Just like Baba said, “Most people who meditate make the same mistake. When they sit for meditation, they do not focus on the Self, instead they run after the mind trying to find out what it is doing.” So, focus on your own Self. Use the mantra, this ancient sacred formula, to pierce through the mental activity that you usually find so intriguing. Mantra gives you your own Self.
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Sublime Spiritual State“
By Agnes (Aikya) Hetherington
Driving along, I realized that an oblivious driver was pulling out into my path.
To avoid the collision, I stomped on the brake and wrenched the steering wheel sideways. The fright and violent movements put my SI joints into spasm. My sacrum caught fire.
A month later the pain had not abated, even with my regular home yoga practice. Exhausted by relentless pain, I said to my sister, “I just want to go back to normal, or is this my new normal?” What a depressing prospect!
So I decided to get help from the experts. Five Svaroopa® Yoga Therapy sessions online with Swami Shrutananda brought temporary relief. Still, the activities of daily life continued to fire up the pain. Shrutananda observed that I was doing everything with my back muscles. I needed to strengthen my abdominals and legs to give my back a rest.
Evidently, my regular practice was no longer enough to combat the effects of time and gravity. At age 72, I had become weaker with every passing year, but without noticing.
Over the next three months, Shrutananda patiently guided me through a delicate balancing act. We worked simultaneously on strength building and pain management. This took us into April, and in May I put it to the test.
After my back seized up in December, I was dubious about attempting anything strenuous. But my siblings and I had arranged our May hill-climbing vacation a year in advance. Shrutananda’s advice was to spend at least as much time doing yoga as I spent hiking.
So I brought my yoga props along and continued with the therapeutic poses Shrutananda had taught me. On non-walking days I did lots of strength poses.
During one uphill walk, I realized I was flagging, leaning heavily on my walking poles. I told myself, “You’ve been working on strengthening your legs and abs. Use those muscles!” I straightened up and engaged my abs and hamstrings.
I picked up the poles and carried them. Instantly I felt better, more energized. I used this reminder multiple times during the trip.
Now back home, I continue with my twice-daily practice incorporating the therapeutic poses. The sacrum pain has dissolved and I have a spring in my step. Better yet, my new practices are also improving my mind and mood. Someone recently told me I was glowing.
This is my new normal! It’s even much better than the old version before the driving incident. I am deeply grateful for the gift of Svaroopa® Yoga Therapy.
By Gurudevi Nirmalananda
I opened the door one Halloween evening to find a family in costume, three children with their mom and dad. His T-Rex costume towered over them all, an inflatable wonder that made me laugh out loud. Later in the winter, he wore it while steering his mini-snowplow. Yet I never thought he was actually a dinosaur. I knew it was a costume. So did he.
In the same way, Shiva is being you, wearing the costume of your body while using your mind to move through the world. When you know who you are, all your insecurities vanish. You are being your own Self, in the midst of life, oh Shiva.
In full enlightenment, you are being Shiva while you are seeing Shiva being all. Self-Realization is a totality of Beingness, beyond the emptiness of nirvana, beyond the Divine love described in most religions and beyond the bliss of Consciousness described by yoga.
Nirvana is only partial enlightenment per the sage Abhinavagupta. While you are freed from suffering, this is merely a mental attainment. You have not found the one who has a mind. Nirvana means emptiness. There is no real physical or material existence. This is also called “no self.” While you are free from desire, aversion and delusion, you are stuck in emptiness, which yogis call “the void” (shunya).
The void is merely Shiva’s black cloak, hiding his fullness in an illusion of emptiness. When you experience the void (and how great that is!), consider who is experiencing the void. You will find your own Self. Shiva is revealed within you, being you.
Another path to partial enlightenment is…
By Joan (Jayadevi) Bragar
Fresh from the Ashram kitchen, this crunchy, nutty blend is infused with the classic chai spices.
As the Ashram is the home of Gurudevi Nirmalananda, this granola is also imbued with shakti — the Divine energy that supports and uplifts. The granola is delicious and nutritious, as your experiences of Ashram meals at retreats and trainings attest!
Vegan and gluten-free, this granola is rich in plant-based protein. This yummy granola can be enjoyed in many ways. Have it for breakfast with yogurt or hot milk and stewed fruit. Or rely on this granola as a portable, nutritious snack.
The mix contains buckwheat, oats, flaked almonds, pecans, walnuts, coconut flakes, almond butter, coconut oil, maple syrup, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, salt, cloves and black pepper.
Moreover, it is Grace-filled. So however you choose to enjoy this food from the Ashram, it will nourish you inside and outside.
Email amaya@svaroopayoga.org to order.
You have the power to realize that God lies hidden in your own heart. Too much of the time, when you come from your heart, you’re coming from your emotional residue, your unfinished business. Your heart carries the weight of lifetimes – resentments and fears, unhappy memories and…
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “What is Heaven?“
By Gurudevi Nirmalananda
Your inner light shines, though sometimes dimly. You like yourself better when your light is shining steadily and brightly. So does everyone else. So, how do you get there?
You spend time with someone who already glows. My Guru said that you become a Siddha (enlightened being) by spending enough time with a Siddha. I took him at his word, which is why I lived with him for years.
Guru Purnima was the best! Every year, July’s full moon was when his light shone most fully. We were bathed in his bliss-filled love, shining from outside and arising within.
I remember going to darshan, to bow to him, on this auspicious day, year after year. So many times I had this precious opportunity, to melt at his feet.
The melting is important, yet it is merely the opening of your inner doorway. After the door is opened, now the inner arising occurs. This is what is truly important. The Guru is the one that triggers the inner arising. This is why I bow to my Baba. Again and again, I bow.
Your inner light is what matters most of all. This is why the Guru is so important, for he gives you access to your own inner light.
Without this inner access, you wait for serendipitous moments to occur in your life. You plan family gatherings, vacations, holidays and birthdays, hoping to have your light brightened. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it’s more work than it’s worth.
But the Guru always shines. And always makes you shine.
Gukaaras tvandha-kaara”s ca rukaaras teja ucyate,
aj~naana-graasaka.m brahma gurur-eva na sa.m”saya.h.
— Shree Guru Gita 23
Gu is darkness and density. Ru is light, which illumines dark.
The Guru is the Knowingness that swallows the not-knowingness
In Sanskrit, each sound has meaning. The first syllable of Guru is “gu” (goo), which means the stuff you get stuck in. It is the inner darkness that hides your own Self from you. The syllable “ru” denotes movement, like the sound a child makes when playing with a toy truck.
The word Guru combines these two sounds. The word itself names the movement from darkness to light. One who prompts this in you is honored by the title, Guru. They destroy the darkness of you not-knowing your own Self, by revealing the inner light of your own Beingness.
Now you shine. Technically, you did already shine, at least a little bit. Science has now developed instruments that can measure the light shining off your fingertips. And light shines through your eyes.
In your best moments, you are radiant. You can feel it. I would like for you to glow this way in every moment of your life. So would you.
By Joan (Jayadevi) Bragar
Listening to Gurudevi chanting “Om Namah Shivaya — Ganeshpuri Melody” deepens my inner experience of the Divine.
It gives me a new way to appreciate our lineage mantra. Chanting our mantra to the Ganeshpuri Melody before meditation, I am relaxed and focused.
The melody evokes the sacredness of Ganeshpuri, Gurudevi’s spiritual home, which is the site of Nityananda’s temple and Muktananda’s Ashram. I am carried inward to my own Self more deeply.
This chant is track 2 of Gurudevi’s album Namah: I Honor the Divine. Track 3, “Nirmalam,” honors the name Nirmala, which Gurudevi was given when she took sannyasa vows.
Nirmala means “without limitations.” This name celebrates the reality within Gurudevi, which is the reality within all. In her book, Yoga’s Sacred Songs, she writes, “This is my song, a song to my Self, which is Muktananda, which is Nityananda.”
“Nirmalam” begins with the chorus:
Shivo’ham svaroopo’ham
Shivo’ham svaroopo’ham
I am Shiva, I am my own Self.
I am Shiva, I am my own Self.
The concluding verse expresses deep devotion:
Nish-kalam nitya-yuktam
Chidanandam nama-myaham
Performing no actions, joined with the eternal,
to the One, who is the bliss of Consciousness, indeed I bow.
Gurudevi’s voice on this album uplifts my heart as I go about my daily chores. I experience tantra, perceiving the interweaving of the Divine in the mundane.
Yoga also describes how you usually use your mind, as well as a greater possibility. But yoga is the only one of all these traditions, that I have found, that says your Essence is Divine. How will you know if this is true? You will have to delve deeper within to see who you find in there, oh Shiva. You may go beyond who you think you are. This is why we meditate.
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Ideals to Live By“
By Elena (Lila) Perri
I felt a profound shift as the blockage to my sadhana melted into nothingness.
It happened in Gurudevi’s recent Shaktipat Retreat. I have been meditating every day since, more deeply and with ease and delight.
At the same time, my Ujjay breathing and pose practices have become far more regular as well. Since the beginning of the year, I’ve also taken many of the Ashram’s online studies, which have deepened my meditations even more.
This morning’s meditation delivered another breakthrough. Breathing with the mantra, I was propelled into a deeper state of blissful union. As I floated in this inner realm, I had the realization that I can enjoy this same blissful union while not meditating — as Gurudevi teaches us. As everything is Shiva, it follows that bliss is always there outside of meditation just as I was experiencing it in this meditation. Goodness!
To meditate — what a profound experience! I have experienced gradual progress since my first Shaktipat Retreat with Gurudevi four years ago. Now, staying in my meditative state longer and longer every day, I am calm and peaceful. More and more, I feel that I’m living a heart-centered life.
I’ve experientially learned the truth of the teaching that, as Kundalini climbs my spine, she burns up karmic seeds. She clears out blockages. Old attitudes and resentments melt away.
Since my meditation breakthrough, emotions and distractions don’t control me. I am more easily navigating life. I’m living in my own skin and making decisions from my center.
The practices that I’ve learned from Gurudevi are the best endeavor of my life. They guide you in what to do if you want liberation. Old behaviors simply fall away. My gratitude is boundless and endless.
By Swami Prajñananda
One therapy session is worth six yoga classes. Svaroopa® Yoga Therapy is that powerful! You get more healing in less time because each session is customized.
In a group class, your teacher creates a lesson plan that is meant for all students. It works and it is effective. But a private session is tailored just for you.
Your therapist checks in with you at the beginning of the session. Based on your current condition, she creates your plan. Even if she had an idea of what to do with you before you arrived, it all depends on how you are in the moment. This customized approach meets you exactly where you are at and helps move you to the next level in your healing.
In Svaroopa® Yoga we say, “Support equals release.” It’s so true. When your body is supported in the poses exactly as needed, your tensions melt away.
You settle and soften into the process when you feel supported, not only physically but mentally, emotionally and more. You allow yourself to accept the support. This is very powerful and moves you easily and deeply in your healing.
Along with this customized support, you have your therapist’s full attention. In a class situation, your teacher is taking care of the whole class. But in your yoga therapy session, you are the sole focus.
Having your therapist’s full attention is powerful. This works for both On-Site and Online sessions. Your therapist has years of training not only in what to do, but how to be present with you.
Ultimately, it is your own presence in your body that heals. When your attention is “out there” somewhere, focused on other people, things to do, worries and fears, your body suffers. Any tight or painful area of your body is an area that has been missing your presence. You need to get back into your body!
Your session helps to move your own awareness into those shutdown areas. You learn how to re-inhabit those places. Your therapist’s embodied presence helps you to get embodied. Then, your own awareness makes every pose deeper.
If you are able to come in person for a session, you get the benefit of Svaroopa® Yoga Therapy’s hands-on approach. The adjustments your therapist can give you are like magic! They are so delicious. And they amplify the benefits you get in each pose.
You get a taste of this in a group class. You’re lying in Half Frog, and your teacher comes over and does her magic. Your body opens up in a whole new way. You didn’t even realize it was possible. You feel the difference.
But you only get that adjustment on one side of the pose in a class. In a yoga therapy session, though, you get it in every pose and on both sides.
This hands-on approach accelerates your body’s healing in a way you couldn’t even have imagined. You have to experience it for yourself.
Each yoga therapy session is worth six classes. So if you are in need of healing, speed your process along and sign up for some yoga therapy.
practice & grace: giving you your Self
revealing the mystery
SVA Blog 