Ananda College of Living Wisdom (formerly Ananda Institute of Alternative Living) was founded in 2003. Inspired by the Wisdom Traditions of the world, Ananda College is a non-profit educational institution providing a distinctive, student-centered liberal arts academic environment that encourages and supports spiritual growth and inquiry.

The college draws its inspiration from Paramhansa Yogananda (1893-1952), author of the spiritual classic “Autobiography of a Yogi,” published in 1946. Yogananda was the first yoga master of India to live and teach in the West. He arrived in America in 1920 and traveled across the nation, filling large lecture halls with hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic audiences. He mission was to revive India’s ancient yoga teachings for modern civilization.

Yogananda’s message was non-sectarian and universal. Ananda College was founded in the spirit of Yogananda’s mission to see westerners live well-balanced, spiritual lives dedicated to the upliftment and service of all humankind.