By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

I wanted instant enlightenment. I didn’t get it.  I wanted the express elevator to the penthouse. I had to climb the stairs.

At least I knew where I was headed for I’d had amazing experiences after receiving Shaktipat from my Guru. This inner awakening showed me that there was more to me than I dreamed possible. I’d had a peek at Consciousness. It was a promise of my future. It made me willing to do the climb.

Like stairs with landings, at each new level I grew into expanded perceptions and profound understandings as well as progressively more and more bliss. Fortunately the bliss starts early. My early morning meditations anchored my day in an inner spaciousness. The bliss kept me in the game. 

I moved through the process very physically. As the energy of Consciousness climbed my spine, I experienced lots of kriyas, spontaneous physical movements. These are Kundalini, clearing away inner blockages.  After these clearings, my energy channels were more open to the flow of bliss.

I loved it all and wanted to share it, so I took Teacher Training. As a yoga teacher, I have helped thousands of people get free from pain. Our Svaroopa^® yoga poses come from my kriyas, thus using Kundalini’s intelligence for healing and empowering you on all levels. Best of all is the bliss. While pain might bring you in for a yoga class, it is the bliss that brings you back.

This is especially tangible after the closing Shavasana and Guided Awareness, particularly when you roll on your side and hear the short teaching being offered by your teacher. In that inner ease and blissful depth, the teaching rings with truth, giving you a new understanding of yoga – even a new understanding of your life. You are growing into Self. 

Vismayo yogabhumikah.[1] — Shiva Sutras 1.12

The stages of yoga are truly amazing.

Your inner process unfolds in predictable stages, like the blossoming of a rose. Your early experiences of bliss lead to a quiet inner peace that carries into your day.  It lies just under the activities of your mind. Like seeing into a lake with ripples on the surface, you discover an inner depth in the deeper waters. Your thoughts can no longer…

[1] Vismayo yogabhuumikaa.h