Author Archives: Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram

FREE Join Our Meditation Club

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Online Thursday July 24

Meditation is the most important of yoga’s practices. Sign up for this FREE online informational program to ask your questions.

In informal discussion with Gurudevi Nirmalananda and Swami Prajñananda, you’ll find out if joining our online Meditation Club will give you what you’re looking for. We want to help you find it.

Getting started is much easier when you meditate with others, especially when they are experienced meditators. Your meditations become easier, deeper and more fulfilling.

Meditation Club has made a big shift for me. Meditation had always been a struggle. Yet now I am regularly committed to my early morning wakeup call. I know I am making progress.

— Annette Z.

It is a commitment. While this introductory program is free, Meditation Club is by subscription, with a three-month minimum. That’s to get you over the hump. Life gets easier, deeper and more fulfilling as well.

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Guru Purnima — The Full Moon of the Guru

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By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

Shining in the dark, the moon reflects the light of the sun. It is cooling, luminous light showing your way through the mounded shapes in the night.

Your mind shines with the reflected light of your own Self, your Divine Essence, found within. When your mind is clear, the light is cooling and luminous.

But the dark you are trying to find your way through is created by the mounds and masses in your mind. They block the very light that you need so greatly.

The Guru’s mind has been cleared, so their light shines through. Yet their purpose is not to merely shine light on your pathway, but to illumine you from the inside out. July’s full moon is dedicated to the Guru — Guru Purnima.

The ancient sages dedicated each purnima to a different purpose. Some of them are seasonal, like the fall moon dedicated to the Goddess Lakshmi. She is the giver of earthly blessings including an abundant harvest. Dattatreya and Hanuman have their full moons, along with other deities.

On Vata Purnima, falling in May-June, married women do practices to insure the health and longevity of their husbands. One is to tie a string around the trunk of a banyan tree, in honor of Savitri, the wife who saved her husband by confronting the Lord of Death. Personally, I have seen many banyan trees circled with hundreds of strings, as I have often traveled to India for the July Purnima.

In India, it is rare to see the moon on Guru Purnima because the sky is covered with monsoon clouds. Many times I have sat under a shelter, seeing the light behind the clouds and waiting for the moon to peek out.

Perhaps this is why the ancients dedicated the moon to the Guru, since a true Guru is hard to find and even harder to follow.

Yet dedication does pay off. Every time I waited for the clouds to clear on Guru Purnima, my heart’s wish was fulfilled.

My Guru explained there are many false Gurus. Some of them lead you into worldliness. This is clearly described in today’s terminology: investment guru, fashion guru, advertising Guru and there is even a basement guru in my local area.

Other types of false gurus give spiritual teachings but without the depth of tradition that supports them and you. Baba said that zircons only exist because there are diamonds. In your spiritual search, you must find a diamond.

How can you tell? You measure the value of a Guru by the change in you. Do what the Guru recommends for six months and see if you like the changes in yourself. If so, plan on another six months. I did this with my Guru for six years, reevaluating twice a year, until I realized I was in the right place.

On Guru Purnima, the disciple makes every effort to spend time with their Guru. Traditionally, this is the day they give gifts to support the Guru and their mission. For me, back in the day, having time with my Guru on this auspicious day involved a trip to India. It is easier these days with internet programs zooming through.

If you cannot be with your Guru and are not able to zoom in, then do some extra practices on this day. For those studying with me, you can watch a discourse video, read a book or blog, or one of my monthly Teachings Article.

Chant the mantra, using one of my recordings. Do arati, the candle flame ceremony, to honor the Guru, including my Guru and his Guru.

And get darshan of the full moon, even a glimpse. In 2025, it is on July 10, peaking at 4:37 pm EDT, while it appears to be full on the nights before and after.

What’s so special about the Guru that they get a full moon? The book J~nanasindhu describes the Goddess Parvati telling her son:

Kartikeya, the Guru is without beginning or end, even though you can see him in a physical form.

While we can get caught up in appreciating the Guru’s physical presence as well as their unique qualities, it is their deeper essence that matters. As I described above, Divine light shines through their mind without obstruction, giving them the radiance that is so captivating.

I was definitely captivated by my Baba. I loved to watch him. Even now I watch videos of his discourses online, many English translations. I love to watch his expressions, his hand gestures, his eyes and his smile.

You can liken it to sunlight shining through a window in your home. While the same light shines through every window, you may have a favorite. You and the cat love to bask in the sun in that special spot.

In this way, you get to appreciate the unique qualities of your own Guru, while recognizing that it’s the Divine light shining through that matters.

Yet this is true of you as well. The same Divine light is full and intact within you, shining from deeper within than where you usually look. Yet your ability to access these deeper dimensions is limited until the Guru unlocks the door. Jaya Gurudev! Hail to the Divine Guru.

Guru Purnima Satsang
Video Discourses

A Series of Yoga Miracles

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By Kelly (Kushala) Sharp

A recent client has experienced a series of miracles. When they came to me, extreme sciatica pain was making it hard to walk. Plus, they were facing surgery because of a severe carpal tunnel flare-up. Their pain management required Advil three times daily, and they felt desperate.

In less than a month, they were scheduled for a three-week “trip of a lifetime.” So we created a custom Overlap Healing series and got busy. Overlap Healing is a sequence of daily Svaroopa® Yoga Therapy sessions, followed by sessions at wider intervals.

Within a three-week period, this client had 12 sessions. In their third — a mere two days after the first — they could walk without pain. They said it was a miracle. A week later, they reduced the amount of daily Advil. By the 12th session, they had stopped taking it.

And that carpal tunnel flare-up? By practicing Hastasana (Hand Thing) three times a day, my client recovered feeling in their hands. Taking only a minute, this pose offered immediate relief.

The client cancelled their upcoming surgery. They left on their trip armed with a Svaroopa® yoga practice to do every day (maybe twice a day). Yoga therapy supported change from the inside out.

To be honest, they exceeded my expectations. For their return, I had planned some Overlap Healing sessions to help them regain any lost ground. But much to my surprise they didn’t lose a lot of ground.

On their trip they had done their yoga and maintained the powerful openings received through yoga therapy. This worked even while doing lots of tourist activities that required exertion.

My client came home feeling great and returned to weekly yoga therapy sessions. When they noticed a little decline in how they were feeling, we scheduled a few sessions within one week.

My takeaway from this is that it doesn’t take a lot extra to make powerful and permanent changes. Sometimes a little extra is all you need!

Ashram Yoga Therapy
Teacher Directory

Do More Yoga! 

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By Amanda (Purna) Schmidt

How do you keep the spinal release you get in your Svaroopa® yoga class?  

Each day of home practice keeps your body open while it prepares you to get even more out of your next class.

Our Pose Instruction Cards provide everything you need to boost your home practice.

“Svaroopa® Yoga Basics” goes into depth on the Foundational Poses. “Daily Practice” builds on this information with advanced variations as well as new poses.

Each card contains detailed pose instructions. Also included are pose benefits and guidance on props and when to do the pose. You will find further guidance on creating a custom practice that works for you. 

And you will learn more about how the poses support your meditation. Go deeper in your home practice and get even more from your yoga. 

Basics Pose Cards
Daily Practice Pose Cards

Slow Yoga

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By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

Yoga slows down your inner pace, something truly needed in modern life. When you are able to stand down from red alert, your mind benefits along with your body.

Though some yoga systems have you speed up in order to slow down, the classical practice is done slowly. In other words, you slow down by slowing down.

It’s something everyone longs for, whether they plan an island vacation or to build a backyard living room. Or maybe simply an afternoon nap on the couch. You slow down by slowing down.

Even the ancients did their poses slowly. No internet, no superhighways, no airplanes or rocket ships, so they didn’t need to counterbalance the frenetic pace of life. Yet the yogis did slow poses back then.

The point is to use your body to cultivate an inward expansion into the deeper dimensionality of your own Beingness.

Each pose is used to dissolve the physical tensions your mind has created through its focus on need, greed and fear. As you melt away the old patterns, you enliven your body, thus awakening your nervous system, glandular system, circulatory and respiratory systems as well as your brain.

Vibrant health and vitality are only the beginning. The bliss of Consciousness is the goal.

Your spine is the conduit of Consciousness, documented in the ancient saying, “Every pose is for your spine.” Slow yoga gives you the time to unravel the deep tensions that have twisted and compressed your vertebrae.

In Svaroopa® yoga, every pose targets a specific area of your spine, decompressing your vertebrae and unlocking your energy. Your nervous system runs on energy, which comes from your spine, extending through your whole body. Best of all is the bliss that flows through as your energy awakens and spreads.

Speedy yoga was an innovation starting only 100 years ago, a mix of British calisthenics and classical yoga. Since India had been conquered and ruled by the Brits for 100 years or more, the adaptation was a survival need.

My 1970’s training was in the classical practice. I watched speedy yoga be adopted by the health clubs and YMCA classes. Then an international competition was begun, now called “yoga sports.” Slow yoga was eclipsed by the speedy, showy and sexy yoga in the foreground. Yet yoga is more powerful when it is done slowly.

I was in residence in my Guru’s India Ashram when a yogic adept came to visit. Asked to give a yoga demonstration, he performed one Sun Salutation. Moving slowly, it took him almost five minutes to do one. It was beautiful. It was poetic. It was almost like the gandharvas were playing their celestial instruments to accompany him. And it was a profound athletic feat, much harder than speedy yoga could ever be.

Svaroopa® yoga is a slow yoga. Profoundly healing, it is deeply nourishing on a spiritual level as well as physical. It opens up a mystical process of exploration, beginning with your breath and body, then deepening inward.

What do you find in there? Svaroopa, your own Divine Essence. You find who is living in this body, who is making choices and acting upon them, who is moving into the world.

As you explore your own Beingness, you discover who is having the experiences you are having. It’s not about the experiences — it’s about the experiencer. You discover your own Self. For this, you have to slow down.

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Today is Yoga Day

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Join us in observing the 11th annual International Day of Yoga today, June 21.  Celebrate by taking a class or doing more yoga at home. 

Svaroopa® yoga teachers around the country are teaching classes, including Kelly (Kushala) Sharp in Rehoboth Beach DE. She is offering a free class in honor of the day.

Here at the Ashram, Swami Satrupananda is teaching a FREE Yoga For Pain Relief Class.  And Swami Shrutananda and Swami Prajñananda are teaching in Madison WI and Fairhope AL respectively.

Around the world, 300 million people do yoga.  What if your co-workers, your family members, everyone on the road did yoga? The world would be a much better place!

This year’s theme is “Yoga for One Earth, One Health.”  You already know that yoga improves your health in so many ways. 

It increases your flexibility, strength, cardiovascular health, posture, balance, and bone health.  It improves your breathing, reduces your stress and anxiety, and increases your ability to focus.  It is wonderful that these benefits are so very well known. 

Yet the purpose of yoga has always been to give you even more:

“Yoga’s practices show the way to your inherent wholeness and holiness.” 

– Gurudevi Nirmalananda, in Beyond Confusion

Yoga gives you your own Self. Self is your inherent Divinity. It is the source of your joy, your happiness, your ability to love and your impulse to give. 

Svaroopa® yoga specializes in giving you experiences of your own Self, until you always know that’s who you are. And you recognize everyone else as another form of that same Divinity.  Whether or not they do yoga. But wouldn’t it be great if they did? 

Ashram Yoga Classes
Global Yoga Classes
Private Yoga Therapy

Ways to Deepen Inward

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Attending Gurudevi’s satsangs, you get her profound teachings, delicious opportunities to chant and guidance to easily slip into meditation.  

Her meditation programs are Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. You deepen inward, enjoy a rich experience and learn how to understand it.

Wednesday July 9th is a unique opportunity to dive especially deep. We will be celebrating Guru Purnima. This holy day occurs on the biggest full moon of the year, and is dedicated to honoring your spiritual teacher. 

As a Meditation Master, Gurudevi Nirmalananda makes herself available as Grace Personified.  She gives us a way to tap into our own svaroopa most easily.  On Sunday, July 13, her teachings and chants will focus on honoring and celebrating her own Guru.

The Ashram’s Vowed Order will be on retreat during with this celebration. You’ll be joining these deeply committed yogis, whether you come in person or online. They’ve travelled from near and far to sit and bow at the feet of their Guru. You will feel the amped up power of Guru Purnima!  

Inspired to learn more about our Vowed Order? Sign up for Gurudevi’s free Vows Info Call to ask all your questions!

Guru Purnima 7/13
Vows Info Call 7/15

Support for Healing

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By Joan (Jayadevi) Bragar

Within the Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram community, I am a Sadhaka. This means I am committed to doing Svaroopa® yoga practices daily. Recently, I found myself challenged to do so. I was in pain as I began recovering from a recent surgery.

A Svaroopa® yoga friend suggested I listen to the “Long Guided Awareness” track on the Experience Shavasana with Gurudevi Nirmalananda album. This had been helpful for my friend’s husband in coping with a chronic illness. 

When I listen to this Guided Awareness, the muscles around my surgical incision relax. This release allows me to participate more fully in other Svaroopa® yoga practices, including Ujjayi breathing, mantra and meditation.

Another yogi friend suggested that I practice Easy Breathing. For guidance, I turned to Gurudevi’s album Mystical Yogic Breathing. When I listen to track three, “Easy Open Breathing,” I’m able to release constrictions around my abdomen and chest exacerbated by surgery. When I release these tensions, I benefit more fully from Ujjayi breathing. I practice it on my own for 30 minutes at a time and find it especially healing.

All Mystical Yogic Breathing tracks give me new teachings about the healing power of yogic breathing.  I can use them in my daily practice. When I listen to these CDs and apply their lessons, I experience the bliss of Consciousness moving through me. This reduces my pain and enlivens my body and my mood. What a gift in the midst of a long recovery!

Experience Shavasana
Mystical Yogic Breathing

Miraculously Moving Through Cancer

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By Lori (Priya) Kenney

Chemotherapy and radiation left my client Julie R feeling progressively weaker.  

She barely walked, and struggled to bend and pick things up from the floor. Embodyment® Yoga Therapy helped both her mind and body.

She says, “These Embodyment® sessions gave me hope.  You don’t know what is going to be permanent.  What if this is just how things are now? Getting Embodyment® sessions gave me confidence that I would get better and heal.”

I first talked with Julie in September 2022, a year after she had a two-day open-heart surgery.  Originally from Boise ID, Julie was taking online Svaroopa® yoga classes with Marlene (Matrikaa) Gast. Matrikaa suggested Julie see me for Embodyment® sessions. Julie came twice. 

A year and a half later I heard from Julie again when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.  She was concerned I wouldn’t want to touch her because she was so full of chemicals.  I reassured her that wasn’t a problem. We began weekly sessions.  

She credits yoga for getting her through chemo without a crisis. She also has a liver disorder which can cause reactions to medication. Yet after only one reaction, at the beginning of chemo, all went well.  

She did have headaches, nausea and intense joint pain. She felt that her body was being trashed during treatment. Though she often arrived looking pale, with muscle tensions and fatigue. After her sessions she left with color and light in her eyes.  

She reported a quieter, calmer mind with less stress, deeper breaths, and less pain. She says, “It was really good to have time designated just for me to focus on my healing.  It was the one place where healing efforts felt soothing and nurturing.”  

Because Julie had stopped her online classes, Matrikaa suggested that I start offering Foundations-level classes in small groups. She was confident Julie would benefit from in-person adjustments. I knew this to be true, but I’d never planned to teach. I had only wanted the deep bliss and Grace that comes with retreats.

Fortunately, Gurudevi had talked about embracing tapas (doing the hard stuff) a few days before. I knew this was it for me and that it was my dharma (responsibility). Matrikaa’s suggestion landed so solidly that my resistance gave way nearly immediately. It was as if Gurudevi herself told me to teach. 

That was Thursday March 6. I gave Julie an Embodyment® on Saturday, and she enthusiastically said she would come to my classes. The following Friday, March 14, I taught my first ever asana class — 17 years after taking the Foundations of Svaroopa® Yoga training. 

Right away, my husband and I expanded my basement Embodyment® room to accommodate students. I added another photo of Gurudevi to the space and played mantras through the process. The room felt different. 

I realized I didn’t need to take retreats to be in the flow of Grace. Grace propelling me, I experienced another yoga miracle. I felt Consciousness pouring through my classes.  

After Julie attended two classes, I noticed big changes during her next Embodyment® session. She was more limber, her sit bones realigned more, and her sacrum actually rippled! Her back was more pliable, and both shoulders opened.  

Equally amazing, Julie says yoga has helped with some neurocognitive issues from chemo and from  being on a heart/lung machine during her heart surgery. She says, “I’m clearer now and more who I was as a person.”  Her lower back pain has completely resolved since taking classes. So much healing. Julie is another Svaroopa® yoga miracle.

Ashram Yoga Classes
Global Class Calendar
Yoga Therapy

Celebrate Gurudevi’s Shaktipat Anniversary

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May 31st is Gurudevi Nirmalananda’s Shaktipat Anniversary.  She celebrates this holy day by sharing deep teachings honoring her Guru, Swami Muktananda. 

Gurudevi explains that this day is the anniversary of her birth into Self, more important than the day on which she was born into this world.

She takes this opportunity to share the depth of her heart and the wealth of what she has received from her Guru, saying:

How can I begin to express my gratitude for His gift. He gave me to me.

For the satsang nearest May 31st, Gurudevi’s discourses are traditionally a tribute to Baba Muktananda.  She includes deep teachings about the power of Shaktipat and shares her personal experience of receiving Shaktipat from Baba Muktananda. 

You may also observe this holy day by renting any Deep Teachings Videos of past Swami Sundays near May 31st.  Most recent, “The Guru’s Qualifications” is her discourse for the Swami Sunday on May 29 2024. 

Recounting her time living in Baba’s Ashrams, she tenderly portrays his serene and compassionate service.  Her presentation of her personal journey of upliftment is both profound and lighthearted, portraying the unique qualifications of a Shaktipat Guru.  You gain an understanding of the rare and great blessings of such a spiritual master.  

This year, she celebrates her Shaktipat Anniversary in her Swami Sunday on June 1st.  Be sure to register for online before 6pm EDT on Saturday, May 31st.

Deep Teachings Videos
June 1st Swami Sunday