Meditation and Yoga Gives Me Strength in Motherhood

The last time you’ve heard from me I was totally captivated by my pregnancy and the change it had brought on. Little did I know that was only the preparation for a constant flow of variability that comes from having a child. All of a sudden there is no time, no schedule, and no sleep, you exist in a microcosm with your baby which has completely different rules then what your were used to.

My pregnancy ended up with emergency C-section. I was surprised how incompetent I was after the surgery. I thought I will be able to go home the next day. Crazy!  That day I experienced my first ride in an ambulance but also my first hospital stay in what was then 32 years of my life. I was blown away by the whole system. It employs enormous amounts of people and everyone’s tasks are very specialized. I felt that everyone was more concerned with flawlessly running their multi leveled ‘corporation’ than with personal patient care. This operation has confirmed in me the decision to do everything possible to stay healthy and avoid what should be called “sickcare business”.

Ra Ma Da Sa Meditation

Throughout my recovery process I remember saying to myself “just keep meditating”. First, I was doing Ra Ma Da Sa meditation for my own healing because I was worry about the complications that could come up from the surgery. But I did it also for my baby’s smooth transition into this world and her development. Every day I felt a little better and Arianna was stronger and bigger.

My mind though that was a different story. There were many things to do and/or to remember to do later. What really helped me to get my ducks somehow in the row, was the One Minute Breath meditation. For those of you who don’t know how to do it. You inhale for 20 seconds, hold the breath in for 20 seconds and exhale in 20 seconds. One breath cycle takes one minute hence the name. When you are able to slow down your breathing, you’ll go in to the meditative state automatically. Well my lungs were not as strong, so I did each part for 10 seconds. Two breath cycles a minute. That’s very good since our normal breath rate at rest is about 12-18 breaths per minute

About 4 weeks later, I started to feel like doing some exercises as well. One day I was particularly tired since Arianna was having a rough night. So when she fell asleep that day I was so happy, I didn’t know what to do first. Moms probably know how it is when you have that hour or so while baby is napping and you start running around like a chicken without its head. Randomly doing things you wanted to do. Laundy, breakfast, cooking lunch, catching up on news, cleaning, shower. There is no order to your madness and the worst is you are not sure how much time you have. I made a very smart decision to do yoga and did Kriya for Purifying the Self from Sadhana Guidelines. These few little exercises worked magic. Right away I was invigorated, calm, focused and what was the best, I was rested. I just bowed my head in gratitude to the yoga teachings. They really work especially, when you need it the most.

I believe in the future the health care will focus mainly on getting in touch with our bodies through yoga and meditation. Because when we are stressed, overwhelmed, surrounded by negativity we are more susceptible to disease. And when we raise our awareness through meditation we are more likely to take the active part to create healthier environment.
If you only do 3 minutes of long deep breathing, where you inhale for 5 counts hold for 5 and exhale for 5 counts, you gonna feel so much more balanced. And when you are balanced you can get more things done because you are not stumbling around but can make decisions with clear purpose. Keep in mind, the benefits don’t come during the meditation. Lot of times it might be quite a struggle to sit and not react to your mind. The benefits of a meditation are in the way you interact with the outside world and also with yourself on daily basis.

It’s a beautiful moment when you finish meditating and your mind is finally so relaxed it doesn’t want to give any commands to your body.

And you just sit there,

in a peace with yourself,

watching the leaves shaking in the wind

outside your window,

And you fall in love with nature and God,

again and again.

Sat Nam

My First Pregnancy Comes with Few Revelations

All this is full. All that is full.

From fullness, fullness comes.

When fullness is taken from fullness,

Fullness still remains.

o m shanti shanti shanti

 

[The Upanishads]

 

Few times I’ve heard women say that becoming a mother changed their perspective on life and gave their life a new meaning. I am not a mother yet, but I have to say that just being pregnant brought out a whole lot of revelations for me.

 

First of all, it brought up a new sense of humility that being woman is to be able to constantly adjust to the changes in life. One day you are in a great shape and the next day you are eating anything you can get your hands on, or one day you are being able to run 5k and the next, you can barely catch a breath after one lap. Your body it changing everyday and you can’t do anything about it.

In the first trimester I experienced really dramatic mood swings. Wow… that wasn’t fun. I didn’t want to be mean or angry or worse, lazy. But the next day everything was fine and was the usual happy me…, only for it all to come back the next day. So I gave in and stopped putting significance to these feelings. I knew tomorrow or maybe even few hours later my mood will change. So pregnancy hormones took a driving driving seat and I was just a passenger having to hold on really tight and trust that everything will work out.

 

My assumption is that it must be a very different experience from being a man who with his stability and strong focus is baffled why he can’t understand an ever changing woman. Men are also controlled by their hormones but since they don’t experience hormonal CHANGES, they tend to ignore their importance and instead put strong emphasis on the brain and everything rational. They assume that human brain alone is his/her essence. I was watching this documentary once and this man was trying to recreate his deceased father as an Artificial Intelligence based on his father’s notes. Personally, I find it very insulting to the great creation that we humans are. Why does a smart person waste so much time and effort in creating something that will only be a tiny little fraction of his dad. When instead we can create complete, full human being, we can educate and train him or her but that’s not enough. That’s not fun. Raising child is too unpredictable and hard to control and therefore ‘boring’.

 

I have been given this opportunity to give life and I am deeply honored. It is not me personally giving life, it’s the nature itself realizing herself. As I said before I am not in control. Being pregnant makes me feel connected to the whole nature from mama cows to a single cell organism duplicating itself. How effortless that seems right?

Check it out here:

That’s how deeply rooted giving birth is. Just in case you don’t believe that the quote above can be true, this video clearly illustrates it. From one complete cell another complete cell is born. New complete cell was created (taken) from the original but the original stayed the same.WOW! Giving birth is the same, I can give birth to a complete human being but nothing from me will be missing, I will remain myself, and the baby will be complete self as well. Oh we women are so perfect!!! We don’t need men!

 

But hold on…, I on my own, I am not complete enough to create new life. I am not full. In order to create life I needed that one tiny little droplet of a sperm to make me complete. This is the power of a man: in just one little sperm cell he is able to bring life into its completion. I give my whole body and all nutrients during this pregnancy to the baby and at the end this child will be just as mine as she is my husband’s.

This relationship is a perfect analogy to how the universe works in yogic philosophy. Everything we see around is feminine the whole material world is feminine. But God is masculine. He is the tiny seed that penetrates everything and makes all matter realize itself. Therefore we say that God is in everything and everyone and that’s why we call him the Father.

What is the speed of dark?

“What is the speed of dark?”

Was the question on my fortune cookie. Well that’s easy right? Dark has no speed. Dark is nothing and how can nothing have a speed?

These days Astrophysicist are talking about dark energy and dark matter. They believe this darkness indeed has some qualities about which they can only speculate. Generally though, they believe that dark matter somehow contributes to an expansion of our universe.

Oh boy this post will be philosophical, (Philosophy was my minor) but I’ll try to keep it short.

It takes a lot of energy to spread a light. Whether it is electricity, gas or plain old fire. Dark on the other hand just requires not doing much, to be inactive, passive. It’s pretty basic quality.
It goes the same for us, it takes a little extra energy to make someone happy but at the same time it feels so good. When we make that decision and genuinely help someone even if it’s just by bringing them a cup of coffee, saying few nice words or smiling. But we don’t do that very often. And the main reason is because it is easier just to stay passive and not act. I hold off on giving a beggar change because I don’t feel like interacting with anyone on a crowded subway. I passed on saying happy birthday to my friend because I was busy, I didn’t say I love you, thank you, you are doing a great job, I miss you, I appreciate you because it was easier not to. (besides other reasons that I can rationally come up with). That’s it.
That’s the speed of dark. It is the speed with which we decide not to do something noble, kind, helpful. It is the speed with which we decide to have another drink, cigarette or fall into other habits that make us feel comfortable and secure. It’s here all the time and it works with the energy so invisible we don’t even think twice about it. To initiate something that’s good for us or others takes a little effort maybe even a risk but it always pays off with big rewards.

How much energy does our sun burn?billions and zillions of energy units. That light to sustain our solar system and the life on earth with all it’s beauties. It is the light that gives life not the dark.
We as people are able to generate so many good deeds, so much creativity… light and happiness but many times we choose to stay passive saying ‘I’m too busy’ or I don’t have time’ ‘not right now’.

Guru – literal translation is that which brings light to darkness. Guru is in all of us. So let’s help it out to brighten our and other people’s life. I know it might be little bit hard at the beginning sometimes our efforts might end up looking just like little sparks but let’s keep on trying anyway.
It will get easier.

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.

Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.

Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten.

Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.

Give your best anyway.

In the finl analysis, it is between you and God.

It was never between you and them anyway.

~Mother Theresa

What has vacation tought me about yoga

Beautiful empty street in the center of Vienna

I just returned from a two and half weeks vacation in Slovakia. My husband and me spend a lot of time with my family and friends. We traveled a lot, saw a lot of churches, castles, parks and gardens in different towns and cities plus we’ve always found time to catch up on ice hockey World Championship happening in Slovakia at that time.

During this trip I’ve kept my daily meditation and started Japji global sadhana, but otherwise I didn’t have much time for yoga. This was a vacation in it’s truest sense. It was a step out of ordinary life I’m used to in NY. All the discipline and restrictions went out of window. I ate and drank what I wanted. Well, I ate pretty much constantly because there were so many things I grew up with but haven’t tasted since I came to US. I drank  a lot of water from tap only because it tasted sooo good. It tasted sort of soft and sweat.

When I came back I realized how totally tide up I was in the virtual yoga world. I would follow any articles posted on healthy yoga tips, horoscopes, best mantras, top CDs,…. It was almost an addiction. At the end, all this information is pointless if it’s standing in your way to enjoy life and project your desires. It’s just another form of escapism.

I did exactly what my teacher Hari Kaur has warn us against. She said to be careful not to make yoga or yoga related matters like tarot, horoscopes, tips, even a music, into another maya or distraction that will lure you away from whats really happening.  Yoga is a technology, a tool to help you find your true self and not to consume your time and life.

So let’s all take a deep breath and contemplate on what is obsessing your mind right now? When was the last time you felt joyous? If it’s been a while, make yourself happy, sing a song, dance or go for a walk.

Or just simply take a break!

Something Sweet (video)

Hello dear friends,

Today’s post will be on a very different note.

Practicing yoga has totally raised my awareness about food. The saying ‘You are what you eat’ rings deeply in my head everyday. Slowly and surely I started to pay attention to what I’m eating and decided that my biggest enemy is highly processed food. It frightens me to know what sort of additives food producers put into our chips, or candy, or even a bread to make it last and stay fresh and have a very long shelf life in the supermarket.

I want to eat natural food not something that only resembles food. I want to be as full of life and nutrition as all the vegetables and fruits grown under warm summer sun :). I’m sure there must be difference if you have tomato from a can and fresh tomato grown on organic farm with attention of humans and not machines only.

My husband (Tim) and me made this little short video as an introduction to video blog called Foods in Motion (coming soon) where we will cook all sorts of healthy, organic meals, snacks, detox juices, learn about yoga, meditation, sustainable agriculture and maybe we will inspire few others to cook from fresh produce and live balanced lifestyle.

This recipe is called Yoga Cookies and when I first tried them, thanks to SatDarshan Singh, I had to learn how to make it. The recipe is from http://www.annenovakyoga.com and uses all natural ingredients, very little sugar and it’s loaded with fiber and natural nut oils. Plus it is super easy. All you need to know is how to mix. Thank you Anne Novak. Thank you Timmy for a beautiful photography and Rebecca Cannon who did little pop up cards.

Please let me know what would you like to see. All of your comments are very welcomed.

Hello Hari NYC, Goodbye St. John’s church

It’s that time again when we have to say goodbye to something old and welcome something new. And so the life goes on!

This Monday March 21st we celebrated opening of Hari NYC, new Kundalini Yoga and jazz space in Manhattan, founded by my teacher Hari Kaur Khalsa and her husband jazz pianist Dave Frank. The space is absolutely wonderful and I felt blissful just by being there. If you are a NYC yogi, you should definitely check it out. The address is 140 W30th Street 3rd floor.

By opening this studio we ended an era of Kundalini Yoga in St. John’s Lutheran Church on Christopher Street. What a noble effort and great courage on part of Pastor Lyndon Harris and Hari Kaur Khalsa.
I am so glad I was fortunate to be part of it. Under 50 foot ceiling of the church we all became the most down to earth, humble yogis with high aspirations to serve others.

It wasn’t easy.
This wasn’t your cozy yoga studio detached from the outside world. We where doing yoga in the middle of West Village with doors of the church wide open. It was cold and then it was hot. But we kept coming back.

Being in church felt emotionally charged for me. It reminded me a lot about my childhood. Kundalini yoga was conflicting with my catholic upbringing.  Even though I struggled a little bit I did reach a realization of beautiful union of church and yoga that can exist if only in my heart. You can read about this process in my post Double Trouble cont’d.

Union

It’s the key word. I came out from my struggle between two spiritual powers with the idea of union. The church council of St. John’s struggled just as hard, but with very different outcome.
Eventually they moved our classes from the main sanctuary into kind of eating hall in the back and they closed the door to the church. I don’t know much about the politics in there but the air was a little bit tense.

It is easy to close your heart and separate yourself from others and it takes a courage, kindness and love towards yourself and others to reach union to reach that “yoga”. This is the lesson I learned from that place and I’m gonna try to apply it in my every day life.

“There is a way through every block” (Yogi Bhajan – yoga sutra of Aquarian Age)

Thank you so so so much Lyndon for opening the doors to yoga and may your visions for your West Village sanctuary come true. You are my hero. Thank you Hari for being the greatest teacher against all odds. May your studio blossom and cherish like those cherry trees 🙂

Sat Nam

Please don’t be sad; try to chant!

You know the feeling when you walk out of your yoga class and everything just feels wonderful. Your spirit is so high that you want to sing, your steps feel light, and your body is alive.

And then…
A car cuts right in front of you as you are trying to walk across the street (on a walk sign of course). Fortunately, you are ok but your radiant feeling from doing yoga is gone. What do you do? Go back and take another class?

Life is full of instances that can drive you mad, or crazy and disturb your inner peace. Sometimes things just don’t work out the way you’ve planned. Is there yoga for that? Is there yoga to deal with everyday upsets?

Yes there is and it is called mantra!

Chanting and repeating mantras can put your mind on a different channel. It tunes it to a higher frequency from which you can see your life with a broader perspective. The hurdles in your life doesn’t seem so big anymore and you are able to see solutions and opportunities. As a result you’ll feel more inspiration and strength to keep going.

Last week I had one of those days when one of my big dreams felt through. I felt just plain sad. I was also doing the last preparations for kirtan with SatDarshan Singh & Sirgun Kaur. It was me who invited these musicians and organized it. The idea of going in front of people and being all excited and happy seemed rather gloomy to me.

But the beautiful vibration of everyone chanting together has totally changed my mood. Hanging around with like minded people is always a blessing. To be able to chant and meditate with them is almost priceless. I have found new strength and inspiration to pursue my dreams.

The best is that the feeling of calm happiness and peace didn’t disappear when I got home, but persisted to many days after.  I would sincerely recommend to chant for anyone who feels they need a little pick me up. And if you are in serious need of upliftment,  go to a kirtan event near you.  SatDarshan Singh & Sirgun Kaur had just kicked off their spring tour so check out their website to learn more about where are they are playing next.

http://satdarshan-sirgun.com/

There are many mantra CDs available from so many genres. Spirit Voyage or iTunes is a great resource to check out kirtan muscians. You can also download SatDarshan Singh and The Kirtan Caravan CD at:

http://www.spiritvoyage.com/yoga/Sadhana-in-the-City/Sat-Darshan-Singh-and-The-Kirtan-Caravan/CDS-004179.aspx

Please,

don’t be sad; try to chant!

Kirtan with Sat Darshan Singh & Sirgun Kaur

Cherry Blossom is so excited to be finally able to invite you to a beautiful night of kirtan with Sat Darshan Singh and Sirgun Kaur. Kirtan is an ancient Indian practice of call and response chanting. Chanting is a very accessible and beneficial form of meditation. Mantras are repeated for the purpose of “tuning” the mind to a higher frequency of thought, which positively affects mental and physical health. Kirtan is fun and easy, and no prior experience is necessary.

Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 on a day of.
Tickets can be purchased at Quest Bookshop 240 East 53rd street, NY, NY
or online: http://www.spiritvoyage.com/event/Cherry-Blossom-Yoga-Grand-Opening-Kirtan/Sat-Darshan-Singh-and-The-Kirtan-Caravan,-Sirgun-Kaur,-Zita-Harkaran/TIX-901036.aspx

Cherry Blossom Yoga
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cherry-Blossom-Yoga/134042939989582
http://www.cherryblossomyoganyc.com/

To find out more about Sat Darshan Singh and Sirgun Kaur please
visit http://satdarshan.com/ or http://sirgunkaur.com/

Grace of God Meditation

I thought I will share with you this meditation which I started on February 22nd. I found it so wonderful, calming and reassuring. Lately I’m going through some transformational period which makes me feel very anxious so my teacher Hari Kaur suggested to try this meditation.

It’s very simple and fun to do.

GRACE OF GOD MEDITATION

Part One
POSTURE: Lie on the back, fully relaxing the face and body.
EYE FOCUS: The eyes are closed.
MANTRA: I AM GRACE OF GOD
Inhale deeply, hold the breath in while silently repeating the mantra 10 times. Tense the fingers one at a time to keep count. Exhale all the air out, hold it out and repeat the mantra 10 times.
Continue this process of repeating the mantra 10 times on each inhale and 10 times on each exhale, for a total of 5 inhalations and 5 exhalations. This totals 100 silent repetitions.

Part Two
POSTURE: Relax your breath, and with eyes still closed, slowly come sitting up into Easy Pose.
MUDRA: Bring the right hand into gyan Mudra, resting on the knee. The left hand is held up at the level of the left shoulder, palm flat and facing forward, as if you are taking an oath.
BREATH & MOVEMENT: Keep the breath relaxed and normal. Tense only one finger of the left hand at a time, keeping the other fingers straight but relaxed. Meditate on the governing energy of each finger (see table), then repeat the mantra aloud 5 times.
Beginning with the Mercury Finger, continue this sequence for each of the remaining fingers, finishing with the thumb. TO END: Relax and meditate silently for a few minutes.

GOVERNING ENERGY OF EACH FINGER
Little Finger
Mercury
Power to relate & communicate, subconscious communication with self
WATER

Ring Finger
Sun & Venus
Physical health, vitality, grace, and beauty
FIRE

Middle Finger
Saturn
Channel emotion to devotion & patience
AIR

Index Finger
Jupiter
Wisdom and expansion, open space for change
ETHER

Thumb
Positive ego

About This Meditation
It is said that when a woman practices this meditation for one year, her aura will become tipped with gold or silver, and great strength and God’s healing powers will flow through her. Positive affirmation is an age-old technology. Words increase in power through repetition, and when you are repeating truth, the impact is enormous. Yogi Bhajan gave us this meditation, which is one of the most powerful affirmations a woman can do. The fact is, woman is the Grace of God. Woman is Shakti. The problem is, she doesn’t know it.
This meditation is designed to evoke and manifest the inner grace, strength, and radiance of each woman. It helps her to tune in directly with the Adi Shakti, the Primal Power within her own being. It empowers a woman to channel her emotions in a positive direction, strengthen her weaknesses, develop mental clarity and effective communication, and give her the patience to go through the tests of her own karma. It enables her to merge the limited ego into Divine Will, as well as to improve her physical health.
By practicing this meditation, a woman’s thoughts, behavior, personality, and projection become aligned with the Infinite beauty and nobility unveiled by the mantra. It balances the five elements. The amazing thing is, this is such an easy meditation to do! You might pass it over because it is so simple and not realize what a profound effect it can have on your life.
Practice it faithfully, twice a day for 40 days. It is recommended for women going through menopause to practice it 5 times a day.
Best to practice on an empty stomach.

found in The Aquarian Teacher Manual

Thank you Hari

Tangerine

What do you say when your husband finds you in the kitchen standing with one bare foot in a flower pot and you can’t talk because your mouth is filled with tangerine seeds?
Well, he just walked away and let me continue.

This is how this story begins.
On one cold day in January I ate a tangerine. It had many seeds in it. How annoying is that! As I finished my tangerine and the seeds were left on a table, I got an idea to plant them and grow a tangerine tree. It’s nothing spectacular many people do that, I found out, as I read all about the process online.
From many different articles on how to grow tangerines I picked the one that suggested soaking the seeds in water for about two weeks and then planting them in soil. Sounds reasonable and doable, I thought.

Soaking
Twice a day I gave my seeds fresh filtered water and patiently waited for two weeks. The seeds were building up, getting bulkier and they were standing upright. This picture is probably from somewhere in a week two.

Meanwhile, I read the book called Anastasia (just google that name and you’ll find out about this new book series). Anastasia is this woman who lives in Siberian taiga and is extremely connected to nature. In one chapter she explains the best way to plant seeds. And it goes like this:

– Stand barefoot on soil you are going to put your seeds in.
– Hold the seeds in your mouth for 9 minutes
– Hold the seeds in your palms and raised them up in an open palms.
– Don’t water the seeds for 3 days
Supposedly by making connection with the earth (standing in flower pot in my case) and putting the seeds in your mouth helps the seeds to collect information about you and grow fruits that are healing for you specifically.

Planting
I was gonna test this theory so I planted the seeds in two pots. In the plastic pot I put seeds that I had in my mouth and didn’t water for 3 days. In the second, ceramic pot, I put the rest of my seeds. And waited. Not sure how long but it must have seem like an eternity since I was loosing the hope that I will ever see them sprout.

Sprouting
When FINALLY I get a text at work from my husband:
“Your tangerines have sprouted!!! The ones in the ceramic pot. Congratulations!!!”
And this the picture

It has totally made my day!!!

I don’t know what to say about Anastasia’s suggestion. The seeds in the plastic pot still didn’t sprout but maybe they just need more time.

If you like to know how this story of life continues please stay tuned and sing up.