By EPS – Office of Ethics and Professional Standards A yoga culture that encourages participation through seva is  a way for students to enjoy meaningful time together, build community and most importantly develop the depth of giving without thoughts for the self. Seva is one of the cornerstones of many yoga traditions. Giving within a community context has been shown in research to support wellness and long term happiness.¹ Volunteer work, while different in some ways from seva, when done from a place of genuine giving, contributes to a sense of connection and life purpose.  When offering seva opportunities to students…

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 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,…

Dear Kundalini Yoga Teachers,  We know that 2020 and this year have been very challenging. As teachers we have been confronted not only with a pandemic, but also a need to face and process allegations of abuse by Yogi Bhajan. For many, this has meant a deep personal and collective process–a quest for truth, answers, and meaning that requires soul searching, profound thought, and dialogue. This process is ongoing and will probably require years to heal.  On a collective level there is great diversity of thought, perspectives, and feelings around this issue and many have felt the pain of separation….

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…

In addition to the term 'mantra,' you will also hear the word Naad in connection with Kundalini Yoga mantras. Naad means “the essence of all sound.” It is a particular vibration, a fundamental frequency that comes from one common source or sound current. It is the universal code behind language and therefore behind human communication.  Naad is the glue or medium that connects the little me, the individual, to the Big Me, the Universal Self. It is the vibrational harmony through which the Infinite can be experienced.  Naad Yoga is based on the experience of how sound vibrations affect the body, mind, and spirit through the…

By Siri Kirin/Kathe Forrest According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, spring is the season of the liver. Imagine spring as a sort of “awakening” for the liver—a time when it becomes more active, working hard to clean out a winter’s worth of congestion. It’s a good time to give it some extra support. Your liver works hard to keep metabolic processes running smoothly and your body free of harmful toxins. Take some time this spring to give it a little extra love and support. 10 ways you can keep your liver happy every day: 1. Start your morning off with warm…

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…

  The simplest description for stress I have ever heard is from Hans Selye, the Canadian physician, who first borrowed the word from engineering and applied it to a physiological process he observed in his patients. He described stress as simply the body’s adaptation to change. It is how we respond whenever an internal or external event occurs. Change can be as simple as a shift in room temperature or as destabilizing as losing one’s job. Since change happens nearly every instant, we have a stress response nearly every instant. Stress is natural and necessary. Over time, we create our…

By Vladislav Loginov, Estonia My main students are teenagers, kids, and youth with physical and psychological disabilities and their parents. I teach at the studio and on-line. Young people with disabilities who practice Kundalini Yoga regularly over the years show excellent results in their development. One of them is Matvey Smirnov www.beu-fund.com/matvey-smirnov  Matvey has been practicing Kundalini Yoga for 2.5 years. He is 17 now. He was diagnosed with Down's syndrome. Matvey could not crawl, sit or talk for a while. His physiatrist said “as if there were no muscles in his body.” Nevertheless, he was on his feet when he…