Author Archives: Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram

Magical Tree Pose

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By Soraya (Sudevi) Pereira 

My all-time favorite pose is Vrkshasana (Tree Pose).  I love doing the pose as well as teaching it.  

I especially love practicing it outdoors beside a tree. In the midst of trees, I feel like one of them.  When the ground allows, I take my shoes off and feel the grounding effects of being barefoot on dirt or grass.

I feel deeply rooted as my straight leg leans into the ground. At the same time, I’m uplifted by the upward-moving energy (udana prana).  It starts to rise as I lift my arms towards the sky. Engaging my abs a bit releases my spine and lets the udana prana flow freely.  The balance between this downward rooting and the upward lift feels amazing!

With my bent knee wide and the straight leg and hip facing forward, I find a balance between right and left.  Finding balance, I feel at ease, clear-headed, invigorated, positive and in touch with my Self.

I feel the light of my own Self transmuting any mental or emotional contraction and negativity into openness, ease and deep understanding.  This is very much like the light of the sun allowing the tree to transmute carbon dioxide into life-giving oxygen.

Just like trees, Vrkshasana is pure magic!  But don’t take my word for it, try it yourself.

Yoga On-Site & Online

Chant, Meditate & Learn!

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Every week, you can attend two satsangs with Gurudevi Nirmalananda — in person or online!  Which works for you?

Sundays from 10:00 – 11:30 am (Eastern Time)

Wednesdays from 7:30 – 9:00 pm (Eastern Time)

When you meditate with a Master, you slip inward so easily. That’s what Gurudevi offers, along with the sutras and teachings from the ancient tradition. Join us for chanting, a discourse, meditation instruction and group meditation. 

It’s free if you can join us live in Downingtown PA.

If you cannot join us onsite, enroll in our online program. Our subscription service gives you a way to participate no matter where you’re located. You may enroll for a single satsang or for a series.

Upcoming Satsangs

I Caught the “Light Contagion”!

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By Barbara (Girijananda) Hess, SVA Board Member

Yes, the light of Consciousness is contagious. I caught this “light contagion” the first time I met Gurudevi. 

I did not fully understand it.  But when I received this gift, I wanted to give back. I became a monthly donor and began supporting the semiannual fundraisers. Join me in offering financial support. 

Supporting the teachings and the teachers who bring them to you is a sacred practice. It’s called dakshina — unconditional financial giving. This sacred way to share your own light uplifts you. There is nothing better to do than to dedicate your actions to your own upliftment.  And it helps Gurudevi reach more seekers in search of a Great One. 

What she offers is contagious. It’s an ever-expanding process. After meeting her, I was expanding and wanting more.  Along with practicing dakshina, I started traveling to take courses with her. The effort I was putting toward studying and learning with a Great One sped me along my spiritual deepening.

https://www.hawthorncenter.com/the-medicine-of-the-sun/

Gurudevi says, “Like if you sit in the sun, you get warm. If you sit with the Guru, you get lit up on the inside. Why? Because your nature is light. When you spend time with one who lives in the light full time, you start to perceive your own.”  When you come to Lokananda for trainings or retreats, you feel this most strongly.

Have you caught the “light contagion?”  You are a yogi drawn to the Svaroopa® Sciences which offer healing and transformation on many levels.  Arise! Awake! Learn!  And please participate in our fundraiser. You were born to share your transformation with the world, to let your inner bliss overflow into the world.

All that we do, we do for you. We appreciate your support more than you know.

Donate online or shoot us an email: donate@svaroopayoga.org.  Or send us a check: SVA, 116 E. Lancaster Ave, Downingtown PA 19335. Or give us a call and talk to a real person at 610.644.7555.

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Yoga Miracles Happen at Any Age

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By Marlene (Matrikaa) Gast, Yogaratna

Adventurous and enthusiastic at 81 years of age, Bette sought Svaroopa® yoga therapy after ziplining and white water rafting in Costa Rica last winter.   Her neighbor — a Svaroopa®  yoga student — noticed Bette walking “strangely,” clearly in pain.  Her neighbor suggested yoga therapy. Bette replied with a resounding “yes.” 

After a series of 10 Overlap Healing Embodyment® sessions, Bette’s back pain was gone.  Her shoulder pain was gone too. But that can’t be attributed entirely to yoga therapy.  Midway through her Overlap Healing, her painful shoulder got an anesthetic injection from her physician.

Bette began yoga therapy with level 10 pain in her sacrum and 7 in her right shoulder. Her physician had diagnosed a fracture of the left side of her sacrum.  Years before, she’d had two surgeries to repair torn ligaments and tendons in the shoulder.  At age 9, she incurred a serious tailbone injury.

Per protocols for a high-risk client, I began her pain treatment by teaching her Ujjayi Pranayama.  She took to it immediately. Afterward, she felt “much more relaxed.” She was “only slightly aware of” the sacrum pain with which she’d arrived.  Her shoulder was also “feeling much better.”  During the six weeks of her Overlap Embodyment® sessions, Bette faithfully practiced daily Ujjayi breathing.

After four sessions in a row, she reported feeling “straighter without trying or straining, taller and just calmer up and down my back.”  Her pain steadily lessened through the six sessions at wider intervals.  In her final session, Bette arrived with no pain in her shoulder and just a level 1 in her sacrum.  At the end, she had zero pain and told me, “I don’t understand it.  It’s sort of mystical.  The pain is gone.”

I moved 2,000 miles away a few weeks later. So Bette has continued weekly sessions with another Embodyment® Therapist near her.  She wrote me a note saying that her “sacrum fracture has become less painful.” She feels that with continued daily Ujjayi breathing it “has a better chance to heal.”

Yes, Embodyment® plus Ujjayi opens us to the healing power of Consciousness.

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Mystical Yogic Breathing

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Get Gurudevi’s new audio, a full album of yogic breathing practices for you. Experience new dimensions in your yogic breathing practices under her guidance. 

Discover profound inner openings with her five tracks, including:

  • Introductory Mantras
  • Am I Breathing?
  • Easy Open Breathing
  • Ujjayi Pranayama
  • Finesse the Sound

Deep healing and mystical meditative experiences result when you do these amazing breathing practices.

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Healing Superhighway

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By Swami Satrupananda

Yoga cured my back pain. I want the same for you.

Whether it be back or neck pain, migraines or headaches, Svaroopa® yoga can help. Our slow-paced process also does wonders for allergies, digestive conditions and your immune system.

This healing methodology is powerful because it is multidimensional. Yoga works with your body, mind, heart and more. Not only do you get healing on all these levels, they also all contribute to your healing. This makes the changes deep and lasting.

Taking a weekly yoga class gives you so much. Two classes a week more than doubles your benefit. But if you want to be on the healing superhighway, get private yoga therapy sessions.

In a private session, your yoga therapist customizes the practices to your needs. You receive extra support and adjustments. And we can use yoga’s more powerful healing techniques in this setting. Your healing process is guaranteed.

Yoga can help you with your pain. Contact one of our yoga therapist to discuss your healing needs and to schedule your private sessions.

Contact info: info@downingtownyoga.org or call 484-678-2078

Travel Frames for Guru Photos

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By Amanda (Purna) Schmidt

New picture frames from Ganeshpuri are available!  This triple-photo frame holds 2×3-inch prints, perfect for small Guru photos. 

Gold lotus details adorn the frame’s back side.  Purchase it empty or with Guru photos included.  

Perfect for travel, it is also ideal to set up in your yoga space!  Bring the presence of the lineage Masters with you, anywhere.  

Feel the support of Divine Grace, no matter where you go.

Order Here

Arise! Awake! Learn!

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By Ellen (Lajja) Mitchell, President
SVA Board of Directors

Arise! Awake! Learn! is the theme for our spring fundraiser. The fundraiser runs April 25th to June 6th. Please join me in supporting SVA and Gurudevi Nirmalananda by donating. Give to the organization that gives back to you.

Our theme reminds me of my story and how I met Gurudevi. I had some protruding discs in my lower back. My doctor suggested yoga and/or acupuncture, so I decided to try both. The company I worked for offered a yoga class at lunch time. I heard that there were blankets used in the class, and it intrigued me.

I went to my first class. I felt taller and something else. I felt deeper inside like I had more space around me. I continued attending the class when I could. Gurudevi says, “With a regular process, your sense-of-self is found in a deeper inner dimension of reality and is less a function of the circumstances around you.” Yes, that is what I received in my very first class, a sourcing from my inner depths. A place I was not used to being. I feel this was my awakening.

I stopped going to classes when my job was transferred to another town. I tweaked my back. I Googled the teacher’s name and found out she also taught in the town I was transferred to! I started attending classes. Eventually, I signed up for a Shaktipat Retreat.

Joy and Peace https://www.pinterest.com/pin/3940718415775968/

Gurudevi says, “Peace and joy arise from within when your mind stops blocking them.” Yes, that was my experience of that Shaktipat. Such peace and joy. Joy and peace. I wanted more. Kundalini arose and gave me a peek into what could be.

The poses, teachings and meditation have given me more. This is why I continue to financially support Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram. I want Gurudevi to continue to bring these teachings into the world. To quote Gurudevi, “You already know that giving makes you happy. Create a happy life. Live with a generous spirit!” Please join me in giving to Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram.

Click on the button below to donate online through our website. Thank you.

Donate Today

A Divine Work in Progress

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By Darren Taylor

Interviewed by Lissa (Yogyananda) Fountain, Yogaratna

I used to drive by Downingtown Yoga and Meditation center weekly. I’d see the prayer flags and wonder what it was all about. 

Then one day I took a yoga class with Swami Satrupananda. Afterwards she asked me what I wanted from yoga. I said, “Enlightenment, of course.”

“Well,” she replied, “You’ve come to the right place.”

I’ve been on a spiritual search for years. Mindfulness, Christian prayer, power yoga, and spiritual readings have been a part of the journey. But I’d never done mantra meditation before. I had lots of questions, and Satrupananda counseled me on the next steps. This led to my first Shaktipat in May of 2022.

I began to prepare myself for this profound spiritual experience about to happen. It felt akin to a baptism: a transformative spiritual marker on my path. I wanted to do service to it, with respect. I ate a simple and pure diet that week and read Muktananda’s Play of Consciousness.  In a dream, I also experienced Gurudevi giving me a shoulder slip!  I wondered if this was part of the transmission of energy to come. 

At the beginning of the Shaktipat retreat, my mind and body had a little resistance. “Oh,” I thought, “we’re chanting again??!” But I went with it. After Gurudevi’s first touch, I felt pulled up from my base and realigned. I could see a roadmap that Kundalini had implanted inside me. During my meditations, the physical openings were much stronger. I experienced a cleansing, a burning off. 

After I got home, I couldn’t do anything but sit in meditation. I was so blissful.  I didn’t want to “land the plane.”  I wanted to keep flying in Consciousness. Now I’m enrolled in the “Deepen Your Meditation” class and meditating daily.  I’m a divine work in progress. 

Shaktipat Retreat
Yoga Classes

Shavasana: Letting Go to Go Forward

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By Marlene (Matrikaa) Gast, Yogaratna

When life gets hectic, and it’s time to go-go-go, Shavasana is my go-to pose.  

I take the time to set up my blanket stack with a carefully rolled blanket on top.  With my knees supported thus, I feel my lower back lengthen, spread, and settle into the floor.  The effect on my mind is so sweet.   

Worry melts into random thoughts.  They soon dissolve into simple clarity and gratitude for rest.  I feel my upper back receive the support of the floor.  With the back of my hands resting into the floor, my fingers soften.  They release the urge to hold on to anything.

Sometimes I silently repeat our Guided Awareness, which I know by heart.  In sequence, I find every part of my body, from my toes through my head, front and back.  This deepens my access to inner peace.

In my current process of relocating, I’m finding Gurudevi’s “Experience Shavasana” recording to be essential.  While uprooting myself, what I hear in her voice and words is transporting in a different way.  This takes me inward to the discovery of new dimensions within myself.  

Being in Shavasana, I am thoroughly grounded in the expanding awareness of Ultimate Reality and Eternality.  Bit-by-bit, my body rests ever more deeply into my blankets and the floor.  Guided in being aware of my body, I feel each area in turn filling with aliveness.

Afterwards, I rest in silence and stillness, my back evenly spread, securely supported by the floor.  The Shavasana blanket stack and roll cradle my knees.  Any previous pressure in my low back is gone.  With calm and energy at the same time, I feel whole — ready to effectively address whatever arises.

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Experience Shavasana Audio