svaroopa.org...repeat mantra or say a prayer Œ accept that whatever is going on is reality....

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PUBLISHER � Master Yoga Foundation www.svaroopayoga.org

EDITOR � Marlene Gast CSYT

ASSISTANT EDITOR � Karuna (Carolyn) Beaver

CONTRIBUTORS:

Karuna (Carolyn) Beaver

Solveig Corbin

Marlene Gast

Rob Gold

Sarah Hunter

Swami Nirmalananda Saraswati

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EDITOR�S NOTE ...............................................................................................................................................................2

THE BUSINESS OF YOGA: PUT YOUR TOE IN THE WATER TO START SWIMMING .............................................................3

CONTINUING EDUCATION: PUTTING YOU IN CEU�S .........................................................................................................4

2014 CONTINUING EDUCATION STANDARDS .................................................................................................................................... 7

TEACHER TRAINING NEWS: YOUR YOGA UNDER ONE ROOF ...........................................................................................8

2014 INITIATIVES UPDATE ............................................................................................................................................................ 8 SEVA OPPORTUNITIES ................................................................................................................................................................. 10 FINDING YOUR ONLINE TEACHER RESOURCES .................................................................................................................................. 11

TEACHER TALK .............................................................................................................................................................. 13

CERTIFICATES AWARDED: APRIL 2013 THROUGH FEBRUARY 2014 ..................................................................................................... 13

DONORS: SEPTEMBER 2013 TO DECEMBER 2013 .......................................................................................................... 15

ASANA .......................................................................................................................................................................... 17

RELAPSE IS BAD, RIGHT? ............................................................................................................................................................. 17

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Editor�s Note Karuna (Carolyn) Beaver CSYT, Assistant Editor

Several years ago, as the chairperson of a committee tasked with researching and implementing significant organizational changes in a women�s service group, I stood in front of a less than friendly audience. As I explained the changes and asked them to consider doing things differently, I tried my best to be calm, rational and kind, even in the midst of some pointed and not very kind questions. I tried to go with the flow.

Afterwards, someone gave me one of the most meaningful compliments I have ever received. She told me that I acted with grace under pressure. It�s from an Ernest Hemingway quote: �Courage is grace under pressure.�

As Svaroopis, we are in a similar situation. Our beloved yoga service organization has been through massive structural changes. Many of us have had pointed questions. As we�ve navigated this river of change, there have been seen and unseen boulders in our way. And still, our organization has operated with Grace under this pressure, because it is an organization suffused with Grace. We go with the flow.

Organizations are living, breathing enterprises, powered by human beings who are doing their best in any given moment. Not only has our yoga organization changed, it has transformed. It�s not the same organization it was. We�ve been through not a mere structural reorganization, but a start-up company experience � with excitement, potential and, yes, boulders to navigate.

In a contemplation article four years ago, Swamiji expressed this process succinctly:

�Life is a lot like that river. Some sections are smooth and idyllic, and others have big boulders and churning water. While you�re not in control, you do understand the cause-and-effect nature of the universe, just like the river guides who paddle in just the right places and who use their paddle to steer the boat in others. That�s not control. That�s intelligence.�

As Svaroopa® Yoga teachers, we have the opportunity to go with the flow in the midst of life�s �tough stuff.� The articles in this issue show us the way. Whether the tough stuff is marketing, making it to � and through! � continuing education courses, or avoiding and treating relapse, we can act with Grace under pressure, because we, too, are suffused with Grace. While we want everything to be smooth, life is just not that way, and we can�t control it. Control is an illusion, and life is actually not about control. A Svaroopi�s life is about using intelligence to go with the flow.

Swamiji�s contemplation goes on to say:

�There�s no need to control, because life is always going the right way, whether your mind understands it or not. Thus there�s never a need for you to object to how things are going. Still you must participate in life. You are alive, so you must participate� How do you participate without trying to control? You simply let go of your objections. Whether you relax your body (a mini-Shavasana), or you use a few Ujjayi breaths, or you repeat mantra or say a prayer � accept that whatever is going on is reality. Whatever is going on is going on. Once you quit objecting, you see it more clearly and you can make better decisions about what to do. You can even do whatever you do more effectively, and it works better.�

Go with the flow.

In loving service, Karuna

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The Business of Yoga: Put Your Toe in the Water to Start Swimming By Sarah Hunter

In order to swim, you first have to get in the water. To be more proficient you take swimming classes.

Marketing yourself or your studio is much the same. Like swimming when it�s new to

you, marketing can be intimidating and unnerving if you don�t have a background in it.

Where do you start? There are so many options. How do you know which is the right one for you? And even thinking about social media probably makes you hyperventilate. You may even feel as if you are being thrown into the deep end of the pool.

As a SATYA member, however, you have available to you free �swimming� classes � that is, SATYA Marketing phone courses � throughout 2014. For dates and times of these phone courses, take a look at our 2014 Events Calendar. The next call is scheduled for April 8th: How to Build Your Brand and Showcase It to the World

Continue to check our Calendar monthly, since new courses will be added. Topics to be covered are:

Marketing Strategies Branding Target Marketing Content management Social Media Web Design Search Engine Optimization Growing your community Public Relations E-Newsletters Sales

All of the instructors have many years of professional experience, and some specialize in yoga marketing. There will even be guest instructors who will bring

unique backgrounds and perspectives. Over the past year, these marketing courses have been very successful with many yogis taking advantage of them, and that level of interest is continuing this year. Be sure to take advantage of the opportunity to become a yogi who is also marketing savvy!

As a SATYA member you receive this education at no cost. It is one of the many benefits you receive from your dues. This is a great value! If you were to take classes in marketing or hire a marketing consultant, you would be spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

The first step is to register. Once you have accessed the 2014 Events Calendar, click on the scheduled SATYA Marketing Call that you want, and you will go to the Enrollment System page to sign up.

Prior to the call, you will receive the call-in information. Each call is 1.5 hours in length and covers a different topic or process.

And don�t feel that you have to take all of the courses. Pick out the topic you would like to pursue. Some of the topics will be repeated throughout the year, but while the topics are repeated, the instruction is different each time, with unique perspectives and information offered.

So jump into the marketing waters. You will be swimming in no time!

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Continuing Education: Putting YOU in CEUs

By Rob Gold and Solveig Corbin, with Marlene Gast

Continuing Education Units � CEUs � are required for professional certifications. Professionals in health care and public education are required to complete continuing education courses. Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) must adhere to the continuing education requirements set forth by the State Board of Accountancy for their own states. This list is just the beginning, and could stretch on. But the point is, of course, that Svaroopa® yoga teacher certifications are no exception. At all levels, we must meet continuing education standards.

When we Svaroopa® yoga teachers go to refresh our skills, we ensure continued professional competency and support our capacity for working with the bodies and minds of students and clients. Yet, as with all Svaroopa® Sciences programs, we receive so much more. Continuing Ed catches the inevitable drift from the teaching and yoga therapy protocols; it shows you how to return to a safe and reliable course in offering Svaroopa® yoga classes and therapy to your community. When you take a Svaroopa® Yoga Teacher Training program, at any level, you can also count on receiving all that �and MORE.

Rob Gold and Solveig Corbin recently repeated the Embodyment® Yoga Therapy training. Rob needed Continuing Ed to return to Current Standing. Solveig did not need CE credits for another year, at least. But both, in different ways, received all that they traveled to PA

for, and more than they could have anticipated.

Having completed Level 2, Embodyment® Yoga Therapy and ATT Treating Pain, Rob lives on Maui. For several years Rob has continued in a state of indecision about returning to �dip at the well� and return to Current

Standing, most recently by almost attending the last fall�s Conference: Alignment with Grace in Philadelphia. The deciding factor that ultimately kept him on Maui was the declining health of his dog from terminal illness. But, by December, other personal issues combined

making it clear that a trip to �the mainland� was in order and the time was now.

He registered for the Shaktipat Retreat in the days preceding Embodyment® Yoga Therapy training. �What Shaktipat gave me was for the yearning, so then I could focus on the education,� says Rob. �The first benefit of the course was the correction of drift. I was pretty sure my hand positions were close, but it had been a very long time since I�d worked on a soft sacrum. Thus, I discovered in the training that my preferred method didn�t always get my hand in the right place when working on experienced Embodyment® clients. Similarly, in Hand Position 2, I found my sacrum hand too high or too low at times, thrown off by a second bump some people have halfway down the side of the sacrum. Now I feel each sacrum at the top, edge and sides with every person, every time, in every hand position.�

Rob adds, �I also needed other people working on my body for me to be 100% accurate on my client�s

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bodies.� This wasn�t too surprising to him, since the last sessions he�d received were several years ago.

When asked about anything �more� than bringing professional skills up to standard, Rob begins by saying that he was �craving immersion� in Svaroopa® yoga, in Svaroopi community and in the Self. After years of just a home practice, Rob knew he�d made the right decision when he found himself walking into the classroom at The Desmond with stacks of blankets, huge pictures of the Gurus and Swamiji�s chair. �I was home,� he says,� and the �more� is 75% of why I went to the trainings.�

Once there, Rob became aware of some fears and how they had kept him from coming back for years. �My sacrum and sit bones would be opening but my pelvic floor would tighten, saying �no you don�t!� all at the same time.� Rob also was surprised by how little he could feel overall for much of the training. � I can always detect the initial changes � more open, longer, lighter, softer � but for specific areas I needed the marker poses every time,� taking him back years to where he would add Vajrasana between the two sides of Lunge to gain awareness of what the pose wax doing inside. �It was really humbling. My sacrum was also called �tiny,�� he says. Yet Rob feels it�s an improvement over being called �itty bitty� in his first Embodyment® course six years ago.� At six-feet-one-inch and after seven years of yoga, I believed my sacrum would naturally be larger, much larger than it is,� says Rob. This experience, however, has actually helped Rob in terms of drift. He says that it has taught him a great lesson. �It has taught me not to assume things when working with my clients. I must go back to and rely upon the processes and protocols that guarantee the openings.�

Rob continues that he was �continually surprised� by the opening in front of his hip creases. He says, �I didn�t know that could result from Embodyment® even though I know it releases the sacrum which directly affects hip tension. I thought only the Yoga Therapy Alt Leg Thigh Press could accomplish that.

�Through this awareness I also became more cognizant of the damage in my hip and where it�s really at, not where I wish it to be. Then a question arose from my body, �How do you want to use your hip from this point forward with what�s left of it? I�ve been doing just enough yoga to keep the pain down but not open it up enough to really feel what�s going on in there and heal it. How and where I use that hip is now under much closer scrutiny. I want to make it a happy hip again. I

now see that managing a busy restaurant is not the best use of it.�

When asked about the best use of his damaged hip, Rob says that he has left his restaurant job to focus on teaching Svaroopa® yoga and serving private clients. �My yearning to know the Self and engage with a like-minded community is too strong to keep doing work I don�t really want to do or believe in.� He also quoted the saying �if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go with others.��

Rob�s return to Maui is full of changes, beginning with offering yoga therapy at spas on the island and Magic 4 classes for his local community. He is also going to try arranging life differently. �For years I�ve been trying to fit yoga in around �life�, and I�m not satisfied with the results,� says Rob, �so now my daily schedule is based on my practices and diet. Life will have to work in around that.� Rob believes that Svaroopa® yoga teachers and Embodyment® Therapists have the most important job in the world � teaching others and helping them cultivate awareness: awareness of the Self and the Divine Essence within, which is the purpose of our lives. �Of course,� says Rob, �it doesn�t hurt that it makes them feel good, too.�

Solveig Corbin says that she, like Rob, repeated Embodyment® Yoga Therapy training after having taken it first six years ago. Because Solveig is a CSYT, she needs to take a course

for Continuing Ed every two years. Because she took ATT 262 Yoga Therapy � Treating Pain in May 2013, she did not need to take a course for Continuing Ed again until spring 2015. Now her January Embodyment® Yoga Therapy training keeps her Current until January 2016.

Solveig explains that she registered for Embodyment® Yoga Therapy because of the new clients that came to her after her Treating Pain course. She says, �It was amazing. I started getting all kinds of clients with all kinds of different things going on with them. I found myself doing a lot of Embodyment® sessions, as many people were really unable to progress so much with yoga therapy. I had been giving Embodyment® Yoga Therapy for many years and found I was more in my Self after Treating Pain, so people were getting more from Embodyment® sessions with me. Yet I still had clients

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who, I felt, weren't really getting better. I had some doubts about my technique.�

Solveig began Svaroopa® yoga because she could not feel her hands and couldn't get any treatment that would help. �Fifteen years ago,� she says, �I had lost the feeling in my hands. One day I awoke and the feeling in my hands was just gone. I sought help for over ten years. My hands did not come back. It became hard to do things. Everything became hard, and I started trying too hard to do everything. That made things worse and harder.�

Harking back to her first Embodyment® Yoga Therapy training six years ago, Solveig recalls, �I was not in my body at all. The whole time I was having a lot of kriyas, which distracted me. Also I wasn't able to feel my hands at all. Even though Svaroopa® yoga had helped me a great deal and I had entered teacher training, I was still trying too hard. I didn't know how to rest in my own awareness.

�Finally after YTT Level 3 and Level 4, and especially after Treating Pain, I could be in a conscious state more often than not, and I could tell that it made a huge difference in how I was working with people. It wasn't me doing the work, but Consciousness flowing through me� she says.

However, Solveig explains, �In giving Embodyment® sessions even recently, I couldn't always feel the changes that I needed to feel to progress with the hand positions. During Treating Pain I had started getting more feeling in my hands and body, but it wasn't holding. Then one of my students was going to take Embodyment® Yoga Therapy, and he was asking me how the sutras applied to Embodyment®. I couldn't honestly remember. Perhaps the sutras about reciprocal adaptation were lost on me the first time because I was trying so hard, and I was unable to rest in awareness.

�While I had taken Embodyment® Weekend twice in the last couple of years, only within the last year did I begin to feel my body on the inside and my hands waking up. So I decided to repeat the full Embodyment® Yoga Therapy course, because I wanted to experience what fully embodied Consciousness might feel like. I wanted to understand the sutras at the deepest level of my being. And yes, I wanted to be a better therapist. Instead of actually taking it for Continuing Ed (since I didn't need the credits yet), I took the course more for my own transformation.

�I learned that I was doing OK with my hand positions, but they needed some fine-tuning. I learned better

ways to support myself while working on others and how to use my body in better ways, which changed the whole way that I do the Spinal Walkup. I learned that if I can't feel myself, I can't feel others, so I need to stay in my Self and get more Embodyment® sessions for myself.

�But there was even more, much more. I experienced a major epiphany! The last day of the Embodyment® course, we were studying anatomy and the tailbone (of course). I confessed to Karobi that I still was not feeling my tailbone after all of this time. I said that I do feel everything inside my whole body � except for my tailbone � and, well, my hands and arms are still waking up. She said to focus on that part that I feel. I asked whether she meant to focus on the positive, but she indicated that she did not mean that.

�So I didn't really get it until the next day. Sitting on the airplane on my way home to Minneapolis, I opened up the Pratyabhijnahyrdyam, which is the text for the course, and started reading the introduction. Here is what I read: "Finally there is Caitanya or �Siva in the center of his being that is his very Self."

�Of course, that is what I have been feeling! I sat with that in silence all of the way home. Then the next day I opened my email and saw Swamiji�s article about the heart (hrdaya). There it was again! I felt it: It has always been there, and now I WAS FEELING IT SO STRONGLY BUT I HAD NOT BEEN RECOGNIZING IT AS THE SELF; JUST AS IT TOOK ME A WHILE TO FEEL KUNDALINI AS THE SELF. Shiva feels different than Kundalini. It is warm and strong and still, like the sun shining steadily in the center of my being.

�I am starting to feel with my whole being. Wow! After receiving an Embodyment® session one night in training, I went to pick up some blankets and my arms were flooded with warmth. I fell to my knees weeping. I had not felt my arms in more than 15 years. It didn't last, but now that I feel my heart, I believe that my hands will become fully functional. Hands and heart; they go together. Even if that doesn't happen, it doesn't matter. Continuing to feel/see my Self and be established there, I will be able to live a life of service to others, with unending gratitude to Swamiji, Karobi, Vidyadavi, Devi and all of my fellow students and teachers.�

Copyright © 2014, S.T.C., Inc, All Rights Reserved

SVAROOPA® and EMBODYMENT® are registered service marks of S.T.C., Inc and are used by permission.

2014 Continuing Education Standards As a certified teacher, you maintain Current Standing by successfully completing Continuing Education on a regular basis. The frequency depends on your level of training. When you�ve had more training, you are working with a deeper knowledge base, so you have a longer time period between trainings.

The professional trainings that keep you in current standing include:

1. ATT � any Advanced Teacher Training course focused on poses.

2. YTT � any Yoga Teacher Training course, including: Foundations of Svaroopa® Yoga

YTT Levels 1, 2, 3 or 4

Experiential Anatomy

Embodyment® Yoga Therapy

3. EYTS � any Enrich Your Teaching Skills course that includes poses, including: Embodyment® Weekend

Enliven & Advance � Level 1

Enliven & Advance � Level 2

Deceptive Flexibility

Foundations Review

Intro to Teaching Gentle Yogis

4. TTT � Training as a Teacher Trainer courses and interning with pose reviews

5. Pose Clinics � Complete 4 Pose Clinics within 2 years. Pose Clinics are scheduled when Teacher Trainers have available dates, being one day long, offering reviews of poses you have studied in levels of training you have already completed. To invite a Teacher Trainer to offer a Pose Clinic in your area, email us at [email protected].

The frequency of your Continuing Ed requirements depends on the level of your training:

CSYT

Certified Svaroopa® Yoga Teachers

successfully complete one of the above every 2 years (within 24 months of your last qualifying training)

CSBT

Certified Svaroopa® Yoga Basics Teachers OR teacher who�s successfully completed Level 2

successfully complete one of the above every year (within 12 months of your last qualifying training)

CSIT

Certified Svaroopa® Yoga Introductory Teacher OR successfully completed Foundations

successfully complete one of the above every 6 months (within 6 months of your last qualifying training)

Leading Teacher successfully complete one of the above every year (within 12 months of your last qualifying training)

Returning to Current Standing � if you are not in Current Standing, you can return to Current Standing by successfully completing a Personal Teaching Review or one of these courses:

Foundations

Foundations Review

Beyond Foundations

Any YTT level completed previously

Embodyment® Yoga Therapy

Experiential Anatomy

Enliven & Advance: Level 1

Enliven & Advance: Level 2

Please contact our Enrollment Advisor with any questions. We will work hard to support you in creating your Continuing Ed plan. Please let us know if extenuating circumstances affect your ability to remain in Current Standing, as we may be able to help you create an alternative plan..

Enrollment Advisor: 610.806.2119 or [email protected]



Teacher Training News: Your Yoga Under One Roof 2014 Initiatives UpdateBy Marlene Gast

As leaves turned red and gold last fall, we announced the Consolidation! This is a transformation of the organizational structure that had supported your Svaroopa® Yoga Teacher Training for more than two decades. All the Svaroopa® Yoga Teacher Training programs moved to the Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram. As part of this consolidation of yoga organizations, Swami Nirmalananda announced the 2014 Initiatives for even greater revitalization of Svaroopa® yoga. One month and one week into 2014, those Initiatives are supporting you as a yogi in a myriad of marvelous ways.

Guaranteed Program Dates, Same Tuitions

As promised, you are enjoying guaranteed program dates as well as the same tuitions along with new program discounts. We�re fulfilling the promise of the already-published program calendar, with no tuition rate increases in 2014.

Regarding guaranteed program dates, 4 of 50 scheduled programs did have a slight shift in starting time such as on a Friday night instead of the original Saturday morning start. These slight changes were due to our setting up the new retreat environment at The Desmond in Malvern, PA.

By moving programs to The Desmond, we now have earlier confirmation dates on courses, three to four weeks before they begin. To ensure that a course runs, register for it as soon as possible. Course confirmation dates are shown at the bottom of registration information in our enrollment system, and when a course has the minimum number of participants you will see �Course confirmed.� If you have registered, you�ll receive a confirmation email. With three to four weeks before the course, this confirmation notice gives you plenty of time to purchase your airline ticket at a reasonable rate

To encourage registering early , more attractive discounts are offered among the three tuition levels:

SATYA Member Early Discount

Non-Member Early Discount

Standard (full course price).

We depend on you giving us early information about your plans to attend. If we don�t have minimum enrollment on the confirmation date, we can�t proceed.

2014 Discounts

The course discounts offered have been very popular, especially the multiple course discounts. Yogis who live at a great distance from Pennsylvania have taken advantage of the travel subsidy. Here�s a refresher on this financial support for your teacher training programs:

Travel Subsidy

50% reimbursement for your air ticket, for programs held through April 2014; 25% reimbursment for programs held from May through Aug 2014. This subsidy is available to SATYA members who are in Current Standing at the time they enroll for Exton programs at The Desmond in Malvern PA. You will be reimbursed for airline tickets purchased at a fair rate (based on internet search engines); minimum ticket cost $250, maximum ticket cost $500.

Your maximum reimbursement is limited to 25% of the net tuition paid (after all discounts). This means that you may use a discount and still receive the travel subsidy.

Your tuition must be fully paid by the time the program begins (no continuing payment plans).

Ask for this program at the time you enroll as it cannot be applied retroactively. Provide your airline receipt and comparables before you travel; your reimbursement check will be sent to you within 10 days after you return home from your program.

Getting Current

Take 25% discount on your tuition when you upgrade to Current Standing, for enrollment during Jan-April 2014; 15% for enrollment during May-Aug 2014. It does not matter what the program date is; this discount is based on the date you submit your enrollment.



This is available to SATYA members who are not in Current Standing at the time of making their course registration for programs at The Desmond. Your tuition must be fully paid by the time the program begins (no continuing payment plans). Ask for this discount at the time you enroll, as it cannot be awarded retroactively.

Quantity Discount

After you sign up for your first course, you get 25% off your second course. You may also sign up for a third and get 25% off when enrolled by April 30. It does not matter what the program date is; this discount is based on the date you submit your enrollment. Discount applies to your second program and to a maximum of your third program.

This is available to SATYA members who are in current standing at the time they enroll, for these types of programs: YTT, ATT, EYTS, Phone Courses, Year Long Programme, Retreats. Excluded: Shaktipat Retreats, Weekend Workshops, Half Day Workshops.

Maximum � 2 programs in 2014 may be discounted; you may take 25% off each of them.

Your discount applies to the program(s) of lesser value, like a restaurant coupon. Discount applies to tuition only; materials fees and housing/meals are full price. YTT & ATT programs qualify only at the package rate.

No payment plans are available with this discount. You may pay on your credit card and then make your payments to your bank on any schedule that works for you.

Ask for this discount at the time you enroll, as it cannot be awarded retroactively. If you must later cancel one of your qualifying programs, your discounts are voided and will be deducted from any refund due to you.

Residential, Retreat Environment

Our move to The Desmond has had a profound impact on the quality of the immersion experience. The promise was ��a full-immersion yogic experience s�[in] a facility where we can provide you with onsite housing and meals. In addition to steeping (and sleeping) in the yogic vibe, also called shakti, this will make it much easier for you, while eliminating unnecessary transport and distractions.�

The promise has been fulfilled. Since January, our programs at The Desmond have proven highly effective

in accomplishing what Swamiji intended: a deeply transformative experience. The seclusion and

protected environment, with nourishing vegetarian meals and no need for commuting or running errands, is providing radical transformation.

For the 25% of yogis who find the increased cost of housing and meals problematic, SVA has been able to offer need-based scholarships, based on personal financial reports. Even yogis who were concerned about the venue change to The Desmond now express appreciation for this retreat environment as well as for the warmth and support of The Desmond staff. It�s working very well!

Consolidated Calendar

At www.svaroopa.org, our Consolidated Calendar is very popular, having receiving more than 700 visitors since the beginning of January. Integrated into one sequential calendar is information about all levels of Svaroopa® Yoga Teacher Training as well as Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram Retreats and Programs. This online calendar also offers easy one-click access into both MYF and SVA websites, and is the first step toward a fully consolidated, multi-dimensional website to serve all of your yoga and meditation interests.

�Live Contact� Phone

Do you have a pressing question or concern? Phone us at 610.644.7555, Monday�Friday from 9:00 am�5:00 pm. This initiative has been operational for four months, and so effective that we have brought in a new intern for this staff position. (Stay tuned for an introduction in a new Comings & Goings.)

Consolidated Communications

The number of communications that you receive via email has been cut in half, and those that remain are using the format of the new Tadaa! (now published every two months). The publications that you do receive offer articles about how yoga fits into your life



and your teaching. Besides Tadaa! other publications include the daily, free E-Quotes, INSIDE Yoga and Spotlight on Your Yoga. SATYA members receive monthly Contemplation & Quotes as well as the Q&A (9 times per year) and SATYA! E-Letter (3 times per year).

New SATYA Benefits

For an overview of SATYA benefits � new and ongoing, see the companion article in this E-Letter. In addition, see Swamiji�s new tag lines to enliven the marketing of Svaroopa® yoga. For some of us, educating those who have never heard about Svaroopa® yoga is like being a fish trying to describe water to a cat. Swamiji�s tag lines published in this e-letter solve that communication problem brilliantly.

Initiatives Still in Development

Currently, your yoga organization is very much a start-up enterprise, with 20,000 yogis looking to it for yogic support. So, while Swami Nirmalananda along with dedicated staff support has accomplished a great deal in four months, it�s probably no surprise that some initiatives are still in development.

In preparation for the new two-tiered Teacher Directory, the current Teacher Directory at www.svaroopayoga.org has been updated. However, be sure to check your information; if it is not correct, email Akima Redding at [email protected]. The new two-tiered Teacher Directory is being programmed now, with expected completion by the end of April. It is designed to be perpetually updated as soon as you complete each new certification.

We also plan to set up an online �menu,� listing all of the available publications so that you can choose only those that you wish to receive. This initiative is still in development.

Swamiji is still re-designing ATT pre-requisites, featuring the new focus on applying what you already know from previous trainings (in your teaching and work with clients). Swamiji expects these new ATT pre-requisites to be completed by the end of February.

With all of the consolidation work of 2013 and the 2014 Initiatives, our focus has been on making sure that you, the yogi, is getting what you come to programs for, and that you are well taken care of. We are focusing the consolidated organization on you, on your needs and interests. It has been a lot of change!

Our mission is supporting you who support your community through teaching Svaroopa® yoga. We have focused on establishing the new retreat environment, providing you with tuition discounts to support ongoing training, and growing the resources that support your marketing. These initiatives have required a tremendous amount of staff work. But you can expect all of the 2014 Initiatives to be in place by midyear.

And you can even look forward to next year: The ultimate Retreat � India in 2015, organized by our gracious host Iqbal, with full details available in a month.

Seva Opportunities If you want to help with implementing our 2014 Initiatives, your seva is invited in the following areas:

Formatting and layout for online e-letters. Your seva would be placing articles by sevite writers into the template, and selecting and placing photos. This task is equally detailed and creative.

Guest Services. Make great use of your excellent communication and organizational skills! We need sevites to capture the customized needs of yogis enrolled in programs (special dietary requirements, etc.) along with flight arrival times to arrange airport pick-ups. Then your job would be providing that information to the right people. This seva could be for a week or a month at a time.

Development Team for the Consolidated Website. We train you to build web pages, and your seva would take two or so hours each week, beginning at the end of March.

If you can offer seva in any of the areas listed above, email [email protected]. And also consider the following seva:

Related to our photo library is a great opportunity for seva in the near future. We will be taking a day for a brand new photo shoot, and we�re recruiting volunteer yogis for it. If you can devote a full day to being with other Svaroopa® yoga teachers, your Teacher Trainers, and our photographer, please tell us your dates of availability via email to Akima Redding at [email protected].



Finding Your Online Teacher Resources By Marlene Gast

You may be the kind of computer user for whom websites are completely intuitive. You may be able to find the treasure you�re after without a detailed map.

But, alas, not all of us have that gift, and I am among the technology challenged. So I like step-by-step instructions. If you belong to the same group, read on for how to access our Online Publication Archives, our Photo Library and Testimonials.

Online Publication Archives The online searchable publications archive from the past 13 years including Q&A and the Tadaa! Newsletter is available at http://svaroopayogateachings.com/.

1. On the website�s left hand menu select �SATYA Members Login.� 2. When you reach the login screen, enter the username and password as follows:

Members Login: SATYAmembers

Password: domoreyoga

SATYA Members Archive lets you find publications by date, as shown below.

Or you can search for specific information, for example, Swamiji�s answer to a question about Ujjayi breathing that you vaguely remember from four or five years ago. Once you log in as described above, type �Ujjayi� in

the search box. You will get a list of every publication that mentioned Ujjayi since the original Tadaa! and Q&A were published electronically.



Photo Library of Svaroopa® yoga poses

Downloadable photos are located at www.svaroopayoga.org.

1. Once there, click on �Teacher Resources� in the top menu 2. When the Teacher Resources page opens, click on the SATYA Membership button on the left. 3. Then login as follows:

Sign-in: SATuser

Password: AlignwithGrace

4. When the Welcome SATYA Member page opens, you will again see the left menu with �SATYA

Membership� listed at the top. 5. Move your cursor over �SATYA Membership.� 6. The a sub-menu drops down to the left, as shown below

7. Click on MYF Photos to download photo files suitable for printing and for your website.

Also available are MYF Testimonials and Insurance information. The other selections are still in development.



Teacher Talk Newly reported, in INSIDE Your Yoga Organization e-letter, February 14 2014, you may already have read that SVA has mailed out over 50 new certificates, for yogis who completed their trainings and their paperwork in the last few months. This article explained, �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.�

As we requested in the 14 February edition of INSIDE, if you know yogis who are still waiting for their certificates (or you are the yogi), please keep breathing and repeating mantra� Records of achievement have not been lost. All certificates will be in the hands of yogis as soon as possible, and listings of certifications will be brought up to date over the next month or two.

Certificates Awarded: April 2013 through February 2014 Certified Svaroopa® Yoga Teacher

Judith Goodkin

Meredith A. Hart

Kavi (Chris) Peppell

Lalita (Liane) Bracciale

Alison Kamar

Betsy Ayers

Nora Beckjord

Ilene Fischman

Sarah Dwelley

Kathryn Johnson

Mary Scheets

Ruth Brown

Certified Svaroopa® Yoga Basics Teacher Kerry Penney

Lisa Knight

Patricia Frederick

Paalitaa (Patricia) Kilpatrick

Trine Medhira Larsen

Sarah Scrivani

Linda Hardman

Jane Fine

Anita Snellings

Sarah Scrivani

Certified Svaroopa® Yoga Introductory Teacher Michelle Micklewright

Cherie Bronsky

Sean Jago

Terri Altschul

Heather Thomka-Gazdik

Serena (Chinmayi) Watkins

Diane Brooke Austin

Julian Thomka-Gazdik

Kimberly S. Buyers

Lyndall Madden

Lynn H Felton

Mimi Saunders

Nancy Nurmi

Robyn Jordan

Suzanne Weirich

Sylvia Leiby

Tonya Hackley



Certified Embodyment® Yoga Therapist Jane Fine

Lynn H Felton

Anita Snellings

Brynda Cummings

Kerry Penney

Michelle Micklewright

Laurie Hradec

Alaina Mormile

Cyndee Gischel Graham

Patricia DeMaio

Susan Day Daniel

Tracy M Paul

Nancy Nurmi

Deeper Level 1, Gentle Yoga & Yoga for Your Back Annette Bongiorno

Carol Waite

Janaki (Janet) Murray

Premaa Devi (Prudy) Costa

Becky Bronson

Pregnancy Yoga Carol Waite

Beginners' Bliss Teacher Ann Katz

Mangala (Cayla) Allen

Devi (Elizabeth) McKenty

Hrdayaa (Kim) Abplnalp

Marcia Costello

Maitreyi (Margie) Wilsman

Mary Stracensky

Kamala (Michelle) Gross

Yoga Philosophy Discussion Group Leader Aananadi (Annie) Ross

Barbara McCarthy

Bhavani (Belle) Mann

Brenda Benna

Karuna (Carolyn) Beaver

Mangala (Cayla) Allen

Sarvataa Christie

Julia Djaic

Yogeshwari (Lissa) Fountain

Loise P. Davis

Meryn Hall

Mati (Sandra) Gilbert



Donors: September 2013 to December 2013 Great gratitude to our donors for this time period! Swami Nirmalanda points out that these donations have been of great support during the �crunch of the consolidation� in the fall and �especially during the end-of-year months when everyone�s needs and interests� might otherwise be pulled to turn in directions other than their yoga organization.

Donations received in January and February 2014 will be listed in the next SATYA E-Letter, scheduled for May 2014. Of course, donations received at any time provide loving, ongoing support for your yoga organization. We offer you gratitude from the bottom of our yogic heart!

Rukmini Maria Abbruzzi

Amanda (Daya Ma) Ahern

Addie Alex

Cayla Allen

Erica Andersen

Beth Arena

Linda Avsharian

Betsy Ayers

Angela Barnett

Carolyn (Karuna) Beaver

Brenda Benna

Julie Berkhout

Rebecca Bettencourt

Martha Billman

Brian Blackmore

Robin Blankenship

Betsy Bommer

Annette Bongiorno

Liane Bracciale

Ruth Brooke

Brian Buczynski

Lynne Bullpit

Amanda Cahill

Sandra Carter

Ellan Catacchio

Amala Lynn Cattafi Heinlein

Su Lee (Vicharini) Chafin

Nancy Chang

Abby Chemers

Sarvataa Christie

Pam Church

Dean Cilley

Sue (Shuchi) Cilley

P. Willow Citron

Connie Clews

Nansi Colley

Prudy Premaa Devi Costa

Marcia (Lilavati) Costello

Lisa Crawford

Jacqueline Cresswell

Julia Culbusky

Bhanumati Cunningham

Paul Damelio

Susan Daniel

Lizabeth (Chudala) Darling

Louise Davis

France De La Fontaine

Kelly Diamond

Noelle (Mahee) Dijoud

Mandy Dixon

Julia Djaic

Sharon Elliot

David Falbaum

Marsha Fennimore

Jane Fine

Janet Fix

Loretta Forsythe

Melissa (Yogeshwaree) Fountain

Laelia Frances

Nick Francis

Kristine Freeman

Peter Gallagher

Terry (Ishvari) Gardner

Margot Garritt

Marlene Gast

Joyce Gibbs

Sandra (Mati) Gilbert

Christine Godfrey

Judy Goodkin

Kelly (Saguna) Goss

Cynthia (Kshama) Gribskov

Michelle Gross

Leslie Hahn

Meryn Melissa Hall

Renate Hanauer

Louise (Savitri) Harkema

Carolyn Hart

Priscilla Harvey

Kalavati Christine Hernandez

Barbara Hess

Wendy Hickey

Denise (Devapriya) Hills

Gail Hinchliffe

Melissa (Ambalika) Hoffman

Beth Holmes

Lisa Holmes

Louise Howlett

Sarah Hunter

Yasmine Inauen

Scott Ingram

Janice James

Leslie (Bhakta) Johnson

Kara Johnston



Donors (continued)

Janet Jones

Rhoda Joyner

Ann Katz

Deb Kaufmann

Judith (Jyoti) Braber Kenney

Lori (Priya) Kenney

Chelsea King

David (Dhananjaya) King

Joanne Kirk

Caroline Kutil

Trine (Medhira) Larsen

Donna Lawton

Anna Lepage

Valerie Light Trautlein

Connee Lutz

JenMarie (Sharada) Macdonald

Deborah (Antarajña) Mandel

Belle (Bhavani) Mann

. Marlborough Yoga Center

Laura Marshall

Monique Martin

Nathan Matanich

Ute Mazel Reeves

Deepaa Mazzi

Robin McBride

Barbara McCarthy

Carolyn McGrath

Elizabeth (Devi) McKenty

Michelle McKnight

Marie Mcree

Nathalie (Nandini) Mermet-Grandfille

Patricia Mighell

Phil Milgrom

Renanne Milner

Ellen Mitchell

Connie (Kanchan) Mohn

Pat Morrison

Theresa Morrison

Janet (Janaki) Murray

Ursula Myslinski

Elaine Nesta

Linda Neukam

Michael Newman

Bob Nogue

Rosemary Nogue

Terri O'Connor

Karen Ohlsten

Melissa Parsons

Sheyna Purna Peace

Kerry Penney

Chris (Kavi) Peppell

Soraya Pereira

Andrea Perry

Meghan Petak

Tammy Rabideau

Kyno Ravelo

Theresa Reynolds

TC ITirtha) Richards

Christine Rosell

Annie (Anandi) Ross

Deena Rotches

Tish Roy

Karobiji Sachs

Carol Sarno

Bindu Shortt Satsang Donations

Patty Sayre

Monika Schulz

Maureen (Bindu) Shortt

Willa Shriver

Maria Sichel

Mary Lou (Manisha) Soczek

Lisa Spangler

Nancy Stachiw

Pamela Steele

Laura StGeorge

Vidyadevi (Cathy) Stillman

Anthony Stokes

Patricia Strawderman

Carrie Styranka

Livia (Priyaa) Suver

Zane Szurgot

Steve Thoman

Peggy Trainor

Diane (Ekamati) Tsurutani

Brenda Turner

Beth Urban

Sandy Van Oosten

Suzanne Vanet

Sandra VanOosten

Constance Vineyard

Marjane Vitaletti

Carol Waite

Kalyani Evy Wallis

Susan Wardle-Mitchell

Andrea Wasserman

Julie Watson

Tracy-Jayne Webb

Margie (Maitreyi) Wilsman

The Yoga Within

Deborah Woodward

Randi Woodworth

Rebecca (Jyoti) Yacobi

Ellen Zientara



Asana Relapse Is Bad, Right? By Swami Nirmalananda

No, relapse is not bad. Relapse is good.

Well, relapse is good if you want growth, change and healing. It means something opened up, which means you�re

getting the healing and improvement you need. You simply couldn�t keep it open, at least not yet. So relapse, which for

most people is simply physical pain, is a sign that you need to return to the yoga that opened you up before, so you can open it up again. It worked before; you closed down again; now use something that is proven to work and simply open it up again.

It only gets confusing because I used a four-letter word in the paragraph above: �pain.� Even the word is hard for some people to look at! Yet there�d be no babies without the pain of childbirth; there�d be no life-saving surgeries without the pain of mutilation; there�d be little change in people�s lifestyles unless pain forced them to improve. Pain is not always

bad. Sometimes it is beneficial.

So that takes us into another four letter word that can be very confusing: �good.� Yoga is not about good and bad. Life is

not about good and bad. Nothing is about good and bad, because you find both mixed together in everything that exists; this is a crazy world called �Kali Yuga.�

When you throw out �good� and �bad,� how do you discern differences and make decisions? Use �beneficial� and

�harmful.� With these as your yardstick (meterstick), it�s easier to figure out what is going on with relapse.

Relapse is not harmful. It occurs because you did something very beneficial (lots of yoga!), but couldn�t keep the

openings you gained. While relapse is uncomfortable, it�s really just your body being a nag, nagging you to get back to

your practices. You�re simply not doing enough to keep the openings you got (which are openings you want).

How to Create Relapse:

1. Do an erratic practice, with lots of time on one day and then very little for several days following. 2. Skip Ujjayi Pranayama before your poses and skip the final Shavasana. 3. Do lots of deep spinal release poses and no abdominal activators or poses for your arms and legs. 4. Focus on one part of your spine, like your tailbone or your heart, without balancing the openings through the rest

of your spine and your body. 5. Keep moving in the same direction, like lots of forward bends or lots of twists. 6. Get emotionally agitated or watch lots of TV.

How to Avoid Relapse (because you never get any new openings):

1. Talk about yoga but don�t actually do any. Pay for classes but don�t attend. 2. When you do yoga, do the same poses every time. 3. Watch TV or listen to NPR while you do your yoga. 4. Do NOT meditate! 5. Pay attention to the other students in your class instead of experiencing your own poses and your own body.

How to Treat Relapse:

1. Recognize that this is a �good� sign � a sign that you got lots of openings from the yoga practices you did so recently.

2. Return to the same practices to reinstate the same openings, ASAP! 3. Repeat as needed, until these openings become stable. This means your body is more open, and that openness

extends through all the other levels of your being.

Progress is a process: two steps forward and one step back. Breathe. Do more japa.

svaroopa.org...repeat mantra or say a prayer Œ accept that whatever is going on is reality....

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