15/10/2023
Trained by a living Yoga Master, Yogi Amrit Desai
My beloved spiritual teacher, Gurudev
Did you know that it is incredibly rare to learn directly from a real living yoga master? 99% of yoga students today do not have that blessed opportunity. I was very fortunate to be intuitively guided to my spiritual teacher, Yogi Amrit Desai, also affectionately known as Gurudev, all the way from Australia to the USA.
Yogi Amrit Desai is a world renowned authority on yoga and holistic living and was one of a handful of yoga masters who went to the USA, from India in the 1960’s and spread the teachings of yoga. He is recognised as one of the pioneers of the authentic teachings of yoga in the West. Yogi Amrit Desai is the only remaining living yoga master from that time and he coined the phrase ‘meditation in motion’ from his direct experience of a spontaneous kundalini awakening he had back in 1970 during his morning yoga practice. Yogi Amrit Desai is also recognised for founding the largest yoga and wellness centres in Northern America called Kripalu Centre for Yoga and Health, as well as the Amrit Yoga Institute USA.
If you have experienced Yoga Teacher Training with me, or practiced Amrit Yoga with me, you may remember the wonderful story of how I found Gurudev. That is, about 20 years ago, I found a cassette tape in a new age book store titled, ‘Instilling the Spiritual Dimension Into the Practice of Hatha Yoga’. My eyes widened and brightened as it was an inner pursuit of mine to somehow try and spiritualise the yoga I had been practicing and teaching.
I was an Iyengar Yoga teacher of 4 years at that stage, and I was wandering when the practice would evolve into a more spiritually natured one. With full respect of the integrity of the physical approach to yoga through Iyengar Yoga, I was simultaneously seeking a more internalised practice of meditation and spiritual evolution.
The cassette tape listed that Deepak Chopra was interviewing Yogi Amrit Desai about this topic. I knew who Deepak Chopra was but I had never heard of Yogi Amrit Desai. I bought the tape, took it home to listen and when I heard Gurudev’s voice and what he was speaking about and the energy emanating from him, within minutes I said out aloud, “Who is this man?”, and knew instantly that he was my teacher. I ended up transcribing the whole teachings from Gurudev from that cassette tape, as I was captivated by each word of wisdom he spoke. I then did a search for him and discovered he was based in Northern America, and so one and half years later, I did my first yoga teacher training with him in Rhode Island, USA and I have never looked back.
On my second visit to the USA, I was so deeply honoured and thrilled to be invited by Gurudev personally to join his staff of senior level teachers. He graciously mentioned to me that he could see that I had a strong practice and was impressed by my physical abilities, but most of all he felt I came from my heart and that was what he was really looking for in his teachers.
It has been seven trips in total visiting and training with Gurudev over a 19 year period. I ended up feeling more pulled towards bringing these teachings to Australia, and since 2004, I have pioneered Amrit Yoga and I AM Yoga Nidra in Australia, as well as facilitating the first Integrated Amrit Yoga Method Teacher Training in Australia ever taught outside of the USA.
The teachings of Gurudev are based on the ancient teachings from a Kundalini Yoga shaktipat lineage associated with Kashmir Shaivism. These teachings have been passed down by Gurudev’s teacher, the beloved Swami Kripalvanandji (Bapuji) and Lord Lakulish (Dadaji), the 28th incarnation of Lord Shiva.
These profound teachings are steeped in ancient wisdom that allow you to rediscover the luminous light of consciousness that you are, in the background of all impressions of thoughts and emotions that arise and dissolve. Being established in the ever present witnessing awareness that you are allows you to live life with a deep sense of self awareness, self-realisation and steadiness amidst the comings and goings of life.
Some exciting news I have for you, is that next weekend I have been invited to present at the Yoga Australia Conference in Adelaide. I will be presenting on the topic of ‘How to Enter the Inner Dimension of Yoga’, the teachings of Yogi Amrit Desai. I am truly honoured and excited to share these beautiful teachings from the heart that have been lovingly passed down to me and have the power to remedy human suffering of disconnection, division, distraction and mis-identification. This is not through solving a ‘problem’ per se, but rather the wisdom that is awakened through a shift in your awareness of what is, what has been, and what will always be; the changeless formless eternal nature.
If you are curious to find out more about the secrets of the ancient wisdom teachings of yoga, and how to tap into a higher consciousness, and to be guided by myself who has trained directly from a true living yoga master, then I have created an offering of a superb combination of IAM Yoga (Amrit Yoga) and I AM Yoga Nidra held over the next 6 weeks.
Lastly, it is Gurudev’s 91st Birthday coming up on the 16th October 2023 and if you have been touched by his teachings on some level, then let’s be thinking of him and send him many blessings for the love, wisdom and dedication he has bestowed upon us, and his enormous contribution to the world of yoga and beyond.
Jai Bhagwan,
Julie Gargano
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