Category Archives: DYMC

The Yoga of Cancer: My Miracle Year

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By Lissa (Yogyananda) Fountain, Yogaratna

I had two choices when I was diagnosed with cancer. I could be miserable and just try to gut it out. Or I could harness the power of Divine revelation.

A few weeks before, Gurudevi had suggested I look more closely at my fear of death. It had been running me my whole life. But now this fear had begun provoking panic attacks.

What came next was Divine perfection. I received a serious breast cancer diagnosis. “Curing me” would require surgery and 14 months of rigorous treatment, including chemotherapy and radiation.

Yet “healing me” became an inside job, fueled by Consciousness. I decided to embrace the teachings of yoga like never before and put them into action.

Of course I didn’t get there alone. A beloved Guru sister, a cancer survivor herself, guided me weekly through the process. She helped me see what a gift cancer was: an opportunity for a profound purification of body, mind and soul. But first, I had to learn to accept that nothing would be on “my schedule.”

What a difference radical acceptance makes! From confusion grew clarity. From fear, gratitude blossomed and kept rippling into more and more waves of bliss.

It was as if I took a magic carpet ride into the unknown skies of my own Self. Every day, I discovered each moment could be made holy as I looked through Shiva’s eyes.

The infusion lab became my temple. My oncology nurse, a Divine priestess. I began my first treatment with out-loud japa, of course. She chimed in: “Oh I know that mantra: I bow to my own Self.” A yoga miracle!

It also became a sweet, intimate time with my ever-present husband. At the last round of chemo, I taped a flower on the infusion bag, with great honor and respect for its role in my healing.

Daily Embodyment® sessions grounded me in Consciousness. Weekly acupuncture balanced my immune system. And as the chemo killed cells, three hours of Ujjayi Pranayama re-plenished my body with more prana. 

My meditations deepened. I taught my Zoom Svaroopa® yoga classes throughout my treatments. Retaining that normalcy was a real spirit booster. It seemed that everywhere, everyone was touched by this miracle called yoga.

My doctor has proclaimed NED (no evidence of disease). I am humbled by the cocoon of love and Grace that surrounded me in my time of need. These yoga practices are pure alchemy.

The scary can become a profound opening. The dross of something like cancer can transmute into the gold of Consciousness awareness.

Now I want only to live and serve from a place of inner knowing. Fear of death no longer runs me in the same way. I am at peace.

It is said, “You never know what life will bring.” Yet yoga promises that you will know who you are while in the midst of it all. And that, for me, is everything.

Embodyment® Yoga Therapy
Ujjayi Pranayama

The Best of Both Worlds

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Be empowered to give people the gift of their own Divine Essence. Our new MTT format gives you the best of both worlds — Online as well as On-Site.

Now learning to teach meditation is easier and more accessible than ever.

Meditation Teacher Training

Begins April 7

On-Site & Online

In your On-Site immersion, you’ll experience the tools that unravel the knots in your mind. You will discover the deeper dimensions of your own Self and delve into that Beingness.

Experiencing your own Divine Essence is the key part of the process. This is why a Shaktipat Day is included!

Your Online classes begin after you return home. You will lengthen and deepen your meditations in your daily group meditations. Weekly satsangs (meditation programs) with Gurudevi ensure that you continue to marinate in Consciousness.

The two-day retreat that culminates your training is also Online. You will be prepared to teach your first series of meditation classes, supported by a Mentor all the way through.

Enroll Now

Don’t Slacken Now

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By Swami Shrutananda

A yoga therapy client told me:

I no longer get headaches. My skull is still tight. Mostly I don’t notice this tightness.

I no longer get the mild dizziness while doing a pose. My neck and upper back are tight, but not as tight as when we first started.

My chest tightness is mild. Walking around Lokananda or out for a stroll with fellow yogis, I didn’t notice the tightness.

This is a trap!  You might be trapped into thinking that how you feel now is probably as good as it gets.

You feel underlying tensions, some aches, maybe areas of your body that trouble you. So you do some yoga, and you feel better after doing yoga.

Yet you cannot address those deep underlying tensions on your own. You settle into the trap of assuming “this is good enough.”

You only get one body in this lifetime. That tightness and underlying tension, whether noticed or not, will surface in your future. If unaddressed, it will become a condition that doctors will later give a name to. Some conditions are life threating.

Don’t slacken now!

Svaroopa® Yoga Therapists specialize in releasing deeply held tensions along your whole spine from tail-to-top. Regular sessions, once a week minimum, are essential. A series of sessions will propel your healing process.

Most effective are ten sessions in a row, ten every other day and ten every third day. Repeat this 10-10-10 series as needed. Your body is the home you live in 24/7. Take care of it.

Svaroopa® Yoga Therapy addresses the deeper underlying tensions you have. Regular, consistent sessions enable you to live a comfortable life, a healthy life, a happy life. Don’t settle for less.

Let 2026 be the year you do more yoga therapy sessions. I dare you to feel better than you can even imagine!

Yoga Therapy

New Storefront

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Look at our big new windows and doors! Bright, shiny and new for the new year – let the light shine in.

This is the first stage of our storefront upgrade, with new colors and front steps coming soon. With a big thank you to the generosity of a donor and a number of sevites who have been working on the project for months.

This will make it easier to see us – and to come in for more yoga…

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