As I store away my winter coat and boots, I am reminded of this time last year and all that has happened since. In the last three seasons I have been faced with rejection, health challenges and grief. Like many, I have witnessed the devastating world news of natural disasters, war and suffering. As I prepare to fully step into the bright seasons of spring and summer, I ask myself: What carries me through dark times? What keeps me moving forward? 

Some things immediately come to mind: walks around my neighbourhood, Swami Radha’s relaxation tape, sunshine in late December, my mantra practice. Yet, above all is the power of community and connection to those around me. What has truly sustained me through this year of ups and downs is the support, encouragement and acceptance that comes from community. 

In my case, this community is not fixed in a specific place and time – there are people from all over the country, even the world. People who reached out, listening, showing care and offering words of comfort. There is a sense of deep gratitude and privilege, knowing that as long as I remain engaged and respond to their call, whether it’s a literal phone call or a walk in the park, I have a community that helps carry me through challenging times. These connections open up pathways through which I am heard and understood, nurturing my sense of belonging to the world. 

Satsang: Spiritual Community and Sacred Space 

During my recent visit to the Ashram, I was reminded of the powerful sense of community that exists there. People living, practicing and growing together. How connections form and every interaction carries the potential to lead me to a new way of thinking, of being and understanding myself and the world around me. 

Night after night at satsang, we gather in the Temple of Light and chant for the prayer list – a list compiled of hundreds of names and concerns from people asking for help. We connect through the mantra and send vibrations out to the world and to all those in need. Our voices chant sacred syllables that hold the power to heal. 

At satsang, I feel deeply connected to the Ashram community. I think of all those who’ve been here and all those who will come. There is a sense of expansion in my heart, knowing that whatever has happened throughout the day, people gather every night to be in the company of the wise. 

Swami Radha writes that “mantras can have a healing effect by releasing the emotions and bringing about a state of calmness and deep relaxation, both in the chanter and in anyone listening” (Mantra: Words of Power, 87). Chanting in the Temple of Light, I feel these calming effects and my mind fills with awe of the beauty of this sacred space.

Finding Stillness in City Life

Back in the city, I try to invoke that sense of openness and connection. Inspired by the sacred space of the Temple, I have created an area for practice in my bedroom – an altar with special items and images that touch my heart. This helps focus my mind and prepare me for practice. 

Swami Radha writes that “Images satisfy the very active and ever-changing mind. The mind is like an elephant that sways from side to side as it walks. But even though it sways, you can keep it going in the right direction. The mind sways too, but you can focus it and get it going in the right direction” (Time to be Holy, 73). 

After a busy day, I sit down by my altar to chant mantra and focus my mind. And there, in the stillness of my body and the quiet of my bedroom, a clear image emerges: my Ishta Devata, an image that stands for the most High – my personal deity. This presence deepens my sense of connection as I lean in, receptive and willing to learn more.  

Remembering the importance of community, I offer my practice to all those who have supported me in this last year, especially those in need of help. I pray that I may give back to my community – that we may all walk through the darkness into the Light.

Practice for Connecting with Community

When you chant or recite a mantra for someone, visualize that person well and healthy. Invoke the image of the Divine and, in full expectation, see the person standing in the radiance of Light. Let the healing force flow through you, never from you, and think of the energy of the mantra as that healing Light. Wrap the individual in a spiral of this Light so that they become barely visible and let the image of this spiral move to the source of all Light. Now focus all your attention on the chanting.

By Katie Taher – Yasodhara Yoga Teacher

There was a little card in one of the Ashram classrooms that had an image of Krishna playing the flute, his body gently curved.  The text said “Keep thy Mind fixed on Me.” That little card has been on my mind for years, almost decades. I have wondered: what does it mean to keep my mind fixed on the Divine? And how do I do it?

Every time I come to the Ashram, I receive some kind of message or something to work on from the Divine. This summer, I received a clear message: Attune to higher frequencies.

I love looking up the definition of words.

 Attune means: to make receptive or aware of
Receptive means: able and willing to receive
To Attune is to become aware of; and to become able to receive.

I went further: the verb tune means to calibrate your instrument or to set your receiver to the desired signal. That makes me think: What signal do I want my instrument calibrated to?

I initially was thinking that putting my attention on higher frequencies was putting my attention on the good, the beautiful, the “better states” of being. 

I began to see how that creates a dichotomy of good/bad, preferred/not preferred and sets up resistance. Everything, everyone and every state of being is Divine energy, is frequency. Some states of being feel heavier and more dense than others and have less flow. Some states of being are lighter and have more flow.

 What if I just put my attention on the flow of energy, on the unmanifested form, on the subtle?

Later, during satsang I practiced becoming aware of energy, the energy of the Temple itself, the energy of the community joined in song. It is beyond feeling or sensation, it is a subtle sense, an awareness. The subtle energy that flows beneath, around and within. I felt it pick me up in its current and swirl me around in its waves.

It reminded me of my favorite quote from Kundalini Yoga for the West.

“When you see the life-giving rays even in the most desperate human tragedies, that is the moment when you become aware that you are a handmaiden of Divine Mother. You have set spiritual energy in motion.”

The spiritual energy that swirls beneath, within and beyond the gross, is constantly in a wave of creation and dissolution. It exists beyond and beneath the pairs of opposites – good bad, high low. It is ever cycling and recycling through the whole gamut. By putting my attention on it I activate it and it lets energy flow rather than stagnate.

The next day I was out with my friend Jo-Anna (a karma yogi) and my son Benny. The road at the far end of the garden was too steep for my comfort in my mobility scooter, so we had to push it up the hill. Without words, the three of us worked together like a single unit. Normally, I would be ashamed and embarrassed. I really hate that scooter and that I have to use it. I would have been berating myself for getting into this mess and making apologies and excuses, feeling bad that I had inconvenienced my companions. But I didn’t. The thoughts didn’t even cross my mind. As we got to the top of the hill the clear blue sky seemed more expansive than normal. A wave of energy came from the sky and opened my heart wide where I felt an enormous surge of love and appreciation for all of us.

Deep Gratitude

Since I have this challenge with my body, I find I need to reach for the Divine even stronger, with more persistence and tenacity. I rely on practices to do so. 

I have been doing this practice lately that I call deep gratitude where I take a fairly mundane thing like a spoon, or something you wouldn’t normally think to be grateful for like the sewer system and dig deep into appreciation for it, like keep following the line further and further, digging and digging, polishing and polishing, until it is no longer a mundane or forgotten thing but it is glowing with life-giving rays, with Divine Light.

For example – a vase on the altar, maybe it’s from the dollar store, a mundane ordinary thing but I think about the person who lovingly filled this with flowers and water and I think about the person who made sure this whole shape was symmetrical or programmed a computer to do so.  And I go all the way back to the sand that was gathered to create this glass and the people who discovered that you could burn sand and make glass and whoever made the calculations to determine the strength of this vessel to make sure it didn’t break too easily but remains light and dainty.

This was probably mass produced far away, and I think about the people working the factory who may think they just work in a mundane factory but they have made or pressed a button to make this vase that now adorns our altar and forms part of a portal to Divine energy. And now this vase becomes special as we think about all that has been put into it being here and all the people who have contributed to it. It’s no longer a vase but a marvel of human ingenuity and cooperation that evokes a feeling of awe and wonder.

And now doesn’t it have a new meaning?  Isn’t it kind of shiny? You can do this with anything – socks, book cover illustrations, your feet, the water system that you rely on.

That’s how I line my path with glowing gems. As I look at things with Light, then everything shines Light back at me.

It is so shiny at the Ashram. I can barely let in the gratitude and appreciation for this place, for this community, for my husband and son who support me. When I open myself up to the deep appreciation and gratitude for all the magnificent things about this place, it is so big that if I were to let it all in, it would drop me to my knees.

Practice: 
We can practice sensing the subtle energy. Close your eyes for a moment. start with feeling sensation – clothing on your skin, air on your face; now move beyond your body and the immediate space around it. Can you feel the energy of this room? Become aware of the energy of this room vs outside of this room. Become aware of the energy of a garden. Can you sense, feel or imagine the energy that is moving within the plants causing their stems to push through the earth leaves to unfurl and reach up? Can you sense, feel or imagine the energy within a butterfly that moves its wings as it flutters gracefully in the air? Can you feel sense or imagine that same energy within you? This is the flow of energy that animates your body. It is the same as the energy that makes the wind blow, the garden grow and the wings of a butterfly move. Become aware of it. 

When you can see the life-giving rays… you have set spiritual energy in motion.

Practice:
Choose something mundane. Something within your current field of vision, in this room and follow the thread of appreciation until you feel awe and wonder.

Nicole St. Arnaud has been visiting the Ashram since 2006 and completed the Yoga Development Course in 2015. When at the Ashram, she can always be found in the Beach Prayer Room before dawn which is her favorite place on earth. She has certificated in Iyengar Yoga, Yasodhara Yoga, Heartmath, Reiki and Conscious Parenting. She also has Master’s degree in Environmental Design and worked as  a professional urban planner.

The snow capped mountains greet me today, inviting a call to stillness. As I look upwards to the peaks, I have a sense of lifting above the day-to-day of Ashram life—to a place that brings a bigger perspective. A place where I imagine heaven and earth meet.

This feeling of stillness follows me into the Divine Mother prayer room, where I am surrounded by images of the Divine feminine—expressions of a feminine power from many different traditions, cultures, times. A power that goes beyond name and form.

This space, dedicated to Divine Mother, speaks to me of devotion. It’s a place where my heart is nourished and renewed and my mind becomes quiet and receptive to Her voice. She reminds me that She is always present, available anytime I turn to Her. Turning to Her. It is the work of remembering—remembering that I am not alone, ever.

A Gathering of Goddesses
Today, I have a sense that the goddesses and all these symbols gathered together in this space have something to tell me—something that is going to help me dive more deeply into what it means to be a woman, at this time, on this earth.

In a way, it’s like these goddesses have each come through their own particular door to meet in this place. I see a connection to Swami Radha’s vision of the Ashram’s Temple, where there are many doors entering the sacred space, dedicated to the Light. The doors symbolize all the many paths that we can enter through, coming together and meeting in the centre.

The doorway I am entering through is one that is unique to me and my life experiences. It includes being born and traveling through life as a white woman, and having the privileges that come with this. Privileges that I am only becoming aware of.

Systems
In her book, Caste – The Origins of Our Discontents, Isabel Wilkerson describes a hidden belief system that upholds a ‘caste hierarchy’ in the western world. The foundation of this system is supported by what she describes as pillars – “beliefs that were at one time or another burrowed deep within the culture and collective subconscious of most every inhabitant, in order for a caste system to function.”

These pillars include religious beliefs, inherited beliefs, control of marriage and mating, belief in purity of the dominant caste, occupational or job-related hierarchies, dehumanization and stigma, cruelty and terror as a means of control and inherent superiority vs inherent inferiority.

In her book, Kundalini for the West, Swami Radha gives us a similar message. “We must investigate all of our concepts and ideas, anything we have accepted blindly, without question. Such unquestioning acceptance of authority is tantamount to allowing ourselves to be hypnotized, programmed, conditioned. We must ask: Where (in what areas of my life) am I hypnotized?”

Going back to the foundation is an on-going aspect and life-long practice of the Kundalini system. “Any building, be it a storeroom, a tiny house or a big mansion, needs a foundation. The type of foundation reflects the purpose of the building to be constructed. Similarly, the foundation of a spiritual life indicates the perception of the purpose of life, and the way of life chosen will reflect this purpose.” (Kundalini Yoga for the West)

Deconstructing Constructs
I find this on-going foundation work to be essential in opening up my beliefs, concepts and ideas. It is sometimes a painful process, depending on how attached I am to my ideas and how much my sense of security is linked to them.

I have come to trust this clarification process by seeing the changes I’ve been able to make and the growth which has come from this. I have a stronger sense of who I am and where I stand. I have been given the tools and practices to support myself when I come face-to-face with a place where I am unaware— where I need to go back to the foundation and bring in the light of awareness.

Being in the Divine Mother prayer room today, I remember how it came from a place of vision and involved going back to the original log structure as a container for this vision.

For many years Swami Radha spoke about a ‘little temple in the woods, dedicated to Divine Mother.” After she died, we followed through with finding a place at the Ashram and creating the ‘little temple in the woods.”

I was involved with this project and asked to oversee it. I didn’t know how to begin, had no idea of where to start. When a friend suggested just taking a crowbar to the site, I saw I could begin with removing the old carpet. Taking this step revealed not only the original wood flooring underneath but also a next step I began working with a group of younger women, taking apart the walls and ceiling. Removing a ceiling tile one day, some pages from a book began floating down. It turned out to be a chapter from the original Divine Light Invocation book.

Reading the words reminded me that ideas and beliefs fired in the ‘kiln’ of emotions can become as hard as rocks. It also reminded me that a practice like the Divine Light Invocation gives me back the power of choice—the choice of where to direct my energy.

Building on Positive Experiences
For months now I have been involved with applying for government funding to hire a carpentry apprentice. At the beginning I was reluctant —actually resistant— to getting involved with this. Old ideas, concepts, feelings and insecurities were coming up.

Part of this reluctance was about entering a system which can often be difficult to navigate, time consuming and frustrating at times – with the ‘occupational or job-related hierarchies’ that Isabel Wilkerson speaks of. Entering into a traditionally male dominated construction industry felt intimidating.

I stayed present with what was coming up and then updated where I’m at now. I’ve actually had very positive experiences of applying for and receiving government grants for youth employment—learning how the system works through the support of women working for government. These grants have allowed young people, mostly young women, to receive training, skills and work experience while being in the Ashram environment. It has been a positive experience for everyone involved.

I also remembered the fact that I have building and renovation experience of my own to draw on. Being involved with building and renovating has not only given me practical experience —its symbols and metaphors have also been a rich resource for navigating change in my life.

Women Supporting Women
Tapping into these experiences and remembering the purpose of applying for the carpentry apprentice funding in the first place helped my resistance drop away. We want to support a young woman, connected to the Ashram, who is currently in her first year carpentry program at the local college. She had approached us to explore doing her apprenticeship with an Ashram resident who has a wealth of carpentry experience.

As we entered into applying for the funding and into the construction industry landscape, it was like learning a new language—with its many acronyms designating the many different departments of the system we’d have to navigate.

We were told that while the Ashram is not the ‘typical construction-related company’ the industry serves—we are a yoga retreat and study centre—they could see the value in helping us access eligible incentive funding.

Surprisingly, there were offers of help and encouragement coming from within the system itself—from college instructors and from the specialists helping us navigate the system. It seemed they were open to thinking ‘outside the box.”

Through an incredible team effort and everyone working together, the funding has been approved. At each step of the way it has been women within the construction industry helping us with these steps. Women supporting women, who have been not only helpful, but also encouraging throughout. There is a feeling of excitement being conveyed about what we are doing.

A Wave of Change

While all this has been happening, I’ve been aware of something at work underneath, moving everything along. Hearing from the women working in the construction industry that they have never seen an application move through the system so quickly has also seemed an affirmation of this power at work. There is a sense of catching a wave of change at just the right moment.

Does this wave reflect doors opening for women in places that have traditionally not been open for them to pass through before? Is it also empowered by a feminine force in creation that wants to help inner and outer worlds come back into balance?

Working Together
Being in the Divine Mother room as I reflect about what’s been happening, surrounded by all these symbols of the Divine feminine, I begin to understand that Her message is about working together. It’s a way that recognizes the gifts each of us brings, focusing on the places of connection, seeing the inner spark of goodness in each other. It is a way of listening that means being present, letting the heart speak. It means doing my part, being willing to enter into the difficult places and going past resistance when it comes up. It means going through the open doors to meet in the Heart, a place of Light.

When I think of my own life’s journey and where it’s brought me to this point in time, I see that I do have something to offer back to life—the knowledge I’ve gained through my practice of yoga and through integrating this knowledge into my daily life. In other words—deconstructing and rebuilding both my inner and outer worlds.

I am blessed to be part of a lineage of women carrying on the work of Swami Radha—through the teachings, through supporting both women and men in their spiritual evolution and through helping to keep the Ashram as a sacred vibrant place on our earth.

By Swami Satyananda/ Original Artwork by Noemie Derungs

Yasodhara Yoga Montreal offers this Teaching Theme all about Focus.

Concentration
“Success in all walks of life is the result of the power of concentration. The Mantra of the Light is very suitable to increase concentration because it puts the practitioner in contact with Energy in a symbolic way.” (Kundalini Yoga for the West, Swami Radha, p75)

Throughout this month, take time to repeat the Divine Light Mantra 25 times. After each repetition, reflect on your experience. Then at the end of February, read over your writing: what did you learn about your ability to concentrate? How does the Light affect your mind? How do you understand the connection between light and energy?

Concentrate on Feeling the Light

In the Divine Light Invocation, one of the objects of focus is the sense of feeling. Practice the Divine Light Invocation three times, placing special attention on this part: “Concentrate on feeling a warm glow of light suffuse your entire body”. Take notes on your experience after each repetition. What is the quality of your concentration? How do you experience the feeling of the Light?

Mountain

About the practice of Mountain pose, Swami Radha said, “It will become quite evident that the mind is not willing, able or in the mood to CONCENTRATE. Several phases are involved. The mind is like a central station where everything pours in that the senses perceive, and it has to make interpretations from those perceptions. Tadasana, standing still, when repeatedly practiced with observations on the body AND the mind, will bring many insights.” (Hatha Yoga: The Hidden Language, p31)Stand in the Mountain pose and observe your body. Observe your mind. Write down the facts of your observations.

Do the Mountain pose again. Focus your eyes on a point in front of you at eye level. While looking forward, become aware of your peripheral vision. Maintain this focus on the point in front of you as well as the periphery. Reflect on your experience.

Do the Mountain pose a third time. Say to yourself, “Standing still, not running somewhere. Standing still, looking–without, within”. Write down your reflections.

Breath and Relaxation

In Swami Radha’s Relaxation exercise, she asks us to inhale and exhale evenly and to maintain a gentle focus on the breath throughout the practice.Listen to the recording of the Relaxation exercise. Do your best to follow Swami Radha’s instruction to “watch the breath and listen while the words guide you” throughout the entire relaxation practice. Reflect afterwards on your experience. How does breath interact with your power of concentration?

Focus on the Divine

“When you focus on the Divine, it is easy to let go of whether other people like you or not. You are caught in the net of Divine Love, which is the safest place you can be.” (Mantra Initiation, Swami Radha, p16)Choose an image of the Divine that inspires you (Krishna, Siva, Mother Mary, Kuan Yin, Tara, Buddha, Radha, Saraswati…) Recite a mantra to this deity or practice likhita japa (writing the name of the deity) for 10 minutes. Take notes in your journal on your experience.

Purpose

“I think the purpose of life is to come to the full realization of one’s spiritual potential.” (Mantra Initiation, Swami Radha, p15)Chant OM three times, then holding this quote in your mind, write for 5 minutes without stopping. After writing, reread your reflection and underline key phrases.

Then Chant OM three times and write for another 5 minutes without stopping, reflecting on the phrases you underlined.

Chant OM three times. Complete the sentence for yourself: “The purpose of my life is…”