The Benefits of Frog Pose -- Yowza!

The simplest yoga posture can really kick your ass, and make a difference in your posture.  It can even take you to bliss.  Here's me talking about Frog Pose:

Here's how to do the Frog Pose:

Hey Highland Park peeps: Kundalini yoga is taught every weekday at 1st Defense -- they're on Fig & 56th!  The yoga kriya that included the Frog Pose, was from "Awakening The Ten Bodies", which is found in this book:

Pilates and Yoga

Watch this short video, as my friend Barbara Wintroub of RetroFit Pilates, advises on alignment, alignment, alignment (especially good advice for yoga teachers and students alike!):

Barbara has trained world-class and Olympian athletes.  She can be found at:

Retrofit Pilates Rx®

1821 Wilshire Blvd. #540 Santa Monica, CA 90403

Phone: 310 913-3333

  

Simrit Kaur in Concert

Oh boy, I'm so lucky: got to see Simrit Kaur at Golden Bridge Yoga last Friday night.  See photo below:

Simrit's going for that note!

Have you ever been to a concert where all the musicians are sitting down?  And so are you, on a yoga mat?  It's a different experience...very tranquil.

She hit all my favs: Ardas Bhaee, Tithai Too Samarath, and finished with Hey Gobind Hey Gopal (which seemed to last forever, and we wanted it to go on, but all good things must end -- boohoo!).  By the end of it, I was in a trance of bliss.  That woman's voice is amazing!!

Best of all, she and her band came back the next morning at 3:30am, and were part of the Guru Ram Das Birthday Celebration sadhana!!  OMG!  That was something else.  She and Harijiwan read the Japji, and they  played Dhan Dhan Guru Ram Das -- AWESOME.

Happy Birthday Yogi Bhajan!

Yogi Bhajan

I spent this morning at Golden Bridge Yoga to celebrate Yogi Bhajan's birthday.  2.5hours of Long Ek Ong Kars!  Woah.  Talk about a deep meditative state!  It felt so good to be in this trance-like state, and then realize that the sun is rising, and illuminating all that is around you.  Caught it in the photo below:

Long Ek Ong Kars at Golden Bridge Yoga, Los Angeles, CA.

The celebration went something like this:

Thursday, August 26th

Celebration of a Master: An All-Day Celebration of the Life of Yogi Bhajan 

Sadhana 

2:45 - Doors open

3:00 - Guru Ram Das 

worldwide chant for peace

3:10 - Japji

3:30 - Kundalini Yoga

4:00 - Long Ek Ong Kars 

Cozy breakfast served after sadhana!

I want to wish my friend HarSimran Kaur Khalsa a very happy birthday too!  How fortuitous to be born on the same day as Yogi Bhajan!

Read more about Yogi Bhajan's life here.

      

How I Got Started in Kundalini Yoga

We all arrive at kundalini yoga for different reasons and from different paths.  My first experience with kundalini yoga was via this DVD by Ana Brett and Ravi Singh.  I'd only done ashtanga yoga before, and didn't quite understand all the singing involved, but the DVD gave me a chance to continue in my home practice.

In February 2006, I was in Karlsruhe, Germany, and a friend of a friend asked me if I wanted to go to 4am yoga.  Being fearless, I said yes, and so she came at 3:45am to get me.  I remember sleepily arrived at Surya Zentrum on the back of her bicycle.  I had no idea I was in for 2.5 hours of yoga and meditation, and knew even less about Yogi Bhajan, group sadhana, or the Aquarian Mantras.  But I patiently did everything that I was told, and afterwards, I asked the head person, Hari Har, this question: "Why do you do this?"

She replied: "Because diamonds are created under enormous pressure."

At that time, I had been away from (ashtanga) yoga for several years, burned out, and angry.  I don't know what possessed me to go to that 4am sadhana -- whim?  I returned to Los Angeles in 2008, still upset at yoga, and not believing in it, when my boyfriend, after much coaxing, got me to take a class at Golden Bridge.  I did one class, with Sat Siri teaching, and felt something profound shift in me.  Profound enough to enroll in yoga teacher training.  There are times still where I waver, but I know if I do not keep practicing, it bites me in the ass.

Since 2006, I hold Hari Har's words as my own private mantra, and it's enabled me to get through difficult times. 

Please share below your story of how you got first interested in yoga, and the path it's taken you...!

Turban Follow-Up: The Real Reason...

OK, here's the real reason why I wear my head-wrap during yoga & meditation...

I feel guilty telling you all -- like I'm bad-mouthing a fellow yoga teacher (man, is her heavy Breath of Fire into the microphone annoying!) -- but it's my truth, my Sat Nam, and if it helps you in your yoga practice, so be it.

Best of all, you don't realize how much noise we take in on a daily basis: it's OK to block out all that din, and just have the luxury of listening...to...yourself...!!!  I'm a big music lover, but think about it: we are so conditioned NOT to listen to ourselves, that we do all sorts of things to avoid and distract ourselves.  And then we wonder why others are not listening to us either...!

On a side note, check out a history of head coverings -- it might not convince you to try it, but at least you understand the roots.

Peace,
Erica

Tying a Headwrap/Turban

Before I took kundalini yoga, I didn't understand the importance of covering your head.  Well, actually, that's a lie: I wore a beret all the time when I lived in London, England, because I'd heard somewhere that we lose 80% of our body heat out the top of our heads -- and boy is London too cold for me to not keep myself warm!

Anyways, I bought my headwrap from Kundalink (check out her blog).  The material is easy-to-use, and washable.  In yoga we have reasons (other than cold weather) for covering your head -- use non-static, natural cloth (i.e., cotton) and keep your hair up.  A head cover contains your energy, and protects you; it protects your Crown Chakra, as you practice raising your kundalini energy.  Here's another "why" about covering and hair, according to Yogi Bhajan:

The hair regulates the inflow of sun energy into the body system.  To let the solar energy flow without obstruction, let the hair grow to its full natural length, and take good care of it.  If this is done, the amount of energy that goes downward from the Seventh Chakra increases tremendously.  The kundalini energy is activated by the radiant force of the solar plexus and moves upward in response to the solar energy coming down.  This balances the body energy and maintains the total equilibrium.

Don't take it from me: try it yourself.  Try kriyas (yoga sets) and/or meditations with/without a head cover and check out any differences.  I notice that when I chant, covering my ears as well, gives me that extra meditative edge!

p.s. my personal stylist friend told me turbans are trendy now!  Check 'em out at H&M.

       

Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training Graduation 2010

KYTT Graduation Class of 2010, Awareness Center

What do yogis do once they've finished a tough & rewarding 8 month-long teacher's training program?  CELEBRATE!

Last night was my graduation at the Awareness Center, Pasadena, CA. Here are some photos of the lovely and touching ceremony.  We enjoyed a really funny "Groundhog's Day Sadhana" skit by one of my classmates, Charleen Gosling...will upload that video in another post about the trials and tribulations of practicing sadhana!

Some of my favorite people: Nimrita, Sat Tara, & Baba Singh

Surjeet Kaur, me, &Hari Avtar Kaur: classmates & spiritual bff's!

How To: Introduction to Learning the JapJi (Part 2) -- Mul Mantra

Continuing with the JapJi, the first meditation is the Mul Mantra (or Root Mantra).  Meditate on this mantra 11 x day, for 40 days.  Sit in a cross-legged position (or in a chair, feet flat on the floor), hands in Gian Mudra (thumb and index finger touching), eyes closed and rolled up to the 3rd eye point.


Watch HarSimran perform this meditation, and feel free to chant along.  Here is the transliteration.

To contact HarSimran at Essential Focus Coaching, click here.

For more information about the JapJi, check out this book:

How To: Introduction to Learning the JapJi (Part 1)

Forget all those personal development workshops and listen to HarSimran's simple instructions to begin learning how to meditate to the ancient JapJi: the Poem of the Soul.
After the brief video, you're ready to go onto the Mul Mantra.


We are basing this project on a book that Yogi Bhajan co-wrote, that is, unfortunately no longer in print.  However, here is the complete MLA citation:
Khalsa Yogoji, Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh, and Khalsa Bhai Sardani Sahiba Bibiji Inderjit Kaur. Psyche of the Soul: the Nit Naym Banis, with additional Shabads and prayers, and their effects. Tucson: Hand Made Books, 1993.