No one’s working on attaining equanimity. Well, that’s not precisely true. You probably have tried to get a little peace by withdrawing from news, from the politicians, from the musicians, the social media influencers, and even your family and friends. But you bring your mind with you, even when you isolate yourself or numb out.
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Equanimity — Peace of Mind“
When you hear these teachings, you are fed at the deepest level of your own being. The words and the energy turn your mind inward, while the words name your own Divine Essence. So you experience Self again and again. This is why I give discourses, to pour this stream of Grace-infused teachings into your head, and heart, and deeper. Again and again.
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Who’s In Charge?“
How do you meditate on your own Self when you don’t know your own Self? In one way, it’s kind of like you lived in a cave your whole life and I tried to teach you to meditate on the sun or the moon. You wouldn’t know what they are. This is why the mantra names your own Self..
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Meditating on Your Own Self“
By Gurudevi Nirmalananda
You lie on your back in yoga’s relaxation pose, Shavasana. Or you may prefer to lean back in a recliner.
You drift into a quasi-meditative state without going all the way to sleep — this is yogic sleep, yoga nidra.
It is a state of deep rest but without the heaviness of sleep. In a short time, you arise refreshed, perhaps even more so than after a full night of sleep. Three hours of yoga nidra can substitute for a full night of sleep. I have taken advantage of this on many overnight flights. It is a lifesaver when my day’s activities overflow into late night hours, especially since I don’t want to give up my early morning yoga practices.
As a yoga teacher, I learned how to lead yoga nidra as part of a yoga class. We called it a “Guided Relaxation” even though it’s not really about relaxing. It is an awareness practice, where you extend your awareness into the inner spaces of your body and being. Thus I changed the name of it to “Guided Awareness,” which we still include in every Svaroopa®yoga class. Twice. At the beginning and at the end. This is how important it is.
Its roots lie deep in the yogic tradition, with references in several ancient Sanskrit texts. Yoga nidra was brought to the West by students of Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh. In recent years, it has been used as a healing therapy for veterans and others with PTSD.
Most people are simply looking for an easy way to meditate. The value of following a Guided Awareness for yoga nidra is that it reins in your mind, bringing it back to where you are physically located. As you become more present in your body, you are becoming more present. It is your presence that matters.
We include yoga nidra in Ashram programs in several ways:
Yoga nidra can be a little tricky. As you begin to settle more deeply within, you may want to roll over into your favorite sleeping position. Or your head may lean over toward one side. These are ways of going unconscious, into a sweet deep sleep, but not yogic sleep.
Yoga nidra is a light meditative state, yet not sleep but not wakefulness. Your mind is restful but not unconscious. Someone is still home inside. Who is that someone? That is you. This is the whole point, that you find the deeper dimensionality within. This is what yoga is all about.
While you may wish for bliss in every meditation, it’s actually the busy meditations that are moving you toward enlightenment faster. Just like a car speeding along the highway passes more scenery, when you’re really zipping along…
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Growing into Self“
By Gurudevi Nirmalananda
Sometimes you can tell what’s going on inside a person by the way they look. Their silly grin or their wrinkled brow tells you what they are thinking and feeling.
Yet someone can be smiling while thinking negative or harmful thoughts. In poker and in politics, the pathway to success is to hide your true feelings. This can sometimes be true in close relationships as well.
Can you look at someone and see that they are enlightened? This is important because you want to study with the best. They can help you make rapid progress toward your own enlightenment. What is enlightenment like, both inside and outside? Fortunately, Arjuna asked this question for us:
Arjuna uvacha, sthita-prajnasya ka bhasha samadhi-sthasya keshava
sthita-dhih kim prabhasheta kim asita vrajeta kim. — Bhagavadgita 2.54
Arjuna asked, “What is the inner experience of an enlightened being? In worldly activities, how do they talk? How do they sit? How do they walk?”
The next eighteen verses are Krishna’s answer. He describes the process of becoming enlightened as well as how the enlightened being lives.
By divine Grace, all his sorrows are destroyed. With a peaceful mind, he abides in a Divine state of inner steadiness. — Bhagavadgita 2.65
Your understanding of this description begins from your own experiences of a peaceful mind. But what is “a Divine state?” These experiences are pivot points in your life.
I remember being a teenager at summer camp in the mountains. I often sat in a sacred grove that had a view of the valley. It was reserved as a silent lookout point. In the beginning, the view transported me. I felt like I could almost fly across the vast terrain. I felt free.
My experience changed as I returned again, sometimes multiple times daily. It became an inner vastness that was much greater than the view. At the same time, I felt…
So, at the end of your meditation, when you leap up and you get moving, physically or maybe it’s just your mind, you’re blocking your ability to see the Divine in the mundane. You’ve gone back to measuring, analyzing, counting…
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “The Liminal Edge“
You have a right to bliss. The bliss of Consciousness, for it is what you are made of. If you aren’t experiencing the bliss of Consciousness, you don’t know who you really are. Fortunately, on this path, the bliss comes early. But it’s not unconscious bliss…
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “The Bliss Comes Early“
You know, the teachings are not enough. They must be enlivened by Grace. You can read the teachings. We read them in translation from the ancient texts, and you can read them for decades and never have a real experience. You certainly will get understandings, aha moments, intellectual breakthroughs, but without any real depth. The experience of your own Self is a feeling, not a thought. It is a deep quality of beingness, not a….
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “The Root of Meditation“
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
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