Level 1 Meditation

"Yoga is the cessation of the movements of the mind." Yoga Sutra

Within each of us lies a vast inner potential, often resting quietly beneath the surface and waiting to be discovered. The purpose of meditation, and of any authentic spiritual practice, is to gradually calm mental turbulence and uncover what exists beyond it: Ultimate Truth, Absolute Consciousness, the Uncreated Light, God, and the Supreme Self.

It is much like lifting away the clouds that hide the sun. Once the light shines through, our inner qualities begin to awaken, grow, and flourish.

Many people begin meditation with a practical intention: to find answers, improve some aspect of life, or simply explore out of curiosity. With steady practice, the benefits often go far beyond what we first imagined.

Mental Agitation: The Core Challenge

At the root of separation from our true inner nature, and behind many of life’s difficulties, lies mental agitation.

Patanjali’s well-known statement that yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind points to the essential importance of learning to guide the mind’s restless movement.

Modern life is marked by constant inner and outer stimulation. So many of us have become accustomed to this agitation that we now accept it as normal. Yet moments of deep peace, extended silence, and genuine contemplation have become increasingly rare.

This overstimulation weakens our ability to direct attention, and our emotional responses are often shaped by conditioning and habitual patterns. As a result, we live with fewer real choices and rely on an inner autopilot that limits our freedom.

Common effects of mental agitation include:

• Stress, anxiety, fatigue, health issues, and eating disorders
• Difficulty focusing, reduced learning ability, ADHD
• Lack of efficiency, scatteredness, hesitation, mental fatigue
• Emotional difficulties, relationship and family problems
• Depression, inner emptiness, and a sense of meaninglessness
• Absence of healthy ideals, virtues, and values; lack of direction in life
• Feeling disconnected from ourselves and from others

Meditation helps restore inner balance and places us back in control. Even a few moments of silence can shift the way we function, with measurable effects on brain waves.

Meditation: The Highest Stage of Yoga

Contrary to the popular idea that meditation simply means sitting quietly for a few minutes with your eyes closed, true meditation is regarded in ancient spiritual lineages as the highest and most advanced stage of practice.

Because it is such an advanced discipline, it must be approached step by step, with proper preparation. In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali described the royal eightfold path to meditation more than 2,000 years ago. He explained that before true meditation can unfold, we must refine our character, purify and strengthen the body, gain mastery over our energies, and discipline the mind.

For this reason, inner attitudes, hatha yoga postures, pranayama, and concentration exercises are all essential stages on the path toward real meditation.

Practice Creates Progress

The results you experience in meditation will reflect the consistency of your daily home practice.

Once a week, the class brings everyone together for guidance, new teachings, support with any challenges, and shared practice. At the end of each class, you will receive a new assignment to help you apply what you have learned in a structured way.

The daily individual practice typically includes:

• Specific hatha yoga exercises, including asanas and pranayama
• Concentration and meditation exercises
• Observing certain attitudes during the day, such as moral virtues and impulses of awareness

Understanding How Meditation Works

In this course, we explore the actual mechanisms of meditation. Although meditation may seem subjective, it follows precise and objective laws.

Rather than focusing on a single technique, the course examines the nature of consciousness and the map of meditation itself, so the skills you develop can be applied across any meditation practice.

Some of the abilities explored include:

• Focusing attention at will in any moment
• Remaining in inner silence and serenity for longer periods of time
• Overcoming distractions and sleepiness
• Accessing higher levels of consciousness, including intuition and samadhi

The Course Topics Include

• Introduction to Meditation
• Goals in meditation and the path to happiness
• What happens with all our mental capacity?
• Mapping the human energetic system, subtle anatomy, and the force centers (chakras)
• Mechanisms of the Mind
• Manas, the "monkey mind," and how to control it
• The reflexive capacity of the mind
• The mysterious and fundamental process of occult resonance
• Exercises for mental training and the importance of mental training
• The Levels of the Mind and Consciousness
• The brain and brain waves
• Manas, the mind, and its importance in modern civilization; the concept of "mental hygiene"
• Vijnanamayakosha, the supramental structure, and perceptive presence in the present moment
• Vipassana meditation and building the state of the witness
• Anandamaya kosha, the body of beatitude, prayer, and happiness
• The 8 Stages of Yoga of Patanjali
• Yama and Niyama – moral and ethical guidelines for inner harmony and harmonious relations with the surroundings
• Asana – selected hatha yoga postures
• Pranayama – full yogic breath and pranayama exercises
• Pratyahara – exercises to create withdrawal and mauna
• Dharana – concentration exercises, repetition, and guidance for advanced concentration training
• Dhyana – awakening the third eye, three steps of dhyana, and meditation exercises
• Samadhi – the state of super consciousness
• Advanced Steps in Meditation
• Obstacles in meditation and their solutions
• Meditation and the spiritual heart
• Training of the spiritual heart
• Secrets of long meditation and the principle of rhythm
• Secrets of attention
• Revelation of the Supreme Immortal Self ATMAN
• 7-step method for the revelation of the Supreme Immortal Self ATMAN, gradually studied and practiced over 3–4 months

Structure of the Class

Each meditation class lasts 2 hours, including 80 minutes of practice and 40 minutes of theory.

There are 46–48 classes per level, with one class each week. Classes begin in September, pause in August, and resume again in September each year.

New students begin at Level 1. Skipping levels is not recommended, since each level builds on the foundation created in the previous one.

Practice

Each class includes an approximately 80-minute practice session divided into three phases:

1. Initial awareness and warming-up exercises
2. The session begins with awareness and warm-up work that activates beneficial subtle energies, both psychic and mental, within your being.
3. Yoga techniques selected to support meditation
4. This may include asanas, pranayama, and other techniques taught in the course.
5. It always ends with complete yogic relaxation, creating an ideal state for meditation.
6. Mental training exercises and meditation
7. Various exercises are introduced to help students explore and develop the mechanisms of the mind and consciousness.

Theory

Each class also includes around 40 minutes of theory, designed to give students a solid understanding and the preparation needed for success in meditation.

Those with prior meditation experience often find they can move beyond the obstacles and blockages that have kept them at a certain level for too long.

Each Class Also Includes

Students receive supportive materials and personal guidance from the teachers and the community throughout the course journey.

Weekly Course Materials

The course materials describe the techniques you will learn and explain their effects on the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels.

Because the courses are so in-depth, the materials often contain more than can be covered in class, so it is strongly recommended that you study and keep them.

Personal Guidance

Experienced teachers guide the practice, checking and correcting postures and technique as needed.

Each class also includes time for questions, answers, and group discussion. In addition, you may schedule 1-on-1 meetings with your teacher or teachers for more personal guidance on specific issues or life situations.

As a Student, You'll Also Get

• Community Membership and Student Discounts – active student status with discounts on upcoming workshops, events, and retreats
• Invitations to student-only workshops and community events, including the Special Summer Program and Christmas Party
• 1-on-1 Meetings With Your Teacher(s) – personal support for class-related questions, daily life application, or specific life situations
• Access to Daily Hatha Yoga Classes – weekday classes, except Sunday, open to students of all levels

Teachers

Adi

Adi began practicing yoga almost 30 years ago. His curiosity quickly deepened as he discovered through yoga and meditation that the world is far larger and more complex than the physical universe, and that exploring it can reveal who we truly are.

Today, he shares these discoveries with enthusiasm. Much of the time, you will find him devoted to Karma Yoga, the Yoga of Action, in service of the school and in support of awakening the state of Vira, the spiritual hero.

Jonathan (from Sep 2026)

Jonathan is a trained teacher and has been an enthusiastic practitioner of yoga and meditation for over 12 years. He knew from an early age that he wanted to teach, even if he was not yet sure what. Over time, he recognized his own uncontrolled mind as the barrier to love, happiness, and direct experience of life.

Today, his wish to teach joins with his desire to live with full intensity and awareness, supporting a process that can unlock the dormant potential within us all: the state of meditation.

Course Schedule