By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

The ancient tradition of yoga includes yoga poses (asana), breathing methods (pranayama) and energy seals (mudra). It also offers guidelines for daily living (yamas and niyamas) and focusing practices (dharana). 

You can progress to mastery of the energies of your senses (pratyahara), meditation (dhyana), absorption into your own inner ecstasy (samadhi), and even beyond that to enlightenment. All of these practices include a range from the very easy to the more subtle and profound.

One of the simplest and most effective things yoga teaches is to learn how to sigh. Right after a thorough, heart-felt sigh, there is an incredible feeling of stillness. This stillness transcends the world of space and time. It gives you an immediate taste of your own inner potential. Yoga is the science of maximizing that potential.

Yoga also offers study of the ancient texts that describe the nature of your own Being. It includes the science of sound, the inspiration we get from enlightened Masters of all traditions, and the opening of your heart to the divine presence that is always both within and outside.

In Svaroopa^® Yoga, we work with the body for your specific purpose of having this inner experience. Everything we do, from the easiest to the most challenging, is for the higher purpose that is yoga itself. Yoga philosophy is embedded in everything we teach.

Excerpt from Yoga in Every Moment, pages 209‒210