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My Yoga Experience – Bharati
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The Holiest of Holy Places
But you can get so caught up in looking for blessings to come from these many external sources that you miss the most important holy site – you, inside you. My Baba described this, “You are the holiest of holy places, the…”
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “O Holy Night“
Doing More Svaroopa® Yoga
By Margie (Maitreyi) Wilsman
My student Anna came to her first yoga therapy session wearing a fentanyl patch.
This was to treat acute pain in her middle back, behind her heart and under her shoulder blades.
She continued wearing the patches on and off during twice-weekly Svaroopa® yoga classes and Embodyment® Yoga Therapy sessions, which included Overlap Healing.
Anna could rarely feel her lower body. After students do the first side of a pose in class, I also ask, “What differences do you notice between sides?” Anna’s usual response was “I can’t really tell any differences.”
Upper spine poses often led to a spasm in her upper back. She learned to come out of an upper spine pose early when she felt a spasm coming on. Yet Anna attended classes regularly and came to private yoga therapy sessions.
In time, a yoga miracle happened for her. She began staying in upper spine poses for the full time. She no longer winced. When I inquired about these changes, she said that she was no longer wearing pain medication patches. In upper spine poses, Anna no longer experienced spasms.
In classes now, Anna is aware of changes in her body during poses and afterwards. This new awareness of her body is also evident in Embodyment® Yoga Therapy. Plus she has the ability to express aloud her understanding of the benefits of self-adjustments that I teach.
And she asks questions. Recently, for example, during my demonstration of a new pose, she asked about the purpose of abs activation: “In this pose you said to activate our abs. Is this to prevent using back muscles so I can use my legs effectively instead?”
I invited Anna to repeat her question. I wanted other students to hear the reason she’s aware of the importance of using abs instead of spinal muscles. The other students did not know Anna’s history of severe back pain. Her story of how Svaroopa® yoga released the tensions in her spine, so she no longer needs pain medication, amazed them. They “got” the importance of abs activation and spinal decompression!
Gurudevi alerts us that it takes time for us to live in our body instead of in our pain and in our mind. It takes time to experience the experiences provided by poses and yoga therapy. Anna is testimony to the truth of this adage.
Anna is committed to consistent classes. To arrive at our studio out in the country, Anna drives 20 miles through all Wisconsin weather conditions on heavily traveled highways. Clearly, Gurudevi’s perennial guidance to do more yoga created miracles for Anna.
You Have a Body
By Gurudevi Nirmalananda
You need a body to be here in this world. This means your body is important.
The condition of your body affects your experience of life. You know this from having had a cold or the flu. Not able to do anything, you can’t even think. Your body’s condition affects your mind.
It works the other way around as well. Your body experiences your thoughts as real events. Thoughts, feelings, and beliefs create chemical and electrical activity in your brain, which directly affect your body. You can think yourself into a panic. You can think yourself into exhaustion.
Does this mean you can think yourself into bliss? And that you can heal your body by thinking different thoughts? Yes. Absolutely yes. This has been extensively researched in the last few decades, though yogis have been saying it for millennia.
The corollary is that you can use your body to change your thoughts. Every yoga class proves this. The changes in your body mean you have to adjust your rear-view mirror before driving home. Better yet, your attitude adjustment has already been accomplished. Your perspective on life is changed.
Exercise is proven to improve your physical health as well as your mental and emotional health. This is because breathing and moving is beneficial. It turns out that slow movement with breathing is better, proven in a recent Harvard Medical School study. Their focus on…
Nutritious & Delicious
By Marlene (Matrikaa) Gast
Our Ashram’s Chai Granola is now ready to be shipped fresh to your home.
Developed under Gurudevi’s guidance, this nutty blend is rich in protein. Cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and clove deliver classic chai flavor, comforting and deeply satisfying.
Savor it for breakfast, for snacking and as a dessert topping. Both vegan and gluten-free, this granola is suitable for everyone, including those with dietary restrictions.
You will be sustained and grounded. Because each batch is crafted in our Ashram kitchen, every bite is infused with shakti. This living energy supports and uplifts you.
Available in 12-ounce packages.
Meditate on Self
This is why I teach meditation on your own Self. I don’t teach meditation on your breath, not on your chakras, not on God, or Gods or Goddesses, not on success or happiness. I remember one woman came to Baba and asked for a husband. Baba told her to meditate on Self for happiness. So, she went to a different Guru and got…
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “I Wanted to Know!“
Discover Your Divine Light
By Gurudevi Nirmalananda
Svaroopa® yoga is based in the Kashmiri Shaivite tradition that says the world is real — so are you and so is everyone else, but there is more to all of it than you currently see.
You must find that “something more” within yourself, then you will see it in everyone and everything. This seeing is a recognition of the one divine light in all. It is experienced as an overwhelming and unconditional love and joy — simultaneously.
How do you get there? Your breathing practice and poses get you started, but you reach a point where you must work on your mind directly.
Different systems give you different techniques for your mind. Kashmiri Shaivism says you must repeat mantra. There are two times of the day you must repeat mantra: when you are meditating and when you are not meditating.
You can begin with this mantra, “Shivo’ham.” It means “I am Shiva, the Ever-Existent One Reality.” An alternative translation makes it even more clear, “I am my own divine Self.”
This is a temporary mantra. This means it will work, but it does not commit you to any long-term practice, lineage or tradition. It gives you the opportunity to start clearing out your mind, so you can live in progressively more and more clarity and integrity, leading to transparency.
Excerpt from A Yogic Lifestyle, pages 35–36
People Want to Meditate
One meditation app boasts of 100 million users worldwide.
But data shows that paid subscriptions began declining a couple of years ago. Since early 2025, internet searches for in-person meditation have increased exponentially.
It is true that the apps give easy access to moments of peace and stress relief. Yet people are now seeking a deeper meditative experience.
When you become a Svaroopa® Vidya Meditation Teacher, you can fulfill their profound spiritual longing. You will offer seekers a more lasting and powerful experience. You’ll give them reliable tools to create their own practice and delve deeper inward.
In addition, your Meditation Teacher Training (MTT) gives you even more. You discover your own deep calm and clarity. You explore the source: your own Divine Essence. And you develop the capacity to share this with others.
Learning to teach meditation is now easier and more accessible than ever. Our new MTT format gives you six months of Online classes following your initial On-Site immersion.
Meditation Teacher Training
Begins April 7
On-Site & Online
On-Site, you’ll experience the tools that unravel the knots in your mind. You will discover the deeper dimensions of your own Self and delve into that Beingness. Learning key sutras amplifies your inner experience, especially as you begin putting your own words to these ancient principles.
Experiencing your own Divine Essence is the key part of the process. This is why a Shaktipat Day is included!
Your Online classes begin after you return home. Continuing your sutra studies, you practice giving the teachings in your mentored calls. You also lengthen and deepen your meditations in daily meditations with Gurudevi. Her weekly satsangs (meditation programs) ensure that you continue to marinate in Consciousness.
Your final two-day retreat that culminates your training is also Online. You will be prepared to teach your first series of meditation classes, supported by a Mentor all the way through.
An Adventure in Food
By Annette (Annapurna) Zucco
Interviewed by Lissa (Yogyananda) Fountain, Yogaratna
Even though I’m a trained nutritionist, I signed up for Gurudevi’s “Yogic Nutrition” course.
I was looking for a fresh and different perspective. I wanted to learn new ways to nourish and feed myself and my family. I expected this would also be a great way to come into vegetarianism.
Everyone in the class Zoomed in from their kitchens to the Ashram kitchen. Being in my own kitchen while learning from Gurudevi in the Ashram kitchen was great. We taste-tested new flavors and recipes. Everyone sharing their experiences created a joyful and relaxed atmosphere. It was really fun!
This course took away much of my food anxiety as I learned so much. Regular meal times improve my digestion and metabolism. My body has a chance to rest in between meals. I knew I would be eating at a certain time. I knew I would feel full after I’d eaten.
I was surprised to find how inadequate my protein intake had been. Now that I’m getting the right amount, I am less hungry. I discovered that the six Ayurvedic food tastes make my meals more satisfying. Plus, the herbs and spices are healing.
I feel more satiated and alive. This is the result of a primarily plant-based diet without the density of meat.
Now I understand the difference between a healthy diet and a healing diet. This course has supported my healing process. It was the missing piece.
I am continuing to enjoy flavorful and unusual meals. I am grateful for the gift of this new perspective and direction in my life.
The Seated Pose
My Baba emphasized the importance of the seated pose. He wrote, “For meditation the most important thing is asana, that your spine be kept straight, upright.” Sit up. Glide your neck and head back so they’re in line with your spine. At the crown of your head, the top of your head, is a thousand-petaled lotus…
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Sitting for Meditation“
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