Interview: Bold Journey
Meet Julia Tulsi Bagnoli
April 25, 2023
Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Julia Tulsi Bagnoli. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Julia Tulsi, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
I can attribute my resilience and capacity to withstand, to my great thirst to grow as an individual and my devotion to the stars. It wasn’t until my twenties that I began to understand that my capacity to bounce back from “failure” and ability to gather information in the process, was actually a strength of mine. It is not how many times you fail that defines you — it’s the amount of times that you’re willing to get back up, continue to distill all that you’ve learned and offer your best at every turn.
My resilience is grounded in knowing that I’m not here to get things right on the first try and that I’ve found that something which my desire to go deep with, overrides any course correction that may stand in my way.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do? I am a second generation Vedic Astrologer, who has been practicing yoga and meditation since birth and teaching professionally for the past 18+ years. I never intended to become an astrologist, it’s as if the practice found me. Some of my earliest memories are watching my Father prepare charts by hand and finding great excitement in looking up at the stars and hearing him share the mythology of the planets and constellations.
As a translator and devotee of the stars, I’m most excited about diving deep with my clients, tracking what wants to be grown and tended to in their lives and helping them meet with less resistance, more joy and a greater capacity to exercise their free will. I am constantly in awe of how specific Vedic Astrology can be in elevating one to unlock their full potential. I want to see more of us doing what we love, while thriving within that experience and that’s why I find great joy in serving my clients and continue to cultivate this practice.
I’m thrilled to be offering teachings on Vedic Astrology at my first Women’s retreat, with two of my dearest friends and brilliant teachers, at the Land of Medicine Buddha, August 18-20th. I’m also available for one on one consultations, gatherings and events — please book through my website.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Perseverance, desire and devotion have been three impactful qualities along my journey. The great desire to do what I love and the discipline and devotion to stay the course, has been the medicine that brought me to where I am today. My advice to you is to find that one thing that truly lights you up, like nothing else — cultivate the skills and wisdom to become an expert in that field, and begin right away to offer your gifts in service to those around you. Offer this service as an act of devotion to something greater than you and do this again and again. One day you’ll look back and notice that you find the same joy in walking the path, as did in taking your first steps in discovering that this path was yours.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I’m looking to collaborate with other wellness and yogic experts who are inspired to spread the message and teachings of Sanātana Dharma — transformational wisdom which awakens our highest potential. I’d love to contribute to podcasts and collaborate on retreats and teacher trainings both locally and internationally — specifically on the East coast of Spain.
Contact Info:
Website: www.chayacollective.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chaya.collective/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chayacollective
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chayacollective/
Other: https://linktr.ee/chayacollective
Image Credits
Photography by: Sej Saraiya, Jessica Franz and Christian Adam, Julio Silvavil | MUY HOUSE
Truth Be Told: Intro to Vedic Astrology
ShoutoutLA Interview: Risk-taking
Meet Tulsi Bagnoli M.A. | Vedic Astrologer and Teacher of Yoga & Meditation
Photo by Jessica Franz
We had the good fortune of connecting with Tulsi Bagnoli M.A. and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Tulsi, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I would say that risk taking has been an integral contribution to most success I’ve experienced in life, both personally and professionally. Since I was twenty I knew that I wanted to dedicate my life in service to others and with that came the thirst to make what I love what I do for a living.
I’m a firm believer in the perspective that there’s no such thing as a failure or mistake if one can learn from their experiences. With the odds against me, I set out to teach yoga and meditation professionally and knew deep down that the journey would be worth it, no matter how long it took.
After teaching full time for fifteen plus years and spending most of those years leaning into uncertainty — I can truly say that sticking to my heart’s deepest calling, through the ups and downs and many moments of taking risks, both big and small, has landed me right where I had longed to be.
Photo by Jessica Franz
What should our readers know about your business?
I’m a second generation Vedic Astrologer and never set out with the intention of sharing astrology professionally. One of my first memories was watching my Father prepare a chart by hand. I was always intrigued and mesmerized by the stories and mythology of the stars. I grew up studying the planets and constellations out of pure joy and passion and still do today. In University I was eventually asked by others to look at their charts. Over the years this turned into a common experience that progressed into requests for classes and workshop offerings. It was almost as if I became an astrologer by the requests of those that surrounded me.
One of the greatest things I’ve learned about dharma or one’s highest aligned purpose, is when there is something driving you so deeply, it doesn’t really matter what obstacles present themselves, that calling keeps one foot moving in front of the other. This is what I would say sets your purpose aside from what you may do for a living.
I am passionate about showing leaders, creatives, change makers, and seekers what they’re made of and unlocking their highest purpose through the ancient, sister sciences of Jyotish (Vedic Astrology), Ayurveda and Yoga. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or would like to book a private consultation and talk about YOU. I look forward to serving you along the path.
Photo by Christian Adam
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’d take my bestie to Sunlife Organics, Westward beach and Nobu in Malibu. We’d go for an early morning hike at Malibu Creek State park and visit the Malibu Hindu Temple. We’d explore the Calabasas Farmers market and eat at Topanga Living Cafe and Endless Color in the Canyon. I’d take her roller skating on the Venice Boardwalk, have coffee at Deus Ex Machina, shop at Erewhon Market and eat at Cafe Gratitude. We’d go for a spin class at Equinox gym, sip coffee at Café Ruisseau, surf the waves in Santa Monica, dinner at Chateau Marmont and brunch at the Ivy.
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d say the greatest support, love and encouragement that has inspired me to be the women I am today, has come from the most extraordinary women I know — my Mother, Gail. She has illuminated my path every step of the way. From teaching me yoga and Transcendental Meditation, to always nudging me to go for what I truly desire or something even higher. She taught me to show up fully and be flexible — to follow my heart and commit to that path no matter what obstacles presented themselves. She engrained within me the importance of tending to my roots, to my inner Self and continues to encourage me to do my best, as my most authentic self and know that this will always be enough. Thank you Mom, I’m not sure where I’d be without your love and support. Loving you immensely.
Website: www.chayacollective.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chaya.collective/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chayacollective/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chayacollective
Other: https://linktr.ee/chayacollective
Image Credits
Photography. by Jessica Franz, Christian Adam, myself
VoyageLA Interview
Meet Tulsi Bagnoli of Chaya Collective: Vedic Astrologer and Teacher of Yoga & Meditation
Photo by Sej Saraiya
Today we’d like to introduce you to Tulsi Bagnoli.
Tulsi, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
As if this journey chose me, you could say my story and connection to the Vedic tradition began in the womb. Both of my parents were teachers of Transcendental Meditation and my Father, a Jyotiṣa (Vedic) Astrologer. Since birth, I was raised in an atmosphere of mantra, meditation and spiritual lifestyle. My first formal initiation into yoga and meditation came as a young child. From the age of four, I would sit with my parents for morning and evening sadhana (practice). From that moment forward, I became a devoted practitioner and seeker of Vedic wisdom.
In my late teens, I was in a car accident that changed the course of my life. After experiencing the immense healing powers and miracles of a daily yoga sadhana, I felt a strong calling to share this practice with others. Through my dedication to growth and service, I was then guided to become a certified teacher of meditation and Hatha yoga at the age of twenty and went on to complete a B.A. and M.A. in Vedic Science.
One of my very first memories is of my Father making charts by hand. Since I can remember, I was immensely intrigued by the ancient science of astrology (science of light). From being drawn to look up at the stars, to hearing the stories of the constellations and their mythology, I felt and continue to feel a deep pull towards the further investigation into yoga and Ayurveda’s sister science, Jyotiṣa. I was first requested by friends and classmates in University to glance at their astrology charts. Over time, these readings turned into lunch exchanges, donation offerings, and once I began paying for long term studies and mentorships, with the encouragement of friends, I began to slowly charge a fee for my consultations. It wasn’t until three years ago in L.A. when I was asked by a dear friend and colleague on what my favorite topic would be to offer a workshop. My heart said Jyotiṣa astrology and from that workshop on my path was forged.
Photo by Irina Faber - ALO Yoga | Santa Monica, CA
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Like most children born into a family of yogis or any system based on universal truth and accessible tools for self-discovery, I too needed to rebel and find the truth through my own eyes. In a sense, I could say that the road has been quite rocky and looking back, every bump, twist and turn along the way has helped to contribute to who I am and the space I hold today.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Chandra Vidya: Ayurvedic Yoga & Astrology story. Tell us more about the business.
I have an established private practice as an Ayurvedic yoga and astrology consultant in Topanga Canyon where I incorporate Jyotiṣa (Vedic) astrology, yoga, meditation, Ayurveda, breathwork, Human Design and holistic modalities to help awaken the individual to their true nature and the untapped energy that flows within us all.
In my consultations, I love to unpack what is ripe in an individual’s stage of evolution. I aim to shine light on what wants to be tended to and cultivated in such a way that the client meets with more ease and grace and less resistance within the current planetary rhythms and influences – as if I’m offering a key to unlock one’s highest potential.
I teach weekly classes and workshops at L.A. based yoga/meditation studios, L.A. county libraries, and in corporate settings including Spotify, Lululemon, Free People, ALO Yoga and L.A.X. Most of these classes, including New and Full Moon women’s gatherings, have moved online. I also teach yoga and am a teacher’s assistant at a private school in Malibu and facilitate group yoga/meditation classes at drug and alcohol treatment centers, such as IOP’s for both youth and adults. Just last week I was hired as the Wellness Program Director at a rooftop lounge in Malibu.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I feel immense grace for having been raised in such a way that my foundation was rooted in consciousness-based education. One could say it was pure luck having a lineage of ancient technologies and teachings to always lean on and pull from and from another perspective, I can only assume to believe this path was chosen consciously or unconsciously from my accumulated past thoughts, speech and actions.
Photo By Sej Saraiya
Pricing:
1 hour astrology consultation $195 / 1 1/2 $225
1 hour private yoga class $150
1 1/2 hour private breathwork class $150
Contact Info:
Website: www.tulsibagnoli.com
Booking site :https://eyesoftheveda.as.me/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tulsibagnoli
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TulsiBagnoli
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chandravidya
Email: tulsibagnoli@gmail.com
Podcast Interview: Vedic Astrology
I'm delighted to share my first PODCAST on Vedic Astrology! Please enjoy: PODCAST - Vedic Astrology
“Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the Universe exist. Be curious." -Stephen Hawking
Interview by Nadege August with What the Fockery? Podcast
TMHome Interview: “Yoga, Meditation and Feeling at Home in India”
“If you have any desire in this life, allow it to be quenched in the awakening of the Self. First develop the experience of the Self and all else will unfold in time.”
जय गुरु देवा
Photo by: Mel Sauerbeck.
Julia Tulsi Bagnoli is a teacher of both yoga and Transcendental Meditation. She is a combination of beauty, grace and bliss that folds without effort into incredible shapes — both mentally and physically. We talked with Tulsi about the role of yoga on the path to enlightenment, and what it feels like NOT to meditate.
Learning to meditate
You learned Transcendental Meditation when you were just a little kid. What do you remember from that time?
JULIA TULSI BAGNOLI: I remember the day like it was yesterday! I remember asking if I could learn the technique. I picked out my favorite party dress and my favorite fruit. I very much looked up to my uncle, so I was very excited that he was the one teaching me. I remember walking down the hallway and smelling the incense and when he opened the door he looked like an angel. The moment he gave me my mantra, I felt, “Oh, I am home!”
Really interesting that even as a four-year-old you had that desire to learn to meditate.
JULIA TULSI BAGNOLI: I guess it was because meditation has always been part of my life. I am a fourth-generation meditator who was born into a family of yogis. My mother practiced yoga and meditation every day while she was pregnant with me. My parents used to do baby yoga with me. I had very blissful, sweet and nourishing parents so I really wanted to have what they had. I saw them meditating and I wondered, “Can I do that too?”
When people ask me what my earliest childhood memories are, one of the earliest things I recall is the memory of sitting in my mother’s lap in the meditation hall in Fairfield, Iowa, listening to Maharishi’s voice.
Usually people learn the TM technique when they are ten, but since my parents were teachers of TM I was able to learn at nine and a half. My mother and I were living in Hawaii at the time, and I remember being very excited to learn the technique and asking her, “It’s my half-birthday, can I learn?” Looking back, it was actually a month short of my half-birthday but I was just so excited to be able to sit down and meditate.
Has there ever been a time when you have not practiced Transcendental Meditation regularly?
Photo: Christian Adam
JULIA TULSI BAGNOLI: There was actually a short time in my life when, can you believe it, I forgot to meditate!
It happened when I moved back to Hawaii as a teenager. Coming from the Maharishi School in Iowa, where I had 70 classmates whom I had grown up with, I arrived at Maui High with 2,400 students. So, all of a sudden, it was this big, bright world of new friends, the ocean, surfing, hiking and reggae music.
For a few months I was just enjoying it all, and then I remember that life became very hard. I called my mom and said, “I live in a paradise, but life has become really hard!”
My mother asked, “So when was the last time you meditated?” And I said, “I’ll call you back later.”
I sat down and even before I began meditating I started laughing. I had been like a gardener who was only enjoying the fruits and flowers and who had forgotten to water the roots or tend to the nourishment of the tree! I felt like an idiot but at the same time, when I began to meditate again, I realized I would never again take this practice for granted.
That was the beginning of the transition to finding TM for myself. You sometimes have to take that journey to remember and appreciate what you have. And this experience was part of my path, from fully receiving it from my parents, to experiencing what it’s like to not have that inner peace, to finally understanding, “Oh! This is a part of why I enjoy everything!”
Becoming a teacher
Photo: Asia Crosom
How did yoga become such an integral part of your life?
JULIA TULSI BAGNOLI: I had been doing it ever since I was a little kid. But I only became serious about my dedication to my practice after I was in a car accident. It was kind of a miracle because my car was completely totaled and I was nearly untouched. A couple of weeks later I started to feel the injury in my neck, and my mother invited me to come back home to Iowa. The classes at Maharishi University of Management (MUM) were supposed to start the next week, and so my mom suggested that I enroll.
At that time I was determined that I wanted to learn marine biology in Hawaii and save reefs in the ocean. But my mom said, “I want you to stay here and be nourished, so why don’t you go to MUM for six months?”
I was really stubborn, so I said, “Okay, but only six months!”
Throughout that whole time I kept stating my story: “Oh, I’m only here for a semester.” It’s nice to look back at how actually there was this ‘not knowing’!
In reality, by year two I was taking some first-year classes and ended up getting a degree. It was in one of my Science of Being classes with Professor Evan Finkelstein that I realized, “This is all you need in life!” Not as in there is nothing else I need to learn, just that with the integration of this knowledge and experience, you can find everything else that you are looking for.
In one of my classes we did an exercise with three Venn diagrams where you write down everything you like to do in life, everything you are good at doing and how you can help the world. Where all three circles overlapped I had written: yoga and adventures. I had this understanding about the body because I had been steady in this practice for a long time. Not the intellectual understanding, but this knowing of how to listen to the body while being gentle and effortless.
Photo by: Teresa Riverwood
To become a TM teacher was another path I wanted to take. I applied and got accepted to the training even though I was younger than required. I raised the money for the course within a few days. It felt very much meant to be.
Meanwhile, I was also studying with a yoga teacher in Fairfield and she would keep asking me, “When will you start teaching yoga?”
And I would say, “I will begin teaching when I take proper training.” Months would pass and she would ask again, “When are you going to start teaching yoga?”
So I would tell her, “When I can breathe into my feet.” I felt my whole body wasn’t breathing fully; I was aware of that.
I didn’t want to learn with just anyone, so I went on a pilgrimage to find a teacher who was part of a traditional lineage and steeped in the proper knowing of why we practice yoga and where it comes from.
I traced the roots back to Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya. I found his longest-standing disciple outside the family, Sri Srivatsa Ramaswami, who at the time was 73 years old. He was very well versed in the scripture and very simple. He embodied yoga. I completed my first 200-hour training with him just after finishing my Master’s degree from MUM.
I most recently took advanced training in the Himalayas and traveled all over India for a total of nine months.
Nine months in India
While you lived in India, how easy or difficult was it for you to reconcile the contrast between the material poverty and spiritual wealth of the country?
JULIA TULSI BAGNOLI: It was a huge contrast compared to the United States, and it is a fine line. I’m very sensitive and obviously one can sense that neediness. Yet you know that the beggars might get a dollar from you but not have any of it, because there are other middlemen involved.
Meditating at Maharishi’s ashram | Rishikesh Photo: Mel Sauerbeck
I had to come to a place of no ego. I could not compare, could not judge. It was a fine line because you can easily go into sadness and wonder for the rest of the day where that woman and that child are going to sleep tonight.
I remember one time walking in the Himalayas and we visited this small village. There was a couple who had terraced the side of their home into a garden. It was a two-story building, almost adobe style, but very simple. There was not even a door, just a hanging piece of burlap that came down and an earth floor. They barely had any possessions and they slept on a clay bed.
Someone in our group asked the man, “If you had three wishes, what would they be?”
And he said, “I have no wishes; I have everything that I need. I am very content and fulfilled. I have this beautiful view of the mountains, I have shelter, I have my lovely wife, I have food, my children were raised in this village and have gone to college and now have jobs in the city. I am very content. There is nothing that I need.”
It makes you think: How many people in the West do you know who feel the same? How to even go about comparing the material deprivation or abundance versus the spiritual deprivation or abundance?
In India, you’ll go to places like Vrindavan, where Krishna was said to have grown up, and there’s this air that I can only compare to being in the Dome, the meditation hall in Fairfield. You might not speak to anyone while you meditate, but there is this common thread, this common knowingness, this substance that’s holding everyone together, and it is so tangible in India.
You walk into the cave of Vashistha, a great saint. You close your eyes and the timeless takes over your being. Five hours later you wonder why you could not stay any longer when the cave is being closed down for the night.
Sunrise prayers, Varanasi, India. Photo: Mel Sauerbeck.
In India it’s even more effortless to bask in your own nature because it’s so supported. You’re drawn in more easily. When you go to a place where many people have meditated for thousands of years, there is this stillness, and it really does permeate India.
There was only one time in India that I felt loneliness. The rest of the time, there was that feeling that I was always taken care of. In a way I had more of a culture shock coming home than going to India.
What made you feel that way?
JULIA TULSI BAGNOLI: I first noticed it during my layover in the airport. You know how whichever way the flow of the traffic goes — like in America, you drive on the right side of the road — that’s how the crowd usually flows too. At the airport, everyone was walking on the right side and I was walking against everyone.
Photo: Todd Cinnamon.
And coming into the Oakland airport I heard people talking about what looked better on them while checking their cell phones at the same time, and I thought, “Welcome home.”
We are here to enjoy. It’s about 200% of life, and we don’t want to be without this world. But you want to be very conscious of what you bring into your life. Yes, you can love everyone, but you don’t have to welcome everyone into your home.
At the same time, we walk this path so we can help others. It was a great way for me to find non-judgment and not to think we can guide others by describing where we are at: “I’m at the top of this mountain, and let me tell you, there are these beautiful flowers and fresh air here. Come join me!”
I have to remember where we have all come from and where we can all go and step by step help other people to put the right foot in front of the left. Sometimes you have to join them in that darkness and still whisper something. It really helped me find this perspective. Yes, it’s nice to have sunshine and rainbows, but that’s not all the truth.
It’s like that quote by Rabindranath Tagore: “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted, and behold, service was joy.”
You never know when that one person is listening or whom you can learn from. Sometimes the person blinded by anger can be your greatest teacher in that moment. Everyone deserves to be helped and to be listened to and to be thought of equally.
200% of life: Follow your Self
You teach both Transcendental Meditation and yoga. For you, how do the two complement one another?
JULIA TULSI BAGNOLI: There are some people who have this belief that they are not able to sit still. Or that they don’t want to be spiritual and that meditation somehow involves spirituality. There are many walls and veils that we can put up. It’s like that Rumi quote: “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
Meditation takes us right there. We slip in innocently, like a drop of water returning to the ocean.
Yet some people are not ready for it, and they need one more taste to draw them deeper. Yoga is a nice way of helping take down those walls, whether physical pain or destruction in the mind. In the modern world, we’ve forgotten the purpose of yoga, which is to help prepare the mind and body for meditation.
Sometimes yoga can light this fire inside, this yearning: “What comes next? I want more!”
Some people come to my yoga class just for the exercise and then they experience the benefits. So one day they say, “I’m curious— tell me a little more about this.”
So, for me, yoga is that gateway to either taking down those walls or sparking that inner fire, to acquire the thirst for more. Whenever people are ready, they will approach. So I like to be here on all these different levels.
Yoga is also constant practice. I feel that I am always learning more from my students than they do from me. I have to be softer for them to experience more softness; I have to be deep to help encourage and open space for them to go deeper.
Being a teacher of Transcendental Meditation is definitely the heart of what I believe I am here to offer and share and give to others. Every single time I teach someone TM I just sit there and say “Thank you!” inside. It’s a great honor and joy to be a part of this lineage, and I would not choose to do anything else with my life.
What would be your personal message to a person who is considering learning Transcendental Meditation?
JULIA TULSI BAGNOLI: If there is any desire, any yearning they have in their life, it can be truly quenched only by first knowing the Self. Developing the Self is the one thing they should do, and the rest will come on its own.
*Interview by TMHome.com TMHome Interview