Being guided by her Indian Satguru, Amma Sri Karunamayi, Lily’s profound inner journey has allowed her to synthesize the teachings from the sacred yogic lineage of Shri Vidya and to share its essence of unconditional love, wisdom and truth. The deep revelations born from her intensive meditation & yogic practices, combined with her master’s degree in counseling psychology & energy healing training, allows Lily to share the deep purifying practices and philosophical approach of Classical Yoga with students, so that they may rest in their natural state of pure bliss and joy.

With a love for silent meditation, Advaita Vedanta, self-inquiry, mantra, yoga nidra, bhakti yoga and sacred pilgrimages, Lily’s yearning to realize and abide in Truth brought her to a life devoted to the path of Self-Realization. Through the immeasurable love and compassion of her Satguru, Lily has been blessed to humbly serve yoga students from around the world by passing on the teachings of the Awakened Ones. Spending extensive time in retreat every year in remote forest ashrams in India, practicing deep meditation and yoga, as well as serving those in need, Lily’s only mission in life is to show others how to fully surrender into each & every moment.

Lily has worked with her dear friend Kate Potter on the Namaste Yoga video series, and has also developed specialized yoga programs for various populations; professional athletes, senior groups, as well as men & women of all ages.  She has produced The Yoga Nidra Collection of guided meditation mp3’s, as well as compiled the sacred words and teachings of the Great Masters into the Pure Wisdom book series to preserve the teachings of the Enlightened Ones.

Lily shares the multiple ways that our Divine nature expresses itself both through the teachings & in our daily lives.  She inspires the practical application of the teachings – through relationships, our life purpose, in our intentions and approach to life. Yoga with Lily ignites a spiritual awakening from within and guides students to live from a place of truth, compassion & peace; our awakened state, our True Self.

The essential teachings of yoga focus on the Direct Experience of the True Nature of Reality, which is called Shri Vidya, or Knowledge of the Supreme.  These timeless teachings of yoga have been passed down from teacher to student since ancient Vedic times by such great masters as Vasishta Maharshi, Sage Agastya and his consort Lopamudra, Adi Shankaracharya and many other awakened souls.  While we have had the wonderful fortune to study and learn some of the great systems of yoga from the lineages of Shivananda, Krishnamacharya, Jois, Iyengar, and others, the essence of the Blooming Lotus Yoga programs are inspired by the teachings of:

Shri Ramana Maharshi

Shri Ramana Maharshi was one of the greatest spiritual teachers of the last century.  Being a Jnana Yogi, his teachings focus on the One Supreme Truth of Being; non-duality or Advaita Vedanta.  He taught that we must simply abide in our True Self; our natural state, and that this could be achieved through the direct path of Self-Inquiry.  At the young age of 16, Shri Ramana Maharshi had a life-changing ‘near death’ experience whereby he experienced the Absolute Self. Leaving his family, Shri Ramana left for the sacred Hill of Arunachala where he spent the remainder of his life.  While most of his time was spent in deep meditation in the caves of Arunachala, Shri Ramana eventually gave teachings and darshan, although he considered silence to be the most powerful form of transmission.

Ratu Pedanda Gunung

The sacred land of Bali is the home of over 400 yogis, called Pedandas, or “high priests,” which oversee and guide the spiritual lives of the Balinese people and their beautiful culture.  Of all of them, Ratu Pedanda Gunung was the living lineage holder of an ancient form of yoga and tantra which originated in the same sacred land as Ramana Maharshi’s home, Arunachala, South India. Brought to Bali by the siddha yogis of ancient times the authentic yogi teachings have been preserved in his family for over 500 years.  As the teacher of the high priests,  guardian of the Balinese yoga tradition and yoga master, Ratu Gunung was revered by the Balinese much in the same way as the Tibetans honor His Holiness the Dalai Lama.