About Us
My name is Colin Higgins. In 1988 I joined the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers and Ashrams, founded by Swami Vishnudevananda of Kerala, southern India.
In the late seventies, I lived at the Iskcon temple in New York, went to ratha yatra in Pennsylvania and danced each night while distributing "Back to Godhead" on the nyc streets.
Years earlier, while attending community college in Florida and vacationing with my family in Jamaica, I recognised Emperor Haile SelassI of Ethiopia as "the Sign and the Seal."
I was introduced to books and bhajan sessions regarding Sri Sathya Sai Baba by one of his fellow Telugu, a medical doctor from India . Our friendship and devotion to Sri Sai would continue throughout my ashram stint and beyond.
In 1988, finished with college and my newspaper career, I was awarded the title "YOGA SIROMANI - TEACHER OF YOGA" after completing the month-long live-in Teachers' Training Course, designed by Swami Vishnu and taught by his senior disciples at the Paradise Island Yoga Retreat.
In 1989 our Guru Swami Vishnu awarded me the name Swami Swayamswaroopananda upon my initiation as a senior member of his organization. After completing another month-long live-in Advanced Teachers' Training Course, I received the title "YOGA ACHARYA - MASTER OF YOGA."
For four years I served my Guru Swami Vishnu's mission in the Bahamas, Canada and the United States. I was director of our Sivananda Yoga Retreat on Paradise Island, a YOGA teacher, cook, baker, office worker, painter, carpenter, sanitation technician, ferryboat captain, bellhop, security guard, bell ringer...
For three weeks, towards the end of Swami Vishnu's life, I served as one of his personal attendants at our headquarters, the Sivananda Yoga Camp, in Val Morin, Quebec, Canada.
After leaving full-time service with my Guru's mission in 1992, I've returned periodically to serve at Swamiji's centers and ashrams in the Bahamas, Canada and the United States. I have been teaching YOGA privately and with Swamiji's mission for over 20 years, my latest service being with Presence Cor Mariae Retirement and Rehabilitation Center and then with Amberwood Care Centre, both in Rockford, Illinois.
When death was near and Swami Vishnu was turning over the running of his mission to senior students, he appointed me one of two "Acharyas" - guides - of his Sivananda Yoga Retreat on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.
May his blessings, and those of all the Masters, be with us always.
AT RECEPTION. THE SIVANANDA YOGA RETREAT ON PARADISE ISLAND IN THE BAHAMAS
I HOPE THAT YOU WILL CONTACT ME WITH YOUR COMMENTS, THOUGHTS, IDEAS AND PROJECTS FOR THE PROMOTION OF YOGA AND RELATED PRACTICES FOR HEALTH, PEACE, JOY, LOVE, STRENGTH AND UNITY.
"SERVE LOVE GIVE PURIFY MEDITATE REALIZE
"BE GOOD, DO GOOD, BE KIND, BE COMPASSIONATE
"ADAPT ADJUST ACCOMMODATE
"BEAR INSULT, BEAR INJURY - HIGHEST YOGA"
MASTER SIVANANDA, Guru of Swami Vishnudevananda
