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Interview
with Sevadevi Ena
Before getting interested in Yoga, you worked as a professional osteopath for several years. What led you to study yoga?
I think that the discipline of yoga came into my life because of my strong desire to bring well-being and joy into my daily life and to share my experience with others. I had very delicate health until I was about 20 years old, when yoga completely changed my point of view.
I’ve had a strong desire to help people since I was a child, and in fact I was sure I wanted to become a doctor. I attended medical school for three years, but I wasn’t satisfied with traditional medicine. My holistic vision of healing inspired me to study alternative medicine and I became an osteopath. I immediately understood that I was on the right track: Finally I had found a way to help others find balance and health through stimulating the natural processes of self-healing.
Osteopathy did treat people as a whole, composed of body, mind, and spirit, but, for me, there was still too much emphasis placed on the physical. So I went to France for about three years to attend a master course in psychotherapy. This experience helped deepen my understanding of the hidden links between the body and the mind, but the real turning point occurred when Yogananda’s teachings came into my life.
I had been practicing Hatha Yoga with great satisfaction for many years, but something was still missing—meditation. When I started meditating and practicing Ananda Yoga, everything changed in my life—the energy level, the joy, my vital strength—everything. I immediately understood that it was important to share all this with others.
I’ve had many tests regarding my physical health, but thanks to God and my will power, I have always enjoyed a high energy level. I’ve always experimented—first on myself and then sharing the results with others. My profession as an osteopath was a stepping-stone which allowed me to face my life and my patients’ problems. Ananda Yoga—especially combined with the practice of meditation—opened my mind and expanded my consciousness, giving me an awareness of my true potential and an inner contact with my highest Self. Then it was easy to understand the true meaning of life, the inner life, which expresses itself outwardly.
You’re quite enthusiastic about Ananda Yoga. Why did you choose this approach out of all the many yoga schools?
You see, Ananda’s approach to Hatha Yoga is special and very subtle. A lot of people have been practicing yoga for many years now, but unfortunately too often they only follow the physical aspect of it, at the most getting into relaxation or concentration.
With Ananda Yoga you can do a proper spiritual work! From the classic Hatha Yoga postures, Swami Kriyananda developed an approach that helps you work consciously with the subtle energies in the body, integrates Paramhansa Yogananda’s affirmation techniques, and offers a refined method that helps you interiorize and re-direct your energy on all levels. Thus the spiritual and psycho-physical aspects of this ancient science have been rediscovered and made available to those who want to “work” not only with their bodies but also with their energy and soul. Ananda Yoga brings about a deep, lasting well-being that comes from a joyful personal transformation.
It’s amazing to meet so many yoga teachers and students from all over the world at our courses, especially when you realize that some of them have taught or practiced for decades. They are looking for something more—a deeper and subtler understanding of this ancient science—and inevitably, they are fascinated by Ananda Yoga’s refined touch.
This year Ananda is offering a number of yoga courses which focus on specific topics. Could you tell us more about the new ten-day intensive course? What’s the main focus of this course?
A ten-day intensive course gives us time to go deeper into a comprehensive work with body, mind and soul. It will be both theoretical and based on practical experience. Moreover we will work not only with yoga postures, but also with other aspects of well-being such as correct nutrition, “mental diet,” right attitudes, etc. If we want to understand ourselves, we need to learn the laws that govern this universe and how to apply them to our microcosm.
Are you going to be the only one teaching this course?
I’ll be the main teacher, but a very special friend and colleague, Jayadev Jaerschky, is going to help me. He has a lot of experience as a yoga teacher and is also the group leader of our yoga teachers at Ananda. I’m very happy to work with him!
In the course description you mention an interesting point when you say that “One of the outstanding benefits of yoga is that it helps to eliminate the physical and mental tensions which, if untreated, will eventually lead to more serious problems.” Could you give us an example of the benefits one can receive from a regular yoga practice?
The demands of modern life often create constant tension and stress. Our job, colleagues, commitments to our families, worries and expectations, etc. sooner or later bring us up against difficulties on both the physical and the mental level.
We need to learn how to relax again. Many people never take the time to relax, but they know very well what it’s like to have heartburn, colitis, ulcers, insomnia, migraine, back and neck aches etc. These warnings, if ignored, can lead to more serious diseases such as cancer, problems in the circulatory system, chronic migraine etc.
Yoga can help us dissolve the tensions we accumulate in the joints, muscles, and in the whole body, allowing the toxins to be expelled. It also improves our posture which gives us a more expansive and positive outlook on life. This is very important, because everything that happens to us is recorded in the body. By following a deep yogic path we can free ourselves from those memories, and, with the help of the scientific use of affirmations, even create new states of consciousness and awareness.
You’ve also worked with people suffering from serious diseases. What results did you have?
I taught yoga to a number of people with various pathologies and always obtained very good results. One of the most beautiful experiences I had was teaching patients suffering from multiple sclerosis in a pilot program in Rome. Multiple sclerosis is a degenerative disease of the nervous system. The first thing I noticed was the low level of energy of my new patients, caused both by the drugs they were taking and also by the difficulties of the disease itself. Continuous physical pain, both superficial and deep, problems with the eyes, anxiety about the future, depression, and pessimism were only a few of the symptoms they presented.
We met once a week and they had to practice daily what I taught them: yoga postures, Energization Exercises, meditation, visualization, how to use the power of music. In only a few weeks they experienced incredible results: a better view of life, more energy and optimism, increased self-confidence, less physical pain, higher quality sleep. Also they were better able to relax and flow with life—and with a great deal of enthusiasm!
I also taught individuals who had crippling diseases such as herniated discs, scoliosis, etc. or who had been injured in car accidents. All of them benefited greatly from these techniques.
Seeing all the creativity you have, I’m sure you’re thinking of some new projects.
Yes, we’ve already planned some special courses on specific topics: Yoga for the spine, for the neck and headaches, for stress and anxiety, for menopause. We’re also going to have courses to overcome insomnia, to open the heart, yoga for “very busy people,” for eyes problems, and even more. There are many advantages to organizing specific courses like this: We can focus on one aspect at a time and offer individual attention and help to each student.
I know you’re going to California to attend Yoga Teachers Training. Why this new experience?
I’m going to attend the Yoga intensive at Ananda Village both to complete my personal training and to enjoy a period of retreat and inner “work,” which I think is indispensable for every teacher. Moreover, it’s a wonderful opportunity to spend time with my spiritual family in the US and to absorb the vibrations there. It’s interesting that Paramhansa Yogananda chose to establish his work in California and that in the same state, Ananda Communities and Ananda Yoga were developed by Swami Kriyananda. I think I’ll have a wonderful time!
For information and reservations:
info@ananda.it Tel: +39 0742-81.36.20 Fax: +39 0742-81.35.36
Ananda is located in the tranquil hills of Umbria, Italy on “Strada Statale 444” between Assisi and Gualdo Tadino. It is the largest retreat center in Europe for Yogananda’s teachings.
Ananda Associazione • Via Montecchio, 61 • I-06025 Nocera Umbra (PG) • ITALY