THE JOYFUL SHELTER
Shri Anandamayi Ma Ashram & Retreat Center
A place where God is brought into everyday life.
The Joyful Shelter Shri Anandamayi Ma Ashram & Retreat Center is the nonprofit spiritual heart of The Joyful Shelter—a sacred space taking root on our land in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Dedicated to Shri Anandamayi Ma, our vision is to create a place for worship, spiritual practice, community, rest, study, service, and the experience of the Divine in everyday life.
Ma’s Padukas
The sacred sandals once worn by Shri Anandamayi Ma, now lovingly kept by Swami Gurusharananda at Ma Sharanam Ashram. Ramani had the blessing of photographing them during her time in India in January 2026.
Dedicated to Ma. Open to All.
Ma is at the center of this ashram.
And yet, as Ma continually taught, there is no single path to God.
Our hope is to create a space deeply rooted in devotion while remaining expansive enough for people to seek the Divine through many traditions, practices, names, and forms.
Come to worship. Come to meditate. Come to sing. Come to study. Come to serve. Come to question. Come to rest. Come as you are.
We Want to Bring God to Life Here.
Through donations and community support, we hope to create sacred spaces throughout the land where people can gather, practice, worship, learn, heal, and simply be with God.
We envision:
Temple & sacred spaces for worship, meditation, prayer, and contemplation.
A large temple yurt for satsang, kirtan, meditation, teachings, ceremonies, and spiritual retreats.
Havan spaces for sacred fire ceremony.
Community living spaces where practitioners, teachers, visitors, and those serving the ashram can live and practice together.
Smaller yurts and healing spaces where visiting teachers and practitioners can share their medicine and offerings.
Retreat spaces for Yoga Nidra, meditation, yoga, silence, spiritual study, ceremony, and deeper periods of practice.
And throughout it all, places where the sacred becomes part of ordinary, everyday life.
An Ashram — And Room to Imagine
We honor the ancient tradition of ashram life: practice, devotion, study, service, community, and simplicity.
But we're also asking what an ashram can look like here, now, on this land.
We envision satsangs and kirtans alongside gardens and shared meals. Sacred fire and meditation alongside laughter, creativity, rest, and conversations that challenge us to grow.
The intention isn't to reproduce another ashram exactly.
It is to remain rooted in lineage while allowing enough space for something living to emerge here.
Swakriya Yoga
Swakriya Yoga (SKY)* will be one of the living practices of the ashram.
Swakriya Yoga was developed by Swami Gurusharananda (Swamiji) from teachings received through Shri Anandamayi Ma. It is an experiential path designed to take the practitioner inward.
Unlike much of the yoga commonly encountered in the west today, asana is only one small part of Swakriya Yoga. The practice draws deeply from meditation, pranayama and breathwork, mantra, mudra, kriya, sound, the chakras, the five elements, yogic philosophy, and movement—using each as a doorway into deeper awareness of Self and the Divine.
There is no need to be flexible, athletic, or even experienced in yoga. Swakriya Yoga is a practice anyone can enter. The emphasis isn't on what the body can do, but on what can be discovered within.
The teaching has been transmitted with great care. Only two Swakriya Yoga teacher trainings have ever been offered, creating a small community of teachers entrusted to carry the practice forward.
Ramani is one of only two certified Swakriya Yoga teachers in the United States. As The Joyful Shelter grows, SKY will become part of the spiritual life of the ashram through classes, workshops, retreats, and opportunities for deeper practice and study.
That sentence — “The emphasis isn't on what the body can do, but on what can be discovered within” — feels especially right for explaining SKY to somebody who has absolutely no idea what it is.
*Look for classes online to begin Dec 2026
Our Sister Ashram in India
Ma Sharanam Ashram
Ma Sharanam Ashram in India holds a deeply important place in the spiritual foundation and inspiration behind The Joyful Shelter. Rooted in the teachings of Shri Anandamayi Ma, Ma Sharanam brings spiritual practice into everyday life through meditation, satsang, yoga, mantra, seva, and community living—but its work reaches far beyond the spiritual practices of the ashram itself.
At the heart of Ma Sharanam is also its Gurukul, where boys are given a home and a holistic education designed to nurture not only academic learning, but character, spiritual development, creativity, practical skills, and the whole person. The ashram continues to support the boys as they grow and pursue higher education, while also serving the surrounding community through skill-development programs, social outreach, and other forms of seva.
The land itself is part of that practice. Ma Sharanam works with natural and organic farming, sustainable living, and care for the earth, weaving service to people, spiritual life, education, and stewardship of the natural world together.
At the heart of Ma Sharanam is Swami Gurusharananda—Swamiji, Ramani's teacher and the founder of Ma Sharanam Ashram.
A Living Connection to Ma
An important part of Ma Sharanam's story is Ashok Kulkarni Baba Ji, lovingly known as Ashok Baba Ji, a close disciple of Shri Anandamayi Ma and, until his passing, Swamiji's spiritual mentor.
Ashok Baba Ji was the person Swamiji turned to with questions concerning Ma, Her teachings, and the unfolding of Ma Sharanam Ashram. He also initiated Swamiji into the sacred tradition of Shri Vidya.
Ashok Baba Ji's own connection to Shri Vidya came directly through Ma in an extraordinary way. During the experience, Ma entered a profound spiritual state, rising from Her bed and becoming completely red—the color associated with the Goddess Lalita Tripura Sundari—and gave the Shri Vidya initiation and teachings to Ashok Baba Ji Herself.
Later, when Ashok Baba Ji and his wife were asked to recall what Ma had given them, they initially believed they could not remember it. Yet when asked to try, the mantras returned to them spontaneously and in full, allowing what Ma had given to be carried forward.
It is from this sacred transmission that Ashok Baba Ji later shared Shri Vidya with others, including Swamiji.
Ramani was also blessed to have known and learned directly from Ashok Baba Ji before his passing—to sit with him, ask questions, and receive his guidance during her time in India. She later received Shri Vidya initiation through Ashok Baba Ji, with Swamiji beside her throughout the initiation, translating, explaining, and guiding her through each step.
In the years that followed, Swamiji continued to help Ramani understand and deepen the teachings and practices she had received, answering her questions and guiding her in their meaning and application.
In this way, The Joyful Shelter's relationship with Ma Sharanam is not simply one of inspiration from afar.
It has grown through relationship—through teacher and student, practice and initiation, questions and conversations, and years spent learning within a living spiritual community devoted to Ma.
Two Ashrams, One Shared Devotion
As The Joyful Shelter grows, our hope is that the relationship between these two spaces continues to grow with it.
Part of our intention is to use the support and resources received through The Joyful Shelter non-profit not only to build sacred space here in Michigan, but also to support Ma Sharanam Ashram and the work being carried there in India.
Different lands. Different communities. Different expressions.
But a shared devotion to Ma and to bringing spiritual practice into the way we actually live.
Help Us Build the Sacred
This space will be built through community.
Donations* will help us create the physical spaces where practice and community can take root—from temple and havan spaces to yurts, retreat areas, community living spaces, and the infrastructure necessary to welcome people onto the land.
But contribution can take many forms.
It can be financial support. Materials. Sacred objects. Building skills. Volunteer time. Teaching. Music. Gardening. Cooking. Service. Or simply connecting us with someone whose gifts belong here.
If something in this vision feels familiar to your heart, we invite you to help us bring it to life.
The Joyful Shelter, Shri Anandamayi Ma Ashram and Retreat Center is organized officially as a Michigan nonprofit corporation. We are currently in the early stages of development and are applying for our federal non-profit status that will allow us to take donations that will be a tax write off. So stay tuned for more!
