From Cate: This month marks our three year anniversary as Montclair Kundalini Yoga  (MKY). If you know  Savitri and me, you know how much we value this community and how much we love what we do. Our hearts swell with gratitude when we think about reaching this milestone. I wanted to share with you all the story of how MKY came to be, and Savitri shares her thoughts on this happy occasion below too. 

We started with an ending. Savitri and I were teaching Kundalini Yoga at a studio called Aquarian Yoga and that studio closed. We discussed how important it was to each of us to keep teaching and keep serving our students. In fact, continuing to teach felt as imperative as eating. So we endeavored to piece that together any old way we could. We heard that we could rent space from Deb Williams who owned the Ashtanga Yoga studio just a few doors down, so we did. We figured we needed an online scheduler, so we signed up for Mindbody. We realized that we needed a bank account and an LLC, so we got them. Oh, and we needed a Website too, a Facebook page, an Instagram...  

It evolved like that in the early days of MKY -- without a real intention to become a business. We didn't have a plan. We had a desire. We had/have a passion for teaching and the teachings of Kundalini Yoga. We wanted to dwell, as often as possible, in the joy of watching our students go within, release stress, and grow. 

And here we are. The power of that passion worked and yielded a beautiful community. Every single day, I am grateful for the people who've shown up, for the kindesses, the healing, the seeking I am fortunate enough to witness at MKY.

Now, we are developing a plan and becoming, as we like to joke, more and more "legit." Hence, our logo. We hope you like it! It makes us feel happy and very official... "2 Legit 2 Quit" (Dating myself with this one.)

On the road to becoming legit, we've been supported by angels. All of you who come to the studio and trust us to deliver these sacred teachings are our angels. There are many angels who deserve individual recognition and gratitude, and we will make sure to acknowledge them at our -- now sold-out -- celebration class (4/12/19). But no one deserves more appreciation than our teacher team member, and musketeer, Andy Steinfeld (Teg Avtar). He is infinitely generous with his time and energy. It is a rare, rare, rare, rare thing to have the level of heartfelt, unwavering support that he offers us and the MKY community, and we know it. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Andy. 

And, I am so grateful for Savitri who has become a spiritual sister to me. Having the opportunity to create a community around spiritual practice with  Savitri is, for sure, one of the greatest gifts of my life. Below are her thoughts on the occasion of our anniversary. She wrote to us during a week of silent retreat with her spiritual teacher, Adyashanti. ​

From Savitri: I woke up today to a symphony of congratulations online for the three year anniversary of Montclair Kundalini Yoga. I’m not supposed to be looking at my mobile device during this week of silent meditation at Garrison Institute, but that’s pretty hard in today’s world and to see our anniversary celebration get started made my heart sing.

Here, we overlook the Hudson River at its narrrowest point, with a rollicking waterfall on the opposite bank and all the early spring flowers in bloom. A row of the greenest bamboo sways, as if winter never happened. Like every morning here, I practice Tai Chi besides the bamboo thicket, hoping to erase the chaos and dis-ease from my body, mind and spirit as if it never happened.

Then off to early morning meditation. It’s Wednesday and we’re half way through this silent retreat with the wonderful spiritual teacher Adyashanti. His wife Mukti also teaches Chi Gung every afternoon, which makes it even more special. For four days now, we’ve been fully immersed in the quiet places within, the natural state of pure awareness that extends out as the net of Indra, the interconnectedness that we call our world.

Adya has skillfully guided us, with immeasurable compassion, on a journey of beauty, awe and tenderness for every part of ourselves and for each other. We’ve traversed the sacred path, through the facets of our uniqueness, that are at the same time Unified Oneness. Adya has led us through territories of spiritual insight and epiphany, combined with potent transmissions of light and wisdom that resonate those same qualities within us. Now as I write this, we all glow within this Buddha field we’ve created that contains us so luminously.

The first few days I felt completely expanded in a transcendent state, free of my conditioned mind and life. Then Adya guided us back to the ground of our being to redeem parts of ourselves trapped in fear and vulnerability. - He encouraged us to make peace with ourselves, to stop rejecting parts of our totality, to relax all internal conflict with our own minds as well as the external conflicts we hold on to - this is redemption. Only with acceptance for ourselves and acceptance of the viewpoints of others can true solutions and wonderful creations emerge like diamonds.

The definition of Redemption is - to heal, to make whole. “Let the healing begin” is our MKY motto and I think of my yoga partner Cate, Arvind Dev, and our three year anniversary today and give thanks for her in my life and for all our many diamonds... The latest diamond, our new logo, was so fun to collaborate on and emerged like shining jewel. But the most precious jewels are all the beloved people who come to practice with us.

After meditation and a Dharma talk with Adya, lunch was served in silence. So nice to just receive, no cooking, no ordering, everything taken care of so nicely for us. Today for lunch, we had a nourishing black-eyed pea salad, chunky beet and green leaf salad and warm whipped yams, fragrant with coconut milk, lemongrass and saffron. 

A sense of abundance swept over me as I filled my plate. I’d skipped breakfast, and my senses were heightened from all the quietude, so my whole being opened to and delighted in the feast before me. I carried my plate out to the bamboo grove and nestled in the grass in the sun next to some daffodils. I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the beauty of nature, for the miracle of such a spiritually supportive experience, for the community we share with all our MKY members, for all the beings in my life, great and small. And I was grateful for the miracle of the meal laid before me with such love. Every moment here has connected me with what is right and pure, what is beautiful, what is true... may every moment be such and, with Arvind Dev, may we continue to facilitate this kind of spiritual support for our community, which we are so blessed to be part of.

Under the gentle sun, as I scooped up greens and warm yams with my fork and raised them to my mouth: I invited all the scared, neglected, harshly handled parts of myself to come forward and enjoy. Peace within, peace without. I invited all our friends and everyone I love and will ever love to partake in this feast with me, to enjoy the bounty, to eat to satisfaction, no winners, no losers, only gentleness.

Let the healing begin.

Over 10 years ago, I faced a devastating diagnosis: Breast Cancer. My disease forced me to undergo surgery and radiation; it also forced me to confront deep fear. That’s when I learned the Kundalini mantra Sa Ta Na Ma.

At the time, I had never heard of Kundalini Yoga, but I was practicing Vinyasa at a studio near my home, and I found that yoga was helping immensely with my ability to face this challenging and frightening time in my life. 

Out of the goodness of her heart, the owner of the studio, came to my house the day before my breast cancer surgery to lead me through a visual imagery meditation in preparation for my operation. But just before she left that day she turned to me at the door and took my hand. “Say these sounds--Sa Ta Na Ma -- pressing your fingers like so,” she instructed, “every time you are afraid. This will help to calm you.” As luck would have it, she had recently been introduced to the mantra at a Radiant Child Yoga training (Kundalini Yoga for Kids), and she showed me how to press thumbs and forefingers as I said Sa, thumbs and middle fingers as I said Ta, thumbs and ring fingers as I said Na, and thumbs and pinkies as I said Ma. 

This was a moment of grace because the mantra became my refuge. Although I didn’t know what the sounds meant yet, I took her at her word. As I lay on an examining table awaiting my surgery, I pressed my fingers together and silently chanted. As I went for radiation treatments, firmly secured in an immobilization device called a “mold,” unable to move even a fraction of an inch, I silently chanted the mantra. As I waited for test results, as I tried to fall asleep at night, as I woke up in the morning filled with fear for my future, I chanted the mantra. Somehow, I got through it all—thankfully, with the mantra Sa Ta Na Ma as my comforting guide. 

The mantra Sa Ta Na Ma represents the creation cycle: Infinity, Life, Transformation, Rebirth. Some of you may know it from Kirtan Kriya, a popular Kundalini meditation which balances the hemispheres of the brain, and has been studied by scientists for its role in guarding against Alzheimer’s Disease. Sa Ta Na Ma can also be chanted to bring a sense of calm and peace. In fact, that’s exactly what it did for me.

Many years have passed since my diagnosis and I’m now cancer-free. I’m also a Kundalini Yoga teacher, and Sa Ta Na Ma is still my go-to mantra. I use it when I am worried about my sons, when I’m traveling, when the future looks dim or hopeless. I use it when the news is bad, when I can’t see the light, when everything seems topsy-turvy, whether in my personal life, or in the universe. I use it whenever I feel unbalanced or afraid—not just in dire circumstances, such as facing down cancer-- but to bring ease to the everyday challenges of living in these times. 

Touching the tips of the fingers to the thumbs while chanting is said to light up and balance parts of the the brain, but I’ve also found that it balances the heart and restores a sense of trust. 

Before I found yoga, I was a skeptic, a doubter, and chanting mantra was something I never even considered doing. Back then, life seemed random, unpredictable, and often quite scary. I questioned everything, including my own beliefs. But cancer led me to search more deeply, and yoga helped me to find my center. 

“To believe,” my very first yoga teacher told me, “all you have to do is look up at the sky.” Whenever I doubted, her advice was the same: “Trust. Believe.”

Whatever else it may do or mean, for me, Sa Ta Na Ma will always be a mantra of trust. There is a cycle of life we can count on, and all is as it should be: Infinity, Life, Transformation, Rebirth. Sa Ta Na Ma brings balance to my brain, my heart, and my life. 

 Trust. Believe. Look up at the sky. And chant Sa Ta Na Ma.

I made a mistake. I spelled a word wrong on a brochure I created, and I missed it. It got paid for and printed. It gets worse. The word was KUNDALINI, a word which as a Kundalini Yoga teacher and studio co-owner, you can imagine I type often and am expected to know how to spell. And it gets worse still... it really mattered because where I misspelled the word was IN OUR URL (www.montclairkundaliniyoga.com). When I opened the package of brochures and saw that glaring error, the first word that came to my mind was stupid. 

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. How could I miss that? 

And stupid could have been on repeat and become my mantra for the day and put me in a I-ruin-everything-kind-of-funk. But then, I reached out to my friend Andy. I reached out to share my despair, but luckily he helped me shift my perspective right away. 

First, he saw a simple solution that I couldn't see because I was too blinded by stupid, stupid stupid. We could print stickers with the correct URL and not have to scrap the brochures and pay for new ones. Then, he shared with me something he learned from his study of the book The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. (If you don't know the book, it contains a code of conduct that can lead to transformation, happiness, and freedom.) Andy explained that the First Agreement -- Be Impeccable with your Word -- refers to not only what we say to others but also how we talk to ourselves. He said I should embrace my failures rather than judge myself. 

In his book, Ruiz explains that the mind is fertile ground, so we have to be careful, impeccable about the seeds we plant there. If someone calls us stupid or we call ourselves stupid, that opinion can take root and grow and infect our whole lives. The author gives an example of a mom who came home from work tired with a headache and found her daughter full of exuberance and singing. The singing became loud and the mom's head hurt more, so she snapped and told her child to stop because she had an ugly voice. That little girl never sang again. 

I would venture to guess that we all can trace back to harsh words spoken to us in our childhoods that made us constrict in some way because we believed them. We believed them, repeated them, relived them, and then reinforced the "truth" of them for years and years and years. 

To put it in a Kundalini context, we all have mantras, words that we repeat to ourselves. They can be negative -- stupid, ugly, lazy. They can be positive -- smart, beautiful, strong. Or they can be sacred -- Sat Nam, Ang Sang Wahe Guru, Ek Ong Kar Sat Gur Prasad.

Sat Nam - Truth is my Identity
Ang Sang Wahe Guru - The Great Infinite Wisdom vibrates in every cell of my being
Ek Ong Kar Sat Gur Prasad - The Creator and Creation are one, the Truth of this is the Guru's gift. 

Now those are impeccable words. I think the more we plant sacred seeds the more the negative "weeds" that have taken root get crowded out. I obviously still have some work to do because stupid bloomed pretty quickly and took over.

This is the work I emphasize a lot when I teach, shedding the untrue, shedding the layers of conditioning from our upbringing and society that don't fit with the truth of who we are. 

When I look at my mistake, I still cringe a little. Fortunately, thanks to my friend, it'll soon be covered up by a sticker and fortunately, I was reminded to be impeccable with my word and talk to myself with compassion. 

The moral of the story is to catch the negative self-talk before it takes hold and, when that fails, have a good friend to remind you. May the Truth in you guide you to speak to yourself with self-love, and please, please, please chant some beautiful mantras. 

Cate discovered Kundalini Yoga by accident over 20 years ago and was surprised and thrilled by how engaged, energized, and inspired it made her feel. She's been practicing ever since. In 2008, Cate completed her Level 1 (200 hr) teacher training with Hari Kaur Khalsa of Hari NYC. In 2012, she broadened her knowledge with a very special Holistic Hatha Yoga training (300 hr) with Amy Witmyer of Sacred Space. Kundalini Yoga is her home, her go-to sanctuary, her point of peace and insight. She believes that it is a wonderful tool for busy times and busy minds. Join Cate on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and Friday mornings for Kundalini Yoga & Meditation. ​

How do you like my title? It's beyond bold, I know, especially since I'm no expert on solving problems. But I came across this quote (at left) from Yogi Bhajan today, and I felt the truth of it. What if, instead of trying to "figure out" our issues with our minds, we addressed our souls? Here's the quote in its entirety: 

“Whenever you have a problem, if you put your problem at the touchstone of the spirit, the consciousness and the soul, you will be surprised how easy it is for you to solve that problem. But whenever you take a problem and look at it from the ego's point of view, it will not only bring you confusion, but it will also bring you destruction.”

How do we avoid following the ego into confusion and destruction? How do we access soul advice? I think it is through meditation, cultivating and accessing the meditative mind. In meditation, when we have some distance from our thoughts is when our soul can speak. Then, we can lay a problem at the feet of the meditative space and see what emerges.

Imagine the time and mental energy we'd save if we didn't dwell in our problems and follow thought after thought. Alternative after alternative. 

Here's a beautiful meditation to bring you into the state of listening to and from your innermost self. If you have a problem and you don't know the answer, try this meditation and technique.

May the Truth in you guide you to the wisdom of your soul, to your own inner knowing, to the Infinite within. 

My mother used to do this thing when I was upset. She'd wiggle her fingers in my face and say, "Re-laaaaaaaaax. Re-laaaaaaaaax." I HATED it! It had the opposite effect and just enraged me more. One time it infuriated me so much that I kicked a radiator with my bare foot -- thinking, "That'll show her" -- and broke a toe. 

In those moments, I obviously did need to relax, but I couldn't choose to. My mind was too chaotic and overrun by emotion to slow down enough to focus on relaxing. And those wiggly fingers were soooooo annoying. 

My mom had such wonderful instincts as a parent and raised me with so much compassion, with such great values, and with infinite grace. Misfires were extremely unusual, but this was one of them in my opinion.

Why did "re-laaaaaaax" drive me up-the-wall, over-the-deep-end, and  into a radiator?

Because it was a command, a command that negated my feelings. Instead, my mom could have let me say my piece and listened and been a little stealthier at getting me to calm down. She could have slowed her own breathing down, monitored her internal experience, rather than trying to dictate mine. 

When you're with someone who's upset, a great gift and a healing is to focus on your own mental state and shift yourself into a relaxed place. If you're stable enough and strong enough in your calm, you influence the upset person surreptitiously. You can set the tone and even the rhythm of breath for the both of you. 

I learned this technique in a children's yoga training with yoga teacher and special needs educator Allison Morgan. Allison told us a story about being called into a classroom to evaluate whether a girl (let's call her Jane) with problematic and disruptive behavior could stay in a mainstream classroom. She'd been hearing about Jane for weeks. Jane's teachers were so upset about this "uncontrollable" child. The principal was getting complaints from the parents of other children in the classroom. There was a lot of anxiety around Jane. On the morning that Allison went into the classroom to evaluate Jane, she talked to herself and silently to Jane. She slowed her own breathing down. Allison sat behind Jane as she breathed long and deep and projected thoughts like: "It's okay, Jane. Just be yourself. All you have to do is be yourself. It's okay." 

And what happened? Jane worked at her desk quietly and did not cause any disruptions.  She had never behaved like that before. 

Allison explained that this was because of a phenomenon called entrainment, when one's internal rhythm syncs up with an external rhythm. The strength of Allison's focus and intention and the power of her breath calmed Jane down without her even knowing it. 

What does this mean? It means we can do so much with our breath.

One day, a woman came to yoga and was clearly stressed. She peered into the studio from the foyer, saw everyone settling in on their mats, and said, "I really shouldn't go in there. I shouldn't be anywhere near here. I'm a ball of anxiety." 

"That's what we are here for," I said. "This is exactly where you should be." 

I didn't just mean that the teachers are here for her to help her calm down her nervous system and access her breath. I meant all of us, all of the students. After over an hour together, we rub off on each other. Our breaths can sync up. Those who can access a deep breath do, and they do it for all of us. 

Off the mat, though, you have to be a little slick about it. If my daughter is having a moment and I shift into an obvious, conscious deep breath-- letting my torso expand and audibly inhaling and exhaling, she's onto me and she's not having it. "Don't do that yoga [expletive deleted] with me!" A big, deep breath can be the equivalent of the wiggly fingers. I have to do it quietly and imperceptibly. There's an art to it because I can't be so calm that I appear blank, either. My daughter wants to feel heard (as I did, as we all do) and know that her anger or agitation matters. I need to outwardly reflect active listening and inwardly calm myself. (P.S. I don't mean to suggest that I always make the right, artful choice. If only... )

I think about the potential of this, such a simple technique, and I get really inspired... 

A young woman has just been let go from her job and is hyperventilating in the lobby of the office building. You ask if she's alright, listen to her intently, and most importantly, inwardly focus on slowing down your own breathing. A young boy is frantic at the playground unable to find his favorite toy truck. You ask if you can help, listen to him intently, and most importantly, inwardly focus on slowing down your own breathing. Your spouse, your child, your sister, your brother,
your mother, your father is angry about a perceived injustice. Very angry. You let him or her know that you understand; you listen intently, and most importantly, you inwardly focus on slowing down your own breathing. 

We can do this everywhere we go -- schools, offices, restaurants, subways, etc. Imagine. We can breathe deeply for each other. When we breathe long and deep, we are helping to heal the world. (As long as we're slick.)

Cate discovered Kundalini Yoga by accident over 20 years ago and was surprised and thrilled by how engaged, energized, and inspired it made her feel. She's been practicing ever since. In 2008, Cate completed her Level 1 (200 hr) teacher training with Hari Kaur Khalsa of Hari NYC. In 2012, she broadened her knowledge with a very special Holistic Hatha Yoga training (300 hr) with Amy Witmyer of Sacred Space. Kundalini Yoga is her home, her go-to sanctuary, her point of peace and insight. She believes that it is a wonderful tool for busy times and busy minds. Join Cate on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and Friday mornings for Kundalini Yoga & Meditation. ​

I have received many gifts in my lifetime. Sweaters, coats, jewelry, even a car! Yes, I actually got a car for my 30th birthday. These gifts were all great to receive. But the pleasure didn’t truly last. I wore the clothes and the watches; I drove the car, but those gifts just didn’t bring lasting joy. Recently, I received a gift that resonates through every cell and fiber of my being. It is with me every second of the day, every day.

The gift is not a material thing. I can’t look at it. I can’t wear it, and I can’t drive it. Instead, I live it. It is who I am now. 

I undertook a journey three years ago that led me to an “aha" moment. Three years ago, I started my Kundalini Yoga practice. This tradition has changed me in so many ways. I have gotten so much inspiration from the many teachers I have been fortunate to meet and study with.

When I decided to become a teacher, I knew in my gut that it was the right thing to do at that moment of my journey. Little did I know how much it would change me.

For my entire life leading up to my first exposure to Kundalini Yoga, I was someone very different from who I am now. I was a husband, a father, a business person and most important, a people pleaser. There is nothing wrong with filling any of those roles. But over the years, I lost my true self. I lost my Sat Nam.

Many people who come to Montclair Kundalini Yoga know about my passion for the book  The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. For those of you  who haven’t read the book, the principles it's based on are:

1. Be impeccable with your word.
2. Don’t take anything personally.
3. Don’t make assumptions       
4. Do your best.

Much like Kundalini Yoga, the Four Agreements teaches that we can lose our true selves. We are "domesticated" by our parents, our teachers, our coaches and our business associates. We live a life by doing what we think is expected of us. We don’t trust our own intuition. The book and Kundalini yoga both teach us how to get back to who we really are.  The book saved my life and started me on this path of trying to become my real self again.

So here is the real gift: “ I am what I am, and that’s alright.” 

To explain, Kundalini yoga has taught me to live from my heart. To be my true self. It took my almost three years of practice and teaching, but this week I finally understood it and, more importantly, I started to live it. I feel so good about who I am now! I am still a husband, a father, a business person, but I am no longer a people pleaser. I live now in integrity with my truth not trying to meet external expectations. I am finally living my true self, my Sat Nam, and it feels better than any material thing.

I listened to this recording of the song, "I Am What I Am" by Aykanna and all of it came together. 

Yogi Bhajan says "You owe it to yourself to be yourself." He also says, "Make yourself so happy so that when others look at you they become happy too." Pretty good stuff.

The practice of Kundalini Yoga is so powerful that it can change the world one person at a time.

Some people in my life don’t get it and think what I do is a little crazy. You know what? I don’t care! (Second agreement. Don’t take anything personally.)

So I live my life now knowing I am the essence of truth. I am who I am, and that’s alright.

It is an understatement to say that Andy is very excited to begin his Kundalini Yoga teaching career at Montclair Kundalini Yoga. His journey toward becoming a spiritual teacher began with the book The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz which offers a philosophical framework for living. The book literally saved his life and brought him joy and happiness. Soon after finding this book, he discovered Kundalini Yoga. He was instantly hooked and began studying and deepening his practice with the guidance of Cate and Savitri at Montclair Kundalini Yoga. Andy likes to say, "When I finished The Four Agreements, the light came back into my life. When I found Kundalini, that light went to technicolor."  Andy recently graduated from 200 hour teacher training with Hari Kaur and Dharma Devi.  His love of this practice and life is very deep and evident in his presence at the studio. Always learning from the master, Andy posts daily quotes from Yogi Bhajan on the Facebook group he manages, Friends Who Like Montclair Kundalini Yoga. Join him on Monday nights for a FREE Meditation Class, Meditation Mondays and on Thursday nights for Kundalini Yoga & Meditation. ​

The other day, I sat down to do Reiki on my dog, Star. I began the invocation to call on divine assistance to let the Reiki energy flow through me to my anxious pup, to heal the trauma she experienced before she was rescued. Star was turning around, trying to squeeze her wet nose under my arms, "Pet me, pet me, pet me." And my mind was turning around too, trying to take me out of the moment. My mind didn't want to stay on track. I noticed that and took a deep breath and started again. I felt my hands. "The pulsing is real," I said to myself. "The energy is real." "May I be a conduit for healing energy," and I placed my hands on Squirmywormy-Wigglesworth aka Star, and we both settled.

As we proceeded, I kept needing to recalibrate. I focused on my breath and tuned back into the energy, and a mantra came to me: Aad Such Jugad Such Hai Bhai Such Nanak Hosee Bhai Such. This is the mantra for dissolving blocks. It was curious that this is the one that came to me because it's not one of my go-to mantras. But I repeated it internally because I believe that the mantras that rise to the surface are significant. I may not always know the significance of why one mantra rises to the surface over another, but I believe there is a reason. Maybe Star has blocks to feeling safe and relaxed; maybe I have blocks to letting the energy come through. Or another reason not obvious to me. Nevertheless, mantra kept me present. I relied on the mantra.

I've found that the internal process of delivering Reiki is much the same as the internal process when playing the gong: Tune in and STAY tuned in. When I sit down to play the gong, I must first repeat three mantras to invoke protection and inner guidance. Then as I begin to strike the gong, I try to focus and "unfocus" at the same time. I liken it to the way you look at an optical illusion, unfocusing your eyes so you can see the hidden image. This is concentrating, but it's concentrating on being clear, emptying. More often than not, I rely on mantra to do that, to keep me tuned in. I let a mantra come and repeat it to myself as I play. I rely on mantra.

And, of course, it's the same process as doing yoga. We tune in with Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo, and we endeavor to stay tuned in as we practice, inhaling Sat and exhaling Nam. Let me tell you if you think you're the only one whose mind goes in a bunch of different directions all the time even when you're on the mat, you're wrong. It's a constant recalibration, a constant clearing, as it is delivering hands on healing, as it is playing the gong. We rely on Sat Nam.

I believe that mantra is our best recalibration tool, and I am so grateful that I found mantra. In fact, it's a bonafide miracle that I found it because I was NOT looking. When I first stumbled into a Kundalini Yoga class years ago, I did not know what I was getting into. When I heard the mantras, I was completely "weirded out." I fancied myself way too "normal" for mantras. (Little did I know!) Nevertheless, I somehow stayed with it. I stayed with it, but with a "bad" attitude. I told myself that I was only "visiting" the weirdo Kundalini world. It wasn't my world. I wasn't a chanter. The mantras weren't for me. Yet somehow, over time, the mantras melted me and, over time, they came to be my favorite part of the practice. Somehow now, mantras rise to the surface when I need them. Wahe Guru!

The word somehow in my usage above (and maybe always) is synonymous with "By Grace" or "Through Destiny's Momentum." I am here, and sharing the teachings of Kundalini Yoga, particularly the gift of mantra, is my life's work. Wahe Guru! 

Today in class, a student said to me that she wished she'd had a practice when she first became a mother. I agreed. When my son was born 18 years ago, I had found Kundalini Yoga, but I wasn't all in. I was still in the "bad" attitude phase. I can get pulled into regret on the years I wasted on resistance. Yes, years. Ten years to be exact that I practiced as a tourist in the spiritual realm.  

Then, I wonder if I needed to go through the years of resistance. In those years of half-hearted practice was a lesson. Perhaps I went through all those years, so that I could urge you not to... 

Don't.

Don't waste time thinking you don't belong in a spiritual practice. Don't waste time thinking the mantras aren't for you. They are for you. They are available, accessible, and useful to all of us. They are not religion. They are not weird. They are ancient guidance that resonate on a soul level, guiding us to be present, guiding us to be clear, guiding us to our purpose.  

And if you do waste time as I did, know that if you continue with the mantras (with any attitude) they'll eventually penetrate. Inevitably, they will dissolve the walls. 

If you had told me 20 years ago that I would be a Kundalini Yoga teacher who belted out mantras and started a blog talking about giving Reiki to a dog, I wouldn't have believed it. Yet, somehow, here I am. 

Our minds may reflect the chaos of our world. We may fall under the spell of chaos, seduced by endless threads of thought, endless dramas, endless worries. We must break this spell. This state of distraction can prevent us from seeing the right way forward, from living our Truth. 

WE CAN BREAK THE SPELL. There is a simple, beautiful, and easy meditation that is the antidote to a mind going every which way but Truth.  It's called Seven Wave Sat Nam Meditation. In this meditation, you pulse a mantra through the chakras and in so doing weave it through your consciousness.  The mantra is Sat Nam, the seed (or bij) mantra of Kundalini Yoga, which means Truth is my identity. According to the teachings of Yogi Bhajan, each of us innately has the divine spark of Truth and within that spark is the potential for a fully authentic and magnificent life. 

As I see it, the meditation both reinforces that you are truth as it also cleanses you of all that is not Truth. How does it do that? Your focus is Sat Nam. And it's more than just focusing on the sound. You're vibrating it in a very specific way that requires all your concentration (as you'll see below). So the other stuff -- dramas, worries, falsehoods -- recede to the background. At the same time, the vibration of the ancient sound moves through your consciousness, cleansing all the background noise that doesn't match the resonance of Sat Nam. According to 3ho.org, if you can practice the meditation for 31 minutes, "...the mind will be cleansed just as the ocean waves wash the sandy beach." 

To do Seven Wave Sat Nam Meditation, follow the instructions below. It is very helpful to use this recording by Madhuir Nain-Webster on her album Meditation Collection. ​

1. Place the hands in prayer at the heart center.
2. Inhale deeply and on your exhale chant, pulse, and extend the sound Sat through the chakras from the root to the third eye. Do it in this manner: SA (mentally focused on the root chakra at the base of the spine), AH-AH (mentally focused on the sacral chakra at the pelvis),  AH-AH (mentally focused on the navel chakra at the navel/solar plexus),  AH-AH (mentally focused on the heart chakra at the center of the chest),  AH-AH (mentally focused on the throat chakra at the throat),  and AT, (completing the sound mentally focused at the third eye chakra at the brow point). Then chant the sound Nam (as you focus on the crown chakra at the top of the head). Refer to the image above.
3. Continue for 11-31 minutes.

Here's what Yogi Bhajan said about the cycle of the mantra -- six beats for Sat and one beat for Nam. 

Cate discovered Kundalini Yoga by accident over 20 years ago and was surprised and thrilled by how engaged, energized, and inspired it made her feel. She's been practicing ever since. In 2008, Cate completed her Level 1 (200 hr) teacher training with Hari Kaur Khalsa of Hari NYC. In 2012, she broadened her knowledge with a very special Holistic Hatha Yoga training (300 hr) with Amy Witmyer of Sacred Space. Kundalini Yoga is her home, her go-to sanctuary, her point of peace and insight. She believes that it is a wonderful tool for busy times and busy minds. Join Cate on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and Friday mornings for Kundalini Yoga & Meditation. ​

Gong is the sound of the Self within, a mirror of vibration where all is laid bare.
A depthless flow guiding you through-- non-resistance, non-resistance.
And then the sacred sounds pour forth, from deep within the heart of Silence.

The clap of thunder bows to the Gong.
The caress of a lover moves in the Gong.
The player and the played become the same.
​
One. One. One.
It is here, where egos come undone, where minds let go, and bodies heal.
It is here where pure devotion sings, where grace reveals the light within.
It is here where the power of love prevails.
And it is here where you surrender all.
For Truth.
Sat Nam.