Local Mandali Programs

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Local Mandali Programs help teachers support and expand their communities through “grassroots marketing.” This is how most people find their way to Svaroopa^® yoga, through friends and recommendations.

By creating these programs for your students, you support their relationship with you. Also very important, you build their relationships with each other as well as deepen their understanding of what their yoga means to them.

You are welcome to mix up the months if you prefer, or even to use a program from a prior year. It's all about what works for you and your students. 

2026 Local Mandali Events

January: Embody a Yogic Quality

At the end of class, ask your students to reflect on changes they have gotten from yoga, including in their body, attitudes, temperament and behavior. Give them a blank card (or on Zoom ask them to have paper and pen ready) to write two words on: 

PAST: "What word (or short phrase) would summarize what you've gotten from yoga?" 

FUTURE: "What word (or short phrase) would you like to select as a theme for your new year?" 

Post the cards in your studio or put them on a board or poster that you can take to the different locations where you teach. On Zoom, keep a document on file of their entries and share by email as well as in class.  

This will support your students in contemplating the qualities they have chosen and deepening into them throughout the year.

February: Turn Your Favorite Pose into a Valentine

This month have your students take a picture of themselves in their favorite pose. Invite them to pick one that gives them bliss or a much-needed change in their body. Have them send it to you. They can also share them with each other.

Compile the photos in a file and send to Gurudevi for Valentine’s Day. In this way they share their gratitude for what this yoga offers, in a sweet and tangible way.

March: Where Do You Wear Your Head?

When your mind is racing into the future, you'll find that your head is pushed forward. Pushing your head forward causes neck tension, shoulder pain and headaches. You end up in "Vulture Asana," disconnected from your body and your heart. It all began at your tailbone, of course, but there's hope! 

When you align your head with your spine, everything changes. You're more fully embodied, living in the present moment. Your breath is easier, your heart is more open and you're more blissful.

— Gurudevi Nirmalananda, “Where Do You Wear Your Head?” March 2013 Teachings Article

Show your students how to bring their head in line with their spine. Remind them to do it as many times a day as they can remember. It might be 100 times or more! Have them share their findings.  

April: Express Yourself by Writing a Haiku

April 17 is the annual celebration of the Haiku, a non-rhyming form of Japanese poetry. Like a sutra, it expresses a lot of meaning in just a few words.

Have your students write a haiku inspired by their experience of embodying the yogic quality they chose in January. In the beginning of the month, invite them to recall the word or phrase they chose, or have them choose a new one.

They can share their poems as the month progresses and give you a copy to send to everyone.

The Haiku form consists of 17 syllables divided into 3 lines.

5 syllables in the first line
7 syllables in the second line
5 syllables in the third line

May: Be Where Your Feet Are

Your body is always in the present. It is only your mind that gets ahead of itself! Remind your students that whenever they feel speedy or confused, to simply pause in that moment.

Feel your feet beneath you, like a grounding wire, slowing you down and reconnecting you to you! Simply say to yourself “Be where my feet are.”

This awareness practice works anywhere. While standing, you are now based in your verticality. You are not in a hurry, not spreading yourself too thin. You’ll feel the change instantly. Ask students to share their experience of this simple awareness practice.

June: Tailbone Awareness Month – Kurmasana

Your tailbone is the pivot point of your whole body. When it’s tight, you not only feel physical discomfort, but a tightening in your mind and heart.

In class this month, focus on Kurmasana as your tailbone pose. This seated pose uses the angles of your legs and the forward bend in your torso to create a targeted release in the muscles connected to your tailbone.

This softening and opening through the base of your pelvis makes more space in your abdominal cavity as well. This is a pose that gives you instant inner spaciousness and joy! Each time you teach Kurmasana, explain the anatomy again and ask them to report on their experience.

July: Tapas – Doing the Hard Stuff

This niyama (lifestyle practice) is for the purpose of quieting your mind. If you procrastinate, your mind is agitated. Instead, once a day choose something you’ve been putting off and just do it.

It could be as mundane as making a phone call. It could be as spiritual as applying doing your home practice or reading a yogic text.

Whenever you run into resistance, tell your mind you’re going to do it anyway and follow through. How does doing the hard stuff make you feel? Have your students share what they’re discovering.

August: Prana-fy your Life

Commit to more Ujjayi Pranayama for the month. Fill your tank to overflowing with this life-infusing practice of pranification and deep healing. Ask a yoga buddy to set a goal with you and hold each other accountable. You can text each other daily. You will both feel more alive, with a spring in your step, and an expanded capacity to give and love! In class, you can troubleshoot their questions and lead them in a little longer Ujjayi (up to 10 minutes) to re-inspire them!

Your healing and transformation happen organically, from the inside out. You uncover health and vitality while you discover your own inner sense of being you.

— Gurudevi Nirmalananda, “Healing, Transformation and Illumination,” April 2007 Teachings Article

September: Share the Gift of Yoga

This month, encourage your students to share the gift of yoga. Have them invite a friend or family member who is new to Svaroopa® yoga to join them in class.

Encourage them to bring different friends throughout the month. Prompt your students to share their love of yoga by offering them a complimentary class.

Online they could invite the person to join them at home in their own yoga space or to Zoom from their home. This act of generosity truly is the gift that keeps on giving.

October: Bed Yoga

Although doing your poses well propped and on the floor is preferable, sometimes bed yoga can be effective as well. Or if you are tossing and turning through the night, or want to linger under the covers a bit longer in the morning, a little yoga goes a long way.

This month, teach how to practice Bed Yoga. Have them use a blanket roll or extra pillow to prop under their knees, so their low back can lengthen. Suggest they do Ujjayi Pranayama, the Ocean-Sounding Breath, as an elixir for quieting their mind.

You can teach this pose sequence: Supta Garbhasana with a slow head roll, Alternate Leg, Half Frog, JP. Then climb out of bed and do a lunge before standing and stepping into the day. Ask your students to report on what they are getting from this practice.

November: How Can I Serve?

Serving others is a time-honored tradition all around the world. Since yoga has given you so much, how can you give back? Even a small act of giving makes you feel lighter and happier. Offer your students some ideas on how to serve.

• In an On-Site class, help a neighbor with their    blankets, or ask your teacher if you could help with setting up the room.
• Do something kind or helpful for someone.
• Send a care package to someone in need.
• Send a "thinking of you card" to someone you haven't spoken to or thought of in a while.
• Participate in a group service project with a community organization.
• Prepare a meal for someone.
• Offer to walk your neighbor's dog or to run an errand for them.

There are countless ways to serve. The yogic secret is to give without expecting anything in return. Have your students share what they chose to do and how it made them feel.

December: Choose a Doorway

During the holidays we greet friends and family at our doorway. How wonderful that is. Yet, entering your inner doorway gives you so much more. Yoga offers so many practices.

Which doorway will you choose? Will it be japa, yoga poses, meditation or Ujjayi breathing? This month choose a practice and commit to it, reporting back in class on how it is going. Y

ou could even paste a picture of a doorway on your fridge or mirror with a reminder of your chosen practice. What a yogic way to participate from your center during the holiday season!