Ahalya Norris started practicing the Siddha Yoga teachings after reading Play of Consciousness and then meeting Baba Muktananda in South Fallsburg, New York, in the spring of 1979. Soon after, she began offering seva in the SYDA Foundation and continued to serve as a staff member in Shree Muktananda Ashram until shortly before her passing in April of 2024. Over the years, Ahalya served as a switchboard operator and as a writer and copyeditor.

For more than two decades, Ahalya taught English and US history in a middle school in Bronx, New York. She received a bachelor’s degree in English literature and history from Howard University in Washington, DC, and a master’s degree in education from the City University of New York.