by Shakta Khalsa Our heads are logical and want “proof” about everything, which means they cannot understand anything that is outside of the limits of the mind. Our hearts can understand and intuit what the head does not know, yet our emotional heart can create a ball of confusion that clouds our judgement. With head and heart able to go haywire at at moment, it can seem that we don’t know anything clearly. But what if they can work together? What if there is a lovely line to walk where the head and heart complement and balance each other? That…

I’m almost two weeks back from my trip to Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast, in Engligh), Africa. This is a place that doesn’t leave my soul easily. I just went to see Marvel’s ‘Black Panther’ last night with my family, here in Espanola, and it brought back all of the reasons that I love this continent so much. There is a deep-rooted love for the land and the family unit, and an intense spiritual strength there. I also felt this on my first trip to Africa this past September, 2017.  Let me back up just a bit. Somehow I landed in…

My name is Kiret Nam Kaur. I am the only certified Kundalini Yoga teacher in Haiti. It was in 2014 that I returned to live in my native country of Haiti after several years away. I had a great desire, which I still have, to participate in the expansion of my native land. I discovered Kundalini Yoga one day before going back to Haiti, and since then I have been practicing every day on my own. Kundalini Yoga brought so much beauty into my life that I decided to take the teacher training in Canada, so that I could share this beautiful tool…

A Renewal of Spirit (True Story): The drive was long but finally it was over. The walls of the prisons looked foreboding – a thirty foot wall interrupted only by gun towers. I clearly remember the words of the judge as he sentenced me, “Young man, for as much intelligence as you have, it’s a waste to send you to prison. But, you’re 28 years old, and you were just released from prison less than two years ago. Admittedly, your crime this time is drugs, but three years ago you served time for attempted murder and drugs. I’m sorry son,…

Several years ago in Chicago’s Southside Englewood neighborhood, often portrayed in the press for its violence rather than the good people who live there, we began teaching Kundalini Yoga and training teachers from the community. We helped create I Grow, Chicago’s Peace House. I Grow offers an oasis of calm as a non-profit organization that combines yoga, urban gardening, and art to help encourage community members to become empowered and connected. Although community organizations like I Grow have helped reduce the shootings in Englewood by 40% this year, one day there was an incident of domestic violence a few doors…

Several years ago, I enrolled in Kundalini Yoga teacher training with the intention of “deepening my practice.” I had no plans to teach—ever! In fact, I had a long history of shying away from teaching, though I had studied education in college and at my late father’s urging had procured a teaching certificate for English 7-12. After graduation, however, I never used the certification, deciding instead to pursue a career as a writer. In truth, the idea of teaching terrified me. During my college years, I was required to practice/teach English to a group of seventh graders. The experience (though…

Kundalini Yoga teachers often get drilled on the relation between Breath of Fire and hyperventilation. In this video I explain why Breath of Fire is not hyperventilation, and it also the physiology of hyperventilation and what it really is. Pranayama will induce sensations that may be new for students, but these experiences need not be feared. We are adventuring into realms of consciousness expanded beyond the everyday. And any fear sensations themselves can be observed and that awareness be utilized to transform this Vata energy into pure Prana. People often hyperventilate when they panic. And the breath just tends to…

“Some of you who are sitting here will become great Teachers of the Age of Aquarius. You must understand that you have to build your character first. Care for yourself, be kind to yourself, be compassionate to yourself. That is what you have to do.”–Yogi Bhajan April 23, 1997 That I never met Yogi Bhajan in physical form left me with many regrets. I often felt envious that his earlier students had access to a living master that could answer their questions. I had a lucid dream years ago with Yogi Bhajan in it. I saw him and was thrilled…

An experiment led by the French Federation of Kundalini Yoga Imagine if your immune system was unable to recognize the layer of myelin around your nerves, and started to attack it, disrupting the transmission of nerve impulses to the brain and causing a variety of very disabling effects : fatigue, muscular weakness, difficulty moving, muscular rigidity and spasms, involontary contractions, pain, tingling sensations, trembling, difficulties with balance, partial or complete paralysis, … on the physical level, anxiety, depression, impaired vision, difficulties with speech, memory problems, sleep disorders, … on the mental level. These are the symptoms experienced by people who have…

How do we choose to change our lives? What part of us makes that choice that leads us closer to the center of our own heart? Who do we become when we become the best version of ourselves? This is the story of my journey through the Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training Program. As I glided past the closed door on my way from a Hot Yoga class to change out of my hot sweat-drenched clothes, I was stopped short by the strange yet somehow familiar sounds that were emanating from inside. Others pushed past me in their rush to the…