SWAN Meditation
with Swami Vedantanananda Saraswati
Sunday, January 11, 2026 | 12pm - 1.15pm EST
Online Via Zoom | Free Event
SWAN is an acronym S for Strengths, W for weaknesses, A for ambitions, aspirations or aims, N for needs and was developed by Swami Niranjan in the 1990`s.
When we practice sadhana different things are stirred up and there is always something to work with in life
SWAN gives us a chance to look at traits in our personalities. Through this practice, we are practising Swadhyaya – study of the self, whether it is on or off the mat.
We discover who we are, our self. Not the self we project, or the self other people think we are but our real Self
What are our strengths? – they are our positive qualities, things we are good at, where we excel, whether that be physically, mentally or emotionally
Our weaknesses are things that limit us, things we are not so good at – lack of confidence, fears, inferiorities, our short comings, limitations, again these apply in all areas of our being, physical, mental and emotional. We are all less than perfect
Next is ambitions, aspirations or aims. These can be short term, mid-term or long term aims or goals. We need direction and action in life – if you don`t know where you are going you will never get there.
Last and by no means least our Needs – 1st we need to discriminate between needing and wanting or desiring. What do we need to nurture ourselves? On a physical level we need, food, water, sleep, air of course. What do we need to consider our mental and emotional needs, to express, to be happy, content, fulfilled.
Please bring along paper and pen to make a list of your strengths, weaknesses, ambitions and needs. You may also like to give this some thought before the programme.
This exercise starts with an off the mat sadhana and can be very revealing, it will give us plenty to work with in our on the mat sadhana.
We will finish this Satsang with a SWAN meditation.
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About Swami Vedantananda Saraswati
Swami Vedantananda Saraswati discovered yoga in the early seventies through a lunchtime television programme and from that began attending classes run by the local adult education authorities. This led to studying with many teachers from all over the U.K and Europe and becoming a yoga teacher herself.
In London in 1983, she met her Guru Swami Satyananda Saraswati, she says of that meeting, her life changed dramatically at that moment, as she knew had met a master.
In 1985, on one of Swami Satyananda’s visits to Europe she travelled to the Ashram in Greece to see him and was initiated into Poorna Sannyasa. Since that turning point in her life, she has taught yoga in many areas of society, specialising in teaching yoga to children, In-Service Training, Yoga Nidra Teacher Training and Yoga Teacher Training.
In the early nineties she was given the title of Yoga Acharya. In 2004 she was made a Guardian of Satyananda Yoga.
Swami Vedantananda moved to Portugal in 2006 and with willing help from family, friends and karma yogis developed a retreat space for people to come on group or personal retreats away from the world and all its busyness.
In 2016 she was appointed a member of the Yoga Vidya Council.
She is a respected yoga teacher whose humour shines through her love of living yoga. Her teaching is recognised by its practical and down-to-earth approach.