 February Kundalini Yoga News
What an INCREDIBLE month January turned out to be! From celebrating the New Year at Bija Yoga in Naples, Florida to the amazing weekend of classes at the Initiation weekend for the new Delta Groove studio in Memphis! Thanks dear Memphis Yogis for absolutely rocking the Kundalini Supersets we all did together. We also had awesome experiences teaching the very cool Concord, CA Kundalini Yogis, and of course, our Spirit-filled Syracuse Teacher Trainees. We feel so continuously blessed to have such great students with their awe-inspiring Keep Up Spirit! We continue to work hard putting the final touches on our next DVD and long time forthcoming book. We have been taking our time to make these great because you guys only deserve the best.The good news is that - it's almost SHOWTIME!!! We are excited to announce that our new DVD will be available before March 1st. As you already know its title is GREEN ENERGY OF THE HEART, and like all Kundalini Yoga, its the best of both worlds: A really great workout plus lots of inspiration to spark your Spirit. It also includes the Irish Blessing "Long Time Sun" song which so many of you have requested. It's sung by Ana and accompanied by Ravi on guitar.
And btw, Thanks so much, again, for your excellent input on our DVD cover. The finished product is an amalgam of all of your great thoughts and feedback! Hope to see you all at one of our upcoming events this year, which include 200/500 hr. Teacher Trainings (see below)!
Teacher Trainings in Memphis, Fernie, BC, Syracuse, and the UK!
Teacher Training is bursting out all over. We are happy to announce, that in addition to the Memphis 200/500 hr. Training Flier Here, we will be starting Teacher Trainings in June at Essential Yoga in Fernie, B.C. (reply to this e-mail for more info) and May 24th in Guilford, UK Flier Here!
Upcoming Workshops / Events
Sat. February 9th, Nyack, NY - Nyack, NY - Nyack Yoga
42 Main St. / 1 - 3:30 $45/40 pre-reg. Shake Your Chakras / Rock Your Soul w/ Live Music By Love Tribe Vibe / www.nyackyoga42main.com / 845.675.7135
Fri. Mar.1st to Sat. Mar. 2nd, Tulsa, OK - 306 Phoenix House / Friday 5:30 - 7 p.m./ Saturday 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. / 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. / Space Limited! Please Pre-Register: 918.814.4774 / 306phoenixhouse [at] gmail.com Flier Here!
Sun. March 3rd Eureka Springs, AK - Green Energy of the Heart / Fire Om Earth Center - 872 Mill Hollow Rd. 10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. $40 / 45 To Register Call Rebecca Hahn, 479.244.5114 Flier Here!Fri. April 5th to Sun. April. 7th Memphis, TN - KUNDALINI YOGA TEACHER TRAINING / YOGA WEEKEND
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Ultimate Kundalini Yoga Bucket List
Nothing is quite as satisfying as really diving in! When we commit to going a little deeper into our KY practice, the feeling of accomplishment, as well as the power of unlocking, and getting closer to realizing our greater potential, is pretty darn incredible! We know some of you can already check at least one of these as "done." Congratulations to those of you who have completed the 40 day challenge from our Jan. newsletter! We have put together this list of bright ideas we hope will inspire you to take it higher! Let us know your ideas for a follow up bucket list down the road! 1. So many cool Kundalini Meditations, so little time! Pick just one Meditation and do it for 31 min. for 40 days, without missing a day. When we practice a Meditation for 31 min. our internal rhythms harmonize, our glands secrete optimally, and our chakras align. 40 days is a magic number to create a new momentum in your life. Its a complete cycle of the psyche.
2. Do the Five TIbetan set (on our Kundalini Yoga for Beginners & Beyond) for 90 days straight, ideally at the same time each day. This set will align your chakra system, give your energy a boost, strengthen and tone your yoga muscles, and keep you forever young. 3. Teach a friend(s) a Kundalini Yoga technique which has helped you in the past. You may find sharing your practice so rewarding, that you are inspired to go on and get your certification! 4. Work up to 108 Frog's. For potency/fertility and great legs! Physical yoga was originally practiced to help yogis sit for long periods. Frog Pose will help circulation to your legs and help you sit like a "perfect yogi" longer( which will help with Bucket List item #1!). 5. Aspire to be higher! Hike to the top of a beautiful mountain top as a warm-up, and do a short kriya and or breath meditation. 6. Do an entire Kundalini Kriya, committing to the times AS GIVEN. Most exercises were meant to be done for 3 min. Some quite a bit longer. When you do a set for the full times, you are most certainly going to open energy flows and clear blockages. You may find yourself trembling through this grand opening but, WOW, not only will the feeling of accomplishment lift your spirit and confidence sky high for days, you will have opened fantastic new doorways in your growth journey, and have the secret knowledge that beautiful energies are flowing through you, tingling every cell. 7. Do that same set for 40 days,with the times as given. 40 is the number of completion. It takes 40 days to drop a negative habit and plant the seeds for more positive ones. 8. Do a 2 1/2 hour Meditation. 2 1/2 hours is 1/10 of a day. it's said that if we dedicate 1/10 of our day to the Universe, the Universe will dedicate the rest of the day to us! 9. Get up at 4:30 a.m. to do your KY practice. Pre-dawn is called Amrit Vela, the ambrosial hours. Our Spiritual strivings at that time are amplified, and when we meditate we're able to process out the most "stuff." Also, KY breathing is most potent because our lung meridians are most open. 10. Take a Cold Shower. Cold showers are called hydrotherapy. Yogi Bhajan said that this is a super secret for glowing health and beauty. The way to do this is to turn the cold water on and get in, massaging yourself where the water hits. Use lukewarm for washing and end with cold. What will happen is that the warm blood deep in the organs will come to the surface to get oxygenated and the oxygenated blood near the surface will go inside. Cold showers are amazing for our nervous systems, skin, and jump-starting our livers. It's the equivalent of swimming a cold lake which Yogi Bhajan recommended twice per day as a cure for cellulite! Cold showers also help to clear our auras so that they can sparkle and shine! 11. White is the new black! Wear all white for a day. The color white is the ultimate crayon box. It contains all of the colors! When we wear it, whichever chakra is lagging automatically gets an energy boost! Also, when we wear white cotton our magnetic fields expand up to 18 in. (with regard to our auras, size does matter!) 12. Master the Minute Breath (inhale for 20 seconds, hold for 20 seconds, exhale for 20 seconds). The Minute Breath will give us the subtlety and expanded overview to be serene, saintly, super citizens of the Aquarian Age! 13. Rock on your stomach in Bow Pose for 20 min. Yogi Bhajan said that if you do this you will never look a day older. This exercise keeps our energies in balance, regenerates the inner organs, increases our joy quotient, and builds the navel fire. Sometimes in yoga, the seeming fanatics of today are healthy and happy people of tomorrow! 14. Do a de-tox. How about steamed daikon radish for a week. Yogi Bhajan recommended this as a potent liver detox The what and how of your de-tox is entirely up to you and your particular needs. (Note: how you ease in and out of a de-tox makes ALL the difference). Combine your regimen with a Kundalini kriya to detox (Yoga Cleanse). 15. Do what you feel the most resistance to in your KY practice. Maybe you love the exercises, but Meditation makes you antsy. Remember there are very active Meditations in KY, perfect for people who need to move (Try the Awaken Your Senses segment on Solar Power)! 16. Say "Sat Nam," to a perfect stranger.17. Come to a Kundalini Weekend (or create your own). To create your own, pick a DVD for Friday Evening, two for Saturday (morning and aftenoon), and a longer one ( Journey Through the Chakras) for Sunday morning. When we're in a safe environment, and our solar plexus' are allowed to open, and stay open, over the course of a couple of days, new insights, new energy, and new possibilities manifest. 18. Remember to remember! Memorize one favorite Kundalini Kriya to take with you anywhere anytime. Kundalini is the best traveling companion there is. 19. Try a yogic diet for one weekend. This means to eat light and to stay away from the more difficult to digest foods (meat, bagels, ...!) so that you're always ready to dive on to your mat and yoga out. Conscious breathing is the ultimate superfood. It's not our way to cite the "rules," for yogic eating. Your own Awareness will guide you if you let it. 20. Commit to starting your day with yoga for one week. How we start our day defines our day. This is the way to live in higher Consciousness. Doing KY first thing will help you to go about your day in a great way! 21. Take a weekend of Teacher Training with us, even if you're not interested in being a Teacher right now. Consider it a Spiritual Bootcamp. You'll be surprised to find that a powerful group energy will carry you along in wonderful ways. Plus you'll always meet other great Kundalini yogis, who will be your friends for life!
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It's Fitness Season: Beginner to Advanced Kundalini
   
Question: "Is it possible to learn Kundalini Yoga, like you would as a student, step 1, 2, 3, from your DVD series?"
We're so glad you asked! Yes. We would suggest starting with:
This list is based on people's preference for a step by step approach. We know that trying to decide among all of our DVD's can be a bit overwhelming, but bottom line, the answer to which DVD is best for you is entirely personal, and if you can't decide, there's no wrong answer. Each of our DVD's will take you to the same place of being energized, balanced, and clear. In terms of beginner/advanced, it's more important to do the simplest thing well, than to do the most advanced thing haphazardly. An at home practice can take you a very long way, but if you ever have the opportunity, please try to take a live class.
Many of our DVD's are also available on
and
amazon.ca
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Agitation While Doing Puckered Lips Breath of Fire
Hello, Ana and Ravi! I am hoping you might be willing to answer this question in an upcoming newsletter. I recently purchased your "Body Electric" DVD and absolutely love it. I am so grateful for all your work, and each new DVD (I own 6, and have been practicing them for 6 years) delights, challenges, and transforms me. You guys are incredible!
There is an exercise in the "Body Bliss Workout" Chapter in which we are asked to do Breath of Fire through puckered lips while lifting alternate legs out behind us. The segment continues for a good 5-plus minutes, then repeats with a variation).
I find that each time I perform this exercise, within two minutes I feel almost panicked, like I am not breathing deeply enough. I feel stressed, anxious -- taxed to an almost uncomfortable limit. I am intrigued as to why this feeling arises. You say in the video that doing Breath of Fire through puckered lips stimulates the Parasympathetic Nervous System. I am wondering if this intense feeling that arises when I am stimulating my Parasympathetic Nervous System for a sustained period of time, is an indication, simply, that my PNS needs work (a need which the exercise would address)? I am curious as to why such an intensely anxious feeling would arise when doing this exercise it is so intense that I feel I cannot breathe (even though I am doing Breath of Fire through puckered lips), and must stop to catch my breathe with long deep breaths through the nose before resuming the exercise.
I would love to know more about this response I am experiencing, and if you may have any other recommendations for strengthening the Parasympathetic Nervous System, if that is indeed part of the issue.Abundant thanks for your consideration and for your wise and radiant instruction.
Thanks for writing and congratulations on keeping up with your Kundalini Yoga practice! Breath of Fire thru puckered lips is a cooling
type breath, which does stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system. For that reason it shouldn't engender a panicked feeling. We suggest that you do that breath slower and lighter. Also, make sure that your diaphragm stays relaxed. The symptoms you describe indicate a tight solar plexus. The solar plexus often locks up as a result of stress or emotional duress.
What might be going on can be compared to quitting something like coffee. People invariably feel worse before they feel better and that, in addressing your overactive fight or flight response (sympathetic nervous system), with the more mellow parasympathetic, you are experiencing some residual stress as your body comes back to balance. What you are experiencing is very temporary and you will feel more mellow than ever soon.
Christian Resistance
Ana and Ravi, I hope you are both doing well! I am looking forward to your next teacher training course! Yesterday I spoke with a client to whom, a few weeks back, I had counseled and suggested a couple kundalini meditations. Upon seeing her I asked how the meditations were going. She said she hadn't done them bc she was afraid. She went on to explain that she was a Christian and the word yoga "freaked her out a little." I tried to explain that yoga was not a religion - anything I could think of to allay her fears, but I could tell I wasn't reaching her. I left our encounter feeling really bad. Sad, bc I could tell how she suffered inside and I knew how kundalini could help, and angry/frustrated bc she was so close- minded that she would not open herself up to something new.
Even today, I can't seem to shake these feelings. It's strange bc I've counseled thousands of people on nutrition, and I don't expect them to all take my advice- why should I expect everyone to do so w kundalini?
I was wondering what your experience has been? I see so many people who need help, and I think how they would be helped if only they tried kundalini. Does it ever make you sad/angry/frustrated as teachers
It's a common for people to confuse yoga with religion. Yoga is not a religion . It's everything. Every aspect of the human experience and the whole Universe. We can't really fault someone for fierce adherence to an article of faith. People just want to do the right thing, even it may preclude doing the right thing for them. So how can we help people who may need it the most? In this case, drop all discussion of yoga and Kundalini and give her a Christian Meditation. Don't call it Meditation, rather say that it's a centering exercise. Explain that scientists have proven a "relaxation response," which means that you can repeat any word or phrase over and over and your mind and emotions will entrain, and all kinds of benefits will occur. Then tell her that if you repeat a Christian phrase, the exercise will have personal meaning for her. Give her the phrase, "Lord Jesus heal me. Heal me Lord Jesus." She should repeat it twice as she inhales long and light thru the nose, and twice as she exhales long and light through the nose. The duration of the phrase should be uniform on both the inhale and exhale. The longer the duration the better, but she should stay in her comfort zone with the breath (not run out of breath). Ask her to work up to 11 min. twice per day. Tell her that even 5 min. of practice initially will do amazing things for her. In terms of a Meditation practice, and raising one's consciousness, people have to start somewhere, so it's important to meet them where they're at to give them the means to pry open those cellar doors (of a seemingly stubborn mind set) and let some light in. Our job as Teachers is to plant seeds and serve. We should never feel discouraged if those seeds don't begin to germinate right away. We're doing more than we know.
Compassion should be our guide. If, for whatever reason, someone is not in a place in their lives to receive Kundalini Yoga, then we should come up with, 'a spoonful of honey to make the medicine go down,' whenever possible, 'in a most delightful way.' Ghost Buster
Dear Ana and Ravi, I was just chanting "Ang Sang Wahe Guru," in my new little yoga/meditation room that I set up in our brand new home. As I was chanting, I heard a loud popping sound right in the room. It freaked me out
I look all around the room to see if something had fallen and it did not. I have a little alter with a couple of crystals on it and thought maybe one of them had fallen, but did not - - Do you think it's possible because it is a new townhome that the chanting caused something in the room to pop/settle????? Also - I'm home by myself right now and so it could not have been anyone else in the house. I know this is such a weird question and I feel even silly for asking it, but you both are always so responsive and seem to genuinely care about your students - thought I'd give it a shot. Should also tell you that I'm a big chicken and have always had a major fear of the unknown (i.e., ghosts, etc.). It's sad, but true. Thanks for allowing me to ask you this question.
In cases like this it is best to use the Occam's razor approach, which means that you start with the simplest, most mundane explanation first, and then develop a hypothesis if absence of evidence dictates an alternative explanation. That's important in a life in yoga, because often our longing for the miraculous is what drew us to this Path, and we have to be very careful not to get ahead of ourselves and succumb to magical thinking. There may very well be a rational explanation, such as the house settling. Or, it may be that a "spirit," is desperately seeking the blessings generated by your Spiritual practice, so as not to remain a prisoner of this dense plane. Also, sometimes our own psyches (the combination of our emotions, mental makeup, and personal archetypes) can actually interface with our physical environment in a way that can either be haphazard or symbolic. Often when we begin to open the solar plexus area, phenomena like this can occur. The best way to proceed is to accept the more rational explanation as true, but to also say a prayer for any presences (including you) who may need your help. It definitely can't hurt. Mysteries abound in this Universe of ours, and we should never be so smug that we don't at least acknowledge that the Unseen exists.
Ang Sung Wahay Guru is a powerful mantra. It means: I dedicate every fiber of my being to the ongoing experience of Spirit forever. It's a mantra of a life of liberation in this body. Maybe no accident that a disembodied presence would acknowledge it. No need to be a "chick- en." As practitioners of the Beautiful Names, we are Masters of time, space, and all worlds! Sat Nam and blessings! FOLLOW UP:
Thank you for getting back to me so quickly - I really appreciate it and will heed your advice. I really wish I could get rid of this fear of ghosts because it does hinder me from pursuing a consistent, deeper meditation practice. I do value your suggestion of saying a prayer, though. Please be assured, there's absolutely no tie-in between "ghosts" and a Meditation practice. The idea that if we meditate we are somehow opening ourselves up to other "forces," or "entities," is completely erroneous. Actually what we should be most afraid of is being haunted by the ghosts of our own past habits and pain. Meditation is basically the only cure for that. A " a consistent, deeper meditation practice," is among the greatest gifts we could ever give ourselves. Your comment makes me feel a lot better about my fear and if meditation is the key - then I will continue to pursue it, especially if meditation is the "cure," for this fear. It's been a lifelong struggle that stems from childhood - so thank you for your compassion and insight. You are both amazing and I have enormous respect and admiration for your work and teachings.
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 Meditation of the Month: Fire Kriya
taught by Yogi Bhajan March 20th, 1978 "It is a powerful absolutely sacred, secret, Meditation. it will take you as far as you want to take it." --Yogi Bhajan
Sit with a straight spine, eyes 1/0 open looking down and in towards the tip of the nose. Your hands are in Reverse Finger Lock. Interlace your fingers, fingers meeting fingerprint to fingerprint. Thumbs meeting thumb print to thumb print. Hold this mudra at collarbone level, thumbs pointing straight up. Forearms parallel.
Inhale deeply and chant in a monotone, four times per breath (11 - 31 min.):
Sat Nam Sat Nam Sat Nam Sat Nam Sat Nam Sat Nam
Whaa-Hay Guroo. To End: Inhale deeply, stretch the arms overhead, shake your hands, exhale, and relax. This mantra relates to the Throat Chakra for direct communication, and the power to be a Master Manifester. The Throat Chakra also relates to knowledge of self, which is predicated on good listening. The ability to accept relevant feedback and consciously adapt to the promptings of Awareness. This mudra or hand position represents the unification of our elemental aspects and the integration of Self. The thumbs pointing straight up signifies our Identity unto Infinity. Multiple repetitions of a mantra on one breath help the liver, to detox. As we lower the rate of breaths per minute, we are stimulating our glandular system to engender calmness, clarity, and a more expansive sense of self. |
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We wish you an exhilarating, fun, and joyful February!
 All Best, Ana Brett & Ravi Singh 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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