As one of the great yoga teachers of the 20th century, Swami Vishnudevananda (1927-1993) taught students from all walks of life, from all over the world. He popularized the classical yoga tradition of his Master, Swami Sivananda, naming a network of yoga centers, ashrams, and retreats in his honor. Swami Vishnudevananda’s influence continues through the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres and through his writings that include the collection Meditations and Mantras. In the book, Swamiji delves into topics such as the path of karma yoga, one of the four yogic paths and the one devoted to action in the visible world. Karma yoga involves the performance of selfless acts of kindness and compassion. Karma yoga additionally prepares you for the practice of silent meditation. As Swamiji points out in his text, there is no way to meditate without a proper foundation in selfless service to others, detached from any thought of worldly effects. Meditation builds on this state of mind, focusing on de-hypnotizing the consciousness away from its identification with the mortal body and earthly thoughts.
The practice of karma yoga ultimately serves to purify the emotions and lessen the reliance on the human ego. via WordPress https://ift.tt/3xlTWpF
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Although the renowned yoga teacher Swami Vishnudevananda left his body in 1993, his teachings live on in this world through his numerous books, lectures, and interviews, as well as the network of Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres he established all over the world. Swami Vishnudevananda’s perspectives on yoga can also be seen through the half-hour 2016 film Yoga Life and Self Transformation by Indian director Benoy K. Behl. The film first addresses the ills that plague the modern world: turmoil, stress, and the many diseases of civilization such as heart disease and diabetes. Modern people have also lost their connection to the wellsprings of spiritual insight and strength that yogis attempt to reawaken. Yoga is thus an ancient answer to an entire conglomeration of contemporary problems. Rather than being solely an exercise program, a religious perspective, or a type of ritual behavior, yoga is, as the film demonstrates, a full-scale system of self-development. It leads students along the path from emotion to devotion, from a reliance on the ego in the material world to a state of selfless renunciation that brings complete peace to body and mind. Through the knowledge of the teachings of Vedanta and the related practice of yoga, we use the power of speech, mind, and prana (breath) to gain true awareness and realize our higher nature as spiritual beings. As one of the practitioners interviewed for the film states, yoga is nothing less than an “inner technology of the spirit.” via WordPress https://ift.tt/3pvuRWI In the 1960s, Swami Vishnudevananda (1927-1993) became one of the most beloved and influential teachers of hatha and raja yoga in the world. A friend of the Beatles and numerous other celebrities, he made it his mission to popularize traditions of classical yoga for Westerners. Swami Vishnudevananda also led an adventure-filled life as he used his skill as a pilot to travel the world with his message of peace. In 1989 the Swami made one of his many “peace flights” to conflict regions when he flew his private plane over the Berlin Wall, perhaps the most prominent relic of the Iron Curtain. This was the year when everything changed in the Soviet Bloc, with one country after another breaking away in hopes of achieving freedom and democracy. The Swami had determined that flowers and good wishes, not guns, were what the world needed. But he did not underestimate the situation, telling the media that he was prepared to lay down his life for what he believed in. When Swamiji landed in East Berlin from the West, East German society was in turmoil. After hours of questioning, he was released unharmed back to West Berlin, and he set up a Global Peace Village Festival right next to the Berlin Wall. Events included a walk over hot coals, a classic yogi technique for demonstrating the power of the mind over matter. After the wall fell, the Swami revisited Berlin to personally thank outgoing Communist leader Egon Krenz for allowing events to unfold peacefully. via WordPress https://ift.tt/3vvSh07 Swami Vishnudevananda (1927-1993) exemplified the principles of the classical raja and hatha yoga traditions handed down to him by his Master, Swami Sivananda. After becoming a leading teacher of yoga to Western audiences, Swami Vishnudevananda established the worldwide group of Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres that continue to enlighten students today. Along his path to popularizing this ancient wisdom, he befriended numerous Western celebrities who also helped to spread his message of love, universal harmony, and peace. Peter Sellers, famed for his starring role as Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies of the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, was one of the most well-known entertainers to join the Swami on a peace mission. Noted for his skills as a private pilot, the Swami was accompanied by Sellers on a notable visit to Northern Ireland in 1971, during a high point in the country’s violence. The two went to Unity Flats, a Catholic housing complex near a large Protestant area in Belfast. They offered messages of compassion and hope to the entire community, Catholic and Protestant alike. The visit occurred on the occasion of Sellers’ 46th birthday. BBC archival footage shows Sellers and the Swami exchanging friendly greetings with people on the street. A clip of Sellers speaking to the media shows a very warm and human side of the slapstick comedian when he said that he hoped the whole world could enjoy, like in “a fairy story,” the blessings of peace and happiness. via WordPress https://ift.tt/3v6wSua Swami Vishnudevananda (1927-1993) founded the first Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre in Montreal in the 1950s, and over the following decades built a network of centers for teaching and learning in the tradition of his Master, the revered Swami Sivananda. One of the most popular teachers of yoga in modern times, Swami Vishnudevananda wrote books, taught classes, and established the first-ever yoga teacher training program in the West. Today, the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat in the Bahamas is one of the many locations that continues the traditions of both Swami Sivananda and Swami Vishnudevananda. The retreat offers the opportunity to enjoy a relaxing vacation while enjoying healthy vegetarian meals and beginner-level classes in yoga and meditation. The center also hosts more comprehensive programming, including the same types of teacher training classes begun by its founder decades ago. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many learning institutions to move to online learning, and the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat is no exception. Its variety of online classes includes its entire 200-hour teacher training course. Offered several times throughout 2021, this online course encompasses the same intensive instruction found in the ashram’s 28-day, immersive in-person classes. The teacher training classes offered through the retreat and the entire network of Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres focus on developing the technical skills, insights, and spirit of compassion that yoga teachers need to provide students with the highest-quality experience possible. via WordPress https://ift.tt/3y78Gd6 The author of The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga and Meditation and Mantras, Swami Vishnudevananda was a world-renowned spiritual leader, promoter of world peace, and master of hatha yoga who entered mahāsamādhi in South India in November 1993. Prior to his final pilgrimage, Swami Vishnudevananda created multiple yoga facilities and camps, including the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Camp in Val-Morin, Quebec, Canada. Serving as the headquarters for the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre (ISYVC), the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Camp was established in 1961 and is still in operation. Following the teachings of Swami Sivananda, Swami Vishnudevananda’s Master, the camp offers multiple teacher training programs, including the Sadhana Intensive. Split into multiple sessions per day, participants of this two-week program study classical scriptures and perform upwards of eight hours of hatha yoga per day. There are no free days during the intense program, and students must exhibit a high level of self-discipline. This involves adhering to a strict sattvic diet. A typical day includes the practice of kriyas, multiple asanas, and advanced pranayama sessions, as well as morning meditation and chanting. via WordPress https://ift.tt/3vC6Q1S The founder of the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat, Sivananda Ashram Yoga Camp and Sivananda Ashram Yoga Ranch Colony, among other facilities, Swami Vishnudevananda was a hatha yoga master and world peace advocate who lived his life under the motto, “Health is wealth, peace of mind is happiness, yoga shows the way.” As part of his efforts to bring about world peace, Swami Vishnudevananda established the Om Namo Narayanaya Bank in 1987. via WordPress https://ift.tt/3netvhU Trained by iconic Indian yoga master Swami Sivananda Saraswati of Rishikesh, Swami Vishnudevananda is a former hatha yoga instructor at the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy who taught yoga and led peaceful demonstrations all over the world throughout his life. Swami Vishnudevananda also established several yoga facilities and training centers, including the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat on Paradise Island, Nassau, Bahamas.
The Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat offers several different programs and classes on its 5.5-acre property on Paradise Island, but individuals can also take advantage of its many online yoga classes and other online courses on yoga, meditation, yoga philosophy and psychology. It offers as many as fifteen different live-streamed yoga classes per week, as well as twice daily free live satsangs (guided meditation, chanting and a lecture). Sivananda yoga is a traditional, meditative style that encourages proper breathing, flexibility, strength, and vitality in the body while calming the mind. Because yoga is a spiritual system with a physical component, this non-competitive approach helps the practitioner gain much more than just a healthy body. Live yoga classes are offered daily from 8:30-10:00am, 4:30-6:00pm ET. There is also a Yoga Nidra (deep relaxation) live class on Monday from 7:00-8:00pm. Those who are interested can join a one-month subscription for online yoga classes. The subscription includes 15 live-streamed classes per week including meditative, gentle, all levels, advanced, and special focus classes. Those who subscribe also have access to the recordings for an entire week, which allows them to take a class at a time that works for them. A beloved teacher of yoga known throughout the world, Swami Vishnudevananda (1927-1993) wrote The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga and founded the original Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre in Montreal as well as numerous still-thriving campus sites and ashrams, including Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat in Nassau, the Bahamas. Swami Vishnudevananda was an intellectual and spiritual heir of the great classical tradition of yoga, as imparted by his teacher, Swami Sivananda, and encapsulated in the Five Points of Yoga. The Swami based these principles on time-hallowed wisdom, distilled into a form easy to remember and practice for busy people. The five principles are proper physical exercise, as practiced through the many asanas (“postures”) of hatha yoga; pranayama, or proper breath control; savasana, or proper relaxation; a proper, natural vegetarian diet; and the consistent practice of positive thinking and meditation, known as vedanta and dhyana, respectively. The work of the many Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres and retreats focuses on these principles. Known as a great popularizer of ancient teachings able to reach contemporary society, the Swami often used the image of a car to illustrate these five points. He noted that a car needs lubrication–in this case, exercise–to remain in good working order. It also needs power from a battery (breathing) and the work of a radiator and gasoline (relaxation and diet). But all these are simply inert matter without the intentional actions of a careful driver, his image for the power of meditation and positive thinking. via WordPress https://ift.tt/3sBUd5x Swami Vishnudevananda (1927-1993) was a leading light among teachers of yoga in the 20th century. Particularly skilled at reaching Western audiences, he exemplified the spirit of dedication and love that lies at the core of the yogic philosophy. The founder of Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres, ashrams, and retreats in New York, San Francisco, and the Bahamas (among many other locations), Swami Vishnudevananda established a large international organization that continues to share his teachings and those of other yogic masters, classic and contemporary. In their physical locations and at Sivananda.org, Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres offer a wide range of books that will be of use to beginning students of yoga as well as to experienced instructors and adepts. Titles include Swamiji’s own book, The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga. This now-classic text offers a comprehensive guide to the physical postures of yoga and associated healthy practices, helping readers gain strength, flexibility, and mental focus. Other available books include Bliss Divine, an accessible A-Z arrangement of Swami Sivananda’s essays on spirituality, reflecting his thinking on yogic principles such as Ahimsa (the conscious practice of refraining from doing harm) and other world religious perspectives such as Zoroastrianism. In addition to copies of traditional scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita and other collections of writings by Swami Sivananda and Swami Vishnudevananda, the bookstore carries more titles by other authors that can help bring yoga down to earth. These include Learn Yoga in a Weekend, Yoga Mind & Body, and Yoga, Your Home Practice Companion. via WordPress https://ift.tt/3ayfZ3P |
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