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Ana Brett · Ravi Singh · Kundalini Yoga
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Sat Nam and Happy September! We hope your month is off to a great start! We are very excited for our Fall schedule which includes some very special workshops as well as our Teacher Training in Naples, FL, and our New England Retreat. We look forward to seeing lots of you! Oh, and we hope you enjoy this month's newsletter themes: The New "Secret," plus Invasion of the Forehead Snatchers, and more!
2011 Retreats, Workshops, & Teacher Training!!!
New Haven, CT - Sat. September 24th / Fresh Yoga, 319 Peck St. Healing the Healer - K. Yoga for Yoga Teachers & Holistic Healers (and everyone else!)12:30 - 3 p .m. $55/50 pre-reg. www.freshyoga.com / 203.776.9642
Nyack, NY - Sun. September 25th / Lift Nyac. 42 Main St Nyack, NY
Kundalini Yoga - Green Energy of the Heart - 1 - 3:30 p.m.
$50 / 45 pre-reg. / 2 Main St. / www.liftnyack.com / 845-709-1634
Plattsburgh, NY - Fri. Sep. 30th to Sat. Oct. 1st, Clauss Chiropractic, 1942 Military Tpke (only 1 hr. from Montreal!) / Friday 5 - 7 p.m. / Saturday 10 a.m. - Noon $45 ea. (space limited) 518.561.6004 / www.clausschiropractic.com
Teacher Training, Naples, Florida starts OCT. 14th
"Those who can teach, do!" --Ravi Singh
Accelerate your Destiny! Use your gifts to heal, uplift, and inspire. Deepen your practice! Come and Glow for It! It's official. We're very excited to announce that Our next 200 hr. Teacher Training will be in Naples, FL. You will be able to complete it between October 2011 and April 2012! For more info, see the Attached Teacher Training Brochure and/or contact: jamie@jamieshane.com
P.S. Not ready to sign up for the whole training? If you are anywhere in the Southeast or would like to hop down to Florida, we would love to see you! You can attend individual workshops. Here are the times/themes for the upcoming sessions:
Fri. Oct. 14th 5 - 7 p.m.: The Kundalini Experience: Spirit Rising Workout
Sat. Oct. 15th 9:30 a.m. - Noon: Kundalini Yoga All-In-One Superset.
Sat. Oct. 15th 2 - 4p.m.: The Body Electric: Move Your Energy Move Your Life
Sun. Oct. 16th 9:30 a.m. - Noon: Spiritual Bootcamp: K.Yoga Workout/Work In
Our Next Retreat: Chester, CT November 4th - 6th
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Live Your Colors!
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12 Spaces Left! We loved our Chester Retreat so much last year, that we immediately made plans to do it again this Fall! Guest House Retreat Center in Chester CT is an amazing place to practice yoga with its spacious yoga rooms, healthy delicious food, and, most importantly, the pristine air just makes you want to breathe and breathe! No matter where you are coming from, it is very accessible, yet so private! Located in a woodsy area adjacent to State Forest with hiking trails, and 2 neighboring lakes. The vibe is very New Englandy, charming and rustic, and the fabulous, fun, pretty and quaint town of Chester is nearby.
The best thing about a Kundalini Yoga Retreat is that it takes us as we are and lifts us to where we needed to be! If you are after some more peace in your life, some more will power, some transformational activity in body, mind, soul or circumstance, this is an opportunity to get a flying start into a higher echelon of being!
The cost for this whole event (2 nights accommodation, including meals) $600 (double room occupancy). Rooms are SPACIOUS, each with a private bathroom. The first yoga session will be Friday Nov. 4th at 4p.m. There will be a before bed meditation on Friday and Saturday nights, as well as two yoga sessions on Saturday, as well as a yoga session on Sunday morning. The session on Sunday will end by Noon.
We can only accept 35 people so don't delay! To register please call us at 1.800.243.9642 or e-mail us at ravianayoga@aol.com. Registration will require a non-refundable $300 deposit to hold your space. We can accept payment via credit card or paypal (ravianayoga@aol.com). Also, those who attend will accrue 15 hours towards our 200 hr. Yoga Alliance Teacher Training certification. We look forward to seeing you there!
High End Accommodations!!!
Build a weekend around our Plattsburgh, NY workshops, and explore the Adirondacks and/or pamper yourself. Ed and Lisa, owners of the Mirror Lake Inn, in Lake Placid, NY, have graciously offered a discount for people attending our sessions. The Mirror Lake Inn, rated by Travel & Leisure as one of the top hotels in the world, is normally $500 a night. Mention our workshop when you register and the cost will be $199! We had the good fortune of staying there last month, and all we can say is, "WOW." Their spa is holistic and state of the art. The rooms are beautiful, each w/a view. The staff is super nice. You will want to go back again & again! 518.523.2544
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The New "Secret!"
All things being equal, what is the underlying factor which determines the quality and flow of life? It's the magnetic interplay between each other and between us and the Universe. Our magnetic fields are our magnetic psyches. Our individual magnetic fields  are linked to more subtle fields all the way up the ladder to the Unified Field of Self. Our magnetic fields are sensitive because they are designed to process
and filter sub- tle inform- ation. That sensitivity can also make us
vulnerable. That's why It's important to strengthen our magnetic fields as a matter of course. P.D. Ouspensky described a commuter train which consistently pulled into the station at least 15 - 30 min. late each morning. People waiting on the platform would project all of their negativity and impatience onto the engineer. No coincidence that the engineer suffered chronic headaches and other health problems. Think of someone like Marilyn Monroe or Elvis Presley who were set up to be icons in popular culture. Is it any wonder that they both self-destructed, having to constantly withstand the battering ram of the collective psyche? There are so many cross currents in life. A strong aura is our first line of defense in the energetic interplay of life. Kundalini Yoga to the rescue! See the Meditation of the Month for a powerful way to keep your magnetic field strong.
Date Night and The Magnetic Needle In A Haystack Yogi Bhajan gave these examples re: the interplay between magnetic fields:
Imagine Brian asks Sue out on a date.Brian had been trying to convince Sue to go out with him forever. He had dreamed about it, lobbied for it, and now that the day has come, has planned everything to a "T." Sue reluctantly agreed, but would rather just as well stay home and watch tv. There is a strong likelihood that while getting ready to go out, Sue might suffer a paper cut, stubbed toe, ripped seam, etc. Why? Brian's inadvertent over-projecting rendering an unsuspecting Lisa energetically susceptible.
He also said that by the Law of Attraction, and through each person's unique "scent," two people who are meant to find each other, can do so at a distance of 2 1/2 times the circumference of earth. By "scent," we mean part pheromones, part personal magnetism, part psychic homing signal.
More on this fascinating subject in the book we're writing which is getting closer to completion every day!
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We really appreciate your great feedback (and reviews) on our DVDs including
Our Two New DVD's ! Many of you discovered Kundalini Yoga thru reviews on Amazon. Don't forget to share your own real life testimony in the form of reviews there to help someone else start their own KY journey!
Kundalini Yoga:
The Body Electric Workout
Kundalini Yoga Flow Bootcamp
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· Add To Your DVD Collection!! ·
  
Here is a list of our 22 DVD's and links to Amazon.com where many of these are on sale! Complete your collection and fly high!
- Yoga Total Tune Up - Four 20 min. segments. Powerful stuff!
- Yoga Cleanse - Perfect workout for your winter detox and more!
- Navel Power - For personal power, focus, will, and stomach of steel!
- Warrior Workout - a non-stop high energy feast.
- Ultimate Stretch Workout - Great Kundalini for longer leaner lines!
- A Journey thru the Chakras - Climb the ladder of lights,blossom!
- Am/Pm Yoga - Start and end your day on a high note!
- Kundalini Yoga for Beginners & Beyond - A Kundalini "must have," featuring the classic basic spinal series and the Five Tibetans!
- Fat Free Yoga - If you don't have this one, the time is now!
- Dance the Chakras Yoga Workout - Move thru the chakras, literally! Two sets: a half hour chakra workout and sacred movement sets.
- Yoga Beauty Body - Featuring the "Magnificent 7," and much more!
- Yoga Bliss Hips - Let your energy flow in new and exciting ways!
- Yoga House Call - Yoga fixes for long term issues, quick sets, more!
- Yoga Quick Fixes - Yoga fixes for on-the-spot self-healing, quick sets plus. Featuring Delete Depression, Headache Helper, So Long Sciatica...
- Yoga for Beginners & Beyond: Stretch, Strengthen, Be Stress Free - Kundalini/Hatha fusion. Embody the basics and grow your Kundalini practice!
- Kundalini Yoga for Energy & Super Radiance - Kundalini Yoga to be the bright being you were born to be!
- Kundalini Yoga Cardio, Stretch, & Strengthen - Get set to sweat and grow!
- Kundalini Yoga Transformer All-In-One Workout - An amazing inner/outer workout. Featuring "Born Free," and more!
- Kundalini Yoga Solar Power All-In-One Workout - An amazing set to open the all-important solar plexus plus Awaken Your Senses.
- Kundalini Yoga Meditation for Beginners & Beyond - Grow you inner life and burn brightly in this world!
- Kundalini Yoga Flow Bootcamp All-In-One Workout
- Kundalini Yoga Body Electric All-In-One Workou
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Questions of the Month We get hundreds of emails per month with your questions. We like to share some of them here so everyone can benefit. Enjoy!
Invasion of the Forehead Snatchers
I felt so let down to find that a yoga instructor had recently botoxed her forehead. This seems so wildly counter intuitive - to inject especially into the spiritual third eye in the name of vanity?! One of the chief internal knots is attachment to the body as self, i am perplexed and amazed and how many people in holistic fields are doing this? It seems to symbolicly FREEZE the human spiritual potential. Ana, am I overly sensitive to this? I feel an invasion of the forehead snatchers!
Everything you say is true, and we can see how it might feel especially disappointing, that a Spiritual instructor, whom you might look to at some point for guidance in matters such as acceptance and grace in the aging process, is opting for what seems to be such a shallow approach. Well, remember, yoga teachers are simply regular people, at different points on their paths. And we do have to give this teacher credit for at least being open about her choice to get botox. There is so much pressure on women in this world to stay looking young! The aging process SHOULD be regarded as the thing of beauty it is. People earn those expression lines! They are our history and tell our story. Then again, we can't know the whole story of the yoga teacher you wrote about. Maybe those worry lines are genetic and she doesn't feel it represents who she is at this stage of her life.
Then again, everything contains its opposite and you could say, that trying to control one's destiny, even if it's in a purely physical way, is actually a very Spiritual thing to do. Of course, the real answer is yoga, especially Kundalini Yoga! It provides the radiant youthful complexion you just can't get from the end of a needle!
It's also true that, often, needles, tatoos, nips, and tucks etc. can disrupt energy flows, but probably not enough to be a compelling reason not to go that route. Maybe a more compelling reason to avoid the "easy fix," route would be that there is something to be said for seeing who the real you is. It lets you know how you are doing. Bottom line: Nothing is a beautiful as the real you no matter what your age!
Further Thoughts: There are many other angles to this very relevant question such as: what about lasic eye surgery, tooth implants or hormone replacement therapy? What about breast augmentation? Where does yoga stand on all of this? The yoga world past and present is like politics: every opinion is accounted for, so there's not one idea or philosophy which is, "yoga." We would say that it's all about intention. First of all, before a woman alters her face or body we would counsel her to do 6 months of So Darshan Chakra Kriya for 62 min. a day. That will insure that a subconscious itch doesn't become a runaway train. Then we would ask her to delve deeply into her intention. Is she doing this in a "one more thing" type of mindset, as a misguided attempt to make everything better, or is it something she really feels she needs to do, after ample consideration, to feel better about herself? It is very important that we all honor the Feminine Principle. That means not catering to the shadow side of that archetype which is Maya (illusion). When we honor illusion over Substance, Mother Nature has to step in and open our eyes to what's really real, often with some jolts along the way. When we do something from the outside in, it represents a temporary advantage. From the inside out: forever.
What most yoga systems agree on is that unless we work from the inside out then all of our best laid plans are just vain posturing and lead to nothing. There are definite passages in life and by the time we're 36, more or less, we should probably have given ourselves the gift of a Spiritual Path or discipline. Not everyone is lucky enough to have that insight, but if you are reading this, you have been blessed with good fortune! When we're 80 years old hopefully we'll all be zipping around in our energy bodies instead of little sports cars trying to impress everyone.
All that said, what we're seeing now is only the tip of the iceberg re: the types of decisions which people will probably have to wrestle with down the road, i.e. should I get myself downloaded into a whole new body!!! Things which will keep medical ethicists up nights. The fact is we're all living longer than our bodies were designed for and the old models of aging just don't apply anymore. We are social animals as well as competitive one's. Everyone is programmed to try to find an edge in life. For some people it's their looks. For others it's their intellects, mechanical ability... So it's understandable that people will go to such incredible lengths to try to beat the clock, beat the odds, and one up one another. So, what's a person to do! There are no one size fits all answers. What we can say is that yoga means balance, so it's important to find out what represents balance for each of us. Sat Nam x
Tennis Elbow Hi Ana & Ravi,I have a question that I don't think has been addressed on your web site before. I have a history of elbow tendonitis (a.k.a. "tennis elbow"), and I have to be careful that I don't re-aggravate it through exercise (particularly weights work, but also with yoga movements). In addition, I tend to have a lot of tightness in my upper back & shoulders, some of which I think might be re- lated to repetitive activities in my daily life--for example, using the computer mouse on my right side. Given this, I worry that the repetitive movements required for some of the KY kriyas may actually aggravate problems within my body rather than improve on them. What is your opinion on this? Would you suggest that I practice certain exercises but avoid others? Thanks in advance for your help! Unless a particular Kundalini Yoga exercise seems to place direct stress on your elbow joint, it should be beneficial for your condition due to the increased circulation and energy flow which Kundalini exercises stimulate. Your elbow joint is very likely bearing the stress of your "tightness in my upper back & shoulders," which would indicate a need for more core support. The elbows, like most body joints, act as transference points between a place of grounding and a place of extention in the body and should not be taking any direct stress themselves, or initiating movements. Attention to alignment is very important for you, and when appropriate in an exercise (i.e. Cat/Cow, Down Dog, etc..), be sure that your inner elbows face each other.
One exercise which comes to mind, which would help to relieve your condition is to extend your arms straight up, upper arms hugging ears, fingers interlaced, hands inverted, palms facing the ceiling. Breath of Fire 2 - 3 min. This might be a nice one to do when sitting at your computer for extended periods.
If alignment is good, none of the repetitive exercises we do should be a cause for concern. If there is a particular one you have concerns about please let us know and we will send you our thoughts on it.
If you are not having flare up at this time, exercises such as Down Dog and Cobra Pose are great ones for building upper back and shoulder strength, as well as releasing tension in those areas.
Other factors: Inflammation is often a metaphor for issues on the emotional level. It could also be a liver issue (Yoga Cleanse!) The elbows is a reflex point for the stomach and issues such as you describe can occur when the stomach is not producing enough hydrochloric acid. The Digestible You segment on Yoga Quick Fixes would
be helpful in that regard. Also, using fresh lemon juice as a condiment will help as well. Research high oxalate foods and cut down on those. They can cause inflammation.
Fearless Surrender
Dear Ravi and Ana,when Ana encourages us to go beyond our bodies and physical limitations, doesn't that require a kind of surrendering?can you say something similarly about the concept of a requirement for a personal guru- new vs. old model? any comments about ritual? what could they be and why important? thanks, your friend,
Thanks for writing. Yes, that is a form of surrender. We are surrendering to the part of us which is limitless. It's called Fearless Surrender. On the Kundalini Yoga path, we don't believe in the necessity for a personal guru. Kundalini Yoga is the Yoga of
Self-Reliance. The Guru we honor is whatever vehicle the Universe uses to bring us from darkness to light. It could be a Teaching, or something someone says to us at exactly the right time. It's not transmitter we honor, it's what's coming through them. Buddha said, "Don't worship the finger pointing at the moon." We wish you joy, health, and abundant blesssings!
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Meditation of the Month - Lion's Paw Meditation to Reset Your Magnetic Field
  Sit in an Easy Pose, with a slight Neck Lock. Spread your fingers and keep them slightly curled. Maintain tension in your fingers throughout. Extend your arms out to the sides, parallel to the ground, palms up. To the rhythm of the Breath of Fire bring your arms overhead so that your hands pass each other over the crown of the head. Your elbows bend slightly and the palms face down. Then bring your arms parallel to the ground again. Alternate forearms in front as they cross overhead. Move somewhat quickly. Your breath is like a locomotive. You are essentially inhaling when your arms are parallel and exhaling as your arms cross overhead. 9 min.
To End: Continuing to breathe through your nose, and keeping the movement going, stick your tongue out and down all the way. Continue for 15 seconds more. Then inhale, bring your tongue in and extend your arms to a 60 degree angle, slightly rounded so that they form an arc around your head. The hands are still in Lion's Paws. Inhale deeply. Hold the breath for 15 seconds. Exhale. Again, inhale deeply. Hold the breath for 30 seconds. Relax and let the arms down. Meditate at the Heart Center. Follow the gentle flow of the breath. It is great to follow this by chanting an inspiring and uplifting mantra for 3-5 min. This exerecise is on our Kundalini Yoga for Energy & Super Radiance DVD!
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We wish you a invigorating, healthy, happy, fun September!
 All Best, Ana Brett & Ravi Singh www.raviana.com / ravianayoga@aol.com
Disclaimer: The advice we give is not intended as a substitute for medical counseling. Please consult your physician before beginning any exercise program or nutritional protocol |
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