My story

Welcome dear soul, my name is Hayley and my spiritual name is Ananda,

Ananda is Sanskrit for ‘blissful, joyful and happy’

Becoming a Yoga teacher, Ashram life and Enlightened masters

In 2014 I travelled to Rishikesh, North India to train in Akhanda Yoga at the Anand Prakash Yoga Ashram with Yogrishi Vishvketu whom we all call Vishva Ji, our Guru Ji. Spending one month on an intensive 200hr training program in the ashram was one of the most transformative times of my life. The discipline to wake every morning at 4.30am for meditation, the healing journey we all embarked upon together as a yoga family and my own personal dedication to liberate myself of old ways of thinking and feeling changed my life forever. The greatest blessing was to join the Nath lineage through the blessings of Yogrishi Vishvetu Ji. His teacher before him was Baba Prem Nath Ji and the lineage is a very ancient lineage of Tantra, Kundalini and Hatha Yoga. With Vishva Ji’s blessings, I am now able to channel the power of this lineage in my yoga classes, to share with the world this beautiful tradition and the many blessings it brings.

After graduation I stayed for two more months to teach the daily Akhanda Yoga class at the ashram and volunteered at Ramana’s Garden, a charitable cause for orphaned and abandoned children. When my visa ran out I travelled to Nepal and was carried by grace to the ‘Osho Jetban Spiritual Village’ where I was blessed to be in the presence of another enlightened master – Swami Anand Arun. Swami ji was a disciple of Osho in Pune in the 70’s, and he has now built three communes in Nepal to share the beautiful teachings and practices that enlightened him. Many blessings were bestowed upon me through being in Swami ji’s presence. I immersed myself into the Osho community in Lumbini, Pokhara and Kathmandu. Every day I practiced cathartic meditation and celebration with the community, together we threw out all of the junk that prevented us from experiencing our true selves and then we celebrated with dance, laughter and joyful living. Osho say’s that we have to throw out all of the junk until we experience a natural silence that draws us in with a strong desire to sit and listen to that silence. This is exactly what happened to me. It was the week before Christmas 2014 and all I wanted was to sit and listen to the silence within me, so I applied for Vipassana last minute in Lumbini and a miracle occured; I was accepted! This was very unusual and I believe a divine door was opened for me which I gracefully walked through in silent, blissful, joyful gratitude.

Enlightening moments and following my Dharma (life purpose) with Seva (being of service)

I was blessed to sit in silence for 10 days on the vipassana meditation retreat in Lumbini, Nepal. The timing was perfect and allowed me to attain a deep silence which has been with me ever since. Lumbini is a very sacred place to practice Vipassana led by S.N Goenka as it is a revival of the teaching of Gautama the Buddha who was born, attained enlightenment and left his body in this very place. His presence is felt in this small town on the outskirts of Nepal. After Vipassana I travelled to Pokhara and re-joined the Osho community where I remained very silent for the duration of my stay. It was here that I woke up one day, with a deep knowing that it was time for me to return home. I wanted to go home and see my family. I felt whole and complete in the knowledge that my home is inside of me, and “I can be anywhere in the world and I will still feel this bliss. So, I will go home and share it with my family, friends and community”. So, I made my way to Kathmandu and visited Nagarkot, a small village where a dear friend from the ashram’s family live. The day after, I flew to London and days after, the Earthquake hit those very precious places I had stayed in, destroying temples and homes, including the home of the family I visited in Nagarkot. This disaster turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the Bastola family as the Akhanda Yoga family supported them by raising thousands of dollars which they used to build a new and improved home and yoga retreat centre! I recognised how I had been carried home again by the hand of grace, as the divine timing ensured my safety. My time in India and Nepal blessed me in developing a connection with the Divine power that loves and supports us all, at all times. We just have to listen and act upon the guidance we receive, and continue to express our immense gratitude for the Divine lovingly holding our hands, protecting and supporting us at all times. I became fearless in this knowledge.

I received the name Ma Anand Prema ‘Mother of Blissful Joy and Divine Love’ in November 2014 which the Osho family shortened to Ananda Ma. I feel a deep resonance and loving energy with this name as it represents the essence within us all, that is eternal bliss. There is also another story which connects me with this name which I will share with you another time. Ananda is my true self and I know that we are all ananda (bliss) in truth.

In 2016 I sat in meditation to receive the name of my mission, which came through as ‘Bliss Mission’. It is my mission to share the sacred truths and I am surrendered as a channel for the divine to work through me. This is my Dharma (Life Mission) and it brings me great joyful, blissful, expansive pleasure to share it with you.