Jyotisha: The Yoga of the Cosmos

Interview with Dr. Katyayani Poole, Ph.D

By Sara Avant Stover

She hadn’t spoken to her brother in three years. Despite being a dedicated yoga teacher
and practitioner and serving as Core Power’s Colorado regional manager, Heather
Peterson couldn’t find the tools to mend this familial divide.

“All of the other work I’ve done to heal this relationship” she revealed, “are interesting
and good, but to understand things from a larger, karmic perspective through Jyotisha
(pronounced joe-teesh-ah) helped me to make bigger changes.”

Now Heather considers the renewed friendship with her brother one of her greatest
successes, one she attributes to her Jyotisha, or Vedic Astrology, readings with Dr.
Katyayani Poole, Ph.D and co-Director of Shruti Institute for Vedic Arts in Nederland,
Colorado.

Here in Boulder, I spoke with esteemed jyotishi (Vedic Astrologer), Katyayani, about 
how yogis can tap into this ancient science to access greater wisdom, clarity, and 
freedom in their lives‐past, present, and future. 
 

FY: Jyotisha is a term we don’t often hear. How do you define it?

KP: Jyotisha means “to cast light on something.” Most simply, it is the ancient Vedic
method to enlighten you to your highest Self and uncover the real purpose of your life.
(The Vedas are the systems of wisdom and self-realization from which the tradition of
Yoga sprang up – and have the same purpose to bring the individual in unity with the
whole of creation.)

Jyotisha casts the light of perception on your life, showing you the true nature and reason
behind all your likes and dislikes, your relationships, your unique skills and talents, and
your predispositions toward certain experiences. By seeing all the aspects of your life
very clearly, you then become a captain of your own destiny and live freely with grace
and happiness.

It is a profound healing modality, which is needed by many people in the world today
who lack a sense of self-purpose and meaning in their lives.

FY: Sounds a lot like Yoga.

KP: Indeed. Jyotisha is a form of Yoga that establishes you in union with the light that
shines and pulses rhythmically through everything that exists.
All the Vedic sciences – mantra, Sanskrit grammar, ayurveda, jyotisha, vastu, Yoga,
meditation, and so on – all reflect back on each other. Gandhi once compared the Vedic
path to the legs of a chair. If you grab even one leg, you pull the entire chair toward you.

FY: Can you tell us a bit about how this works?

KP: The Vedic sages known as rsis (or “seers”) discovered that at the time of your birth,
the arrangement of the stars and planets in the sky above is duplicated in the cellular
structure of your physical body, your emotional makeup, and the potential destiny of your
soul. By reading the qualities of the alchemy of planets and stars (that’s encoded in the
so-called Vedic mythologies), one can know very intimate details about the destiny of the
individual life.

FY: As this is not a common area of study, how did you become involved with
Jyotisha?

KP: My interest and education in Jyotisha grew out of my lifelong practice of Yoga and
meditation since the age of three – and my academic studies of the Vedic, Yoga, Tantric,
and Bhakti traditions during the years I was studying for my doctorate in Religious
Studies.

Yet although I possess a rich and deep education in all aspects of the Vedas and Yoga,
my knowledge of Jyotisha comes out of my experience and focus on meditation – the one
limb of practice that I feel is essential to understanding the system of Jyotisha.

My skill in this developed out of a profound experience I had in India in 1995. I had
been in retreat at one of my teachers’ ashrams, meditating for long hours every day. At
one point, I experienced that my awareness grew very large and expanded. I suddenly
could see things that were previously hidden behind the veil of this material world. I
could see into the hearts of the people around me and help them to see the causes for their
suffering.

I didn’t know how to channel this experience until I discovered the system of Jyotisha
through my husband, Jeff. Jyotisha became for me a way to integrate all the knowledge I
had acquired with this healing ability that arose through meditation.

FY: Clearly, this has enriched your life. How can a Jyotisha reading enhance the
lives of others as well?

KP: A Jyotisha reading empowers you to know yourself better.

Some people think that an astrologer is someone who is supposed to provide an answer
that comes from outside yourself. In reality, the jyotishi (Vedic Astrologer) just reveals
what you already know inside to be true but need a little help in seeing it. In most cases
the jyotishi only knows your birth information and nothing else about you prior to reading
your chart, but then can know very intimate things about your life.

It’s powerful not because the jyotishi is a great psychic, but rather because she shows you
what you already know but may have forgotten, discounted, or not seen before. You then
start to believe in the highest aspects and potential of yourself simply because a complete
stranger is pointing them out to you!

In my own practice with clients, I use Jyotisha as a healing method to help release them
from regrets, past hurts, and negative self -esteem and to give them a clear vision of their
highest life’s purpose and how to live it.

FY: How can Jyotisha be used in conjunction with one’s Hatha Yoga practice?

KP: Hatha Yoga is a path that opens you to all aspects of yourself beginning with the
body. The more you practice physical yoga, the more you start to appreciate the more
subtle aspects of yourself beginning with the senses.

When the senses become more refined, then you start to appreciate the nature and power
of your breath and your thoughts. The more you open to yourself, you start to experience
your thoughts in alignment with your desires and you witness your desires in harmony
with the need of those around you. And then you find the source of your desires to be
found in the deep feeling of your silent mind. And then you find the peace of your Self
behind the quiet mind in meditation.

Jyotisha is of great assistance on this path of unfolding because it removes the emotional
and mental blocks that are at the source of unhealthy and unhappy patterns of living. As
you become subtler in your awareness through the practice of Hatha Yoga, inevitably
some “stuff” comes up as a result of its purifying effects.

Jyotisha can help you to overcome all obstacles that may arise on the path that limit your
sense of self and allow you simply to be happy and free by accepting who you are in the
highest sense.

Dr. Katyayani Poole, Ph.D., co-Director of Shruti Institute for Vedic Arts in
Nederland, Colorado. She is the author of a breakthrough Sanskrit training program,
Sanskrit for Yogis, is a practicing Jyotishi (Vedic astrologer), and launched a 600-
hour certification program in Jyotisha in the fall of 2008. Learn more about her at
www.ShrutiInstitute.com

Sara Avant Stover’s first Jyotisha reading in March 2008 led her from Thailand to her
new home in Boulder, CO. A freelance writer, she teaches Yoga and leads
transformational yoga journeys worldwide. Visit her websites www.fourmermaids.com
and www.expeditioninsight.com.