"All I know is that it doesn't matter what I teach, once the Arcline and the Aura coincide to be blue and a golden twinge, job is done. Then it's time to go home. It means that day the purification has happened." ~ Yogi Bhajan

The Arcline is considered the nucleus of the Aura, and they both function as our protection and projection. We all have an Arcline from earlobe to earlobe, and women have a second Arcline from breast to breast. This second Arcline carries all sexual imprints which usually are never erased; however, these imprints can be cleared out through practicing Sodashan Chakra Kriya (see below). Furthermore, all the pain and pleasure we experience is carried in our Aura - it is our Akashic record. Therefore, it is sooo important for us to be clearing, balancing, and strengthening our Arcline(s) and Aura consistantly and constantly, of which Kundalini Yoga does a fantastic job.

As a not-so-side-note on auras and sacred sexuality, Yogi Bhajan comments, "When a man and woman have intercourse, their Yin and Yang energies merge, and their auras blend; it is a purification. The two people become a different third person. A woman is especially sensitive to the blending of auras. If she blends her aura with one person here and another there, her aura is imprinted, and she cannot hold on to her identity. Her energy is very sensitive, and this merging of auras can have a very destructive effect on her. She can become emotionally weakened...For a woman, sexual freedom should not mean sexual exploitation; it should mean sexual preservation, choice, and reverence."

In addition to protecting you from negativity, a strong Aura and Arcline shield you from dis-ease and accidents. They give you sensitivity to your environment, and alert you. The Aura tells you about circumstances in present time and space, and the Arcline tells you about circumstances distant from you in time and space (the stronger your Arcline and your awareness of the Arcline, the more complete these messages will be). 

When you have a strong Aura, you can be who you are beyond anyone's expectations. You are bright, uplifting, graceful, and magnetic. Your physical presence works. You naturally uplift environments and circumstances around you. 

The Arcline guides and controls the Aura. It is about personal integrity - when your inner reality matches your outer projection. You have to know yourself and consistently project who you really are rather than who you think you should be. Here I am reminded of: "Wisdom is knowing others, Enlightenment is knowing yourself." With a strong Arcline, you have mastery of word, you have strong focus and concentration, and you are constant and consistent in thoughts, words, and actions.

"It is the strength of your Arcline by which you live. The strength of your body, your doing, and your strength of projection lie in your Arc Body." ~ Siri Atma

To strengthen the Arcline:
1) Integrity:
For a full moon cycle speak nothing but the truth. Especially, don't lie to yourself.

2) Sodarshan Chakra Kriya (Total Purification of the Chakras - a pranayama and mantra meditation):
Sit in Easy Pose (cross-legged), with a light Jalandhar Bandh (chin lock), and the eyes gazing at the tip of the nose.
Inhale through the left nostril. Hold your breath. As you hold your breath, silently chant Wha-Hay Guru 16 times, pumping your navel in on each 'Wha', 'Hay', and 'Guru' for a total of 48 pumps in one breath retention. Exhale through the right nostril. Repeat. Start with 3 minutes and then work your way slowly up to 11 and then eventually 31 minutes. More details here.

To strengthen the Aura:
1) Wear white:
This automatically expands your aura by 12 inches.

2) Water:
Drink it, be in it, eliminate it - this changes your energy field immediately.

3) Kirtan Kriya (a mantra meditation):
Chant "Sa Ta Na Ma" as you press your thumb tip sequentially into your 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th finger tip - thumb tip into 1st finger tip as you chant "Sa" and so on.
Chant these sounds out loud (voice of the Human) for 2 minutes, then whisper (voice of the Lover) for 2 minutes, then silently (voice of the Divine) for 3 minutes, then whisper for 2 minutes, and finally out loud for 2 minutes for a total of an 11 minute meditation. The thumb and finger-tips 'play' the mantra throughout the entire duration.
"Sa" means Existence/Infinity, "Ta" means Birth, "Na" means Life, and "Ma" means Death/Re-Birth. These are the seed sounds of "Sat Nam": True Name/Identity.

4) Two more Kriyas (asana-based):
(click on blue to take you to these Kriyas)
Kriya for Balancing the Aura
Kundalini Yoga for Strengthening the Aura

Question: What are some ideas for developing a home Kundalini Yoga practice?

Response: For my regular daily practice, I start with a Pranayama Meditation (3-11 minutes), followed by an asana-based Kriya (25 - 45 minutes) followed by Savasana (10 minutes - ideally!), followed by a Mantra Meditation (3 - 11 minutes).

In addition, I'll choose a specific Pranayama Meditation or Mantra Meditation to practice daily for 11 - 31 minutes, for the duration of a moon cycle (new moon to new moon, or full moon to full moon). I do about 6 of these a year.

*Always begin your Kundalini Yoga Practice with chanting the Adi Mantra "Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo" three times, and end your practice with chanting the "Long Time Sun" song and "Sat Nam" one-three times. Optionally, you can chant the Mangala Charan Mantra (Aad Guray Nameh, Jugaad Guray Nameh, Sat Guray Nameh, Siri Guru Devay Nameh) three times after the Adi Mantra.  

On my Resource Page you'll find great resources for Kundalini Yoga Pranayama Meditations, Kriyas, and Mantra Meditations.


Question: Is there a Meditation or Kriya in the Kundalini Yoga system that you would recommend for releasing shame in a healing way?

Response: I would recommend the Sodarshan Chakra Kriya (details above under the practices to strengthen the Arcline). This is considered one of the highest Kriyas, with the transformative power to clear past karma and subconscious impulses that block you from You. It "gives you the pranic power of health and healing. It establishes inner happiness and a state of flow and ecstasy in life." ~ Yogi Bhajan

Also, shame is intimately connected with the Manipura Chakra (the third charka, lustrous gem, fire in the belly). For this I would recommend 1) The Breath of Fire, 2) Sat Kriya, and 3) Nabhi Kriya to activate the fire burning, purifying, and clarifying powers of Manipura Chakra (click on blue text to take you to the practices). 

Thank you for your questions - I look forward to more!  ~Dawn

Well, it has been one full month!! I recently attended a 3-day Advanced Narrative Therapy Training on Granville Island in Vancouver, led by Stephen Madigan. Narrative Therapy is a beautiful form of therapy that is based largely on questions, being the author of your own story, and finding alternatives to prescribed societal, familial, and cultural ways of being. The "problem" is not seen as localized in you, the lived experience is privileged, and multiple perspectives are encouraged. I found many aspects similar to how I aspire to be in my counselling practice.
I loved exploring Granville Island, running along the seawall, and being/feeling reminded how valuable it is to consistently invest in continuing education for inspiration, connection, and on-going skill-development!

In Kundalini Yoga drop-in classes at Hemma, we have been exploring the Ten Light Bodies of Consciousness. In each class we practice a Kriya, Mantra, and Pranayama that strengthens, attunes, and balances the Light Body we are working on.
All are welcome to join this Thursday's class (5:00 - 6:15pm) for the Neutral Mind! (Next Tuesday's [9:00 - 10:15am] and Thursday's class will be for the Physical Body).

The Ten Light Bodies of Consciousness are: 1) Soul Body, 2) Negative Mind, 3) Positive Mind, 4) Neutral Mind, 5) Physical Body, 6) Arcline, 7) Aura, 8) Pranic Body, 9) Subtle Body, and 10) Radiant Body. 

Ultimately, the Light Bodies of Consciousness all serve the Soul Body. 
"The practice of Kundalini Yoga strengthens all ten bodies procuring permanent changes in our perceptual reality. Our newfound awareness allows us to focus on the voice of our soul, which guides us in fulfilling the purpose of our life. When we keep the ten bodies balanced, we create waves of consciousness that lead to authentic healing." ~Dr. Siri Atma

The 4th Light Body, the Neutral Mind (also called the Meditative Mind) is a state that is primarily cultivated with meditation. When you have a strong Neutral Mind, you accurately assess risks and benefits, make appropriate decisions, and act skillfully. Intuition comes naturally and you don't become lost in the analytical mind. When solid in the Neutral Mind, you are able to give and receive criticism with equanimity. You tend to have a balancing effect on people around you - for example, for those who are overly in their negative/protective mind, or overly in their positive/projective mind. You balance your inner and outer worlds. 

"Without the neutral mind you cannot be consistently constant and know who you are." ~ Dr. Siri Atma 

When you are coming from the Neutral Mind, you have a comprehensive knowing of time, space, the environment, and you. You have good timing, and you can successfully work out recurring patterns in your life without radically going off in the over-projective (positive) or over-protective (negative) minds.

This is an amazing breath practice that is wonderful to do before you go to sleep at night. If this is practiced regularly, your sleep will be deep and relaxed and your nerves will be regenerated. 
Numerological significance: 22 is the infinite number of longing and gives mastery of the mental realm. This pranayama regulates the breath in 22 counts which gives your mind the power to reach Infinity.
 
Rest you hands in your lap, palms up, right palm in left palm with thumb tips touching and pointing forward. Eyes are 1/10 open and gazing at the tip of your nose. 
Inhale in four equal parts, mentally chanting the mantra Sa Ta Na Ma (4 counts). Then hold your breath for four mental repetitions of Sa Ta Na Ma (16 counts). Then exhale in two equal parts, mentally chanting Wahe Guru (2 counts). One whole sequence is 22 counts. Practice for 15 - 62 minutes.

Heaven and Earth meet through Anahata Chakra. The heart centre is about compassion, kindness, unconditional love, harmony, and equilibrium. Its' sense organ is Touch and its' element is Air. It relates to the circulatory and respiratory systems, the thymus gland, heart, lungs, pericardium, upper back, ribs, arms, and hands.

When our heart center is in balance, we feel peaceful, centered, and in harmony with the rhythms of nature. We can walk "the middle way", and are in touch with unconditional love, feelings of expansiveness, and gratitude. We integrate the polarities, seeing the purpose in all: light and dark, masculine and feminine, inner and outer. There is a sustainable balance in giving and receiving love.

When out of balance, fear and attachment show up. We may have excessive bouts of grief, loneliness, isolation, and withdrawal. Alternatively we may over-give, people-please, and be overly sympathetic to the detriment of our own needs. Physical symptoms can manifest in heart and lung disease, asthma, bronchitis, hypertension, circulatory problems, aching in the chest or upper back, a weak immune system, or breast cancer.

Practices for the Heart Chakra
Kriyas (click on blue titles to take you to the practice!)
The Essence of the Self
Kriya to Open the Heart

Mantra
Sat Kartar - Manifestor of Truth
(I practice this with the Sat Kartar mantra on Sat Kartar's "Listen" album - Sat Kartar is the name of the singer, as well as the mantra itself)

Pranayama:
Ego Eradicator, and breathing practices in general

Asanas:
GuruPranam (child's pose with hands in prayer stretched out in front), Triangle (this is downward facing dog in Kundalini Yoga), Halasana (Plow), Cobra,  and Matsyasana (Fish)

Other:
Breathe.  Practice Gratitude.  Relax your Tongue.  

All emotions pass through the heart - joy and sadness, love and hate, anger and compassion - claim your light and dark aspects. The purest of love is unconditional for oneself and one another. When we vibrate through this centre, we are vibrating "we" rather than "I" and "You". 

An open heart is beautiful, AND without a solid functioning lower three chakras, there is not a stable base for the heart to safely vibrate.


As always, your questions and/or comments are very welcome!                                                                       Sat Nam, Dawn 

This psycho-spiritual centre is about flow, change, sexuality, creativity, joy, desire, duality, polarities, passion, movement, pleasure, emotions, and sharing. Its element is water.

When balanced in this centre of consciousness, we are creative, empathic, generous, expansive, flexible, and in the flow.  We feel passion for life, our relationships are genuine and empowering, we are open to merging and connecting with another, and we have self-respect and healthy boundaries.  Life is colourful, vibrant, and deeply meaningful.

Imbalances in this centre show up as passionate manipulation, guilt, jealousy, possessiveness, and lack of self-respect.  Life may be listless and empty, and the world may be tedious and boring.  We may carry shame of our body and sexuality, and engage in unfulfilling relationships.  We may experience menstrual difficulties, infertility, frigidity, kidney and bladder problems, prostate or ovarian cancer, hormone imbalances, and pelvic or lower back pain.

To touch into the energy of this centre, discover what you genuinely love to do, drink lots of water, be in bodies of water, engage in movement, release stuck emotions, set boundaries, bring more pleasure into you life, and work with the senses - especially taste.  Use your sexual energy for sacredness, not as an outlet to release excess energy.  Let guilt warn you if you are violating your core values.

"Whenever you do something, do it as a piece of art...Let everything express the Creativity of you."  ~ Yogi Bhajan

The 2nd chakra governs all areas of our creativity - the decision about what to do with our finite time on earth is the biggest exercise in creativity that can be made.  All liveliness and movement of life comes from the energy of this chakra.  ~ Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa

"To live a creative life we must lose the fear of being wrong." ~Josepth Chilton Pearce  

Four Kriyas for the 2nd Chakra (click on coloured titles to bring you to the instructions):
Sat Kriya
Kriya for Pelvic Balance
Sex Energy Transformation
Toning the Kidneys
Cat/Cows, Sufi Grinds, and Frog Pose are also excellent for the 2nd Chakra

Mantra for the Water Element:
Sat Narayan, Wahe Guru, Hari Narayan, Sat Nam
(True Sustainer, Indescribable Wisdom, Creative Sustenance, True Identity)

Have the fingers in Gyan Mudra (thumb tip to first finger tip), palms facing forward by the shoulders, elbows relaxed down by the lower ribs, and chant for 11 minutes.  Ajeet Kaur has a beautiful 11 minute rendition of this mantra on her "Sacred Waters" album.

Narayan is the aspect of infinity that relates to the water element.  This mantra helps you go with the flow and takes you through the manifest world to experience infinity.  It's a mantra chanted for peace, purification, and clarity. Let the sacred waters wash over you with this sacred sound current.  

Sat Nam, Dawn

Greetings this Full Moon SuperMoon in Aquarius!  

Papaji (a great non-dual Indian teacher) said his teachings could be summed up into three, two, and one word(s):

Make no effort
Do Nothing
Stop

That was perhaps the greatest teaching I received this past week-end at a retreat in Sooke led by Ramana.  

As well as the inquiry, "What would you have to let go in order to not be attached to or identify with this body and mind?". This question we were contemplating as we walked through the forest, with instructions to bring back a representation of that inquiry to burn in the fire.  

We barely started on the walk when I saw a beautiful small white butterfly gently perched on the ground. I crouched down and it did not fly away.  I put out my finger and it crawled up onto my finger and delicately breathed there, as though it only had a few breaths left. The wind blew it off my finger and she lightly floated down and clung to my pant leg, holding on, faintly. I put my finger out and again she climbed on. Then the wind nearly blew her off my finger, again, and so I brought her back down to the ground, and she clasped onto a blade of grass, hanging, delicately, upside down. I watched her for a while, and then left her there and continued on my walk, with the words "Gracefully Dying" arisen in the mind.

After an hour I returned and looked for her, and there she was, dead, laying on her back, legs all tucked up with her wings folded all the way in, enveloping her legs and belly. I picked her up, knowing that she was my "representation", though the thought of putting such a beautiful delicate creature into the fire seemed harsh.

Dying (transforming) Gracefully is beautiful. And yet, the butterfly was a message to let go of the desire to Die Gracefully (attachment to this body and mind). Because sometimes, really, it is such a royal mess, and not the least bit graceful. And that's o.k.


Drop-In Kundalini Yoga Classes at Hemma, Victoria BC:
Tuesdays, 9:00 - 10:15am
Thursdays, 4:45 - 6:00pm

Hurray! We completed the 21 Stages of Meditation, a journey in Kundalini Yoga classes over the past seven months! Thank you to all who shared in part of this journey! The next couple of weeks in August we will be deepening into the Laya Yoga Chant (explanation below). This has become one of my favourite mantras recently - it brings incredible lightness and joy.

In September we will start an 8-week series on the Chakras. Whether you can make all or one of these classes, it will be an excellent opportunity to deepen your understanding into these psycho-spiritual energetic centers - which are foundational to Kundalini Yoga and Tantra.

Training opportunity from a master teacher:
In February, 2015, I will be going to Rishikesh, India for a month to take a Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training.  It is offered through Golden Bridge Yoga, and led (partially) by my first Kundalini Yoga mentor, Gurmukh, who came into my life 13 years ago.  It has been my dream to do a training with her.  If you are interested in deepening into Kundalini Yoga, I highly recommend this (or any) program with Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, one of Yogi Bhajan's original students.  Please come chat with me if you are interested - it would be amazing to have you there!! 

Kriyas:
Two lovely Kriyas that we have been working with this past month are:
Awakening the 10 Light Bodies of Consciousness and, 
Kriya for Morning Sadhana.
(Click on the title to see pictures and instructions for these Kriyas)


As you can see, I'm trying something different with this newsletter (to link it more naturally with my website). Please bear with me as I 'play around' and find the right fit.

I hope you are enjoying this fabulous summer and I look forward to seeing you in class, reading your questions or comments on-line, or speaking with you on the phone.  Sat Nam!  Dawn