate liberator" and authorized him to give spiritual initiation (Dhivya diksha) and spiritual names, and also to transmit Shaktipat (spiritual awakening).
Mukunda received a degree in religious studies with a thesis on Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. Mukunda undertook a year’s graduate study in physical therapy at California State University and in 1978 he developed Structural Yoga Therapy™. Through it he offers a unique approach to yoga therapy that profoundly respects and honors the complete individual from physical to spiritual by integrating Krishnamacharya’s principle of adapting to the individual with a solid foundation of anatomy & kinesiology of the physical body, a well-rounded approach grounded in the eight limbs of traditional Astangha yoga, an Ayurveda framework to health and lifestyle that facilitates a Yoga lifestyle, and a deep experience and understanding of the spiritual and devotional essence of Tantric Yoga.
AS TEACHER AND MENTOR
Mukunda was on the staff of the SYDA ashram in Boston. He taught at the Mind Body Medical Institute for two years. In 1995, with Rama Jyoti Vernon he co-founded the American Yoga College (AYC). Through AYC he gave trainings in Canada, England, Scotland, Russia, Brazil, Argentina and Israel and wrote their course manual Asana Practice and Teacher Training Manual. Mukunda was on the staff of the Rocky Mountain Institute for Yoga and Ayurveda and the International Ayurvedic Institute (IAI), working as the editor of seven books on Ayurveda, Yoga Therapy and a five-volume course manual written by David Frawley.
HIS TEACHERS AND MENTORS
Among his major hatha yoga teachers are Paul Copeland, BKS Iyengar, Rama Jyoti Vernon and Indra Devi. Following the Mahasamadhi (death) of Swami Muktananda, Babaji Prakashananda of Suptashring Devi became Mukunda’s spiritual teacher. Babaji initiated him into the devotional aspects of Tantric Yoga focused on the Divine Mother. Mukunda transmitted these teachings to Chinnamasta and passed on the torch to her, giving her blessings to continue to spread the teachings of Structural Yoga Therapy, Āyruvedic Yoga Therapy, Tantra Yoga Secrets and Patañjali Yoga Sutra's.
