In our fast-paced modern world, we are often bombarded with new and different ways to look after ourselves. Here, Kundalini teacher, Siri Atma Anselmi, offers some ancient tips of self care to help nourish, energise and relax our minds and bodies.
In my experience, after 23 years, many people don’t understand the goal of yoga and they don't understand the core concept of yoga.
"Some people think yoga is a religion. Some people think it is physical exercise. Some people think it is a psychological system that develops the potential of the psyche.
In reality, this is all based on misunderstanding. Yoga is essentially a relationship. Yoga comes from the biblical word, yoke.
This originated from the root word in Sanskrit: jugit. They both mean 'to join together' or 'to unite'.
Yoga is the union of the individual’s unit consciousness with the infinite consciousness."
~Yogi Bhajan
That is all it means. Kundalini yoga is a science. It works on the seven charkas.
Chakra means “wheel” – these are energy centres which exist as dynamic energies and they can help us to understand the way energy is processed by a human being within the vast and complex interplay of a multi-levelled existence.
With Kundalini yoga, you will learn to "ride" your energy, to experience it and penetrate any give situation to attain a balance.
Kundalini Yoga Morning Routine
When practising Kundalini yoga, do these every morning:
- 1. Sadhana – this is your spiritual practice, chanting mantras and yoga.
- 2. Brush the root of the tongue with alum and salt until one gags and the eyes water.
- 3. Brush your hair with a wooden comb in every direction, forward, back and side to side in the morning and before going to bed. It’s also a way to energise yourself.
- 4. Cold showers – this is "ishnaan" or hydrotherapy.
- 5. Sweat to maintain health – perform some daily activity that causes beads of perspiration to appear on the forehead.
- 6. Eat yogurt for vitamin B-12 and other vitamins – it is essential for the intestinal flora.
- 7. Breathwalk® – created by Yogi Bhajan – is the science of combining specific patterns of breathing synchronised with your walking step and enhanced with the art of directed, meditative attention. It is simple, natural and effective and gives you an immediate path to physical and mental fitness.
Kundalini Yoga Bedtime Routine
The following routine can help you fall asleep more quickly:
- A. Exercise – do some yoga and meditation to help relax the body.
- B. Avoid big meals – it is easier on the liver and digestion if you have not eaten a heavy meal for at least two hours.
- C. Comb your hair (see no. 3 above)
- D. Do your bathroom routine (see no. 2 and 4 above)
- E. Drink a glass of water
- F. Wash your feet with cold water and massage them with almond oil.
- G. Have your bed facing east-west, so that you are not aligned with the earth's magnetic field.
- H. Lay down on your back and start long deep breathing
- I. Turn onto your right side as you relax into sleep, so that you are breathing through your left nostril, which has a calming and cooling effect on the body and brain. It also relaxes the heart and lets the stomach and small intestine drain as you sleep.
So what is Kundalini?
It is your creative potential. You experience it when the energy of the glandular system combines with the energy of the nervous system to create such sensitivity that the totality of the brain receives signals and integrates them. Then you become totally and wholly aware and your creative potential becomes available to you.
Kundalini yoga meditation techniques are taught for treating anxiety, fatigue, stimulating and integrating the mind, developing a comprehensive and intuitive mind and for regenerating the central nervous system.
Give these morning and evening rituals – Kundalini style – a try and feel the difference. Please share below any other ancient ways you have discovered to help care for yourself.
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