— Awake energy is fresh, new, and present within us and within all of existence. When we are in contact with awake energy, we trust the goodness, wisdom, and spontaneity of our knowingness and beingness. We are aware that we interact with all of existence and are supported by a network of steady light and kindness through every experience, the ones we humanly term wonderful, and the ones we humanly term terrible. We also understand that as we thrive in insight and caring, we support all beings in their insight, caring, success, and victory on all levels. If our perceptions have carried fear, obstruction, limitation, or have encouraged us to believe in the illusion of separateness, we heal those perceptions. We live in the fullness of the present moment, in overflowing pure love, wisdom, strength, courage, and confidence. We trust the beneficence of life here and now, in our very bodies, hearts, minds, and lives — and in every moment and every time and place. We are in harmony with our own energy and so interact with the energy of other human beings with nonattachment and understanding, caring and good humor. We do not expect our satisfaction to come from other humans acting in any predetermined way because we are aware that satisfaction is within us always — and then naturally, the beauty and preciousness of all life will shine spontaneously in energy, consciousness, and openness, including through unprecedented kindness and gladness shared with other humans.
Valeria interviews Swami Nityananda — She is a spiritual teacher and spiritual leader of Awake Yoga Meditation and author of Awake: The Yoga of Pure Awareness.
Swami Nityananda became a student of Swami Shankarananda in 2010. Swami Shankarananda, who founded the Awake Yoga Meditation community, immediately recognized her as his successor. He announced that publicly in 2013 when he consecrated her as spiritual teacher and spiritual leader of the meditation community. In 2014 he consecrated her as a Swami and asked her to carry on his lineage and the teaching of Kriya Yoga.
As Juniper Ellis, she is Professor of English at Loyola University, where she teaches American Literature and World Literature Written in English. She earned her PhD at Vanderbilt University. She has held Fulbright grants in New Zealand and Germany, and other national awards including an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship and an NEH grant. Her book Tattooing the World: Pacific Designs in Print and Skin was published by Columbia University Press. Her scholarly articles have appeared in respected journals in many English-speaking countries.
Her teaching helps listeners and readers connect with the reality of love, wisdom, liberation, joy, harmony, and kindness. People who meditate with her find Swami Nityananda practices a selfless way of living in the world that asks, "How may I be of service?" and models through open-hearted, generous, and effervescent guidance, a path for us all to recognize our own inherent divine qualities, and to see the same in everyone.
To learn more about Swami Nityananda and her work, please visit: awakeyogameditation.org
— This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life through the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.
