Choose Happy with Swami Nityananda

Dear Choose Happy Community,
When anxiety or insecurity takes over, it’s easy to feel unsteady and unsure of your next step. This teaching offers a clear and grounding reminder: go straight to the Divine, first and always. When spiritual purpose becomes your anchor, clarity and peace follow naturally. From that place, strength grows, fear loosens its grip, and moving forward becomes possible no matter what’s happening around you.
Here’s one of our favorite quotes from the video:
“ Jesus decides to just let go by surrendering his personal will. He says ‘nevertheless, not my will, but thy will.’ So if ever we feel like we are at the precipice, we’re on the edge of giving up: ‘not my will.’ I would like to stop here. ‘Nevertheless, not my will, your will be done,’ and then instantly we put ourselves into the energy of forward motion, into the energy of healing.
“And so that’s another way to look at letting go versus giving up. If we are in the perspective and the energy of letting go, we make it possible for the Divine to heal the patterns within us that make us want to give up, if that makes sense.
“But if we come to the edge and we just decide, ‘This is it for me. I’m going to contract'. And we make that intentional choice, that is a choice that we make: ‘I can’t do this anymore. I’m angry, I’m giving into my anger. I’m frustrated, I’m giving into my frustration. I’m sad, I’m giving into my sadness.’ We make it harder for light to come in and to alleviate, to heal that energy.”
We also shared this video on YouTube, but wanted you to be able to have it on your Substack video player as well, in case you prefer that.
Having it on Substack makes it easy for you to see any other podcasts, videos, articles, or full meditation services that might be available in the Truth, Love and Justice by clicking here.
If you have heard this teaching before, we invite you — as Swami so often invites us — to hear it as if you are hearing it for the first time. Often we receive these teachings right when we need them.
In loving service,Awake Yoga Meditation
Everything available to a paid subscriber. Are you one yet?
This is a free post made available to everyone. If you are not yet a paid subscriber to Choose Happy with Swami Nityananda, consider becoming one today to receive exclusive audio talks, articles, meditation service replays, access to the archives, and so much more.
Podcast Episodes*: All Episodes
Darshan Articles*: All Articles
From the Founder Series: All Series • Mantra Series • St. Francis Prayer Series
Live Meditation Replays: All Services • Index of All Services by Series • Sunday Meditation Services • Tuesday Darshan Meditation Services • Friday Night Healing Meditation Services • Satsangs
Book Excerpts**: All Excerpts • Satsang with Swami Shankarananda
Workshops (formerly eCourses): All Workshops • The Spiritual Art of Intentions: Creating a Life You Love • Pillars of Self-Realization: 50 Days with Swami Shankarananda • Love: The Eternal Flame of Life Within You • Wisdom: Discovering the Peace in Our True Nature
*Also available to Free Subscribers**Select posts also available to Free Subscribers
Consider making a financial contribution to Awake Yoga Meditation
Your generosity makes it possible for AYM to share Kriya Yoga, meditations, and teachings of truth with people around the world. It also allows the community to support the presiding teacher’s Dakshina (reimbursement of basic living expenses for housing, transportation, and insurance). The presiding teacher for Awake Yoga Meditation is Swami Nityananda.
Consider making a financial contribution to Swami’s Bowl
As the presiding teacher, Swami Nityananda selflessly offers her wisdom without taking a salary from Awake Yoga Meditation. Your gift honors her giving and ensures she can continue to share her invaluable teachings. The tradition of meditation communities like Awake Yoga Meditation is to support the presiding teacher’s Dakshina (reimbursement of basic living expenses for housing, transportation, and insurance). All of the other myriad expenses of life are offered from student to teacher through Swami’s Bowl.
Choose Happy with Swami Nityananda is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.



This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit awakeyogameditation.substack.com/subscribe

Dear Choose Happy Community,
When anxiety or insecurity takes over, it’s easy to feel unsteady and unsure of your next step. This teaching offers a clear and grounding reminder: go straight to the Divine, first and always. When spiritual purpose becomes your anchor, clarity and peace follow naturally. From that place, strength grows, fear loosens its grip, and moving forward becomes possible no matter what’s happening around you.
Here’s one of our favorite quotes from the video:
“ Go straight to the Divine first, last, and always. Put your spiritual purpose first, always. And what happens then is you gain clarity and you gain peace. You gain skill, you gain strength, you gain fearlessness, you gain the ability to move forward no matter what is happening in time and space.”
We also shared this video on YouTube, but wanted you to be able to have it on your Substack video player as well, in case you prefer that.
Having it on Substack makes it easy for you to see any other podcasts, videos, articles, or full meditation services that might be available in the Energy Mastery by clicking here.
If you have heard this teaching before, we invite you — as Swami so often invites us — to hear it as if you are hearing it for the first time. Often we receive these teachings right when we need them.
In loving service,Awake Yoga Meditation
Everything available to a paid subscriber. Are you one yet?
This is a free post made available to everyone. If you are not yet a paid subscriber to Choose Happy with Swami Nityananda, consider becoming one today to receive exclusive audio talks, articles, meditation service replays, access to the archives, and so much more.
Podcast Episodes*: All Episodes
Darshan Articles*: All Articles
From the Founder Series: All Series • Mantra Series • St. Francis Prayer Series
Live Meditation Replays: All Services • Index of All Services by Series • Sunday Meditation Services • Tuesday Darshan Meditation Services • Friday Night Healing Meditation Services • Satsangs
Book Excerpts**: All Excerpts • Satsang with Swami Shankarananda
Workshops (formerly eCourses): All Workshops • The Spiritual Art of Intentions: Creating a Life You Love • Pillars of Self-Realization: 50 Days with Swami Shankarananda • Love: The Eternal Flame of Life Within You • Wisdom: Discovering the Peace in Our True Nature
*Also available to Free Subscribers**Select posts also available to Free Subscribers
Consider making a financial contribution to Awake Yoga Meditation
Your generosity makes it possible for AYM to share Kriya Yoga, meditations, and teachings of truth with people around the world. It also allows the community to support the presiding teacher’s Dakshina (reimbursement of basic living expenses for housing, transportation, and insurance). The presiding teacher for Awake Yoga Meditation is Swami Nityananda.
Consider making a financial contribution to Swami’s Bowl
As the presiding teacher, Swami Nityananda selflessly offers her wisdom without taking a salary from Awake Yoga Meditation. Your gift honors her giving and ensures she can continue to share her invaluable teachings. The tradition of meditation communities like Awake Yoga Meditation is to support the presiding teacher’s Dakshina (reimbursement of basic living expenses for housing, transportation, and insurance). All of the other myriad expenses of life are offered from student to teacher through Swami’s Bowl.
Choose Happy with Swami Nityananda is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.



This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit awakeyogameditation.substack.com/subscribe

Dear Choose Happy Community,
So much of our experience is shaped by what we attach our sense of I am to. This teaching invites us to gently notice whether we’re energizing fear, anxiety, or complaint—or nurturing what we truly love and want to grow. Speaking honestly about our struggles in safe, supportive spaces allows light to enter and loosen what feels heavy. And beneath every human difficulty, there is a vast, pure spaciousness within you that nothing can harm. Awareness opens the door back to that freedom.
Here’s one of our favorite quotes from the video:
“ As a preponderance, like, do I attach ‘I am’ a majority of the times, to things that I love, and would love to energize, and would love to help make visible in my life, in my friends, in my family, in my work, wherever I am in my world? Or, do I unintentionally constrict my ‘I am’ by saying ‘I am complaining, I am afraid, I am anxious.’ And again, I want to be really clear, like when people have meditation conferences with me, they say all of those things. And that’s helpful because when you allow the truth to be lifted into view in a therapeutic, helpful context like that, then the light is coming in and it’s helping lift away those things, right?
“So, choose your situations where you’re talking about how you feel so that you have trusted confidential situations in which you can say, ‘yes, my human self is really struggling’ with whatever it is that you’re struggling with. And then also know that deeper than that, there is this expansiveness, this spaciousness, this purity of your being that absolutely nothing can touch.”
We also shared this video on YouTube, but wanted you to be able to have it on your Substack video player as well, in case you prefer that.
Having it on Substack makes it easy for you to see any other podcasts, videos, articles, or full meditation services that might be available in the Energy Mastery by clicking here.
If you have heard this teaching before, we invite you — as Swami so often invites us — to hear it as if you are hearing it for the first time. Often we receive these teachings right when we need them.
In loving service,Awake Yoga Meditation
Everything available to a paid subscriber. Are you one yet?
This is a free post made available to everyone. If you are not yet a paid subscriber to Choose Happy with Swami Nityananda, consider becoming one today to receive exclusive audio talks, articles, meditation service replays, access to the archives, and so much more.
Podcast Episodes*: All Episodes
Darshan Articles*: All Articles
From the Founder Series: All Series • Mantra Series • St. Francis Prayer Series
Live Meditation Replays: All Services • Index of All Services by Series • Sunday Meditation Services • Tuesday Darshan Meditation Services • Friday Night Healing Meditation Services • Satsangs
Book Excerpts**: All Excerpts • Satsang with Swami Shankarananda
Workshops (formerly eCourses): All Workshops • The Spiritual Art of Intentions: Creating a Life You Love • Pillars of Self-Realization: 50 Days with Swami Shankarananda • Love: The Eternal Flame of Life Within You • Wisdom: Discovering the Peace in Our True Nature
*Also available to Free Subscribers**Select posts also available to Free Subscribers
Consider making a financial contribution to Awake Yoga Meditation
Your generosity makes it possible for AYM to share Kriya Yoga, meditations, and teachings of truth with people around the world. It also allows the community to support the presiding teacher’s Dakshina (reimbursement of basic living expenses for housing, transportation, and insurance). The presiding teacher for Awake Yoga Meditation is Swami Nityananda.
Consider making a financial contribution to Swami’s Bowl
As the presiding teacher, Swami Nityananda selflessly offers her wisdom without taking a salary from Awake Yoga Meditation. Your gift honors her giving and ensures she can continue to share her invaluable teachings. The tradition of meditation communities like Awake Yoga Meditation is to support the presiding teacher’s Dakshina (reimbursement of basic living expenses for housing, transportation, and insurance). All of the other myriad expenses of life are offered from student to teacher through Swami’s Bowl.
Choose Happy with Swami Nityananda is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.



This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit awakeyogameditation.substack.com/subscribe

Dear Choose Happy Community,
When doubt clouds your understanding or conflicting opinions pull you in different directions, this teaching offers a simple return point: “I am open to seeing clearly.” Discernment isn’t something reserved for rare moments—it’s a daily practice woven into conversations, decisions, rest, and reflection. The yogic wisdom reminds us that what is real does not disappear, and what is unreal cannot last. When we establish ourselves in truth, kindness and clarity naturally guide how we move through the world.
Here’s one of our favorite quotes from the video:
“If you’re aware of conflicting opinions, if you’re aware that doubt has clouded your understanding, recommit: ‘I am open to seeing clearly.’ That’s what discernment is. Discernment is seeing clearly. And it is required at any time, if you’re a human in time and space, discernment is always required.
“And so just in the morning: ‘I am open to seeing clearly’; before you go into a business meeting: ‘I am open to seeing clearly’; before you have a conversation, before you meditate, before you sleep at night: ‘I am open to seeing clearly.’ “The Bhagavad-Gita tells us, and this is one of my favorite teachings from the Bhagavad-Gita, ‘The unreal hath no existence. The real can never cease to be.’”And so establish yourself in the real and ask yourself, ‘What do I know is real?’ And then come from always that kindness, come from always that respect, and it will allow you to navigate all things in time and space.”
We also shared this video on YouTube, but wanted you to be able to have it on your Substack video player as well, in case you prefer that.
Having it on Substack makes it easy for you to see any other podcasts, videos, articles, or full meditation services that might be available in the Energy Mastery by clicking here.
If you have heard this teaching before, we invite you — as Swami so often invites us — to hear it as if you are hearing it for the first time. Often we receive these teachings right when we need them.
In loving service,Awake Yoga Meditation
Everything available to a paid subscriber. Are you one yet?
This is a free post made available to everyone. If you are not yet a paid subscriber to Choose Happy with Swami Nityananda, consider becoming one today to receive exclusive audio talks, articles, meditation service replays, access to the archives, and so much more.
Podcast Episodes*: All Episodes
Darshan Articles*: All Articles
From the Founder Series: All Series • Mantra Series • St. Francis Prayer Series
Live Meditation Replays: All Services • Index of All Services by Series • Sunday Meditation Services • Tuesday Darshan Meditation Services • Friday Night Healing Meditation Services • Satsangs
Book Excerpts**: All Excerpts • Satsang with Swami Shankarananda
Workshops (formerly eCourses): All Workshops • The Spiritual Art of Intentions: Creating a Life You Love • Pillars of Self-Realization: 50 Days with Swami Shankarananda • Love: The Eternal Flame of Life Within You • Wisdom: Discovering the Peace in Our True Nature
*Also available to Free Subscribers**Select posts also available to Free Subscribers
Consider making a financial contribution to Awake Yoga Meditation
Your generosity makes it possible for AYM to share Kriya Yoga, meditations, and teachings of truth with people around the world. It also allows the community to support the presiding teacher’s Dakshina (reimbursement of basic living expenses for housing, transportation, and insurance). The presiding teacher for Awake Yoga Meditation is Swami Nityananda.
Consider making a financial contribution to Swami’s Bowl
As the presiding teacher, Swami Nityananda selflessly offers her wisdom without taking a salary from Awake Yoga Meditation. Your gift honors her giving and ensures she can continue to share her invaluable teachings. The tradition of meditation communities like Awake Yoga Meditation is to support the presiding teacher’s Dakshina (reimbursement of basic living expenses for housing, transportation, and insurance). All of the other myriad expenses of life are offered from student to teacher through Swami’s Bowl.
Choose Happy with Swami Nityananda is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.



This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit awakeyogameditation.substack.com/subscribe

Dear Choose Happy Community,
When unhappiness shows up, the invitation isn’t to fight it—but to look deeper. This teaching reminds us that beneath every feeling of weakness is a strength that has always been present within you. Before any story, label, or identity, there is simply I Am. When you rest in that presence with care and gentleness, clarity and wholeness naturally arise. You are not broken—you are remembering who you are.
Here’s one of our favorite quotes from the video:
“ Anywhere that we have a feeling of unhappiness or anywhere that we have a feeling of ‘I would love to let go of that weakness and gain clarity and strength,’ it’s looking deeper than the weakness and connecting with the strength that is already present with you at the core of your being. ”This is the strength that is with you before you come into embodiment. This is a strength that he is talking about that says ‘I am’ before you attach anything to ‘I am.’ ”And so just allow yourself, if you can say in your heart three times silently, ‘I am.’ Don’t add anything to it. Just ‘I am.’ Say it with caring, with love, with joy, with light. ‘I am.’ And just allow yourself to feel the purity and the wholeness of that being.”
We also shared this video on YouTube, but wanted you to be able to have it on your Substack video player as well, in case you prefer that.
Having it on Substack makes it easy for you to see any other podcasts, videos, articles, or full meditation services that might be available in the Energy Mastery by clicking here.
If you have heard this teaching before, we invite you — as Swami so often invites us — to hear it as if you are hearing it for the first time. Often we receive these teachings right when we need them.
In loving service,Awake Yoga Meditation
Everything available to a paid subscriber. Are you one yet?
This is a free post made available to everyone. If you are not yet a paid subscriber to Choose Happy with Swami Nityananda, consider becoming one today to receive exclusive audio talks, articles, meditation service replays, access to the archives, and so much more.
Podcast Episodes*: All Episodes
Darshan Articles*: All Articles
From the Founder Series: All Series • Mantra Series • St. Francis Prayer Series
Live Meditation Replays: All Services • Index of All Services by Series • Sunday Meditation Services • Tuesday Darshan Meditation Services • Friday Night Healing Meditation Services • Satsangs
Book Excerpts**: All Excerpts • Satsang with Swami Shankarananda
Workshops (formerly eCourses): All Workshops • The Spiritual Art of Intentions: Creating a Life You Love • Pillars of Self-Realization: 50 Days with Swami Shankarananda • Love: The Eternal Flame of Life Within You • Wisdom: Discovering the Peace in Our True Nature
*Also available to Free Subscribers**Select posts also available to Free Subscribers
Consider making a financial contribution to Awake Yoga Meditation
Your generosity makes it possible for AYM to share Kriya Yoga, meditations, and teachings of truth with people around the world. It also allows the community to support the presiding teacher’s Dakshina (reimbursement of basic living expenses for housing, transportation, and insurance). The presiding teacher for Awake Yoga Meditation is Swami Nityananda.
Consider making a financial contribution to Swami’s Bowl
As the presiding teacher, Swami Nityananda selflessly offers her wisdom without taking a salary from Awake Yoga Meditation. Your gift honors her giving and ensures she can continue to share her invaluable teachings. The tradition of meditation communities like Awake Yoga Meditation is to support the presiding teacher’s Dakshina (reimbursement of basic living expenses for housing, transportation, and insurance). All of the other myriad expenses of life are offered from student to teacher through Swami’s Bowl.
Choose Happy with Swami Nityananda is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.



This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit awakeyogameditation.substack.com/subscribe