Author Archives: Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram

Yogic Nutrition

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Online — Beginning Tuesday March 26

What does a yogi eat? To achieve health as well as pleasure and (most importantly) spiritual development, yogis feed themselves consciously.

This course focuses on what to eat, when and why. Drawing on yoga, Ayurveda and scientific nutritional guidelines, Swami Samvidaananda and Gurudevi give you easy ways to improve your nutritional profile.

Each class includes teachings as well as a tasting session with discussion and easy recipes for your homework. If you were able to be in-person, your tasting session would be foods prepared by the Ashram, but for an online course, you’ll have to do some simple preparation before class. It may include slicing apples or perhaps the heating up of milk or a non-dairy alternative. 

As these principles begin working for you, you’ll notice a change in your digestion, assimilation and elimination. Taste is also important, especially as it contributes to your nutrition as well as your quality of life.   

I loved taking this joyful, practical online course! It was full of fascinating nutritional information that showed me new ways to approach meal planning. Much of it happened in our kitchens, which created a relaxed vibe. We had fun tasting our experiments and comparing results. An especially important part for me was the personal advice I received. As a result, I am now consulting an Ayurvedic doctor to help with digestive imbalances. – Agnes H.

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Sitting Auspiciously

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By Valerie (Atmananda) Light Trautlein, Yogaratna

Right now, my favorite pose is Swastikasana.

I love this pose because it supports my spine to be so upright in meditation. The “envelopes” of my thighs and calves are wonderful supports for my feet. Props for my knees give my hips and spine support.

They rest in alignment with each other. The support of blankets and my own body allows Kundalini to rise up my spine. Any blockages are cleared.

This support allows me not to work so hard at meditation. As I sit in the pose, I feel my body as one unit. This sensation of wholeness supports the truth of experiencing the One Reality as I sit.

I can remember a time when I could not sit in this position for long periods. I would experience hip and knee pain towards the end of meditation. So I decided to focus on deeper spinal release poses in my home practice.

The deep, consistent spinal release opened up the tight parts of my body. This of course addressed mental tension too. This focus created lasting change. It gave me the ability to enjoy sitting in this pose without pain. The whole thing got much easier.

The name of the pose, I find, really describes the gift of the pose. Swastikasana means auspicious sitting. Also, one translation of the Sanskrit name Shiva is “auspicious.” When I sit in Swastikasana, my body is aligned in a way to sit as my Self auspiciously with ease.

I receive support from the blankets as well as from my own body. Outside and inside work together with one goal. Sitting as Self.

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Experiencing Shavasana & Ujjayi Pranayama  

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Gurudevi’s Audio Recording

By Barbara (Girijananda) Hess

The cover says it all: “Discover more of yourself in these inner explorations into the vastness of your own beingness …”

Listening to Gurudevi Nirmalananda guide me into Shavasana with this CD has supported me for many years. The CD offers a wide range of Shavasana and Ujjayi Pranayama experiences. Some are short and others long.  You can choose the tracks that fit your available time.

I especially love the Track 4 “Long Guided Awareness” with tamboura. Gurudevi begins with the familiar “Become aware of your toes, all ten toes …” Then she continues with an in-depth inner exploration throughout your body.  I especially love the section when she tracks up your spine one vertebra at a time. I must say I missed this section for more than a year.  I would pass in before I even got to the sacrum!

Now I mostly stay conscious.  I love the deepening awareness of each vertebra.  I sense the subtle presence of the inner conduit through which Kundalini arises.  I have new, deepening awareness at different areas of my internal terrain each time I dive inside with Gurudevi’s guided awareness. It gives me a full 30 minutes of Divine exploration. 

I have recommended this CD to many students who want to be guided in Shavasana in their home practice. They report, just as I do, many new insights each time they practice Shavasana guided by Gurudevi.  

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The Light of Consciousness

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By Rebecca (Jyoti) Yacobi

Interviewed by Lori (Priya) Kenney

Chanting is a powerful, effective way for me to prepare for meditation.  It draws me very deep, very quickly.  

And when I chant with Gurudevi, the sound reverberates progressively deeper and deeper.  Then, in meditation, what bliss!  My meditation is light-filled.  Like a magnet, it draws me even deeper.  Chanting and meditation with Gurudevi give me an experience of a spacious, expansive mind.  It almost feels like the space between my neurons is opened.

Gurudevi offered two Grace-infused Chanting and Meditation Retreats online in 2021.  I felt like a kid in a candy shop.  In April, the whole weekend was devoted to mantra.  I delved into the power of our mantra.  

Gurudevi talked about the mystical vibration of the mantra and how OM contains the whole universe.   We chanted and repeated mantra in many different ways.  We chanted it frontward and backwards. The power of the mantra was manifest by Gurudevi unfolding its mystical meaning. 

Then she led us through the experience of chanting it.  Carried by the vibration of the sound, I tracked back deeper and deeper within. I had an embodied experience of what Gurudevi described — mantra is one with Self, with the Guru, with Shiva.

This April retreat was so blissful and transformative that I signed up for the next one. I wanted more.  It was dedicated to the warrior Goddess Durga, the Goddess who protects us. Chanting her name with Gurudevi was extraordinary.  It wasn’t just chanting a Great Being’s name.  I felt the amplification that comes from Grace flowing through her name. 

I just love chanting and meditation together.

Chanting & Meditation Weekend

Never Underestimate the Power of the Tailbone

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Lissa (Yogyananda) Fountain, Yogaratna

Arthur came to see me after Gurudevi Nirmalananda recommended an Embodyment® Overlap Healing series.

He had been diagnosed with a condition called Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR), an inflammatory rheumatoid disease.

He was in constant pain. Gurudevi said that because medicine can cite no cause, at least 80% was tailbone tightening. He would really benefit from the daily release a five-session series provides.

Arthur, an otherwise dynamo of an octogenarian, was definitively not feeling like himself. We began by building a bond of trust. I asked him to share some of his life story, as he described his physical pain. For him, this facilitated an understanding of the body-mind connection.

We took it very slowly in the beginning, as is the protocol for a high-risk client. In the first session, even the slightest tailbone opening would flare up his shoulder pain. So I improvised with extra pillows and higher blankets for his head. We inched our way, step by step, and the unraveling began.

By the second session, Arthur was breathing easier, and letting his body relax more into the process. When he got up to stand, he felt two inches taller. His skin and eyes were brighter. There was more of a spring to his step as he walked out my door.

After our first five sessions, his wife was amazed! Arthur started feeling more like his energetic self. It only got better as the series progressed.

He already had a daily Shavasana and Ujjayi Pranayama practice. Now he could get up and down from the floor more easily. He was climbing stairs with greater ease. His sinuses were draining and even his sleep improved.

With his lower spine decompressing, his spirits lifted. He felt happier. It wasn’t long before the shoulder pillows were gone, and his head needed only one blanket. The best was, he could drop into Consciousness, no longer interrupted with painful flare-ups. Arthur’s healing continues. Never underestimate the power of the tailbone!

Svaroopa Yoga Therapy
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Gurudevi’s CD: Honored Guru Gita

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By Joan Brager

I love the chant “Jaya Jaya Arati Nityananda,” track 7 on this CD. The first time I heard it at the Ashram, it sounded like a march for a noble cause.

I wanted to sing along. I found the refrain lively and simple enough for me to quickly catch on: “Jaya Jaya aaratee Nityananda.”

I knew we were singing about Nityananda. I had read and heard enough about him to know that he was a great spiritual being. I knew that “jaya jaya” meant “Hail hail.” But the sound of jaya jaya is better than that translation. You know you are heralding someone great when you sing it out.

So I boldly sang out the refrain.

I learned later, when I looked up the translation, that the refrain says ”Hail Hail, I offer lights to Nityananda.” That is a fitting tribute to someone who brought so much light to so many.

Hearing this chant in Gurudevi’s beautiful singing voice is a pleasure that I repeat often.

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My Favorite Marker Pose

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By Marlene (Matrikaa) Gast, Yogaratna

Every time I do Downward Facing Dog pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana), I savor the experience.

To prepare, I lengthen my arms out on the floor, and feel a soft knot unravel between my shoulder blades. It’s like a looped scarf simply smoothing out. Nearly effortlessly, I back into the pose.

I feel supported and protected by my leg bones. Miraculously stable, they take my body’s weight. My torso feels fluid and light. I feel enlivened and timeless. A pure, blissful awareness of being expands from within and envelopes me.

In my 30’s, I found I could do yoga, though I’d nearly flunked high school physical education. Down Dog has been a loyal friend. In Down Dog, I proudly sunk my heels into the floor while others had to lift theirs. True, the teacher suggested I seek a chiropractor for my visibly tight upper spine. But my heels landed! I was good (or so I thought)! For decades, I continued with yoga classes in different styles. Down Dog was always my favorite pose. I stayed in delusion.

Finding Svaroopa® yoga, I first felt the bliss of spinal opening and then learned the truth. Overstretched ligaments are a big problem. I could press my Down Dog feet into the floor and go into all kinds of pretzel poses. But this deceptive flexibility kept my spine tight.

Fortunately, I enrolled in Foundations. That “iceberg” hiding in the depths came to light. After YTT 1, I vowed to practice Svaroopa® yoga poses exclusively. No more Down Dog — not until YTT 3 a few years later.

Being trained to teach Downward Facing Dog as a Svaroopa® yoga pose was a breakthrough. I felt my spine and whole body come alive. It’s a lifetime Marker Pose for me. Down Dog shows me, in no uncertain terms, the miraculous power of Svaroopa® yoga’s spinal decompression.

I now do Down Dog with reverence. It reveals the sanctity of my human body and sends me into bliss.

Meditation Tips & Tricks

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Free Program with Gurudevi

A day without meditation would be like a day without eating — you can do it, but why?

Enjoy all the benefits you’ve heard about:  inner clarity, creativity, peace, healing and happiness. 

Learn directly from Gurudevi Nirmalananda in this FREE online program.

Wednesday February 7

1:30 – 3:00 pm (Eastern Time)

ONLINE

Your take-away is personal, empowering you to make a choice about when and how you meditate as well as why.  When all these factors line up, you wouldn’t want to miss a day! 

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Gurudevi’s Chanting & Meditation Weekend

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By Andrea (Arya) Perry

Interviewed by Lori (Priya) Kenney  

Feelings of uneasiness and self-consciousness arise when I sing.  I am hesitant and resistant to sing.  

Consequently, chanting is tapas (doing the hard stuff).  Cultivating the opposite and tapas helps me dissolve these self-limiting patterns and deepen into Self.  Also chanting is a good way to open your heart.  By opening your heart, you open and transform your mind.  For these reasons, I registered for Gurudevi’s online Chanting and Meditation Weekend two years ago.

It stems back to when I was a child.  I loved singing camp songs.  In sixth grade, I decided to try out for chorus.  The teacher’s “put-down” responses to my singing translated into feelings of rejection, inadequacies, unacceptance and isolation.  They squashed ME.

Being self-conscious of singing is an old pattern.  Because I now know I am Self, Consciousness-Itself, no matter what, this pattern no longer defines who I am.  It needs to be dissolved.  And it is progressively dissolving over time through Gurudevi’s yogic teachings, practices and Grace.

The theme of our Chanting and Meditation Weekend retreat was Durga.  I wasn’t familiar with her.  I learned that Durga embodies the strength and power that destroy obstacles and block knowingness.  She’s the protector of knowingness.  

We chanted “Kali Durge” over and over again.  We listened to stories about Durga, and we meditated.  The interweaving of chanting, storytelling and meditation gave rise to the qualities of Durga within me. 

By the end of the retreat, I was Durga.  I was the warrior Durga that overcomes and is victorious over all obstacles to unknowingness.

Chanting and Meditation Weekend

Living Mysticism Day-by-Day

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Take a peek inside. See how Gurudevi’s new Calendar Journal helps you with yogifying your day, every day.

January 18  

Svaroopa® yoga specializes in core opening, the decompression of your spine, both physically and energetically.

January 19

Each time you lift and open your spine, you stay a little more open and become more able to live in that openness.

January 20  

Svaroopa® Yoga’s practices turn life’s momentum from contraction to expansion.

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