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Ana Brett & Ravi Singh Dec. Yoga News
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NEWS & NOTES
We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It is one of our favorite holidays since it is solely a day to be grateful for all our many blessings - one of which is having all of you in our lives! We hope, too, that you are enjoying the start of a very happy and healthy holiday season!
It has been a very busy, fun, and creative year for us shooting and editing new material for our next round of DVD workouts! We are currently working like mad to make our deadline!
Which reminds us: we had an overwhelming response to our offer of free review copies! We appreciate your interest & support! We had mentioned that we would be giving
first consideration to those who had previously written a review(s) for
our titles on Amazon.com. We are very grateful to those who wrote and told us you have written reviews for our titles. Reviews are all people new
to Kundalini Yoga have to go on, and you can be assured that your words
have been a factor in inspiring many people to practice this amazing
technology.
We hope you will excuse us for not personally answering all your wonderful letters. We will be notifying those of you
who will be receiving review copies (and which titles) of our new DVD's
within the next month. Those who don't receive copies this time will be put on a list to receive the next ones (sometime next Spring). If you have (or are going to) review our DVD's on
amazon.com, be sure to let us know!
We have had many letters regarding workshops and trainings. We hope to get on the road again in the upcoming year. We will keep you posted with the dates times and hope to see you soon!
Our New DVD's: Update!
The official titles for our new DVD's are:
Yoga for Beginners & Beyond: Stretch, Strengthen, Be Stress Free!
Kundalini Yoga Cardio, Stretch, & Strengthen
Kundalini Yoga for Energy & Super Radiance!
Please
follow the links to Amazon.com to read all about these. We will be
selling these exclusively on Amazon.com. The release date for these
titles is January 18th, but it is possible to pre-order now! Amazon.com is currently offering these titles on sale for $14.49! |
Strengths and Weaknesses: A Parable
The swans of the world, with the best of intentions, convened a school for birds. Mandatory classes included swimming, climbing, flying and running.
The duck was good at swimming and a pretty fair flyer, but just couldn't make any progress in running. As a result, the duck was forced to drop swimming class and stay after school to practice running. He kept this up until he got rusty in swimming, but still average, and average was okay, and the others were no longer threatened by his stellar swimming. Everyone felt more comfortable, except the duck.
The eagle was somewhat of a problem student from the very beginning. In climbing, he beat everyone to the top of the mountain, but did it in his own way. He flatly refused to hike and incurred quite a few demerits. Then, he was so uncooperative in swimming classes that he was finally expelled.
The ostrich started at the top of the class in running, but was obviously not up to speed in other areas. In fact, he almost broke his leg trying to fly! He had so much make-up work to do that he lost his confidence, had a complete breakdown, and had to drop out.
The chicken, was a failure in almost everything. Sadly, her great talent, nurturing, was not part of the syllabus. She did her best to be as graceful and noble as the swans, but her constant clucking caused her to spend more time in the Principal's office than in class. Finally, the chicken was able to stretch her neck out in emulation of the swans, and managed to stifle her clucking, but she wound up feeling empty inside, without purpose, and just sat in class and moped.
By the end of the school year, there were no real successes. It seemed that all the birds were either average, depressed, or had been expelled.
The moral of this story is that each of us has been given certain gifts and abilities, certain strengths and weaknesses. The question becomes, what do we focus on: fixing our weaknesses or developing our strengths? Of course, there are life skills which are important, and if we are weak in those areas, we should make every effort to improve. But if we primarily focus on fixing our weaknesses, which often becomes a curious form of self-absorption, then we may end up not using our gifts!
We feel that one's personal Destiny entails using one's gifts to heal, uplift, and inspire. Are you an artist in an accountant's body? Are you a natural born accountant in a New Age milieu? Give yourself permission to be who you are. Broadcast your strengths in your walk through this world and shine on!
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***SPECIALS OF THE MONTH***
Give the gift of spirit! Amazon.com is still offering the following DVD's on sale, some for as low as $10.99! Follow these links to go right to these titles' Amazon pages
Kundalini Yoga for Beginners & Beyond -
$11.99 - a Kundalini Yoga 'must have,' for any level. Featuring the essential
Rise & Spine set, followed by strength building "5 Tibetans"
Kundalini Yoga style!
Fat Free Yoga
- $10.99 - Four 20 minute sets: Start Your Engines, Burn Baby Burn, No Impact
Aerobics, Your Life is In Your Own Glands. Also: 2 meditations and
more!
Dance the Chakras Yoga Workout - $12.99 - 2 yoga sets and movement work. A perfect balance of flexibility and strength work and fun low impact cardio dance.
Yoga Beauty Body - $12.99 - The "Perfect" Yoga Workout. Includes the Magnificent Seven. Daily "must," yoga exercises.
Yoga Bliss Hips - $15.99 - Kundalini Yoga for Hip Opening & Mood Mastery
Warrior Workout - $14.49 - A perfect workout for 2008! A non-stop energy feast!
Navel Power - $14.49 - for a Stomach of Steel & Personal Power
Ultimate Stretch Workout-
$10.99 - best of both worlds combining the great dynamic elements of
Kundalini Yoga with deep stretching of Power and Vinyasa
Yoga Quick Fixes -
$15.99 - almost 4 hours of workout options. Pre-set workouts plus Quick Fixes for everything from Depression to Headaches.
Am/Pm Yoga - $14.49 - Start & End Your Day in a Great Way!
Yoga Cleanse-
$13.99 - Lighten Up & Purify!
A Journey thru the Chakras -
$14.49 - Climb the Ladder of Lights. A Great Inner/Outer Workout.
Yoga House Call - $15.99 - A set a day keeps the doctor bills away! |
***QUESTIONS OF THE MONTH***
FACIAL SOLUTIONS
I am hoping you could give me some solutions to a problem that I am having. I have always maintained a youthful appearance, appearing not to age much over the years, which astounded people; however, over the last year and 1/2 or so, I've experienced an EXTREME amount of stress from my marriage. I was extremely sad and lost my smile for a long time. I have recovered tremendously now; however, see the signs stress left on my facial contour, extreme sagging in my facial cheeks and chin areas. I own all your DVDs, with the exception of two (the Chakras Dance, and the Cleanse) and I do your workouts regularly; but haven't seen much of a change facially. What do you recommend to help alleviate this problem? I greatly appreciate whatever suggestions you have you think would help me. Thank you very much!
Thanks for writing. What you described reflects over-stressed adrenals. Overall, we recommend the exercises on Yoga Beauty Body, especially Shoulderstand with Breath of Fire. We also recommend the "Hands Like a Teapot" meditation on Fat Free Yoga for 11 minutes a day (according to yoga this technique gives one's face a youthful glow). All forms of meditation put us in regenerative mode. Whenever one has gone through a period of long term stress, meditation is essential. We also recommend all of Fat Free Yoga for its work on hormonal balance.
The following exercise should give you good results: sitting in a cross-legged position, raise your arms straight up, palms facing in, fingers spread wide. Hold this with Long Deep Breathing, elongating your spine all the while. 1-3 minutes. Then lower your arms. With your hands in your lap, meditate for 1-3 minutes. Then repeat the exercise for 3-5 minutes. This works on the adrenals to help the cells of your face regenerate and give you a more youthful look.
We also suggest adding some raw food to your diet. The added enzymes will help you better assimilate nutrients. Rejuvenative nutrition is important for you now. Also, plenty of EFA's (essential fatty acids) will be very beneficial as well. Please keep us posted. We wish you joy, health, and blessings!
BINGE EATING
Hi! I have two questions that I am hoping you guys may be able to help me with. First, I am very desperate for a solution to a relatively new problem of mine- binge eating. It started maybe about 7 months ago. I thought maybe I wasn't getting enough calories during the day so it lead me to binge, but even now when I track my calories and make sure I am getting enough vitamins through healthy foods I still find myself on a binge every other day or every other two days. I feel out of control. I realize that it might be emotionally related but all the methods I have tried to rid myself of this problem have been unsuccessful. I know navel power is supposedly a key to having a strong will and being able to say "no when you need to, and yes to yourself." I am wondering if there are any specific ideas or suggestions or exercises you guys may have for this sort of problem?
Secondly, I just moved across the country where the climate/weather is very different. It is much colder, gets darker way earlier, and rains very often. My body and mind are having a hard time adjusting. It also is not helping to solve the first problem I inquired about above. If anything, I am all out of whack, I feel as though the problem has worsened since moving. I am afraid it will just become completely out of hand once full blown winter sets in! Please help!
Thanks so much for any help or response and for being an amazing inspiration.
Thanks for writing. You are right about using our Navel Power DVD to strengthen your will. Navel work is the first and last resort when one is trying to "put on the brakes" and get back on a positive track.
We feel that the stress caused by your move and the uncertainties around that may be an underlying cause for your situation. You are also correct in your assessment that binge eating can be linked to one's body trying to get necessary nutrients. We suggest that you add more raw food to your diet to get important enzymes which help to extract nutrients more effectively. Digestive enzyme supplements may be helpful as well. Sometimes people over-indulge with sweets because they are not getting enough protein. Green foods will help you assimilate protein more effectively.
In addition to Navel Power, we recommend our Fat Free Yoga DVD for its work on the glands, as well as Yoga Bliss Hips.
Now would be a great time to practice a meditation for 31 (or more) minutes per day. Consider committing to at least 40 days without missing a day. We recommend the meditation on Navel Power and/or the meditation on Yoga Bliss Hips. The meditation on Yoga Bliss Hips is, in many respects, the number one meditation in Kundalini Yoga. We also recommend a brisk walk before your yoga workout.
It may seem simplistic, but installing full spectrum bulbs might be helpful. Also, work on the pineal gland can help alleviate seasonal depression. We recommend Fat Free Yoga and the higher center exercises on A Journey thru the Chakras. Please keep us posted. We wish you joy, health, and blessings! |
 MEDITATION OF THE MONTH
Rising Star Meditation - This was taught by Yogi Bhajan on Sept. 12th 1983. It has many elements
which combine to help you access your inherent greatness, which is one
definition of Kundalini, the energy which moves us beyond our limits.
Sit
in a comfortable position with your spine straight. Your eyes are
closed. Place your left hand, palm down, over your Heart Center
(sternum). The left elbow is resting against the left side of the
body. Your right hand is in a fist with the right index finger
extended. Extend your right arm, straight out in front of the body
(palm down), up to a 60 degree angle. Then move your right arm 18 in.
to the right. The position of the arm should not create tension in the
body. Do powerful long deep breathing through the nose. Feel that
you're breathing down to your navel. As you exhale the navel pulls
inward. 3-5 min. (work up to 11 min.)
Breath is an
energy delivery system. Breathing quickens the soul, balances the
mind, body, and emotions. The index finger relates to Jupiter energy,
luck and expansion. The angle of 60 degrees activates your magnetic
field. In this meditation the Universe imprints blessings onto the
template of your life. Practice this technique with firm devotion and
your star will definitely be on the rise! |
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We hope you have an inspiring, joyful, December!!
All Best,
Ana Brett & Ravi Singh
www.raviana.com / ravianayoga@aol.com
Disclaimer: The advice we give is in no way intended as a substitute for medical counseling. Please consult your physician before beginning any exercise program or nutritional protocol.
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