The Methodology of Hridaya Yoga

1. All procedures used in the Yoga of the Spiritual Heart serve the same aspiration: the revelation of our true nature.
The teaching of meditation techniques is supported by a methodology designed to improve the control of the mind and its clarity in specific ways based on specific objectives. (For instance, there is a method which allows a very precise observation of the progress we make during every meditation regarding the development of the Witness Consciousness and of the clarity of the mind)

2. Thus, we intend to enable every student to make progress without needing a teacher’s assistance. We encourage the dialogue with the teacher, but not the dependence on the teacher. The course includes the guidelines necessary for progressive spiritual workout in which the mind and the Heart as "knowledge organs” are gradually developed.
3. The spiritual texts underlying the theoretical and practical aspects of the Yoga of the Spiritual Heart are: Yoga Sutra by Patanjali, Spanda Karika, Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, etc. and the dialogues and statements of important spiritual masters including Shankara, Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj, Swami Sivananda, Rumi, Meister Eckhart.

The Tools Used in the Yoga of the Spiritual Heart

The tools used in the Yoga of the Spiritual Heart serve the purpose of creating the premises necessary for the revelation of our divine nature. The Path of the Spiritual Heart is using mainly meditations for the revelation of the Spiritual Heart and hatha yoga.

Based on these tools, the practice takes place in an adequate environment including:

weekly courses on Hatha Yoga and meditation
the Hridaya Retreat, the Retreat for the Revelation of the Spiritual Heart
weekly group meditation
week-end workshops on various themes
lectures, etc.

Besides the formal practice, as previously explained, there is the environment of spiritual community where everyone is welcome to express their aspirations, creativity and individuality.

The Methods used in the Yoga of the Spiritual Heart are designed to address everyone regardless of their experience or abilities regarding hatha yoga, starting from children to adults of all ages, from persons in need of therapeutic guidance to advanced students.

During the course, the students are supervised and guided so that, through their own inner abilities, they become able to make maximum progress in getting to know themselves profoundly. The practice is, therefore, designed based on individual needs, taking into account the physical, psychic, mental and spiritual abilities of each student. Communication, sincerity and openness play an important role in the process of designing an individual practice.

The Structure of the Course

The courses are structured in modules, which include theoretical and practical elements of yoga.

The modules reflect the development of competence levels in yoga. Each module includes weekly sessions of hatha yoga, which, in addition to the asanas and pranayama techniques, integrate concentration techniques and meditations for the revelation of the Spiritual Heart.

The Hridaya Retreat program including meditations for the revelation of the Spiritual Heart is based on the theoretical principles and the practical methods of Jnana Yoga.
There are workshops as well, on various themes related to the Spiritual Heart and to the awakening of the Sacred Tremor of the Heart, the spanda.

Common Elements shared with the Hatha Yoga Sessions The Yoga of the Spiritual Heart gradually integrates several attitudes which will become common to all hatha yoga sessions.
These attitudes are:

The mental peace.

The centering into the Spiritual Heart and awakening of the radiating "warmth" of the Heart.

The Witness Consciousness - a detached observation of the way in which the energies move through subtle structures.
The Conscious Breathing and especially the pauses between breathing in and breathing out. (Conscious breathing helps us to improve our ability of perception of energy and of expansion of the Stillness beyond the mind)
The Love, the devotion for the ultimate reality of the Spiritual Heart, for God, (and implicitly for the entire creation).
The awakening of the spiritual aspiration, of the feeling of sacredness in our being, of the Sacred Tremor, the spanda.
The letting go of the ego based consciousness.
Transcending the consciousness of our physical body’s limits.
The consciousness of oneness; the vision of non-duality, advaita.
The end of the Hatha yoga session includes a yogic complete relaxation and a meditation for infusing/ expanding the consciousness of oneness into our daily life. Ultimately, we endeavor to create the adequate atmosphere and conditions, so that at the end of the hatha yoga session, all students will leave the room more conscious with regard to themselves and the whole existence, more self confident, with a more profound vision regarding life and the divine reality: healthier, more compassionate, happier, with a higher capacity for sincere friendships and inner sense of freedom.