By Ellen (Lajja) Mitchell

Ashram Board President

Reflecting on giving, I realize I usually give when I am in a place of fullness.  My heart opens and I want to serve more, give more.  My inner fulfillment spills into the world.

This is my experience of “unmilana,” blossoming forth or spiritual transformation. I recognize how this aligns with what Gurudevi says about the power of yoga:

 Your yoga melts the tensions and dissolves the fears so that the inner Source can arise inside to fill you and to bloom into the world. Yoga doesn’t make you yogic, it makes you become more You.

I am grateful to you for having chosen to “do more yoga” by practicing dakshina, selfless financial giving. You have shared your heart and wallet in this way; you are making a difference in the world. 

Your gift allows us to send more Grace and light into the world. Thank you for your selfless financial support of our Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram.

I am grateful for your blossoming forth as well as for all that you enable SVA to give by your financial support. I bow to the light in you.

If you haven’t yet had a chance to participate, there’s still time. Donate online or call us at (610) 644-7555.  Or send your check to Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram, PO Box 143, Downingtown PA 19335. You may also email us at donate@svaroopayoga.org.

Thank you again and again! 

By Beth (Bhanumati) Cunningham

There is nothing sweeter than the blossoming forth of the Self.

There is nothing more exquisite than the bliss of the Self.

There is nothing more priceless than the experience of the knowing of the Self.

Grace allows this to happen. Gurudevi opens us to that Grace. That opening is the blossoming forth itself. What a gift we have received in our Gurudevi Nirmalananda.

Supporting that gift financially is essential to sustaining it. It is like providing water, sunshine and soil for a blossoming plant. This is a sacred practice called dakshina. Our seasonal fundraiser is the perfect opportunity to practice it.

I once had the opportunity to visit an exclusive perfumery. Every scent was hand-crafted in micro batches by leading masters from the perfume world. Prices were in the $600/oz range and up. The sensual experience of the perfumes was unlike anything I could describe. It was overwhelming yet grounding; heady and heart-opening; deeply inspiring and fulfilling, both at once.

Hmm… sounds like the experience of the Self. Yet the experience of the Self is worth far, far more than $600/oz. The experience of the Self is priceless. And it is given to us freely by our Guru.

When we receive Shaktipat, we begin to wear that experience like a perfume. It wafts into the world wherever we go. It spreads through our lives like an exquisite scent. When we support the Ashram financially, it spreads beyond our own lives and spheres. It blossoms forth into the greater world. It sweetens everyone and everything it touches.

Please help us spread this rare and exquisite gift. Please share in this sacred practice and give to our fundraiser this season.

Donate online or call us at (610) 644-7555. Or send your check to Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram, PO Box 143, Downingtown PA 19335. You may also email us at donate@svaroopayoga.org.

Thank you again and again! 

By Carolyn (Karuna) Beaver, Yogaratna

Our current fundraising is themed “Unmilana,” a Sanskrit word which means to blossom forth.

“Bloom where you are planted” is popular advice. You make the best of your circumstances, even thrive and find joy.

I am so grateful to be planted firmly at Gurudevi’s feet. For all that the Svaroopa^® Sciences have given me, I am grateful. So as each biannual fundraiser rolls around, I donate from an open heart and wallet. Won’t you join me?

Through your practices, you discover your inner light and bring it forth into the world. Gurudevi says, “As you are emerging into the world, you have an opportunity to focus on what you can give.”  

I am emerging back into the world after some serious injuries. They left me wondering if I would ever teach Svaroopa^® yoga again. Gurudevi says yoga “melts the tensions and dissolves the fears so that the inner Source can arise inside to fill you and to bloom into the world.” This has been so true for me.

With dedication to the practices and Guru’s Grace, I am blooming where I am planted. My inner light is shining brightly once again. I am teaching and even giving yoga therapy sessions. I owe it all to Gurudevi and the fire she has lit within me.

Will your blossoming forth lead you to share with others, and with the Ashram? Please consider a generous donation to our spring fundraiser: “Unmilana — Blossoming Forth.” Let your bighearted inner light overflow. Share freely. It comes back to you, again and again.

Our fundraiser is ending soon. But the sun never sets on your opportunity to give. Please donate today! Thank you.

Donate online or call us at (610) 644-7555.  Or send your check to Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram, PO Box 143, Downingtown PA 19335.  Thank you again and again! 

By Kristine (Dhairyavati) Freeman

Our Ashram Fundraiser “Unmilana” has begun. Spiritual transformation is called “Unmilana” in Sanskrit — your inner opening, your blossoming forth. Through our Svaroopa^® yoga practices, we discover inner light and bloom it into the world.

Svaroopa^® yoga gives us so many transformational practices to choose from — asana, meditation, chanting, seva and dakshina (financially supporting the source of the teachings). Please join me in the practice of dakshina —  make a donation to our Ashram today!

Recently, I’ve been focusing on expanding my asana practice. It hasn’t been easy — tapas! I noticed I’d been doing the same poses over and over again. I was stuck in an asana rut. But with the help of a Yoga Therapy session, I got a growth spurt. I was able to cultivate a new practice to give my body the support it needs.

These yoga poses also support my spiritual transformation. They allow my own inner light to unfold into new areas. As this inner light spreads and grows brighter, I’m able to bring it into more and more of my worldly life. This is so beneficial for me and for those around me.

Gurudevi says, “Your yoga melts the tensions and dissolves the fears so that the inner Source can arise inside to fill you and to bloom into the world. Yoga doesn’t make you yogic, it makes you more You.”

Will you share your blossoming forth? Gurudevi says, “Like a star at night, you can bring the light of your own being into the world, which makes a difference for everyone.” And you can make a difference for the Ashram, which has made such a difference for you.

Please consider a generous donation to our “Unmilana – Blossoming Forth” fundraiser. Let your inner light overflow. Share your Self freely. It will come back to you again and again.

Donate online or call us at (610) 644-7555.  Or send your check to Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram, PO Box 143, Downingtown PA 19335. You may also email us at donate@svaroopayoga.org.

Thank you again and again!

By Ruth (Rama) Brooke, Yogaratna

Spiritual transformation is called unmilana in Sanskrit — your inner opening, your blossoming forth.
I have experienced the opening, expanding and unfolding through Gurudevi’s teachings and practices. This has likely been your experience as well.

Today, I ask you to join me in the practice of dakshina, financial giving in gratitude to the Ashram. Please give generously to our fundraiser, aptly titled “Unmilana — Blossoming Forth.”

Several years ago, in a personal meeting with Gurudevi, she said:

You are a bud blossoming forth from muddy earth into sunlight. Try to stop it! You can’t!

These words have resonated with me ever since. They speak to the power of the shakti (spiritual energy) flowing through her. As I look back, I see how that energy has blossomed within me. The emotional walls I spent most of my life constructing have tumbled (mostly).

I don’t need that protection to feel safe. I have a greater knowing of who I am. I am able to express my-Self with more clarity and less discomfort.

Another profound teaching stays with me as well:

Svecchaya svabhittau vishvam unmilayati.

By free will alone, Consciousness blossoms forth the universe on the screen of her own existence.
— Pratyabhijnah.rdayam, verse 2

Gurudevi explains that everyone and everything in the universe blossomed forth as a form of Consciousness-herself. She also personalizes the teaching, like she did for me that day in our meeting. You are one such form of Consciousness. You are blossoming forth. You are becoming more you.

Yoga guarantees this transformation. How will you choose to blossom forth and shine your light into the world?

Gurudevi and our swamis model this so beautifully for us. The light of Consciousness shines through their eyes, their teaching and all that they give. Please join me in giving back in gratitude. Donate generously to our Unmilana — Blossoming Forth fundraiser.

Donate online or call us at (610) 644-7555. Or send your check to Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram, PO Box 143, Downingtown PA 19335. You may also email us at donate@svaroopayoga.org.

Thank you again and again!

By Lynn (Gurupremananda) Cattafi

My redbud tree is a joyous mass of bright pink blossoms. Its spring blooms are so bright that they are visible at night, lighting up the dark.

In the same way, you bloom extravagantly, nurtured by your Svaroopa^® yoga practices! Join me today in offering your financial support to Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram’s “Unmilana — Blossoming Forth” fundraiser.

The Sanskrit word for blossoming forth, unmilana, signifies the act of opening, expanding or unfolding. In the Svaroopa^® yoga tradition of Kashmiri Shaivism, unmilana is associated with spiritual transformation. Gurudevi describes unmilana this way:

Like a plant blossoms forth flowers, you are built to blossom forth a unique form of Consciousness into the world. The impulse to do this arises in you over and over again. It is the purpose of your life.

Feeling a deep renewal inside, my mind, body and heart are opening in new ways. I am blossoming forth joyously. It’s not the springtime here that is making me blossom forth. It’s my Svaroopa^® yoga practices. Most importantly, my spiritual transformation is due to having a Master Teacher like Gurudevi.

Gurudevi is a master gardener, expertly tending to her garden of blossoming yogis, including you! Her teachings nourish your roots. Her programs are designed to cultivate your continued growth. She helps you deadhead the stuff that’s old and finished. She supports you in sweeping the debris from your path.

She showers all of us with Grace. By the inner arising light of Consciousness, we blossom forth, shining our light into the world.

Wherever you are in your own spiritual growth process, Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram has pathways to support you. Gurudevi and our swamis meet you exactly where you are. They show you how to bloom. How fortunate we are to have such a Guru as Gurudevi Nirmalananda guiding our spiritual growth.

She can’t do it without your financial support of our Ashram, through which her teachings flow. Please give generously. You are supporting your own growth as well as the worldwide garden of seekers.

Donate online or call us at (610) 644-7555.  Or send your check to Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram, PO Box 143, Downingtown PA 19335.  Thank you again and again! 

By Beth (Bhanumati) Cunningham

Please join me in offering financial support to our Ashram during this season’s fundraiser, titled “Unmilana — Blossoming Forth.”

The Sanskrit word unmilana names the act of opening, expanding or unfolding. It’s commonly used to describe the blooming of a flower or the opening of eyes.

It reminds me of my aunt, who possesses a great generosity. I believe she gets it from her “blossoming sessions.” With cup a of tea, my aunt watches flowers bloom on her front deck.

Afterwards, her face is softer, her eyes wider and brighter, her voice rich and open. She blossoms forth with her flowers. Then she goes into the world and gives whatever she can, wherever she can. It is her joy.

This is unmilana — the blossoming forth. Consciousness blossoms forth with unceasing generosity in you, as you. Generosity is your very nature. The Self gives. It only gives. When you give, you are more you.

To give is your very nature. In giving to the Ashram this season, you are giving back to your own Self. You support the teachings and the Teacher who has given you your Self.

Gurudevi is the perfect model of unmilana and its generosity. As a Shaktipat Master, she pours herself tirelessly into supporting our progress toward enlightenment. She bathes us in the light of the Self, like the sun bathes the rose. She saturates us with Grace, like the rain soaks the garden. Her teachings nourish us like the rich earth.

Our blossoming sessions come in meditation, using the mantra she has given us. Instead of watching flowers, we watch our very own Self bloom inside. We blossom forth, inwardly to our Self and outwardly into the world. Our very nature comes to bloom, and we cannot help but give.

Supporting the Ashram financially is its own special kind of blossoming. It is incredibly powerful because it is so palpable. It supports the blossoming forth in others. So, I invite you to give to this season’s fundraiser and watch your gift bloom.

Donate online or call us at (610) 644-7555. Or send your check to Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram, PO Box 143, Downingtown PA 19335. Thank you again and again!

By TC (Tattvananda) Richards

Please join me in donating to our Svaroopa Vidya Ashram during this season’s fundraiser, themed “Unmilana.”

Our theme is a Sanskrit word which means blossoming forth, expressing the yogic quality of spiritual transformation.

You may have experienced transformation in a yoga pose, even in your first Svaroopa^® yoga class.  The more you do, the more you blossom forth.

Svaroopa^® Yoga has shifted me in so many ways. Most importantly, this yoga has given me the experiential knowing of my own Divine Essence. Every practice offers me this knowing. My own Divine Essence continues to blossom forth more fully as I continue my classes and practices.

As I expand and unfold, I experience the bliss of Beingness. Being in this place of Knowingness and peace also affects others. I feel that I can offer light into the world.

Recently, another hair stylist joined my salon.  She is also a yogi, practicing another style of yoga. As I work with my clients and talk about my yoga experiences, she peeks around the corner from her station to listen. She calls my words “teachings.”

Yet I am merely describing what I have experienced. Or I may be repeating what I have heard from Gurudevi Nirmalananda, my Guru. I can see through my coworker’s eyes and ears how I have grown spiritually. I know that I continue to blossom forth. I see how I offer this out to the world.

This is not unique to me. Your practice of Svaroopa^® Yoga makes you blossom forth as well. You shine your light more brightly. This spreads outward to those closest to you and then beyond.

When you share your light with others, you make a difference. And when you share your heart and wallet with the Ashram, your light makes a difference in the whole world, far and wide.  The choices you make today shift the world in quiet and powerful ways.

Donate online or call us at (610) 644-7555.  Or send your check to Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram, PO Box 143, Downingtown PA 19335.  Thank you again and again!

By Ellen (Lajja) Mitchell

Ashram Board President

It is my pleasure to introduce our current 2026 fundraiser – “Unmilana” – blossoming forth.

Please join me in the yogic practice of dakshina, selfless financial giving. When you support our Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram, you give to the one that helps you to discover your own Self.

The Sanskrit word unmilana means blossoming forth, like a flower blooming or the opening of your eyes. The spiritual meaning is discovering your own light and bringing it forth into the world.

After meditation, Gurudevi tells us to “slowly open your eyes.” She says it is in the opening of our eyes that we can see our inner depth.

Sometimes my meditation is filled with what I call “mind stories” or my body is aching. My mind tells me that it was not a good meditation. Yet, when I open my eyes and check in, I feel peace and contentment within. Sometimes it’s pure joy or a feeling of being grounded.

My meditation has cleared something out of the way. I am now different. I am lighter. I am more me. When I get up from my meditation seat, I am taking the lighter and more peaceful me into the world.

Gurudevi tells us, “Your own blossoming forth is assured, just like daffodils that will bloom in the spring, but you don’t know when the spring will come. The teachings give you ways to push it along.”

She gives us the tools to help us bloom by making the teachings and practices easily available. A few examples are her books, monthly Teaching Articles, programs (including free meditation intros and Q&As), weekly satsangs and Shaktipat Retreats.

The world outside may be chaotic, but Gurudevi says, “Like a star at night, you can bring the light of your own being into the world, which makes a difference for everyone.”

If you have benefited from any of the tools or practices available to us through the Ashram, please join me in donating. Help SVA to continue helping you and others to blossom forth and shine in this world.

Donate online or call us at (610) 644-7555. Or send your check to Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram, PO Box 143, Downingtown PA 19335. Thank you again and again!

By Ellen (Lajja) Mitchell, Ashram Board President

Our fundraiser, “The Gift of Grace,” is ending. I thank everyone who participated in giving. 

Thank you for choosing to support Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram. Your financial support helps us to continue to shine light into the world as well as support you in uncovering your light.  I am grateful for you and for our Ashram’s support over the years.  

Our Ashram has helped me through physical and mental stuff (oh, mind!). This has helped me to see myself. I am so grateful for our Ashram and for all its offerings. I am more myself and I navigate through life more fluidly. What a gift it is to receive support from Gurudevi and the Swamis.

I opened the Gurudevi App today, and this quote was displayed:

The high points in life are when you’re shining with light, loving, generous, joyful and peaceful. You want to be that way all the time. Of course you do — because it’s who you really are, deep down inside.

– Gurudevi Nirmalananda & Swami Samvidaananda

Yes, that is what our Ashram does. It helps you to see yourself as you truly are and be yourself. What a gift it is to support you in this process. What a gift it is to have your financial support. Yes, a gift of Grace.

While our campaign is coming to an end, we still welcome and appreciate your financial gifts. They make a real difference in what we do!

Donate online or call us at (610) 644-7555.  Or send your check to Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram, 116 E. Lancaster Ave., Downingtown, PA 19335.  Thank you again and again!