By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

Something wonderful happens when you simply sit. No phone, no music, nothing to read, to say or to do.

Whether you’re under a shady tree or in a quiet indoor spot, you gradually settle into an easy motionlessness — your body becomes still.

Then your mind becomes still, like when the ripples on a lake dissolve back into the lake.

This is why people have a chaise lounge in their back yard, to stretch out and gaze at the plants, to watch the birds and butterflies. After a few minutes, you’re not seeing anything anymore. You’re settling inside. Most people fall asleep or drift in a dreamy sleep-like state. You have done this so many times.

But on the way inward, you can take the other fork in the road. Instead of settling into unconsciousness, you can delve into the bliss of Consciousness within. This is yoga’s promise, that when your mind settles, you experience your Self — called svaroopa.

Tadaa dra.s.tu.h svaruupe ‘vasthaanam — Yoga Sutras 1.3

As your mind settles, you are established in your own Divine Essence (svaroopa).

How do you get your mind to settle?  One of the easiest ways is to use your body:

Sthira-sukham aasanam. — Yoga Sutras 2.46

Asana means to sit, in easy motionlessness.

In the beginning, you may need to scratch your nose, even cough and yawn. All that will soon settle down and you will be at ease. This is even a military command, “At ease, soldiers.” It’s useful for everyone.

Everyone practices it, even unconsciously, maybe lazing in bed during snooze-alarm minutes. Not sleeping, not really awake, coasting the inner edge, it’s quite blissful. It is even more bliss-filled when you take the road less traveled…

Your body’s condition affects your mind and heart, which affect your relationships, which affect your whole life.  Yet the purpose of the poses is not merely health and happiness.  Every pose is for your spine which we work with very directly in the…

— Gurudevi Nirmalananda

From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Your Body Matters“

Would you like your mind to be like a waveless ocean – calm, infinite, pure? Simply remember your experience of the Self.  It’s a matter of taking care of how you feel.  If you want to feel differently than you’re currently feeling, use yoga to make a shift.  Using your memory to bring back the…

—  Gurudevi Nirmalananda

From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Want to Be Happy?“

By Agnes (Aikya) Hetherington

In early 2025, I had the privilege of attending Gurudevi’s India retreat.

One highlight was a talk by Balkrishna, a Brahmin priest serving in Bhagavan Nityananda’s temple. Balkrishna told us repeatedly, with solemn emphasis: “You are so blessed to have a living Guru. Spend time with her, do what she tells you.”

I have heard Gurudevi put it a little differently, but I believe her meaning is similar: “Dead Gurus don’t kick ass!” Every week in her Satsangs, Gurudevi gives us little kicks in the butt.

While there is usually laughter as well, her message could not be more serious. We have the possibility of becoming enlightened in this lifetime, but we must do our part. It is always lovely to hear this, yet sometimes so difficult to do.

Living in the UK, I don’t have many chances to attend satsangs in person. Swami Sunday online has become my lifeline. Gurudevi’s teachings bypass my mind and go directly to my heart.

Yet Balkrishna’s words have continued to echo through my mind. One Swami Sunday, as I chanted with the group online, I was thinking “I should be there in person.” At that moment, Gurudevi’s photo fell off the wall onto my puja table!

It was too clear a message to ignore. A few months later, I travelled to visit my living Guru and get my butt kicked.

What I got was not so much a kick. It was more like a verbal, encouraging pat on the back. This was accompanied by a powerful injection of Vitamin G: G for Guru, G for Grace.

This vital infusion of Grace has propelled me into action that was long overdue. I have been teaching Svaroopa^® Yoga online for three years. But I have not had the courage to start in-person classes here. Upon returning home from the Ashram, I went into action.

Scouring the area for a suitable venue, I tried ten places before finding a beautiful, welcoming studio. I quickly put out promotional material advertising a free “taster” class.

In early December, I taught my first in-person class in over twelve years. And there is considerable interest in weekly classes that will begin in January 2026.

I have learned that I am never doing this alone. I can tap into the flow of Grace whenever I need support. For me, listening to Gurudevi teaching live is the most effective way to stay in that flow.

Probably right now your experience of your own beingness is not fluid, is not constant.  You have moments when you know who you are.  And you have moments when you’re lost in the differences – dotted lines. But you know the way inward. And if you don’t, I’ll remind you again to honor…

—  Gurudevi Nirmalananda

From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Dotted Lines“

Baba commented on this verse, saying, “The Guru destroys the darkness in the hearts of his disciples, and fills them with the light of knowledge. The Guru is the one who dispenses Divine Power.” The Guru points you inward, takes you by the hand and walks you inward and …

— Gurudevi Nirmalananda

From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Light Incarnate“

Inner happiness is ever-arising, independent of any external circumstances. This is what yoga calls your own Self. Well, not the happiness. Your own Self is not merely happiness; it is the source of happiness within. When you’re based in your own Beingness, you live in…

— Gurudevi Nirmalananda

From Gurudevi’s full discourse “When You Grow Up“

Yet any and every holy site is important for only one reason – the effect it has on you. It opens you to the greater reality within, the inner infinity. Many people go on pilgrimage so they can open to God, whom they…

— Gurudevi Nirmalananda

From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Pilgrimage to the Infinite“

The process of Self-discovery is a process.  Sometimes it’s bliss-filled, sometimes not.  Consider how many years have you invested in being unenlightened? How many days have you done your unenlightenment practices? How many…

—  Gurudevi Nirmalananda

From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Dharma, Karma, Moksha“