By Alina (Avinashi) Uzhvieva

Interviewed by Lissa (Yogyananda) Fountain, Yogaratna

Nothing compares to being in the same room with an Enlightened Being.  In Gurudevi Nirmalananda’s presence, a vibration starts in my whole body.  It’s more than mere emotions; it’s coming from a place deeper inside.  

Attending Shaktipat at Lokananda also means being surrounded by beautiful smiles and serene faces of fellow yogis.  There is no judgement, only love and care.  Everyone there shares the same path to liberation.  

Before I received my first Shaktipat initiation I had so many expectations.  I wanted to get it all!  Receiving Gurudevi’s Shaktipat by touch was intense.  I experienced my greed and expectations turning into tears, anger, guilt and fear.  They were being cleared out.  

Then I realized that all my previous yogic practices had prepared me for this moment.  Suddenly the anguish stopped.  I felt completely still.  It was deeply calming and absolutely ecstatic.  

Having learned my lesson, I was able to release all thoughts and feelings in Gurudevi’s second Shaktipat (by will).  Everything dissolved as I melted into the process.  I felt I was one with every yogi in the room.  It was a sweet state of Beingness.

When I returned to everyday life, I knew I wanted to integrate my experiences. Gurudevi provided us with many practical tools to support ourselves after Shaktipat.  At first, I did experience relapse, wanting to be back at Lokananda.  Yet I realized integrating even 1% of my expanded state of Beingness would improve my whole life. 

Now I have more clarity about being a mother and wife.  I want to keep my body and mind healthy to support my family.  This realization helped establish my daily practice.  I do yoga and meditate every day now.  

Less reactive and more responsive, I feel better and see everything in my life in a different light. Remembering my Shaktipat experience, I can be with whatever is happening.  I’m grateful for Guru’s Grace and to know where I am headed!

By Ellan (Shanti) Catacchio

Interviewed by Margie (Maitreyi) Wilsman

Gurudevi offered “Leaps & Bounds” as her 2019 Year-Long Programme (YLP).  I took it back then.  Now she is offering “Leaps & Bounds” as a Telecourse, with new teaching videos as well as substantive articles.

I looked through my 2019 YLP articles, and as I read, I kept saying yes and yes.  I saw how I experienced a powerful inner process.  What especially struck me is that I now hear so much of what Gurudevi says differently and deeper.

Looking through my 2019 meditation journal, I could not finish.  It was so intense.  I no longer feel that way now.  I am doing the things I said I should do in 2019.  Yet I am not frantic about it.  There is ease about my life that was not there in 2019.  

Yes, since 2019, I have had the huge growth spurt that Gurudevi describes in “Leaps & Bounds.”  I am doing it all with ease.  Not because I feel I should.  It is not a “should.”  It is just a natural thing to do.  I know that meditation is working.  It works, even when it is not what I want or expect it to be.  

With my calmer demeanor and approach, I may be plateauing.  In the 2019 YLP, Gurudevi described this plateau on the Self-Realization path.  I’m settling in, not backsliding nor relapsing.  Instead of coaching “just do it,” Gurudevi guides us into keeping meditating and a lot will fall into place.

Looking though her 2019 articles, I found many other gems of guidance. Don’t compare.  Just keep meditating. Yoga and Kundalini have my back, as does my Guru.  It all comes together.

Gurudevi’s new Telecourse videos will expand the power of her teachings.  We will be in her presence and see her, her facial expressions and surroundings.  Her teaching audios in the original “Leaps & Bounds” YLP were profound.  Now with her videos, the Leaps & Bounds teachings will have even more profound impact.

In taking the Telecourse, may you (like me) discover that yoga works on you in spite of you.

By Belle (Bhavani) Mann

Interviewed by Lori (Priya) Kenney

About 20 years ago, I spontaneously received Shaktipat in an advanced yoga teacher training.  It was like lightning struck me.  

I was suddenly filled with intense love.  It wasn’t regular human love; it was Divine love.  It was the most unbelievable experience of my whole life.  When I got home and walked in the door, my husband said, “You’re different.”  I kept that state for a few months.

Yet I was able to understand this only years later, after Gurudevi started teaching about Shaktipat.  Now I take Gurudevi’s Shaktipat Retreats, where she gives this initiation intentionally, both online and in person.  I love that just being in her presence changes me.  

I love the teaching talks given by our swamis.  I learn so much from our group’s questions and Gurudevi’s answers during the On-Site Q & A.  I love chanting, especially with the group at in-person retreats.  At the in-person retreats, I also get a chance to hang out in the bhav and Grace of the Ashram.  I have personal contact with Svaroopa^® yoga friends and enjoy meeting others.  I can talk and laugh with them all.  

My many Shaktipat Retreats, in person as well as online, have been powerful in different ways.  In my last one, I felt veils of resistance falling away.  I hadn’t realized I had been resistant to becoming enlightened.  Now I could make a stronger commitment.

After each Shaktipat Retreat I feel changed, even when it takes a couple of weeks to discover how.  After one, I felt much closer and loving toward Gurudevi.  Another time, my love of chanting increased.  I deeply feel these subtle internal shifts.  I am grateful for all the ways Shaktipat has changed me.  All are gifts of Gurudevi’s Grace and teachings!

By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

I remember getting leg pains in my adolescence.  I felt a deep inner ache that had a sharp edge to it.  The doctor called them growing pains.  He offered no treatment, no help whatsoever, saying I’d outgrow the growing pains.  It’s true; I did.  You will outgrow your growing pains, too.

The leg pains are caused by muscular tension.  The bones are growing faster than the muscles.  The muscles are holding tight while the bones attached to them are growing longer, stretching the muscles and tendons to a new length.  

If my childhood doctor had simply recommended some gentle massage, or maybe some yoga, my growing pains would have disappeared.  Nowadays, maybe they even recommend yoga?  Looking back, I can see that it would have helped me grow into myself much more smoothly:  on all levels, body, mind, heart and spirit. 

Everyone wants to get a boost.  Like a child sitting on daddy’s shoulders, you want to see beyond where you’re stuck. You’re hoping to bound into the next level, leaving this one behind.  Of course, you can do things to move that along.  However, your ability to discern what to do, as well as to actually do it, is part of what you’re growing into.  

The biggest boost is Shaktipat, the initiation into Self-Knowingness. Yet Shaktipat doesn’t give you the ability to avoid your growth processes.  Instead, it gives you the clarity of knowing what you need to do, why to do it and where you’ll be when you’ve done it…

By Todd Correa

Interviewed by Lissa (Yogyananda) Fountain, Yogaratna

I signed up for the New Year’s Shaktipat Retreat to explore my humanness and understand myself better. I wanted to feel more connected to the cosmic Consciousness of the universe. I did not know what Shaktipat was, but I trusted the recommendation of my local Svaroopa^® Vidya Meditation and sutras teacher.

I had enjoyed my local teacher’s three-part Learn to Meditate course. I recognized I could go deeper — something was happening inside. I even joined the Ashram’s Meditation Club. Without realizing it, I was preparing myself for my first Shaktipat experience.

Being brand new to an Ashram retreat, I was surprised by so much chanting and meditation. I was amazed I could sit for such long periods of time. I loved it!

When Gurudevi walked into the room, I felt there was something special about her. She looked at me and “saw me.” I felt accepted, as if I belonged there. She knew who I was and am: Shiva.

Sometimes it felt a bit overwhelming, with my senses bursting open. I felt like a deer caught in headlights! Yet I wanted this new experience to feel like mine, fully authentic. I accepted it, as it unfolded.

It was weird, but I embraced it. I wrote in my journal: “My whole being is opening up, in a burst of life. My head is opening up like a flower. I feel intense emotions, while being bathed in bliss.”

My first initiation by Gurudevi’s touch, my whole body went into hers, opening up to receive her Grace. I did not want this feeling of Oneness to stop. Afterward, I felt exhausted, my body depleted. I did not know how to put my experience in perspective. However, the retreat talks helped me understand what was going on. So I did some restorative Ujjayi breathing during our breaks.

When Gurudevi gave us Shaktipat by will, I was still right there, having an amazing experience. I wondered: “How does she do that from way over there?” Yet I knew in my core that it was real. Something beautiful and amazing had happened, and I am so grateful.

Before, I understood the theory of “One-ness.” But now I have experienced it because I was with a Self-Realized Being. I feel more empathy and the ability to be present to my therapy clients and students. I can go deeper within myself and assist others to go deeper as well. My work is my calling, so I am going to do Shaktipat again!

Gurudevi’s online Living Sutras course is about your life and how yoga improves it.  India’s great masters have explained it clearly in their texts and oral teachings throughout the ages.  The sutras (verses) shine light on every area of your life.

These teachings are not about what you should be doing.  Instead, they explain how yoga works.  You learn how to navigate your way with clarity and compassion toward others as well as toward yourself.

Each class includes Gurudevi’s discourse followed by a group discussion.  Everyone in the group is contributing to everyone else’s growth and learning.  Then Gurudevi leads a meditation based on the principles she covered.