By Kristine (Dhairyavati) Freeman

Please join me in donating to our “Shine with Divine Light” fall fundraising campaign.

Gurudevi says that light is so important to you because you are made of light. You feel most like yourself when you are shining with light. When your actions show your generous and loving nature, you feel so natural. You feel like yourself. You are radiant with light in those moments. You are your own Self.

As a freshman in college, I wasn’t feeling like myself. The social and academic transition was a challenging one. But twice a week I volunteered to give campus tours to prospective students and their parents. I noticed that I always felt better after giving a tour. I felt more like myself. Yet my light was limited, and I could get depleted quite quickly. I was like a little spark of light.

Gurudevi taught me how to be a steady flame. I am forever grateful for this gift.

As a Svaroopa^® Yoga and Meditation teacher, I serve as an internal tour guide.  I offer others yogic tools to access their own Divine light, so we can shine together. Like a blaze of light.

When you shine with the light of Consciousness, you too are a light unto the world. And when you give of yourself, you truly do receive. This is why dakshina, or selfless giving, is one of yoga’s most important practices.

As an Ashram donor, you make what we do possible. Yet you are the one who gets the most benefit. You are making a difference in the world. You are helping Gurudevi make a difference in the world.

That difference is an inner difference. When you’re changed on the inside, then you can truly work to benefit the world and all in it. It’s another reason to do more yoga. Let your Divine Light shine. Make a difference.

By Kristine (Dhairyavati) Freeman

Interviewed by Marlene (Matrikaa) Gast, Yogaratna

Two years ago, a bone scan showed osteopenia in one of my hips.  

Last spring, I wanted a home practice sequence with standing poses to address it. So I scheduled a private session with one of our Swamis.  I also knew that, at the same time, I’d be in a retreat with Gurudevi at the Ashram.

Instead of a pose practice, Gurudevi said I needed three thirty-session sets of Embodyment^® Yoga Therapy.  This was a Shakti Blast to my brain!  I reacted with shock.  How could I find the time — or the budget?  Yet in my Embodyment^® session with Swami Praj~nanda, I heard inner guidance: This is a gift from your Guru.  Can you find a way to accept it?

Home in MA, I found a longtime Embodyment® Yoga Therapist and realized I could make this happen. At first, I took lots of notes after my sessions. My lingering question was what if I do all these sessions and nothing happens?  Still, I felt an undercurrent of Grace supporting me.  I felt deeply settled, a steady stillness in the world.

By July, I’d completed my first set of 30 sessions. At the Ashram for another retreat, I could easily sit on the floor for meditation.  I could do all the poses without the modifications I had needed before.

During recesses, I didn’t need to rest in Shavasana and do Ujjayi.  My stamina had increased.  I was told my face looked lighter.  In August, a bone scan showed the osteopenia had stabilized at the level shown years before. The best-case scenario!

Now I’m in my third set of 30 Overlap Healing sessions.  Once again, I’m at the Ashram for a retreat with Gurudevi.  The seven-hour drive from MA was easy. I did not need long breaks, nor did I need caffeine. My body is free from the deep fatigue that I’d been living with before these therapy sessions.

I feel that “investing” in my bones has also delivered increased longevity and quality of life. With stabilized bone density, I don’t need medication for osteoporosis.  I am so grateful for Gurudevi’s Shakti Blast!  It’s been a highly effective intervention and so much more.

By Ellen (Lajja) Mitchell, President

Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram Board of Directors

Our Ashram’s year-end fundraiser theme is “Shine with Divine Light.”  

Please join me in donating with a one-time amount or starting a monthly donation, or increasing your current monthly amount.  Any gift will help your Ashram shine its Divine Light brighter into the world.

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Kindly take a look at our Vision and Mission statements at the bottom of all our emails.  Our Vision is “To engage in and teach the worship of Paramashiva, the all-pervasive Divine Reality, focusing on finding and experiencing the Divine within the individual.”  

Our Mission Statement explains how we do that.  It says “We provide yoga and meditation programs, teacher training and a vowed order. As a conduit of Grace in an ancient yogic lineage, we serve seekers of Self-Realization.”

This means our fundraising theme, Shine with Divine Light, is what we do.  Gurudevi Nirmalananda, our Master Teacher, says

It’s about shining in a way that you help others find their own light.

Think of the world and everyone as a string of lights.  Not all the lights are shining or functioning at their full wattage. The Svaroopa^® Sciences help you look inside so you find the source that powers your light to its fullest.  Once you are sourced this way, you in turn affect others in your circle.  

How many lights can turn on or shine brighter?  Your donation will help us to provide the opportunity for you and others to “Shine with Divine Light.” How? By doing more yoga.  Your generous donation is a shining example!

Donate today on our website.  Or you can call us at (610) 644-7555.  Or simply send your check to Svaroopa Vidya Ashram, 116 E. Lancaster Ave., Downingtown, PA 19335.  Thank You!