Category Archives: DYMC

Diagonal Leg Deliciousness!

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Carolyn (Karuna) Beaver, Yogaratna

One of my go-to poses is Diagonal Alternate Leg.  It has a wonderful way of resetting my unstable hip joints.  Lately, however, I have been slowing it W-A-Y down.  Then I get all the juice I can from it.  It feels like my own self-administered Cure All Knee Press.

It’s a two-for-one pose.  You start in the regular angle of Alternate Leg.  I linger just a little, first with my knee in towards my chest.  Then, I move my leg into an advanced and deeper angle, thus I can feel my tailbone release in both angles. Ahh…

I take my time moving my leg across my body into the diagonal angle.  I go slow, and then pause.  When I coax my knee in towards my chest, I might even feel into a tight spot.  Some softening breaths, and I can feel those muscles let go.  It’s the “Cure All” effect!

My favorite part of all?  Allowing my leg to lean in towards my chest slowly and naturally, as I ease it back to its starting point.  I can feel my thigh bone pivoting and settling into my hip socket in a different and deeper way.  And even better than all this?  I get to do it all on the other side!

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International Day of Yoga 2023

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The World is Doing More Yoga

By Gurudevi Nirmalananda 

Join us in celebrating this UN-proclaimed observance, created in 2014.  The summer solstice was chosen, honored in India for the most daylight (in the northern hemisphere).  The resolution received support from 177 nations, the highest number of co-sponsors for any UN resolution.

Fun Facts:

  • 300 million people worldwide regularly practice yoga
  • 36 million Americans practice yoga regularly
  • 1.7 million American children under 17 practice yoga
  • 1 in 3 Americans have at least tried yoga
  • 150% more men are practicing yoga from 2012-2016, from 4 million to 10 million
  • 86% report a reduction in stress
  • 69% report a positive increase in temperament and mood
  • 59% report an improvement in sleep quality and quantity
  • 86% report an overall improved sense of mental wellness and clarity
  • 79% report a feeling of closeness with their community and wanting to give back
  • 55% of regular yoga practitioners attend 2-3 classes per week
  • 50% increase in USA yoga practitioners since 2017
  • 50% of yoga practitioners focus on meditation
  • 50% of yoga practitioners are more likely to volunteer and have donated to charities in the last year
  • 41% of yogis are vegetarian
  • 5% have given Sanskrit names to either their children or their pets

For this special day, the Indian government has given us some online activities to do – click here for a yoga quiz, an online discussion forum, to share a video, design a mascot, create a poster or a poem, create a doodle, offer a jingle or an essay and more…

Please join us at one of our events:

Free Chant & Meditation
Yoga Wednesday
Telecourse: Leaps & Bounds

Fun Facts:  https://yogaearth.com/yoga-research

Your Mind’s True Capacity

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By Gurudevi Nirmalananda 

Brilliance.  Creativity.  Insight and intelligence. Generosity and boundless love.  Compassion, strength, fortitude – these go together, for you cannot act on your compassion unless you also bring strength and fortitude with you.  Your mind is capable of all this and more.  

You currently use such a small portion of your true capacity that I call it “puny little mind.” This is a trap you can end up living in for lifetimes, as it is baited with sensory delights.

Every athlete knows to restrain their appetites before a competition.  They refrain from intoxicants and sexuality plus they carefully regulate their sleep and food.  This is true of chess players as well.  If you want to get optimum results from the use of your body and mind, you need to take care of them, like you would with any other type of equipment.

For those who wear eyeglasses, you have to clean them regularly.  If you wait too long, you don’t realize that you’re living in a grey and blurry world until you do clean them.  Then you put them back on and wow!  The world is so bright!  And so beautiful!

The yogic sages say that it is not merely your glasses that need cleaning…

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What Kind of Karma?

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By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

No one talks about their karma when life is flowing smoothly, when finances fall together and they’re getting what they want. That’s called “good karma.” But you may complain when things are falling apart and life is hard. That’s called “bad karma.” However, complaining about it does not help. You already know this. It’s like complaining about the weather. No matter what you say, it is what it is.

Where I live, the weather blows in from the Arctic or the Caribbean, sometimes from the Great Plains. Whatever blows through, all I can do is manage myself in the midst of it. Rain gear, snow gear, summery clothes and sunscreen – all are in my repertoire and in my closet.

Similarly, your karma is coming from somewhere – maybe things you did yesterday or last week, perhaps from decades or lifetimes ago. In meditation, I‘ve had clear memories of being a Greek soldier in a prior life. Karma can be nasty stuff! But it’s only if you did nasty stuff in the past. And we all have.

You have also done good things. Big stuff and even little stuff matters. Sometimes when I’m driving, I…

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Surgery at Birth

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By Maria Sichel

With the Svaroopa® Sciences practices, miracles happen reliably.  Encouraged by his wife, my client Marc took an introductory class last September.  With two partial knee replacements, he described himself as “stiff” and said he had back and knee pain.  After this introduction, Marc felt so good he enrolled in weekly classes.

Marc’s Svaroopa® yoga class became a highlight of his week.  He often reported with wonder that he felt so much better at the end of class.  Early on, he remarked, “I wasn’t expecting the added benefit of mental relief!  I am astounded to be calmer with less pain, more mobility and an overall good feeling.  My body has opened in ways I couldn’t have imagined.”

In February, he decided to try yoga therapy.  He described, “I was born with a double hernia.  Correction at birth created scar tissue that affected my psoas muscles.  At 26, I developed a slight herniation on the right side of the L4–L5 vertebrae.  On-and-off debilitating pain resulted.”

Marc got some relief from massage therapy and chiropractic treatments.  However, the extreme tightness on his right side from his neck down to his hip continued.  Arriving for his first yoga therapy session, Marc reported pain spreading through his neck, entire right side, sacrum and both knees.  Afterward, he reported no pain!  Being persuaded by the miracle of 20 minutes of Ujjayi Pranayama, Marc became a daily “breather” at home.

At his fifth session, Marc reports enjoying his consistent daily Ujjayi breathing.  When he fills out the initial pain scale, he now targets only two small spots.  He leaves the session with zeros. 

Marc says, “I am amazed at the breathing practice.  I have been able to stop visiting the chiropractor every week.  This weekend I overdid it and was in quite a negative state.  I did my breathing, poses and some meditation, and I was transformed.”

I say that Marc is in the “midst of a miracle.”  I don’t know how “good” good can get for Marc.  And neither does he.  But he continues to be curious and run the experiment.

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Receiving More Intense Shaktipat

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By Margie (Maitreyi) Wilsman

Year after year, I take Gurudevi’s Shaktipat Retreats.  I know she has awakened Kundalini within me.  In every human being, Kundalini is the cosmic, mystical, meditative energy lying dormant at the base of our spines.  When awakened, she does our inner work for us.  

Burning karmic seeds stored in the spine, she dissolves blockages to Capital-S Self within.  I now experience Kundalini arising within me, the process of enlightenment unfolding.

In my last Shaktipat Retreat, we chanted to honor Kundalini as always.  We also chanted Chidananda Rupah.  Its refrain “Shivo’ham, Shivo’ham” honors the one who chants.  It offers you the revelation “I am Shiva, I am Shiva,” that Light of Conscious, the One Self Being All.  My chanting was much more purposeful, even though I didn’t will it to be so.

In each retreat, Gurudevi gives Shaktipat two or three times.  Each time, Gurudevi reminds us that what we receive from her depends on our capacity to receive.  This time I decided to open my capacity for receiving to the fullest.

Now, even months later, I notice my spiritual process has been transformed.  Kundalini continues to clear obstacles to the experiential knowing of my Capital-S Self.  Kundalini opens me to Divine sight and heartfelt feelings.  

My inner eyes allow me to see and to feel the cosmos and world alive with the energy of Kundalini and my own Self.  Within my spiritual heart, I feel the throbbing of Pure Love, Divine Love.  I am propelled to chant twice daily.  Kundalini also propels me to meditate twice daily.  With resolve greater than ever before, I continue what Kundalini is propelling me to do.

Whether online or in person, Gurudevi’s Shaktipat Retreats transform me in unexpected ways.  Kundalini and Gurudevi know what I need in my spiritual process.  Now I have more and more capacity to receive.  Her gift of Shaktipat is truly the gift that keeps on giving.

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A Yoga Warrior

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By Julia (Chintamani) Wallis

Interviewed by Lori (Priya) Kenney

Late last year, Yulia came to me in a lot of pain.  Since childhood, every day has brought her hip, shoulder, wrist and knee pain.  Persistent headaches and head pressure were part of it too.  She didn’t remember ever not having headaches.  Even her vision kept getting worse.  

I gave Yulia three private sessions.  She experienced mental peace and calmness immediately.  Soon physical changes started, and her pain began to subside. 

Then Swami Satrupananda came to teach some yoga programs.  Yulia enrolled in the four-hour workshop, though this was before she had done any yoga classes.  Towards the end of the yoga poses part, Yulia came to me, looking very frightened.  She said she didn’t think she could do it.  Her physical discomfort was very high.  I told her, “If you can stay with it, it will change.”  Like a yoga warrior, she stayed with it, and it did change.

Then, after two months of weekly private sessions and only one class, I noticed that the shape of Yulia’s eyes was changing.  She posted this review on my Facebook page: 

I’m amazed at my progress in the short two months I’ve been practicing with Julia.  My mind is quieter; the thoughts are not swirling around non-stop.  I catch myself being grateful more often.  The severe hip pain I’ve had for 10 years is not as bad.  My headaches are completely gone, and even my eyesight has improved.

In February, I went to Lokananda for a Teacher Training: Treating Pain TuneUp.  Upon returning to Seattle, I began doing the poses with Yulia in her sessions.  After the first one, she sent me a text.  She said it was the first time in her life that she spent a day without pain.  She said, “It’s hard to find any pain.  In the past, I’d sneeze and feel like I’m falling into little pieces.  I’m forever grateful I found Svaroopa® yoga.”

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Exuberance!

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By Marlene (Matrikaa) Gast, Yogaratna

At first, I valued this pose for its efficiency.  Your sacrum, waist and ribcage area of your spine all get a deep release at the same time.  Now I’ve learned to savor the true power of Virasana (Hero Pose) with Seated Side Stretch (SSS).

Virasana SSS opens me inward to exuberance!  On my upper arm side, the whole side of my torso lengthens and expands.  While extending my straight-elbow arm diagonally, I ease my navel inward.  Then my torso extends on both sides.  The sense of lengthening and expansion is delicious.

Moving in gradually gives me a sweet transition from computer work — from “busy mind” to minding my body.  Sitting in the middle of my blanket stack, I soften both legs.  One at a time, I lift them into the crossed-leg alignment.  Relaxing my legs, I can more easily line my knees up.  Pausing with my hands resting on my knees, I settle into easy breathing and inner awareness.  I drop down from a hectic day into the eternal peace of my own Self.

Then I silently coach myself with tips.  “Use elbow muscles” to keep your upraised arm straight.  “Align your upper arm parallel to your spine line.”  I feel both sides of my torso as well as my upraised arm lengthen more.

After moving out of the first side, I pause to sit, resting with my stacked hands again on my knees.  My mind settles down and inward.  I sink into noticing my body inside more deeply.  I feel the ongoing changes.  

The feeling of warm upliftment continues.  A sense of renewal spreads all the way up to the side of my face.  It’s a delicious interval.

For my other side, I repeat the step-by-step process of moving in, staying in and moving out.  The luxurious openings unfold on my second side.  Yumm…

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What Are Ashrams?

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By Gurudevi Nirmalananda 

An Ashram is a spiritual center where people dedicated to spiritual development live and practice under the direction of an Enlightened Being. The key is the Guru’s generosity, who is willing to share their life with others. This sweet and intimate gift makes the students’ spiritual process move more deeply and quickly.

I first benefitted from Ashram living in the 1970s. I already had figured out that I didn’t get much out of television and other media. I preferred yoga and meditative practices over the social scenes I had tried. It was a big relief to me that there was live music in the evening’s chant and meditation. Better yet, the teacher gave discourses several times weekly. I still love this lifestyle!

There are variations on the main theme. An Ashram might be headed up by an accomplished yogi who is not yet Self-Realized but is working on it. Most often, they have been authorized by their own Guru and are directed and supported in the process. Other Ashrams were founded by a great Master, even decades or hundreds of years ago, with yogis continuing to live the lifestyle as well as to offer the teachings they have learned. 

Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram is my home, which I share with other dedicated seekers. We offer several retreats and trainings each year, with participants staying in our retreat center. Our yoga classes are offered online as well as locally in Downingtown PA. I set up our online Freebies almost ten years ago, then the pandemic opened up new possibilities. Thus you will find many online offerings on our program calendar, including twice-weekly meditation satsangs.

Like ours, the Ashrams you hear about and find in online searches generally offer retreats and trainings. Other Ashrams are closed to the public, allowing few visitors or none. 

I have visited and lived in many Ashrams in North America, Europe and India, both Yoga Ashrams and Buddhist ashrams. In spite of the different practices, different dress codes, and different meals, they share many commonalities. They usually follow a set schedule, with group meditations and other practices as well as group meals. The household tasks are shared by residents, who do the cooking, cleaning, gardening and errand running, just like you do for your own home. 

In my years of residency with my Guru, we began the day at 3:30 with a morning chant followed by meditation. At 5:15 am, we got chai, a sweet-spicy milk tea. Then we chanted until 7 am. Breakfast was optional. Our day alternated between work periods, more chanting and meals, ending with a long chant at night and bedtime by 9 pm. I felt that I was living in heaven on earth!

Some Ashram residents are swamis, yoga monks, while others are in various stages of learning and commitment. Ashrams offering public retreats and trainings welcome guests during those programs but, like us, are closed at other times. Or you may have to meet prerequisites in order to visit. In other words, there’s lots of variations on the theme. There is no central governing body like the Vatican. Each Ashram can set up its own rules and systems, based on the lineage they embody as well as the practicalities for their locale.

One thing is consistent. Wherever a person or group of people do dedicated spiritual practices, that place becomes special. Thus most Ashrams are pilgrimage centers, with people coming to soak up the spiritual vibe that emanates out. That vibe is called Grace.  My life is filled with Grace!

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Sukhasana: Settling into Stillness

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By Melissa (Yogyananda) Fountain, Yogaratna

My favorite Svaroopa® Yoga pose is Sukhasana, the sweet and easy pose.  While sitting in this level and stable seat, I teach as well as meditate.  When I get propped just right, I experience both sublime comfort and inner stillness.  Inner stillness offers me everything I’ve ever longed for.  I become physically still, and my mind is quiet.  It’s guaranteed.  And then I experience Self: the still center of my own Beingness.

The more I practice Sukhasana, the more I learn about myself.  Its subtle refinements and power have been growing within me for 26 years.  It’s not always been easy.  In chasing down my Deceptive Flexibility, I’ve raised and lowered my blanket stack for my seat many times.  I’ve squirmed my way into what feels comfortable, finding comfort to be elusive. 

To meditate, I’ve even sometimes chosen to sit in a chair instead. But the effects are not the same.  Sukhasana grounds me inside.  I can attune myself to the inner energies that are balancing and flowing up my spine.  It’s reliable, blissful and always informative.

Sukhasana is ever new, never static.  I roll my knee blankets into just the right support my body needs, at that moment.  I alternate my front foot placement, so my muscular patterns stay more fluid.  With my knees’ condyle bones propped, I feel a direct line to my sitbones and into my tailbone.

These small adjustments bring profound results.  It’s like my brain is being rewired, my mind expanded.  The best part is, I feel supported by my spine’s verticality.  I can let go of my internal tensions.  Then like magic, my base is stable; I’m ready to settle into my own Self.  I have found my “Dream Sukhasana.”