Svaroopa® yogis nurturing their interconnectedness
Monthly Community Themes
Mandali Program
Each month I'll introduce a new theme or community building activity. These activities strengthen our relationships with each other and deepen our yoga practices "off the blankets" and in our lives. I hope this makes everyone feel more connected!
Mandali means we connect
The Mandali program is for Svaroopa®Yoga students and teachers across the globe.
We share a monthly theme that nurtures community, helps build relationships
with each other, and deepens our yoga practice.
May Theme: The Yoga of Food
In the beginning of 2021 we explored how our yoga practice reveals our hidden capacity. Remember we chose a word to describe our intention for 2021? It was inspiring to reflect on our inner knowings and intentions together.
In May we will reflect on how yoga nourishes us from the inside. We'll also also consider how high vibration plant-based foods support bliss integration. We'll connect and share about what kinds of food we're eating to raise our vibration.
The Sanskrit, word “annam” means food/to nourish. Contemplate how you satisfy and nourish yourself with your yoga practice... that it is actually a type of food. Observe yourself as you immerse into your deeper essence, and the aftermath of that. What effect does it have in your life?
Healthy Recipes
Chocolate Pudding/Marianne Steevorden
1 Avocado
1/4 cup Cacao
1/2 cup Maple Syrup
Blend in a blender and enjoy. Very good with fruit or on its own.
Eggless Egg Salad/Marianne Steevorden
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp. turmeric
2 cloves peeled garlic (I use 1 sometimes none)
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 cup raw cashews
Mix all these ingredients in a food processor.
Add:
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
Carrot Beet Tower Sunday/ Sarita-Linda Rocco
April Theme: National Haiku Month
Dressing:
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lime
¼ cup organic olive oil
¼ cup organic cilantro
¼ cup organic basil
Salt and pepper taste
Make dressing by combining all ingredients
Salad
1 green apple
1 large cucumber
1 medium beet shredded
2 carrots shredded
1 avocado
½ cup sprouts
2 raspberries for on top
Assemble the salad:
Slice the green apple into thin discs
Slice the cucumber thin
Start with the apple on the bottom
Then add cucumber
Add smashed avocado
Then add beets
Then carrots
Drizzle some dressing
Repeat with another layer
Add a raspberry on top
Sprinkle with sprouts
Add more dressing on top
Create two generous stacks
Haiku is a Japanese poem of 17 syllables in 3 lines
five syllables in the first line
seven in the second line
five syllables in the third line
Traditionally, haikus focus on a moment in time, juxtaposing two images. Haiku creates a sudden sense of enlightenment, just as yoga does.
Write your own haiku, depicting your process of transformation. Email your poems to me at and I'll read them before class starts, or you can read the poem aloud yourself.
Our Haiku's ❤️
Ahhhh Shavasana
Diving inward into vast-
ness being present.
-Marianne Steenvoorden
Breathing in and out
exploring inward space and
present, be alive.
-Marianne Steenvoorden
In Sukhasana
Japa, Japa, more Japa
Meditate on That.
-Marianne Steenvoorden
Contemplate on NOW
follow the breath, be alert
presence, a present.
-Marianne Steenvoorden
Fullness of the moon
mystical appearance high
in the sky above
-Marianne Steenvoorden
Winter Darkness Gone
The Sun Moves High Around Us
Mother Earth Dances
-Michael Rocco
I source Light within
No waiting for others Light
I bring in the Light
-Sarita-Linda Rocco
Solid pillar strong
crystal center blinding bright
calmness through my mind
-Cynthia Kremer
Feeling centered now.
Firmly rooted in the earth.
Warm sun on my face.
-Mark Mohlinger
Like Growing Trees Reach
As Morning Rain Flowers Grow
I Will Do The Same
-Michael Rocco
We sit in wonder
Through all these years together
Newness still alive
-Michael Rocco
Too much Happening
Slow down and breathe in fully
Exhaling slow……ly…….
-Marianne Steenvoorden
enlighten yoga
breathe in breath out feel the buzz
cleanse and heal with breathe
-Sue McClain
Everything hurts
I lie down on my blankets
Bliss envelops me
-Nora Beckjord
Veggies Veggies Now
Stop The inflammation Please
Feel and look Healthy
-Angelique Canonico
Centered peacefulness
Svaroopa yoga's best gift
Restorative health
-Kelley Kenney
My mind seeks for bliss
I find dizziness instead
Accept what is Now
-Judy Geiser
Go Ahead Judy
Let it spin you inward
Spin your bliss within
-Michael Rocco
The sorrow of your
Absence, my papa, my light
Points to my delight
-Larisa Byely
(Haiku on the 11 months anniversary of my dad’s passing)