About Ramaa
Ramaa Krishnan was born in India and raised in the city of Mumbai (Bombay), where she earned a graduate degree in accounting and economics before going ahead to become a Chartered Accountant (or a CPA, as it is called in the U.S.). It was in her twenty-first year while she was training to be an accountant, that a single meeting with the spiritual luminary, the Shankaracharya of Sringeri, India, changed the course of her journey. Inspired by his spiritual presence, Ramaa sought and was granted initiation into meditation by His Holiness himself.
Her interest in religion having been sparked, she thereafter spent several years reading and understanding Hindu spirituality and attending lectures and workshops by Indian scholars on related topics.
Her husband’s work led them to live in Bangkok, Thailand, and Tel Aviv, Israel. During this time, Ramaa used every opportunity to study cultures and beliefs and arrived at a deeper understanding of the underlying human faith. It was in Bangkok that she was introduced to Reiki and became a Reiki Master in the years that followed.
She arrived in the US in 1998 and has embarked upon a project of integrating the intellectual strengths of the West with the intuitive gifts of the East.
In the year 2000, Ramaa received training in Kundalini Yoga from her sister and teacher Usha Balachandra under the guidance of Dr. Anant Atre, a direct disciple of the renowned Indian Yogi Swami Sivananda.
Ramaa created Full Bloomed Lotus, a meditation and self-awareness studio in 2007, with the intention of helping people live in alignment with their divine identity even as they face the challenges of the human condition. Towards this end, she has been sharing the spiritual wisdom from various faith traditions and helping people apply the teachings to everyday life.
Ramaa’s teachings are based on her knowledge of the Chakra system, the Hindu psycho-spiritual framework, even as she combines analogies from Indian mythology and folklore with her personal experiences from around the modern world. In 2012 Ramaa completed a two-year certification program in Analytical Psychotherapy from the Carl Jung Institute in order to deepen her understanding of the human psyche, and now incorporates this knowledge into her work with groups and individuals.
Over the years, the studio has grown into a Sangha, meaning a spiritual community, where people make soul-to-soul connections with others seeking to live an authentic life. With the comfort of a supportive group, coupled with a sincere study of spiritual works, deep healing is facilitated.
During the pandemic, the studio moved to an online medium where the work now happens virtually. Along with her own personal growth and inner work, Ramaa continues to nurture and grow the ‘support system’ she has carefully developed. She also offers "spiritual coaching" through her one-on-one sessions with those seeking to live life from a deeper place.
About Full Bloomed Lotus
Full Bloomed Lotus started off in the home of its founder Ramaa Krishnan as informal gatherings where Ramaa shared her wisdom and perspectives from the land of her birth (India) and taught other moms like herself how to apply these to the demands of present day life and situations.
By word of mouth as more and more joined her group to be inspired to change their lives by changing their thoughts, a need was felt to take this to a more formal place and setting so as to make this accessible to greater numbers.
Ramaa relocated her groups to a studio space in Wilmette in Wilmette, where she taught for several years. During the pandemic, the studio moved to an online medium where the work now happens virtually. Along with her own personal growth and inner work, Ramaa continues to nurture and grow the ‘support system’ she has carefully developed. She also offers "spiritual coaching" through her one-on-one sessions with those seeking to live life from a deeper place.
About the Lotus Flower
In Eastern spirituality, the lotus, or the water lily, is a very sacred flower, symbolizing the evolution of human consciousness. Rising from the depths of the river bed, it makes its way up intentionally, working through the murky waters and battling against the upheavals of the river’s ebb and flow, all the while aiming to come up and unite with the sun’s light. This is much like the journey of the sincere seeker who rises through the mind’s confusing images, emotions and messages, while battling the challenges from the environment, all with one single goal: to be one with the Light, yet still remaining rooted in the very environment one is rising from. The full bloomed lotus, therefore, is one who has attained such a posture and stands tall and completely open despite earthly challenges.