Marie Karuna

“Yoga is learning to be free and embody Love.”

Struck by the suffering of animals, the awareness that we’re destroying our planet, and inevitably the human distress that this causes, Marie heads towards a humanitarian job after graduation. A trip to India makes her discover yoga and a whole new perspective opens up. A concrete perspective of hope, inner transformation, awareness that everyone has the unique power to transform themselves to transform the world.

Complementary work is emerging through shamanism by experimenting with traditional Amazonian medicine with solitary hut diet and plant master ceremonies at Huamanwasi Ashram in Peru. She trains in Shamanic Yin Yoga and Yoga of Sound with Romulo Pelizza and Emilio Escariz, medicine-men and founders of this center. An invaluable opening opens the way to “Bhakti Yoga”, the path of devotion, through singing and dancing.

With Sri Hanuman, master of Nada Yoga, composer, author and multi-instrumentalist, she starts working her voice, learning the harmonium and discovering the beauty of the Indian classical music with the art of the Raga, subtle way of the exploration of Consciousness by the sounds.

In parallel she follows another Hatha Yoga training with Trupteesh Hurikadale of Samyak Yoga in India. He brings the timeless wisdom of the Vedas, Upanishads and Yoga philosophy as the founding pillar of the practice. The first pillar “Ahimsa”, non-violence, now makes totally sense. This research pushes her to transform her routine, change her life and create the Chival association with the man of her life.

Their love has borne fruit and she has the happiness of getting pregnant. She puts her Prenatal Yoga training into practice with Bernadette de Gasquet, a doctor and Yoga teacher specialized in childbirth accompaniment. Their little girl is born at home, in mindfulness. This experience re-connects her to her wild, powerful and instinctive nature.

Nourished by all these teachings, she has humbly decided to teach Yoga since 2015. These holistic approaches allow her to combine scientific yoga with instinctive creativity, in order to share compassion, balance, joy, and the infinite potential that resides in every living being.

Why Karuna?

Karuna translates as “compassion” and is an integral part of the spiritual path. The word comes from Sanskrit “kara”, meaning “to do” or “to create”, indicating a form of compassion based on action. Karuna acts to relieve suffering. Karuna is a key part of the yogic path, opening the door to enlightenment and unity.

Short story

Karuna is one of the nine basic emotions in Hinduism. In this belief system, the individual must get rid of egocentric forms of pity to reach the highest level of compassion that karuna represents.

In Mahayana Buddhism, karuna is one of two qualities, with prajna (enlightened wisdom), to be cultivated on the path and to become a luminous and compassionate mind.

In Jainism, karuna is one of the reflections of universal friendship and one of the bhavanas (contemplations).

Karuna is selfless compassion that expects nothing in return, not even gratitude.

For the Buddha, karuna represented the “trembling of the heart” experienced when the individual is able to see suffering and acts. For Jesus, compassion “is having the entrails moved by an inner affection; it is an upheaval of the deepest nature. “