“I have never heard teachings the way that I’ve heard them from Swami Nityananda. She’s the real deal. Amazing. I’ve learned to give myself a break and know that everybody’s doing their best.” —Purna

“I’ll say two things. My favorite memory of Swami was probably the second time I attended a service. It was still when the community was at Falls Road. I had never heard teachings the way that I heard them from Swami Nityananda.

“I remember at the end of the service, the first time that Kashi and I came, we didn’t go in the greeting line, but the second time we did. We just wanted to tell Swami: Oh, my gosh, you’re the real deal—amazing. We got up there and Swami—in true Swami fashion—opened her arms so wide and said, ‘You guys are my sisters,’ and gave us both a huge hug. Group hug. And we’ve been coming pretty much ever since.

“What I’ve discovered as I meditate and live the teachings is to give myself a break and to give other people a break and to really know that I’m doing my best and everybody’s doing their best from where they are.”

—Purna

“When I first came, I was in a really dark place—clinically depressed, sad, anxious. What I’ve learned—it’s just life-changing. I now feel love and happiness I wouldn’t have thought possible.” —Dhruv

“Awake Yoga Meditation has had such a significant impact on my life. It’s kind of hard to describe. I think one thing I can say is that when I first started coming to Awake Yoga Meditation I was in a very dark place in my life. I had been diagnosed with clinical depression. I was really searching for a way out of feeling constantly sad, constantly anxious. And on a very surface level—maybe not so surface, but on that level—what I have learned at Awake Yoga Meditation, what I have felt through Swami Nityananda and what I have felt and learned from Swami Shankarananda and all of the community teachers and all of teachings that have come through Awake Yoga Meditation—it’s just life-changing.

I now feel a sense of connectedness and love and happiness that I wouldn’t have thought was possible five of six years ago. I will be forever grateful for the experience and the opportunity to come here, to be in community here, to have Swami Nityananda as a teacher, to be connected to this line of teachers. It’s life-changing and I hope that I am able to share even just a little bit of the love that has been poured into me. I hope that I can share some small degree of that back into the world because it’s profound and it feels amazing. Incredibly grateful.”

—Dhruv

“It’s been nothing but perfection. I can’t even express the level of quality. It’s allowed me to double down on my meditation practice—just an overall life-transforming experience.” —Nick

“About seven or eight years ago I did a random Google search for ‘Vedanta Baltimore’—not expecting to find anything. What I did find was Awake Yoga Meditation. It popped up. I started coming out to the Waldorf School and for seven or eight years it’s been nothing but perfection. I can’t even express the level of quality—of not just the community, but Swami Nityananda. It’s allowed me to really double down on my meditation practice, get into Kriya Yoga, and it’s really been just an overall life-transforming experience.”

—Nick

“I am so happy to have found this community. It is so exhilarating. The joy I have experienced here is over my wildest dreams.” —Deepa

“The energy that is shared here at AYM when meditating in community is so exhilarating. It permeates my every being. I am so happy to have found this community and my spiritual teacher and those that share the philosophy of oneness and connectedness. The joy I have experienced here is over my wildest dreams.”

—Deepa