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!

By Vibhuti King

My box of chant CDs arrived in the mail!  Sent to us Svaroopa^® yoga teachers by our Ashram, they are part of the Mandali programs to expand our yoga community locally.  Teachers pass the CDs on to their own students as “thank you” gifts, just for them being our students.  Coming from our Guru, Swami Nirmalananda, these CDs carry an even greater gift: Her Grace.

At the end of class today, I invited each student to choose their CD.  I was delighted that many already had some of Nirmalananda’s CDs.  Some requested a duplicate of their “favorite.”  The CD was getting worn out!

Students chatted about which chants they liked to listen to depending on how they were feeling.  They described how a certain chant expressed their joy or yearning.  They discussed which chant was good to listen to before meditation or while driving.  And all agreed that chanting along with the CDs helped them to feel closer to the whole Svaroopa^® yoga and meditation community.  Until this gratitude gathering, I had no idea that these chants mean as much to them as they mean to me.

I am grateful for this time of sharing, of community, of coming together around the ancient practice of lifting our voices to that which uplifts us.  We all have so much to be grateful for.  Often it’s more than we know.  This sharing allowed me to see my students in a deeper way.  It showed me how they turn to their practice to express themselves and how personal these chants are to them.

One woman began to chant the words of “Asato,” and others joined in:

Asato ma sad gamayaa

Tamaso ma jyotir gamayaa

Mrtyor ma amtram gamayaa

OM

Lead me from untruth to truth

Lead me from darkness to light

Lead me from the fear of death to the nectar of immortality

OM

The woman who began this chant a cappella later shared how that chant saw her through a very dark time.  We have so much to be grateful for.  Thank you to my students and thank you to my teacher, my Guru, Swami Nirmalananda.

By Bindu Shortt

Right now, in the northern regions of the northern hemisphere, leaves are falling, fields going dormant, temperatures dropping, and animals storing up food or flying south. Nature is preparing for the coming winter. Fall, a time of transition, has a certain quiet. Ayurvedically we are moving into vata season. Vata means “wind.” It is the element of nature that brings the qualities of cold, light, dry, rough and irregular. Vata comprises the energies of air and of the ether (space). Thus, vata can bring a sense of void.

Whatever seasonal qualities are outside you, those same qualities will accumulate inside you during that season. This may lead to health imbalances. In vata season they can show up as colds, influenza, constipation, dry skin, or sleep disturbances.  For each season, Ayurveda recommends routines to help you not accumulate too much of its seasonal energies. Working on the principle that the opposite is balancing, Ayurveda offers lifestyle suggestions to keep you well through fall and winter. Much of this may be fairly obvious or automatic for you. This is because your Ayurvedic inner wisdom is always informing you of how to stay well!

First, notice the changes in nature where you live. When it is cold, dry and windy, give yourself warmth, oiliness and stability. It is natural to eat more winter squashes, and root veggies such as beets and carrots and parsnips. All of these build warmth in your body. Include them in your daily diet, rather than the melons and salads of summer, which cooled you.

Eat cooked foods. Hot grain cereals for breakfast are warming and grounding. Soups, stews or casseroles for lunch and dinner will help keep your immunity strong. Nuts and seeds have wonderful protein and fats, both of which will stabilize your blood sugar.

Pies are great desserts at this time of year. Pies with cooked fruits or even veggies warm you up (like pumpkin or squash pie). Favor the sweet, sour and salty tastes. Add more ghee and other fats and oils to your diet. Drink more warm liquids, such as teas.

You can make a wonderful vata supportive tea. Put a half teaspoon each of whole cumin, coriander and fennel seeds in a cup. You can put them right in or use a teaball. Pour boiled water over, and let it steep for a few minutes. If the seeds are floating, strain them. This tea is good for digestion, detoxing, immunity, calmness and clear thinking.

Consider adding oils on the outside of your body, by doing a daily oil massage before you shower or bathe. This practice, called abhyanga, will go a long way toward keeping you warm, soothing your nervous system, and moistening your skin. An oil massage also moves your lymph, for a detox. In vata season, sesame is the oil of choice for most people, as it has the most warming qualities. Searching online using “Ayurvedic self-massage video” yields more than a hundred hits! Click here for an example.

By making lifestyle changes into habits, you align yourself with the rhythms of the season. This will help you to enjoy the abundance and harmony of fall and winter. In addition to a vata-calming diet and oil massage, you can wear a light scarf to help hold your body warmth as well as a hat that covers your ears. And give yourself regular sleep. Go to bed by 10 pm and be up by 6 am.

Reported by Matrika Gast

“A new student came to class with so much pain in her hip that she could hardly manage stairs,” reports Kamala (Michelle) Gross, Certified Svaroopa^® Yoga Teacher (CSYT) and Yoga Therapist.  “She was even was in pain while she slept.  Lying in Jathara Parivrttanasana (Rotated Stomach Pose) with her knees touching, one foot hung in the air due to the severe twist in her hips.  I supported it on a large blanket roll.  After a few classes, she began yoga therapy private sessions weekly.  Just two months later, her feet rested together in Rotated Stomach Pose due to the realignment in her spine and hips.  After a year of committed yoga practice and weekly sessions, she was climbing stairs nearly pain free, aware only of an occasional, minor hip ache.  Her whole body was more upright and comfortable.”

“In just three sessions,” shares Deb Shapiro, CSYT and Therapist, “a new client with Parkinson’s disease is feeling relief from pain, and her Parkinson’s symptoms have calmed.  At her first session, she exhibited a lot of shaking as well as stiffness.  She was eager to learn, so I began by teaching her poses she can do at home.  I concluded her first session by leading her in Shavasana and Ujjayi Pranayama.  After she got up from Shavasana, she was not shaking nor was she as stiff.  When I asked her what she was aware of, she smiled.  She said, ‘I feel looser and calmer.  I am so glad I have found Svaroopa^® yoga.’

“After two more sessions, she is doing her Svaroopa^® yoga poses every other day, and Shavasana with Ujjayi breathing every day.  After her third session, she was steady, and walked out of the studio with more ease.  I’m looking forward to seeing what will happen next!”

A student of Jyoti (Rebecca) Yacobi, CSYT took Svaroopa^® yoga classes for two years, had several Embodyment^® sessions and committed to a daily Magic 4 and Ujjayi home practice.  Jyoti reports that these approaches “significantly improved mobility in her lower spine.  The tightness and pain in her sacrum is gone.”

Last March, Jyoti completed the next level of yoga therapy training, ATT 262: Treating Pain, and was able to offer more.

After this student’s second private session with the new treatment protocols, she stopped needing her orthotics.  “She was very excited about this, describing it as her feet ‘opening and touching the earth differently.’  During her private sessions, longtime episodes of nausea and vertigo eased.  After her sixth session, the nausea was virtually gone.

“Then, after several more months, a deeper miracle unfolded.”  In a session, she experienced an inner state that was “deeper” than she had ever experienced before.  Jyoti describes, “That state lasted for several days.  My student said she felt very peaceful, quiet and very deep.  Its profound impact was obvious.”

Click here for our directory of Svaroopa^® yoga teachers and therapists.

By Janaki Murray

Looking at what is “lurking in the background” can be so revealing.  Whether delving into a fear, desire or aversion, I discover the motivating force and I experience many “aha!” moments.  Thus, I find working with the kleshas a highly rewarding practice, as described in our October contemplation from Swami Nirmalananda and Rukmini Abbruzzi.

For example, I bought a new phone last week.  It was a desire (raga) fulfilled.  However, it turned out to be quite painful as it did not work in the way I expected.  It meant I had to deal with the service provider and the store I purchased the phone from.  Fear (abhinivesha) and aversion (dvesha) raised their heads, as I had to somehow get to grips with the technology.  This threatened my identity (asmitaa) as an intelligent, educated person.  Would I be smart enough to understand what was going on?  Would I be able to resolve the problem?  In other words, was I going to be “good enough?”

My mind was churning! Looking at what was “hidden underneath” allowed me to recognize the identity (at least for now).  I could relax and allow my mind to settle.  I was no longer lost in that identity.  I found I was even able to enjoy the challenge before me and learn something in the process.  I didn’t have to wrestle with myself.

When I become aware that I am lost in “need, greed and fear,” in that moment of contemplation I know who I am.  I am the Self.  It is like the light in the darkness — the lifting of the veil of utter despair.

I find it a blissful thought that Consciousness has become me for the pure joy of being me.  How many people in the world have that understanding!

I also find it comforting to understand that it is not my fault, because avidyaa (the not-knowing) is the human condition; it is built in existential angst.  I cannot think my way out of it and I need help.  For this I have so many Svaroopa^® yoga and meditation practices to choose from.  They support me in growing closer to vidya (the knowing of my own Self).  They address my spiritual amnesia.

Threading through all of this is the Grace that flows through this lineage, through Swamiji and her teachings, through me and to my students.  All this leads me lovingly towards a Divine destiny — and freedom from the kleshas.  Yippee!

By Aanandi Ross

Diwali reminds me of a time in childhood, when I stood on a very high hilltop at night, overlooking the dazzling spread of city lights below and felt ecstatic bliss.  After learning about Diwali, I understand more: the lights and the bliss, outside and inside.

Diwali is a festival of lights, signifying knowledge over ignorance and light over dark.  It is a very big holiday.  We can liken it to a combination of Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and the Fourth of July, all in one.  Diwali is celebrated every year in autumn in the northern hemisphere, which is spring in the southern hemisphere.

The celebration dates back to ancient India as a festival after the summer harvest.  It honors the sun as the cosmic giver of light and energy to all life.  Derived from the Sanskrit dipam “light, lamp” and oli “glow of light,” “diwali” comes from dipavali, which means “series of lights.” For some, the festival preparations and rituals extend over a five-day period.

The main festival night coincides with the darkest new moon night of the month between mid-October and mid-November, this year on October 19^th.  We’ll look at it in three ways: as a cultural phenomenon; as a religious celebration, as a Hindu holiday; and as a spiritual opportunity, from a yogic perspective.

Culturally, Diwali is an official holiday in several countries.  The celebration has gradually increased in scope, becoming part of the general local culture.  It is one of the most popular and joyous festivals.  It can be an extravagant party-time, complete with shopping, new clothes, decorative lights, gift-giving, celebratory foods, fireworks and sparklers.

As a Hindu celebration, Diwali is a holy day.  Celebrations honor Lakshmi, the goddess of abundance at harvest time, who provides us with our stockpiles of food during the dormancy of nature, and who will bring forth spring’s flowering and fructification of nourishment.  She is thus the Goddess of wealth.  Hindus prepare by cleaning their homes and setting out lights — clay saucers of ghee with a wick, everywhere, outside and inside.  New clothes are worn, pujas are decorated with flowers, prayers are offered.  Sweets and dried fruits are enjoyed.  The senses are employed to attune one to the presence of God.

It is a time when children hear ancient stories from their parents and elders about the Ramayana, a battle between light and darkness.  Lord Rama who waged a war against the demon-king Ravana, who had kidnapped Lord Rama’s wife, Sita.  Against great odds and with Hanuman’s help, Rama rescued Sita, and together they journeyed back home.  The people were overjoyed and welcomed them home by lighting up the city with candle flames everywhere.

For us yogis, Diwali is a special time to honor the light of your own Self.  We also honor the one who makes you able to know your Self, the Guru.  Along with festivities, rituals can include a self-oil-massage specially prepared with herbs, bathing afterwards, and dressing in new clothes.  Along with lights, sparklers and fireworks, look for the experience of Lakshmi’s power inside, bursting into bloom, dispelling darkness, and invoking an inner experience of being all the throb of life.

Celebrate Diwali!  Honor the light, the Guru and your own Self.

By Priya Kenney

“What I like about the Yoga Therapy Retreat is that it includes everything for healing,” says Kalyani (Evy) Zavolas Wallis.  Rest and rejuvenation, healing, big openings, deep inner work and calming physical kriyas describe her experience.  It feels like she hits the reset button and gets re-established in a steady practice routine.  She says, “I feel so blessed to be able take this time for myself to do the inner work and to have time with Swamiji.”

Each day begins with chanting Sri Guru Gita, followed by an asana class.  After that, you have a private vichara session (guided self-inquiry).  Kalyani is especially appreciative of the rest periods that are built into the day because they allow “all the changes to seep in.” She explains, “Doing vichara every day, you get into some really deep stuff.”

There are also teachings with Swamiji, chanting and meditation and a private yoga therapy session every day.  Kalyani emphasizes the importance of time for resting, even naps: “To me, it was like heaven, because I had that time for things to integrate.  You’re getting so much and need the breaks to let it sink in.”

Kalyani has gone to the retreat all three times it has been offered at Lokananda! She keeps taking this intensive because she has had such good experiences.  Kalyani remembers taking a similar course at the Malvern PA studio way back before Swami Nirmalananda was a swami.  It included daily vichara and yoga therapy sessions.  She was incredibly grateful to get two yoga therapy sessions from Swamiji when she was still called Rama.  “She was doing things I had never seen before,” said Kalyani.  She was so happy to see the ATT Yoga Therapy trainings reintroduced in the past couple of years, with even more juice to it.  “I see there is one coming up in November,” says Kalyani.  “If I can swing it, I will be there.  It’s another five days of diving deep inside.  I would like to take every single one.”

In April 2017, Kalyani was drawn to take the intensive because she had fallen into a deep depression.  She knew the course would help her get through it.  The Vows Preparation Course, unveiled some deep personal stuff and uncovered the depression.  In addition, her father-in-law passed away, she got the flu and lost a lot of weight.  Following Swamiji’s recommendations, she got a health care team to support her and began to heal.  “Once the intensive came up, I was feeling a bit better, I knew it would be powerful enough to keep my healing going.  And it would be gentle enough so I could handle it,” says Kalyani.

There was a lot of fear in her depression.  With Swamiji present every day for teachings and leading practices, Kalyani had the chance to talk with her about the fear.  The vichara sessions also helped her look at her fears and understand the thought processes behind them.  Daily Embodyment^® sessions gave her the experience of bliss.  And more — she got a personalized set of practices to take home.  Then she regained her appetite and her immune system improved.

Kalyani’s husband joined her at the next Yoga Therapy Retreat.  He especially liked all the yoga therapy sessions.  Even for someone who isn’t into the chanting, he was still able to enjoy it and didn’t find it overwhelming.  Swamiji and Vidyadevi each gave illuminating talks that included information about the body, pain and the power of Ujjayi Pranayama.  Students learned about the importance both their physical and subtle bodies in healing.

“The retreat is a reboot, a delicious time out,” says Kalyani.  “Upon returning home, I felt that I was starting fresh.  It’s a great way to get back into my practices when they have fallen away.  When I was depressed, I just couldn’t do them.  This retreat put me back into the practices.  It was a new lease on life and on my practices.” Kalyani recommends this intensive for anyone who needs rest and rejuvenation.  “It’s very personalized,” says Kalyani.  “It’s a deeply opening retreat.”

Our next Svaroopa^® Yoga Therapy Intensive Retreat is November 15-19 (and spans Swamiji’s birthday).

Reported by Matrika Gast

On September 28, 2009, our Ashram came into being.  We celebrated on a conference call last Saturday evening, with a Japathon.  Together, we repeated our mantra more than 500 times, and then Swamiji guided us into meditation.  When Swamiji spoke, she beautifully emphasized that we were celebrating our joint birthday as a community.  She closed saying “Happy Birthday to us!”

Here, many community members share what the Ashram means to them:

Priya Kenney shares:

The Ashram is my spiritual home, the place I go to drink from the well.  It is also the abode of the Guru, my spiritual guide and teacher.  Swamiji’s presence and the buildings are the physical location from which everything flows as the grounded source of Grace and Consciousness.  That is the well I gratefully drink from, regardless of my location.  As the source of my upliftment and my progress on this path, it sustains me.

Swamiji tells us that the Ashram itself is also the body of the Guru.  I experience that whenever I am at Lokananda or the Ashram, by being reliably propelled into the knowing of my own expansive Self.  I love the moment when Swamiji enters the Meditation Hall, answering my longing with her presence.  The edges of my mind dissolve in the powerful flow of Grace, and I know my Self as Consciousness-Itself.  As in all homes, the kitchen is another favorite place.  It is full of deliciousness and the warmth of other yogis.

When I leave, I take with me the portable form of the Guru, the mantra.  It’s important to me to stay connected to the Ashram even while I am thousands of miles away.  I do that by repeating mantra, the sound form of the Guru.  I do seva and tap into the wellsprings of Grace in all the website resources.  Through monthly dakshina I am grateful to be able to support that grounded well of Consciousness that gives me everything.  I am ever grateful for the Ashram and the Guru.

“Happy Birthday, Dear Ashram, Happy Birthday to You!” writes Sri McNeill.  Thank you dearest Swamiji, donors, Board members, and kula for making Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram possible.  There are so many aspects that I love and appreciate about our incredible ashram.  Physically, just being on the grounds or within her walls, particularly in the Meditation Hall in the presence of the Gurus and the murtis — that’s pure joy.  Then again being at Swamiji’s feet for darshan after satsangs — that’s also pure joy.  And finding the perfect article or talk in the online freebies — that’s pure joy too.  So many ways to receive so many benefits and blessings.  Jaya!”

Tirtha Richards declares, “Happy Birthday, Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram!  I am ever grateful for the Ashram first and foremost because it houses our beloved Guru Swami Nirmalananda.  How fortunate we are to have Swamiji right here, offering us all what we are ready to receive.  Just stepping in the door brings me to a more grounded and deep place internally.  Her Grace permeates throughout, allowing us to shift into the Self and carry our opening to Self with us when we return home.  If we find we have forgotten how to access it ourselves, we simply have to listen to her online teachings or return for a visit.  Grace is so close and so easily accessible.  Thank you dear Svaroopa^® Vidya Ashram for the most precious gift of all!”

“Celebrating the birth of the Ashram makes utter sense to me,” explains Aanandi Ross.  The Ashram and all its facets — whether chanting in the temple, having lunch with Swami, or partaking of the virtual yoga community in so many ways — has become the most significant aspect of my life.  All that this Ashram represents is what births me into my Self, more and ever more, deeper and deeper.  I’ve heard Swamiji say so many times, ‘Baba gave me my Self.’  This is the most precious gift.  In turn, Swamiji so freely and abundantly offers this gift to so many.  I don’t even fully comprehend all that I know I’m receiving.  She gives me my Self.  I am getting to know my Self.  With great love, I thank you, Swamiji.  ”

When Guruji planted the shakti at the Ashram,” describes Dhananjaya King, “it was established as a holy site of pilgrimage.  When Lokananda opened, another holy site emerged.  It doesn’t matter whether I go to the Ashram or Lokananda, each offer the spiritual foundation that my feet need to stand on.  I don’t even have to have arrived yet at the Ashram.  Beginning with the intention to go, things start to change; my world vibrates differently.  My six-hour drive becomes a mystical tour.  The car seems to drive itself.  Time flies by.  People I meet on the way look at me differently.  When I arrive, it all comes together.  Whether it’s a retreat, B&B weekend or satsang, I am forever changed with each visit.”

Sumati Morrison vividly recalls the email Swamiji sent out announcing that she was founding an Ashram, virtual to begin with.  Sumati says:

How excited and happy I felt.  I responded immediately, ‘Oh joy!  What can I do to help?’ I realize now that I didn’t really know exactly what an Ashram was.  Yet I was pretty sure Swamiji would begin focusing more on meditation, which I had been craving for a number of years.

With the acquisition of a building, I was particularly glad that Swamiji would finally be able to ‘plant the shakti’.  Again, not truly understanding, I was primarily glad for her.  I think I thought of the shakti as sort of this huge load she had been hauling around and trying to somehow contain.  And, I primarily conceived of the Ashram as a sort of ‘retreat center.’  What I came to understand was that although I could physically retreat, really I wanted to retreat from my issues that came with me no matter where I was.

Even with a building now, the virtual Ashram has continued and expanded.  Now with the multitude of free online offerings, phone programs, Swamiji’s visits to Svaroopa^® studios as well as Lokananda, Swamiji and her teachings are actually available 24/7.  Still, there’s nothing is like being with her — in her presence!  That is truly what the Ashram means to me — wherever Swamiji is, that is the Ashram.”

“Happy Birthday, Ashram!  The gifts I receive from you far exceed the gifts I offer to you — Om Namah Shivaya,” says Gayatri Hess.  “Through the Ashram, Swamiji makes herself and the teachings available in so many ways.  She brings them to us through an amazing network of programs offered at the Ashram, online and by phone.  I personally love the availability of writings and talks on line.  I read the monthly contemplation and then listen to the corresponding online Satsangs prior to my morning meditation.  I make regular visits to the Ashram.  I love personal time with Swamiji, whether at lunch or one-on-one time through B&B weekends.  The year-long phone course offers me the opportunity to take in the deeper teachings with direct feedback from Swamiji.  This program also gets me closer to fellow yogis.  The vowed order supports my yearning for the more, the Self.  I bow again and again to Swamiji and the Grace of this lineage.  I am blessed by the Ashram that gives so much.”

OM svaroopa svasvabhavah namo namah