Big Girls Do It Too

Yoga is for every body… regardless of body type or age. Being plus sized and living in Asia where most women’s bodies are the size of my one thigh, my journey with yoga has been one of extreme enlightenment. I enlightened people that even Big Girls can do it.

I’ve always been a big girl, right from the time I was born but that never stopped me from doing all the things in the sports arena. I was a good swimmer and swam competitively in school. When I was in school, I badly wanted to be the swimming captain for my house, but no one would vote for me. I got used to the sneers and jeers which made me even more determined that when I got on that starting block, I was going to win and win I did!! I finally became swimming captain for the remaining 4 years in school!

I am blessed to have a loving family who never made fun of my size and my mother being a designer made sure that I enhanced my good qualities. My husband never once thought of me as Fat and it used to drive him crazy when I decided I need to be thin and started fad diets. Society seems to have a problem with persons that are size challenged and often assume they are not able to perform physically as well.

I have enjoyed the practice of Hatha Yoga and recently Kundalini Yoga for many years and have had wonderful teachers who helped with adjusting the poses. My first experience with doing a shoulder stand was terrible; my upper body parts fell over my nose and smothered me. Needless to say we were all laughing so much, my pint size yoga teacher said she would love to have a “problem” like that. During the Sun Salutation, I would have difficulty with the lunged, my belly got in the way. I enjoyed my yoga class so much that I would not let these things get in the way. Despite having done sports competitively, like swimming and judo, this was the first time I could feel centred and focused and very much at home in my own body. What a great feeling to feel every muscle in you body and to enjoy that feeling. Yoga was definitely something that I wanted to pursue.

Yoga gave me a peace of mind, it made me feel good about myself. And the more I practiced, the better I got. I now do a shoulder stand with without smothering myself. A few years go, I attended some Kundalini Yoga classes and was enthralled by this practice. The teachers were visiting teachers and I was not able to find anyone locally. One of the Guru’s came to me at the end of the class and out of the blue said, “you would make a good teacher”, and so began my journey to become a Kundalini Yoga Teacher.

It was quite an exciting feeling to even imagine myself as a yoga teacher. The first module of my teachers training was rather difficult for me but I persevered and it became easier and easier, my body was able to flow, it was able to move with surprising ease. I started being able to live with so much more ease and my self-esteem boosted. I began liking who I was. I stopped getting offended at the pencil-sized girls in the shopping malls offering me sliming treatments. I began to glow. I started living “Ang Sang Wahe Guru” (God is in every cell in body), and I became happier and best of all my joint pains lessened.

Due to a sporting injury, I had both the cartilage of my knees smashed and they were removed, until I took up Yoga seriously, I struggled to sit on the floor with my body weight on my legs. Many larger persons, both men and women, often feel intimidated to join a yoga class. Being large, one does have problems with stress on the joints form the excess weight. But with a regular practice, this can all be overcome.

Carrying extra weight means every joint in the body has to work harder. A yoga practice will give you the strength and flexibility in order to live pain free. Plus size persons feel ashamed of not being able to “compete” with others in the class. Yoga is non competitive and never has been, nor should it ever become! Most people going to a yoga class are already fit and are looking towards enhancing their own flexibility, which most traditional excises are not able to provide. So when one is size challenged, it is easy to feel intimidated and discouraged in such an environment. Many larger persons are also health challenged with hypertension, heart conditions etc., and feel afraid to start a practice because of this.

No matter what type of Yoga is used, an experienced teacher will help a student to cope with the activities of daily life. A yoga practice does not just end in the class; it carries on with us in our daily living. With yoga I’ve learnt to respect and honour my body for what it can do and where it can take you. As we work on the body on a structural level, helping to align the vertebrae one develops better posture and can stand tall with confidence and grace.

One of my students commented after an hour and a half’s class that he felt so much slimmer. Just after one class, it had such a difference. He has been practicing with me for 6 months and feels taller, dropped a size in clothing because he does not need to eat junk food, and best of all has stopped smoking. When you are living your life out of union of body, mind spirit, you then have a wonderful life experience. Despite the hurdles of size, health or weight put in you path, you learn to overcome these as I have.

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Prabhu Nam Kaur has studied and performed Kirtan in the Sikh tradition for over 30 years. She is a teacher of Naad Yoga (the yoga of sacred sound) and a singer of devotional chant music, through which the listener/participant is transported to a sublime experience of the sound current.

Snatam Kaur writing about her mother, Prabhu Nam Kaur:

"Somebody asked me once what it is like hearing my mother sing….. When I hear her sing it is like hearing my own voice. How can you explain something like that? In the womb she sang to me, throughout my child hood she sang to me. When I hear her sing it takes as about as much effort as it takes a person to look at the palm of their hand for me to sink deeply into a state of bliss…If you have ever seen my mother sing the Shabad Guru it is like watching someone who is absolutely and deeply in love. ….Her voice gently dances through the space around her, reverberating off of the bedroom walls and echoing into the living room, bathroom, the whole house, and floating out the windows. The Shabad Guru became a part of the house, a part of us, so familiar that you almost don’t remember that she is singing, because the whole house is singing."

Sat Santokh Singh is a leader in the field of transformational workshops, and the application of yogic technology to living in the world and caring about it deeply. A former manager of the Grateful Dead, he is the senior Kundalini Yoga teacher in Northern California. His workshops generate a profoundly magical and sacred space in which one’s heart is deeply touched.

Naad Yoga is the practice of cultivating union with the sound current. Through Naad Yoga, a state of ecstasy is experienced, by aligning one’s consciousness with the Infinite. This workshop seeks to assist in developing a daily practice to regularly achieve and maintain such a state of consciousness – that place in which one is complete, where one’s cup is full, where nothing is wanted, nothing is lacking.

There will be chanting, meditation, Kirtan (singing of sacred hymns), Naad Yoga related Kriyas, lecture and discussion.

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Listening To Angelic Whispers Meditation
for the Sattvic Guna
(The Mind, Yogi Bhajan, Ph.D., page 151)

Posture: Sit in Easy Pose. Make your spine straight.

Focus: Close your eyes.

Breath: As you listen to the instruments play this tune, whistle with it. Hear the sound of the whistle at the brow point.

Mudra: Put your hands on opposite shoulders. Your arms must cross. Hold your shoulders well, the arms relaxed on the chest. This is a posture of peace.

Mantra: Listen to a tape of the mantra:

Ardaas Bhayee, amar daas guroo,
Amar daas guroo, ardaas bhayee,
Raam daas guroo, raam daas guroo,
Raam daas guroo, sachee sahee.

The translation of the mantra is: “The grace of Guru Amar Das (who is the hope of the hopeless) and Guru Ram Das (who is the King of the yogis and Bestower of blessings—past, present and future) guarantee the prayer will be answered and all one’s needs provided for.”

Time: Continue for 15-31 minutes. Then begin long, slow, deep breathing. Mentally listen to the echo of your whistling. Hear the sound you created before. Continue long, slow, deep breathing for 3-11 minutes.

End: End with 3 powerful breaths. Inhale deep through the nose, hold for 5-10 seconds, then exhale powerfully through the mouth. As you hold the breath in, put all the pressure downward on your shoulders with your hands. Press them down and keep the spine steady and straight. Repeat the breath three times. Then relax.

Comments: This meditation will refine the sattvic guna of your mind. Inside of yourself be very calm, quiet. Once you begin long, slow, deep breathing and mentally listen to the sound you made whistling before, bring your unison power of the mind, the subtle sattvic guna mind, to listen. Once you learn to listen this way, you can listen in exactly the same way to what God’s Will is. When you can still the mind, refine it, command its guna, then you can listen to God’s Will, discern what it is, then act. Life will be very easy, content and fulfilled. In the Bible you are told the same thing. There is a word called, “Behold” “Behold yourself. Be within yourself and listen.”

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Shakti Dance is the 'yoga of dance' – the conscious practice of dance, infused with the wisdom of yoga to develop awareness and understanding of body, mind and emotions. With a unique and harmonious blend of flowing asanas and various styles of dance, Shakti Dance works energetically to develop the art of intuitive and free movement through a state of mystic, meditative union. The practice gently opens the pranic currents (life force), so that body and mind are able to surrender and merge with the intelligent, creative flow of Shakti, the divine feminine principle of all manifest life.

Sara Avtar Olivier, a life long dancer, Sat Nam Rasayan healer and 20-year yoga practitioner and teacher, is the creator and founder of this discipline and its yogic system.

Shakti Dance has its roots in the science and tradition of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan. It implements insights drawn from yogic philosophy to awaken and embody universal principles of harmonious movement. It also develops an understanding of the qualities and levels of energy induced through different dance movements and styles. It fuses breath, motion and mindfulness to expand the practitioner's consciousness.

Sara Avtar Olivier will be holding an intensive weekend workshop in London on May 17 & 18 at the Special Yoga Centre. She is also offering the Shakti Dance Teacher Training Programme in Viterbo, Italy that will take place over 5 weeks, throughout April to November, 2008. For more info and booking, contact Sara Avtar at sonarshiva@gmail.com.

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Conscious Pregnancy Training
16th March - 25th March 2008


Conscious Pregnancy Teacher Training Group

Thanks to the organisational efforts of Esther (Guru Dharam Kaur) Moser, an eager group of women gathered in Ballinrobe in March to attend the Conscious Pregnancy training with Tarn Taran Kaur and Seva Kaur. This was the first time this Pregnancy Yoga course has been taught in Ireland. For two weeks, the group were emmersed in an intensive, yet enjoyable, course covering every aspect of pregnancy, birth and parenting from a Kundalini yogic and practical view.

Women at all of the various stages of their lives shared their experiences of womanhood and motherhood. On the practical level, two full practice Conscious Pregnancy Yoga classes were taught by trainees each day. We also engaged in group discussions about pregancy, birthing and parenting. We were encouraged to work together on a very intimate level and the depth of conversation that was born from such discussions was highly informative and often heart felt. Tarn Taran Kaur and Seva Kaur's many stories and meditations further enhanced our perspectives and experiences related to all aspects of child birth and motherhood.

Much giggling was had with cushions being regularly stuffed up tops to get that 'pregnant' feeling. We had the fortune to have a local midwife come to the training to give a talk about the practicalities of home birthing. Esther, a Hypno-Birthing practitioner and a former pediatric nurse gave a talk about Hypno Birthing. Also a gorgeous baby girl of 7 months, came for the Baby Massage and Baby Yoga section and happily demonstrated for the group. Topics such as breastfeeding, epidurals, caesarian birth, home births, natural births were all juxtaposed with Kundalini Yoga teachings and meditations under the guidance of Tarn Taran Kaur and Seva Kaur.

For many it was a chance to connect with their own experience of being a child, of giving birth and for others of their hopes to become parents themselves. The appreciation of being trained in Conscious Pregnancy created a very enthusiastic group, some of whom are already out teaching Conscious Pregnancy classes, helping a new generation of Conscious Parents and babies be born into the world.

Our appreciation for Tarn Taran Kaur and Seva Kaur for coming from New Mexico and Norway to teach this course knows no bounds. Special thanks to Esther for organising the course and giving us, as teachers and future generations, such a wonderful gift of Conscious Pregnancy and Kundalini Yoga right here in Ireland.

Sat Nam,

Mer Azad Kaur
Conscious Pregancy and Kundalini Yoga Teacher

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His father looked upon him, with love showing in his eyes.
"Do what you want to, my son . . . but do not leave my side."

"I would never leave you Daddy, I love you way too much."
But the boy took a step away, out of his father's range of touch.

He walked through the surf, the waves tickling one toe.
"If I take one more step in . . ." he thought, "Father will never know."

His father called out to him, "Son, to me remain true!"
The boy thought with glee . . . "At the moment I don't need you!"

His father felt a sadness, but he held his tongue.
Sometimes lessons need to be learned . . . even when so young.

The boy stepped out a little further . . . the water covering his waist.
His father spoke with urgency . . . his father spoke with haste.

"My son, come back to me," he said, "The day is almost done!" "Not yet, Dad," the boy yelled, "I'm having too much fun!"

But the boy did not have his father's insight so he could not yet tell.
The tide was coming in fast . . . there would be no time to yell.

"Father!" he tried to scream, as the water covered his head. "I need you now, Daddy!" was what the boy had said.

And in a single instant his father was by his side.
"I thought you left me, Daddy . . . I thought you went to hide."

The father looked upon his son . . . a tear streaming down his cheek.
The boy looked upon his father . . . and cried the sobs of the meek.

"I would never leave you son . . . for I love you just the same."
"I was only waiting . . . for you to call upon my name.

Author Unknown

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7 Chakras Workshop
with Gurmukh & Gurushabd in Istanbul

World famous Kundalini yoga teacher and the author of "The Eight Human Talents" GURMUKH and her husband Gurushabd will be offering a workshop about the Chakras in Istanbul May 27th - May 30th.

TUESDAY MAY 27th

IRON STRENGTH AND CONFIDENCE!
WORKING ON CHAKRAS: 1, 2, 3

Psychological tension and problems can be countered by balancing the first three chakras. Balancing them can set us free from depression, anxiety and move us to self-confidence, better health and more energy. The balance of the first three chakras provides the mind set to accomplish our goals and helps attract prosperity as well as bringing sexual balance to our lives.

Beginners and all levels welcome.

A meditation will be given for continuous practice.

WEDNESDAY MAY 28th

GOODBYE TO FEARS & HELLO TO JOY!
WORKING ON CHAKRA: 4

Opening up the heart center means we begin to release fear. Beginning to make our decisions in life based on what we love to do and be rather than what we fear and avoid. Working on the heart center increases the quality of our lives and relationships, allowing us to invite “joy” back into our lives.


Beginners and all levels welcome.
A meditation will be given for continuous practice.

THURSDAY MAY 29th

CREATE BY THE POWER OF YOUR WORD!
WORKING ON CHAKRA: 5

The 5th chakra is about creating our reality through the power of the word. Our words can create chaos, deep hurt or disinterest or can balance, uplift and have an impact. When the 5th chakra is balanced we communicate from our authentic self. We thus can invite deeper, longer lasting relationships and friendships. Through the science of Kundalini yoga we develop an awareness of the power of our words and we can begin to direct our lives more creatively. How we are living, comes from how we are speaking.

Beginners and all levels welcome.

A meditation will be given for continuous practice.

FRIDAY MAY 30th

BECOME INTUITIVE AND FIND PEACE NOW!
WORKING ON CHAKRA: 6 TH & 7TH

Intuition is a gift that we all have and it allows us to navigate life in a much more expansive manner then the rational mind. It gives us an instant calculation and a knowingness of a person, situation or a choice without any doubt. This in turn creates peace, joy and celebration in our lives. The biological components to activate intuition and a sense of oneness are the pituitary and pineal glands. Through Kundalini yoga & meditation we will stimulate these glands. Developing intuition and opening the consciousness to the perception of the inherent oneness of all.

Beginners and all levels welcome.

A meditation will be given for continuous practice.

DATES:

May 27th Tuesday
May 28th Wednesday
May 29th Thursday
May 30th Friday

TIME: 19: 30 - 23:30

PLACE: HOTEL VI.LLA
SIRASERVI.LER CAD. NO; 49
80090 TAKSI.M – I.STANBUL

REGISTRATION: Esra Banguog(lu (Fateh Kaur)
0538 552 08 70
kundaliniyoga@esrabanguoglu.com
www.kundaliniesra.com

PRICE: 4 Days Package $480
4 Days Package w/discount * $400
One day pass $160
One day pass w/ discount * $140

WARNING:

* Please bring a yoga mat and wear something comfortable.
* It's perfectly fine if you have never done yoga before. You can join the workshop.
* If you have any health conditions please consult your doctor before attending the workshop.
* Discounts will apply only for the payments made until May 20th (Until the end of the business day)
*Any payments after that will be regular price. All payments at the door must be in US dollars.

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Announcements

We would like to send a shower of blissful birth blessings to Sat Susie Cornally (aka Sat Santokh Kaur) and Marcus who are expecting their first child in mid-June.

Frequently Used Mantras

Adays tisay adays
Aad aneel anaad anaahat
Jug jug ayko vays

I salute Thee, the Primal One, pure in the beginning, through all time, through all the ages – the One.

These are the words Guru Nanak and a salutation to the infinite – to the God beyond the Infinite God. If you master this pauree of Japji, the entire knowledge of the universe and beyond will come to you without ever reading a book. This mantra initiates you into that knowledge which is within all. It is a yogi’s humble bowing to the Infinite.

DISCLAIMER
The opinions, services and instruction being offered in the newsletter are NOT medical advice, consultation, Therapy or treatment, nor does it include any other medical, mental, physical or spiritual diagnosis. The educational services and instruction provided herein are not intended to be in place of or in lieu of any medical advice or treatment. It is strongly advised that you seek the guidance of a KRI certified Kundalini Yoga Teacher before practicing Kundalini Yoga at home.

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