- LIVE ONLINE PROGRAM
July 17 – September 18, 2022
Japa Meditation and Bhakti Immersion:
Calm your Mind and Open Your Heart
Rukmini Chaitanya
10 WEEKLY SESSIONS, Sundays, 11:00am – 1:00pm ET
Course Description:
Do you desire to live a more heart-centered and intuitively-guided life?
Do you find yourself wishing to spend more time in your heart and less in your head?
Do you aspire to look at yourself, the world, and those around you through a more loving lens?
This 10-week course is approved by Yoga Alliance for Continuing Education credits and is designed to be highly practical and transformational, drawing from the tools of Bhakti Yoga (the yogic path of devotion), specifically Japa Meditation ― the repetition of the name of the Divine.
The practice of Bhakti Yoga calms the mind and cultivates love deep within the heart. This practice generates peace of mind and unconditional, unwavering love; both of these are necessary ingredients for successfully navigating challenging times. When you raise your own vibration through Bhakti Yoga, you elevate yourself and those around you.
This carefully-curated course is designed to help you experience deep transformation within yourself through the nine modes of Bhakti Yoga. Each of these modes, in their own way, forges the path for the highest successes and spiritual attainments.
Join us for a practical, transformative, and devotion-filled experience that will dive deep into Bhakti Yoga and by association the art of meditation itself. This course features a number of incredible guest speakers and includes 1-on-1 support for students with their spiritual diaries and individual spiritual journeys with the added opportunity to give weekly feedback!
As you continue to deepen your divine love and devotion, this creates a powerful type of one-pointed focus. This centered focus creates the fertile ground from which you can grow and blossom to your full potential of a meaningful, fulfilling, and loving life. Furthermore, this focus helps you to foster concentration in all aspects of your life, increasing your daily energy and general feelings of contentment and joy.
If you have been shielding your heart, or if your heart needs healing, Bhakti Yoga can help you to gently open it to the abundance, opportunity, and prosperity that is waiting to become manifest n your life. When Divine Love flows readily into you and through you, your heart is open to possibilities that were always there and only missed by you due to mindset, poor timing, and lack of knowledge. If you’re already leading your life with an open heart, these practices will help you expand and experience even deeper transformation.
All levels are welcome. No experience necessary.
In this 10-week course with Rukmini Chaitanya, you’ll uncover these essentials for establishing or deepening your Japa meditation and immersion into Bhakti:
- The power of Japa, or the repetition of the Divine Name: its many benefits for focus, energy, and a happy state of mind; plus, how to practice Japa and how to maintain the practice on your own time outside of the course.
- The 9 modes of Bhakti: Sravana (hearing the Divine name); Kirtana (singing of the Divine's glories); Smarana (remembrance of the Divine at all times); Padasevana (serving the Divine's feet); Archana (workship of the Divine); Vandana (prayer and prostration unto the Divine); Dasya Bhakti (servant sentiment with the Divine); Sakhya Bhakti (friendship sentiment with the Divine); Atma-Nivedana (self-surrender to the Divine).
- Practical tips for the application of the 9 modes of Bhakti, the cultivation of its practices in all aspects of your life, and the maintenance of it through the community you build with your fellow students during the course.
New topics explored in this course will cover…
- Health and lifestyle for meditation — with a deep dive into how to determine a peaceful and healthy diet that supports your meditation.
- Karma Yoga and meditation — how incorporating the Yoga of Action, known as Karma Yoga, will help create the clarity of mind you need for a successful meditation practice.
- Hatha Yoga meditation — exploring the activation and manipulation of kundalini shakti, the serpent-coiled energy that is key to enlightenment, with the use and thorough understanding of the 7 chakras.
- Bhakti Yoga meditation — with a focus on converting raw emotions and using it as fuel for devotion and intensive meditation.
- Experiences in meditation — featuring a discussion on typical (and atypical) meditation experiences, helping you to transcend and evolve higher and higher in your meditation.
- Amazing guest speakers — that will offer their own insights to help deepen your understanding of course material.
- 1-on-1 support — the opportunity to work individually with Rukmini Chaitanya on one's spiritual diary and weekly feedback!
What people are saying about Rukmini Chaitanya…
Additional Information:
Offered as 10 weekly sessions on Sundays from 11:00am – 1:00 pm ET on July 17, 24, 31, August 7, 14, 21, 28, and September 4, 11, 18.
This program is offered live through Zoom webinar with the availability for students to interact through Q&A with the presenter.
For enrolled students, a video recording will be available after each class in the event you miss a class or would like to review the content.
It is possible to register and take the course at any time. You can catch up on any classes you miss with the recordings.
Requirements and Recommendations:
- No experience necessary. This program is open to beginners as well as advanced practitioners.
- Viewing Device: Desktop or laptop computer will provide the best experience, although you can also connect via a tablet or smartphone.
- Internet connection: High-speed broadband wired or wireless is best.
- Video: Download Zoom to your computer, or install the Zoom app to your device. For interactive group sessions, a webcam or integrated camera will allow others to feel more connected with you.
- Audio: Headphone speakers are recommended. If you wish to participate vocally, a headset with a microphone will be ideal.
Rukmini Chaitanya
Rukmini Chaitanya is a senior staff member of the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat Bahamas, and the personal assistant to Swami Swaroopananda, the Acharya, or spiritual director of the Ashram. She regularly teaches the Bhagavad Gita during the Sivananda Yoga Teacher training as well as other courses on the Bhagavad Gita, Vedanta, positive thinking, meditation, and yoga philosophy.
Rukmini Chaitanya is known for her enthusiastic and inspiring teaching style as well as for her devotion to the lineage and the scriptures. She is dedicated to each of her students and has an innate desire to share knowledge with them. She brings a great deal of clarity to every topic and is highly appreciated for her capacity to unfold complicated topics and present them in a coherent and pure way.