Your Day at Ananda

 

Whether you visit for a day, a week, or longer, your Ananda experience will include lessons and guided practices in the basic techniques of Self-realization as taught by Paramhansa Yogananda. Whatever your religious background, these practices can help you. Yogananda taught meditation to Mahatma Gandhi, to agnostics, and to Catholic priests alike, as well as to those interested in following the spiritual tradition of yoga.

Meditation Practices

Meditation is a simple practice that brings one to the direct, intuitive experience of the higher realities present within each of us. It is a cornerstone of spirituality that creates harmony in one's life and a growing sense of inner peace.

Each day there are two meditation sessions, during which you will learn effective breathing exercises, correct meditative postures, and an ancient technique of concentration, whose purpose is to calm and clarify the mind and bring you to higher states of awareness. This practice is also beneficial for your general health and is recommended by doctors as an aid to healing stress, high blood pressure, and many other physical and mental ailments.

Energization Exercises

Each day you can attend lessons on Yogananda's Energization Exercises, which strengthen the body, mind, and central nervous system. The daily practice of this set of thirty-nine simple exercises strengthens the aura and the body's ability to prevent and cure disease.

Ananda Yoga

Ananda Yoga, developed by Swami Kriyananda, is a unique system of traditional yoga postures which incorporates the use of affirmations along with the postures. These easily practiced positions offer an effective way to prepare the body and mind for meditation, and are also helpful for relaxing muscular tensions and for mental calmness, clarity, and focus.

Presentation of the Course Theme

Classes begin at 11:00 and include practical exercises and group discussion as well as a presentation of the philosophy and principles upon which the course is based. During the weekend programs, the first presentation is on Friday evening at 20:30, and continues on Saturday morning at 11:00 and Sunday morning at 10:00.

Five-day programs include classes on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings; seven-day programs in July and August include a class on Saturday as well.

Spirituality in Daily Life

Our daily activities can either enhance or impede our health and happiness. The Ananda Experience includes a brief “karma yoga” session during which you will have the chance to bring new attitudes, energy and enthusiasm to common daily activities. During these session the teachers and guests work together to create a clean and uplifting atmosphere in and around the Temple of Light.

Evening Relaxation

Evenings at Ananda are relaxing and uplifting, with a variety of spiritual activities that give you the chance to relax and enjoy being together with members of the community and other guests.

Pilgrimage

During the five- and seven-day programs there are half-day excursions to Assisi, where we visit, meditate, and chant in the shrines of St. Francis and St. Claire.

A Typical Day at Ananda

The Ananda experience is unique because every moment of the day is part of your learning experience. There is a unifying thread which connects the lessons, meditations, yoga practice, service projects, meals, singing, relaxation, and the time you spend with others.

Your experience includes:

I come to Ananda to breath the vibrations of peace, light, and love and to recharge my energy. Then I take it all back home with the strength to continue here my spiritual search. — Miriam, Milano

• Morning spiritual practices from 7:00 to 8:45. The main techniques of energization, yoga, and meditation are taught and practiced at this time. Each session builds upon the previous sessions, bringing you to the point where you have a daily routine that you can practice at home.
• Breakfast in silence. One of the reasons that we get out of balance is that we are constantly being distracted by a plethora of outward stimulation. At Ananda, there are brief periods of silence after the morning and evening meditations, during which your mind and soul have the chance to rest and to integrate what you are experiencing.
• Yoga in Action. Between breakfast and the morning class, there is a brief period for the practice of “karma yoga.” This “yoga” teaches us how to remain focused, relaxed, and receptive (the qualities we achieve through meditation practices) during times of outward activity. During this period, guests and teachers together share the tasks of maintaining a clean and uplifting atmosphere in and around the Temple of Light.
• Morning lessons begin at 11:00 and include practical exercises, theoretical presentations, and group discussion.
• Lunch is at 13:30 (not in silence) with free time afterwards.
• Ananda Yoga sessions are offered most afternoons and are also integrated into the morning practice sessions. The sessions are led by highly qualified teachers and the practice is suitable both for beginners and for those with experience.
• Afternoon classes are held most days after the yoga session and continue the instruction in meditation and energization techniques.
• Dinner is at 19:30, in silence.
• Evening activities include a variety of relaxing and inspiring presentations such as:
  concerts given by the World Brotherhood Choir or The Ananda Singers;
  presentations, including slides, about the lives of Yogananda, St. Francis,
  Swami Kriyananda, Ananda World Brotherhood Village, and the Ananda movement;
  practicing Yogananda’s method for sending healing vibrations to others; and
  Kirtans—singing devotional chants.

Ananda has returned me to my truth, to my path home, to my center. The peace of the surrounding hills, the light emanating from the temple and from the people, the silence and clarity in my heart—for these I am eternally grateful.
— Monica, Canada

Programs in Meditation and Self-Realization