IDA NADI

Plain and simple, TONIGHT'S FULL MOON is the PERFECT time to write my blog on this upcoming Thursday night's class which will be all about the MOON ENERGY...AKA IDA NADI.

Last week was all about the Sun (relates to right channel, YANG, positive, inner masculine, expansive, extroverted, concentration, projective, focused, pingala, RA) and this week it's all about the Moon (related to left channel, contraction, introverted, YIN, inner feminine, relaxed, calm, receptive, MA). The Sun and the Moon relate to the shushmana or the central channel in the spine...(ever hear of Lord RA MA?)

The full moon is the time of the month where there is the greatest connection between sun and moon. Therefore, if we meditate on the full moon, it may be easier to direct the PRANA,OR LIFE FORCE ENERGY through the Shushmana or central nerve channel in the spine.

The nadis are the ida, pingala, and the shushmana. The sun nadi is the pingala and the moon nadi is the ida. Ida is a Sanskrit word which means "comfort". It starts and ends to the left of the shushmana. It terminates in the left nostril, but is also connected to the left testicle in males.

Ida Nadi is the feminine energy and has a cooling effect. It is associated with the right side of the brain and the left side of the body. Ida Nadi controls all of the mental processes; purifies the body and the mind". If you want to calm down and "get comfortable", you can breathe out of the left nostril only which accesses the IDA NADI and the moon energy.

The moon has different phases which each possess a certain character. You can find the chart for the Moon cycles on the Kundalink website. The full moon is when your subconscious mind is closest to the surface..therefore it's a really effective time for healing and meditation; a really perfect time for your energy to go into digesting what is laying around your subconscious mind instead of digesting what you eat. You are naturally accelerated on a full moon; at your highest energy level. The new moon is a time to focus your energy on NEW BEGINNINGS. If fasting is not an option for you, or not what you prefer, try to eat sattvic foods and adhere to a spiritual template for your day. The New Moon is when you are at your lowest energy level. It's a good day to fast on lemon and water from sun up to the next sun up.

Yogi Bhajan taught that the 11th day after the New Moon is the day when you are most in balance. The glandular system readjusts itself on this day and your metabolism changes. It's a good time to eat lightly on green foods or just lemon and water. Eating one meal and then lemon and water throughout the day is recommended.

MORE FASCINATING INFORMATION: Women have eleven moon centers throughout their bodies. These eleven centers are sensitive physical areas on the women's body that are responsive to lunar energies and affect how she deals with every day life. During her 28 day cycle, the location shifts every 2.5 days. Each woman has a different sequence, but it remains constant with her and does not coincide with her menstrual cycle. These are the moon centers: arcline, navel center, thighs, ear lobes, clitoris, vagina, back of the neck, breasts, lips, cheeks, and eyebrows. I'll write more about this some other week, but this will have to do for now. Men have a moon center on their chin which corresponds to the trigeminal nerve...and it is reponsible for how men relate to their emotions. That is why men in the Kundalini Yoga community generally grow beards; to help them buffer how they interact emotionally with the outside world.

Thursday night, February 9 we will be practicing Kundalini Yoga exercises, pranayam (breath exercises), and meditations which bring out the moon energy in you. Be prepared to say good-bye to tension and fatigue and say hello to deep relaxation and contentment. Bring a friend, a mat, a blanket and a cushion if needed. There will be yogi tea and cookies served afterwards. Donation ($15 recommended). For more info visit the website.

Sat Nam,

Raghubir

HERE COMES THE SUN

Thursday February 2.......... HERE COMES THE SUN

Have you noticed lately that your computer is acting weird or that telephone, satellite, or radio reception is a bit "off"? Have you noticed a change in your behavior or emotions? If you have you are just like everyone else on earth who is experiencing the effects of the most recent solar flares. A solar flare occurs when the magnetic energy that has built up in the solar atmosphere is suddenly released. Solar flares cause the earth's atmosphere to become more ionized and it has a profound effect on radio signals and wireless communication. The magnetic fields of humans have also been shown to respond to the changes in the sun's magnetic field.

"You are a magnetic psyche. This Praanic energy is nothing but an electromagnetic field. This whole Universe is just the co-existence of magnetic psyches within a working electromagnetic field...every electromagnetic field within an electromagnetic field has its own frequency, its own rhythm, its own axle, and it own orbit." - Yogi Bhajan

In last week's class we balanced the praanic energy through the manipulation of breath and through physical exercise working with 5 major areas of energy called vayus. This Thursday night, we will learn about the nadis a.k.a. channels of energy through which praana travels. We will be focusing primarily on the Pingala, one of the three most important nadis: namely the Shushmana, Ida, and Pingala.

These three channels meet at the first chakra located at the base of the spine. The Ida and Pingala rise from here and circle around the spinal column traveling in opposite directions. The join again at the brow point. The left channel is called the Ida, governs the moon energy and terminates at the left nostril. The right channel is called the Pingala, governs the sun energy, and terminates at the right nostril. The shushmana is the central channel of energy through which the Kundalini energy makes its ascent. When the Kundalini energy rises and energizes all the chakras, it makes you calm, creative, non-attached and in harmony with the infinite. You're "in the flow". It's a scientific process to raise the Kundalini but it takes commitment and discipline to "keep up".

So now that you have the general landscape, I'll get back on topic and tell you specifically about the sun and the moon energies. We are energetic beings and energy flows through the ida and pingala nadis all the time. You might notice that at different times of the day, one nostril is breathing more predominantly than the other. This is the work of your pituitary gland which operates much like a thermostat to balance the energies in your body.

If the Ida is dominant, then the flow of energy in our magnetic psyche is mostly negatively charged and is cooling, imaginative, and calm. It is the energy of the moon. If the Pingala is dominant, then the flow of energy is mostly positively charged and its focused, energetic and active.It is the energy of the sun. Once we become aware of these energies, we can use them to put our lives in better balance.

Even though the glandular system monitors the body temperature and emotional state throughout the day, Kundalini Yoga provides the technology to override that system if and when necessary. If you are nervous and have anxiety for example, you can breathe out of the left nostril to activate the cooling and calming moon energy. Conversely, if you are spaced out and unfocused, you can breathe out of the right nostril to activate the positively charged sun energy which will give you concentration, focus, and energy.

WHAT WE ARE WORKING ON THIS THURSDAY NIGHT IS ACTIVATING THE SUN ENERGY. WHEN YOU HAVE A LOT OF SUN ENERGY, YOU ARE EXPRESSIVE AND ENTHUSIASTIC, ENERGETIC AND FOCUSED. YOU CAN DO MANY THINGS AT ONCE. YOUR DIGESTION IS WORKING WELL AND YOU ARE VERY CLEAR AND ACTION ORIENTED. IT IS THE ENERGY OF PURIFICATION. We will also practice several pranayam which will positively charge your magnetic field giving you an "energy boost" that is literally at your fingertips! HERE COMES THE SUN!

Thursday February 2 at 7:00.

Bring a mat, blanket, cushion or whatever you need to sit comfortably. We move around, meditate, chant, breathe, and lay down for long GONG relaxations. Bring a friend, bring a donation ($15 suggested) and bring a desire to transform. For more information visit the website. Yogi tea always served afterwards.

Sat Nam,

Raghubir

PRAAN VAYU - THE BREATH OF LIFE

"There are two ways to go in your life. One is 'go and get it' and the other one is to 'be and get it'. One is to develop your physical body to go for everything. Other is to develop your radiant body so that everything will come to you. And the best way is to develop (both) your radiant body and your physical body so that you can have perfect balance". - Yogi Bhajan

Yes, becoming magnetic and radiant will attract opportunities, but without a strong body you can't do anything about it. You can have a powerful physical presence, but without the vibratory frequency of an expanded and healthy magnetic field, you are just thrashing in the dark.

Our life force energy is called PRAANA and it's what makes our minds and bodies work. It is the BREATH OF LIFE and is called PRAAN VAYU. When you talk about PRAANA, you are referring to all the different kinds of praana which, if you count them all, total 72. These energetic tributaries run off of 5 major channels of energy which are also referred to as VAYUS (or airs).

Each of these 5 vayus governs a part of the body:

Praana- in the chest and is linked to breathing and drawing of new energy into the body

Apaana-below the navel governs the elimination

Samaana- region between the thoracic diaphragm and navel and governs digestion, discernment and assimilation

Udyaana - region from larynx up to the head and governs speech, projection, mental capacity and memory and helps to bring the Kundalini energy up to the 10th gate or crown chakra

Vyaana- governs the entire body and distributes energy into every cell.

If you want to be healthy in both body and mind, it is essential to keep your praana vayus balanced and flowing.

Thursday night January 26 at 7:00pm, we will be performing a set of exercises that uses physical force to move the praanic airs. Not only are we moving the energies in the body but will be putting the glandular system into perfect balance. Yogi Bhajan said that practicing this one set alone gives you control on your mind, body and soul and puts everything in the perfect combination. Breath is the vehicle of the Praana...so we will also practice pranayam (breath exercises) that will activate the force of energy in you.

Please come with a mat, blanket, or whatever you need to be comfortable during meditation and relaxation. Bring a friend, bring a desire to transform your life for the better, and bring a donation. ($15 recommended). Gong relaxation and Yogi Tea always included. For more information visit our website.

You will, through the practice of this set of exercises, find equilibrium and balance.

Sat Nam,

Raghubir

Art by Hector Jara

ACCEPTANCE AND LIVING A STRESS-FREE LIFE

Tonight (January 19) we will be working on Acceptance. This is a big deal because without it, you absolutely cannot change a thing in your life. NON-ACCEPTANCE IS A MAJOR CAUSE OF STRESS.

Acceptance means that you consciously acknowledge where you are RIGHT NOW, not where you weren't, or not where you want to be. In order to improve the way you look or the quality of your thoughts, in order to make your life more manageable, to change your job, increase your income, get on top of your finances, better your health, and so on, you have to be realistic about where you are now....and BE OK with it. Only then can you make the adjustment, change or improvement.

If you are stressed out, chances are you are not accepting the way things are. When people are trying to change themselves and pointlessly trying to change others, they spend far too much energy attempting to change the unchangeable. HERE ARE TWO BASIC RULES:

1. You cannot change things before you accept things as they are.

2. You cannot change anyone else.

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

In the serenity prayer, you come to the place of acceptance through serenity; a state of peace, calmness, balance which is achievable through meditation. You cannot change everything...and so acceptance of things as they are is required. You need courage and grit to change the things that you can....and you need to have the awareness to know what is changeable and what is not.

Aakhan jor, Chupai neh jor,

Jor na mangan dayn na jor

Jor na jeevan maran neh jor

Jor na raaj maal man sor

Jor na surtee giaan vechaar

Jor na jugatee chutai sansaar

Jis hath jor kar vekhai so-i

Nanak utam neech na ko-i

Aakhan Jor is the prayer of acceptance. It is also known as the 33rd pauree of Japji by Guru Nanak. This prayer takes the YOU out of the situation. It removes the ego and allows you to let things be as they are. God, the Universal Source, or whatever you want to call it, has the power. Inserting your ego into everything and trying to control your life and everyone in it is a pathway to nowhere. This prayer calls upon us to trust, accept, and let go. We have everything we need. We are complete as we are NOW.

Here's theTranslation:

No power to speak, no power to keep silent.

No power to beg, no power to give.

No power to live, no power to die.

No power to rule, with wealth and occult mental powers.

No power to gain intuitive understanding, to contemplate spiritual wisdom.

No power to find the way to escape from the world.

He alone has the Power in his hands, he watches over all.

O Nanak, no one is high or low.

Give it some thought. Through yoga and meditation, you can arrive at that place of balance and calmness where you can see where exactly where and who you are. In that place you are perfect. You can access what is realistically possible to improve or change and what is not. Either way, accepting the situation as it is, is imperative to making an improvement. If you can accept the way things are and have the clear perception to know what you can work on and what you cannot, you will be on your way to living a stress-free life. We will work on eliminating stress and meditating on the beauty of how things are right now.

For more information visit our website. Every thursday night at 7:00pm. bring a blanket, friends, cushion, etc. Donation $15 recommended. Yogi tea served afterwards.....

SAT NAM,

RAGHUBIR

The Love Affair of Your Life

If you are a breathing human being, you will benefit from taking the Level One Teachers Training in Santa Monica with Harijiwan, Erin, and Tej. I'm paraphrasing Harijiwan here, but it's really true. EVERYONE will benefit whether you are a full-time student headed for accreditation or a lookie-loo popping in for a yogic weekend here and there. The information, energy field, and teachers are so outstanding that you cannot help but improve your life just from being there. I'm going to take it again starting January 27 and you can be sure, as long as Harijiwan will be teaching the Level One Teachers Training, I'll be taking them with him.

Whether you want to teach or not; that really doesn't matter. You are basically going to have the love affair of your life for eight weekends. A love affair with the teachings and yourself. Trust me...that's just the beginning. If you'd like more information, go to Harijiwan.com.

Sat Nam,

Raghubir

Understand through compassion or you will misunderstand the times.

"As a Buddhist monk, the cultivation of compassion is an important part of my daily practice. One aspect involves merely sitting quietly in my room, meditating. That can be very good and very comfortable, but the true aim of cultivation of compassion is to develop the courage to think of others and to do something for them." -The Dalai Lama

Thursday night January 12 at 7:00 pm is the last of the series of classes on the Aquarian Sutras of Yogi Bhajan. Tomorrow night's class will explore the sutra "Understand through compassion or you will misunderstand the times."

This sutra brings up two very important questions: 1) What is Compassion? and, 2) What are "the times"?

Compassion is the opening of our hearts to the feelings of others without allowing our judgments to get in the way. How do you start the opening of your heart? The Dalai Lama says "By removing the greatest hindrances to compassion: anger and hatred.

As we all know, these are extremely powerful emotions and they can overwhelm our entire mind. Nevertheless, they can be controlled. If, however, they are not, these negative emotions will plague us - with no extra effort on their part! - and impede our quest for the happiness of a loving mind."

"Compassion does not mean we do not see the mistakes others make; it means we have sympathy and understanding for their difficulties, knowing we are not really different from them. We are all born and live in this human realm in which ignorance and delusion strongly influences our lives."-Rev. Kinrei Bassis

When Yogi Bhajan came to the West with the message of the shifting from the Piscean to the Aquarian Age, he taught people how to prosper with the new flood of energy and cope with the changes in how human beings behaved with one another.This is a list of characteristics of the times that Yogi Bhajan compiled. You can see that there is a general shifting from the ME to the WE and this is where compassion comes in.

THE CHARACTER OF THE AQUARIAN AGE

• Change and learning is continuous and life-long. We must maintain mental. emotional. and physical flexibility.


• Intellect is not enough. We need a new relationship to intuition, emotion and instinct.


• Information is not enough. Neither is knowledge. We need wisdom.


• Learning is not enough. We must learn how to learn.


• Complexity is increasing as is our need to deal with it.


• Our sense of personal identity and its foundation is shifting.


• This is an age of paradox-more global and more individual. with fewer boundaries and more demand for political separations. Everything is faster and we have less time. We need far more love and unity, for we have more fear and tremendous insecurity.


• Stamina and constant peak performance are the common benchmarks to evaluate all people and their work, and the need is to go inward and regenerate.


• We require a reconciliation and integration of the spiritual side of life with the technological and material sides-a spiritual fitness to sense values and meaning.


• There is no isolation. Each action we take must be considered ecologically, and globally, because each person does affect, directly or indirectly, vast networks of people, and other living beings and places.

Thursday's class will root out anger and open the heart so that experiencing COMPASSION will be the natural result. We'll get rid of the major hindrances, anger and hatred ( that the Dalai Lama spoke about) so that you can start to feel the infinite connection with all you encounter. As the world changes and we are becoming more sensitive and aware, we need to open our hearts to put that sensitivity and awareness to good use. If you shut down your heart and ride the wave of mass fear and aggression ...the new age will be a mind-blowing challenge. If you open your heart and figure out the direction of the wind, you can sail your ship effortlessly towards your soul's purpose.

Bring a blanket, pillow, or mat. class is held on a donation basis ($15 rec). Yogi Tea is served after class. for more info visit www.eaglerockkundalinicenter.com

Sat Nam,

Raghubir Kaur

WHEN THE TIME IS ON YOU, START, AND THE PRESSURE WILL BE OFF

Sat Nam!

These 5 Sutras were given byYogi Bhajan in order to help us navigate through the Aquarian Age.

1. Recognize that the other person is you

2. Understand through compassion or you will misunderstand the times

3. There is a way through every block

4. When the time is on you, start, and the pressure will be off

5. Vibrate the Cosmos, the Cosmos shall clear the path.

We will resume our exploration of these Five Aquarian Sutras by designating the next class THIS THURSDAY January 5th to "When the time is on you, start, and the pressure will be off".

There's no better time than the new year to get rolling on your resolutions, turning over a new leaf, out with the old and in with the new kind of thing. Many times we make promises to ourselves and then we find that we are stuck, or more often, we just can't get started. This class on January 5th will help you clear away your self-imposed road blocks and imagined disabilities that prevent you from "starting". Getting to you goal, whatever that may be, will be so much easier once you get going!

A body at rest tends to stay at rest and a body in motion tends to stay in motion...unless an outside force acts upon said body. The law of inertia is a powerful one and energy, no matter in what form, is affected by this "law". If you are stuck and you want to move and are not moving, you are going to stay there and feel all kinds of things like guilt, anger, repressed emotion, self-hatred, blame, and all kinds of pressure... until you do something.

I remember a time in the not so recent past when I was feeling particularly powerless and immobile about a certain issue in my life. I kept feeling like i was a truck stuck in the mud just spinning my wheels and going no where. The more I "spun my wheels", the less I went anywhere and the pressure continued to mount. I spoke with a dear friend of mine about my predicament and she said "Why don't you just get out of the truck and walk?"

This was a revelation to me. You mean...I had the power to change the location of my feelings by doing something different than the behavior I was accustomed to that wasn't working? WOW!

Spinning your wheels and going nowhere is a perfect metaphor for being stuck...and if you have something you need to do and you can't seem to make it happen, just start walking in the direction you want to go. The law of inertia will keep you moving in your chosen direction... and with your INTUITION, your own personal GPS device, the momentum you initiate by STARTING, will get you there!

See you on January 5th!

xoxo

Raghubir Kaur

for more info visit www.eaglerockkundalinicenter.com