Join us for a yoga class On-Site or Online.
Every class welcomes new students of all body types, while also inspiring experienced yogis.
Sign up today.
or call one of our Swamis at 484.678.2078
My Yoga Experience – Shanti
Leave a reply
Category Archives: Yoga in Life
Gurudevi’s “Na Shivam” Album
By Joan (Jayadevi) Brager
For months, I’ve been listening to Gurudevi Nirmalananda’s recording of “Na Shivam.”
She sings this 26-minute-long, beautiful, spirited chant with a group. I find it to be simple and easy to follow:
Nashivam vidyate kvachit
There is nothing that is not Shiva!
Its lively beat inspires me to be consistent with my physical therapy exercises. Recovering from recent surgery, I have not been able to do yoga poses. I wanted my exercise to be a spiritual experience the same way that yoga poses can be.
I searched Gurudevi’s albums for music to help me to both move well and connect to Grace. When I discovered Gurudevi’s “Na Shivam” album, I knew its wonderful beat would keep me moving and dancing as well.
I especially like the chorus: Shiva Shiva Shiva Shiva Shiva! Sung enthusiastically by Gurudevi and repeated by the group, it is the heart of the chant. It inspires me every time I hear it.
Worth repeating is this chant’s essential message:
There is nowhere there is not Shiva.
Everything that I see is he!
Everything that I see is me!
Singing these words reminds me of the reality that Shiva is within me, being me. When I go into the world with this knowledge, I touch bliss within, repeatedly.
Make the Change Inside
Your mind has the ability to erase an old way of looking at the world. Your mind has the ability to create a new relationship with the world. Your mind has the ability to see the same old world in a whole new way. You’ve been looking for the change to come from…
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “One Pulsation“
Yogic Pathway to Healing
By Swami Shrutananda
After her first class, a new Svaroopa® yoga student shared,
I feel a wholeness now. Why am I going to a chiropractor and a therapeutic massage therapist? This yoga is a pathway to healing.
She signed up for another yoga session. She had come to see if yoga would help with pain in her knees and a frozen shoulder. It worked immediately. Her knees felt better. And she had more shoulder movement.
Practitioners of other therapies can be excellent at their profession. Yet you may find you feel better for only a short time. Then your pain returns. Soon, you are seeing your therapist again. Being stuck in this repetitive cycle is painful physically, mentally and emotionally.
Finding a Svaroopa® yoga teacher is the key to ending this cycle. You learn poses that heal. You are inspired to come to classes. You are empowered to practice what you have learned at home. This will save you from a life of constant pain.
How does this work? Instead of treating symptoms, Svaroopa® treats the underlying cause. You can’t heal your shoulder by working on your shoulder. You can’t heal your knee by working on your knee. Painful areas are in poor condition because of spinal tension. It’s like these areas of your body are dying on the vine.
Svaroopa® teachers are experts at releasing spinal tension. In a Svaroopa® class or individual session, we sequence poses in a way that releases your spinal tension from tail-to-top. Your whole spine decompresses.
Spinal decompression improves your whole body. As soon as you release your spine, increased circulation, enervation and life energy flow into your body’s painful areas. You feel better immediately.
You need a yoga teacher to teach you how to release your spine. Trying to learn poses from a video, or even on Zoom, is only marginally effective. You get the most by having a yoga teacher physically in the room with you.
Svaroopa® teachers are highly trained to meet your body where it is at. The teacher tailors the poses to your needs through customized props, alignments and adjustments. This personal attention propels your healing.
How can you cooperate with your own healing process? Come to a class once a week to release the tensions you layered in from a week of life. Coming twice a week enables you to get ahead of life’s stress on your body. You don’t merely add to your benefits — your healing is exponentially deepened. Then with home practice you are on your way to feeling better and better.
You can’t attain such a change on your own. The best teachers inspire and motivate you to come to class. They teach, inspire and empower you to stay consistent with home practice. They give you something you will have your whole life. Do yoga. Do more yoga. Come to class. Come to more classes. Sign up today.
Celebrate Our Ashram’s Birthday!
By Dhairyavati (Kristine) Freeman
Happy Birthday to Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram! I’m so grateful you were born.
Gurudevi says, “The birth of a person is into limitation, the exploration of individual identity.” Shree Guru Gita says it this way:
Birth is into not-knowingness,
spellbound by Maayaa’s worldly dance.
Giver of the upwelling light
of your own Self is called Guru.
But the birth of an Ashram begins the liberation process that benefits more than merely one individual. Thus, our Ashram exists to support all who yearn to know the highest. For this reason, our Ashram’s birthday is deeply meaningful.
I remember when our Ashram was born. Swami Nirmalananda (now called Gurudevi) was newly initiated as a sannyasi and authorized to serve as Guru. When she founded Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram on September 28, 2009, I was excited to see the Ashram doors open.
I was longing to explore meditation and yoga philosophy deeply. The Ashram offered a precious opportunity to study directly with Gurudevi. I quickly enrolled in Gurudevi’s first “Year-Long Programme.” I was already a Certified Svaroopa® Yoga Teacher. Later, I became certified as a Svaroopa® Vidya Meditation Teacher.
This September, our Ashram turns 16 ― a milestone birthday. I associate my own 16th birthday with the freedom of getting a driver’s license. No longer merely along for the ride, I was finally in the driver’s seat. I loved the freedom to explore the world on my own. My state was described by a verse in Snow Patrol’s song “Chasing Cars:” “I need your Grace, to remind me to find my own.”
Now I’m blessed to be the beneficiary of 16 years of Ashram Grace, personified by Gurudevi. As Gurudevi so generously shared her state, I’ve ridden the waves of Grace to explore inward. With Shaktipat, and so much more, Gurudevi has given me the experience of inner freedom.
Through her Ashram programs — Meditation Club, Swami Sunday, a Vowed Order — she supports us seekers in continuing to explore the deeper dimensions of being. What a gift! With any of your chosen practices and programs, you focus on, find and experience the Divine within you ― which is you, your own Self.
Reflecting on this auspicious birthday, Gurudevi says,
Today we celebrate the organization that serves thousands of yogis, making a difference by developing their inner experience and carrying it into the world.
This year, the Ashram’s September 28th Birthday falls on a Sunday. What a wonderful time to attend Swami Sunday! Profoundly auspicious, Swami Sunday on October 5th is Gurudevi’s formal celebration of Baba Muktananda’s Punyatithi as well as our Ashram’s birthday.
What an opportunity to celebrate by attending on either On-Site or Online. It is also the culmination of a Shaktipat Retreat, so you are sure to be infused!
Happiness or Unhappiness
Clinging means your happiness depends on this certain thing. Repulsion means your unhappiness is guaranteed by a certain thing. But when any single thing will either give you happiness or unhappiness, that thing or that person is in charge. You already know not to rely on the weather for your happiness, yes? How about…
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Differences Divide“
When You Surrender
What are you hanging on to? Let me put it another way. Anything that you’re hanging on to, if God wants you to have it, you will still have it when you surrender to God. God wants the best for you…
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Surrender to God“
Namaste Poster
By Amanda (Purna) Schmidt
Our Namaste poster offers a sweet reminder of your inherent Divinity.
It features the hands of Svaroopa® yogis — including Gurudevi Nirmalananda at the center — in Anjali Mudra.
This simple gesture expresses respect and gratitude. The word “namaste” carries deep meaning. It serves to acknowledge the Divine in all.
Touching my heart, I honor the Divine in yours, from the infinity of my own Divinity ― the One in All.
What a beautiful way to honor yourself as well as others.
Yogic Nutrition with Gurudevi
Learn what to eat as a yogi — and when and why. Each class includes Gurudevi’s teachings as well as a tasting session with discussion and easy recipes.
Drawing on yoga, Ayurveda and scientific nutritional guidelines, she teaches you how to feed yourself healthfully, deliciously and consciously in your own home.
As the principles you learn begin working for you, you’ll notice a change in your physical and spiritual well-being.
Enrollment is limited, so everyone can participate in the discussions as well as get personalized support and recommendations from Gurudevi.
A previous student shares her enthusiasm for what she got from “Yogic Nutrition”:
A great course! It’s interactive and delicious in every way. Learning from a Guru and a Swami, how can you go wrong? They take you right into their kitchen. And they come into yours. – Therese R
To Serve
What do you do when there’s nothing left to seek? There’s nowhere to go, nothing to gain, for it is all already found within, oh, Shiva. Instead of looking for something to get, something to fill me, I am already full. So, I look for what I…
— Gurudevi Nirmalananda
From Gurudevi’s full discourse “Sanctification“
SVA Blog 