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Sat Nam Dear Yogis, Happy April! As Ravi often says at the end of a challenging Kundalini Yoga exercise, "Forget what you've been through and be in the place it's delivered you to!" It's also relevant after a particularly long and cold winter, now that the advance-guard of hardy daffodils are pushing through the softening earth to seek the welcoming sun. It's also a very apt thought for this months subject: Body Blocks and Energy Triangles. Everything we've gone through makes the freedom and flow we experience in our Kundalini Yoga practice even more of a miracle! But first...
News of the Universe:
April 22nd will feature a Cardinal Grand Cross. This will be this years most prodigious and profound astrological happening. It is real and it is imminent! Many planets are lining up in the signs that not only represent the turning point of the year, but the turning point in our lives. It's time to get serious about our path. This means we have to fight for our right NOT to party! It's not going to be fun at first, but we have to be willing to grow in Spirit, to change and re-arrange, to stop playing possum and blossom. It's time to get up on the stage of life to declare and dare.
There may be fierce friction between traditional structures and revolutionary new paradigms. It means that circumstances will force us to think of things in a new way. So here we go kicking and screaming into the Aquarian Age! But there is a way (see below) to rock this Cardinal Grand Cross and make our passage smoother through this astrological reckoning. If we are brave enough to recognize our blocks and unblock them we are on our way to victory! More on this in our subject of the month below!
We have some great events coming up. We can't wait to everyone in Springfield, MO later this month (see below). Our weekend of workshops is going to be an amazing gathering of beautiful souls from throughout the mid-south and midwest. NYC and LA have nothing on places like Springfield, Tulsa, and Memphis when it comes to being Spiritual magnets!
 We're super excited about our upcoming Teacher Training at Indigo Yoga, in Pleasant Hill, CA, right outside of San Francisco. Module 1: May 23 - 25. This is a small center with a Big Heart. Veteran Kundalini Teachers Kelly and Eric Black(Owners) and Sosie Sagherian will all be assisting in the training. If you can dare to get there and are ready to shift into a Higher Order of Being, join us!.Don't let time/space interfere with this amazing opportunity. DOWNLOAD FLIER HERE! (we'll be teaching a special class here Wed. April 2nd, see below): www.indigopleasanthill.com  We're also happy to announce that Delta Groove Yoga (who celebrated their first birthday this past week) in Memphis is now home to the first Raviana sponsored 200 Teacher Training led by Olivia Lomax and other all-star graduates of our 300 hr. program. Olivia is an amazing Kundalini Yoga Teacher. Her classes are great workouts with a high fun factor. Participants will receive our 300+ Teacher Training manual. If you have hours to make up from any of our other Trainings you can attend these sessions. Module 1 begins on April 4th. Info: www.deltagrooveyoga.com / 901.493.1431
Upcoming Workshops and Events
Wed. April 2nd, Pleasant Hill, CA - Indigo Yoga
Spring Equinox Soul Celebration 6:00 - 7:30 pm / $20 925.988.9642 / www.indigopleasanthill.com Sat. Apr. 26th to Sun. Apr. 27th, 2014 Springfield, MO / 412 s. Campbell Sat. 10:00 - 12:00, and 2:00 - 4:00 pm Sunday, 9:30 - 11:30 am $40 ea. / $100 for weekend / Info and registration: rod[at} rodbuckner.com / 417.832.0011 FLIER HERESaturday / Sunday May. 3rd and 4th - Kundalini Yoga & Wellness: Spark Spirit & Live Your Greatness
New Cumberland, PA Sat. 11 a.m. - 1p .m., 2 - 4 p.m., Sun. 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. $40 ea./$100 for weekend: MUST PRE-REGISTER 717.724.7727 / info [at} kundaliniyogaandwellness.com Sat. May. 10th to Sun. May. 11th, 2014 Manchester UK - OM YOGA SHOW www.omyogashow.com Fri. May. 23rd to Sun. May. 25th, 2014, Pleasant Hill, CA - Kundalini Yoga Teacher TrainingModule 1 - Self Initiation, 2395 Pleasant Hill Road 2nd Floor, kellycallahan [at} mac.com / 925.988.9642
Are You Ready for a Breakthrough?
Treat Yourself to a Phone Consultation with Ravi
Do you have specific goals for which you would like to apply the most appropriate inner technology? Would you like some clarity with regard to the person you're meant to be and your Mission on this earth? Do you have an emotional or physical health issue which has resisted your best attempts? Ravi Singh will draw upon his long experience as a Teacher and Spiritual Adviser and provide counseling and a personal Meditation practice for going forward. Each consultation is one hour and 108 dollars. Please reply to this e-mail if you'd like to set up and appointment.
P.S. If you feel you are ready, Ravi will give you a Spiritual name and a personal mantra to go along with it.
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 Our New DVD!
is now available on
Amazon.com and
Hormones make it happen! They drive our passions and fuel our purpose, energy, and peace of mind. They elevate our emotions and even keep our bodies toned. The Happy Hormones Workout will help you achieve the perfect balance of these crucial glandular go-getters. This DVD has it all: stretching, ab work, a cardio element, total body toning, and of course Kundalini Yoga s dynamic blend of movement, poses, breathing, and bliss. This DVD contains two warm-ups sets, two super Happy Hormones workouts, the fabulous and fun Shake Dance, a joyful Meditation, and more. Also featured: inspiring music to SHAKE YOUR CHAKRAS & ROCK YOUR SOUL! Bonus segments include a Breath Primer and an Alignment Tips and Benefits section. Whether you re new to yoga or a long time practitioner, this DVD will be your friend for life. What people are saying about Happy Hormones!
"Happy Hormones is invigorating, fun, and uplifting."
"New exercises and energy on this one..."
"Every time I do this latest Ana & Ravi workout I feel amazing. I know I have given my whole body, head to toe a good workout, and I mean inside and out!"
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 Body Block & Energy Triangles
Each of us has an energy heart pulsing light through our bodies. When we are open to this energy our skin glows, our eyes brighten, and our chest expands. Life is about uplift and forward momentum.
Life, strife, and circumstance often train us to resist this energy. Body Blocks are like dams with energy on one side and us on the other.
When pulsing waves of vital energy within us continually strike muscle blocks, tension is compacted. For instance many people experience a backache (or life ache!) as pain-spasm-pain-spasm. Eventually If this occurs for a long enough time our bodies (circumstances) harden in an attempt to splint the area against further insult, producing a structural, energetic, and life block.
A backache may have a structural cause, but more often it's the expression of our struggle to keep ourselves uplifted. Heart problems are often the expression of the pain of our blocked impulses to love or be loved. The way to correct these blocks is to work from the inside out and outside in simultaneously. Working from the inside out entails being brave enough to feel our feelings and open ourselves to their positive poles. Working from the outside in involves doing a committed Kundalini Yoga practice to get our energy moving.
Our blocks are clues which point us towards the paradise of innocence lost and freedom found. The major areas of holding in the body are the eyes, jaw, ankles, pelvic area, knees, feet, neck, upper back, shoulders, lower back, buttocks, calves, and diaphragm. Our jaws relate to first chakra issues and stubborn resistance. Our ankles are the interface between our maturity and our security. The pelvis area represents the sweetness of life. Our knees represent openness to change. Our feet are where the rubber meets the road. Our neck supports our world view. Our upper back represents the broad spectrum of emotions. Our shoulders represent our ability to have a say in our own outcome. Our lower back is our vulnerbility. Our buttocks relate to control issues. Our calves relate to fixed ideas. Our diaphragm is where we let life in.
in the tradition of great yogis and healers of the ages, Yogi Bhajan was able to make the connection between how energy moves in the body and a person's health and happiness. He distilled the issue of energy blocks into this equation: energy blocks create low self-esteem and low self-esteem creates patterns of behavior which block our fulfillment. The basic Kundalini Yoga model is that everyone has an inherent birthright to be healthy, happy, and fulfilled, and it is possible to attain that. Kundalini Yoga was designed for that. In a very early lecture Yogi Bhajan said that, "Pranic energy, the energy of life, flows through the limbs and trunk of the body and can be blocked in the energy squares (located in every joint and between the vertebrae of the spine). There are also energy squares in every joint of the hand and toes. Human energy continuously flows through the chakra centers along the spine. It also flows through pathways on the front of the body that are in the form of triangles. These triangles communicate energy throughout the body, and every two triangles have a central lotus or chakra.
"The first triangle is formed between the eyes and the sixth chakra lotus, or Third Eye point. The second triangle goes from the corners of the mouth to the lunar center in the chin. The third triangle goes from the Fifth Chakra lotus to the nipple area and has the Fourth Chakra lotus in the center. The fifth triangle in men goes from the Third Chakra lotus to the outside of the testicles encompassing the Second Chakra. In women, the fifth and the sixth triangles go from the Third Chakra to the left ovary and down the sex organ encompassing the Second Chakra lotus. The last triangle is formed between the fourth spinal vertebra and the sides of the hips. The end line of the triangle is a line formed by the sides of the hips and the perineum, encompassing the First Chakra."
Blocks are not always a bad thing. The existence of the physical Universe is a form of contraction. And what would life be without something to overcome! Yogi Bhajan said that blocks in our psyche can begin as early as the moment of conception if parents are not "In the mental, projective, angular energy beam." Is he talking about some sort of Cosmic laser? Actually yes, there is a Universal wi-fi and when we are in the flow of our own energy we can stay online. When we're not online we only have access to what's already in our memory. But once we access the internet of the Universe amazing new information can inform our lives.
In order for our energy to flow and flow and to keep our self-esteem high, we need to balance the tattvas "Self-esteem (blend of the elemental energies) and our chakras. No chakra is an island. Each chakra needs more or less of certain elements to be in balance with the other chakras. There are many ways to bring about this balance. The Sa-Ta-Na-Ma Meditation (on our Yoga Quick Fixes and Yoga House Call DVD's) works on emotional healing in exactly this way. The Delete Depression segment (Yoga Quick Fixes) which features Frog Pose, Camel Pose and Sat Kriya restores energy flow through the energy triangles given above. All of the kriyas and Meditations in Kundalini Yoga turn squares into triangles, and triangles into pyramids, and pyramids into power stations, and power stations into invitations to live on high.
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Intimations of Spring DVD Rotations!
Raise Your Joy Quotient
Stretch & Strengthen
Move Your Energy Move Your LIfe!
New Momentum
Empower Yourself to Be Yourself
To Sparkle and Shine!
Your Yoga Rotation Must Haves
Our DVD's are also available on
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 Emotional Blocks
Some love Sat Kriya, I find it frustrating. I wonder what emotional blockages hide behind this and where can I learn more about what kriyas represent emotionally. With what psychological or emotional aspects are they connected? And more specifically I am interested in Raviana DVDs, where can I read more about those specific kriyas on the DVDs and the emotional blockages they work through. I believe it depends on the specific blockages of every person whether a kriya comes easy or difficult. Also I read that locked hips is associated with fear of flying (I have huge fear of flying and heights) and I included Bliss hips in my regular rotation as I will be flying in July after two years not being on a plane. I know that Ravi and Ana explain quite a lot on the DVDs but I want more knowledge of those interconnections between kriyas and emotional blockages. Thanks
Sat Kriya is great for 1st chakra blocks (among many other things). All forms of phobias are 1st chakra related because the 1st chakra magnifies threats, and safety and security have top-billing in its constellation of priorities. The reason that you feel resistance in Sat Kriya is because you are experiencing your blocks as you work through them. In Kundalini Yoga everything works on everything and what we do in our upcoming book, and can do here for all of you, is to explain how a technique works on whatever you need it to work for. There are specific areas of focus for certain kriyas but you shouldn't pigeon hole them into thinking that is all they work on. This is a very important concept. Sat Kriya, along with every kriya and meditation in Kundalini Yoga works simultaneously on these levels: spiritual (sparking Spirit Rising), karmic (clearing lifetimes of debt), energetic (raising our personal frequency, bringing our elemental energies into harmony and flow), emotional (clearing the pain of the past), mental (creating thought forms health and healing), structural (physical alignment), and even genetic (see karmic). When you work on all of these levels simultaneously (which Kundalini Yoga does) the body can change and heal faster than you can say WhooHoo Guru! (according to Yogi Bhajan in 72 trillionth of a second!). Sat Nam & Blessings! Self Conscious
Greetings! I have many of your dvd's and love them all! I just tried the Dance the Chakras workout for a change, and had a lot of fun. Ana looked so graceful and moved so beautifully, and it struck me that I have always been someone who has been more self-conscious and awkward in whatever situation. I was wondering what I could work on (dvds, meditations, ect) to get rid of that feeling? Thanks for all you do! Looking forward to trying the new dvds. All the best, Thanks for writing and congratulations on keeping up with your Kundalini Yoga practice. Every question contains its own answer. In this case it means going from self conscious to conscious of the Self. The Self is our eternally beautiful and flowing aspect. We don't have to make any special effort to access it, we simply have to not block it from accessing us. We recommend regular practice of our Yoga Bliss Hips. The second chakra relates to "dare to flare," as well as fluidity. We also recommend the first and last segments on our Journey thru the Chakras. The first chakra relates to body image issues and the seventh relates to giving ourselves over to Spirit. Please remember that everything contains its opposite, so on one level your self concept is of someone who feels a bit self-conscious, but coincident with that is a wild, free, and fearless being. You probably express that more than you know Passing of a Dear Pet
I recently lost my beloved cat and I was wondering if you know of anything to help with the grieving process?
We are very sorry to hear about your cat. Do you know the Akal prayer for when someone passes? As the sun is setting or rising, go to a high place like a mountain top and think of them as you chant: Akaaaaal. Do this three times. it means Deathless and will help convey their soul to a beautiful place or higher level of being. We also suggest the Sa-Ta-Na-Ma Meditaiton which is for emotional healing and to invoke the deep understanding that "All things come from God and all things to to God."
We're sure that your loving association your cat will catapult it into beautiful realms. According to yogic teachings, some animals, through association with spiritually-minded humans go right from animal to angel. We're sure that that will be the case here! Armed Response
Hello, I love your DVDs, I have them all and not a day goes by without doing at least one of your workouts. You have transformed me physically and mentally in so many positive ways! Now to my question. I have been doing your Yoga for Energy and Super radiance today and I just could not believe how unbelievably beautiful (toned and just the right amount of muscle) Ana's arms looked. Seriously, I have never seen prettier arms. Mine are quite flabby without much muscle despite the fact I am only in my twenties and I would really love to improve here. I cannot do a single push up and I seem to not be making much progress. Do you do something else other than yoga to strengthen your arms? Can you please tell me what you do.Thank you for everything!Thanks for writing and congratulations on keeping up with your Kundalini Yoga practice! Thanks also for the wonderful compliment! I (Ana) use light weights once or twice a week for chest and triceps but the thing that I've noticed that has really transformed my arms (triceps too) most dramatically is: Plank Pose (front pushup position): three sets of three held with Long Deep Breathing as long as possible each time (pressing strongly into the floor to slightly round the upper back). The other thing is Cobra Pose (as given on our Green Energy DVD): three sets of three held as long as possible with Long Deep Breathing (form is really important so that the right muscles are targeted: elbows hug into the body!). I also add dolphin pushups whenever I can. It's on our Kundalini Yoga Cardio DVD. The Down Dog to Up Dog flow on our Kundalini Yoga for Beginners & Beyond DVD is also great for the shoulders, arms, and back. Yoga weight bearing exercises truly give the most symmetrical lines because they work all the accessory muscles that other forms of exercise don't quite get to. Ana's Shiny Legs
Hey Ana, after doing your Happy Hormones DVD daily for a while, it occurs to me to ask you, Ana, how do you get your legs so shiny?! Sat Nam,Haha! Good question! Didn't realize my legs were shiny! I use scrub mitts and scrub my whole body pretty vigorously in the shower every day. That's probably it. And then I mix a couple drops of jasmine oil into my organic body moisturizer. You can find those little mitts in any health food store! Wishing you shiny legs and happy heart! Love & Blessings! Ana
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 Meditation to Transform Ego
Sit in Easy Pose, with a light Neck Lock. Keep your spine straight and your chest slightly lifted. With your elbows at the base of your ribs, raise your hands to sternum level. The palms face each other. Curl your fingers into a loose fist. Your thumbs point straight up.The top segment of your thumbs touch their inner edges. The rest of your hands stay separated. Bring your concentration to the breath. Create a steady breath rhythm with the following ratio and pathway: Inhale through the nose slowly for about 8 seconds. Hold in the breath for about 8 seconds. Release the breath through the nose in 8 equal strokes. Hold the breath out for 8 seconds. Once this pattern is set, you can gradually increase the time from 8 seconds to as long as you like. (to count 8 seconds or strokes you can say Sa-Ta-Na-Ma to yourself twice). If you increase the time, keep the time equal in each section of this technqiue. Begin this practice gradually. Start with 3 minutes. Increase the time to 31 min. by adding 3-5 minutes per week of practice.
To End: Inhale deeply, stretch your arms up over the head, and open and close your fists several times. Relax the breath and arms and meditate for one minute before resuming normal activity.Comments: Most people consider ego a perjorative term, but it indicates how we self-identify. Do we see ourselves as limited or unlimited? Creative or clunky? Powerful or pensive? Success in all arenas of life begins by defining ourselves not by how we think we've been, but by what we aspire to. This is the definition of positive ego. Project for the future through your actions and integrity. Let your presence be your calling card. Let your presence be proof of concept, consistent with what you can deliver. When our identity is Infinity we are unlimited. This Meditation features the number 8 which stands for Infinity (form and formless in an eternal dance). When we hold the breath in and out we are creating a neutral space for Infinity to flow into. Our fears and our fluctuations subside and we simply are that we are with no end and no beginning. In this Meditation the thumbs relate to the ego which is our fixed self. In some energetic models the thumbs also relate to ether which is our aspect not bound by biology or the laws of physics. Give yourself a thumbs up for permission to be new and be you! Turn ego into liberated Energy to help you GO for it.
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Our Website- Check out our tour schedule, A - Z Health Archive, More!
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We wish you an exhilarating, fun, and joyful Apri!
Sat Nam & Blessings!
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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