Hello, dear friends and new Yogi’s: How is your “Less is More” going?  We’d love to hear your feed back. Students come to asana to get help for our poor bodies, and of course, we receive that as well, but quieting your mind is oh, so much more.  We keep coming back to Svaroopa® yoga for the bliss. There are many different styles of yoga throughout the world and Swami Nirmalananda has said more than once, “Any yoga is good yoga.” She goes on to say “But Svaroopa® yoga asana comes at the body from a completely different approach than most asana does.  It makes fast and deep changes in [...] Read more »

Admit it, dear friends, don’t we all wish we could do less and get more? Well, the good news is;  you can!   After all, this is Gentle and Easy Yoga for Anybody! What do you want your experience to look or feel like?  Perhaps you dream of being pain free or more flexible, free from anxiety or finding your way into a deeper awareness. Here’s how we do it!: SHAVASANA (Yoga’s Relaxation Pose) Right now, right here, notice your body position – no changes needed.  Still in the same position, relax all your unnecessary tensions.  Let your body soften into the position.  And there you are, a variation on Shavasana.  [...] Read more »

Your experience of yoga is only understood by another yogi. Try to explain what yoga gives you to your family. They might smile and nod, or perhaps frown and shake their heads wonderingly. They might say, “That is nice, dear.” But few of them, perhaps none, will say, “Show me.” But when you talk about your experience to another Svaroopis their eyes light up and they say, “Yes, I know just what you mean!” Other yogis are your family, too. This gives you two types of family: your blood relatives and your yoga-brothers and yoga-sisters. Family is of primal importance. This is true even when some family members are problematical. [...] Read more »

You may have started yoga because life was pushing you too hard. It was a good decision because yoga excels at getting you through the tough spots. But what do you do when your yoga is pushing you into tough stuff? In yoga, the tough stuff can show up in three different ways: in your body, in your thoughts or emotions, or in your life. It’s actually the same three ways that tough stuff shows up for anybody, but yogis do it differently. Many begin yoga when their body needs help. Different people go “tilt” at different levels. Some come in when they feel that their body is tight, while [...] Read more »

You continue to change and grow throughout your life, whether you want to or not. Life makes sure you get the lessons you try to avoid; it’s a karmic truth. Yet yogis do it differently. Yogis are generally proactive about change, a specific type of change called upliftment. Many people actively seek out self-improvement through the arts, travel, continuing their education, therapy or introspection, or an ever-expanding circle of people and experiences. As wonderful as these growth experiences are, they are not the same as upliftment. The upliftment of your own consciousness is yoga’s promise, even when you are simply doing a few poses to improve your physical condition. Yoga [...] Read more »

The yamas and niyamas we’ve been exploring for over a year are invaluable practices, yet they are traditionally used as preparation for the other more powerful practices of yoga. In ancient times, a teacher of poses and meditation would not accept a student unless they had already mastered the lifestyle practices described in the yamas and niyamas: 5 YAMAS ahimsa – non-harming satya – truth-telling asteya – non-stealing brahmacharya – celibacy aparigraha – non-greediness 5 NIYAMAS shaucha – purity santosha – contentment tapas – austerity svadhyaya – chanting and study of texts Ishvara-pranidhana – surrender to God Modern teachers don’t interview their prospective students about such pre-qualifications, relying on yoga [...] Read more »

We have reached the culmination of Patanjali’s lifestyle practices. Each of the preceding yamas and niyamas have prepared you for the next one, now leading to the finest and fullest way to live your life, in the moment-to-moment surrender to God. There are only two tricky terms in the name of this practice: “surrender” and “God.” A yogini came to speak with me after I taught a workshop, “Thank you for talking about God. I’’ve never heard a yoga teacher talk about God before. I was beginning to think that yoga didn’’t have God in it. I was missing God!” This part of yoga’s teachings has not been well described [...] Read more »

Money is not the problem.  Your relationship with money is what stirs up your mind.  Remember that yoga is the science of  quieting your mind, so that you can experience the bliss of your own being.  So the question is, how do you handle money so that it becomes part of your yoga?  If you don’t extend your yoga into your financial life, then how many other parts of your life are also not yogified? Some people get agitated by lack of money; others are concerned with handling a surplus; others have a surplus but perceive only lack.  Money is complicated!  The way out of the dilemma is to give money in charity.  This may be [...] Read more »

There are easy parts to life, but hard parts come along in spite of your efforts to avoid them. Yoga says you must tackle the hard stuff, not merely handle the tough stuff when it comes up, but to look for the challenges and even create them for yourself. This is called tapas, the third of the niyamas. Tapas is familiar, clearly defined in familiar phrases: keep your nose to the grindstone, do or die, work like a dog, burn the midnight oil, get on the stick, hang in there, keep your chin up, and when the going gets tough, the tough get going. In yoga, it’s the same and [...] Read more »

Superlative happiness is the fruit of the yogic practice of contentment, according to Patanjali. While you know what happiness is, the ancient sage promises superlative happiness. How is it that contentment is the pathway to this extraordinary state? This is exactly the opposite of what you’ve been practicing. It’s so subversive that it is un-American and could easily undermine the whole world economy. Dare you even consider it? Everyone you know is practicing discontent, especially during the holiday season. The media works hard to create discontent that is so uncomfortable that you are motivated to buy what their advertisers are selling. Many books have been written on how media works, [...] Read more »