Morning Breath Series

If you were looking for a sequence that cures morning breath, sorry to disappoint you... This is a breath sequence that is particularly great to do first thing in the morning. That said, it is detoxifying and will help your digestive system function more effectively, so it may very well help you get rid of your morning breath too...

This sequence will wake you up, clean your energy and purify your blood. If you feel groggy in the morning, if it's difficult to get out of bed, if you have more anxiety than enthusiasm as you anticipate your day, then this will help you enormously. It will get you ready to start your day in the best possible way, with a clear mind, energized body and high spirits.

The sequence takes 20 to 25 minutes if you do the full times; but you can shorten the times as needed, as long as they stay approximately in the same proportion (for example, instead of 7-5-3-2, you could do 4-3-2-1 or even 2-2-1-1).

All of the exercises are done in Easy pose (comfortable cross-legged position), with the hands in gyan mudra (thumb and index lightly pressed together), the arms straight, the eyes closed or just slightly open. You may also do this series sitting in a chair or-- why not!-- lying in bed.

Before you begin, take a moment to assess how you feel.

 1. Begin with 7 minutes of steady Breath of Fire, pumping the belly. Start out slowly if you need to. This will wake up your system, clearing out sleepiness and old energy. After 7 minutes, inhale and hold the breath for 30 seconds, keeping the body still and relaxed, then exhale.

 2. Now start taking long, deep breaths through the nose. Breathe more deeply than usual, so much so that the entire rib cage lifts several inches with each inhale. Let the body open, let the ribcage and lungs open, fill yourself up with prana. Continue for 5 minutes. To end, inhale and hold the breath 15 seconds, then exhale.

 3. On your next breath, inhale through puckered lips, as if taking air in through a straw; exhale through the nose. Continue inhaling through the lips, exhaling through the nose. Your breath will naturally become long and slow, and you will start to feel very calm and relaxed. Continue for 3 minutes. Then inhale, hold briefly, exhale.

 4. Now begin Breath of Fire again, very powerfully and rhythmically, for 2 minutes. This Breath of Fire will likely feel different from the first one-- more powerful and fiery. It will give you a lot of new energy. After 2 minutes, inhale deeply and hold it for as long as is comfortable, focusing your gaze upwards at the 3rd eye point and keeping the body relaxed (you might be surprised at how long you're able to easily retain your breath after the preceding exercises). Then exhale and relax.

 5. Finish by meditating with normal breathing. Feel the flow of energy through the whole body. Assess how you feel now as opposed to how you felt when you started. Stay still and relaxed for as long as you want.

In Joy!

Awakening the Primal Power with the Adi Shakti mantra

Adi Shakti, Adi Shakti, Adi Shakti, Namo Namo

Sarab Shakti, Sarab Shakti, Sarab Shakti, Namo Namo

Pritham Bhagvati, Pritham Bhagvati, Pritham Bhagvati, Namo Namo

Kundalini Mata Shakti, Mata Shakti, Namo Namo

To that primal power, I bow, I bow (or call on)

To that all-encompassing power, I bow, I bow

To that through which the Supreme Being creates, I bow, I bow

To the Kundalini, to the Power of the Great Mother, I bow, I bow

Shakti is Kundalini -- it's the life force, the primal power that we carry within us. It's the energy of Life. It's the Mother-- the force that creates Life. 

We carry this power in our bellies, as a Mother carries her child. And when the power awakens inside us, we give birth... to ourselves. This birthing is a messy, gory, painful process; but it is also exhilirating and miraculous. 

So if you are ready to come into your own power, live with confidence and stop feeling and acting like a helpless victim, chant this mantra.

If you want to stop giving your power away to others, or you want to stop compromising yourself to please others, chant this mantra.

If you want to release your fears and start living, truly and fully, chant this mantra.

If you need to move forward, if you need to take action but for some reason you aren't, chant this mantra.

If you want to stop feeling tired, depressed and uninspired about your life, chant this mantra.

If you want to give birth to a new project, or re-ignite your creative fire, or bring new energy into your life, chant this mantra.

If you are pregnant or trying to conceive, chant this mantra.

If you want to heal your relationship with your mother and with all women, chant this mantra.

If you are a woman and you want to heal your relationship with men, chant this mantra. 

Chant this mantra any way you like, while walking or dancing or doing the dishes... Chant it as often as you want. Let it fill you up and let it fill up your life.

Try it as a sitting practice as well:

Adi Shakti Chanting Meditation

Sit in easy pose with the spine straight, eyes closed. The hands are resting in the lap, palms up, right hand on top of the left, thumb tips touching.

As you chant, feel the Adi Shakti, the primal power, inside you, in your pelvis, in the depth of your being. Call upon it... Connect with it... Feel its strength and its love... Let it spread inside you until you feel it in every cell of your body. 

Recommended duration: 11 minutes, every day for a minimum of 40 days, to feel the full effects of this chant.

(Above is a version of the mantra by Snatam Kaur that you can buy here). Another beautiful and powerful version to chant along with is this one by Gurudass.)

The Future of Yoga

From a lecture by Yogi Bhajan, April 1999:

"By the year 2013, the world population will be seven billion. The change in technology, psychology, and sociology will be huge. The chaos of information in the computer age will make it difficult for people to cope with their day-to-day lives. The body, mind, and spirit will have to be organized to meet these natural human phenomena.

Every human, no matter to which religion they belong, will face a reality in the future where they will need a strong, healthy nervous system. They will need mental clarity and the back-up of spiritual strength to face this coming world. We can say with confidence, the only way to do this is through yogic techniques by which body, mind, and spirit can be enhanced.

To sustain themselves, tomorrow's individuals must have yogic training. It is a need of the times. By 2013, forty to sixty percent of the population will be practicing yoga. People will see that those who practice yoga are bright and beautiful, calm and blissful. They will recognize that the yogic community is sincere and dependable, serving and giving.

Yoga, with its every system, is going to prevail. We clearly see this trend, and it will lead to the end of human insanity and the prevalence of yogic glory. Yoga is a science for all humanity. It is the custodian of human grace and radiance. It holds a great future for every human being. It brings mental caliber for purpose and prosperity of life. The future of yoga is bright, bountiful, and blissful."

Shakti

The beauty of being asleep is that when you finally start to wake up, the feeling is incomparably glorious.

As the shakti (or kundalini) energy starts to move through the body, every part of you comes alive. You feel life vibrating in each cell of your body, and you close your eyes to enjoy it. Sometimes it's subtle and you have to be very quiet to feel it; other times the energy courses through the body and it's exhilarating and almost unbearable.

You realize that life is music. There's music inside you, and there's music around you. Your body starts to dance in rhythm, and the dance and the music become one and the same.

You breath... With each inhale you invite the energy inside you to increase, and with each exhale you relax into it and let it spread through you.

You walk down the street feeling each foot as it pushes off the ground, energizing and propelling you forward. You walk with rhythm and power, feeling that you own yourself. You own every step you take.

Your heart feels so big that you can hardly contain it in your body. You are ready to welcome any and all into your heart. There's room for everyone. You want to share, and you do; sometimes in obvious ways, but mostly in quiet ways. You emit love and blessings wherever you go, to whomever you cross paths with.

Swept up in feeling-- music, movement, love-- your mind only knows one thought: Thank You. Thank You. Thank You.

Your hands come into prayer at your brow and tears of gratitude well up in your eyes. You feel completely humbled before this Great Gift.

This is what you've been waiting for your whole life. This is it.

Wahe Guru...

How I met my Guru

This is a piece I wrote for Dawn of a New Consciousness, a book about Sri Hans Raj Maharaji (my Guru's Guru) and the Sachcha spiritual lineage. It appears in a chapter dedicated to Prem Baba which includes stories from his disciples.


One day, in January 2008, I decided that I didn't need a Guru.

I had read many spiritual books, I had heard a lot of different teachings, and I felt overwhelmed and confused by it all. Having been practicing Kundalini Yoga for a few years, I decided that day that I would just stick to that and not seek out a Guru. Instead, I would let Life be my Guide. As soon as I made that decision, a huge weight lifted off my shoulders and I felt light and free.

Two days later, I met Prem Baba.

I was staying Rishikesh at the time, and some friends persuaded me to attend his satsang at Sachcha Dham Ashram. I was reluctant because the last thing I wanted was to hear another spiritual teaching, but I ended up going with them anyway. I sat all the way in the back of the room, out of Prem Baba's sight, and listened to him speak. I have no recollection of what he spoke about that day, but I do remember that as I sat there, I felt loved by him. There were no fireworks in my heart or anything like that, and I didn't instantly recognize him as my Guru; I just simply, inexplicably, felt loved.
And then I got a big headache. I felt so awful that I curled up on the floor, and a kind woman that I'd never met before started to rub my feet.
When I walked out of the room after the end of satsang, my headache instantly dissolved and I knew, deep inside, that Prem Baba had already started to work on me, whether I wanted it or not. All I could think was, "He got me."

A couple of days later, again encouraged my my friends, I attended another satsang, and then another, and another, until soon I was going every day.
One evening I was in my room having an emotional crisis for a reason I can't remember now. The aching and grief inside of me was unbearable, and I was desperate for a way out. Not knowing what else to do, I cried out to Prem Baba: "Please help me, please help me, please help me..." Eventually, I fell asleep.

The next morning I sat in the satsang hall, singing along to the beautiful Sanskrit bhajans. I was accustomed to chanting different mantras in my Kundalini Yoga practice, most of them in the Gurmukhi language; but the ones I'd heard so far in Prem Baba's satsang were all in Sanskrit.
As I sat there with my eyes closed, one bhajan ended and another began. I listened for the words and was astonished to recognize the mantra "Ong Namo Gurudev Namo" which is the one we use to begin every Kundalini Yoga class. I could hardly believe my ears.
I opened my eyes and looked over at Prem Baba, who was meditating peacefully. And right then I knew: this was for me. Prem Baba was telling me: "I heard your cry for help. You are welcome here. I know you and I accept you as you are. There is no contradiction between what I teach and the path you've been following so far."
Later, during the bhajans at the end of satsang, we sang "Guru Guru Wahe Guru, Guru Ram Das Guru", which is the Gurumantra of the Kundalini Yoga tradition. Again, I could hardly believe my ears. I'd never heard any Kundalini Yoga mantras in Prem Baba's satsang before, and suddenly I was hearing two on the same day. I knew this was a message specially addressed to me, and I felt comforted and accepted.
   
A few days later, during another satsang, I looked over at Prem Baba and fell completely, madly, head-over-heels in love with him. I knew in every cell of my being that he was the One, that I could trust him, that he would always have my best interest at heart, and that he would take me all the way to the end of the Path.
   
Since then, month after month and year after year, I have watched myself and many others in the sangha bloom like flowers. Faces ever more radiant, eyes shinier and shinier; with Prem Baba's love and care the sangha grows more beautiful with each passing day. For many of us, myself included, the transformation has been nothing short of miraculous.

Today, my heart is filled with more love, more devotion, more gratitude and more happiness than ever before. Prem Baba shows me how to love every morsel of this beautiful Life and that there is nothing to fear. He teaches me to be both powerful and humble, to be able to both give and receive. Words cannot express how grateful I am to have Prem Baba in my life.
   
And here I thought I didn't need a Guru...