By the Office of Ethics & Professional Standards INTRODUCTION Meditation can sometimes feel like it’s the missing ingredient in life or the answer to all problems. These days there is encouragement to meditate daily, coming from many directions. Your doctor might even recommend it to you while suggesting you get more exercise and eat more veggies. This article explores how yoga teachers everywhere can benefit from understanding the ways teaching meditation has a special ethical placement of its own. The unique context of a healthy student-teacher relationship and how meditations are taught provides a clear place for transformation and growth. The…

By Snatam Kaur I have been listening to, or reciting Kirtan Sohila my whole life. My first conscious memories of this prayer were when my stepfather, Sat Santokh, would read Kirtan Sohila to me every night before going to sleep when I was in my early teens. I am grateful beyond any words I can come up with that my stepfather did this. There was a purity and love in his offering that helped me to connect to Kirtan Sohila in a deep way. Night after night as the words were recited to me, they penetrated into my heart. It was at this time that my…

by Rachel Surinderjot Kaur I believe that getting sober at age 33 in 2008 was the beginning of my kundalini awakening. The doubt, fear, unexpressed grief, and years of unprocessed emotions needed to be allowed up to consciousness before my inner light could be remembered. By putting down the alcohol, cigarettes, pot, and unhealthy relationships, and embarking on a 12 Step program, I began to learn the tools of emotional healing and how to live life – and the possibility of bringing my gifts into the world was awakened. My sponsor, and regular meetings where other people shared so honestly and openly,…

By Dr. Shanti Shanti Kaur Khalsa and Dr. Sat-Kaur Khalsa We are in a time where many of us are experiencing multiple losses: Our daily life as we have known it due to a potentially fatal disease, serious questions about our teacher whether one believes those questions or not, learning about our children’s experience with schooling in India, exposing racial injustices, and other personal losses we may experience during this tumultuous time. Because of these losses, we are individually and collectively experiencing deep and profound grief. Our intention for offering this document is to provide a guide for individuals and…

Love is Love. There’s no condition. There’s no lack. There’s nothing to find and there’s certainly nothing to take. Love can only be received—and given—from the fullness of the liberated heart. Free yourself from ego, give your head, so that you can know love and share that love with all. Transformation in the game of love requires a complete reorientation to the rules of the game. In order to truly experience love and union, we must begin by playing with a new rule book. In the West, we have been trained to look for that one person—our soul mate—who can…

Cold Depression is our single biggest challenge as we enter the Aquarian Age. It affects vitality of spirit and leads us to behave in ways we would not otherwise. As we transition into the Aquarian Age through 2038, it is said that humanity will suffer from a phenomenon called Cold Depression. What is Cold Depression? Cold Depression is when the external demand is greater than the internal capacity to deliver and we have spent our reserves. We are depressed but we are so numb and insensitive to our own self, we do not feel it. The depression is, therefore “cold.” This leads us…

Posture: Sit in any comfortable meditative posture with a straight spine, chin in, chest lifted. Eyes: Close your eyes. Breath: Concentrate on your breath. Inhale through the nose in eight equal strokes. Exhale through the nose in one deep and powerful stroke. Time: Continue for 11 minutes. To Finish: Inhale deeply, hold the breath 5-10 seconds, and exhale. Inhale deeply, hold the breath 15-20 seconds and roll your shoulders. Exhale powerfully. Inhale deeply, hold the breath 15-20 seconds, and this time roll your shoulders as fast as you can. Exhale and relax.

Mandhavani Kriya: Mantra to Clear Blocks The practice of this meditation, even briefly, locates you in your heart, opens your perception, and lets you immediately recognize the way forward. Mandhavani means being in the presence of intelligence, beauty, and profound caring. It is a state of joy. It’s when you’re so happy that you feel the hand and grace of God accompany each breath and effort. In that state all victory is yours and there is no victory to win but to conquer your own heart. Posture: Sit in a comfortable cross-legged position with a straight spine. Mudra: Bring the hands in front…

By Dev Suroop Kaur It is safe to say that each one of us is experiencing the pressures and stresses of the times. We are faced not only with today’s turbulent political and social environment, but we are also coping with our own private, internal landscape. We may be processing feelings of insecurity, concern, or anger from ever changing and intensifying world events. At times each of us may find ourselves dealing with the constant roiling of our mind, memories, and reactions from life-patterning, or simply coping with life. Sometimes events in our environment or feelings within us seem uncontrollable; we…

Meditation to Experience the Essence of a TeacherTaught by Yogi Bhajan on 4/22/97 “I have given you the words of Nanak, which define the essence of a Spiritual Teacher. It’s not a commercial thing, it is real. And the key to that, joining into that, is the mantra, Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo. That is the mantra, that’s a key to the essence of that shabad, Gurdev Mata.” Mudra: Place the palms flat together at the heart center in Prayer Pose. Eyes: Closed. Music/Time: Chant for 3-1/2 minutes Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo sung by Nirinjan Kaur. Rhythm is slow. Meditate on one full…