Suzin’s insight and wisdom have won her a loyal following and her powerful yogic chanting has touched countless people worldwide. A pioneer in the Expressive Arts Therapy movement, her multi-arts approach to teaching music and inner work grew into the meditation-based therapies and life coaching she offers today. Suzin is currently writing a book about her life and work. Forthcoming in 2022.

Suzin first stepped onto the yogic path in 1977 when she attended a meditation retreat with Swami Muktananda. Her sense of homecoming was profound and the discovery of yogic chant forever changed her life.

“Muktananda was a great proponent of chanting and I took to it like a fish to water. I’d long intuited deep connections between sound and healing and here was the treasure trove of knowledge and the spiritual teacher I’d been seeking.”

For the next seventeen years she was a devoted student of this path. Towards the end of this nearly two-decades however, Suzin began questioning the paradigm of guru yoga. Although the system promised liberation, she saw patterns of domination and control that struck her as the antithesis of what Yoga (union with the Self), is about. After a period of intensive soul-searching, she returned to graduate school, earned an MA in Expressive Arts & Meditation Therapies and moved on from the guru-centric path she’d followed for so many years.

Devi Yoga, her real-life application of yogic philosophy, western psychology, and the arts was born from this journey. As Suzin has grown and evolved, so has Devi Yoga.

“I once bought into traditional yogic ideals of purity and asceticism, believing that by cutting my ties to worldly pursuits, applying myself to intensive practice, and eating a strict vegetarian diet, I would achieve mastery of life. From the outside I looked like a perfect yogini. On the inside however, I was all tied up in knots.

I slowly came to see it wasn’t about cutting my ties to the world. It was about cutting those inner ties. Withdrawing from the world and losing myself in spiritual practice just hardened the wounding/wounded places inside of me. I realized the real challenge was stepping fully into myself and making friends with all the messy stuff inside.

It was about seeing myself as I was, in all my human imperfection. I came to understand that if I wanted to move through life with real power and grace, it had to start from a fierce and fearless embrace of myself and the world.”

Suzin maintains a private practice offering life coaching and transformational healing and continues offering her long-running Monday Night Class.

When she’s not working, you can usually find Suzin with a mug of chai in hand, hanging out with her cat Sukie. Actually, even when she’s working, she’s also drinking her fresh-brewed chai (those who know her well lovingly refer to her as Chai Ma). Click here for Suzin’s recipe for this Ayurvedic elixir. She’s brewed a fresh pot every morning for over forty years. Ask her and she’ll tell you hands down that if you’re looking for the fountain of youth, all it takes is a daily dose of chanting and a few mugs of honey-sweetened chai…

“I’ve lived a long time, studied a lot of systems, and done a lot of inner practice. In the end I think it all comes down to one simple thing: being seen and being heard. We need this from our parents, teachers, friends, colleagues, community…and most of all, we need to see and hear our selves. For most of my formative life, I was rarely seen or heard. Mostly I got [bad] advice and [clueless] suggestions, with a healthy dose of criticism, obliteration, and that kind of “good-natured” ribbing that cuts deep into the soul. Fortunately I had writing and music. These were my mirror, the place I could feel the possibility inside me. As I learned to listen and to see, I slowly found my way.” 

I’ve worked with many people over the years and whatever form the journey takes, it happens in the sacred ground of clear seeing and deep listening. In my opinion this is the greatest gift we can give. To meet someone where they are, listen to what they’re saying, and honor what we see and hear. This simple act makes miracles happen.”