"Marriage is a partnership of two beings of light who live by their intuition, understanding and a common genuine interest of well being."

-Yogi Bhajan



*Congratulations to Jaswinder Singh and Sada Sangat Kaur on their upcoming wedding.

Suffering is the inability of the mind to accommodate the truth of the moment.

-The Buddha

Yoga at Mi Casa

Click the flier for details. Email kundaliniyogini@yahoo.com for address information.

Shoulder Stand

"Salamba Sarvangasana"


Before attempting shoulder stand, lie on your back and breathe in and out, tightening all the muscles.

- Place the hands on the hips, just below the waist.
- Bring the hips and legs up to vertical position, making the spine and legs perpendicular to the ground (90 degrees)
- Then raise the entire torso up to 90 degrees, making the body forma straight line from shoulder to toes.
- Breathe deeply

Checkpoints:
Make sure the elbows are not too far apart.
Make sure your weight is supported by the shoulders, NOT THE NECK.

Effects of the posture: This posture is especially good for women. It releases pressure on all of the organs and stimulates the thyroid gland. Every woman should do this posture for 5 to 7 minutes a day.


Cautions: One should not perform inverted postures during menstruation. Inversions performed during menstruation arrest the menstrual flow. They dry up the uterus and can lead towards complications like cysts and fibroids if practised during menstruation. On the other hand, inversions can control menstrual bleeding when it exceeds its normal duration or if it occurs in between. They check the flow and strengthen the uterine system. They dry up the area faster than any other Asana.
One should immediately commence the practice of inversions after completion of menstruation since it is the time for re-establishment of hormonal balance. Such a practice will prevent diseases like endometriosis, leucorrhea and also miscarriages. They help in maintaining the health of the reproductive organs.

Pregnancy is an opposite state of menstruation as the fetus has to be retained. Inverted postures should be performed in the first three months when there is a chance of miscarriage especially for those who are prone to miscarriages and abortions. One can continue practising them up to the end of pregnancy. Their regular practice strengthens the spine, improves blood circulation, checks water retention, prevents infection, maintains hormonal balance, lubricates the reproductive passage, checks blood pressure, maintains emotional and mental balance.

Kundalini Yoga Mantras

Last Thursdays class was lovely and amazing. The students were open and the studio was a haven. Many of the students asked about the beautiful music that we practice Kundalini yoga to, music which uses the science of the naad or primal sound to affect the very center of the listener. Below is a list of my favorite artists and mantras


Gyani Gi
GuruGanesh
Mirabai
Nirinjan Kaur Khalsa
Snatam

Kundalini Yoga CD's can be purchased online through itunes or if you live in the greater Los Angeles area, they can be purchased at Golden Bridge Yoga in hollywood.

-Sat Nam

Acknowledging our pain as prescription.

Again and again in recent weeks, I have had discussions with women ages twenty to fifty about the connection between anguished, debilitating monthly periods and sexual abuse in childhood. And although this is a difficult topic to discuss for many, it is imperative that women understand that being given birth control pills to "regulate" or "control" the cycle or prescribing irreversible and often unnecessary procedures like hysterectomies (performed disproportionately on African American Women) will not only cause other potentially grievous health issues but the root cause of so much physical suffering to our reproductive and creative center is left to fester and disseminate outward, causing other problems in other localities.

In Kundalini yoga where our entire practice centers on connecting the finite with the infinite, the yogi’s aim is to take that subconscious fear and pain -showing up in the form of ghastly periods and damaged creative energy – and infuse peace through breath, illumination through sound currents and revitalized heart-centered energy through meditation. Being able to see beneath the surface of physical pain to the psychological and emotional center can prepare us for complete healing.

Dr. Christiane Northrup, in “Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom,” tells the story of a young woman who continued to have herpes flare-ups despite a cornucopia of treatments, both conventional and alternative. At some point during a discussion with the doctor she decided that she would simply put the attempts at remedy aside, take some long walks and simply say that her vagina hurt. She would do this, she told the doctor, because when she was a child she had not been allowed to. Despite the fact that throughout her childhood she was sexually abused by her father, when she had attempted to tell, her mother refused to believe. After spending time with the honest reality of her pain and the inability through all of those years to simply be able to name it and have it acknowledged by her mother, she decided to just say it. To herself. For herself.

Not long after she made that decision the flare-ups diminished without returning.

In order to heal, we must first be able to see where the source of the pain lies. This can be difficult and initially feel like the same terrible hurt, only packaged differently, but there is no other route to lasting healing without pulling the cloak back and calling the shadow out.

A meditation for dealing with our own mind:

Sit in Easy Pose (cross legged, Indian style) with a straight spine, eyes closed. Close off your right nostril with your right thumb and inhale deeply through your left nostril. Exhale completely through your mouth. Continue for 6 minutes.

To finish: Inhale deeply, interlace your fingers and stretch them over your head, palms up. Hold your breath for 10-15 seconds while you stretch your spine upward.

Commentary on this meditation by Yogi Bhajan:

"Mind is a link between Infinity and you. The mind can take you into any thought, beyond thought and unto infinity. Mind can take you into any dungeon, any pit and any negativity. Mind has no limit in it's own self But mind is your servant. If the mind becomes your master, you don't have a chance. It is very essential in yoga that we know our own mind.

Now you will ask me can the mind be controlled? Yes. Not only can your mind be controlled, your life can be controlled. A situation can be controlled. Sometimes you get into a very, very, very ugly situation. If you have the practice to switch your breath to the left nostril you will get out of it in two seconds. The moment you start breathing with your left nostril, your elementary self comes into play. The moment your elementary self comes into play, you will immediately become very pleasant and positive rather than angry and reactive. Long deep breathing through the left nostril (calming moon energy) is good for the heart and good for the health.

Normally after you have done this exercise for two minutes you will start feeling bored. Negative mind is in action: 'What are you doing this for? This is a babyish thing. We could have done something better.' In any exercise that touches the mind, a person starts getting upset in exactly two and a half minutes. That's the rule of thumb. The mind doesn't want t be caught. It wants to swing. But there are some people like us who feel that it's hard work to control the mind but once we control the mind, then we can control our whole world."


Continue this meditation for 40 days to begin to see and deal with your mind.

"God respects me when I work, but He loves me when I sing."

-Sufi Saying

Why is the breath so important in Yoga?

In the orient, it is said that when a child is born, the life span is already pre-determined, pre-measured, pre-ordained and pre-destined - not by years but by the number of breaths allotted. If you breathe slower, you will live longer. You will also live healthier.

The rate and rhythm of the breath are intimately connected to our mental and emotional states. In fact, just as the emotions and the mind cause the breath to vary, by consciously controlling the breath we gain control over the mind and the emotions. By slowing down the breath, we calm the mind and cool down our emotional energy.


-excerpt from "Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Eternal Power"

Camel Pose

^ Begin by sitting on the heels and rising up onto the knees
^ Root yourself with the knees, press firmly into the earth
^ Bring the pelvis/hips forward
^ Tilt the tailbone under
^ Lift the heart center and exhale as you lean back
^ Grab your heels or ankles
^ Drop the hed back
^ Breathe long and deep



Checkpoints:
*Do not have the knees too far apart. Keep them approximately two fists apart.

Effects of the posture: Camel Pose adjusts the reproductive organs and opens the heart center. This posture is also excellent for spine health. We need a flexible spine in order to cultivate a flexible attitude, to be able to relax and be strong at the same time.

They want you to say what?!

Like a chorus of angels they chanted "Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo."

Ong - The creative divine manifested
Namo - I bow
Guru - The Teacher. The one who takes you from darkness to light
Dev - infinite divine
Namo - I bow

"Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo."

"I Bow to the Creator, to the Divine Teacher Within.

Every Kundalini class opens with the chanting of this powerful mantra three times. Intially, sitting there in the midst of so many unfamiliar people taking part in an even more unfamiliar practice (to me certainly), I stalled. I felt that feeling many american church girls feel in the face of chanting, bowing or making any gesture of reverence unrelated to my faith. I placed my hands in the prayer pose, lowered my eyes and said nothing. But I could not help but listen. Several classes later and upon really understanding the meaning in the mantra (although the translation is always given for the benefit of newcomers) I was overcome with gratitude.

Imagine that, I thought; acknowledging the divine creative within me....and bowing to it no less. It is like giving a little girl a sparkling wand and a princess crown. From my mouth to my own ears it was permission to acknowledge and thereby actualize, my highest most amazing self.

Growing up in church I have bowed my head to pray, often bowed my head in shame but never had I bowed my head to acknowledge my own divinity, the reality of my own creative soul. And I understood immediately that once you
get in the habit of doing this, bowing in acknowledgement of this highest part of you, this part that connects directly with God, there is that much less of a chance that you will continue to fall backwards into the things that harm, or disassemble you.

There is another mantra we chant in the practice of Kundalini Yoga; this one in english, "God and me, me and God are one." When an entire practice is designed to make this fact unwaveringly clear, it really is the beginning of a powerful, transformative way to Be.

Why do we chant mantras?

The scientific use of sound to affect consciousness is called Mantra Yoga. Next to breathing (necessary for any endeavor), the use of Mantra is the most important aspect of the practice of Kundalini Yoga.

"MAN" means Mind. "TRA" means to tune the vibration (just as one tunes the guitar). Mantra is the sound current which tunes and controls mental vibration. Silence makes you aware of the many experiences of the mind while repeating mantra aloud restructures the patterns in the mind that allow experience.

Chanting mantras either silently or aloud is a conscious method of controlling and directing the mind. Happiness, sorrow, joy and regret are vibratory frequencies in the mind. Call them atttitudes or beliefs but fundamentally they are vibratory frequencies or thought waves. They determine the kind of program our mind plays. What we choose becomes our vibration, defines how we feel and what we project to others. And we have the right and access to choose differently at any time.

So think of yourself as a divine instrument with strings. When you chant, the vibration of the strings causes all thirty trilion cells of your body to resonate, to dance - forming the patterns that shape you physically, emotionally and mentally.

Rx for *congestion

Mix 1 tsp of Celtic Sea Salt in 8 oz of warm water
pour water into palm
sniff salt water mixture through nostrils (this will be a new kind of uncomfortable for beginners)
blow salt water mixture out through nostrils (it may also come out of the mouth. don't be alarmed)

later.rinse. repeat.

Do this twice a day for as long as congestion persists. Also sleep with a humidifier to moisten night air.

Be well,
Kundalini Yogini


*regular bouts of congestion or increases of mucus in the sytem could be a sign that there is too much sugar, dairy and meat in the diet. Reduce consumption of these items for optimum health.

"Difficult things take a long time. The impossible takes a little Longer"

-Yogi Bhajan




*Siri Shiva (pictured above) can be contacted at bluyoga.com

Is Kundalini Yoga associated with a religion?

No. Kundalini Yoga (and yoga in general) is a technology for health and consciousness that predates religion. It is practiced by people of all faiths. Our teachers represent many paths including Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, Sikh, and others. Teachers who visually exemplify a religious path (such as Sikh teachers who wear turbans as part of daily attire) do so because of their personal beliefs.

The technology of Kundalini Yoga is aimed at the spirit that has no boundaries. No matter what, if any, religious path a person follows, Kundalini Yoga helps practitioners experience fully what they believe.

Why do Kundalini Yogi's cover their head?

The practical reason for wearing a head covering can be summed up as follows: Your head is a very sensitive part of the body.

1.) The skull is made up of tiny bones that are constantly moving even if only by micromillimeters and the degree to which they move impacts levels of calmness or anxiety. Covering the head provides a sense of containment and focus while practicing yoga or while doing work that requires clarity of thought. It literally helps "keep your head together".

2.) The forehead consists of porous bone which allows light to pass through it and stimulate the light sensitive pituitary gland. The pituitary is the master gland which regulates all other glands. If it is not stimulated by enough light, a lack of glandular secretion can result including the "feel-goods" dopamine, seratonin and melatonin. Therefore keeping this area of the forehead clear (having the hair up or not wearing bangs) can help with these hormone levels.

Wearing a head covering when you teach or practice enables you to command your sixth center, the Agia Chakra or the third eye point (where we gain access to our intuition). Covering the head stabilizes the cerebral matter and the twenty-six parts of the brain which are interlocked with the neurological system and electromagnetic field. Covering the head creates a focus of the functional circuit of the hemispheres, and tunes the neurological system. Kundalini Yogi’s are taught that the hair is alive and has an energy function. We are training ourselves to be aware of and master our subtle energies and all teachers cover their head and hair with a cotton cloth or wrapped turban. Any natural fiber head covering is functional.

Rx for Canker Sores

For healing and pain relief:

- Create a "canker concoction"
mix sea salt
one crushed asprin (or two baby asprin)
and 8 oz warm water

gargle for 30 sceonds (repeat twice)

- Drink water with fresh squeezed lemon

- Alkalize the body - Google "Alkaline vs. Acidic foods" for a complete list of ways to bring the acid level - which causes canker sores - down and the alkaline levels up.

- Get adequate rest. A sleeping body is a healing body.

- Breathe deeply (and practice yoga) to eliminate stress; it too causes canker sores.

Be well,
Kundalini Yogini

What is Kundalini Yoga?

Kundalini Yoga is a 5,000 year old system of yoga exercises and meditation that promotes health, happiness and awareness. Combining breathing (pranayam), movement (asana) and sound (mantra), Kundalini Yoga is a safe, comprehensive technology that can be practiced by anyone.

Practicing Kundalini Yoga keeps the body in shape, increases vitality and trains the mind to be strong and flexible in the face of stress and change. It balances the glandular system, strengthens the nervous system and enhances creative potential. Through yogic breathing techniques and meditation, peace of mind can be obtained, giving an experience of deep inner calm and self-confidence.

Kundalini Yoga is more than a system of exercises. With this technology, people have healed themselves of the pain of physical illness, mental pressure, drug and alcohol addictions and more.

The technology of Kundalini Yoga is aimed at the spirit that has no boundaries. Therefore, it is universal and non-denominational. No matter what, if any, religious path a person follows, Kundalini Yoga helps practitioners experience fully what they believe.


“What is Kundalini Yoga? The creative potential of the human.”
-Yogi Bhajan

Teaching Schedule-February 2008

Thursdays - 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Revive Yoga Studios (Beginning 2/7/08)
23350 Lake Manor Drive
Chatsworth, CA 91311

Sundays - 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Home Studio (beginning 2/3/08)
email for details