Author Archives: Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram

She Means Everything to Me

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By Ben Waters

Interviewed by Lor (Priya) Kennedy

From the very first Swami Sunday I stumbled into, I knew. I had found the most important part of my life. Swami Sunday is the place where I began to find my Self. It’s where I got to know Gurudevi. If it were offered every day, I would be there. Outside of living at the Ashram, Swami Sunday is how I can spend time with Gurudevi Nirmalananda every week. 

I really didn’t know what I was looking for 10 years ago. I didn’t have a clue what a Guru was. In the beginning, I just watched her. I knew I wanted to give everything to this person, to give her my life. But I questioned why I felt that way — wasn’t she just another human being? 

In the past, she’s been everything to me, but she continues to be even more. My relationship with her and my understanding of who she is continues to unfold. Now I have a relationship with her on the inside too. At first, there was a duality, but now I am realizing, she is no different than me. She is my Self. In meditation, when I repeat mantra, there is nothing but her form. 

One of the things that brought me to spiritual practice was a crippling social anxiety. Serving as emcee for Swami Sunday was intimidating at first. My voice would crack and shake. I didn’t want to screw up and disappoint Gurudevi. 

Then I realized it wasn’t about me whatsoever. I was one of the many people Gurudevi uses as a link between her and others. Often, when I share my personal story, it’s in alignment with her talk that day. I’m trusting that it’s really not about me — it’s all taken care of. Being able to serve her this way is incredible. It’s a little part I can do to give back.

How was I blessed to find a Shaktipat Guru and have this relationship with her? My karma in this life has been tough. But if I had to go through all that to get to her, it was worth it. 

Swami Sunday

Luxurious Spinal Release

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By Cayla (Mangala) Allen, Yogaratna

In the beginning of my Svaroopa® yoga experience, I did not care for Pawanmuktasana Seated Side Stretch. My body and mind resisted it.

I learned a couple of things from this resistance. As is often true, we resist what we need. I needed what this pose offered, and the only way to receive its benefits was to surrender to it. Over time, I have learned to enjoy this pose immensely.

I prepare for Seated Side Stretch with lower spinal release poses. Next, I check the propping I need. Effective propping is essential, and it can change from day-to-day. My initial complaint with this pose was pain in the knee of my back-turned leg. Spinal tension was torquing from my spine through my hip and into my knee. Adding blankets relieved spinal tension.

At this point I was sitting on six blankets. While that can be hard on the ego, it relieved tension through my hip and knee. Then my body leaned and lengthened more easily to the side.

When I settle deeper into my seat before moving into Seated Side Stretch, my spine relaxes upright into an easy alignment. This provides the most effective results. I reach into space and feel the effortless traction of my upper arm. I feel the stability of my lower arm as I lean through its support. Finally, my spine luxuriously releases and lengthens in this side bend.

Afterwards, I sit more balanced in my seated pose. My breath is easily fuller. I am aware of energy rising within. I feel spacious and open.

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Svadhyaya: Chanting of Yoga’s Sacred Texts

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By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

The first time you chant Shree Guru Gita can be a powerful experience, whether it’s due to the beauty and power of the chant or because your tongue can’t quite wrap itself around the Sanskrit syllables.

You have options about how to participate:

Close your eyes and listen, coasting on the Shakti (energy).


Open your eyes and follow along with the Sanskrit.

Read the English silently while the group is chanting the Sanskrit.

Mouth the Sanskrit words silently, or even breathe into them.

Chant quietly, even if your chanting isn’t perfect.

Open your mouth and sing along, even perhaps using a finger to track each word!

Beyond your experience of the chant itself, notice what the chant does for you. Your “Marker Pose” is your state before and after the chant: what is the condition of your body, breath, mind, and heart?

How do you feel within yourself — at what depth are you sitting within? By assessing these changes, you can determine the value of this practice for yourself.

Excerpt from Yoga’s Sacred Songs, page 149

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The Sound of Consciousness

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By Marlene (Matrikaa) Gast, Yogaratna

Experience this transcendent recording of “OM Guru OM Guru OM Gurudev,” where Gurudevi plays the beautifully yearning melody on the harmonium while chanting the call.  The Vowed Order Choir chants the response. 

This choir came into being during the July Vows Retreat at Lokananda.  We three dozen attendees chanted “OM Guru OM Guru OM Gurudev” with Gurudevi daily for the first three days. After lunch on the fourth day, we entered Kailasa (the meditation hall) to behold serious looking microphones and other sound equipment.  

A professional recording engineer was setting it up.  Gurudevi guided the choral seating arrangements.  That the previous days of chanting had been rehearsals was a surprise as was our designation as a choir!

Recalling the “pop-up” recording session, Deborah (Antaraj~na) Mandel says, “At first, I was wondering how we could hold it together for 25 minutes. Then it was just happening, it was beyond our control.  A visceral, tangible wall of sound unfolded.  Responding to Gurudevi’s call, we were One in singing back to her.”  

Pat (Sumati) Morrison says, “This sound was all encompassing.  I could feel its vibration in my body.  The experience of it was intimate and communal at the same time.”

The chant celebrates Guru Purnima, the holy day of the July full moon, which honors the Divine Teacher.  The devoted depth, strength and clarity of Gurudevi’s voice honors her Guru, Baba Muktananda, invoking his Grace and blessings.  The choir’s devotional response invokes the same Grace and blessings from our Gurudevi.  

The feeling of an unbroken circle of devotion rolling through time into timelessness is ecstatic.  The chant culminates in the traditional quickened pace followed by slowing and softening to conclusion.  The result is the experience of pure fulfillment.

Whether you listen to it or chant along with it, you can experience the same uplifting wholeness.

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What Is Your Purpose?

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When you live with purpose, you live like your life really matters.  

Delve deep into yoga’s timeless teachings in this three-class sutra course with Gurudevi.  She leads you through a process of self-discovery.  

You find your inner compass that always points you to where you want to go. You get the inner answers to your questions about your life’s purpose.

While your worldly processes are enhanced, you move toward enlightenment. This combination is the hallmark of tantric mysticism.

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Get Our FREE Phone App

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Freedom from Desperation

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By Karen (Kumuda) Schaub

Interviewed by Agnes (Aikya) Hetherington

Last November, I had intense knee pain.  

I finally was able to move from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania, to be in person with Gurudevi more often.  

I had longed to move there years before, but my mother had passed away unexpectedly.  It took several years to come to terms with the loss.  Only then could I begin the process of clearing out her home to put it on the market.  

This physically and emotionally strenuous work re-activated an old knee injury.  I was limping through life, doing daily activities very gingerly.  Once the house was ready, it sold quickly. I had 30 days to pack and move to PA. Within two weeks of arriving, I decided to begin Embodyment® Yoga Therapy to help relieve the pain. It did that and so much more!  

I needed lots of tailbone opening to relieve the knee pain, which certainly happened. But the therapy also radically changed things on the inside. It was a profound experience of deepening into my Self. I began to develop trust around working with my body in a different way. 

As my fear of the pain receded, I no longer lived in a state of desperation. Throughout my life, I had felt a constant internal shakiness. Yoga therapy and multiple daily practice sessions of Ujjayi Pranayama filled my reservoir of prana. This brought me to a state of being more settled in my life, having less fear. 

Now I’m learning how to keep my mind on a short leash. I set a 90-minute timer when starting a physical task such as unpacking. When my mind wants me to do “just one more thing,” I tell it “no.”  If we allow the mind to rule, it’s a very painful process.

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Mystical Song of the Guru

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Develop your understanding of the Guru through the teachings in Shree Guru Gita – now sung in English! 

Gurudevi Nirmalananda has completed her versification of the text, rendering the Sanskrit words in modern English. And she recorded so it is easy to sing along for a profound inner opening.  

This inner opening is the purpose of the chant as well as the purpose of having a Guru.

She sings it, ending with her English version of Jyota se Jyota, the poem of praise and gratitude that honors her Baba. The words are in her companion book, “Sacred Songs: Chants of Svaroopa® Yoga.”

Mystical Song of the Guru
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My Shaktipat Experience 

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By Ellan (Shanti) Catacchio

I have received Shaktipat from Gurudevi Nirmalananda many times over the years.  

Each one is different yet the same. After the immediate and unique experience of receiving Shaktipat, changes manifest over time.   

My most recent immediate experience was sublime.  When Gurudevi touched my forehead, I was infused with mantra.  I felt this go from between my eyebrows (aj~na chakra) to my third chakra (manipura).  It landed with a slight jolt just below my navel.

I have experienced subtle changes ever since.  Mantra is more present in my life, often running through the background of my day.  I am doing more out spoken japa before meditation and at the end of the day.  This, of course, brings me closer to Consciousness, closer to God, within.

https://yogapractice.com/yoga/benefits-anjali-mudra/

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 than I was.  While I am aware of these changes in retrospect, they happened to me gradually over time.  Though I am grateful for them, I did not deliberately plan or work on attaining them.

With another opportunity to receive Shaktipat this year, I’m planning to attend.   It is important to me to keep the gift of Guru’s Grace flowing.  This helps me to get closer to being ME.  

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The Path to Wisdom

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By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

Wisdom without action is delusion. Wisdom is the combination of experience and understanding together, so there must be action to acquire wisdom. 

You cannot have experience without engaging in action. Yet action does not end with merely acquiring a large number of experiences. One who becomes truly wise continues to perform actions, but with different motivations. Then all actions (and all of life itself) become a living yoga practice that leads to wisdom. You get there by examining your motivations. 

There are three primary motivations underlying most people’s actions: protection, relationship, and recognition. Each is actually an attempt to construct a sense of personal identity. But any sense of personal identity that you are able to construct will not last, because it is constructed rather than being inherent. 

The practices of yoga help you discover the underlying sense of self that has always been there. It currently supports you (behind your mind). It will never cease to exist. Your discovery of this deeper dimension of your own being is the most satisfying experience of your life. However, the constructed identity is a superficial sense of self and is dependent on your own effort to create and maintain it.

Excerpt from Yoga in Every Moment, pages 107‒108

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