NAG Newsletter Spring 2010
Let Go and Let Change
By Paramahamsa Niranjanananda Saraswati, from YOGA Magazine, January 2003. Visit www.yogamag.net for more articles by Swamiji.
A time for change comes in everyone's life. It is human nature to hold on to what we have. We are subject to the three gunas, and tamas is the most predominant quality in our life. One attribute of tamas is holding on to what we feel satisfies our needs, emotions or desires, and not letting it go. In such a situation, we need to keep wisdom in mind and let go of the hang-ups.
Change comes about spontaneously and naturally, but if you become fearful and apprehensive of the change, if you doubt the change, then there will be resistance. Why should there be resistance to change? Logically, there is no reason. It is a case of mental conflict. On the one hand, you know you will benefit from the change, physically, psychologically or spiritually, and on the other hand, you do not want to let go of anything.
However, there comes a time when it is important to let go of the excess baggage. This is a natural law. Our body doesn't retain excess waste, it always maintains its harmony, but we are unable to do the same with our mind. We accumulate and lock away everything, thinking it useful and beneficial, and there is no elimination of the excess from the mind.
When we are not used to removing things from inside, we become fearful of the change. When we go through a process of sadhana, we realize what is waste material and what is useful, and we begin to unclutter the mind. Eighty percent of things in the mind are useless. The anger, the ill will, the hatred and jealousy, the grief and dissatisfaction that you carry inside affects no one but you, because you are the one experiencing it. So there has to be a process of elimination.
Aparigraha, the yama meaning do not accumulate, indicates this process. Some people think it means living in poverty and not accumulating the things one enjoys. That can be a social outlook, but aparigraha is also a mental attitude. Do not accumulate the unnecessary stuff which has no relevance or meaning in your life. Release it through self-awareness, sadhana and reflection. As you become freer from the mental accumulations, you will notice that your resistance to change becomes less and less, and you flow from one situation to another without any difficulty. Change is difficult as long as there are hang-ups. When we free our mind of unnecessary clutter, a natural change occurs in our lives. We experience happiness and peace. Life simply flows.
Infinite Giving
By Shambhavi Saraswati, Spiritual Director of Jaya Kula, a non-profit center in Portland, OR for people learning to integrate authentic Tantrik view and practice into their everyday lives.
When I heard about the formation of North American Gurukul, I wanted to participate by giving whatever I could. I’d like to tell you why.
Twenty years ago, there were no Satyananda teachers available to me in the United States. I remember how heartbroken I felt when I discovered this.
I give to NAG because I want people in North America, who may be in the situation I was in then, to have easier access to this beautiful tradition.
Ten years ago, I had an ‘incurable’ and life-threatening illness. I prayed daily to Swami Satyananda and did Mahamrtyunjaya japa. I prayed to Swamiji to relieve me of this illness so that I could fulfil my heart’s desire: to be a yogini. At the end of the sadhana, the illness left and has never returned.
Since that time, there have been many more gifts. Teachings in so many forms. Assistance in times of need. And even after Swamiji’s Mahasamadhi, the gift of understanding that he is now more available than ever, and to more beings.
I give to NAG because I want to support others in discovering the fountain of grace that continues to flow from this lineage.
More than these personal experiences, I see how many tens of thousands have been aided in their self-understanding and upliftment. We can think of sannyasins and devotees. But we can also think of the positive effect on the hearts and minds of countless people who have come to classes, or read a book.
I give to NAG because I want more people in North America to receive these gifts.
But there is one more reason why I give, and perhaps it is the most important reason of all.
Swamiji emerged from his famous panchagni sadhana with a sankalpa given to him by God. That sankalpa is simple: to help people.
I know that every person reading this also wants to help people and support Swamiji’s mission.
Please consider giving a gift to NAG. The seed of Swamiji’s sankalpa in North America has already been planted. It is up to us to water it and make sure that it grows and blossoms.
I feel that giving to NAG is a great opportunity and a great blessing. I invite you to join me.
Hari Om Tat Sat
Shambhavi Sarasvati
Tip of the Quarter: Yoga for Seasonal Allergies
By Sannyasi Atmadarshan, Executive Course Coordinator, Yoga Academy of North America
It’s spring, prime allergy time here in North America. Many of you are familiar with the shatkarmas, or cleansing techniques such as neti, which can greatly relieve the symptoms of allergies. But how can we utilize other yoga practices to address the underlying causes of these springtime allergic reactions?
First we must understand the yogic perspective on how allergies happen. According to yoga psychology, there are four organs of the mind, which explains why we often feel like we are fighting ourselves when we try to make a decision. One of these organs is ahamkara, the sense of individuality, of “I”-ness. Ahamkara does many good things for us – it helps us maintain healthy boundaries in our relationships, recognize what our individual life path is, and allow things we perceive as “other” to become something that is integrated into our body or mind.
Among ahamkara’s most important functions is informing the immune system what is “us” and what is a dangerous “invader” so that our white blood cells can respond appropriately. Unfortunately, for some people ahamkara is a bit too well-developed and our immune system launches over-the-top responses to things which are “not us”. These extreme reactions can produce hives, extra mucus, even a fatal swelling of the airways.
One way to address allergies is to regulate ahamkara. This involves starting to see others – other people, other animals, other substances – as part of us. For example, I used to have a horrible allergy to dogs. When my boss started having her dog join us at work, my nose would run and my skin would itch. I resented being in discomfort because of “her dog.” One day, the boss was away and the dog approached me looking distressed. I noticed her water bowl was empty and when I filled it, the dog gave me a happy wag. Something interesting happened that day – that animal went from being “her dog” to “my friend.” The more I gave the dog food, water, or walks, the more “mine” she became. My allergic symptoms gradually reduced and now I have almost no allergic response to any dog. So when we practice in ways that allow us to relax more fully into our environments, ahamkara will lighten up as well, encouraging our immune systems to settle down.
A powerful practice from Satyananda Yoga that helps regulate ahamkara is prana mudra. As it is described in Paramahamsaji’s Asana, Pranayama, Mudra, Bandha, it can be a rather complicated practice incorporating bandhas, kumbhaka, chakra awareness, and more. A simple adaptation of the practice is:
1) Sit in any comfortable position with one hand resting on the other
2) Breathing in, raise the hands up the front of the body, open them to the sides, and reach out through the fingers
3) Breathing out, bring hands back in and down to the starting position.
Once you are comfortable with the hand movement linked to the breath, add the following awareness:
* As you reach out with the hands, imagine you are sharing your energy with the world around you
* As you breathe in, feel that you are gathering energy from everything around you and taking it into yourself.
This simple practice of prana mudra can slowly help expand our sense of self to include so much more than just our individual bodies. As ahamkara expands to include the environment around us, our need to fight it lessens, and our physical and mental overreactions to the “others” around us start to subside.
SATYANANDA YOGA® can be an effective – and enjoyable! – way to improve all aspects of your life. Happy Spring!
Learning To See The Change: A Reflection on the Yogic Studies Journey
By Caitlin Harwood, Administrative Assistant for North American Gurukul, Inc. and Teacher Training 1 student with YANA
Alright, I’ll admit it -- when I began the training process with the Yoga Academy of North America, Yogic Studies was merely a step stool up the ladder towards Yoga Teacher Training. Having finally begun to develop some regularity in my practice after nearly eight years of yoga, teacher training loomed on the horizon like a blinking beacon of purpose. At that time I was convinced that I already knew how to see the effects of the practice: the awareness, clarity, and strength that surprised and amazed me with every new discovery. I was over-eager to learn how to 
enthusiastically offer those effects to absolutely everyone I know. With this strong sense of purpose, it was clear that Satyananda Yoga® was the tradition, YANA was the program, and Yogic Studies was, well, the hurdle.
What my housemates jokingly referred to as my “yoga gestation,” a two-week intensive followed by nine months of home study, has certainly given birth to a newer, clearer, more balanced version of myself. It would have been impossible to gain this depth of knowledge from simply attending classand making half-guesses at home practice. It was during the course that I learned the most from the moments of frustration, when I wanted so desperately to stop carrying yoga for just a little bit and go back to being a normal, carefree, twenty-something. The tools that Yogic Studies 1 offers showed me how to step back, let go, and realize that yoga was carrying me. I discovered that I was learning, loving and experiencing health and happiness in ways that I have never before known. And that transformation happens in the forward momentum. What undertaking the process of yogic studies has done is sown a commitment for moving forward with that process of learning, for continuing to grow and expand awareness.
Michelle Quintus, a YS1 classmate of mine, who was initially sure teacher training was not for her, recently explained her reason for going on to teacher training after yogic studies in a way that made so much sense. 
She said, “I decided to take Teacher Training 1 after Yogic Studies 1 because I wanted to dive deeper into the practices I had already learned in YS1. I didn't necessarily plan to teach the practices, but I figured if I had to understand them well enough to teach them to someone else, then I would continue to increase my awareness and come to a deeper knowledge of them myself.”
One of the greatest and hardest things about this yoga journey is the surprising way that change happens. And that is what Yogic Studies is all about. It is an important course for developing a sadhana, which opens the doors to real awareness. This awareness unfolds with regularity, commitment, and discipline. This course shows us how to shine a light on our personalities and expose the patterns for what they are. If I was looking to teacher training to help “be the change I wish to see in the world,” then Yogic Studies 1 was the crucial building block to “see the change that I wish to be” in myself. The process was intense, the things that came up both humbling and triumphant.
Through it all was a strong sense of support from teachers, classmates, and past students. Experiencing the wisdom and insight that the diverse people from this community have to offer gave me so much encouragement and hope. It was amazing how the teachers guided me through the process as they had been taught, passing on the knowledge and gently encouraging the change to come from within while reminding me to be gentle with myself as things came up. I now see that everything is a cycle of teaching and learning, of action and changes, a path of becoming.
The North American Gurukul, Inc. (NAG) is a nonprofit organization established to support the growth of SATYANANDA YOGA® throughout North America in order to enhance the health, well being, & human potential of individuals and society.
© 2011, North American Gurukul, Inc. | 2319 Lee Road | Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
Phone: 216-371-9760 | Fax: 216-371-9780
Website designed and hosted by John Erdie Web Design.