Tag Archives: SVA

Keeping Svaroopa Yoga and Meditation in the World by Prakash (David) Falbaum, SVA Technology Team Leader

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Prakash (David) Falbaum

Even though the Western world loves yoga and meditation, the yogic lifestyle is not a mainstream lifestyle. As a yogi, most nights I get to bed by 10:30 pm, and every morning I wake up well before dawn to get in my daily practice — including asana, Ujjayi Pranayama, and meditation — before I start work at 6:30 am. Ujjayi and asana keep me moving through the day energetically and pain free, while meditation, japa, and the support I get from Swami Nirmalananda and the Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram keep me in a state of bliss and immersed in my Self.

This yogic way of living was not always the case for me either. I spent much of my 22-year career as a research scientist in pain, tired, maybe hung over, gobbling pain pills, and at odds with many of the people I worked with. Meetings were always a contentious affair with arguments erupting. As a result, we could never agree to move projects forward.

Slowly and surely my attitude about work has changed, and I owe it all to the practices I have learned as part of the Svaroopa® yoga family. As I become more and more immersed into my Self, I have noticed that meetings are calmer, decisions are being made easier, and work is becoming a more pleasant place to go. My co-workers still think that I’m a bit crazy to get up at 3:30 am for yoga and spend much of my vacation time and money for training. However, they notice enough change in my state and energy level that they want me to teach a class at lunchtime, and they are asking questions about meditation and Ujjayi.

yoga-in-world-logoIn my own life and work I receive way more than I could ever give back. So I offer seva, devotion, and dakshina (donations) to Swamiji and the Ashram. Our donations are a big part of the finances that sustain the Ashram and enable Swamiji tocontinue to bring the Svaroopa® Sciences teachings to us. I hope you will join me in donating during our Yoga in the World campaign. Your contribution, in any amount, goes toward keeping the Ashram financially strong and the teachings, which we all cherish, supporting us now and in the future. Even more, your donations ensure that the Svaroopa® Sciences continue to reach ever more deeply into the world.

Click here to support your Ashram and support your practice.

Yoga in the World by Amala (Lynn) Cattafi, President, Svaroopa Vidya Ashram Board of Directors

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Amala Lynn Cattafi

Amala (Lynn) Cattafi

I have a very dear friend, a yogi, who recently described me as a “human doing” rather than a human being. That would be hilarious if it were not such an accurate description. Maybe you can relate? She and I were having a short visit this week, and out of nowhere (hmmm, really?) I broke into a million pieces, a total meltdown. All of the shrama, the layers of exhaustion, just boiled over. It didn’t have to be this way. It was all my own doing, and doing, and doing.

Then I remembered, I have all of the tools I need at my fingertips, even closer than my breath. I put my Self first and sat to meditate — the elixir, the cure. I was seated in my Self again, blissfully. And all was well again. I was able to rejoin the world as a yogi living in the world, focused, able, without limitations and in awareness of what this amazing refuge of svaroopa gives me.

How silly can I be to think that I do it all when I put meditation as the last thing on my To Do List? Sometimes, integrating yoga into a busy, worldly life can be a challenge. It takes time, it takes commitment and focus. But I am worth it! You are worth it!

While yoga in the world is beautiful, I cannot imagine a world without Svaroopa® yoga. I see what it does in the world on both a small and a large scale — transformations as small as a blade of grass and as big as the sky.

This is why I offer my time in seva (service) to the Ashram. I offer my devotion to Swamiji and the community she has created. I offer my love and devotion always. But just as important, I offer my money for the betterment and support of this amazing organization and this amazing Teacher, so that she and those she has trained can continue their work.

Please join me in giving today, and give generously. I can speak from my position as President of the Ashram Board of Directors that your donations are very much needed, in any amount, deeply respected and always handled with loving care. It is our commitment to you and our service to you.

Thank you!

OM svaroopa svasvabhava namo namah

The Mystical Teachings Have Changed the Way I Live by Rudrani (Rosemary) Nogue

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Rudrani (Rosemary) Nogue

Rudrani (Rosemary) Nogue

A yoga student gave me a greeting card a few years back. It said, “The way you live your life has changed how I live my life.” The way Swamiji gives so generously of the mystical teachings, which she learned at the feet of her Guru Muktananda, has changed how I live my life. And, the way I live my life keeps evolving, the more yoga practices I do and the more I avail myself of Swamiji’s Grace. I couldn’t go back to how I used to be even if I wanted to — which I don’t.

The more I dive into practices and programs, the more I get bite-sized pieces of understanding that guide or push me along to my inner Self. These include practicing and teaching asana and leading group meditations, my own meditation and japa, chanting the Guru Gita and listening to Swamiji’s talks online, the year long course “Guru & Self,” offering seva and taking more training (I recently retook Meditation Teacher Training). Everything I do is designed by Swami Nirmalananda who, along with my own efforts, is birthing me into who I really am.

Back in 1999, when I started training with Swamiji (then Rama), I came to learn yoga poses to teach. But this path I have been given is so much more than what I originally came for, more than I even knew was possible. I have been given mystical teachings that, for centuries, were secret teachings. Having Swamiji as my Guru has put me in the flow of this living lineage, through which the teachings have been passed from teacher to disciple for thousands of years. Swamiji has been charged with bringing the yogic mystical teachings into the world. Mystical teachings are not mainstream; they are not popular and they are not for everybody. But they are for me, and my guess is that they are for you, because you are reading this.

How do I live my life now? I am more ME. I am more present, more aware, more at ease, more kind and more clear. I am more able to be aware when I am not Self and I know how to get back. I am more willing to risk. Recently, after Swamiji’s Shaktipat weekend that I hosted in Calgary, I had my first clear experience of speaking up louder when I was inner connected and teaching a yoga class. Clearly, more of my Self had been uncovered through the mystical mystery of our Shaktipat weekend. This allowed me to be Self-connected and speak out at the same time. It was time to speak up and be heard, and something had been cleared that allowed me to do that.

So now it is time for me to use my stronger and clearer voice to ask you to donate during our April Fundraiser, “Yoga in the World,” to support the continuing flow of the mystical yogic teachings into the world. Please join me and my husband with your donation to support the rare gift of a living, accessible Guru who imparts mystical teachings in an understandable way.  Because this path isn’t mainstream, we depend on donations for one third of the income needed to run SVA. From your deep gratitude and your deeper Self, please make an offering so the Ashram can flourish and continue to offer the secrets of yoga to you and to our community. Click here and make as meaningful a contribution as you are able, to support the generous way that Swamiji imparts the mystical teachings to us.

Taglines (Installment #2)

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Svaroopa® Yoga: Deceptively Easy

flowerSvaroopa® yoga gives you more than a workout does, but with less work. This yoga is leveraged. You don’t think you did anything, yet you actually did more than ever before. You get huge results for a little bit of effort.

Svaroopa® Yoga: More than Exercise

flower4Svaroopa® yoga is not excerise. It’s a scientific maximization of your body’s capacity, dissolving the tensions that inhibit your body’s natural functioning and inherent healing capacity.” (from Yoga International)

Svaroopa® Yoga: Support and Release

flower3You don’t push to make the pose happen. In Svaroopa® yoga, you prop and align, then allow the changes to develop. Physical changes are the beginning of a profound deepening, which provides magical internal changes. All levels open up simultaneously: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

Svaroopa® Yoga: Living in Ease

flower2Even after a workout, massage or hot bath, your tensions return within hours or minutes. Svaroopa® yoga dissolves the deeper layers of your tensions, to allow you to live with ease all the time, not just when you are doing yoga. That ease is your birthright.

Svaroopa® Yoga: Full Spectrum Yoga

flower5Svaroopa® yoga opens up the full spectrum of your being. Spiritual insights and profound healings happen without any sweat. Slower yoga, consciously aligned and leveraged for multi-dimensional openings, means you get it all.

Svaroopa® Yoga: Mind-Body Yoga

flower6Use your body to work on your mind, clearing away the thoughts and emotions that cause your stress and tensions. Along with amazing physical improvements,  Svaroopa® yoga clears multiple levels simultaneously, to open up access to your own deeper essence, named “svaroopa”.

Svaroopa® Yoga: Beyond Your Limitations

flower7The quality of life is not based on how much you do but on how much you let go; not on how far you go, but on how open and easy you are. Svaroopa® yoga dissolves physical limitations as well as mental, emotional and spiritual blocks, to open up the way you live inside your own skin.

Seva Comings & Goings by Devapriyaa Hills

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One of the signs of a dynamic and successful seva program is responsiveness – meaning that change happens due to sevites’ needs plus changes occur due to the Ashram’s needs. Thus we have new sevites, changing sevas and sevites that are not doing seva at this time. It has been an honor to work with so many practicing the yoga of selfless service.

Welcome to new sevites and to those that will be contributing in a new way.

Contemplations Reader Team – Pat Morrison (Coordinator), Yogeshwari (Melissa) Fountain, Kusuma (Karobi) Sachs, Rukmini Abbruzzi, Devi (Elizabeth) McKenty, Aanandi (Annie) Ross & Janaki (Janet) Ross

Downingtown Emcee Team – Kanchan (Connie) Mohn (Coordinator), Sri (Sonya) McNeil, Lisa Spangler, Devaraja (Steve) Thoman, & John Frank

Enrollment Team – Savitri (Louise) Harkema, & Barbara Hood

Gardening Team (Coordinator Assistant) – Gayatri (Barbara) Hess

Moderating E-Group – Bhanumati (Beth) Cunningham

Quotation Database – Rob Gold

Typesetting – Danielle Sarason

Spring Window Washing – Aanandi (Annie) Ross & Jim Totin

Thank you to those who have changed to new seva, worked on a special project or are not working at a seva at this time. Your dedication and service have been a gift and are appreciated.

Contact Updates – Danielle Sarison

Documentation Team – Kusuma (Karobi) Sachs (Coordinator), Savitri (Louise) Harkema, Ekamati (Diane) Tsurutani, Kirsten Hale & Kriyaa (Chris) Godfrey

Quotation Database – Adell Kochubka

Special Events Team – Ellen Mtichell & Gayatri (Barbara) Hess

Tech Support Team – Maitreyi Wilsman & Barbara Hood

Thank You Notes – Kamala (Michelle) Gross

Web Team – Saguna (Kelly) Goss & Bruce Roberts

If you notice that a sevite has been missed, please notify me at seva@svaroopavidya.org so the list can be adjusted.

 

You Gotta Dig Deeper by Swami Nirmalananda

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Devaraja-stakeThere was a metal stake sticking out of the tree stump that we wanted to grind.  At the Ashram, we had removed a tree, but the metal stake inhibited the stump grinding plan.  Devaraja (Steve) Thoman tested the stake and, finding that it wiggled well, said he thought he could remove it, but needed some equipment. 

One morning at breakfast, I joked with him about one of the differences between men and women — that guys like to get dirty, even muddy.  Later in the morning, Devaraja decided to tackle the metal stake.  This was late fall, with very wet ground and a few patches of snow on the ground.

He pounded on the stake to loosen it, then grabbed and pulled.  It came up a few inches.  He repeated the task, each time getting a little more of the stake above ground. A passing neighbor saw him and stopped to offer help.  Devaraja thought he’d be fine and said, “No, thanks.” 

A few pulls later, he groaned with the effort as he pulled.  The neighbor was passing by again, with his young daughter on a small bike riding along with him.  This wonderful gentleman came running to help.  Devaraja warned, “You’ll probably get muddy.”  The neighbor laughed and said, “That’s why I’m outside!”  They both laughed, with Devaraja thinking of our breakfast conversation. 

They pounded on the stake, wiggled it and then pulled, repeating the task several times. Each time the stake came out a little more.  What started as 18” of metal stake grew to 4’, then 5’ and more.  They were shocked to discover, when they finally got it out of the ground, it was 8’ tall!

The neighbor and his daughter went on their way.  Devaraja, exhausted and panting from the exertion, lay on the ground with his head in a snow patch for 5 minutes.  He then came in to share his trophy, photographed here.

I completed the lesson for him, “The roots of your stuff are always deeper than you think.”  You think it’s a little problem but, when you dig into your own needs and reactions, you’ll find that they are rooted deeply in there, even rooted in lifetimes of self-repeating patterns.  You have to dig deep to get free.  Mantra does the digging for you.  Do more japa.

Enroll Now for the April Svaroopa® Yoga & Meditation Retreat by Ute Reeves

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Ute

Ute Reeves

No matter my motives, I can assure you that you will be in for a wonderful treat.  Who knows what can happen when you open yourself to grace to such a degree? In my experience, spending a week with Swamiji, receiving her teachings on several levels, and letting the yoga take me deep, without distractions, nourishes me immensely. The benefits I took away from previous retreats were so much more tangible and permanent than the fleeting “workshop high” from other kinds of spiritual retreats.

When I first thought of enrolling for this retreat, I felt that my life is much too complicated right now to go away for a week. I am the primary caretaker for an elderly family member with serious health issues. Some very serious planning and arranging has to happen to cover my absence at home. But then I realized that I need this retreat exactly because life is demanding right now.  In order to serve my family best and without getting frazzled, I need to come from my deepest Self. A retreat like this helps me cultivate access to the deepest levels of my being.

And, of course, it doesn’t matter what goes on in my life or doesn’t go on in my life; it is always a good time to luxuriate in the bliss of my true Being.

In fellowship,

Ute

Seedling Seva by Antarajna (Deborah) Mandel

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flower7A few years ago, when Suchi and Dean Cilley lived at the Ashram, they built raised beds to grow vegetables and herbs for the phenomenal chefs at the Ashram to use in preparing their meals. The garden has continued to evolve over the last few years. This year we have a wonderful new opportunity to deepen our roots in this endeavor. Instead of buying plants, Swamiji has personally chosen seeds for us to start vegetable plants. In late spring these will be transplanted to the vegetable beds. We will also be starting marigolds to be used as offerings on the puja.

We will be raising these seedlings both in our homes and at the Ashram.  Those growing seedlings at home have amazing seva opportunity — to be in service to the Ashram and the lineage, with the Shakti  surrounding us in our daily lives. It brings the food cycle full circle; we grow food from seed, nurture it, transplant it to Ashram soil, harvest it, and feed the Ashram residents with healthy morsels for months to come!

Especially after this long, snowy, cold winter, I heartedly endorse Kate Morton who said in The Forgotten Garden, “It [is] such a pleasure to sink one’s hands into the warm earth, to feel at one’s fingertips the possibilities of the new season.” Starting the seedlings now is a step in that direction.

If anyone is interested in starting seedlings in their home, or helping with the seedlings at the Ashram please email me at debbielmandel@gmail.com.

With love and blessings, Antarajna

Landing In Your Mailbox Soon by Marlene Gast

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new_certificatesJust mailed out! Swami Nirmalananda reports the mailing out over 50 new certificates, for yogis who completed their trainings and their paperwork in the last few months. When the Ashram stepped into the process of handling courses, there was a backlog of certificates due. It took a few months to gather the information, plus create the NEW Ashram certificate.

These certificates have been mailed out in a “Certificate Party Pack,” created, packaged and prepared for mailing by sevites, including Nandini Mermet-Grandfilleas well as Amala (Lynn) Cattafi, Board President and Swami Nirmalananda.

Describing the certificate mailing task, Amala says, “I went up to the Ashram for the day to assist Swamiji. She doubled the enticement (as if I needed any enticement!) by saying she had a sweet seva for me to assist with. How lovely to find that it was to assist her with the party packs holding the certifications for newly certified Svaroopa® yoga teachers and Embodyment® therapists. While Swamiji and I sat at the dining room table in the Ashram, she signed each certificate personally, and then I put them in the individual party packs. Before I sealed each one, into it I whispered our mantra – OM Nama.h “Sivaya – to send all of the love, power and blessing that the mantra carries.”

If you are one of the recipients of a certificate proclaiming your new achievement, heed the cover letter: It invites you to celebrate this recognition of your great achievement, and supplies streamers, balloons and confetti. Give yourself a party, small or large! You have earned it, and have patiently awaited the day.

More certificates will be coming soon, so if you know a yogi who is waiting (or you are the yogi), please keep breathing and repeating mantra…

Taglines (Installment #1)

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Svaroopa® Yoga:  Immediate Improvement

flowerThe problems you bring begin to disappear before your class ends.  Your aches and pains are reduced, the pressures you face are less overwhelming and you get some bounce back in your step.  It all starts with deep relaxation and yogic breathing.

Svaroopa® Yoga:  So Many Ways to Do Yoga!

flower4Do poses at home, take a class or get private yoga therapy sessions.  Get a book, a DVD or some Pose Cards.  Learn meditation, study sutras or inquire into the quirks of your mind. Weave consciousness through your day with mantra and breathing.  The more yoga you do, the more you get from it.

Svaroopa® Yoga:  Completely Reliable

flower3You don’t have to be good at Svaroopa® yoga – it will still be good to you.  The poses work on a cause-and-effect relationship and are absolutely reliable. Svaroopa® yoga excels at healing what ails you.

Svaroopa® Yoga:  Begin at the Beginning

flower2Most of your aches, pains and problems originate in spinal tension; your doctor knows this. Svaroopa® yoga gives you core opening, the decompression of your spine.  Watch your problems melt away as bliss arises within and overflows into your heart and your life.

Svaroopa® Yoga:  How Much is Too Much?

flower5Different people go “tilt” at different levels of pain. Some come to yoga when they feel that their body is tight, while others wait until they are limping.  The earlier you come in, the easier it is to heal.  Your start to good health begins with Svaroopa® yoga’s core opening.  It works!

Svaroopa® Yoga: Take Charge of Your Body

flower6Western medicine excels at three things: emergency care, surgery and biochemistry. Yet medicine’s failures include many common maladies¹ all of which Svaroopa® yoga excels at treating. You really can take charge of your own healing for most conditions, or use yoga as a valuable adjunct to your medical care.

Svaroopa® Yoga:  Healing Yoga

flower7Reinvigorate your own healing capacity through Svaroopa® yoga:  physical, mental-emotional and spiritual healing; this is where every new yogi starts!  After only an hour, you’ll feel completely different.  Each time adds on more improvement until you cannot remember what got you started.  This is the power of Svaroopa® yoga.

¹ low back pain, neck & shoulder pain, plantar fasciitis, insomnia, low energy, anxiety, allergies, frequent colds or flu, asthma, high blood pressure, migraines, poor digestion and many other conditions