YOGALife I Summer 2010 - Sivananda Yoga

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Kumbha Mela Yatra 2010 Testimonials
Om Namah Sivaya!
I would like to express my deepest gratitude and
thank you to all of you.
Words fail to express the deep beautiful
moments that I experienced during the Yatra
to Uttarkashi and Haridwar. From the ‘four dimen -
sional visions’ to the heart opening chanting by the
sadhus in Uttarkashi, from the sweetness of Sant
Venugopal’s songs to the energy of Ma Ganga.
I thank you for letting me be part of this Yatra.
I thank you for having organized such a ‘once in a
life-time’ experience for many of us. I myself had
waited for 28 years for the opportunity to be right.
And it was. Every day brought forth an illuminating
and inspiring moment. Truly so. My heart is at peace.
Serve, Love, Meditate, Realize. These words will
never leave me. They have been with me for a very
long time already, and now they echo in the core
of my soul.
Shanti Roopa
(Lena Rhazaoui, Paris)
The Kumbha Mela Pilgrimage was a great spiritual
experience for me. It was wonderful to travel with
like-minded people through the beautiful Northern
region of India and to do Sadhana. I enjoyed
meditating on the banks of the river Ganges and
practising Asanas every day. A special highlight was
the Bagavata Saptaha with Sri Venugopal Goswami
and the visit to a Sadhu camp in Haridwar. You
could feel the spiritual energy in Haridwar during
the Kumbha Mela festival. I returned feeling
uplifted and recharged.
Ganga
The Sivananda Kumbha Mela pilgrimage 2010
was a opportunity I could not miss. The stay in
Uttarkashi enabled me to release some of my deeper
tensions through the spiritual practice. When we
visited Sivananda Ashram Rishikesh I experienced
a strong connection to Swami Sivananda and was
filled with joy and determination for my Sadhana.
The energy in Haridwar was focused, building up
to a blissful peak on the final day which we will
always remember. I am so grateful to all who made
this unique experience possible.
Padmini
Kumbha Mela Yatra 2010
Highlights for me were having Satsang with the
Sadhus in Uttarkashi and looking into the faces of
those men and women, some filled with pure
radiance; meditating for five minutes in Swami
Sivananda's small room in Rishikesh and feeling the
energy of his presence, which was incredibly strong;
and listening to the sacred stories of Lord Krishna in
Haridvar during Kumbha Mela, looking out onto
Mother Ganga as her sparkling, rapid waters flowed
past. Those are moments I will never forget.
Kaivalya
During the Kumbha Mela Yatra, we were
privileged to participate each day in a wealth of
inspiring and uplifting experiences: whether we
were meditating on the banks of the Ganga, visiting
temples, listening to spiritual discourses or
celebrating ancient festivals, we found ourselves
immersed in the beauty and simplicity of our
surroundings, sharing and celebrating abundant joy.
Akhil
Stepping on sacred ground…
The Teachers’ Training Course (TTC) in the land of Bhakti 2010/11
After the Kumbha Mela, a group of Swamis and staff from the
European Sivananda Centres travelled from Delhi to Vrindavan
to prepare for the next event: the Teachers’ Training Course
in Vrindavan.
135 students arrived from all over the world eager to
experience the depth of yoga and bathe in the special energy
of one of the very popular pilgrimage places of India.
Vrindavan is the land of bhakti yoga, the yoga of opening
of the heart. It can be experienced already from the (very!) early
morning hours, when mantra are being chanted throughout the
town, generously amplified by powerful loudspeakers so that no
one should miss this auspicious time… It first comes as a surprise
to the newly arrived students, but the mind quickly gives up its
resistance and surrenders to the powerful vedic chants…
The Teachers’ Training Course in this gentle yet very tangible
bhakti energy takes a new dimension. For the western students it
is a constant lesson of surrender, which reinforces the message
of yoga and Vedanta and the “melting process” which takes
place in the course.
Melting quite literally as one surrenders to the heat,
surrenders to the sounds of mantra chanting echoing all day
along from one temple to another, surrenders to the monkeys
ever ready for mischief (the top game being to steal glasses in
exchange for a banana or a sweet!), surrenders to the complete
simplicity of the life style in this medieval city, surrenders to the
dust, as omnipresent as the devotional energy floating in the air..
and very holy anyway since it is the dust of Krishna’s feet…
Finally surrendering to one’s heart and soul, leaving behind ego
resistance, flowing again with the simplicity of life.
After one month of intense practice in this most special
place, students return home transformed, strengthened in their
determination to lead the yogic life, their hearts opened and
softened with the sweetness of bhakti.
We look forward to seeing you there…
The European Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres
www.sivananda.eu
Upcoming Courses in Vrindavan North India:
Teachers’ Training Course:
October 9 – November 7, 2010
5 February – 6 March, 2011
Advanced Teachers’ Training Course:
October 9 – November 7, 2010
YOGALife I Summer 2010 61