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My Yoga Experience – Gurupremananda
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Author Archives: Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram
Our “Unmilana” Fundraiser Is Closing
By Ellen (Lajja) Mitchell
Ashram Board President
Reflecting on giving, I realize I usually give when I am in a place of fullness. My heart opens and I want to serve more, give more. My inner fulfillment spills into the world.
This is my experience of “unmilana,” blossoming forth or spiritual transformation. I recognize how this aligns with what Gurudevi says about the power of yoga:
Your yoga melts the tensions and dissolves the fears so that the inner Source can arise inside to fill you and to bloom into the world. Yoga doesn’t make you yogic, it makes you become more You.
I am grateful to you for having chosen to “do more yoga” by practicing dakshina, selfless financial giving. You have shared your heart and wallet in this way; you are making a difference in the world.
Your gift allows us to send more Grace and light into the world. Thank you for your selfless financial support of our Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram.
I am grateful for your blossoming forth as well as for all that you enable SVA to give by your financial support. I bow to the light in you.
If you haven’t yet had a chance to participate, there’s still time. Donate online or call us at (610) 644-7555. Or send your check to Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram, PO Box 143, Downingtown PA 19335. You may also email us at donate@svaroopayoga.org.
Thank you again and again!
Do More Yoga — It Works!
By Maryanne (Murti) Leagans
My growing up years were filled with significant abuse and trauma. This set me up to lack conflict resolution skills. I completely mistrusted authority figures. Later, I struggled in relationships because I inherently found it difficult to trust anyone.
In my twenties, I began a decades-long process of working with various talk therapists. I was always seeking “the one” who could give me answers. I sought relief from the darkness that filled my mind and heart. Stronger and stronger doses of antidepressants became the crutch that kept me functional.
And I was highly functional. I held down jobs, excelling in performance, though I changed them frequently. Without conflict resolution skills and trust in authority, my employment in any organization was one to three years.
Fast forward to September 2025. Chelsea (Rajñi) King, who teaches Svaroopa® Vidya Meditation, posted an invitation on Facebook for her three-class introductory series. As soon as I read her post, I signed up. With Rajni’s gentle teaching style and encouragement, I began meditating for 20 minutes each morning.
Later in the course, she introduced us to the Ashram website. I thought I had struck gold! I took one of Gurudevi’s free online meditation classes.
Later I joined her daily online Meditation Club. By then, I was meditating an hour each morning as well as slowly increasing my at-home yoga.
It was clear to me that meditation was rewiring my brain. My emotions and reactions to things were changing.
I questioned whether I still needed antidepressants. Working with my doctor, I set up a plan to slowly decrease the amounts over a four-month period, beginning December 1, 2025. It took only three months! Simultaneously, I had already begun taking various Ashram offerings.
In mid-January, I attended Swami Sunday in person for the first time. By then, I was down to 50% of my dose without any negative side effects. At the end of January, Gurudevi’s Shaktipat Retreat powerfully boosted my engagement in our Ashram’s full-spectrum yogic practices.
Several Enlightenment Studies series, the Guided Meditation course, a weekly Svaroopa® yoga class and Embodyment® Yoga Therapy sessions produced significant changes. I also attended Gurudevi’s satsangs regularly and took advantage of the Shishya Vichara Club. My intention was to stack everything that I had control over — in my favor.
For more than fifty years, I had believed that antidepressants were keeping my brain in “safe” mode. Although seeing my dosage decrease was scary, I was supported in my process by Grace.
Flowing from Svaroopa® practices, Grace opened me to feeling joy, love and compassion when interacting with fellow yogis. This kept me steady in my resolution to end my drug dependency. By the end of February, I had accomplished that.
Gurudevi ceaselessly invites us to “Do more yoga.” I did it and it works!
Click here to find your Pot of Gold
The Sweetest Perfume
By Beth (Bhanumati) Cunningham
There is nothing sweeter than the blossoming forth of the Self.
There is nothing more exquisite than the bliss of the Self.
There is nothing more priceless than the experience of the knowing of the Self.
Grace allows this to happen. Gurudevi opens us to that Grace. That opening is the blossoming forth itself. What a gift we have received in our Gurudevi Nirmalananda.
Supporting that gift financially is essential to sustaining it. It is like providing water, sunshine and soil for a blossoming plant. This is a sacred practice called dakshina. Our seasonal fundraiser is the perfect opportunity to practice it.
I once had the opportunity to visit an exclusive perfumery. Every scent was hand-crafted in micro batches by leading masters from the perfume world. Prices were in the $600/oz range and up. The sensual experience of the perfumes was unlike anything I could describe. It was overwhelming yet grounding; heady and heart-opening; deeply inspiring and fulfilling, both at once.
Hmm… sounds like the experience of the Self. Yet the experience of the Self is worth far, far more than $600/oz. The experience of the Self is priceless. And it is given to us freely by our Guru.
When we receive Shaktipat, we begin to wear that experience like a perfume. It wafts into the world wherever we go. It spreads through our lives like an exquisite scent. When we support the Ashram financially, it spreads beyond our own lives and spheres. It blossoms forth into the greater world. It sweetens everyone and everything it touches.
Please help us spread this rare and exquisite gift. Please share in this sacred practice and give to our fundraiser this season.
Donate online or call us at (610) 644-7555. Or send your check to Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram, PO Box 143, Downingtown PA 19335. You may also email us at donate@svaroopayoga.org.
Thank you again and again!
Planted at My Guru’s Feet
By Carolyn (Karuna) Beaver, Yogaratna
Our current fundraising is themed “Unmilana,” a Sanskrit word which means to blossom forth.
“Bloom where you are planted” is popular advice. You make the best of your circumstances, even thrive and find joy.
I am so grateful to be planted firmly at Gurudevi’s feet. For all that the Svaroopa® Sciences have given me, I am grateful. So as each biannual fundraiser rolls around, I donate from an open heart and wallet. Won’t you join me?
Through your practices, you discover your inner light and bring it forth into the world. Gurudevi says, “As you are emerging into the world, you have an opportunity to focus on what you can give.”
I am emerging back into the world after some serious injuries. They left me wondering if I would ever teach Svaroopa® yoga again. Gurudevi says yoga “melts the tensions and dissolves the fears so that the inner Source can arise inside to fill you and to bloom into the world.” This has been so true for me.
With dedication to the practices and Guru’s Grace, I am blooming where I am planted. My inner light is shining brightly once again. I am teaching and even giving yoga therapy sessions. I owe it all to Gurudevi and the fire she has lit within me.
Will your blossoming forth lead you to share with others, and with the Ashram? Please consider a generous donation to our spring fundraiser: “Unmilana — Blossoming Forth.” Let your bighearted inner light overflow. Share freely. It comes back to you, again and again.
Our fundraiser is ending soon. But the sun never sets on your opportunity to give. Please donate today! Thank you.
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!
Gratitude for Transformation
By Kristine (Dhairyavati) Freeman
Our Ashram Fundraiser “Unmilana” has begun. Spiritual transformation is called “Unmilana” in Sanskrit — your inner opening, your blossoming forth. Through our Svaroopa® yoga practices, we discover inner light and bloom it into the world.
Svaroopa® yoga gives us so many transformational practices to choose from — asana, meditation, chanting, seva and dakshina (financially supporting the source of the teachings). Please join me in the practice of dakshina — make a donation to our Ashram today!
Recently, I’ve been focusing on expanding my asana practice. It hasn’t been easy — tapas! I noticed I’d been doing the same poses over and over again. I was stuck in an asana rut. But with the help of a Yoga Therapy session, I got a growth spurt. I was able to cultivate a new practice to give my body the support it needs.
These yoga poses also support my spiritual transformation. They allow my own inner light to unfold into new areas. As this inner light spreads and grows brighter, I’m able to bring it into more and more of my worldly life. This is so beneficial for me and for those around me.
Gurudevi says, “Your yoga melts the tensions and dissolves the fears so that the inner Source can arise inside to fill you and to bloom into the world. Yoga doesn’t make you yogic, it makes you more You.”
Will you share your blossoming forth? 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.” And you can make a difference for the Ashram, which has made such a difference for you.
Please consider a generous donation to our “Unmilana – Blossoming Forth” fundraiser. Let your inner light overflow. Share your Self freely. It will come back to you again and again.
Donate online or call us at (610) 644-7555. Or send your check to Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram, PO Box 143, Downingtown PA 19335. You may also email us at donate@svaroopayoga.org.
Thank you again and again!
Our Not-So-Secret Ingredient
By Swami Satrupananda
With great joy and clarity, I exclaimed, “Svaroopa® Yoga can heal the world!”
I was introducing myself at the beginning of the Embodyment® PLUS training. My enthusiasm and confidence surprised me a bit. But I know this to be true. Svaroopa® Yoga has limitless healing power.
Grace is the “not-so-secret ingredient” that makes Svaroopa® Yoga so magical. Grace is God’s power of revelation. Grace opens us up to experience our own Divine Essence. And the experience of our own Divine Essence can heal anything and everything. That’s how the accessible poses of this yoga can be so powerful.
Yes, the angles target your spine. Yes, the propping supports you allowing muscular tension to soften. And Grace superpowers the whole process. Limitless healing ensues. It’s always amazing but never surprising. It’s reliable.
In my introduction, I followed up my bold statement with a comment: “If they let us heal them.”
Yes, it is up to you. You are in charge. How much will you allow Svaroopa® Yoga to transform your body, mind and heart? How much can you melt into Grace?
If you want more healing, take a yoga class with our teachers. Beneath the umbrella of the Ashram, Gurudevi’s Grace flows more strongly. Through Ashram yoga classes, Online as well as On-Site, you’ll get more of the not-so-secret ingredient, Grace.
If you want even more change, take a private yoga therapy session. One of our Swamis will personally assist you. More Grace. More Healing.
Svaroopa® Yoga can heal you. How much will you allow? Take the next simple step with a yoga class or yoga therapy session.
Gratitude for Spiritual Transformation
By Ruth (Rama) Brooke, Yogaratna
Spiritual transformation is called unmilana in Sanskrit — your inner opening, your blossoming forth.
I have experienced the opening, expanding and unfolding through Gurudevi’s teachings and practices. This has likely been your experience as well.
Today, I ask you to join me in the practice of dakshina, financial giving in gratitude to the Ashram. Please give generously to our fundraiser, aptly titled “Unmilana — Blossoming Forth.”
Several years ago, in a personal meeting with Gurudevi, she said:
You are a bud blossoming forth from muddy earth into sunlight. Try to stop it! You can’t!
These words have resonated with me ever since. They speak to the power of the shakti (spiritual energy) flowing through her. As I look back, I see how that energy has blossomed within me. The emotional walls I spent most of my life constructing have tumbled (mostly).
I don’t need that protection to feel safe. I have a greater knowing of who I am. I am able to express my-Self with more clarity and less discomfort.
Another profound teaching stays with me as well:
Svecchaya svabhittau vishvam unmilayati.
By free will alone, Consciousness blossoms forth the universe on the screen of her own existence.
— Pratyabhijnah.rdayam, verse 2
Gurudevi explains that everyone and everything in the universe blossomed forth as a form of Consciousness-herself. She also personalizes the teaching, like she did for me that day in our meeting. You are one such form of Consciousness. You are blossoming forth. You are becoming more you.
Yoga guarantees this transformation. How will you choose to blossom forth and shine your light into the world?
Gurudevi and our swamis model this so beautifully for us. The light of Consciousness shines through their eyes, their teaching and all that they give. Please join me in giving back in gratitude. Donate generously to our Unmilana — Blossoming Forth fundraiser.
Donate online or call us at (610) 644-7555. Or send your check to Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram, PO Box 143, Downingtown PA 19335. You may also email us at donate@svaroopayoga.org.
Thank you again and again!
Growing & Blossoming
By Lynn (Gurupremananda) Cattafi
My redbud tree is a joyous mass of bright pink blossoms. Its spring blooms are so bright that they are visible at night, lighting up the dark.
In the same way, you bloom extravagantly, nurtured by your Svaroopa® yoga practices! Join me today in offering your financial support to Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram’s “Unmilana — Blossoming Forth” fundraiser.
The Sanskrit word for blossoming forth, unmilana, signifies the act of opening, expanding or unfolding. In the Svaroopa® yoga tradition of Kashmiri Shaivism, unmilana is associated with spiritual transformation. Gurudevi describes unmilana this way:
Like a plant blossoms forth flowers, you are built to blossom forth a unique form of Consciousness into the world. The impulse to do this arises in you over and over again. It is the purpose of your life.
Feeling a deep renewal inside, my mind, body and heart are opening in new ways. I am blossoming forth joyously. It’s not the springtime here that is making me blossom forth. It’s my Svaroopa® yoga practices. Most importantly, my spiritual transformation is due to having a Master Teacher like Gurudevi.
Gurudevi is a master gardener, expertly tending to her garden of blossoming yogis, including you! Her teachings nourish your roots. Her programs are designed to cultivate your continued growth. She helps you deadhead the stuff that’s old and finished. She supports you in sweeping the debris from your path.
She showers all of us with Grace. By the inner arising light of Consciousness, we blossom forth, shining our light into the world.
Wherever you are in your own spiritual growth process, Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram has pathways to support you. Gurudevi and our swamis meet you exactly where you are. They show you how to bloom. How fortunate we are to have such a Guru as Gurudevi Nirmalananda guiding our spiritual growth.
She can’t do it without your financial support of our Ashram, through which her teachings flow. Please give generously. You are supporting your own growth as well as the worldwide garden of seekers.
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!
My Yoga Miracle
By Lori (Priya) Kenney
As a longtime Embodyment® Yoga Therapist, I took the Embodyment® PLUS course recently.
During the course, I became acutely aware of what was happening in my body. I accepted the emotions. I let go of wanting a certain outcome and surrendered to the process. The results were magnificent, beyond my imaginings. This training gave me a yoga miracle!
I took the course for two reasons. First, I wanted more tools to help clients who are dealing with knotty issues. And I knew the training would bring me much-needed personal change.
We learned powerful therapeutic Embodyment® techniques to use on clients while in poses. I was not disappointed by what I can now offer clients.
I was also amazed by a training taking me so deep. My whole body and mind changed. I had no shortage of knots in both.
Some of the unraveling was challenging and uncomfortable. On the third day, my whole body hurt to the bone. I felt weepy and overwhelmed. Knowing this was a good sign, I embraced it. The roto-rootering and openings took me beyond what I’ve ever known.
Time got stretchy. It wasn’t even lunchtime, yet I felt like I’d experienced several days.
Gurudevi giving us an experiential anatomy lesson was a highlight. She got down on the floor with us! She gave us the experience of knotting and un-knotting.
Earlier, we had learned a brand-new pose. She created it to release a hard-to-reach knot, tight muscles at the top of your tailbone and the bottom of your sacrum. This pose works wonders!
Then my yoga miracle happened. In another awesome session, I felt my tailbone and sacrum flying free. It was more than release. It was liberation from bondage that I was only aware of after it was gone.
I experienced total freedom, beyond bliss. The crazy thing was that it felt natural to be free.
Crazier still is how “normal” the bondage had been. My clamped down sacrum and tailbone were so familiar, just part of me. Giving up that bondage gave me the experience of formlessness, while in my body.
At the same time, I felt more anchored within. What lies within me is so much greater than my physical form and identities. Svaroopa® Yoga is so effective at dissolving cramped, heavy places inside and outside.
I’m so grateful to have new tools to share. I have increased confidence about helping others. I have the experiential knowing that gnarly knots can dissolve.
