- LIVE ONLINE PROGRAM
July 7 – October 20, 2025
How to Master the Mind: Practical Steps to Develop Virtues and Overcome Vices
Online Certification Course with Rukmini Chaitanya
Based on the Teachings of Swami Sivananda
12 WEEKLY SESSIONS, Mondays, 3:00 – 4:30 pm ET
“All great persons of the world have achieved greatness and success and eminence through patience and perseverance. You will have to develop these virtues slowly.“
— Swami Sivananda
Welcome to a Journey of Inner Renewal
In a world full of noise, stress, and distractions, how do we live with peace, integrity, and purpose?
Many of us feel the weight of habits we wish we could shed — irritation, fear, insecurity, restlessness — and long to embody deeper virtues like patience, courage, and compassion. We want to change, but don’t always know how.
This course offers a way forward.
Rooted in the timeless guidance of How to Cultivate Virtues and Eradicate Vices by Swami Sivananda, this 12-week experience will support you in developing the inner strength, clarity, and peace needed to transform your life from the inside out.
Through guided teachings, meditations, and practical exercises, we will explore how to let go of negative patterns and nourish the qualities that bring lasting joy and spiritual growth.
This course is approved by the Yoga Alliance for Continuing Education Hours
Why This Course?
This is not a theoretical study or a self-help fix — it’s a deeply practical spiritual training, guided by one of the great masters of the yogic tradition.
Each week, you’ll be gently invited to work with one vice and one virtue — not with judgment, but with curiosity, courage, and compassion. You’ll learn how to observe your inner landscape, interrupt old patterns, and replace them with noble tendencies aligned with your higher Self.
“Cultivate pure love slowly in the garden of your heart through Japa, prayer, Kirtan, faith, devotion, service of saints, humanity and all beings, meditation and company of saints.”
— Swami Sivananda
What You'll Explore Each Week:
- A live class exploring one vice and one corresponding virtue
- Guided meditations to help you embody the teaching
- Practical tools and techniques to apply during the week
- A recorded practice to support your personal reflection and growth
- Journaling prompts and contemplations to deepen insight
- A supportive community of fellow seekers walking the same path
You’ll learn to:
- Transform reactive emotions like anger, fear, and pride into calm awareness
- Replace habits like gossip, greed, or guilt with truthfulness, simplicity, and self-acceptance
- Practice inner restraint and mindful action in daily life
- Build emotional resilience and cultivate lasting inner peace
- Awaken your divine potential through conscious living
Meet Your Inner Allies and Adversaries
Throughout the course, you’ll meet both your shadows and your light — not to fight them, but to understand them and move beyond them. We will work with qualities such as:
- Virtues we’ll cultivate: Patience · Kindness · Humility · Courage · Joy · Simplicity · Self-control
- Vices we’ll uproot: Anger · Jealousy · Arrogance · Fear · Greed · Guilt · Laziness
You’ll come to see these not as fixed traits, but as changeable patterns — and learn how to rewire your mind with spiritual intention.
What Makes This Course Unique?
- Grounded in classical yogic wisdom — yet deeply relevant for today
- Heart-centred guidance — from Rukmini Chaitanya, a compassionate and clear teacher
- Integrated practice — not just study, but transformation through meditation, self-inquiry, and prayer
- Accessible for all — whether you’re new to spiritual practice or seeking to deepen an existing path
“Speak lovingly. Act lovingly. Serve lovingly. You will soon enter the Kingdom of Heaven or Supreme Peace.“
— Swami Sivananda
About the Book & the Teachings
Swami Sivananda’s How to Cultivate Virtues and Eradicate Vices is a spiritual manual for mastering the mind and purifying the heart. With characteristic clarity and love, he shows how to:
- Understand the nature of virtue and vice
- Strengthen willpower and self-awareness
- Use prayer, introspection, and faith to uplift the mind
- Replace negativity with noble effort and divine grace
- Live in alignment with the soul’s purpose
You’ll receive guided reflections each week from this text, translated into actionable tools you can carry into daily life.
This Course Is For You If You:
- Feel ready to stop reacting and start responding with calm and clarity
- Want to live more in alignment with your values and higher Self
- Are drawn to authentic spiritual teachings that transform character
- Seek a community of sincere practitioners to grow with
- Crave more simplicity, joy, and purpose in everyday life
What You’ll Walk Away With
By the end of the 12 weeks, you’ll have:
✔️ A clearer understanding of your inner tendencies
✔️ Tools to consciously shift from vice to virtue
✔️ A more balanced, centred, and peaceful mind
✔️ A deeper connection to your true Self and spiritual purpose
✔️ A foundation for lifelong character-building and self-mastery
You’re Invited
This course is not about becoming perfect — it’s about becoming honest, awake, and free.
Join Rukmini Chaitanya and a community of sincere seekers as we walk this beautiful path together.
“Observe silence. Remove hatred and other negative qualities, and acquire divine, positive virtues. You will enjoy immense Peace.“
— Swami Sivananda
Additional Information:
- Offered as 12 weekly sessions on Mondays from 3:00 to 4:30 pm ET on the following dates: July 7, 14, 21, 28, Aug 4, 11, 18, 25, Sept 1, 8, 15 & 22
- This program is offered live through Zoom webinar with the availability for students to interact through Q&A with the presenter.
- For enrolled students, a video recording will be available after each class in the event you miss a class or would like to review the content.
- It is possible to register and take the course at any time. You can catch up on any classes you miss with the recordings.
Requirements and Recommendations:
- No experience necessary. This program is open to beginners as well as advanced practitioners.
- Viewing Device: Desktop or laptop computer will provide the best experience, although you can also connect via a tablet or smartphone.
- Internet connection: High-speed broadband wired or wireless is best.
- Video: Download Zoom to your computer, or install the Zoom app to your device. For interactive group sessions, a webcam or integrated camera will allow others to feel more connected with you.
- Audio: Headphone speakers are recommended. If you wish to participate vocally, a headset with a microphone will be ideal.
Course Includes:
- 15 hours of on-demand video.
- 12 live 90 minute sessions.
- Live and recorded guided practices.
- Feedback and personal guidance on student’s home practices.
- Availability to ask questions about the studies and practices between classes.
- Course Manual.
Rukmini Chaitanya
Rukmini Chaitanya is a senior staff member of the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat Bahamas, and the personal assistant to Swami Swaroopananda, the Acharya, or spiritual director of the Ashram. She regularly teaches the Bhagavad Gita during the Sivananda Yoga Teacher training as well as other courses on the Bhagavad Gita, Vedanta, positive thinking, meditation, and yoga philosophy.
Rukmini Chaitanya is known for her enthusiastic and inspiring teaching style as well as for her devotion to the lineage and the scriptures. She is dedicated to each of her students and has an innate desire to share knowledge with them. She brings a great deal of clarity to every topic and is highly appreciated for her capacity to unfold complicated topics and present them in a coherent and pure way.