By Priya Kenney

It shouldn’t surprise me anymore.  Yet I was shocked when Swamiji spoke to a deeply hidden part of me, something I work hard to keep subterranean.  I arrived a day early for the Yoga Therapy Intensive Retreat, just in time for Swamiji’s birthday satsang.  Near the end of her talk, she said it: “You have inherent value.”

Her words startled me.  Unbelievable.  Just by being human we have value.  You mean, I’m not inherently bad?  I work hard to mask shame-filled identities that de-value and dis-respect me.  Those identities fill me with anxiety and take me out of my body.

I didn’t understand how much I wasn’t present in my body until the retreat.  I became aware of all the armoring I’d put on to protect myself from traumatic events in my past.  The layers hardened into life patterns and identities.  They keep me from being fully alive and present in my body.

In my daily yoga therapy sessions, all I had to do was lie down and allow my body to sink into the blankets.  I gratefully complied.  It was like my body fell open, tensions simply dissolving.  I felt incredibly cared for, supported and safe.  I experienced the yoga therapists acting as Love Incarnate.  They had neither attachment nor need for us to respond a certain way.

I surrendered to their confident placements of my body and questions in the vichara sessions.  I sank in deeper.  It was pure bliss.  My body felt like warm, rising holiday bread.  I was fully alive, floating in a timeless state of upliftment of body, mind and more.

Every day, Swamiji spent a lot of time with us.  She chanted and meditated with us.  After chanting Sri Guru Gita with her on the second morning, I experienced a big rounded opening in my chest during meditation.  It was like a giant garage door opening out to Swamiji.

Swamiji also gave talks about healing, explaining the five sheaths and how they interweave.  Because of this interweaving, it’s necessary to approach healing from several angles to effectively heal the multi-dimensionality of our being.  Vichara and yoga therapy sessions heal mind and body.  Meditating with the Guru and dipping into Self is the greatest healer of all.

One of my favorite poses has always been Supported Fish.  I was very happy when my therapist put me in that pose.  On the third day, she probably only adjusted my arms by a small amount, but it seemed like she moved them a good three feet.  Exposure!

My first thought, after wanting to tuck back in and down, was that she must have made a mistake and didn’t position me right.  It was fully intentional, and she didn’t move me back to “safety.”  I don’t remember ever feeling my chest that open before.  Never.  It felt scary and daring.  My mind flared up, looking for a way out of this predicament.  Then I recognized that it was a safe environment.  I knew the therapist wouldn’t hurt me.  Her confident and nurturing presence gave me reassurance.

I allowed my chest to open.  It felt as wide as a football field.  Soon my head opened.  My face released its protective front.  Knots inside my head vanished.  I still had a face, but it was no longer the fearful gatekeeper.  While my identities were there still, they were background, not leading or defining me.  They were like space debris floating around.  They did not weigh me down or hold me back.  The Self was primary, everything.  I was wide open inside my body and beyond, infinite and blissfully expansive.

Back at home, I feel more open, less guarded.  The personalized asana routine I received and my other practices bring me back to a new level of openness more quickly.  I have deep gratitude for the Guru, the master door opener to self and Self.  I am also grateful for the steady yoga therapists who helped me unravel layers that had limited my awareness of Guru and Self.

By Gayatri Hess

I used to tuck deeper into my covers, longing to stay in bed, when my alarm clock awakened me.  Now I still tuck down for a few extra minutes. Then I reflect on what my first Svaroopa® yoga practice will be. Often, it’s listening to one of Guruji’s talks online. Then I dive into meditation. How alive I feel as I explore the depths within!

I recall one meditation in particular.  I have had some life experiences around which I created a web of thoughts and emotions.   In meditation, I had an experience that felt like a video review of one of the especially stubborn patterns.  I saw the image, feelings and thoughts as if they were being untwisted and lifted out of the top of my head.  I felt an instant sense of gratitude and deep love for my Guru and lineage.  That is Grace and Gratitude.

One of my co-workers recently experienced a loss.  On her third day returning to work, she looked at me and said, “You have no idea how crazy I am inside.  I have been downloading meditation apps.  I need to do something to help me the way your meditation helps you.”  I offered her a CD with Swamiji’s Guided Awareness in Shavasana and with Ujjayi breathing.  My co-worker took it home and began practicing it nightly.  On the third night, she said she slept the entire night.  She has a fresh smile and perk in her step.  That is Grace and Gratitude.

Every time I visit our Ashram in PA, whether it is online, through a phone call, seva, community gathering or reading, I experience my Self.  The Shakti flows through it all.  I have found the answer to my yearning.  That is Grace and Gratitude.

When I offer my time, talent or treasure, I experience my Self.  I graciously give financial support monthly to Swamiji and Lokananda.  I look forward to the annual fundraisers and save in anticipation of giving more.  That is Gratitude and Grace.

I thank each of you for being part of this community and graciously giving.  Support creates release! Gracious living and giving is Gratitude and Grace. Please join me in supporting our Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram. Please click here to donate, or call 610.644.7555. Every gift, of any size and frequency, makes a difference.

By Amanda Bailey

During Foundations, my favorite pose was Ujjayi Pranayama while lying in Shavasana.  The way it was taught completely changed my experience of Ujjayi.  It resonated deeper in my body and consciousness in a way I had never noticed before.

One evening, we paired up and listened to the sound of our partner practicing Ujjayi breathing WITHOUT JOINING THEM — a challenge for me!  As I listened to my partner breathing, I felt a unique connection to him.  It was a knowing without knowing.  I didn’t know anything about the details of his life.  Yet listening to his Ujjayi breath, I had an embodied awareness of him.  Sharing my own Ujjayi breath, I felt as if I was giving him a gift beyond anything material that I could ever give.

Just as my own experience was profound, so were others.  To share their experiences, fellow students used beautiful words: connection, love, peace, a sense of no longer being alone or having to be afraid.

I am so grateful for Foundations and how all of the Svaroopa^® yoga poses lead me deeper into myself.  They give me the awareness of the ever-present connection, love and peace.  Yet Ujjayi Pranayama has been the foundation of my practices since I learned it in my first Svaroopa^® yoga class.  On days when I don’t do a full yoga practice, I still do Ujjayi Pranayama, because I have an embodied knowledge of its effect.  It keeps my head above water in the whirl and swirl of life.  Deepest gratitude to Swamiji, my Foundations Trainers (Bhakta and Kamala), and to all of my fellow yogis in Foundations.

By Karuna Beaver, SVA Board Member

I am more than merely thankful for Svaroopa^® yoga and meditation.  I have become downright grateful for the practices and their originator, my teacher and Guru, Swami Nirmalananda.  Her years of deep study, devotion and hard work have helped her to help me as well as so many others.  All the practices come directly from Swami Nirmalananda.  Thank you Swamiji!  Yet she will tell you that everything comes straight from her own spiritual teacher and Guru, Swami Muktananda.  Again, and again she says, “I owe everything to my Baba.”

I began with being thankful to find practices that transformed my achy body and my crazy mind.  I was thankful enough to begin doing seva and making donations to the Ashram.  But it took me a while to figure out that mere thankfulness is not real gratitude.  Gratitude is more.  Gratitude is about feeling thankful down to your bones, down into your heart.  Gratitude is about getting out of your own way — your ego — and letting down your guard.  Gratitude is humbling and awe-inspiring.

At first, I didn’t understand the depth of my feeling.  I do not easily let down my guard.  But, gradually, the walls have been coming down.  Now I am able, more and more often, to feel into the depth of my devotion.  It’s because the power of my yogic practices is eroding years, maybe lifetimes, of “guck” around my heart.  And I owe it all to my Guru.

One of my favorite songs captures the way I feel.  It asks, “Have I told you lately that I love you, that there is no one else above you?”  It describes the effect of this love:  it can “fill my heart with gladness, take away my sadness, ease my troubles.”  The song goes on to say that this love is “less defined; it’s yours and it’s mine.”  And, at the end of the day, we “should give thanks to the One.”  Yes, this is how I feel.

Gratitude to the Master is an important part of yoga, and thus part of our svaroopavidya practices.  “This is how I feel about my Baba,” explained Swami in a satsang audio a few years ago.  “I had only seven years with him.  He stripped me down and left me bare, and I am so grateful to him.  I had the great fortune to bow in front of my Baba for those years.  I always felt ennobled, not humbled.  He always said, ‘You are Me — you are the One.’”

Baba gave Swami that One.  He gave her the experience of her own Self.  This is what she gives to us.  She says, “In the mystical merging of Self, there is only One.  When there’s only One, there is no gratitude.  But when I indulge myself in gratitude, it also recognizes that there are two.  It’s a magical, mystical play.”

I indulge in this gratitude and mystical play every day when I meditate.  Before I begin, I express my gratitude to the One who reminds me who I am.  In meditation, I feel the separation between my individuality and my Guru’s individuality begin to blur.  It truly does feel as if there is only One, even if I can’t always maintain that feeling throughout the day.

In this glorious season of thankfulness and giving, I encourage you to let down your guard.  Open up to the gifts your yogic practices give you.  Open your heart to the “more” that you are.  I hope you will also give thanks to the One.  And if this takes the form of a heartfelt donation to the yogic organization that makes this possible for you, I would be eternally grateful.

Please click here to donate, or call 610.644.7555.  Every gift, of any size and frequency, makes a difference.

By Aanandi Ross

“Time and Timeless” illustrates my experience of timelessness.  One sentence from our November teachings article says it all: “Though you can’t add more hours to the clock, yoga offers tools to free you from the tyranny of time.”  Doing only 20 minutes of Ujjayi Pranayama daily will help you make friends with time; that with this practice, things begin to dovetail and flow… time then is no longer your enemy.  Swami Nirmalananda and Vidyadevi promise that Ujjayi Pranayama makes you the master of time.  Wow!  How amazing and how transformative.

How ironic that “stopping” to practice Ujjayi Pranayama will give you more “time.”  You might think if you stop to breathe for 20 minutes that you’ll lose the time to get 4 or 5 things done on your list.  Or maybe you believe you’ll be in more of a frenzy to make up for lost time.  However, when spending time with timelessness, you feel a shift in perception.  You might even conclude that some of the things you thought were so important on your list are not.  Priorities change.  Life flows in surprising and delightful ways.

Have you had the experience of stopping, breathing and then feeling like a different person afterwards? If so, even more breathing (and especially meditation) will help you to remain in that state, more and more.

I took an “Introduction to Meditation” weekend with Vidyadevi.  When she asked about our meditation experiences, I shared that time had slowed way down.  I felt like I had all the time in the world.  She said, “Yes, there is timelessness in meditation.”  I had felt I was just being, in beingness; alive in beingness.  Experiencing this infinite reality within myself, I became conscious of the “more” within me.  Instead of feeling empty and lacking, I felt full and sufficient.  The timelessness in meditation feels like going to the cosmic time tank.

Over twenty years ago was the first time I heard that if you’re always thinking about the future, you’re not in the present moment.  Still, I often hear people say, “Wow, I can’t believe that September (or summer, or vacation or some other experience) is almost over!”  Yoga gives you a shift of perspective, “Wow, this season (of late summer) is so rich and full.  The breeze is warm (or cool); the colors of harvest are so magnificent (or transforming); this day is glorious, just as it is.”

Make friends with time.  Our Svaroopa^® yoga practices excel at giving you the experience of beingness.  This experience offers you so much.  It’s yours for the taking.  Do more Ujjayi Pranayama.

By Rama (Ruth) Brooke, SVA Board Member

The practice of true generosity is powerful in many ways.  Generosity creates abundance.  You might have thought that it was the other way around — that abundance creates generosity.  However…generous givers often have normal finances; they love to share and prioritize it in their life.  They give of their time and energy to others, as well as their financial contributions.…

Abundance is attracted to generosity.  “Abundance” is MahaLakshmi, the benevolent Goddess, the divine personification of the flow of material blessings.  She is attracted to those who will use Her gifts appropriately.” — Swami Nirmalananda, Generosity & Abundance

For me, the easiest way to gratitude, grace, generosity and abundance is through surrender, specifically surrender to the flow of Grace, which is also the Guru and the Self.  Grace is powerfully present within the Svaroopa^® Sciences.

As a Svaroopi, you are trained in the sweet art of surrender, specifically surrender to your own Divinity.  It works.  Swamiji describes gratitude as including a “pinch, not a quart” of humility, to free you from the bindings of your ego.  Our practices elicit just the right amount of humility.  You learn how to surrender, how to be humble without debasing ourselves and, most importantly, to live with your guard down.  This makes you able to function in the world in a grounded and powerful way.  To paraphrase Swamiji’s familiar question, “How do you want to live?”

Such a yogic surrender naturally leads to an immense, overflowing gratitude.  When you act on that gratitude, your action comes from authentic generosity, which leads to abundance.  The Goddess MahaLakshmi is the cosmic or celestial form of abundance.  She is the circular flow from gratitude through generosity to abundance, and around again.

Gratitude and Grace move you.  They overwhelm in a wonderful way.  They open your heart, not only to others, but to a deeper perspective.  They make you able to see what you have, truly an ever-expanding inner abundance.  And that creates generosity.

Please join me and others, and participate in our Gratitude & Grace fundraiser for our Ashram.  Let the spirit of gratitude move you to give generously.  When you give a gift to support the Guru’s work, great blessings flow to you, both outer and inner.  It’s part of the science of yoga.  It is also MahaLakshmi’s promise.  Click here to donate.

By Rajni (Chelsea) King

“My Guru’s words are like a boat taking me across the fathomless ocean of me doubting my essential nature.  I honor and enter into my Guru’s words.  They are profound, easy to understand, and make me able to rest in deepening inner stages of blissful Consciousness.” — Spanda Karikas.  4.1, rendered by Swami Nirmalananda

Swami Nirmalananda makes the profound, ancient teachings and practices of yoga so accessible and easy to understand.  The way she translates them to pertain to everyday life is such a gift! So today I celebrate the anniversary of her birth.

When I contemplate my journey on this path and my relationship to Swami Nirmalananda, “support” is the first word that comes up.  Being in relationship with Swamiji has brought Grace-filled, Grace-fueled support to my life, on the inside and the outside.  Svaroopa^® yoga asana practice first gave me tangible physical support.  Swamiji originated this yoga style from spontaneous Kundalini movements arising during her meditations.  Her Guru, Baba Muktananda, blessed her with these openings, borne of the inner power of revelation.

This Grace-filled asana practice drew me in and placed me on the path.  I first learned “support equals release.” This is true on all levels.  Guru’s Grace and support are built into every aspect of this yoga.  The poses open so much more than just the physical body!  Given that opening, I have experienced the ever-deepening support of Swamiji’s meditative teachings and devotional practices.  Every practice points me back to my Self.  And, of course, there’s the portable Guru, the mantra.  It is always there to remind me that the Guru, who is my own Self, is so close.

The greatest blessing of my Guru is the gift of Shaktipat, the awakening of the Kundalini energy.  It opens me to the tangible support of my inner Guru, my inner guide.  When I stepped onto this path, I was riddled with self-doubt.  I was convinced that “I wasn’t doing it right.” I felt that I didn’t really know how to meditate, that I wasn’t getting it! I felt numb mentally and physically.

Yet I knew I needed to be on this path.  It was a deeper knowing, a knowing beyond the negativity of my mind.  Something was propelling me forward, even though my mind couldn’t explain or comprehend what I was getting.  Things were changing at a deeper level than I could perceive at the time.  Clearly my negative and doubtful mind wasn’t on board.  What kept me going all those years?

Much later, I understood that I had received Guru initiation.  It was a spontaneous Shaktipat.  The Grace of the Gurus propelled me along the path and continues to propel me forward.  Swamiji’s Grace supports me on the inside and the outside.  Thus, I too can live in the ever-expanding pure joy and contentment of my own Self!

So on Swamiji’s birthday, I celebrate her.  I feel immensely blessed to be in relationship with a Great Being.  How could I be so fortunate to have found this path?  It truly is the greatest gift.  Happy Birthday, Swamiji!