The Importance Of Community Coming Together To Evolve!
By Deidre Norman
The Sattva Summit, taking place in the foothills of the Himalayas, is a boutique conscious gathering happening November 7 -13, 2018. We could not be more excited to be heading back to India this fall to attend the Summit. Last year was complete magic! The Summit offers an opportunity for Yogis from across the globe to gather for a week of deep healing, expansion, transformation, and pure joy. It is truly a complete and transformational experience. One of our favorite parts was being able to soak in the knowledge and take classes from world renowned Yoga teachers.
We had the wonderful opportunity to ask several of these teachers two questions: What is the importance of community coming together to evolve? And, What was your favorite part of the Sattva Summit last year? Below are their responses:
- Right now we are living in powerful times, there is a great opportunity which has presented itself to us where there can be a paradigm shift in the collective psyche of humanity. We are living in an interconnected world, this isn’t a metaphysical idea, it is a fact. So if we are interested in creating a huge impact and changing the collective psyche it is of paramount importance we come together to raise our vibration, raise our consciousness collectively thereby impacting the world in a positive manner. When we come together in community we embrace this opportunity to be initiators of a paradigm shift. When we come together in a sacred environment with people with a shared intention we can contribute and raise our energy. There is power in practicing together and sharing consciousness with people from all over the world.
- The whole event was incredibly powerful! People came from all over the world and had immense transformation in this sacred land. Sacred teachings were shared at the Summit, which was the intention, realizing that this was just the beginning and it will keep expanding from that.
- Something extra-ordinary happens when we come together with a shared intention to awaken to our full potential. We move beyond old patterns and limiting beliefs, our hearts are cleansed, there is an experience of being lifted and supported by the energy of the group. We find the courage to go deeper than ever before. During this summit we explore energy activating practices and focus on cultivating a deep state of presence and love. Being in the foothills of the Himalayas is an accelerator to the practice. We tune into the Unified Field of Consciousness held by the yogis, saints and Seers for millennia.
- My personal favorite experience is meditating early in the morning on the banks of the river feeling the hearts and souls around me, and sensing the deep eternal love and consciousness that is present in all.
- The commitment to pursue a spiritual path, one of personal transformation, is made anew each day. It has to be done everyday because the mind and emotions are so capable of drawing us away from our spiritual calling. Without community to support us in this commitment the journey would become practically impossible and a lot less joyful. Everything in the Universe is a collaboration. And Thank God.
- The immersion into practice together with an outstanding group of people in an environment conducive to deep meditation and ridiculous amounts of fun is where it is at. How to pick one part of the experience is beyond me. That said, there was one morning where we went out for an impromptu run, maybe 6 of us. We ran up a mountain road for a half hour maybe then descending into a river and ran all the way back through, around and in the river. Such beauty, such fun. I had no plan of doing it. It just happened and will forever be a cherished memory.
- An essential part to our existence is to evoke growth. Our soul searching can come to this place of community, to learn, to feel and bring us into expansion. Not filling and feeding the mind with the mundane ways of its constant chatter, building anxiety and confusion. We come together in community to evolve that intelligence and that knowledge. To feel love, compassion and an openness to new ways. We are both students and teachers to each other, without community we can at times live in an ego state. Community can help us to connect to Atma, to our souls. Community unites us and feeds us!
- When we come together as a community with a collective intention to evolve magic happens. We raise the frequency and can access profound states of love, joy and higher consciousness. When we can meet each other as our highest selves, we raise the vibration. How do we make an impact on the world? When we set an intention together for change. This Summit provides that opportunity for people to come together to connect, evolve and experience unity. Then we move from here and inspire those around us from our experience and our higher state of consciousness!
- All aspects of the Summit were my favorite, for me as the individual organizing the event it felt incredible to witness a vision come to life and crystalize, everything flowed fluidly, people were in their hearts, going deep into the teachings, evolving and connecting with one another which was what our intention was. There isn’t anything more fulfilling then that!
- When community comes together, it gives power to the unknown that is shifting. As we evolve we can second guess ourselves. When we evolve together, we can inspire each other to keep going with the ‘new-ness’ revealing itself!
- It was so AWEsome to watch my sangha burst into strong leadership and co-teachers. We have come together the past many years to let go, find our inner strength and last year I watched as we each had stepped into our next paradigm. It was mind-blowing to see the empowerment that the Sattva tools and Ananaji has bestowed upon us. AND we’re using these tools, it’s working!!
Corrin Vecchitto
- When community comes together with the intention of evolving, there is a collective energy that impacts the entire globe. The work that is being done on an individual level actually vibrates out and will bring about a higher state of consciousness and awareness for all beings and Mother Earth. When we come together with this shared intention, it has the power of many and it truly lights up all the beings within that space and then they have the opportunity to go out and share this new light and brilliance with the world. Words fall short of this experience.
- My favorite part of Sattva Summit 2017 was seeing each teacher light up and share the teachings in his or her own way and to see the students respond to that energy. It truly was a magnificent display of humility and lightworkers coming together in a collective state of compassion to spread more love and light into the world. People were in bliss and joy the entire time! To say the vibes were high is an understatement to the experience.
- Coming together in community with a common intention to evolve energizes this intention, creating a fertile ground for deep personal transformation. The Sattva Summit brought together kindred souls from around the world. I believe every person left the Summit with more expansive awareness, deeper commitment to showing up to life as a Yogi, and a profound connection to the intelligence and beauty of life.
- For me the best part of the Summit was the opportunity to share my life's work - the intersection of Yoga and conflict resolution. I came to this work through the deep wisdom of Sattva Yoga. It was profoundly meaningful to have an opportunity to share this work with seekers from the around the globe at the very place where my personal transformation began four years ago.
- One of the essential aspects of Sattva Yoga is sangha (community). For so many of us, we like to suffer in silence and solitude. It's one of the tricky and neurotic aspects of the mind. It likes to keep us in isolation. Life is a cyclical wave of ups and downs. We have periods where we are in the "flow" and moving through life effortlessly. Then there are times when it feels like life is working against us and we can't do anything right. As we become more mature in our spiritual path we realize that this is just the nature of life. These periods of ups and downs are really just allowing us to release more karmic baggage, ultimately leading us to greater levels of awareness. This is where the power of community comes in. It's so important that we are surrounded by a community of spiritual seekers that help us feel connected and part of something much larger than ourselves when life becomes challenging. There's nothing more powerful than being surrounded by a group of people that see us fully for who we are and accept us unconditionally.
- Seeing how much the community has grown just in the last few years was super inspiring and exciting. Now that we have the Summit, it's a way for all of us that are spread in every corer of the globe, to reconnect and come together as a community. It was so wonderful seeing some of my old Sattva friends that I hadn't seen in awhile and also making so many new amazing connections. It was also really cool meeting people that had never been exposed to Sattva prior to the Summit. It was really amazing watching the transformations that people were going through over the course of the seven days. I think that's Anand's whole intent behind the Summit. Yes, festivals are fun and exciting with so many teachers and events to attend but true transformation can get a little lost. The Summit, first and foremost, is about coming together as a community for the purpose of evolution. While at the same time, having one hell of a good time doing it. For me, that is the core aspect of Sattva that I love so much. We are serious about evolution but we're just as serious about dancing and laughing along the way. Namaste.
- I fell in love with India after my first trip in 2013, since then I’ve traveled back 7 times. Most of us create such rigid daily routines that spare little time for contemplation, rest or healing. The Sattva Summit was created with a beautiful vision to allow people to gather from all over the world to create conscious connections, and to expand and heal in sacred space. It’s a gathering like no other. There’s something so special and magical about coming together in community, or Sangha. The people I call family, and some of my closest friends, are from connections I’ve made during my time in India.
- My favorite part about the Summit was that it took place in the foothills of the Himalayas, which allows spiritual seekers to connect to the deep, healing, vibrational energy of the Himalayas.
To learn more about the Sattva Summit and reserve your space visit sattvasummit.com.
