By Kelly (Kushala) Sharp, Yogaratna

Elizabeth, who is 90 years old, has taken Svaroopa^® yoga classes for 15 years.

An avid gardener, she often loses track of time when working in the yard. In the spring, she stopped taking yoga classes because she strained her neck and right shoulder.

Her neck continued to get worse. So Elizabeth signed up for a package of yoga therapy sessions and then an Overlap Healing* series. Her treatment goal was to feel as good as possible for the rest of her time on Earth.

After five yoga therapy sessions, Elizabeth’s neck and shoulder pain was gone. As it lessened, she had become aware of an old pain in her sacrum.

Embodyment^® in a yoga pose became the focus of our sessions, and Elizabeth continued to deepen. During her Overlap series, she joked saying she didn’t know how she could feel any better. And yet she did!

Elizabeth started to incorporate changes into her gardening routine. She set a timer while gardening so she wouldn’t overdo it. She did Slow Motion Dive as soon as she came into the house. If she had more gardening to do, she took a break before heading back out. The changes in her gardening behavior supported her changes from the Overlap Healing series.

Then Elizabeth took a fall when the wind caught her foot. The next thing she knew, she was on the ground. Elizabeth was concerned that she’d aggravated the areas yoga therapy had improved.

Aside from her left knee being a little tender, however, Elizabeth was no worse for wear. At her age such a fall could have been a real game changer. She was delighted with the unexpected outcome.

The changes that the yoga therapy made in Elizabeth’s body noticeably increased her resilience.  When we discussed the event, Elizabeth said that the fall had felt different. I told her, “That’s because yogis bounce!”

*Overlap Healing is a series of yoga therapy sessions done daily for 5-10x, then every other day, then twice weekly.

By Margie (Maitreyi) Wilsman

My student Anna came to her first yoga therapy session wearing a fentanyl patch.

This was to treat acute pain in her middle back, behind her heart and under her shoulder blades.

She continued wearing the patches on and off during twice-weekly Svaroopa^® yoga classes and Embodyment^® Yoga Therapy sessions, which included Overlap Healing.

Anna could rarely feel her lower body. After students do the first side of a pose in class, I also ask, “What differences do you notice between sides?” Anna’s usual response was “I can’t really tell any differences.”

Upper spine poses often led to a spasm in her upper back. She learned to come out of an upper spine pose early when she felt a spasm coming on. Yet Anna attended classes regularly and came to private yoga therapy sessions.

In time, a yoga miracle happened for her. She began staying in upper spine poses for the full time. She no longer winced. When I inquired about these changes, she said that she was no longer wearing pain medication patches. In upper spine poses, Anna no longer experienced spasms.

In classes now, Anna is aware of changes in her body during poses and afterwards. This new awareness of her body is also evident in Embodyment^® Yoga Therapy. Plus she has the ability to express aloud her understanding of the benefits of self-adjustments that I teach.

And she asks questions. Recently, for example, during my demonstration of a new pose, she asked about the purpose of abs activation: “In this pose you said to activate our abs.  Is this to prevent using back muscles so I can use my legs effectively instead?”

I invited Anna to repeat her question. I wanted other students to hear the reason she’s aware of the importance of using abs instead of spinal muscles. The other students did not know Anna’s history of severe back pain. Her story of how Svaroopa^® yoga released the tensions in her spine, so she no longer needs pain medication, amazed them. They “got” the importance of abs activation and spinal decompression!

Gurudevi alerts us that it takes time for us to live in our body instead of in our pain and in our mind. It takes time to experience the experiences provided by poses and yoga therapy. Anna is testimony to the truth of this adage. 

Anna is committed to consistent classes. To arrive at our studio out in the country, Anna drives 20 miles through all Wisconsin weather conditions on heavily traveled highways. Clearly, Gurudevi’s perennial guidance to do more yoga created miracles for Anna. 

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.

By Barbara (Girijananda) Hess, Yogaratna 

Interviewed by Agnes (Aikya) Hetherington 

I supported three students in profound healing through their Svaroopa^® yoga practices as well as their receiving Embodyment^® Yoga Therapy sessions.  

The first was a colleague in her twenties. Our job setting was new to her.

Overwhelmed by stress, she cried everyday.  When she learned that I teach yoga, she soon started attending my Svaroopa^® yoga classes.   

Before long, she enrolled in my three-week series “Ease into Meditation.” Then she enrolled in the Mandali Travels “Deepen Your Meditation,” a program taught by an Ashram Swami. She has continued deepening inward with Sutra Studies as well as a daily home practice. She has learned how to access inner peace and bliss.  

All this has transformed her. “I no longer worry about stuff. I know I can keep my mind on a short leash,” she says. “I feel different around my friends. I don’t complain all the time.”  

I was honored to be invited to her wedding a few months ago. From her new husband, I heard that she said, “I need to meditate and repeat mantra,” when she was agitated before the ceremony. Throughout the whole wedding, she was glowing and calm.  

The second miracle is a client with two replacements of the same hip and neuropathy in her feet. She has returned to normal activity including walking without an assistive device!  

I gave her weekly Embodyment^® sessions, taught her Ujjayi Pranayama, and recommended a pose sequence for home practice. Besides the dramatic improvement in her surgical hip, she also gained sensation in her feet.

She had had neuropathy for two years. At a recent appointment, the neurologist said, “If this is working, keep doing it.” 

Another of my co-workers is my third Miracle Story. She was having panic attacks in the course of supporting her mother, who was in hospice. In private sessions, I taught her Ujjayi breathing in Shavasana. With weekly private sessions, she anchored securely into her twice daily Ujjayi practices. The panic attacks ended.  

Our Svaroopa^® Vidya Meditation guides us in opening to our Divine Essence within. Encountering these teachings, she could see herself being a strong divine daughter. She felt much more present with her mom during her transition.   

Now this colleague continues coming to my yoga classes. While staying loyal to her Christian beliefs, she embraces the experience of her own Divinity. 

By Phil (Krishna) Milgrom

Over the years, many of my students and clients have testified to the healing power of Svaroopa^® Yoga and Embodyment^® Yoga Therapy. It’s magical. It always amazes me.

A new yoga student wrote:

After two weeks, I can now get out of bed without my back killing me. I had been intent on buying a new mattress. You saved me plenty!

Another new student also reported that after a few classes her back pain had vanished. It had been nagging her almost constantly. She was finally able to sleep “wonderfully well.”

Hearing testimonies like these after classes, I have sometimes responded with a joke. I say our yoga studio’s closet is full of crutches — left behind by other students. But it’s really no joke: these wonderful practices really work.

Recently, a student asked us for help. She hadn’t attended classes for a year or so. She read about Embodyment^® Yoga Therapy on our website. There we explain how Overlap Healing through Embodyment^® Yoga Therapy sessions works. 

This series is recommended when you’re feeling “stuck” physically, emotionally or even spiritually. She said her dad died several months back and this was exactly how she’d been feeling since.

She was definitely stuck. She had been suffering from severe joint pain. Her right hip was especially bothersome. She was losing hope. She said she needed help getting back to her Self. 

For her first Embodyment^® session, she could barely walk into our studio. Yet, immediately after, she felt tremendous improvement. She was smiling again. She was able to walk back to her car comfortably. By the third session, she had absolutely no pain. She said, “This was nothing short of a miracle!”

Since her Overlap Healing series, she has been practicing the Magic 4 regularly and remains pain free. She has found her “old Self” again. 

This miracle is simply the Svaroopa^® Sciences at work. They constitute a systematic methodology validated and based on evidence. As one of my t-shirts says, “Science: Because you can’t just make it up!”  

By Kelly (Kushala) Sharp

A recent client has experienced a series of miracles. When they came to me, extreme sciatica pain was making it hard to walk. Plus, they were facing surgery because of a severe carpal tunnel flare-up. Their pain management required Advil three times daily, and they felt desperate.

In less than a month, they were scheduled for a three-week “trip of a lifetime.” So we created a custom Overlap Healing series and got busy. Overlap Healing is a sequence of daily Svaroopa^® Yoga Therapy sessions, followed by sessions at wider intervals.

Within a three-week period, this client had 12 sessions. In their third — a mere two days after the first — they could walk without pain. They said it was a miracle. A week later, they reduced the amount of daily Advil. By the 12^th session, they had stopped taking it.

And that carpal tunnel flare-up? By practicing Hastasana (Hand Thing) three times a day, my client recovered feeling in their hands. Taking only a minute, this pose offered immediate relief.

The client cancelled their upcoming surgery. They left on their trip armed with a Svaroopa^® yoga practice to do every day (maybe twice a day). Yoga therapy supported change from the inside out.

To be honest, they exceeded my expectations. For their return, I had planned some Overlap Healing sessions to help them regain any lost ground. But much to my surprise they didn’t lose a lot of ground.

On their trip they had done their yoga and maintained the powerful openings received through yoga therapy. This worked even while doing lots of tourist activities that required exertion.

My client came home feeling great and returned to weekly yoga therapy sessions. When they noticed a little decline in how they were feeling, we scheduled a few sessions within one week.

My takeaway from this is that it doesn’t take a lot extra to make powerful and permanent changes. Sometimes a little extra is all you need!

By Lori (Priya) Kenney

Chemotherapy and radiation left my client Julie R feeling progressively weaker.  

She barely walked, and struggled to bend and pick things up from the floor. Embodyment^® Yoga Therapy helped both her mind and body.

She says, “These Embodyment^® sessions gave me hope.  You don’t know what is going to be permanent.  What if this is just how things are now? Getting Embodyment^® sessions gave me confidence that I would get better and heal.”

I first talked with Julie in September 2022, a year after she had a two-day open-heart surgery.  Originally from Boise ID, Julie was taking online Svaroopa^® yoga classes with Marlene (Matrikaa) Gast. Matrikaa suggested Julie see me for Embodyment^® sessions. Julie came twice. 

A year and a half later I heard from Julie again when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.  She was concerned I wouldn’t want to touch her because she was so full of chemicals.  I reassured her that wasn’t a problem. We began weekly sessions.  

She credits yoga for getting her through chemo without a crisis. She also has a liver disorder which can cause reactions to medication. Yet after only one reaction, at the beginning of chemo, all went well.  

She did have headaches, nausea and intense joint pain. She felt that her body was being trashed during treatment. Though she often arrived looking pale, with muscle tensions and fatigue. After her sessions she left with color and light in her eyes.  

She reported a quieter, calmer mind with less stress, deeper breaths, and less pain. She says, “It was really good to have time designated just for me to focus on my healing.  It was the one place where healing efforts felt soothing and nurturing.”  

Because Julie had stopped her online classes, Matrikaa suggested that I start offering Foundations-level classes in small groups. She was confident Julie would benefit from in-person adjustments. I knew this to be true, but I’d never planned to teach. I had only wanted the deep bliss and Grace that comes with retreats.

Fortunately, Gurudevi had talked about embracing tapas (doing the hard stuff) a few days before. I knew this was it for me and that it was my dharma (responsibility). Matrikaa’s suggestion landed so solidly that my resistance gave way nearly immediately. It was as if Gurudevi herself told me to teach. 

That was Thursday March 6. I gave Julie an Embodyment^® on Saturday, and she enthusiastically said she would come to my classes. The following Friday, March 14, I taught my first ever asana class — 17 years after taking the Foundations of Svaroopa^® Yoga training. 

Right away, my husband and I expanded my basement Embodyment^® room to accommodate students. I added another photo of Gurudevi to the space and played mantras through the process. The room felt different. 

I realized I didn’t need to take retreats to be in the flow of Grace. Grace propelling me, I experienced another yoga miracle. I felt Consciousness pouring through my classes.  

After Julie attended two classes, I noticed big changes during her next Embodyment^® session. She was more limber, her sit bones realigned more, and her sacrum actually rippled! Her back was more pliable, and both shoulders opened.  

Equally amazing, Julie says yoga has helped with some neurocognitive issues from chemo and from  being on a heart/lung machine during her heart surgery. She says, “I’m clearer now and more who I was as a person.”  Her lower back pain has completely resolved since taking classes. So much healing. Julie is another Svaroopa^® yoga miracle.

By Barbara (Bharati) Badia

Interviewed by Matrikaa (Matrikaa) Gast, Yogaratna

As an 84-year-old retired RN, I’ve been diagnosed with extreme sciatica and spinal stenosis as well as three bulging discs.

Physical therapy helped some.  Chiropractic treatments with magnetic cell stimulation gave me more pain relief.  But after a pacemaker implant to regulate heart rhythms, I’m no longer a candidate for this treatment.

Finding Svaroopa^® yoga a decade ago, I’ve been able to manage back pain very effectively. I’ve found that Svaroopa^® yoga is so important to do when you are older! 

Yet a couple of months ago, my hamstring muscles were cramping all the way into my ankles. I couldn’t stand up straight.  Walking any distance was impossible. So I turned to Ashram offerings and have experienced a series of sweet miracles!

In late winter, I took Swami Shrutananda’s “Freedom from Pain” Sutra Studies. In this online Enlightenment Studies series, she teaches sutras explaining that it’s the mind that causes most of the problem. 

If we can look at the sensation of pain differently, we can let go of identification with it.  Letting go of identification with pain diminishes it. Using the word “sensation” instead of “my pain” shifts the severity to a tolerable feeling.

Next, I enrolled in the online Therapeutic Yoga Series.  For six weeks, I took part in a three-student group therapeutics class that met twice weekly online.  Our Svaroopa^® Yoga Therapist, Cayla (Mangala) Allen, has an exemplary knowledge and understanding of anatomy and what happens in Svaroopa^® yoga poses. As a nurse, I greatly appreciated the way she explained spinal decompression with such clarity.  

Mangala vividly delineated how Svaroopa^® yoga pose angles target spinal compression to release the deep tensions in spinal muscles.  Her knowledge of how superficial abdominal muscles affect the psoas gave me a clear mental picture.  This increases my trust in the Svaroopa^® yoga practices, which supports my consistency in doing the poses daily. 

In the class, Mangala coached us to “lean into your bones, soften and allow the release of tensions.”  Now I remind myself of this process when doing my Svaroopa^® yoga poses for pain relief. All Svaroopa^® yoga practices move us into and through this process of spinal decompression. 

As the course description promised, I’ve learned how to take care of myself in quick, yet profound ways.  My severe pain has gone away. This is truly a miracle. With confidence, I can say the Svaroopa^® yoga decompression of the spine is miraculous.  Now I know I must do these spinal release poses consistently.

I am also practicing Ujjayi Pranayama more consistently with greater focus.  Thus, I have an increased flow of prana, the energy of aliveness.  This has caused another shift: my appetite for indulging in TV news has decreased.

Instead, I chant with one of Gurudevi’s recordings or listen to one of her talks. I do this especially in the evening before going to bed, and it has made a wonderful difference.  My miracle includes reinforcement of a spiritual perspective.  Even when difficult things come, if we look closely enough, often we can find the gift in them.