Sadhana is daily spiritual practice. A sadhana can include asana practice, a kriya of Kundalini yoga, mantra meditation, silent meditation, prayer, journaling or something that is meaningful to you and takes you within.
Establishing a regular sadhana takes some effort and a lot of self-discipline. But it’s highly beneficial and that is why:
You awaken your body, tune up your nervous system and generate energy for the upcoming day. The vessel of your physical body is ready to serve you the best way possible throughout the day.
In the quiet morning hours, while your mind is not yet distracted by miriads of different things (and most probably your family are still sleeping), you can hear the voice of your inner wisdom better. This is the best way to start your day consciously.
This is the perfect time to set your intentions and the use the generated energy to make steps towards your goals.
You develop your willpower, stamina and character by doing your sadhana regularly.
You will learn that you’re capable of doing much more than you ever thought!
Do you have a regular yoga routine? Or are you trying to start one?
Honestly, it’s hard to start doing regular as a beginner. That’s why it’s really great to attend some group classes to receive group support and get motivated. You can learn more about my online classes here https://manko.yoga/kundalini-classes-online/
How are you doing guys? How do you feel about the current situation? I will share my experience below 👇💜 ⠀ To tell you the truth, I am not stressed about the current situation. On the contrary, I feel somehow relieved and happy, cause now I have plenty of time to do the things I didn’t have time for before. ⠀ My opinion about the current changes in the world is this: yes, the situation is complicated, and very soon radical changes are going to happen in all the aspects of life. However, I cannot influence these bigger changes, so I choose to keep calm and be ready to act when I need to.
⠀ So what can we do right now?
⠀ First and foremost, take care about yourself: ✔️Take all the necessary precautions. There is lots of information online. Just do it to protect yourself and others. ⠀ ✔️Be conscious about your information intake. Yes, the situation is serious. But spending too much time on social media, reading all the same bad news, reposting it and discussing with friends, just magnifies panic and fear. So try to reduce your time on social media. Perhaps, make a rule to check it 1-2 times a day. ⠀ ✔️My favourite! Bring your awareness back into the body! Do what you like the most: dance, exercise, yoga, qigong. Conscious movement helps you release stress from the body, get happy and calm down the mind. ⠀ ✔️Express your emotions, don’t suppress! For example, I write down all my worries, if I’m anxious. I cry, if I want to cry. I do fists of anger from Kundalini yoga, if I am angry and cannot do anything constructive. Dance. Draw your pain. Sing about your sorrows. ⠀ ✔️Meditate and cultivate the neutral mind. By the way, meditation also helps to stay present and appreciate the small things in our life, like a cup of tea, a blow of wind, a blossoming flower. ⠀ ✔️And this brings us to the practice of gratitude. Take a few minutes to remember the good things in your life and feel gratitude in the heart. Vibration of gratitude takes us from victim mentality to the realization that we’re the creators of our own life. ⠀ ✔️Do the things that you never had time for. Any books you wanted to read? Educational courses? Maybe creative projects? What is your desire deep inside? ⠀ I would love to know how you deal with stress. Let’s share our ideas and spread some positivity! ⠀ Love to all 💜💜💜
At one point in my life I got really inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings. I guess it was back in 2011, when I first travelled to Ubud in Bali. I am an absolute nerd about books, by the way 🤓 So very soon I stumbled upon Ganesha bookstore and lost the track of time. ⠀
I was going through all those exciting new books and suddenly one book literally called me. At that time I had no idea who Thich Nhat Hanh was. But I just followed the call and started reading. He wrote about how to stay present and aware in everyday moments of our lives, like cooking, washing the dishes, enjoying a cup of tea. The book had a tremendous effect on me, I actually experienced what it means to be present in the moment. Funny enough, it’s one of my most pleasant memories 🌸
I loved these tips for staying sane in challenging times from Thich Nhat Hanh: ⠀ 🌱Guard the morning (and start it gently). Train yourself to begin the day with a few gentle breaths and a smile, 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 even getting out of bed (or checking the phone). Make the vow to live every hour of the day deeply, with compassion. ⠀ 🌱Savor your tea or coffee, slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the earth revolves. Follow your breathing, relax the body, look out the window, listen to your heartbeat (this is nothing less than meditation). ⠀ 🌱Enjoy every step of breakfast-making. Life is made of small moments. There is nowhere to hurry to, nothing to get done. This is it! Enjoy the presence of your loved ones, and the wonder of having enough to eat.
🌱When
you’re ready to work, work. Free yourself from distractions, and
cultivate one-pointed mind. But don’t forget to take care of your body
while at the computer! Set a bell to sound so you can stretch every 30
minutes or so.
🌱Take
time to walk in mindfulness. If you can go outside and get in touch
with nature, wonderful. If you’re indoors, no problem: you can practice
slow walking meditation, a powerful way to release tension and anxiety.
🌱Take
a nap after lunch for 20 minutes, or practice deep relaxation (body
scan) while lying down. Even just 10 or 15 minutes of releasing tension
can set you free and refresh you before you keep working.
🌱Nourish
yourself. Nothing can survive without food. Fear, anxiety and despair
may be “fed” by what we read, see and hear. Likewise, our compassion,
trust and gratitude can be fed by choosing inspiring books, music, audio
& conversations.
🌱Sweat
every day. In the monastery, monks and nuns have dynamic physical
exercise every day. It’s essential to circulate our energy, stay
healthy, and release tension and feelings that are stored in every cell
of our body.
🌱Reach
out to loved ones. Let them know you are there for them. Ask what their
deepest hopes and fears are. Write them a love letter. Forgive those
who need forgiving. Do not miss this stark opportunity to heal wounded
relationships.
NO EXPECTATIONS: Drop your expectations and get your own experience. Nobody can tell you what it’s going to be like for you. Moreover, it will be different every time. Trust the process and your own wisdom!
However, there is a certain class structure in KY.
– INTENTION: I like to start my classes with calming down and centering through the breath and setting an intention. Intention setting is a powerful tool on its own, and it is even more fantastic, if you combine it with yoga.
– TUNE-IN: After that we tune into our inner space with a mantra.
– WARM-UP: Then we start awakening our bodies with a gentle warm-up, which prepares us to the next step.
– KRIYA: Next is the main set of exercises, or kriya. It’s a combination of static and dynamic movements, breathing exercises, mudras and sometimes mantras.
– SHAVASANA: After the kriya is finished, we get the well deserved shavasana – conscious relaxation in corpse pose.
– MEDITATION: After shavasana we do a meditation.
– And finally we finish the class with a mantra.
DURATION: A regular class lasts from 1,5 to 2 hours.
Now bring your questions and fears about Kundalini Yoga and I will answer them in the comments below!
Kundalini Yoga is an effective technology that incorporates all the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of yoga into one integrated system.
Kundalini Yoga was first openly introduced by Yogi Bhajan, when he came to the West in 1969. Before that, it was a secret style of yoga taught only to a few selected students. Kundalini Yoga is often called “the yoga of awareness”. Our goal is to cultivate greater awareness of our own identity and our relationship with our body, others, our environment and the universe.
Class structure: tune in, warm-up, kriya, relaxation, meditation and closing the class with Sat Nam.
Kriya. The word kriya means action. In Kundalini Yoga a kriya is a series of postures, breath, and sound that work toward a specific outcome. It’s important to practice the sequences exactly as given by Yogi Bhajan, with the exception of reducing the timing of postures when necessary (shorten all the exercises proportionally).
