January 1st, 2016, a new year begins and with that the opportunity to join with possibly thousands reciting a poem, a poem of love--Japji, the song of the soul. How awesome is that to uplift your life and the world, doing mantra and shining your light into the dark. “The Sound Current of Japji and the meaning of its words, when meditated upon with openness and love, awaken a soul to its destiny. Step by step, Japji gives you the comprehensive power to know yourself as you are and be with God’s Creation in a spirit of joyful surrender.” Ek Ong Kaur Khalsa The extended meditations in Kundalini Yoga (40/90/120 days) instigate transformation and action. Rightly so, if you journal daily—and here is something that is key—read over and over what you have put down, realizations begin to sink in, one single footstep at a time. “…To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kinds of thoughts (actions, too –KF) we wish to dominate our lives.” Henry David Thoreau There are key words for journaling during a 40 or 90 day or more meditation or practice. These are: introspection, clarity, experience, awareness and release. After you have gone within in the quiet of the morning, introspection on one’s life is often found and in just a few words can be disentangled. Clarity on your actions (both good and not so good) is found through writing about your day. Awareness and a deeper understanding of one’s life are processed as you refer back on the journaling paragraphs. And there can be an emotional release in those written words that does not have to play out in the outer world. Everyone’s experience will be different and also everyone’s understanding of that experience. “What happens to us is not as important as the meaning we assign to it. Journaling helps sort this out.” Michael Hyatt I suggest you become a little bit familiar with Japji before the 40-Day Sadhana starts on January 1, and begin to learn the nuance of the language by listening to a tape. And find your journal! By Kathe Forrest/Siri Kirin Kaur
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I am a dedicated yogi. My practice is what I begin the day with before the sun rises. However, on Saturday I somehow hurt my back. Feeding the chickens that morning – I had a spasm in my lower back that produced a shooting pain. I dropped to the ground and waited. I was only able to make it back to the house through the breath. The next 3 days were hard due to having to keep still for the most part and lie down but I felt the loss of my routine and my yoga! Yes, I did the breathing/meditation in bed but the Kriya for Metabolism and Relaxation was put on hold. I am much better today due to a great massage on Tuesday and turmeric and arnica and being very careful through listening to the body which is one of the main tenets of Yoga! I have dropped the kriya from my practice for several reasons: 1) It’s been more than 5 days and my 40 days is disrupted, 2) Maybe it was hurting my body to do so much BOF (breath of fire) and stretch pose. Examine through your daily journal – what is going on with your body physically. (See Some of the reasons why keeping a yoga journal is an effective tool in the book Keep the Change). Then perhaps injuries can be avoided by either modifying or reducing times or having to change to another meditation or kriya. Don’t be so ingrained in the performance that you miss what is going on. Here are a few things to watch for while practicing as well. Being fatigued, emotions of anger, your body is tight that day or it’s really flexible, soreness, joint pain or headaches. All signs to Stop and consider. My main lessons from this, I think, are to listen to what my body was telling me, which for me was fatigue, and that letting go is perfectly ok no matter if I was on day 2 or 32 of my 40 days. Today I can begin something new! |
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