“Hansa Devi has her heart in nature and deep silence. She lives a conscious, sustainable and simple life in Ridgway, Colorado, with her beloved husband Jyoti and two huskies, Satya and Sage.

She serves the greater community by showing up for others in a myriad of ways. She founded the VICHARA initiative to serve beings who want to turn the gaze inward. She offers yoga, meditation and philosophy sessions – as ongoing classes, private and group sessions, immersions and workshops – as well as individual counseling and mentorship.

Through all of her offerings, she is supporting the sangha by exploring the sacred, the raw and the real — from the perspective of non-duality and through the lens of Advaita Vedanta, Kashmir Shaivism, Buddhism, and many other wisdom traditions.

Her deep dive into a daily asana practice started in the Sivananda lineage, then the Satyananda lineage, which eventually lead her to the Ashtanga Yoga method. She has participated in numerous Vipassana 10-day silent retreats and hosted vedanta retreats in the lineage of Swami Dayananda Saraswati. She has nurtured a steady sadhana for decades and has been teaching in Ridgway since 2010. 

Hansa’s academic background is in public health (Karolinska Institute, Sweden) and nutrition (Uppsala University, Sweden), as well as marketing and communications, which led her to move to India in 2008. While living in India, she was part of the core founding team of ACCESS Health International – a global think tank tackling some of our current times most urgent health related challenges and opportunities.

She is currently running the nonprofit that is stewarding The International Flag of Planet Earth, with the mission to spread awareness about the interconnectedness of all of life on this planet. The flag is a symbol that holds the message that we need to take care of the planet and each other.”

Everyone has their challenges in life, which in certain ways define how we relate to life and how we choose to live. I grew up in Sweden with two younger siblings and parents that divorced when I was twelve. I had to grow up very fast, as my mom’s addictive tendencies grew into full blown addictions of alcoholism, gambling, etc. She was suicidal and very manipulative. I rarely talk about this, but I know that it has greatly shaped who I am today. 

My mom was a deeply sensitive self-employed workaholic who didn’t seem to ever find balance, which turned into a bunch of different types of tools to numb herself. All of this has of course shaped my constant exploration of wellbeing – on all levels of being. She was in many ways an important role model of what not to do, and for that I am deeply grateful.

As a youngster, I quickly realized that mindfulness tools and practices were going to be my lifeline. Some of the books I picked up as a teenager became my best friends, for decades to come. I learned how to navigate a wide spectrum of emotional storms, including deep sadness, disappointment, anger and grief – which initially expressed as a burning rage that I covered up inside. I was faced with the fact that there is a choice embedded within each thought, word and action. Even though I took over a lot of responsibilities at an early age as things fell apart at home, I chose to take responsibility for my physical, mental and emotional health simultaneously. Thus, I started exploring practices to nurture body, mind and spirit, very early on – which I am eternally grateful for. 

I started traveling in my late teens, as a way to get a break from the madness and running the household – and as a way to get exposed to other realities, cultures and lifestyles. I did an exchange year in Colorado, USA, as a senior in high school, which was the first step to break free from the norm. I got bit by the travel bug and I ended up studying most of college on my own, while traveling, way before online schooling was a thing. Looking back, I see this traveling decade of my life as a pilgrimage – both to many places and people that taught me a lot, but most importantly, as a way to truly get to know myself. It set the tone for my independence and inspired me to live creatively and consciously, instead of getting engulfed in the patterns and expectations I was born into.

I went back to Sweden for my higher education and while in my masters studies, I got a scholarship that changed my life; I moved to India for what was supposed to be a 5-month project, which ended up being a two year period that forever changed me. While in India, I met my beloved husband, who was another important catalyst for change. I moved to Ridgway, Colorado in 2009, where he was located, and I had never felt so at home in my life.

The search for deeper meaning and practical tools to fully meet life in all of its ups and downs, hasn’t ceased. This is still my most profound fascination. I started teaching in Ridgway in 2010 and continue to live a simple, beautiful life in the mountains together with my husband Jyoti and our two huskies, Satya and Sage. 

Each life journey is unique, yet I think there are many things that we share. The blessing of any challenge is that we are offered valuable lessons, if we are willing to show up and take these lessons to heart. This is the way to move forward with more insight, ease, gratitude and contentment. The quest still remains – how to live life to the fullest, yet being detached – how to respond to life, rather than react out of habit – how to meet each day afresh, without coloring it with our conditioning – as it is an endless process of refinement and shedding of layers. And so the unfolding continues… 

• Vedic Counseling – Certified by Dr. David Frawley (Vamadeva Shastri)

• Teaching yoga, meditation and philosophy since 2010

• Mentorship clients since 2015

• Vipassana – Three 10-day silent retreats since 2010, ongoing silent days

• Ashtanga Yoga – Studied and practiced since 2012

• Hatha Yoga – Studied since 2002, certified 2010

• Advaita Vedanta – Studied since 2009

• Kriya Yoga – Initiated in 2008

• Philosophy studies – Ongoing since early 2000s

• BA in Public Health Sciences – Karolinska Institute

• Nutrition and Dietetics – Uppsala University