Category Archives: Courses

Knowing the Self in Two Ways

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By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

You need the theory to get beyond the theory. For the knowing of your own Self, you must have an understanding of the Self, so you can get there. But you must go beyond your understanding to actually get there.

It’s like going on a long car trip to a wonderful and beautiful destination. You plan your trip: figure out your timing, pack your bags and snacks, and set your GPS. Once you get there, you have to let go of the steering wheel and get out of the car. 

You have arrived. However, being in the new location changes how you see things and what you will do next. If you’ve read about the destination, you have an idea of what to do. In this way, the teachings help you make sense out of your new state once you are enlightened.

Vitarka aatmaj~naanam. — Shiva Sutras 1.17

Right understanding is Self-Knowingness.

The sutra is read forwards and backwards. Forwards: this means you can use the sutras and teachings to get to the Self. Backwards: When you know the Self, your mind gains a new understanding of everything. In both directions, this use of your mind is called “right understanding,” meaning it is accurate as well as beneficial.

What is the right understanding? First you use your mind to understand that you are more than your mind. You are the one who has a mind as well as a body. Cultivate your ability to see that you are the one seeing through your eyes. You are the one who speaks through your mouth, hears through your ears, who does what you do.  You are you even while you do what you do. 

As you distinguish between what you do and who you are, you grow into a greater sense of being, which opens up new possibilities. The most important of these is the possibility of inward expansion, the exploration of the “who” that you really are.

And when you explore your own Essence and Beingness, you discover that you are even more than what you thought you were. You go beyond your idea of your own Divine Essence — to experience your own Self, named “aatma” in this sutra.

This inner recognition of your own Self is beyond thought, beyond hope, beyond faith and belief. You realize that your own Self knows your own Self, and always has. You are That which has always existed, and is existing as you.

All the yogic practices and teachings are for this purpose — giving you the experiential knowing of your own Self. You are in your glory, shining with the inner light of being Consciousness-Itself.

This inner experience and knowingness now shines through your mind, illumining the shadows and burning away the foggy thinking. A new clarity informs your choices. Your decisions and actions are more direct, even simplified while being made more powerful and effective.

Now you live with right understanding, using your mind as a tool to implement the Divine Wisdom that is always arising within. This is the goal. What a way to live!

Living Sutras Course
Podcasts

My First Shaktipat

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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!

Shaktipat Retreat
Meditation Club

A Turning Point 

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By Gayle Haney

Interviewed by Marlene (Matrikaa) Gast, Yogaratna

For several years at Downingtown Yoga, I enjoyed Svaroopa® Yoga Therapy, classes and Gurudevi’s Satsangs.  I also took a Learn to Meditate course.  

Then in September 2021, I enrolled in the five-day, residential course – Foundations of Svaroopa® Yoga.  My purpose was to learn more about how these practices work and design a home practice.  In addition, I reached a deeper level of Consciousness and understanding.  

Each day began with chanting and meditation.  Then we dove into the primary poses for spinal opening.  In partner-pairs, we learned how to give instructions for alignments, adjustments and propping.  

With this meticulous training I went deeper.  I learned how to lead a group in japa (out loud mantra repetition).  I learned the history and meaning of the chants and how to do arati (the flame circles ceremony).  During meals and recesses, I refrained from worrying about work and checking my email and phone.  The benefits of Svaroopa® yoga saturated me on all levels.

Several years before, back problems had led me to Svaroopa® yoga.  There were times when I couldn’t stand up or even move.  Now my doctors recognize my progress and the improvements in my health.  

After Foundations, my local Svaroopa® yoga teacher and therapist gave me an Embodyment® session, and reported a profound change in my body: “Your sacrum has never been in this position and has never moved like this.”

My Foundations immersion was a turning point for my mind as well.  I attained a deep level of inner peace and quiet.  I became aware of how much I value this calm.  To maintain it, I use the tools that Foundations delivered.  A year and a half later, I am committed to my daily practice.

While I don’t teach, I have shared Svaroopa® yoga with my sister.  She and I now attend the same weekly class, and I support her when she has questions.  We recently took a Learn to Meditate course together.

Reflecting on my Foundations immersion, I have to say it’s a big investment.  And you get out of it what you put into it.

Foundations in Wagga Wagga
Foundations in Downingtown PA

Sutra Study with Gurudevi Nirmalananda

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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.

Living Sutras

Abundance of Benefits from YTT 3

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By Kim (K.rtakarii) Lodge

Interviewed by Margie (Maitreyi) Wilsman

On arriving at Level 3 of my Yoga Teacher Training, I was aware that something was quite different. My mind was telling me that the Teacher Trainers were treating us differently. From the beginning, everyone noticed the more relaxed feeling. As a group, we conversed easily with Swami Shrutananda and Sahajananda.

We expressed how our experience of the training had changed. They helped us to understand that we ourselves had shifted. They explained our shift inside made our training experience different. That really stood out for me. It helped me to see how much I had grown and changed. Gurudevi says it’s from receiving Shaktipat in Level 2.

After completing YTT 3, I could bring so much more to my students. Level 3 includes a great set of poses. Students were very excited about the new poses. But even more important, from a steadier place inside I could bring myself to my students in a whole new way. That has made the deep and abiding difference in the thriving of my yoga business, even during pandemic restrictions.

Before each training, I convince myself I am not ready. I now recognize that small-s self voice in my head as fear. Over the years, I have learned to trust this recognition. I know that, even though I hear this little voice sometimes, I am enough. I am ready. I am completely taken care of.

I am endlessly grateful to Gurudevi for showing me the way forward. Guru’s Grace is that steady hand at my back guiding me on my path.

Yoga Teacher Training
Yoga Classes – Online & On-Site

Yogic Nutrition with Gurudevi 

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Online beginning March 29

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.  

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.  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.

Yogic Nutrition

Turbo Charge to Spiritual Progress

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By Janet (Janaki) Murray

I took Meditation Teacher Training in 2005.  After 17 years it is still a memorable event for me in so many ways. For starters there were nearly 50 people on the course. The Shakti (energy) was incredible! And what an experience! I cannot say it was easy – far from it; but it gave a turbo-charge to my spiritual progress. 

It was hard work. Ten days of early mornings, late nights and every minute filled through the day. Yet it was truly a Grace-filled course, and it was certainly Grace that carried me through. The course kick-started a whole new range of personal shifts and changes.  The baggage of life, and lifetimes, fell away – and continues to. 

As I write I am filled with gratitude, once more, to Gurudevi for the gift of this course. And for her presence in twenty plus years I have known her.

Through the deep experiences during the course, I not merely learned but imbibed the philosophy. I became able to talk about and write about Consciousness with joy and confidence. Previously, I had not been much of a meditator.  Yet 17 years later, meditation remains the keystone of my practices. I cannot imagine not meditating. 

MTT gave me all the tools and confidence needed to teach the three-week introductory meditation course. And I am still teaching it. It is such an amazing course to teach, particularly for beginning meditators. It is well conceived and constructed and includes everything needed to get people started. 

Straightaway, students get a deep understanding of what meditation is. This is important as many come in with a range of misunderstandings. Sometimes both the student and I are blown away by the depth of their experiences.  This happens even in their first week. 

Many come to the course thinking meditation is somehow a difficult thing. The course soon teaches them that it is really quite easy. It also includes lots of practical tips to support their meditation. These things are very motivating for beginning meditators. Almost everyone who takes it loves this course! 

I love teaching it too. I find it such a delight to sit with a group of students who are getting so much. Yet it is so simple. When I sit with them, the Grace that flows through these teachings is palpable. 

The Continuing Education for Meditation Teachers is also excellent. I have taken two MTT updates since 2005. They were quite different from each other, though both completely relevant. They were really well worth taking both to my own development and to my Meditation teaching.

Deepen It Yourself!

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Reported by Vibhuti King & Matrika Gast

lloyd dharma apirian“These have been my deepest Svaroopa® yoga experiences yet,” says Dharma (Lloyd) Apirian.  He took all three DIYs last summer and has just completed June’s DIY: Healing which focused on deeper variations on our Magic 4 sequence.

Especially powerful for Dharma was the training in Lunge. “First,” he describes, “my legs were aligned too close, as though on a tightrope, and I was lifting my ribs in the wrong direction. I was able to remedy these misalignments. Even more remarkable was an adjustment from another student. She placed one hand on my sacrum and the other behind my heart. I felt her hands grow hotter and hotter. I was no longer in the realm of time. Suddenly I realized someone was talking to me. Though I still felt her hands on my back, she was actually sitting in front of me. This was my first ever experience of a comfortable and easy yet well-aligned pose. It brought to life Patanjali’s sutra “Sthira sukham asanam” (the pose is steady and easy). In my home practice now, Lunge feels brand new.

“During each DIY, Swamiji gives us a Q&A session. I asked whether I am starting to access the Self, and explained how I am easing into That. She helped me go deeper and verified my experience, reducing my self-doubt. She clarified that this is what I was experiencing, while I thought it was fear. Receiving such profound guidance is one of the great benefits of have an accessible living Guru.”

swami-sittingThe day after the program, Dharma says he “eased into my Self” just before entering his workplace. He shares, “The receptionist is a ‘difficult’ person for me, and has been for more than a decade. As I approached her desk, I saw her with a deep love — love that I have never experienced before. Love without attachment or desire. My love for my wife has deepened. And it’s the same with everyone I see, when I am in that place of Self, my home. This is a transformative path. I have been searching since my teens for a path that would truly change me and Svaroopa® yoga is it. I am deeply grateful for my Guru, Swami Nirmalananda, and for my Teacher Trainers. I am also profoundly grateful for my fellow students. They supported and encouraged me. I hope I supported them too.”

saguna-gossAlso a longtime practitioner of Svaroopa® yoga, Saguna Goss is the Ashram Business Manager as well. She says, “Since the opening of the Ashram, I’ve been prioritizing the meditation retreats and sutra courses. In the DIY weekend, I had the opportunity to focus on the asanas. It was a real treat! Having the opportunity to dive into a sequence of poses and do them again and again provided a beautiful support for my body. That experience has helped my meditation practice. It was a gift to be reminded about the importance of supporting your body during this process of inner opening that comes from meditation. The beautifully deep Q&A session with Swami, followed by a Swami Sunday, completed a weekend full of Bliss!”

amala-photoSVA Board President Amala Cattafi says, “The DIY retreat reconnected me to the importance of making my yoga practice ‘full-spectrum.’ I have always favored meditation and seva over working on my body. Yet they are all connected. The DIY retreat not only reminded me of that, but gave me an easy home program that does not take any more time than my usual morning practice!”

DIY is for anyone interested in yoga and meditation. There are no prerequisites. Meticulous pose instructions are included as well as pose handouts for your personal practice. Chanting, meditation and group sessions with Swami Nirmalananda take you deeper and deeper into Consciousness. Everyone experiences amazing transformation in body, mind and heart.  Our next one is August’s DIY: Connection followed by October’s DIY: Fulfillment.

YTT Streamlining?  Upgrade!

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By Swami Nirmalananda

I was looking for words.  Words to describe the incredible change in our YTT program.  Words that convey my delight about how much more powerful it will be than ever before.  Words that help you understand the new levels that will open for yogis who dive into the deep end with me.  I was looking for words.

I always begin with contemplation, letting my mind be filled with consciousness.  Consciousness-Itself is the source of words, the form of intelligence itself.  “New” and “improved” doesn’t work any more, not even when they put it on the outside of a box of detergent or package of munchies.  Plus we have the move toward heirloom veggies and Grandma’s original recipes.  Who says “new” is at all “improved?”

So I won’t say that this incarnation of YTT is improved over the previous one.  I stand by all I’ve done to marinate the teachers I’ve had the opportunity to train.  But marinating has to happen faster.  This is Kali Yuga.  Time is of the essence.  After all, this is the age of the quick pickle!

pickling cucumbers on the vine pinterest.comMy dad used to grow cucumbers, the little pickling cucumbers, and then make his own concoction for the pickle juice.  It took a couple of months for them to come to perfection.  Every summer day, as a kid on that interminable summer vacation, I’d ask, “Are they pickles yet?”

Are they teachers yet?  How quick can a yogi be transformed into a teacher?  The first Teacher Training I took was 25 hours.  I graduated with a certificate but didn’t feel ready.  I taught, but felt like we were all just going through the motions, a pantomime.  So I took another Teacher Training.  And another one.  And then Kundalini showed me the way.  Thank you, Baba.

Now you can make pickles in a couple of hours.  And they’re good!  Is this “new” and “improved?”  We have to turn out teachers this way.

So I was looking for words.  I could see the whole of what I’ve birthed, but how to describe it?  “Streamlining” is what I’ve been calling it; it’s the word that Chiti (consciousness) keeps giving to my mind.  So I went to the thesaurus.

Modernize, update — yes, I’ve modernized our Teacher Training, but that could easily mean dumbing it down.  Modern doesn’t always mean improved.  And yoga doesn’t honor the updates; it honors ancient knowledge and systems.  Yet the sages, through the ages, came up with new and updated ways of teaching the ancient truths.  So this is modernized and updated, yet the essence is unchanged.  A tricky thing to accomplish.

Reorganize, rearrange, reschedule, move around, reorder — yes, I reorganized the schedule, moving things around, putting them in a new order, so all these words are true.  Yet they don’t cover an essential piece, which is that the new order gives new meaning to all of it.

Revolutionize, reform, restructure — ah, this is closer.  It is a revolutionary new way to approach it, but it’s not new information.  It’s revolutionary information, spinal release, tail-to-top, core opening, but we already knew that.  Yet the re-forming of it, into a new structure, gives it a new power.  New potential.  Amazing new vitality!

Make more efficient, sort out, simplify — check.  More efficient, as in getting there quicker, with less energy expended.  Making it easier and more accessible.  Simplifying the profound.  Isn’t that what shaktipat is all about?

Develop, upgrade — yes, these are best.  Develop means that everyone who has ever taken one of our programs has contributed to our latest development.  Upgrade means you get a new system, one that does the things you already relied on and yet offers more.  Easier.  Quicker.  Cheaper.  And still deep and profound.

While all this describes our YTT Upgrade, it is now extending itself to all our programs.  The force of upliftment is pouring into all our programs.  “Faster, easier?  Of course,” says Shree Kundalini.  “Deeper and more profound?  Piece of cake!”

woman surfer www.geckoexpedition.cz

I am looking forward to this.

This California girl that I am, I know how to ride a wave.

Choosing to Grow? – by Swami Nirmalananda

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You sculpt time by your choices.  This is obvious when you miss your turnoff, especially when the next one is 20 miles ahead.  It will take 45 minutes longer to get there.  While you might not say you made that choice, you had been choosing to pay attention to something else or simply to be unfocused while cruising along.

Yoga is the science of consciousness.  You spend time doing practices which make you more and more conscious until you go beyond merely conscious and become Consciousness-Itself.  No amount of thinking can get you there, yet you must not abandon your mind along the way, so beautifully described by yogis in the personal stories they share in this issue.

Becoming conscious is not always easy.  You begin to notice things you didn’t notice before, including tensions or pains in your body, your mind, your heart or your life.  You’ve got work to do and it’s all inner work.  I’ll compare it to the remodeling we’ve undertaken in our “new” 130-year old building, Lokananda.

Fortunately the structure is sound.  Our town required structural testing, which the grand old dame passed with flying colors.  But her plumbing was leaky and her nadis (energy currents = electrical systems) needed some work, plus her roof will need some TLC soon.  But she’s coming along well.

Even more heartening, response to our Capital Campaign is building.  Yogis have already given and pledged almost $30,000.  On October 10, we will house our first immersion at the Ashram’s new campus!  Not only will you will enjoy reduced Housing & Meals costs, you will stay in a dedicated spiritual environment.

In the same way, the remodeling you’re currently undergoing absolutely leads to where you want to go.  There’s some debris to clear, new ways to see and be — yoga makes you all new.  Do more yoga.

Click to donate or for more info, or call us at 610.644.7555

OM svaroopa svasvabhavah namo namah