KUNDALINI YOGA
Build on your practice with the "Yoga of Consciousness". Explore and deepen your creative potential both on the mat and off. Kundalini yoga delivers potent healing tools for any seeker in this new paradigm of awakening and unity consciousness pairing breath and movement, mantra and meditation, with mindfulness.
Encompassing many powerful traditions this "Yoga of the householder" was brought to the United States by Yogi Bhajan a Kundalini Master and "Mahan Tantric" in 1969 when he immigrated from India to the Los Angeles area. He was called to bring these teachings to the United States as he saw many people from the West coming to his homeland seeking wisdom but instead leaving empty feeling and unfulfilled. Getting settled in the late Sixties in Southern California among the cultural revolution of the time he dedicated his knowledge to teach others to help curb the ills of what he saw of rampant drug and alcohol abuse by the new generation only seeking to find an experience of inner connection but instead becoming unhealthy and burned out.
Today we are taking the teachings of Yogi Bhajan and implementing them in a fun and friendly atmosphere accessing their potency using these time honored practices of breath, focus, movement, mantra, and mediation to awaken the bodies inner resources, activate and deepen inner connection to the nervous and glandular system and thereby increasing our inner sensitivity, our outer radiance, and raising our vibratory and auric energy fields to a state health and wellness.
We use mantra practice to focus the mind, in effect control the mind, while also letting go of the periphery mundane and automatic, our habitual stimulus and response game that ultimately has left us powerless to change our brain and change our ways of the past can be and is replaced with a practice to empower (as long as we practice!). Through repetition, recitation, focus, and release the level of inner awareness ultimately deepens and comes into focus to where inner stillness, calm, and inner knowing takes the place of familiar day to day response's to stress and limiting mental constructs. Some of the select and core mediations of this Yoga tradition have been scientifically proven to show increased brain activity in the thalamus and frontal lobe portions of the brain corresponding to communication and the senses.
Popular Mantra's used in our classes.
Tuning in Mantra "ONG NAMO GURU DEV NAMO
"The Creative Wisdom Within Me"
We use this "tuning in" mantra to start our practice and turn our focus inward. A great mantra to use anytime we feel uncertain of ourselves or our direction we can remind the self that we are that creative divine self beyond limitation. Literally meaning I bow to the creative divine teacher within brings us into alignment with our higher self, teachers, and guides.
Seed Mantra "SAT NAM"
"The Truth is your Name"
This seed mantra embodies the ever-present truth in existence that you are. We use this simple mantra paired with the breath to go deeper into our individual truth.
"WAHE GURU"
"Ecstatic Path of Mastery"
Being present to every moment its beauty, awe, authenticity, and that journey of learning, remembering, knowing, and respect of what is this experience of life.
"SA TA NA MA"
"Infinity Life Death Rebirth"
Our seed mantra broken down into an expression of existence, the cycle or wheel of life and rebirth.
"RA MA DA SA SA SAY SO HUNG"
"Sun Moon Earth and Infinity Merging into Self in its Entirety"
Ancient and powerful healing mantra used to align self with the elemental and planetary energies along with their healing and life sustaining qualities of the cosmic macrocosm within the personal microcosm.
AD GURAY NAMEH JUGAD GURAY NAMEH SAT GURAY NAMAY SIRI GURU DEV NAMAY
"What was true in the beginning, thru the ages, what is the truth, the great wisdom and that divine I call to me.
Very special mantra used to clear and align self with our highest truth and trust acknowledging the universal wisdom in and around us. Used for protection and mindfulness.
Breath is a gateway to consciousness as we have found that a conscious breath makes for not only conscious being, but also a stronger and more flexible being in the face of life's challenge's. Traditionally a Yogic long deep breath is the first lesson to any aspiring Yogi. In our classes we teach the breath not only in its breadth in the Yogic long deep breath, but also breath of fire which stimulates the core plexus, moves the digestive, and oxygenizes the blood. Breath is a powerful catalyst for moving the Kundalini energy or Chi, or ecstatic inner flow, from dormancy to awakening and movement through the nadis, energy pathways, and meridians in the body. Countless other variations of segmented, alternate nostril, lion, dog, cleansing, and balancing and breath retention round out the core of our pranayama or breath practices.
Core Breath Practice's
Yogic Deep Breath
There are three parts to the yogic deep breath. First is the belly breath where we bring our attention to the navel point located a few inches below the belly button. Upon inhale the navel point expands out as the belly drops and also extends out. Second movement of the breath is expanding the lower rib cage out horizontally. Third movement is filling the upper portion of the chest under the throat and shoulders. For the exhale we reverse the breath letting out from top to bottom.
Breath of Fire
A rapid exhale powered from the navel point. Breath is pushed out as the navel point comes in and the diaphragm pushes up and in gently. Upon release of pushing the air out and completely relaxing a gently current of air is inhaled automatically.
Alternate Nostril Breath
(Nadi Sodhan)
Used traditionally to energize and calm the nervous system. Using the thumb to gently close a nostril breath long and deep through the open nostril. Gently closing the alternate nostril release the breath through the nostril that was just closed. Repeat and change sides.
We also stretch and move as in any other asana or "comfortable seat" based practice. As we have found if you don't move it you lose it! The body must have a combination of pressure, tension, friction and heat to generate new cells and maintain neural pathways and connections. Without the favorable stressors of a balanced workout the body becomes complacent and at unease.
You may hear more about the 10 bodies and how they relate to one another or the chakras or energy centers and how to focus, bring life, and release inner stagnation. The glandular system works hand in hand with these energy bodies or "wheels", lotus's, inner flow, or energies that form the basis of our subtle bodies relating not only to the internal and external dimension physically and harmonically but also the level of emotional maturity we have reached as human ("hue/light" "man/mind") beings with ourselves, our community, and our environment in the most down to Earth and real way we could imagine.
We are the light of the world and how we bring it depends on our practice, our commitment, and our humility. Join us for this work which is ongoing as we are always working through our own and our community's process. This work, this "Yoga" is labor of love to help heal the soul of the individual and the collective. Join us as we celebrate each other in this journey of self discovery.