One of the things I love most about MKY is our community -- no, make that  family. We are blessed to have so many wonderful members. And we make a point of fortifying our connection by allowing time and space for sharing. We do this so that each of us can remember and feel that none of us is alone.  
 
On Monday nights in my free online Meditation classes, students are invited to share with each other about their experience after each meditation. We get to hear about the aha moments and how the mind sometimes won't settle down. Whether it's a deep beautiful moment or an imperfect attempt, we share with each other about the journey of meditation. 

​On Thursday nights in Cate's Release the Stress of the Day online classes, we share what's weighing on us. We listen to each other and unburden ourselves. 

At our Full Moon Events (most often led by Savitri and Cate), we share what we are ready to let go of. It always warms my heart to hear what our members share. Open and honest with no judgment. We hold space. We do not criticize or offer advice. You realize that whatever you are going through, you are not alone.

Years ago, I was in group therapy for 6 months (more on that in a future blog) and the most powerful thing I took away from that was that again, I was not alone. As bad a time that I was going through, other people had struggles too. I was not alone. 

Sharing in all these experiences, I believe is such a powerful tool to help people heal.

In closing, I strongly encourage you to join our family and to be brave and share what you need to share, feel the support of a compassionate community and know that you are not alone. 

Pain is an experience we instinctually avoid. It’s a primal communication from the body signaling something is wrong. And it’s for this very reason we need to display compassion toward our pain, sit with it, and ask about it with an open heart. Distraction and disassociation may buy us time away from pain, but truly understanding it is the only way to address it thoroughly. Kundalini Yoga is a practice for self-awareness and self-acceptance. The breathwork and kriyas encourage us to notice ourselves, our feelings, our sensations, and experience. Breathwork yoga suspends us from the instinctual panic and, in that suspension, we may gain insight to our present condition. 

In the nursing model, clinicians are taught the PQRST assessment tool to help gain insight to the nature of the pain. These are questions you may ask yourself and may also help to more effectively communicate with your provider of choice -- be it a doctor, acupuncturist, chiropractor, etc. 

P = Provocation: 
When did this pain start? Was it sudden or oncoming for a while? What seems to agitate the pain? And what makes it feel better? 

Q = Quality:
How would you describe the pain? Sharp, aching, throbbing, stinging, dull? 

R = Region: 
Where is the pain located? Does it feel like it’s radiating out or extending to another part of the body? 

S = Severity:
How bearable or unbearable is the pain? On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the worst pain you’ve ever felt, how would you rate it?

T = Timing:
What were you doing when the pain began? Does it come and go? Is this the first time you’ve felt this pain? 

Once you can answer these questions, you’ll be more clued into the nature of your pain and thus can make informed choices on how you wish to address it. Kundalini yoga is a self-love practice which encourages mindful awareness. Compassionately opening your mind to what ails you without judgment or blame is a big part of yoga. We hope these tools prove useful to assist you with connecting to your highest self. 

----About the Author, Amanda Sobreyra RN BSN:
Yoga first became part of my life in 2014 when I pursued the wisdom in Ashtanga yoga. For self mastery, tending to the body is just as vital as tending to the matters of the heart and mind. I knew if I wanted to change the world around me, first I had to change myself. Yoga is a framework that allows people to experience themselves differently. I started with Kundalini Yoga in 2019 and am so privileged to be a part of the community. 
 
I became a seeker of knowledge and self mastery as a youngster. I always sought truth by experiencing it directly. Mythologies from across the world provide me another framework lens to see into human psychology, culture, and core values that lend to destiny. I remain open to different frameworks, perspectives, ideas, and practices which support the relationship with the highest version of self. 

   Self-empowerment means many things. It can be seen as the conscious decision to take charge of our destiny by making positive choices that help us advance with confidence. Our ability to make and execute decisions is central to self-empowerment and has been a major theme in my own life. I’ve struggled many times with deciding which road to follow, which job to take, who to spend my time with and more. I’m still learning, Thank God.
   Once we are able to assess and move through life with decisiveness, we can better come to understand and leverage our strengths and weaknesses in a way that brings happiness and satisfaction, through our interactions with others and our contributions to the world.
  Self-empowerment also involves the gradual gathering and harnessing of personal power, via constant and thorough systems analysis, so that we can understand where we are losing power. Perhaps we lose power through our inability to stand up for ourselves, or we are afflicted with anger or self-importance or the desire to be liked and accepted; the list goes on and on. Once seen, we get busy and ‘plug up the holes’ so that we can accumulate the personal power that allows us to recognize and grasp those millimeters of chance; those opportunities that allow us to really make major transits in consciousness.
   My journey of self-empowerment, like most, has been wrought with "mistakes".  My parents were the first to teach me that my mistakes were actually learning opportunities. We pull ourselves up and integrate the lessons we’ve learned don’t we. I’ve chosen the wrong boyfriends, made wrong job choices, wrong associations in general, but they were all right in a way too. Learning from my mistakes helped me hone my internal navigations system, which informs all my future thoughts, actions and goals. Holding on to shame and guilt around mistakes is fruitless and only hampers our progress. I believe that reframing our mistakes as learning opportunities, and not raking ourselves over the coals or taking ourselves too seriously, is a vital key to self-empowerment.
   I've noticed throughout my life that the most self-empowered people, like my own mother and father, hold out sterling examples for their loved ones, their family and their whole community. My parents created a foundation to build upon each time they took control of their lives by setting goals and taking actionable steps to achieve them. They shared this process with us and we often voted on important directional changes in ‘family counsels’, where we sat in a circle in the living room, often with favorite music playing softly from the stereo, and we discussed our way forward as a family. I watched as our decisive and well thought out choices benefitted our whole family and helped shape our future in a very tangible way.
   Mom and Dad understood how to design and intend their life projects; from which trees and flowers and herbs to plant, to which clubs to join, which classes to take, what books to read, what medicines we should take or not to take, to what decisions their kids should have a say in. They showed us how to get things done in a confident, focused, and decisive way. And when things didn’t go their way, or they were forced to reassess and learn from their mistakes, they had the resilient confidence to express abundant reassurance to friends and family, which made for a safe and secure home base. They also had a sense of humor, without fear. I will always remain grateful that they pointed out, through example, the value of viewing one’s mistakes as lessons to be well learned.
   Something else we learn from those we look up to is the importance of self care and a positive attitude. If we can surround ourselves with positive, like-minded, motivated people, they can help us feel much more empowered to achieve our goals. When our self-esteem gets knocked down, we can talk with positive friends, peers, and family members. Experiencing their positivity can improve our mental well-being and minimize our own negativity. My parents had an open door policy and any of us kids could come into their room at any time of night and just talk about what was on our heart. I probably did it far too often. Mom was an especially light sleeper and always greeted me warmly and seemed ready to listen and offer positive reassurance and advice. Mostly though, she just listened and held me in the light.
  And that’s what we always look forward to doing together with you; listening and holding each other in the light. Gathering with our MKY community and sharing on a regular basis helps empower all of us to discern when we need to step back from certain situations and go forward toward others so that we can follow and materialize our dreams.
    For the July full moon celebration next Wednesday, July 13th, Cate and I will explore this important topic of Self-Empowerment. We will examine our self care routines, our positive attitudes, our true passion to follow our bliss and our level of self-trust. We will examine the company we keep. We will touch on practical goal setting and sacred contracts with ourselves. We will strategize on how to take charge of our future.
   We will examine where our self-confidence is shaky or where we are insecure about our ability to achieve our ambitions. Together, we will begin to take steps toward a more empowered life, where we better control what is in our ability to control and how we can better abide in acceptance through those parts of our life that are not within our control. In this way, we can better recognize our own power to make the choices that will help us achieve our goals and attain peace, happiness and satisfaction on all levels. Concluding with our long gong bath will open the door to our soul, to turbo charge our hopes and dreams.
  Ultimately, the principles of self-empowerment guide our journey to enlightenment. The lifelong process of choices, in which, choice by choice, we learn strategies for maintaining our highest consciousness, starts with learning to read the signs along the way to personal ascension. The signs are many that have led me to the most important choices I’ve ever made. At the top of my list is my decision to invest in meditation skills, which have served me so well and continue to be of prime importance and integral to my teaching mission. I know Cate feels the same way and we both love to meditate with you.
   We hope you can join us in-person or online on Wednesday evening July 13th – Sign up here . We so look forward to sharing this time with you.
                                                                                                       ---- Much Love, Savitri

A hormone is simply a chemical that signals change from our body’s organs. There are several different kinds of hormones which communicate to different organs what action the body requires of them. Examples include insulin to control blood sugars and melatonin to induce sleep at night.
 
The word “kriya” can be translated as action. These actions include the asana (body positioning) and pranayama (breath control). Both asana and pranayama practices can help support the balancing of the body’s hormones. Allow me to briefly explain how. 
 
When we move through the asanas (physical positions), we have our body muscles contract and relax to perform the intended movement. Exercising muscle tissue provides assistance to our heart for blood flow. This mechanism is precisely why blood pressure lowers during exercise. Since hormones can travel in the blood stream, the muscle movement assists for better blood flow. With more flow, the blood is better able to bring in nutrition to body cells and remove metabolic waste. This is how hormonal and metabolic processes are balanced. Exercise facilitates breath at the cellular level. 
 
Pranayama (breath work) assists us as well. If you feel your body cannot perform strenuous movements, practicing breath control is available to your benefit. Taking long, deep, controlled breaths stimulates the heart in a phenomena called “respiratory sinus arrhythmia”.
 
 What happens here is that as the lung full completely with fresh air, the lungs take up extra space in the chest cavity. This gives less space for the blood vessels. The heartbeat then raises its frequency (the heart rate) to give the blood vessels an extra boost to keep the flow to squeeze around the lungs. As the lung deflate, and thus return the extra space, the heart rate lowers and relaxes. Similarly to how muscles can assist the heart in blood flow, deep breathing can also assist the heart as an ancillary pump. This would explain the elevated heart rate felt during “breath to fire”. 
 
Kundalini yoga is beloved by the holistic medicine field for its benefits to the whole body as it’s able to target multiple organ systems at once. I hope this essay brings clarity to how Kundalini yoga kriyas can revitalize and balance the body for greater wellness.

-----About the Author, Amanda Sobreyra RN BSN:
Yoga first became part of my life in 2014 when I pursued the wisdom in Ashtanga yoga. For self mastery, tending to the body is just as vital as tending to the matters of the heart and mind. I knew if I wanted to change the world around me, first I had to change myself. Yoga is a framework that allows people to experience themselves differently. I started with Kundalini Yoga in 2019 and am so privileged to be a part of the community. 
 
I became a seeker of knowledge and self mastery as a youngster. I always sought truth by experiencing it directly. Mythologies from across the world provide me another framework lens to see into human psychology, culture, and core values that lend to destiny. I remain open to different frameworks, perspectives, ideas, and practices which support the relationship with the highest version of self