Siddha Yoga has been the lodestar of my existence since 1980. Gurumayi’s Message for 2024 is alive for me like no other.
Now, with the physicalization patterns I have learned in the workshops, the Message goes deeper within me. I connected with the first pattern and the second one sings even more in me. The movement with the words is magic. Surely we will all be dancing before year’s end!
I am so grateful for these practices that I am, literally, incorporating into my daily life.
California, United States
The energy of the second workshop was enthralling, so intoxicating that I found myself unable to recall the movements. When it came to repeating them on my own, I could not remember a single pose. All right, then— humility, self-effort, and trusting grace. Next day when I returned to the instructions, I remembered a few poses, but felt no inner connection with the teaching they’re empowered to embody.
Day three: Aha! I realized that I’d failed to grasp how to move from one pose to the next. As I studied the moments of transition, thrills of recognition began to arise. At moments my hands were expressing receptivity... or openness... or steadfastness. Most vitally, I realized that the entire exercise depends on my core remaining stable, no matter how the limbs move and in what direction my gaze is fixed.
Now, as I continue to master the sequence, I’ve begun to absorb to my core what it teaches, just as Gurumayi’s Message does: to hold fast to the awareness of my divine essence, no matter what.
California, United States
I participated in the first workshop of Embodying Gurumayi’s Message for 2024 just before leaving on a trip to Sequoia and Redwood National Parks. I had planned this trip over a year ago, before Gurumayi imparted her Message for 2024.
On my trip, I spent two weeks hiking miles through forests of giant trees, all the while immersed in Gurumayi’s teachings. I stood at the base of the largest tree in the world and performed the postures that embody Gurumayi’s Message. I stopped beside giant trees to listen to their wisdom, and experienced my heart flood with gratitude, reverence, and devotion to my Guru. I felt so firmly absorbed in the awareness of grace.
It was a most profound experience, one which helped to crack the shell of my delusions of smallness and inferiority. I came away with a visceral experience of my own dignity and divinity.
Missouri, United States
I am so grateful for this new way to study and experience Gurumayi’s teachings.
At different times in my life, I have had a sporadic hatha yoga practice but never seemed able to find the commitment and motivation to maintain it. Now in my seventh decade, and with a number of physical issues, I have often wished for the inner and outer benefits that a steady hatha yoga practice might have offered.
So I was happily surprised that the simple and very doable movements we were taught in the first workshop of
Embodying Gurumayi’s Message for 2024 are actually hatha yoga
asanas. And the encouragement we were given to make them a regular practice is something I see that I can, and want, to do.
I have felt for some time now that “physicalization” might be a missing element in deepening my otherwise steady and motivated
sadhana and learning. What a delightful and easeful guide into this missing link for my growth this is!
Massachusetts, United States
As always, Gurumayi’s teachings come at just the right time for me. A very challenging interpersonal situation awaits me in the near future. The embodying techniques I learned in the workshop are providing me with a roadmap of immediate and visceral guidance for ways in which I will be able to participate in this situation more fully and compassionately. They are helping me greatly to experience each line of Gurumayi’s Message. I have already experienced a shift of heart that will support me to meet the movements in others and myself in ways that will be beneficial to all involved. These embodiment practices are helping me to participate from the best of who I am. I’m so, so grateful.
Nanaimo, Canada
I participated in the first workshop of
Embodying Gurumayi’s Message for 2024 on Baba’s solar birthday, May 16. Now each morning before I meditate, I perform the physicalization routine before repeating Gurumayi’s Message. I can see that this has allowed me to imbibe Gurumayi’s Message more fully.
Throughout the day, I frequently elongate my spine and repeat Gurumayi’s Message, and I see that I have become more fearless and more present in the moment. I find I’m not worrying so much about what comes next. Therefore, I get things done during my day without procrastination.
If I get into challenging circumstances, I repeat “Stand tall in your dignity,” and I become the embodiment of the protection I seek.
This is a very enlightening experience, and I am very grateful to move to this next level of my
sadhana!
San Felipe, Mexico
In this first workshop of
Embodying Gurumayi’s Message for 2024, I experienced the power of physicalization to help me imbibe Gurumayi’s teachings. After attending the workshop, I was inspired to engage in activities that would further help me assimilate the teachings.
I took creative art classes, and as I immersed myself in colors, I felt the dignity in myself I had always sought. I went to a forest with tall trees like the trees in the Message Artwork and experienced the healing power of the forest. When I hugged one of the trees and hummed, many emotions came up, and I cried in happiness, feeling my soul’s connection to nature. Gazing up at the sky, I could feel the grace all around me.
It has always taken effort on my part to slow down and observe things silently. But when I practice
mantra japa now, I can slow down more easily and feel myself “standing tall.”
I am looking forward to attending the next three workshops and applying the new learnings in my daily life.
Pune, India
After participating in the workshop Embodying Gurumayi’s Message for 2024, reflecting on the workshop, and reviewing what I wrote in my journal, I feel like I’ve entered a grand room of light and love. This physicalizing of Gurumayi’s Message is another step on the eternal pathway to knowing my oneness with God. And what a gift it is to be able to review the material again and again!
California, United States
Since I participated in the first workshop of Embodying Gurumayi’s Message for 2024, I have practiced focusing on Gurumayi’s Message mentally and physically every day. What I have experienced in my daily life since I started doing this has been most amazing to me.
I now go through each day with a new sense of naturalness, self-confidence, and strength. It seems as though my body is somehow storing the energy of Gurumayi’s Message. I feel both very uplifted and grounded at the same time. I am also experiencing inner stability, even in difficult situations. Additionally, I have new creative ideas and am experiencing more joie de vivre. I feel like I am increasingly starting to see myself as who I truly am.
Konolfingen, Switzerland
I am amazed to see how physicalizing Gurumayi’s Message is not limited to the physical level of the body. During the workshop, I felt the power of the Message spread across all levels of my being and enter the innermost space of my heart.
Since participating in the workshop, my meditations have been deeper and my mind has become quieter. I am able to accept that grace is all-pervasive and accessible to me all the time.
Thane West, India