a Sacred Act
“I held my fear in my gut from early on - and it feels good to give it focused intention and attention.”
Giving up sugar and gluten is a big deal for me - even for a little while. It might sound odd, but I have used food for comfort on and off ever since I was a girl - so eliminating sugar feels stressful. I thought it was behind me, but after the launch of my memoir, the tired, worn-out sugar strategy came swirling back into my life. The “Grow a New Body” program is the antidote to a tired habit. It’s a fresh goal - an ascent I can manage one pedal at a time. And the pay off is already there - just over a week after getting started, my stomach aches are gone. I’m waking up less in the night. I thought they were stress related - and perhaps they were - but the Grow a New Body Program is helping my aches.
While my daily kundalini yoga sadhana practice is fully established and the foundation of my health, I nourish myself with information, wisdom and inspiration. There are wonderful teachers out there. My food challenges led me to Recovery 2.0’s Tommy Rosen, both through his kundalini yoga class and his podcast, “In the Circle.” He defines addiction as any behavior you continued to do, despite the fact that it brings negative consequences into your life.” He calls them the big six: drugs, alcohol, food, people (co dependency, difficulty with boundaries, sex addiction), money (gambling, shopping and being in a constant state of debt) and the last - electronics - relationship with screens and technology.
I decided to commit to a practice with Tommy Rosen’s Recovery2.0 while going through the “Grow a New Body Program”, signing up for the “Wake Up & Thrive: 33 Morning Practices to Live Your Best Life.” I simply login each predawn - on my porch here in Amherst, MA and participate in order (which is not required - just how I’m doing it.) Tommy Rosen’s class is a welcome reboot to my own practice, switching things up a bit, as I embark on my new way of eating. And it’s not just a new way of eating. Taking care of my gut - my brain - my organs - is in itself a spiritual practice. I remind myself that my body is a sacred vessel and with practice - I’ll continue treating it that way. I appreciate Tommy Rosen’s wisdom in-between the postures and meditations. Kundalini Yoga reminds us we are stronger than we think we are and more capable of pushing through resistance than we imagine. Connecting my sadhana with the “Grow a New Body Program” reminds me that nourishing my gut is a sacred act.. I held my fear in my gut from early on - and it feels good to give it focused intention and attention.
I finish my daily kriya with my “Icing on the Cake - I can’t, I am, I did” set of postures that I do every day (almost six years now) as my constitutional and then, after a bathroom break and a cup of tea, I chant mantra - chanting each one for at least 40 days. Right now I chant, “Ek Ong Kar” (also called Morning Call) with Guru Trang Singh Khalsa and Ajai Alai with SatKirin Kaur Khalsa or Manpreet . If you want to try Ajai Alai - check out this 3HO demonstration for the mudra and mantra details. I am very drawn to this mantra and have been chanting it daily for months. It is good for the soul and enhances the radiant body. I have no desire to stop. In other words - it helps me and I love it.
I like ending it all with Gobinday Mukunday with SatKirin. This mantra and her voice are pure yumminess. I feel very peaceful. I finished up chanting - gosh - after many months with Laya Mantra with Sat Kartar. This mantra clears the chakras with a focus of the energy swirling up from the root. You can find its description at the end of the Kriya for Awakening to Your Ten Bodies.
How do I decide when to switch mantras? I chanted the seven aquarian mantras every day for over 5 years, and one day, I was ready for something different. Sometimes I put my mantra folder on shuffle and see what comes up - for fun. I pick one and continue with it. Two that I practice mantra with are Manpreet with her Mantra Club and SatKirin’s Chant and Chat through her Naad Academy. 3HO and the Kundalini Yoga Research Institute share mantras through blogs, social media and published books. The two most recent books I have purchased are KRI’s 22 Meditations to Identify and Release Your Fears and Finding Peace Within Shattered Pieces - Healing Trauma with Yoga and Meditation by Simranjeet Kaur. While they are meditation books, often mantra is included in the meditation.
And then I read an oracle card, say prayers and go about my day.
Tommy Rosen said (that his teacher told him) to sweat and laugh every day. Since I don’t own a car - I bike a lot - but yesterday I set out for a longer ride, tackling a five-mile incline and today biked to pickled ball - pickle ball – laughing and sweating simultaneously.
What do you do to laugh and sweat each day? Do you have an established daily practice? Are you looking for “something?” Consider joining me Sunday mornings for Kundalini Yoga at 8:30-10:00 am eastern. How are you doing on the “Grow a New Body” program? It’s easier together.
Sat Nam, Janet
