Laura Talamoni
Architect, Graphics Designer, Self-help coach
Core Member
Yoga Vidya ONLUS, Italy
How did you get introduced to Yoga and Vedanta?
If it was my old self, I would have answered ‘by chance I was introduced. Considering the transformation, I have gone through, I would say ‘I was introduced due to the Divine Grace’. I had approached a Yoga school years ago to take care of my body and to maintain physical flexibility. After so many experiences, attending different Yoga schools, meeting different ‘masters’, at that time I was not looking for anything.
In one of the weekend seminars organized in the Yoga school I was enrolled at that time, Swami Ananda Saraswati came delivered a seminar on ‘Anger management and mind control’.
I started listening to him and I was more and more convinced and inside me, I was saying to myself, “Ah, really that’s what it is!” Swamiji’s explanations were so clear, so simple, so intelligent. After listening to him the confusion in my mind got cleared. I was very lucky to meet Swamiji and his Vedantic teachings.
When and how did you first come to know about Yoga Vidya Gurukulam?
During a meeting in Rome, Swami Ananda Saraswati showed us a video describing the ashram and Yoga Vidya TTC, a course to become a Yoga teacher.
The same year a group of people from the Yoga School in Rome wanted to go to India during the Christmas holidays and visit the ashram, so I joined the group and went with them. The purpose of the trip was a bit more touristic, and thanks to Swamiji, who accompanied us, we were able to see many interesting places. After the group went back to Italy, I and a few people stayed back for a few additional days. During that time Swamiji gave some lectures, which was later published as a book titled ‘Know Your Mind’.
A few months later, I again met Swamiji in Rome during his discourse. He suggested that I should visit India again for a course on Pr!@!y!ma. Participating in that training program was a tremendous help in learning how to remain firm, how to be stronger and how to face situations with energy during a very complicated period of my life.
How Vedantic and Yogic teaching has helped you in your personal life?
Vedantic teachings helped me a lot. Meeting Swamiji and his teachings were a turning point in my life.
I found the answers to what I was looking for: Who am I? Why am I in this world? To do what? What is the meaning of it?
This has really calmed me down, helped me to come out of a lot of confusion, a bit of new age, a bit psychological, and a religiosity where there were too many inconsistencies and things to accept by blind faith.
Tell us about your translation experiences. How did it help you in your learning?
Transcribing Swamiji’s lessons and adapting them into a book format was very useful for me.
Transcribing the lessons helped me to dwell on the teachings and to ask myself so many questions. In order for the text to be comprehensible to a reader, I had to understand it first with Swamiji’s help.
Having this opportunity has been another great blessing, and I am happy to do it. The time I dedicate to transcriptions is one of the most beautiful moments of my day.
Tell us about your travel experiences in India.
I have to keep coming to India every year to attend Swamiji’s seminars, my purpose was not that of a tourist but as a student of Swamiji, anyway, Swamiji sometimes took us on a tour to visit temples and interesting places, always trying to make us see the best.
India is an extraordinary country, intense and strong, what you encounter is both magnificent and terrible at the same time. There is beauty, a special energy, sounds, life, women in saris. There are also cities where lakes get converted into buildings.
Have you attended or witnessed any Vedic rituals? Tell us about that
In December 2019, I turned 60. Swamiji invited us to India and gracefully organised a Homam (fire ritual) for my 60th birthday. I am really thankful to Swamiji for organising this. The ritual was very detailed and the energy of the mantras chanted made me positively charged as a person.
What are your future plans in writing/translation?
My intention is to continue to transcribe the seminars and make books out of them so that these teachings can spread. There is so much confusion in the world and also in the world of Yoga, the beauty and clarity of these teachings is a great help to people and humanity.