“SANGAMA 2009 was all about moving to stillness, recognizing one’s gunas, accepting the current reality, blessing ones breath, living in the now and simply being in a blissful state! It does sound very surreal, right? But believe me, one did experience all this and more at the foothills of Mount Arunachala – especially the deeper shifts within that empower me to face life with gratitude”

– Bharathy Ganesh Ram, Chennai

Sangama has been a ‘connecting with myself’ experience. The living conditions, teachers, activities, introspection, practice and the sanga supported each other to take my personal practice to a deeper level. I left with a true gift – the attitude of coming back with love whenever I miss my practice. I entered the space with an intention of connecting with my life’s purpose. The activities designed by Saraswathi and her open, engaging sessions helped me gain new insights that left me feeling good about my life and excited about my possibilities.

Singing Heart Ashram was a space devoid of distraction and filled with people with the desire to practice, learn and support each other’s growth. The time spent there was joyful and I carry with me memories to last a lifetime.

– Dr. Santhan Reddy, Hyderabad

Sangama 2009 at Singing Heart Ashram at Tiruvannamalai was a divine experience for me in more ways than one. It was a beautiful spiritual period of 2 weeks filled with joy, peace, learning, wholesome and wonder-filled teachings and practices. I felt closely connected to the Divine, to Nature, to myself and the people who shared their experiences and knowledge in this very conducive spiritual place blessed by the grand old Arunachala mountain. My experience was magical, musical and miraculous - from the routine to the food to the practices and the interactions. It was powerful and deeply touched me to the very core. I feel like I've had a rebirth of sorts - I see and understand things with new eyes now - my outlook and attitude has changed from a cynical, negative, resigned and frustrated with the events in my life approach to one filled with blessings, gratitude, appreciation, and positivity and feel thankful to all I have gone through in life since each happening has been an opportunity to learn and grow and prepare me for Sangama 2009!! I can truly say with sincerity that I've experienced a paradigm shift in my attitude to life. Sangama 2009 has been a life changing occurrence for me!! :-)

– Sumita Pai, Chennai

From the beginning, it was hard to deny something powerful was happening as we lived for a short time under the gaze of Arunachala. It has taken me a couple of weeks back in my "real" life to even begin to be able to articulate what I suspect shifted for me. Clearly, patterns shifted, friendships formed, and challenges were faced. But on a more subtle level, this retreat brought to life the idea of acceptance. I feel like since I've returned there is an underlying sense that things are unfolding as they should. I feel less rushed, more content, and so much stronger. I feel so happy spending time alone and so much joy when I'm with my friends and family. The litmus test, though, has been facing the most challenging group of students in my career so far. I know my normal pattern would be to exhaust myself trying to remain positive when I'd really rather not be there. But, I seem to have an underlying calmness and acceptance that this is where I should be right now and these are the people I need to be with. And beyond that, that the patience and compassion I need to deal with them is flowing to me. I think these are the ripple effects for me of the focus on stillness at the retreat. I am so thankful for the experience.

– Dana Chapman, Canada

I have been on many retreats in my lifetime but I have never had an experience such as this one. I have no idea how you all pulled it off but the retreat just flowed. I felt completely safe and cared for. I am sure there were glitches but to my eyes things moved along seamlessly. I actually like the ashram. The simplicity of it, to my mind, was necessary. It allowed for the space needed for us to see just what is required in life.

The material covered in Saras’s sessions was nothing new to me but I am grateful for the new spins and interpretations given to the information. I love the practicality of the 5 minute meditation exercise; it prevents me from making excuses to get out of my practice. It was challenging for me to sit for the amount of time we sat, being as rajasik as I am, but the discomfort eased. I don’t see the sessions playing out in any other way. I learned and the learning went deep. For that I am grateful.

I am grateful to all of you for taking on this enormous venture and I am in awe of what you accomplished. Thank you for allowing me to be part of this experience. The effects are profound, I know, but remain to be seen. I look forward to seeing where this all takes me.

– Tabitha Kot, Canada

The retreat was transformational for me; a shift in perspective has led me to a place of clarity and acceptance. I loved the austerity of the place we stayed, the simplicity and purity of being there for the spiritual journey, rather than anything material. I loved my room, and the meditation hall, the roof top where I walked each early morning before sunrise when the stars danced in the black sky. I loved those basic showers with the buckets and the stone for washing and scrubbing our clothes, and I love the clothes line that allowed our clothes to hang dry. I loved the dry ground and the hard rock and the green of the palm tress and the scrub of grass. The irony is that I felt a softening into silence, into stillness in a place that is rooted in hard rock and stone.

– Trish Abram, Canada