Discover the Bliss of Your Own Being
The history of Svaroopa® Yoga
Svaroopa® Yoga was founded almost twenty years ago by Rama Berch (now Swami Nirmalananda) and was recognized as a style by Yoga Journal in 1996. Master Yoga Foundation was created as a not-for-profit organization as the home of Svaroopa® Yoga to foster and protect its teachings.
After Swami Nirmalananda took her vows of monkhood in the ancient Saraswati order, she opened the doors of Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram where she resides and serves as spiritual leader and master teacher. By 2013, Master Yoga Foundation was merged into Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram and all Svaroopa® Yoga and Meditation programs were consolidated under the Ashram – a non-for-profit organization sharing yoga’s ancient teachings.
Visit www.svaroopa.org to learn more about Swami Nirmalananda and Svaroopa® Vidya Ashram.
Our classes
Svaroopa® Yoga is an effective, safe and reliable system of yoga that brings you into the bliss of your own being, creating a deep release of tension held in the body and mind. Svaroopa® is a Sanskrit word that means your own true form as Consciousness itself. The practice of Svaroopa® Yoga delivers on this promise.
ANY BODY can practice Svaroopa® Yoga. It uses props such as blankets and blocks for support in order to meet your body where it is at. This is truly yoga that anyone can do regardless of your experience or fitness level.
The asana (pose) practice uses precise alignments to open you up from tail to top. This helps facilitate an inner sense of peace and groundedness, creates relief from tension-related aches and pains, and leads to personal transformation.
The class begins in a resting pose that promotes relaxation and awareness — Shavasana. A marker pose is used to help you become aware of the core releases along the spine that your body is experiencing. This is followed by a series of poses that take you through a spinal sequence — tailbone, sacrum, waist and ribcage — to release spinal tensions. You will be trained in the correct alignment needed for each pose, and your teacher will provide you with the proper support that your body needs to create core openings where it is the tightest. These poses build stamina and further increase the flow of aliveness throughout your whole body.
Meditation
Svaroopa® Yoga Meditation is based on finding and honoring your own true Self or Divine Essence within. This practice is based on ancient yogic texts from thousands of years ago – passed on in the beginning by word of mouth. Eventually, these texts were written down and then through the ages were translated into English. This style of meditation uses a lineage mantra to quiet our very busy and cluttered minds and prepare us for meditation. A mantra is a sacred word or syllable used for concentration and embodying some aspect of spirituality.
Yoga Therapy
Yoga therapy uses both Embodyment® techniques and carefully selected supported poses to create deep, long lasting changes in the body. This therapy is designed specifically for your personal need. All of our instructors are yoga therapists.
Embodyment®
Embodyment® therapy is a gentle yet profound way of releasing core tension in the body. The therapist uses a “hands on” approach for the spine and their own power of awareness to help facilitate deep changes in the body. All of our instructors are Embodyment® practitioners.