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Satya Newsletter of SATYA October 2017 Svaroopa® Association of Teachers & Yogis Volume 20, Issue 9

PUBLISHER — Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram satya@svaroopayoga.org

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF — Swami Nirmalananda Saraswati

CO-EDITORS — Matrika Gast & Vibhuti King

COPY EDITOR — Krishna Milgrom

CONTRIBUTORS:

Swami Nirmalananda Saraswati

Nityaa Blankenship

Shanti (Ellen) Catacchio

Amala Lynne Cattafi Heinlein

Yogeshwari Fountain

Matrika Gast

Gayatri Hess

Priya Kenney

Vibhuti King

Sumati (Pat) Morrison

Rudrani (Rosemary) Nogue

Terri O’Connor

Karen Schaub

Nirooshi Sethuram

Maria Sichel

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TableofContents EDITOR’S NOTE ......................................................................................................................... 3 

BUSINESS OF YOGA .................................................................................................................. 4 

Plum Tree Yoga’s Lineage & Longevity .................................................................................... 4 

Reported by Matrika Gast ...................................................................................................... 4 

ORGANIZATIONAL NEWS .......................................................................................................... 6 

The Next Generation of Teacher Trainers….YOU! ................................................................... 6 

By Amala Lynn Cattafi Heinlein, SVA Board President ......................................................... 6 

Going Deeper with an Expanded Scholarship ........................................................................... 7 

Laurie Hislop, interviewed by Priya Kenney .......................................................................... 7 

TEACHER TALK ........................................................................................................................... 9 

NEW! Pain Clinic Video ............................................................................................................. 9 

Reported by Vibhuti King & Matrika Gast .............................................................................. 9 

CONTINUING EDUCATION ....................................................................................................... 10 

Treating Pain: A Grace-filled Opportunity ................................................................................ 10 

By Yogeshwari Fountain ...................................................................................................... 10 

GEOCENTERS ........................................................................................................................... 12 

Building Your Own GeoCenter Is Easier Than You Think ....................................................... 12 

By Gayatri Hess, SVA Board Member ................................................................................. 12 

Richmond VA: Our Newest GeoCenter ................................................................................... 14 

By Gayatri Hess ................................................................................................................... 14 

CERTIFICATES AWARDED ....................................................................................................... 15 

June, 1 2017 through October 10, 2017 .................................................................................. 15 

THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS DONORS .......................................................................... 16 

June 1, 2017 through September 30, 2017 ............................................................................. 16 

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Editor’sNoteBy Matrika Gast

Lots going on — that sums up your Svaroopa® yoga teaching community these days as well as your Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram. It’s all in service to our world. You serve your students. SVA is here to support you in that profoundly life changing service to them. Their transformation in turn serves their loved ones and wider community. All are engaged in beautiful and essential service. This is what will bring forth the next generation of Svaroopis. Truly, isn’t this just what our world needs now?

With our latest teacher training initiative, you can now further the legacy of this transformative yoga in your own community. YOU can certify as a local Foundations Teacher. Read Organizational News to learn more.

Business of Yoga tells the story of an enduring Atlanta yoga studio that has already birthed a generation of Svaroopis and is still going strong. Our GeoCenter department is, as always, all about growth. If you are already part of an active GeoCenter, these two articles reinforce your commitment to it. If you’re not yet in a GeoCenter, get inspired to create one. Gayatri Hess explains that “it’s easier than you think!” And she describes the brand new Richmond GeoCenter, which she has helped to bring into fruition even though she is not a teacher.

As teachers, we are always deepening in our own practices and experience as well as skills and knowledge. Continuing Education is Yogeshwari Fountain’s personal story of being motivated to nurture her student population as a yoga therapist. Priya Kenney brings you an account of how

Expanded Scholarships support teachers’ love of lifelong learning in this wonderful yoga system. May this issue inspire you to revel in “lots going on.” May it spur you to evermore clarity

and purpose in your calling as a Svaroopa® yoga teacher.

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BUSINESSOFYOGAPlumTreeYoga’sLineage&Longevity

Reported by Matrika Gast

“It was a wave of Grace that swept in, and Svaroopa® babies were born!” says Plum Tree Yoga owner Terri O’Connor.

She is describing Svaroopa® yoga’s arrival to her yoga studio more than a decade ago. Many students, including current SVA Faculty member Mangala (Cayla) Allen —started taking Svaroopa® yoga classes from Ellen Sichel, who came to Plum Tree Yoga after closing her own studio in 2004. Within a couple years, many Plum Tree Yoga students enrolled in Svaroopa® Yoga Teacher Training (YTT).

Terri says, “We loved it! Unlike any other yoga I’d experienced, it filled me up and opened me up to a deeper inner awareness that just felt calm, fulfilling and complete. I remember thinking this is real yoga; this is what yoga is intended to be. I was intrigued and wanted more, so I invited Ellen to start teaching weekly Svaroopa® yoga classes. Shortly after she started teaching, I was in her class doing stage 2 Supta Janushirshasana at the Wall. I felt the bottom of my foot open up like a flower. It was a beautiful surprise I will never forget.”

Terri and her husband Thomas had acquired Plum Tree Yoga in Roswell GA, an Atlanta suburb, from its previous owner in 2001. Inviting 150 students on the studio’s mailing list and displaying a “Grand Opening” banner outside, they welcomed about 500 visitors at their first Open House. “We were shocked and had no doubt that we were in alignment with our purpose!” recalls Terri. “Offering a variety of hatha yoga and meditation classes as well as workshops, we welcomed Svaroopa® yoga classes and workshops into the mix in the summer of 2004.”

In January 2005, Ellen Sichel hosted Swami Nirmalananda (then Rama) for a weekend

immersion at an Atlanta hotel. Terri describes a dream she had the night before: “Rama came

to me, and in the dream light and dark were reversed, like looking at a film negative. There was so much energy in the dream. I wondered whether that was the yoga teacher I was going to be with all weekend. When I met Rama in person, I recognized her face and long blonde ponytail from the dream. Mystified by the experience, during a break I shared the dream with her. Her simple response was ‘Oh, that was

Shakti.’ Within the next few years, I proceeded to become a Certified Svaroopa® Yoga Teacher and to gain more understanding about these subtle aspects of body, mind and more!”

With such auspicious beginnings, today Svaroopa® yoga remains a strong presence at Plum Tree Yoga, even though many original teachers have relocated out of state and/or opened their own studios.

Mangala Allen, now living in Texas, returns annually to Plum Tree Yoga to lead a weekend workshop.

One of Mangala’s former students, Nityaa (Robin) Blankenship, just completed YTT 3, carrying on Mangala’s legacy with weekly classes.

How is it that Plum Tree Yoga has thrived for 16 years? “It just happens,” says Terri. “I hold space for yogis. I manage all activities and am there almost every day. Those who come to our Svaroopa® yoga weekly classes are very loyal, committed students. They understand the value of spinal release, Ujjayi breathing, and the compassionate approach that allows all body types to do yoga. Our demographic of Svaroopa® yoga students is the person who is internally mature. They are ready to receive this yoga. They recognize the value of

BUSINESSOFYOGAPlumTreeYoga’sLineage&Longevity

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Shavasana and of bliss. They are open to resonating with their inner depth.

“Frequently students show up for Svaroopa® yoga classes because of their sore back, an injury, stiffness or just a willingness to try this yoga from the encouragement of friends or family. I convey that I teach Svaroopa® yoga because I love it. It’s about the undoing, not the doing. I describe how they can just settle in. Their response is often, ‘Ohhh wow, that sounds wonderful.’

“It’s sometimes funny, like a secret confession, when students admit they love to go slow and experience the stillness. Because we offer mixed classes at the studio, often times just the curiosity about the tall stacks of thick, fluffy, plaid blankets stirs interest and entices new students to try Svaroopa® yoga. Some discover they love to be nurtured and supported. Some discover an inner connection that makes them happy. Some claim to finally feel like their mind is relaxed, like an iceberg has melted.

“Being able to apply the tools they are learning to their lives brings them back to class consistently. Lots of students practice Ujjayi in times of need — anxiety, facing an illness, having an MRI, death in the family and other life challenges. Recently I asked, ‘What first brought you to the studio? Why did you take your first Svaroopa® yoga class? Why do you continue? No surprise, really —most came because they were in pain or stressed out. The relief and effectiveness keep them coming back. Heidi, who began after back surgery, said Svaroopa® yoga ‘heals my soul & feeds my spirit.’”

Pain first brought Nityaa (Robin) Blankenship to Svaroopa® yoga; then spiritual sustenance kept her engaged as well. A piano teacher, she had tendonitis in wrists, hands and fingers. Spinal release in classes immediately relieved her stress. Because she was feeling better overall,

she was willing to believe that spinal opening would eventually relieve her wrist and hand pain. Of course, it did so. She loved her pose classes, and began taking meditation classes with Mangala Allen and attending her satsangs.

Nityaa says, “I perceived that Mangala was my channel to Source. She had introduced me to Swami Nirmalananda, and quoted Sanskrit sutras in class, which intrigued me. When Mangala moved away, I wanted to be able to keep the satsangs going, and initially thought to take Meditation Teacher Training (MTT). However, I decided I first needed to learn how to teach yoga classes. The Svaroopa® yoga classes at Plum Tree Yoga had opened me to transformative inner expansion. I knew I needed to go to YTT at Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram to be connected directly to the Source.”

Nityaa recently took yogic vows and feels that her connection to the Ashram and her Guru, Swami Nirmalananda, sustains her teaching. “When I am teaching, I am in the flow of Grace, an amazing experience. I keep the photos of the Gurus out when I teach. They cultivate the bhav (inner quality) of being in Self, which I have received from Swamiji and to which I open in my practices. That’s what I want to share with my students. I feel my connection to the Ashram also supports the growth of Plum Tree Yoga.”

Nityaa continues to take trainings and retreats at the Ashram, and tries to go several times a year, recently completing YTT 3. She describes, “On my last day of the YTT 3 program, I told Swami Nirmalananda ‘I don’t want to leave.’ She replied, ‘You are a carrier. Take it with you and don’t spill a drop.’”

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ORGANIZATIONALNEWS

TheNextGenerationofTeacherTrainers….YOU!

By Amala Lynn Cattafi Heinlein, SVA Board President

Who will carry Svaroopa® yoga to the next generation? I asked our Board of Directors this question last August. Swamiji quit teaching asana almost 10 years ago, yet She and the Ashram continue to support Vidyadevi and Kusuma in running Teacher Training programs. The reality is that they are aging out. They are yogis, so they are aging gracefully, but they are aging out.

Your Board of Directors came up with an inspired plan: to give Teacher Training to YOU. So that’s what we’re doing, beginning now. We are planning a phased program, so you can move through the increasing levels of mastery it takes to train teachers. I know that some of you are also aging out. And some of you have other priorities, including family or career, understandably so. But some of you want to teach; it’s your life’s work. Now you can train teachers to carry on.

It begins with Foundations, of course. The foundational teachings in asana, anatomy and consciousness are all there. Taking Foundations is a pivot point for your yoga, even a pivot point for your life — everything changes after that. Teaching Foundations does the same, but in a whole new way.

Foundations @ Home

We will give you what you need to teach Foundations in your own home studio. This is not the immersion program, which will still be available through our Foundations Trainers. You will be empowered to teach a home-based Teacher Training, which is the way I taught it when I began. We used to meet one weekend monthly plus every Wednesday night. It will probably take you 2-3 months to cover all the Foundations material.

This does not replace the need for our current Foundations trainers, Kamala Michelle Gross and Bhakta Leslie Johnson. You’ll need one of the Foundations Trainers for the anatomy and consciousness, at least in the beginning, and they’re happy to be available. They will also continue to offer the immersion training, which does it all in 5-6 days.

This is all free. If you want to teach Foundations, and hopefully go on to teach the other levels of Teacher Training, simply tell us. You have to complete a Teaching Review, so you can show us that you will be teaching the poses accurately, but once you’ve completed that, we give you all the teaching materials for free. I hope you are interested — even excited! Contact our Enrollment Advisors to tell them of your interest and to register for your Teaching Review.

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GoingDeeperwithanExpandedScholarship

Laurie Hislop, interviewed by Priya Kenney

An Expanded Scholarship is making it possible for Laurie Hislop to attend DEEPER: Neck & Shoulders in early November. A Certified Svaroopa® yoga teacher in Calgary Alberta, Canada, Laurie is thrilled because the scholarship is allowing her to go to Lokananda more frequently. “Going back to the Mothership increases my capacity to be open to the Grace,” says Laurie.

Laurie has 40 students, some of whom attend classes twice a week. Having at least 30 students made her eligible for SATYA’s Expanded Scholarship. This scholarship applies both to tuition as well as housing & meals for Lokananda trainings. Laurie first became aware of the scholarship in June. After inquiring, she realized she needed to apply in two days to make the quarterly deadline. She quickly submitted her application and heard back immediately that she received the scholarship.

Laurie is really looking forward to taking another “deeper” training. In June 2016, she took ATT 402: Deeper Practice. After that ten-day training, she was eligible to teach Deeper Yoga classes. “The training was really wonderful,” says Laurie. “We saw Swami quite often, which added a deeper element. Not only was it a ‘deeper pose training’, the japa, meditation and sutra studies drew you in deeper still.”

Daily after lunch, Swami Nirmalananda and Vidyadevi developed teachers’ understanding of the Patanjali Yoga Sutras. “In the past, my interests were more on the teaching of poses,” says Laurie. “My desire for sutra studies had been limited.” This course changed that for Laurie. Students read definitions and interpretations on selected sutras from various writers. The class then had a discussion with Swamiji

about how each interpretation related to what Patanjali said. “With Swami’s guidance, you had to come up with your own definition of what the sutras meant,” explained Laurie. “I loved it. I love looking at them from all the different angles.” When she got back home, she used the sutras in the contemplations for her Deeper Yoga classes.

With the training, Laurie says that she now takes her students to a deeper level “without working hard at it.” This has influenced her students too. “This change in you is obvious to your students and then they go deeper, because you’ve gone deeper,” explains Laurie. This is the case both for her Deeper students and her Continuing students.

A lot of the poses she learned for Deeper Yoga have variations for Continuing Yoga students. Even though she isn’t technically teaching Deeper to her Continuing students, they are going deeper too.

Laurie’s expanded understanding of the teachings is deepening the experience for all her students as well. “It’s an honor to teach the Deeper classes. I like spending more time with each pose and the expanded experience that allows.”

Because of the cost and time commitment, Laurie was previously only able to manage going to trainings every two years. “This is wonderful, to be able to go sooner,” says Laurie. “I feel drawn back to Lokananda. There is a desire within me now to go more often than every two years. You can talk to and relate to your fellow students there in a different way than the other people in your life. You just feel like you’re going home.”

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She experienced the same flow of Grace with the recent Ashram Birthday Japathon event, a Shishya conference phone call. “It was like being in the same room with Swami

Nirmalananda. Her presence and the Grace that comes through her is a big part of what makes the trainings at Lokananda.”

WHICH TRAINING? SVA’s advanced trainings used to be 10-day ATT programs, but most of them have been streamlined to 5-day or 7-day immersions. Our streamlined curriculum is fully explained on Professional Training Tracks, within the categories described here.

YTT is Yoga Teacher Training.

YCT is Yoga Classroom Therapeutics, each with four levels.

DEEPER means you learn to teach Deeper Yoga in various themes.

PYT indicates Yoga Therapy trainings, part of our IAYT Professional Yoga Therapist certification.

SPC are Specialty Trainings, where you are certified to teach different groups and levels in one immersion training.

The incredible depth of knowledge is still offered, including the sutra studies and the many pose variations for different student levels. The shorter trainings make it all more accessible for you, both with time and money. Many trainings are available after YTT2, with the full range of opening up after you become a CSYT (Certified Svaroopa® Yoga Teacher) after YTT4.

DEEPER & PYT Trainings 2017-18

Dates Advanced Training Prerequisites▼

2017

Nov 6-10 DEEPER: Neck & Shoulders

YCT2 or YTT2 (10 days) & Embodyment

2018

Jan 16-24 PYT 262: Yoga Therapy — Treating Pain

YCT4 or YTT (10 days)

Jan 27-Feb 4

DEEPER: Twists & Seated Poses

YTT2

May 19-25 SPC: Leading Half-Day Workshops

YTT2

June 24-July 9

DEEPER: Lower Spinal Release

YCT2 or YTT2 (10 days)

Nov 3-11 PYT 463: Yoga Therapy – Neck & Shoulders

PYT 262 & Radical Anatomy

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TEACHERTALKNEW!PainClinicVideo

Reported by Vibhuti King & Matrika Gast

Everyone’s talking about the new “Shoulder Pain Relief” video. On our YouTube Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram channel, it’s the most recent in the Healing Stories series.

No doubt you or your students have dealt with shoulder pain. Of course you know it all starts at the tailbone! Click here to reaffirm your knowing. You’ll see Swami Nirmalananda track shoulder pain to its source and then release it, in just 5 minutes.

Karen Schaub says “as usual when Swamiji speaks, I had an ‘aha!’ moment, when she talked about ‘Forward Head Posture’ syndrome. Then she talked about where my head is ‘supposed’ to be. The top tip of my head should be right in line with the tip of my tailbone. Watching the video several times really settled that knowing into my body and mind.

“Bringing my awareness to my body as I feel this subtle alignment and then feeling the shift in my energy and posture is very powerful. We say Svaroopa® yoga opens you from tail to top. Yes, yes it does! This video illustrates the connection beautifully.”

“In this video,” describes Maria Sichel, “Swami demonstrates beautifully the Svaroopa® sutra ‘It all begins at the tailbone.’ You see a very informative live

example of how the muscles in the upper back and ribcage respond to lengthening the lower spine. Watch it to understand how Svaroopa® yoga reverses our turtle forward ad and rounded back.”

Shanti (Ellen) Catacchio shares, “Watching the video I realized that my head was thrust forward. Coming back into alignment I could feel my shoulders softening and my breath deepening. And that was just from watching!

It has inspired me to DO more yoga. Thank you, again and again Swamiji for making the teachings so accessible.”

“The instant Swamiji put her hand on the participant’s sacrum, I got a very nice Kundalini kriya! The entire video

was quite delicious,” exclaims Sumati (Pat) Morrison.

Nirooshi Sethuram confirms that "Watching Grace herself demonstrating the core opening of our Svaroopa® Sciences is a blissful experience."

And Rudrani (Rosemary) Nogue reminds us that “A video is worth a thousand words.” She says, “It is amazing to watch Swami Nirmalananda release the participant’s sacrum creating opening in her shoulder and the front of her body. What else can spinal release do?”

Post the video on your own website. Email the link to your students and ask them to share it with their friends. Everyone with shoulder pain will want to come see you.

And more videos are coming soon!

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CONTINUINGEDUCATION

TreatingPain:AGrace‐filledOpportunity

By Yogeshwari Fountain

I began my career as a Certified Svaroopa® Yoga Teacher (CSYT) 20 years ago this past September. I had no idea how deep my training would go. When we completed YTT in those days, we had two advanced teacher training (ATT) tracks: teaching or therapy, with a core curriculum common to both.

I wanted to do both tracks. I knew my students would always need more than classes alone. Why? Because my first Embodyment® Yoga Therapy session with Vidyadevi rocked my world! How could I not want to give each student a profound experience of their tailbone, and of dropping into Consciousness?

During my first year as a CSYT, Swamiji taught an immersion in my hometown. At the end of the class, she recommended that if students wanted to retain the openings in their bodies and minds, then they would need private sessions. I learned a lot from her direct presentation. As I happened to be the only trained Embodyment® therapist in the room, that day launched my private practice.

For many years thereafter, it was not uncommon for me to have 15–20 clients a week, as well as my classes. This fruitful period supported me financially plus it gave me greater confidence as a teacher as well as a deeper understanding of my own body and process.

When you teach a yoga class, you are tuning into the whole person. If someone limps into class, it’s obvious they need some extra help. Yet there are subtler signs, too. A student seems weepy, or can’t track in class. Or they are protecting a

shoulder or knee. Or you can see they are unusually tight. I know some yoga teachers are hesitant about approaching a student with the offer of a private session. They don’t want to appear aggressive or greedy. But it’s been my experience that a student is actually grateful that you’ve noticed them and that you cared enough to ask.

To have the self-assurance to know how to reach out to a student comes from getting more training, from more time in your own home practice and from therapy exchanges with other Svaroopa® therapists.

Of these three factors, more training is the most essential. Getting more professional education under your belt fortifies your confidence in what you can offer your students. And, of course, it gives you more

opening, more skill and more knowledge for delivering this transformative yoga and yoga therapy at the highest level of excellence and effectiveness.

I remember when I realized I had taken some of my students as far as they were going to go with Embodyment® sessions. I noticed two things happening.

While they got real pain relief, and dropped into “the zone,” they weren’t integrating these changes into their lives. They had become reliant on me to “take them away” (their words). But the next week they’d come back just as stiff. At the same time, a few got so much from the sessions that they were ready for more. They wanted to connect the dots among their pain, the causes and the remedy. To serve them, I needed a new yoga therapy skill set.

Since 1999, I’ve taken almost all of the ATT therapeutic courses, even some of them twice. All the Svaroopa® Yoga Therapy programs train you to treat private clients in

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pain. You learn techniques that are both profound and practical. You learn a precise ankle bend or hip bone press that reaches into a new spot to open up the healing pathways. You learn how to use your hands with subtle precision, and how to stay deep in your own state while facilitating healing in others.

However, I have not yet had the opportunity to take ATT 262: Yoga Therapy-Treating Pain. Back in the day of my initial training, it hadn’t been created yet. Fortunately for our community now, this course is typically available yearly. The next is scheduled for January 16–24, 2018. Although I can’t make it then, I plan to the next time it comes around.

Here’s why. I know whenever I come back from a continuing education course my batteries are re-charged and my students can feel it. My verbiage is cleaned up, my touch is more confident, my eyes are better able to see just what is going on in their bodies. I feel more grounded in Self. Being new to ATT 262, I expect to feel like I’ve stepped into a new landscape filled with wonderful possibilities. I will have materials that will help me chart clients’ progress,

notes on the hidden mysteries of the sutras that will clarify my understanding, and changes in my own body that months of home practice will never bring. My skill set will get a fresh buffing up. It’s easy to drift into little clumsy habits that peer support and our wonderful Trainers will help me see and fix. From years of experience, I know that this yoga beautifully supports my own yoga evolution as well as my students. I need continual updating to stay current.

Time spent with our Master Teachers, Vidyadevi and Kusuma, is awe inspiring; I always leave wanting to teach at their level. They bring out the best in me. What I am most grateful for, however, is the river of Grace that pervades Downingtown Yoga & Meditation Center. Whether Swamiji is physically present or not, I know she’s working on each of us, on multiple levels! All I need to do is show up and be willing to pour myself into the process of purification and learning. I can’t be there, but I hope you enjoy all that ATT 262: Yoga Therapy-Treating Pain has to offer. I am confident you’ll start 2018 emboldened with new knowledge for your students and as well as deepening into your own inner healing.

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GEOCENTERSBuildingYourOwnGeoCenterIsEasierThanYouThink

By Gayatri Hess, SVA Board Member

Citi creates the universe of Her own free will.1 —

Pratyabhij~nah.rdaya.m 1

Consciousness decided to become the Universe. This was a choice. Become a GeoCenter: this also begins with a choice.

Get out of worry and planning, and choose to manifest your own Svaroopa® yoga community. The moment you make your choice, the shakti arises. Ideas form and action can be taken. Plus you develop a closer relationship with the Ashram.

Swamiji makes herself, the teachings and staff assistance available in so many ways. She is like an Olympic runner bringing the fire to you. She brings it to you through an amazing network of programs offered at the Ashram: online, by phone and in your local community through the Mandali program. You can have the living torch run from the Ashram to your location.

Growing Your GeoCenter

Participating in the Mandali program is a primary factor in growing your GeoCenter. Mandali means yoga circle or yoga community. Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram supports you in developing your own Mandali. And SVA sends our faculty out to help you with the process.

Through the Mandali travel program you get a free program for every tuition-based

Swami Muktananda, Nothing Exists That Is Not Shiva

program you host. If two teachers collaborate on the tuition program, another free program can be offered. This works even if it is for a small number of students; the minimum is only 3 — including the local teacher! Your programs are guaranteed, regardless of their financial profile.

These free programs can attract more students or yoga therapy clients, or you can encourage students to become teachers (to build your GeoCenter!). Detailed information is on our webpage. Register, or get your questions answered, by emailing mandali@svaroopayoga.org.

Scholarships Support New Teachers

Our 2017 Spring fundraiser raised dedicated scholarship funds, creating our Rising Star ★ Shining Star scholarships for SATYA members. This “Next Generation” fund supports new teachers as well as established teachers. And it helps you build your new GeoCenter.

Sheynapurna Peace shares, “The San Diego GeoCenter just held a successful fundraiser to help bring Swamiji to San Diego. It would be fabulous if our area were able to refer some ‘rising stars’ for this new scholarship.”

Matrika states that the Boise GeoCenter is looking at attracting younger students and cultivating the next generation of teachers out in Idaho. She wants to position the GeoCenter for the long haul into the next two decades.

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In Rhode Island, Pam Church shares that her GeoCenter “initially started up so we could hold Weekend workshops. Another function of our GeoCenter is to keep in touch with each other. We can share ideas and ask questions. This is a good support.”

Richmond Virginia area teachers just took the initiative to become a GeoCenter. Within the first month, they booked two Mandali travel programs, invited Swamiji to their area, and got together for their first organizational meeting. One of the teachers said, “It was time to just do it.” The Shakti flow began immediately.

The Developmental Process

We see that the variable developmental stages of GeoCenters illustrate the process of creation, maintenance and dissolution.

Setting the intention to create initiates the Shakti flow

Taking the action to grow community and establish a concentration of teachers sustains the GeoCenter

Our scholarship programs, including the new Rising Star ★ Shining Star program, help to sustain the GeoCenter.

The grace of Swamiji flows through every Ashram infrastructure including GeoCenters.  

The larger the concentration of teachers and students, the more palpable is the Shakti in the community.

Sheynapurna commented, “Many of the original San Diego area Svaroopa® teachers have developed other interests. Thus, we continue to hold Mandali programs, hoping that our new student base will attract new teachers as well.”

If you feel the yearning to build your local Mandali, just do it. It’s simpler than you might think it is! The choice is yours. You and your students may take a class or retreat at the Ashram, take advantage of the virtual Ashram offerings or host a local program. As your Mandali circle grows, you

can grow into a SVA GeoCenter as your students get inspired to become teachers.

Criteria for a GeoCenter

Specific criteria for becoming a GeoCenter is that you need five teachers who are SATYA members, in current standing with their continuing education, and located within a one-hour drive of their closest member. The group selects a liaison for Ashram communications.

GeoCenter meetings are not required. Yet consider the wonderful benefits of getting together periodically. They include trading adjustments or Embodyment® sessions, sharing “miracle stories,” solving problems and, of course, healthy, delicious refreshments. Plus you get time with other committed Svaroopa® yogis.

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RichmondVA:OurNewestGeoCenter

By Gayatri Hess

Joining the 12 existing GeoCenters, Richmond VA is lucky 13! Five or more Svaroopa® yoga teachers within an hour’s drive to one another can form a GeoCenter. The seeds for Richmond were planted when three of us Svaroopis got together intending to form a larger community. Logistically, however, it did not make sense to create one center then. We chose to grow our individual programs, supporting each other in the process.

That meant that Richmond Svaroopa® yoga and meditation students have had access to regular classes for years, as we original teachers have served our community collaboratively. Shivaani (Deborah) Woodward’s Svaroopa® yoga offers regular Half-Day Workshops plus a bi-annual Weekend Workshop with SVA Faculty. Tirtha (Kirsten) Hale has also hosted Foundations. Richmond area students have grown increasingly committed to Svaroopa® yoga and meditation practices, including offering seva.

The Mandali Travels program has brought into fruition what we original three planted and tended over the years. In September, Mangala Allen taught a Mandali tuition-based program “Integrating Yoga into Your Daily Life.” Mangala also gave us two free programs: Intro to Yoga Therapy and Intro to Meditation.

Our Richmond GeoCenter now has six teachers and a potential three joining within a year. Newer Svaroopa® yoga teacher Lisha Reynolds comments, “Forming the GeoCenter strengthens our commitment to ourselves as yoga practitioners and to our community. We Svaroopis have a great opportunity to support each other on the yogic journey. It is a gift to be able shepherd and guide our students as they discover their own paths.”

In January, Richmond will host Vidyadevi for a half-day Classical Poses Workshop, along with free Mandali programs. Mid-year 2018, Richmond is hosting Foundations. In October, Swamiji will bless the GeoCenter with her Satsang.

Our first GeoCenter meeting was, of course, partly a business meeting. We focused on ways of supporting each other and marketing the Mandali programs for 2018. We are creating a logo as well as a GeoCenter Facebook page. Developing a marketing strategy, members each took on specific responsibilities. This sharing ensures that projects are being completed with manageable effort and exponential benefits.

The meeting was also a sacred celebration. We met on the same day as the Ashram birthday Japa-thon. So after members prepared and shared a meal together, we joined the Japa-thon conference call. I felt how Grace flows in amazing ways. Being in community during the Japa-thon was a gift of support as we created our local Ashram extension. Shivaani said, “I look forward to the support we will extend to each other as teachers, to the workshops and events we will promote together, and to the wonderful, spirited community of students and teachers this will create in our area.”

Clearly, Grace flows through our Svaroopa® yoga and meditation kula worldwide, creating ever greater expansion. Lokananda is continually upgrading to meet our community’s needs. Swamiji, with the support of the Ashram staff and sevites, is developing an ever expansive infrastructure. SATYA members, including GeoCenters, continue to report growth in community and depth of practice.

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CERTIFICATES AWARDED June,102017throughOctober10,2017Weekend Workshop Leader

Leslie (Bhakta) Johnson

Certified Svaroopa® Yoga Teacher

Jyoti (Rebecca) Yacobi

Barbara Smith Fennell

Nirooshitha Sethuram

Dasi (Valerie) Light Trautlein

Certified Embodyment® Yoga Therapist

Julie Ann Stahl

Svaroopa® Yoga Basics Teacher

Chiti Aion

Lisha Garnett Reynolds

Sharon A. Spontak

Cynthia Rust

Julie Ann Stahl

Svaroopa® Yoga Introductory Teacher

Tammy J. Browning

Deb Cech

Marlene Sandajan

Deborah Langer

Julie Ann Stahl

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THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS DONORS June1,2017throughSeptember30,2017

Abby Chemers Agnes Hetherington Ajeet Khalsa Alan Harmon Amala Cattafi Heinlein Amanda Ahern Amanda Bailey Amazon Book Sales Amy Tupper Andrea Perry Andrea Wasserman Angela Barnett Ann Katz Anne Humeniuk Annette Zucco Annie Ross Anthony Stokes Barbara Badia Barbara Hess Barbara Wilson Belle Mann Beth (Bhanumati) Cunningham Beth Holmes Betsy Archer Betsy Ayers Betsy Bommer Boston Foundation Brenda Benna Brenda Turner Brendon Baraeiss-Bodie Carien Van Gelder Carol Waite Caroline Kutil Carolyn Beaver Catherine Leigh Rose Cayla Allen Chelsea King Cheryl Marcotte Chiti Aion Chris Peppell Christine Godfrey Cindy Rust Connie Clews Connie Mohn

Constance Vineyard Cyndi McKenna Cyndy Mercedes Darlene Harris Darlene Wright David Ament David Falbaum David King Dean Cilley Deb Kaufmann Deborah Mandel Deborah Moncur Deborah Woodward Deena Rotches Denise Hills Donna Lawton Elaine Nesta Elizabeth McKenty Ellan Catacchio Ellen Mitchell Erica Andersen Evelyne Crivello France De La Fontaine Frances Amery Francie Light Gail Hinchliffe Heather Walleasa Jack Clement Jacqueline Cresswell Jane Fine Jane Hirschkowitz Janet (Janaki) Murray Janet Klauber Janet Neff Jeanne Ormiston Jenny Bush Jill Gillespie Jim Totin Joanne Kirk Judith Jyoti Kenney Judy Dettwiler Judy Goodkin Jules Watson Juli Lohnes Julia Djaic

Julia Wallis Kalavati Christine Hernandez Kalyani Evy Zavolas Wallis Kamala Michelle Gross Karen Schaub Kelly Sullivan Ken Cloonan Kerrie Minehan Kirsten Hale Kris Risley Kristine Freeman Krystal Fenn Kusuma (Karobi) Sachs Laura Marshall Laurie (Vasanti) Hradec Laurie Froula Leslie (Bhakta) Johnson Leslie Hahn Liane Bracciale Linda Avsharian Linda Hardman Linda Neukam Lisa Hansen Lisa Spangler Livia Suver Lizabeth Darling Loretta Forsythe Lori Kenney Lucy Hallowell Lyndall Madden Madelyn Jablon Marcia Costello Margie Wilsman Margo Gebraski Margot Garritt Maria (Deepa) Mazzi Maria Sichel Marlborough Yoga Center Marlene Gast Marsha Fennimore Martha Juelich Maureen Shortt Melissa Fountain Melissa Parsons

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Michael Newman Michele Gordon Misty Heiskell Monika Schulz Monique Martin Nancy Chang Nancy Mabry Stachiw Nancy Nowak Nathan Matanich Nicole Sohenick Nicole Thompson Nirmalananda-customer Nirooshitha Sethuram Nora Beckjord Pam Church Pat Morrison Patricia Keefe Patricia Strawderman Patty Sayre Paul Damelio Penny Farrow Peter Gallagher Phil Milgrom Rachel Kahn

Rama (Ruth) Brooke Randy Overbaugh Rebecca (Jyoti) Yacobi Rebecca Bettencourt Renate Hanauer Rhoda Joyner Rob Horricks Robin (Nityaa) Blankenship Rudrani (Rosemary) Nogue Rukmini Maria Abbruzzi Saguna (Kelly) Goss Samantha Glazier Sandra (Vibhuti) Courtney King Sandra Carter Sandra Gilbert Sandy VanOosten Sarvataa Christie Sharon Elliot Sherry Baker Sheyna Purna Peace Soraya Pereira

Sri McNeill Stacey Cross Su Lee Chafin Sue Cilley Susan (Day) Daniel Tahira Haroon Terese (TC) Richards Terry Gardner Thasan Sathyaseeian The Centered Place Thomas Trautlein Tish Roy TJ Webb Trine Larsen Ursula Myslinski Ute MazelReeves Valerie Trautlein Vidyadevi (Cathy) Stillman Wendy Hickey