Making a commitment . . .

If you follow my blog, you may have noticed that my 40 day sadhana posts r/t the Advanced Abdominal Strengthening kriya kind of petered out around day 14 or so.  Well, I kept it up 25 days, and then had a little yogini tantrum, where i suddenly became convinced it was wrong wrong WRONG.  After a lot of self-reflection I know that really I was rebelling against having a 40 day sadhana, and I also am at a place where I can admit my choice of kriya was motivated in part by vanity.

My mentor Anterbodh Kaur (Kathryn) has told me numerous times that all the kriyas take you to the same place eventually, and a big part of her struggle is committing to one kriya, meditation, etc, for 40 (or more) days.  She is leaving on a 2-week vacation for her home country, and gave me a copy of The Master’s Touch by Yogi Bhajan.  My assignment being to play around with the different meditations, and then pick one for a 40 day practice.

I’ve already mapped out some parts of my 40 day sadhana.  It will start with a cold shower, then the reading of the Japji; I’ve decided on the Bodily Adjustment for Spiritual Elevation kriya; I will also recite the 18th Pauri of Japji 11x a day, to help overcome some of my self-destructive behaviors and make peace with my shadow self.  As for the meditation, I’m still not sure.  Today I did a celestial communication practice with the Adi Shakti (Kundalini Bhakti Mantra) which was amazing, and I plan to include in my 40 day sadhana.  But I would also like to choose a meditation from The Master’s Touch.  So far I’ve tried Meditation for Opening the Lock of Your Heart Center, Giaan Sudhaa Simran kriya/Guidance of the Soul (because I do love that Tantric Har), and Meditation to Open the Energy Channels and take You to Heights.  I have been eying the Meditation to Get Rid of Fear and Split Personalities, and plan on trying it in my morning sadhana tomorrow.

I think I may begin incorporating an evening sadhana into my practice as well.  I’d really like to revisit the Meditation to Balance the Moon Centers, and I think evening may be the perfect time for it.

I’m planning on beginning my 40 day sadhana on Lammas – which is a celebration not only of the first harvest, but of mothers, too.  So I still have a few days to map it all out.  Things are falling into place.

Spiritual Name

I had kind of a strange summer, it seems like.  Some parts have been incredible, others a bit more difficult.  Feeling very raw, very isolated and alone.

I have been reciting Japji Sahib each morning as part of my yoga practice (which has been incredible), and I began doing the “Bodily Adjustment to Elevate the Spirit” kriya which is AWESOME.  I’ve also been reciting the 18th pauri from Japji 11x a day to help deal with some of my self-destructive urges and to help me accept my “shadow self” – which has always been a huge challenge for me.

I opened my email yesterday to find this:

 

“Spiritual Name for: Gabrielle Ann Congrave

Sat Nam, dear sister in divine.

Your request for a spiritual name has been gratefully received.

You have been blessed to live as Sach Gian Kaur, the sacred Princess/Lioness of God whose inner wisdom is the embodiment of the most exalted divine Truth.Sach is Truth. Gian means wisdom and knowledge. Kaur is a name that all women receive – the Princess/Lioness of God who walks with grace and strength throughout her life. Yogi Bhajan taught that every woman has the potential to attain this divine state and encouraged all to manifest it. Manifest your soul’s gift of your name, Sach Gian Kaur, in the world by fearlessly embodying God’s exalted Truth through the power of your inner wisdom and knowledge. As Yogi Bhajan often said: “You can put a lot of holy books on the back of a donkey, and still it will not become wise.” Knowledge becomes wisdom when you become a living example of it. Remember with each breath to remain merged in this sacred consciousness. In this way those around you are effortlessly gifted with the reality of celestial knowledge by the radi ant Truth that flows from your deep understanding of the Divine.
The power of your spiritual name is that the more you speak and hear it, the more it permeates your being, opening you to experience its nadh (universal inner sound current). Consciously merge with the vibration of the nadh to come into harmony with your highest destiny.

May you always be supported by the Divine to live in health and happiness. Let your spirit shine.

In the Name of the Cosmos which prevails through everyBODY, and the Holy Nam which holds the world.

Many blessings,

Nirinjan Kaur
Director of Spiritual Names”

 

Sach Gian Kaur.  Sach Gian Kaur.  Sach Gian Kaur.  I’ve been repeating it to myself over and over since I first read it.  I love it.

Notes on 40 Day Sadhana (Day 9)

As of today I am 9 days into a 40 day sadhana.  This is the first time I have made a 40 day commitment to practice a specific kriya.  Even though I practice Kundalini everyday and Hatha most days, the idea of doing the exact same kriya everyday for 40 whole days seemed a little dull.

I selected the “Abdominal Strengthening” kriya from Kundalini Yoga: Sadhana Guidelines 2nd Edition (also appears in Divine Alignment as “Kriya to Build Navel Intelligence”).  I warm up with the Spinal Energy series kriya, and follow savasana with the women’s meditation to balance the moon centers (a variation on the Kirtan Kriya meditation).

I struggled with starting and sustaining a daily meditation practice for years until I began practicing Kundalini.  The Kundalini meditations work for me in a way that sitting did not.

One thing I have noticed is that I have had to decrease the amount of time for each exercise in the Abdominal Strengthing kriya from 2 minutes to 1.  This came as a bit of a surprise to me, since I had been practicing it every other day (alternating with different kriyas) for a while now, with the full time of 2 minutes per exercise.  I almost felt like once I made the commitment to practice it everyday for 40 days, it became harder.  But, I figured, well, it’s a 40 day commitment.  I can dial it down a notch and then slowly build it back up.

It took me a while to get to the point where I was willing to make that 40 day commitment.  After talking with my mentor, I knew I had to.  I felt it was time to take it to that next level, instead of getting lost searching for that “perfect” kriya.  As she so beautifully put it, every single kriya will bring you to completeness, you just have to give it the chance.