Episode 4: Dr. Elizabeth Harris

In this episode, host Marydale Ma welcomes Dr. Elizabeth Harris—psychologist, advocate, and devoted Kriyavan—for an inspiring conversation on healing, service, and spiritual awakening. From her early connection with nature and social justice to her profound experiences with Divine Mother and the teachings of Kriya Yoga, Elizabeth shares how her journey through adversity, illness, and transformation has deepened her faith and sense of joy. Together, they explore what it means to live with presence, compassion, and balance in everyday life—and how the practice of Kriya Yoga continues to guide and sustain that journey.

Dr. Elizabeth Harris is a licensed clinical psychologist and founder of Trylon Associates with over 25 years of experience leading national studies and community health projects. Beyond her work in trauma recovery and evaluation with organizations from the United Nations to the Nez Perce Tribe, she is also a dedicated community activist creating access to nature for underserved youth. Elizabeth was initiated into Kriya Yoga in Calgary by Yogacharya Nisha Pandey, an experience deeply meaningful to her as she had wished to be initiated by a woman.

This recording comes from the Ashram Anniversary Celebration Retreat at the Temple of Divine Love in São Paulo, Brazil—where more than eighty women gathered to sing as one, offering their voices in love and unity.

Marydale Ma
Om, om, om, and welcome to the Women of Kriya Yoga: Living in Joy podcast. I’m your host, Marydale, and this podcast was created to honor, celebrate, and serve the voices and journeys of women walking the sacred path of Kriya Yoga. Each episode, I’m blessed to be joined by an inspiring guest who will share her story, challenges, blessings, practices, and the wisdom she’s gathered along the way.

Together, we’ll explore how the teachings of Kriya Yoga help us live with greater love, compassion, equanimity, and joy—and how we can extend these gifts of service to others in our lives.

Whether you’re newly discovering the path or have been a devoted Kriyavan for years, these conversations are offered to uplift your heart, deepen your practice, and hopefully inspire acts of love and service in your daily life.

Join us as we honor the light of women on the path of Kriya Yoga today and awaken to the joy and devotion that guide us in every moment.

And with that, before we introduce our guest for today, let’s take a moment to settle into this space. I know it takes effort to carve out a little bit of time to give to yourself during the day, but this is very worth it.

In order to glean the most positive experience for yourself, you need to be completely present—just here, now. Ensure that your phone is silenced and that you’ll not be disturbed for the next few minutes.

Now, let us sit comfortably and pay attention to the sweetness of your breath. Gently close your eyes if you choose, and begin to move into a state of calm, of quiet.

Father, Mother, Beloved Lord, bowing at your feet on this beautiful day, we are so grateful for the presence of our Paramguru, Paramahansa Yogananda; our auspicious Gurudev, Paramahansa Hariharananda; and our current spiritual leader, our divine beloved Guruji, Baba Paramahansa Prajnananandaji.

We bow to all the masters of Kriya Yoga and beyond. Thank you, thank you, thank you for creating this platform to connect the women of Kriya Yoga—to be in your presence and to share the precious stories of our relationship to you and to this sacred path that you have so graciously given to us, thus supporting and uplifting women everywhere.

This is our prayer. May great blessings come to all for this gift. Humbly bowing at your precious feet. Om shantihi, Om shantihi, Om, Om shantihi.
Amen.

And thank you, thank you, thank you. And now it is my sincere privilege and pleasure to introduce today’s guest to you. This is Dr. Elizabeth Harris. She is Kriyavan. Welcome, Elizabeth. So happy that you’re here today. Thank you for agreeing to carve out a bit of time from your busy schedule to share your life with us.

Elizabeth and I have known one another for many years through our shared yoga practice and our love of God. Elizabeth is a strong, dynamic, accomplished individual who makes every moment of her life count. I’m so pleased she’s agreed to share a bit of time with us today. Elizabeth, we’ve come together to explore your journey and how Kriya has helped you live in joy through adversity, challenge, and celebration.

I know firsthand that you’ve lived a full, diversified, passionate—and I might say highly engaged—life, sometimes even placing yourself in incredibly high-visibility positions to support those without a voice of their own. With all of this, can you think for a moment and share a little bit about your early life and the experiences that shaped your calling toward psychology, social justice, and Kriya Yoga?

Elizabeth Harris
Certainly. I have always had a knowing—since I can remember—that there was something more. I was raised in the Catholic Church, and it wasn’t that. I knew it was something else, but being a child, I couldn’t give a voice or description to it. I just knew there was something more.

I really began to connect with what that was when I spent time in nature. I noticed the trees, the plants—they all have their own language, their own way of communicating. I felt it most strongly in nature, not necessarily from other people, and I found that very helpful for me.

I was incredibly shy and had trouble connecting with people. I think I was about 14 when I realized that nobody listens. People talk at each other, but nobody listens. I started making an effort to be consciously present and listen—and: instant friends. It was amazing. Nobody noticed that I never shared anything personal about myself, and it was instant—instant friends, instant connection.

That was really helpful, and it set me on my path of wanting to help others, because there was a great feeling of personal reward out of not even necessarily doing anything—just being present. Carl Rogers, the great psychologist, called it the Rogerian technique: you reflect back, and people come to their own answers and conclusions.

I gradually started to think that’s also what I wanted to see in spirituality. At that point, I was getting into arguments with priests because I didn’t understand why I couldn’t talk directly to God. That didn’t make any sense to me. I didn’t like the male-gendered part of it; that really bothered me. So I was definitely set on the path of wanting more and knowing that there was more.

Marydale Ma
And you were a teenager at this time when you started to really dive in and question things?

Elizabeth Harris
Yes.

Marydale Ma
I agree with you 100% about the art of skillful listening and can share a quick story of my own. I flew from Los Angeles to Philadelphia some years ago and sat next to a businessman, a gentleman. He was quite a bit older than I at the time. We struck up a conversation, and I swear to you that I said maybe three sentences from one airport to the next. When we arrived, he—tears in his eyes—thanked me for being such a wonderful conversationalist. That was from zipping this and opening these, which taught me a lot because I was much younger at that time.

So, of course, moving into your degree in psychology—that was a wonderful foundational skill to take into that area of expertise. When you think back—this is only into your teen years—do you think there was a pivotal moment when you realized your life’s path would include service, advocacy, and a spiritual practice?

Elizabeth Harris
Yes, and this will probably sound very strange, but it was in 2008 when we moved into Pepper Gate Ranch.

Marydale Ma
Thank you.

Elizabeth Harris
For those who aren’t familiar, it’s a historic home built in 1939 that we had landmarked. In addition to the house capturing my imagination, I had a direct view from my window of the Simi Hills, in particular the Twelve Apostles. What I’m going to describe next others have also felt: I was called—called to the hills. I felt it very strongly, got my two dogs, hiked, and looked around. I saw a lot of development up in areas like draws and canyons where they’d be at risk of burning, and I didn’t understand how that could be.

That got me involved in advocacy and conservation: trying to stop development in places that are burn areas and to protect canyons and wildlife corridors for the animals. Through that involvement, I was asked to be part of a group to oversee the Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park. I joined their board and was board president for a long time. That opened up a whole new world of being of service. A brief anecdote: we started providing free field trips for third-grade classrooms, and I insisted they had to be Title I. I also insisted our Native American Ed Center be staffed by a Native American—that was unheard of at the time. Since then, we’ve had hundreds and hundreds of children come to the state park, many of whom had never been in a wilderness area.

Recently, a young woman came to the state park to become a volunteer and told me she was a third grader who remembered me—I let her hike in third grade at UCLA—and now she’s one of our volunteers.

Marydale Ma
That is ironic. And just for our listeners: Elizabeth lives in California, in Los Angeles, in the San Fernando Valley, which is the upper northern corner of Los Angeles County. I live very close to her. We live at the footstep of the Santa Susana Mountains, which are glorious and go from this valley point—which I like to describe as the set of Star Trek and most of the Westerns that have been filmed—all the way to the ocean. It’s very spectacular. That gives you an idea of where Elizabeth is and what she’s talking about.

That’s very beautiful. As you think back about this time in your life, when you started to feel stirred inside through Mother Nature, what led you to a more formal practice? Was there a point?

Elizabeth Harris
Definitely. Being out in the Simi Hills, there are many sacred sites. In a number of those sacred sites, I felt energy. In one in particular that we call locally “the grotto,” I felt the presence of what I now know is Divine Mother. I knew it was feminine; it wasn’t masculine. I had an amazing spiritual experience there, and I wanted more. I understood these places are places of power, but I thought, “Why can’t I feel that way all the time?”

In early 2021, I had a brain tumor the size of a baseball, and I nearly died. At that time I had been practicing mindfulness meditation. It was nice, pleasant—but it wasn’t enough for me. After recovering from having it removed, I was committed. I knew I wanted to pursue something more—something structured where I could learn. I knew I wanted a teacher. I had to wait awhile because it was a long road to recovery for my brain. Finally, by the fall of 2022, I was ready to be initiated into Kriya.

Marydale Ma
I remember those days very well and how you were led to the feet of the Guru. It made quite a difference for you. I know your life has been complicated with difficulties, not only with your illness. After her surgery, Elizabeth had to have another surgery shortly after, which was complex, and a little later a hip surgery as well. In a very short amount of time, she had many physical challenges, but they never deterred her once she was set on the path of Kriya. You mentioned, when we were preparing for this talk, how important it was that you were initiated into Kriya by a woman. Why was that important to you?

Elizabeth Harris
It connects back to two things: being raised in the Catholic Church, and later converting to Judaism. In the Catholic Church, it’s very male-dominated; heavy masculine energy—I knew I didn’t like that. And again, being in the grotto and having that experience of being held—metaphysically—by Divine Mother was so powerful. I knew I needed a woman to do my initiation.

Marydale Ma
Yes, that was wonderful. Elizabeth found her way up to Yogacharya Nishama and has never looked back, which is pretty wonderful. How has your practice helped you balance your roles as wife, mother, and professional? Before you answer, can you tell us a little about your profession at this point?

Elizabeth Harris
Sure. For the longest time, I was a practicing clinical psychologist as well as a community psychologist—working on community-based research efforts, training local nonprofits and also Native American tribes on how to collect data, do research, and answer questions important to them—not what some institution thinks is important.

As a clinician, I specialized in PTSD—women who had survived sexual assault or sexual abuse. I was very good at it; I never brought it home. But when my daughter was in kindergarten, I realized it was coming home with me, and I started obsessing that something would happen to her. I realized I needed to close that chapter, so I retired as a clinician and continued as a community psychologist.

Half of my work is here in Los Angeles County with a large behavioral health/substance-use treatment organization. The other half is in Indian Country. I’ve worked with the Santa Ynez Chumash. I work with three of the five tribes up in Idaho. That’s been my work for the past 30-some years.

Marydale Ma
Excellent. Now, how has coming to Kriya and doing a regular practice helped you better balance your professional life, family, and all the different hats you wear?

Elizabeth Harris
One immediate answer is: helping me to be fully present. My family story—which I won’t detail—was pretty horrific. As a coping mechanism, I learned very early to dissociate. For the lay person, that means you’re not present in your body because someone is hurting your body, so your mind goes somewhere else. It’s an excellent coping mechanism at the time. The problem is carrying it over; you’re not present later in life.

Mindfulness was the first real foray into bringing me back into my body, and it was really helpful. I still participate twice a week in a mindfulness meditation group. But once I was in my body, now I had to feel all this uncomfortable stuff—what do you do with it? Mindfulness teaches you how to deal with it, but I needed more. I wanted context, understanding—the point of it all. That’s where Kriya came in. One amazing surprise I wasn’t expecting: the insights and answers that come in Kriya meditation. It’s not like every time your mind is blown, but every once in a while—it is.

You’re fully present in your body; if someone broke into your room, you’d know and hear, and you could still be deep in meditation. It’s being completely present and very aware and mindful of the divinity within. It’s hard to explain, but you can do those two things at the same time. For me, that’s been delightful.

Marydale Ma
Wonderful. It certainly is—and it gets sweeter as the years go by. Given this, and knowing how much you’re balancing, what do you do to nurture yourself with your family, the community, and the world?

Elizabeth Harris
I make time every day to meditate. It didn’t start that way after initiation—I tried every day, and it didn’t always happen. Advice from Nisha Ma helped: if you can only sit for 20 minutes, that’s fine. Do your practice for 20 minutes and you’re good. She made it manageable. In mindfulness, they’ll tell you to start with a minute, and I had worked my way up. Hearing from Nisha Ma, “Do the entire practice over 20 minutes and that’s good enough,” I thought: I can do that. Because of that encouragement, I gradually built to where I now schedule an hour for meditation. My schedule is busy, so I make sure that hour is carved out. It used to be I always carved out the hour for yoga and, if I had time, meditation. Now it’s the other way around.

I also make sure I have time to be out in nature. In the morning, before I even get out of bed, I try to be immediately mindful of God. I have a series of loving-kindness phrases and prayers I go through. I try to pray before I eat, and I pray out loud—my husband thinks it’s very sweet; he says it sounds like the Jewish song before you eat—just having time to slow down.

I build breaks into my phone throughout the day. Every 90 minutes, my phone goes off and I take a 15-minute break: walk around, get water—something to make sure I’m not sitting too long. All of those things help keep me grounded and feeling nurtured.

Marydale Ma
That’s excellent. As we mature on our Kriya path, we understand we have to put our practice first—it’s the foundation of everything else we do. Yogananda impressed me with: when we wake in the morning, think of God and Guru; recognize we’re awake now, and make a commitment that on this day, this day only, we’re going to be happy. Then get out of bed and check your watch every half hour to an hour and see how successful you were at holding to that goal. As time goes by, it changes us.

Putting our mind on God first and then making sure we sit is very important. I’m so happy you’ve been able to do that. What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in integrating these different parts of your life? How have you navigated that? How has it changed your perspective of suffering, resilience, or justice as your practice has evolved?

Elizabeth Harris
Sometimes folks new to the spiritual path think if you head down this road, things get easy—you don’t have problems. That’s not true. Life still happens. What I’m finding with Kriya is I’m able to sit with discomfort and honor it, but not stay stuck there. Because Kriya focuses on slowing my breathing and being present, some of the asana practice—your body can’t be anxious, muscles tense, and feel relaxed at the same time. Slowing your breathing helps you relax; then the mind calms down.

In the past I would spin—doom scenarios—and end up in the hole. Now, when that starts, I recognize it and can say, “Wait—this is old stuff; I don’t have to go down that rabbit hole.” Early on, I decided I’d leave work a little early for yoga. Even just taking that step—as a woman, we’re expected to do everything—took courage: “I’m leaving at 4:30 on these days and going to my yoga practice.” Later, I got into a situation where I had more control over my schedule by owning my own business.

Marydale Ma
Excellent—again, an example of putting practice first. I know you have a busy life with your husband and family. Are they supportive of Kriya for you? Do they understand?

Elizabeth Harris
They don’t know the details of Kriya, but they’re supportive. My husband has noticed over the years—starting with my yoga practice—that I’ve become more centered, present, and better able to express what I need. My pattern was: I don’t tell anybody anything; I keep everything to myself. That’s not helpful in relationships. He’s noticed the difference in being mentally present and able to share things I’m feeling or that are going on. They’ve been very supportive.

Marydale Ma
They’ve seen a change in you—and an improvement—which is lovely. I know you are so dedicated to the power of nature and Divine Mother. Setting that aside for a moment, can you think of any individuals who have been strong role models—women who have assisted you on this journey of self-discovery?

Elizabeth Harris
Definitely. Later in life, my mother had her own transformation and adopted the mantra: “I’m going to make it a good day. I’m going to be happy.” I say that every morning. I was delighted when I heard Yogananda essentially say the same thing.

My husband’s mother was a force of nature. I grew up thinking I had to be small and disappear. She taught me: no—you have the right to be seen and to make your voice heard. She had an incredibly powerful influence on me; I consider her one of my greatest mentors.

And then you. What’s interesting is when I first started yoga, I was into yoga as a workout. I came to your studio and thought, this isn’t hard enough. I went off for a few years—I guess I wasn’t ready for something deeper. Eventually I found my way back and was mind-blown because you weren’t just having us do the practice—you talked about breathing at the beginning. I’ll never forget when we went through that whole series of “Who are you? Who are you?” That’s not a question you can drop on somebody once; you have to think about it over time. That was very profound. I’ve adopted a practice from Pragyananda: before sleep, remind yourself you’re not this body—go through every body part and say, “I am not this; I am not that.” I understood it because of that series of teachings with you.

Marydale Ma
That’s wonderful. Guruji has written a book Who Am I, based on Acharya Shankara’s sloka—so powerful. Studying that deeply over the years, very recently I dropped the “Who am I?” to “I am, I am, I am,” which brought me to the verse: “Be still and know that I am God.” Who is saying that? I think it’s coming from soul. This whole journey is powerful: as we mature, we start thinking we know, and the deeper we go, the deeper it gets; the more we think we know, the less we realize we know—especially in the presence of realized masters.

I feel it’s astounding and very powerful. That simple sloka for you started in a way that got deep into the fabric, and you began to take off the mask and open yourself in innocence to the infinite possibilities your mother-in-law spoke of. There are no mistakes, are there?

Elizabeth Harris
No.

Marydale Ma
It’s so precious. You spoke about being out in nature. When you think about nature and now having Kriya—no separation between them because everything is God—how has the natural world taught you about compassion, balance, and living in joy?

Elizabeth Harris
Because I feel so connected to trees, plants, and animals—and I want them to thrive and be well—that translates to each other. In these times, some think there are camps: if you’re not with us, you’re against us. Understanding the divine spark is within everything—how could I treat someone poorly because their beliefs differ from mine? How can I look at them as less when the divine spark is within all of us—within everything? Being able to understand—and now working on feeling—that connection helps with compassion. I am challenged at times by some people, but the connection helps.

The mindfulness self-compassion prayers I say every morning always end with “all of us, everything, everyone, without exception—that they may be safe and protected; that they may be joyful and truly happy,” and so on. It begins with me and moves outward; it always ends with everyone, everything.

Marydale Ma
That’s very powerful. It takes us back to “Who am I” and the great “I am,” because I’m not the only one that is “I am”—everyone is. When you embrace that understanding, you realize if you’re not in a space of equanimity and love, you’re hurting part of your own self—because we’re all cells in the body of the whole. Spiritual practice teaches us this. As we go deeper into Kriya and the scriptures and association with realized masters, we know many before us truly live this way, and we’re capable of doing the same—even in this modern, stressful, crisis-laden world.

It’s all part of the dream, as Yogananda said. It’s our responsibility to rise up and be the witness and not fall prey to the smallness of this reality—rather, choose the high road. It sounds to me—and I know from knowing you—that you live in that space. I honor and appreciate that.

As you look back over your journey—big question—what brings you the most joy and fulfillment today?

Elizabeth Harris
Gosh—that’s hard to disentangle. Lately I’ve been mindful of feeling the divine vibration. It started with sound: I’ve heard the divine Om very loudly here, especially at night. Now I experience the divine vibration a lot of the time. It’s intertwined: with that comes peace—peace first and foremost—then joy. It infuses everything: interactions with people I love, time in nature, and most recently my work.

I’m talking about metaphysical things here, but I’m at a point right now—because of the current administration—where my business may end at the end of September. Without this practice, I’d be a wreck—sick, probably twenty pounds lighter from not eating. In the past it would have been the end of the world. Now it’s not. I’m reasonably… not anxious, not fearful—let’s say as prepared as I can be—but I’m not down in the deep well of depression. So there’s no one thing—it’s everything.

Marydale Ma
It makes all the sense in the world. From my own experience, leaning into God and Guru at every turn helps us not take the world personally—knowing everything happens in God’s timing, not mine. I love “Man makes plans and God laughs.” We think we know how things should be, but we’re better off letting God and Gurus take the wheel. Having faith that ultimately the best possible result will happen.

That doesn’t mean everything is perfect and we don’t stumble or feel things. As you know, I’ve been going through grief, having lost a family member and my little dog of 12 years. I was taken by grief that went on and on. I spoke to one of our swamis, Atma Vijayananda, about feeling I wasn’t progressing if I was so emotional. He looked at me and said, “Ma, we’re human beings.” It doesn’t mean we mask our experience—it means it doesn’t cripple us. We’re able to rise above and keep the faith and our optimism—being happy no matter what. “I’m going to be happy no matter what.” Life was precious for having taken place; if it was taken away, we have wonderful memories of what had been.

Human experience is complex for all of us, and Kriya is—for me—the greatest gift I’ve been given. I believe it was my way in past lives. I have no proof, but I think so.

You are relatively new in the Kriya family. Can you offer advice to someone considering Kriya or new on the path? If there’s a book you’d recommend, what would you say?

Elizabeth Harris
Start small and start with what you can do. Don’t let the practice intimidate you. You can begin very small with even five minutes. People think—like I did with mindfulness—that you have to sit for a half hour, not move, and be completely focused. I knew I couldn’t do that. Hearing “start here and work your way up” made it doable.

Give yourself grace. If you miss a day, don’t beat yourself up—there’s a new day to begin again. I love the phrase: “You can always begin again.” Every moment is a chance to begin again.

Also, when I was initiated, I was told if there was anything I wanted to work on or give up—don’t sweat it. It will naturally drop away. Nisha Ma probably said that: things you don’t need anymore—habits or characteristics that bother you—start to drop away. So don’t set the bar way up here for yourself; watch as things naturally drop away.

Marydale Ma
Beautiful—so, patience and persistence. For dental health, we floss every day; if we don’t, problems arise. Be wise and floss. For our spiritual practice, if we sit every day—whatever time you can—Hariharananda was adamant that five or ten minutes of meditation will do it for you. I trust everything he says. Create the pattern and increase it as you go.

Kriya is an invitation to everyone to adjunct the precious process into whatever faith they have, whatever religion or path they are on. Mindfulness dovetails beautifully with it. I appreciate that example, Elizabeth, because Kriya doesn’t take things away from you—it makes everything better.

Well, I can’t tell you what a joy it’s been to share this time with you, Elizabeth. Your openness, warmth, and sincerity are inspiring and a blessing for all. I pray your journey continues to uplift and inspire others who walk beside you, because you truly are a gift. Thank you so much, Elizabeth Ma.

And to our cherished listeners, thank you for showing up for another part of our Women of Kriya Yoga: Living in Joy podcast. You are our community—you’re the reason we’re here: to help you find your way on your path and to learn better how women, just like you, celebrate life and have abundance, blessings, love, and joy on this crazy path of our human experience here on the earth. Please come and join us again. Every two weeks, we’ll be here for you. Until then, God bless you. And Jai Guru. Love, love, everyone. See you soon.