Category Archives: Courses

The Wonders of Shaktipat

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By Ashley (Tarini) Molson

Interviewed by Lori (Priya) Kenney 

I was alone in my own home for the September Shaktipat Retreat.  Even online, I had profound experiences.  Gurudevi has no limitations.   

Remarkable things happened and are continuing.  Chanting had been something I felt uneasy doing.  With no one listening, I sang out freely.  By the end of the weekend, I had no inhibitions and was chanting loudly from my depths. 

While receiving Shaktipat from Gurudevi, I found myself falling at her feet.  It wasn’t me making a heartfelt or mental choice to fall.  It truly felt as if I fell at her feet in full surrender.  My spine was straight up, but my heart was bowing.  It wasn’t something I thought myself into, it happened inside. In this moment, I fully embraced Gurudevi as my Guru.     

The devotion has continued blossoming. I immediately signed up for Meditation Club so I can meditate with Gurudevi and the other Svaroopis.  It wasn’t a priority before ¾ I always hit snooze.  I now wake up most mornings between 3:45 and 4 am.  

After Shaktipat, meditating more and spending more time with Gurudevi isn’t even a question. It’s like breathing.  I want more time with Gurudevi to continue deepening my experience.    

Shaktipat lit a fire that is filling me with the strength of my Sanskrit name.  Tarini is one of the names of Durga.  I’m feeling her strength, and it’s moving me to do things that seemed impossible before.   

I own my own business and work full time. It’s intense and there’s no “off button.”   I’ve been remembering what a gift it is to learn this yoga.  I feel incredibly grateful to Gurudevi.  She poured into me and now I’m saying, “Where am I needed?  Where can I pour it out to others?”    

I’m inspired to teach yoga again. It’s amazing — time and space are opening up for me.   

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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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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

Your State Affects Your Life

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Excerpt from Telecourse by Gurudevi Nirmalananda

Your mental and emotional state affects your relationships, your work and even your health.

Emotional pain and psychological needs can be what motivated you to start yoga, but everything changes when you discover what you really get — your capital-S Self.

The bliss of the Self is far greater than any blissful sensory experience. The depth at which you live, within yourself, is more meaningful than anything outside of you can provide. While the Svaroopa® practices improve your psychology, they’re not about psychology. They’re about enlightenment.

Yet, on the way to enlightenment, you become a better person, a happier person, more understanding, more generous, more genuinely present in everything you do. But if your goal is to be better, happier, understanding, etc., you’ll settle for too little. Wearing the clothes, wearing the jewelry and wearing the mask of spirituality just freezes you into another superficial sense of self

Yoga’s spirituality is for a purpose. Just like a car’s purpose is to provide you with reliable transportation, not to give you an identity. For example, I’m now driving my 6th Honda over the years, but I don’t have the identity of being a Honda owner.

The Guru keeps you on track, if you let yourself be seen. Many Svaroopis keep a careful distance from me, because they know that, if they come, I’ll see how they are and where they’re at. Of course! I care about you! If you’re stuck in your stuff, do I want to leave you there?

Excerpt from Leaps & Bounds, Module 2

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Gurudevi’s New Year’s Retreat

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Give yourself a New Year’s gift — a fresh start ― online as well as on-site!  Gurudevi Nirmalananda explains,

I love the new year. It holds such promise, like the seed of that will grow, flower and fruit. It’s a time to celebrate life and the turning of a cycle. It’s time to plan how to make the most of the coming year. Let’s do it together!

This retreat includes yoga poses, chanting, meditation, teaching talks and more. Gurudevi leads you through deep inner experiences that transform your sense of self. Discover your eternal expansiveness. Be propelled into your highest potential for the year ahead and beyond.

I’m astonished at the impact of Gurudev’s 2023 New Year’s Retreat on my life. … Guru’s Grace propelled me into action.  My energy and zest for life returned. … It was the Grace flowing from Gurudevi during the New Year’s Retreat that made it possible. — Agnes H.

2024 Online Retreat
2024 On-Site Retreat

The Gift of Shaktipat

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By Elena (Lila) Perri

I took my first Shaktipat Retreat in May 2022.  That retreat and the two following opened me more and more to the power of mantra and meditation.  My fourth Shaktipat Retreat was last September. 

After we chanted the Guru Gita, I felt Kundalini moving upward promptly in meditation.  I felt her hitting blocks and triggering thoughts related to difficult relationships.  I sent forgiveness to all.  This allowed Kundalini to fly up more powerfully and expansively. It was an intensely strong realization of the power of forgiveness. 

When our Swami Nirmalananda gave the first Shaktipat, I felt Kundalini rising into my heart.  She began to meet some resistance.  I experienced physical movements, spontaneous bucking as Kundalini continued her upward journey.  

Suddenly, I began to sob uncontrollably.  Tears followed as I cried silently for no apparent reason. I was in a timeless space. Then as quickly as the sobbing and tears started, they abated.  I felt an enormous rush of heat moving up from the base of my spine.  Then a vision of pure white light also rushed up my spine.   I melted into a supreme state of bliss. 

Gurudevi gave Shaktipat again in the afternoon.  Again, Shaktipat opening blessed me with the same state of bliss.  I received profound knowing and realization.  No material pursuit, activity or endeavor renders bliss.  I have experienced bliss only through Shaktipat openings.  

A Shaktipat Retreat is a deep dive into blissful communion with Self.  Time stands still.  All worldly experiences pale in comparison.   I am grateful to Gurudevi for her service, Grace and the most precious gift of Shaktipat. 

This gift has changed my life.  I am now grounded in what I have always yearned for.   The more I sit in Self, the more Self is being one with Self.  I feel the freedom to be there and allow Kundalini to move through me.  After the meditation, I feel unburdened of the distractions of life that I hadn’t realized I carried.

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Gurudevi’s New Year’s Retreat

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Getting ready for a new year?

For a fresh start and a chance for renewal and recommitment, enter 2024 in retreat with Gurudevi. From a deep place inside springs the newness of life. That source is your own Self.

In this retreat, savor the profound practices of Svaroopa® yoga. It includes asana (yoga poses), chanting, meditation, teaching talks and more.

Gurudevi leads you through deep inner experiences that transform your sense of self. Discover your eternal expansiveness. This retreat propels you into your highest potential for the year ahead and beyond.

I’m astonished at the impact of Gurudev’s 2023 New Year’s Retreat on my life. Guru’s Grace propelled me into action.  Within a few months I was teaching Svaroopa® yoga again after a seven-year hiatus.

I also increased my community seva, lovingly performing mundane tasks at our local Hospice.  My energy and zest for life returned. It was the Grace flowing from Gurudevi during the New Year’s Retreat that made it possible. — Agnes H.

2024 New Year’s Retreat

What a Difference!

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By Agnes (Aikyaa) Hetherington

I’m astonished at the impact of Gurudevi’s 2023 New Year’s Retreat on my life.  

I was almost too ill to participate. A severe coughing spasm with pneumonia had caused a hard fall onto my back. Extreme pain and difficulty breathing left me lying on the couch watching the retreat online. 

I felt more like an observer than a participant. Yet reading my journal notes, I clearly see the seeds of change were sown. 

The illness was no coincidence. In the “old year,” I had suddenly lost two very dear loved ones and faced other challenges. The future looked vague and blurry at best. I dreaded the thought of making a New Year’s resolution.

Spending those pivotal retreat days with Gurudevi ignited a profound inner shift. After the closing meditation on New Year’s Day, I wrote two words: “Resolution! Tapas!”  Tapas means doing the hard stuff.

I chose “Gumption” as my word ― a beacon of light ― for the year ahead.

While my illness dragged on, I sought help from wonderful Ashram programs. A six-class Therapeutic Yoga series eased the tightness and pain in my back. Then I took a series of ten Vichara sessions, which helped with my mind. 

As I journaled, I often reminded myself about Gumption, especially when feeling overwhelmed. Guru’s Grace propelled me into action.

Within a few months I was teaching Svaroopa® yoga again after a seven-year hiatus. I also increased my community seva, lovingly performing mundane tasks at our local Hospice. My energy and zest for life returned. 

I know I didn’t accomplish these changes by myself. It was the Grace flowing from Gurudevi during the New Year’s Retreat that made it possible. I am so grateful.

2024 New Year’s Retreat

Yogic Nutrition with Gurudevi 

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Online beginning November 7

What does a yogi eat?  

To achieve health as well as pleasure and (most importantly) spiritual development, yogis feed themselves consciously.  

Drawing on yoga, Ayurveda and scientific nutritional guidelines, Gurudevi gives you easy ways to improve your nutritional profile.

Taste is also important, especially as it contributes to your nutrition as well as your quality of life. Each class includes a tasting session with discussion. Enrollment is limited, so everyone can participate in the discussions as well as get personalized support and recommendations from Gurudevi.

My taste buds came alive.  I was in shock! Gurudevi guided us through making toast with all six tastes on it.  A huge light bulb went off.  Food can be good and good for me!  In this course, I learned I’ve been protein-deficient for 20 years.  Now I understand where my cravings come from.  The course inspired me to slow down and be more conscious of my eating.  I was thrilled to learn so much in a short period of time. And watching Gurudevi in the Ashram kitchen was a joyful experience.  — Sheralee H.

Yogic Nutrition

Learning to Eat Again

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By Sheralee (Shambhavi) Hancherow

Interviewed by Lori (Priya) Kenney

Food had lost its luster.  I was tired of cooking, tired of trying to find something exciting to eat. Nothing inspired me. My friends talked about recipes, but I wasn’t interested.  Being gluten and dairy-free made it even harder.  

In the first “Yogic Nutrition” class, my taste buds came alive.  I was in shock! Gurudevi guided us through making toast with all six tastes on it.  A huge light bulb went off.  Food can be good and good for me!  

Gurudevi told us that Baba said, “Food is medicine.”  Food can help me with my health too.  In this course, I learned I’ve been protein-deficient for 20 years.  Now I understand where my cravings come from.  

The course is both personal and practical.  I’d been accustomed to stressing about what to cook for myself and my family.  The course inspired me to slow down and be more conscious of my eating.  I was thrilled to learn so much in a short period of time.

Watching Gurudevi in the Ashram kitchen was a joyful experience.  It was amazing to see her and Swami Samvidaananda having fun making hummus.  It was heart-warming to see her doing things just like I do in my kitchen.  

I’m not 100% doing everything I learned, but I’m working on it.  I have staples on hand to bring the six tastes into every meal.  I know when to have the biggest meal, and I get much more protein than I used to.  I feel like Gurudevi really cares about how I’m nourishing myself.  She gave me confidence to continue on the path of yogic nutrition.  

Yogic Nutrition