Author Archives: Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram

Cultivating & Sharing Spiritual Growth

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By TC (Tattvananda) Richards

Please join me in donating to our Svaroopa Vidya Ashram during this season’s fundraiser, themed “Unmilana.”

Our theme is a Sanskrit word which means blossoming forth, expressing the yogic quality of spiritual transformation.

You may have experienced transformation in a yoga pose, even in your first Svaroopa® yoga class.  The more you do, the more you blossom forth.

Svaroopa® Yoga has shifted me in so many ways. Most importantly, this yoga has given me the experiential knowing of my own Divine Essence. Every practice offers me this knowing. My own Divine Essence continues to blossom forth more fully as I continue my classes and practices.

As I expand and unfold, I experience the bliss of Beingness. Being in this place of Knowingness and peace also affects others. I feel that I can offer light into the world.

Recently, another hair stylist joined my salon.  She is also a yogi, practicing another style of yoga. As I work with my clients and talk about my yoga experiences, she peeks around the corner from her station to listen. She calls my words “teachings.”

Yet I am merely describing what I have experienced. Or I may be repeating what I have heard from Gurudevi Nirmalananda, my Guru. I can see through my coworker’s eyes and ears how I have grown spiritually. I know that I continue to blossom forth. I see how I offer this out to the world.

This is not unique to me. Your practice of Svaroopa® Yoga makes you blossom forth as well. You shine your light more brightly. This spreads outward to those closest to you and then beyond.

When you share your light with others, you make a difference. And when you share your heart and wallet with the Ashram, your light makes a difference in the whole world, far and wide.  The choices you make today shift the world in quiet and powerful ways.

Donate online or call us at (610) 644-7555.  Or send your check to Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram, PO Box 143, Downingtown PA 19335.  Thank you again and again!

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Welcome to Our Fundraiser!

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By Ellen (Lajja) Mitchell

Ashram Board President

It is my pleasure to introduce our current 2026 fundraiser – “Unmilana” – blossoming forth.

Please join me in the yogic practice of dakshina, selfless financial giving. When you support our Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram, you give to the one that helps you to discover your own Self.

The Sanskrit word unmilana means blossoming forth, like a flower blooming or the opening of your eyes. The spiritual meaning is discovering your own light and bringing it forth into the world.

After meditation, Gurudevi tells us to “slowly open your eyes.” She says it is in the opening of our eyes that we can see our inner depth.

Sometimes my meditation is filled with what I call “mind stories” or my body is aching. My mind tells me that it was not a good meditation. Yet, when I open my eyes and check in, I feel peace and contentment within. Sometimes it’s pure joy or a feeling of being grounded.

My meditation has cleared something out of the way. I am now different. I am lighter. I am more me. When I get up from my meditation seat, I am taking the lighter and more peaceful me into the world.

Gurudevi tells us, “Your own blossoming forth is assured, just like daffodils that will bloom in the spring, but you don’t know when the spring will come. The teachings give you ways to push it along.”

She gives us the tools to help us bloom by making the teachings and practices easily available. A few examples are her books, monthly Teaching Articles, programs (including free meditation intros and Q&As), weekly satsangs and Shaktipat Retreats.

The world outside may be chaotic, but Gurudevi says, “Like a star at night, you can bring the light of your own being into the world, which makes a difference for everyone.”

If you have benefited from any of the tools or practices available to us through the Ashram, please join me in donating. Help SVA to continue helping you and others to blossom forth and shine in this world.

Donate online or call us at (610) 644-7555. Or send your check to Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram, PO Box 143, Downingtown PA 19335. Thank you again and again!

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Who Will Motivate You?

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By Swami Shrutananda Saraswati

If you are in pain (physical, mental or emotional), you may need tangible and personal support. Like a person with a broken leg, you need crutches.

I have been trained to provide this support. And I love to do so! I check in with you, “Are you doing your 20 minutes of Ujjayi twice a day — every day?”

Often, when I pose this question to students, the answer is “no.” I am surprised by how many students, and even teachers, have amnesia over this protocol. With any kind of pain, you must add this second time period to your day.

Ujjayi spreads prana — life force — through your whole body. Where you hurt is where your healing energy, prana, is low. When your body and mind are full of prana, your pain will be gone. So, I help you figure out where to fit a second 20 minutes of Ujjayi into your day.

I also encourage you to take not merely one yoga class a week, but two. I know you can do more yoga at home. However, will you? More importantly, who will fine tune your propping, check your alignments, and give you an adjustment for deeper openings? Who will see what it is that you need? Only a yoga teacher.

You can’t see what you don’t see. A teacher can see where you are stuck. The benefits of taking two yoga classes a week, or more, is not merely cumulative. The benefits are exponential.

Two 20-minute Ujjayi Pranayama practices daily plus at least a second weekly yoga class really work for you. I have seen it so many times, simply doing Ujjayi twice a day and increasing their weekly classes, they heal quicker.

Recently, a student came in with pain in her neck, level 8 out of 10 possible. She increased her Ujjayi practice to 20 minutes twice a day. And she came to class twice a week for three weeks. The predictable miracle happened. The pain level in her neck is now gone. Doing more yoga really works!

Even better, your teacher will motivate you to do poses you don’t want to do. But, for your body and mind to be healthy and vibrant, these are the poses you need.

A teacher will motivate you to do abdominal poses as well as poses that strengthen your legs and your arms. These poses will keep your spine open between classes.

At home, typically, students only do the poses they like and can do easily. They don’t realize that they never get into their stuck areas. At some point, those areas will make you eligible for a formal diagnosis by your doctor, if it hasn’t happened already.

Who will motivate you? A teacher who has been through the same process. Teachers teach from their own experience. They are kind, motivational and in your face when needed. A teacher cares about you. This is why we teach.

I challenge you to double up during this season. Start with doing 20 minutes of Ujjayi twice a day and take an extra yoga class each week, for one month. Tell your teacher your plan. She will motivate you to follow through.

You will be amazed at how you will feel by month’s end. Gurudevi says, “Vibrant health, vitality and enthusiasm follow, like when you were a child.” [March 2026 Teachings Article You Have a Body]

Take care of your body. You only get one body in this lifetime.

Daily Classes
Yoga Therapy

Spiritual Breakthrough

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Online or On-Site

Discover a whole new dimension to your own being and learn tools that help you bring that into your life. 

The profound inward path of Svaroopa® Vidya Meditation begins with Shaktipat.

Receiving this initiation from Gurudevi opens inner access to the powerful flow of meditative energy within you. 

Her teachings support you in understanding the goal — knowing your own Self. And you learn how to manage the enlightenment process along the way.

Learn the differences between Online and On-Site here.

I felt an enormous rush of heat moving up from the base of my spine.  Then a vision of pure white light also rushed up my spine. I melted into a supreme state of bliss. — Elena P.

My experience was sublime.  When Gurudevi touched my forehead, I was infused with mantra.  I felt this go from between my eyebrows and land with a slight jolt just below my navel. I have experienced subtle changes ever since. I approach my practices with a deeper sense of reverence and calm, which I can carry through the day now. I am more open and accepting. — Ellan C.

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Online

90-Year-Old’s Yoga Miracle

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By Kelly (Kushala) Sharp, Yogaratna

Elizabeth, who is 90 years old, has taken Svaroopa® yoga classes for 15 years.

An avid gardener, she often loses track of time when working in the yard. In the spring, she stopped taking yoga classes because she strained her neck and right shoulder.

Her neck continued to get worse. So Elizabeth signed up for a package of yoga therapy sessions and then an Overlap Healing* series. Her treatment goal was to feel as good as possible for the rest of her time on Earth.

After five yoga therapy sessions, Elizabeth’s neck and shoulder pain was gone. As it lessened, she had become aware of an old pain in her sacrum.

Embodyment® in a yoga pose became the focus of our sessions, and Elizabeth continued to deepen. During her Overlap series, she joked saying she didn’t know how she could feel any better. And yet she did!

Elizabeth started to incorporate changes into her gardening routine. She set a timer while gardening so she wouldn’t overdo it. She did Slow Motion Dive as soon as she came into the house. If she had more gardening to do, she took a break before heading back out. The changes in her gardening behavior supported her changes from the Overlap Healing series.

Then Elizabeth took a fall when the wind caught her foot. The next thing she knew, she was on the ground. Elizabeth was concerned that she’d aggravated the areas yoga therapy had improved.

Aside from her left knee being a little tender, however, Elizabeth was no worse for wear. At her age such a fall could have been a real game changer. She was delighted with the unexpected outcome.

The changes that the yoga therapy made in Elizabeth’s body noticeably increased her resilience.  When we discussed the event, Elizabeth said that the fall had felt different. I told her, “That’s because yogis bounce!”

*Overlap Healing is a series of yoga therapy sessions done daily for 5-10x, then every other day, then twice weekly.

Svaroopa® Yoga Therapy
Teacher Directory

You Are More

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I describe it this way: you are more than what the world tells you that you are. You are more than you think you are. You discover who and what you really are, oh Shiva, by looking within. And you still live in the world. You still have experiences, but they don’t make you who you are. Now, based in Self, you draw on Divine intelligence within to guide…

— Gurudevi Nirmalananda

From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Self-Mastery“

Watch Full Discourse Here

Meditation Teacher Training

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Starting Now!

Become a Meditation Teacher in our upcoming training. Your six-day On-Site Retreat starts in just one week.

You begin with deepening your experience of Self, the key part of your process. Your retreat includes a Shaktipat Day, to open you inward to the flow of profound meditative energy. Your own meditation experiences give you the foundation for your teaching. Then, by studying the sutras, you learn how to guide others in the same process.

Returning home, you begin seven months of Online Classes. Daily group meditations and weekly satsangs (meditation programs) with Gurudevi ensure that you continue to marinate in Consciousness.

Your live-streamed classes train you in increasingly powerful meditation tools. You hone your communication skills as you learn to teach about bliss and awareness. You are also trained to answer students’ questions and help them with practicalities.

Your training culminates with a two-day Online Retreat. Plus, mentoring afterwards supports you as you teach your first “Intro to Meditation” series.

Don’t miss out on this golden opportunity. Enroll today.

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Nutritious & Delicious

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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.

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Lulled into Self

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By Barbara (Girijananda) Hess

Listening to Gurudevi Nirmalananda’s Spiritual Hunger & Fulfillment album always lulls me into my own Self.

Gurudevi chants the “Atma Shatakam” in Sanskrit, an ancient poem of six verses on liberation by Adi Shankaracharya. While the first five verses state what you are not, the sixth verse proclaims your true nature:

Chidananda rupa shivo’ham shivo’ham
My true form is the bliss of Consciousness. I am Shiva. I am Shiva.

This refrain is sung twice between each of the poem’s verses as well. This settles my mind into stillness.

“Atma Shatakam Translation,” Track 3, is Gurudevi’s spoken English translation. Her strong, compassionate voice captivates me, especially the refrain. The repeated “My true form is the bliss of Consciousness. I am Shiva. I am Shiva” draws me inside. 

Gurudevi allows a subtle pause between the two instances that come after each of five verses. I linger in these pauses, settling in deeper.

As she speaks the translation of the things Shankaracharya says you are not in each of the first five verses, my mind continues to resonate with “I am Shiva.” As this slows my thinking, it also gives me focus. This is a great support while I write talks based on sutras for the meditation classes I teach. I settle in and the sutras come to life.

In Verse 6, Gurudevi speaks Shankaracharya’s proclamation of this true nature:

I am free from thought, I am the formless in form, I am the sacred power of speech . . . 
My true form is the bliss of Consciousness. I am Shiva. I am Shiva.

This gives me the answer, which I’ve always longed for, to the question “Who am I?”.  My form is bliss! I am Shiva. I am Shiva.

Another track is “Bhagavan Namah,” meaning “I bow to the Divine.” As Gurudevi chants in Sanskrit, I listen with a deep reverence and gratitude. I mentally bow again and again.

When I listen to this CD in the evening before bedtime, I experience it as a sweet lullaby. I’m soothed into stillness and then sleep.

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