anjayoga's blog

One of my lovely friends have just commenced a beginners course in yoga. She is a newbie at yoga and, I am happy to say, loving it!

So we decided to go to Satsang at the Sivananda Centre in Putney, London. I was quite a regular at the centre’s workshops (and shop!) but have not been for a very long time so it was great to see the place again. It’s got a new Peace Garden and a very well stocked shop with books on all things yoga. Mainly Swami Sivananda’s and Swami Vishnu Devananda’s books.

Satsang is “the association with the wise”, says Swami Sivananda. But perhaps we can translate it as being in the presence of like-minded people with an interest in spiritual growth, Self Development and Peace.

So when we meet up at the regular yoga class, we have satsang. We utilise the group energy of people who enjoy practising yoga and it helps us to stay practising. We could have chosen to watch reality television or gone to the pub. Maybe we have joined a Self-Development or meditation group and again we are in company of friends with an interest in attaining Peace within ourselves.

We are very influenced by our surroundings. Our friends, colleagues, what we watch on tv or read in the papers. So we can choose to be in company with people who makes us feel happy and peaceful and hopefully we in turn also make them feel joyful. We can choose to read inspiring books....or going for yoga class and satsang because it makes our World feel a little better.

So on Friday me and my yogini friend decided to spend our Friday night meditating, joining kirtan (Sanskrit songs dedicated to God), listening to the Swami discussing a spiritual subject - with relevance to our daily life and with humour and a lovely down-to-earth attitude. This Friday I came back with a lesson on how we need to purify our heart and with that maybe we can be of service to other people. Basically you need to make the changes to your life and not be a victim blaming other people on your challenges.

This reminds me of Gandhi’s “Be the Change you want to see in the world”. It starts with you - and your choices!

And I am happy that we choose to be in Satsang on Friday night!

Please see www.sivananda.org/London for details

Anja YRT is a yoga teacher sharing the joys of yoga across London
www.yogaembodied.com