Below you can find all of the issues of the KRI Newsletter published to date. If you are looking for a specific issue, please contact customer service. In the mean time, please feel free to browse through the newsletter issues below.
❁ A Note From Nirvair
❁ Introducing the Aquarian Development Series
❁ The Student Bill of Rights
❁ Yoga Research - Body Image Portrayal in the Yoga Print Media
❁ Back to Basics
❁ Be You – A Level One Immersion Experience
❁ The Yogi Bhajan Library of Teachings
❁ Source Specials
❁ Recipe of the Month: Yogi Bhajan’s Parsley Pilau
❁ Trainer’s Corner
The Yogi Bhajan Library of Teachings Endowment Fund
October is the month that we celebrate the birth of Guru Ram Das on October 9th and remember the passing of Yogi Bhajan on October 6th - two amazingly powerful events in the space of 3 days! Yogi Bhajan had a strong connection to Guru Ram Das and related to him as his teacher and his Guru, so it is no surprise that he chose this time to leave his physical body. The mantra that Yogi Bhajan gave us, and the Guru Mantra of our practice, is Guru, Guru, Wahe Guru, Guru Ram Das Guru. This mantra has been a constant touchstone in my life.
I really like going back in the Library of Teachings to Yogi Bhajan’s lectures from the early ’70s for information and inspiration. I think it has a lot to do with the strong impression that Yogi Bhajan’s teachings had on me when I was in my early 20’s. Here is an interesting connection as to why this mantra to Guru Ram Das works so well for me.
On September 14, 1971, Yogi Bhajan said,
“You know this mantra that you chant, ‘Guru, Guru, Wahe Guru, Guru Ram Das Guru,' its literal meaning and its etheric meaning are a finite and Infinite blend that no other mantra I have seen has. ‘Guru, Guru, Wahe Guru;’ Infinite God - two times Guru and Wahe Guru. ‘Guru Ram Das Guru;’ Ram means Ramo, Ramo, Ramo, Ramo - the One who is everywhere. Das means the servant of that One. And anyway, Ram Das is my Guru, the Fourth Guru; you know, the one I worship .”
On October 14, 1971, Yogi Bhajan said,
“What is the trick behind [the mantra Guru, Guru, Wahe Guru, Guru Ram Das Guru]? The cosmic trick is a formula, a word. Now, if Guru Ram Das is finite, why do we chant? Why are we after that guy? Do you understand? First of all, be clear in your mind and consciousness - we are after him for a purpose. We do not love him and neither he should love us - we don’t care! Now listen, what is the purpose of this business? Business is, that guy (Guru Ram Das Ji) has a house (the Golden Temple of Amritsar) where they do nothing but vibrate to the Infinite Lord. That’s it! And whenever you tune-in to that house, you tune-in to that constant, millions of vibrations of that Infinity and it is a help. Space and time do not matter for meditation - that is why we are after him, not for any other purpose. If we just say ‘Guru’, it doesn’t work, it’s wrong. It won’t work because most people have not attained Tattva Siddhi (the spiritual power of the spoken word). I have done it, I know it, and that is why I am explaining it to you. I am telling you why and I am very clear because that is one house in this whole world that is clean and has only Infinite vibrations of chanting and nothing else.”
My interpretation is that by chanting this beautiful finite/Infinite mantra, you are connected not only to the essence of Guru Ram Das in the Golden Chain but also to that high frequency of the Golden Temple. Amazing!
Check with your local Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan® yoga teacher about the celebration and chanting that happens on the birthday of Guru Ram Das. It is one of my favorite things to do all year.
All the best with blessings, Nirvair Singh Khalsa CEO Kundalini Research Institute
KRI is very excited to announce the launch of a new educational opportunity for teachers and trainers. The Aquarian Development Series (ADS) will serve to expand your knowledge of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan® and hone your skills as a teacher and a trainer. This new series of online courses and webinars will support you by offering cutting-edge knowledge and skill enhancement opportunities. Sessions are presented, in both live and prerecorded formats, from expert Teacher Trainers from around the globe on the internet platform called Sutra. Through ADS, you will stay abreast of the new developments in the world of KRI. We invite you to participate in the launch of ADS. Here are three upcoming pilot courses that you will find valuable:
- Understanding Yoga Research with Dr. Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, Director of Research at KRI
- How to Present on Video or Webinar Format, with Hari Kaur from New York
- How to Help Students who are Disassociating, with Dharma Singh from Germany, member of the KRI Board of Directors
- Current research on yoga’s effect on psychology, physiology, molecular biology, and brain imaging.
- Models of psychophysiological mechanisms of action and future areas of research.
- Presentation of the significant research that has been conducted on the benefits of yoga as a therapeutic intervention for psychological conditions and as a treatment for medical disorders.
- The use of yoga as a preventive medicine practice for maintaining health, wellness, well-being, and quality of life.
- Research studies done on Kundalini Yoga and its application as an alternative medical modality.
The Office of Ethics & Professional Standards & Conscious Conflict Resolution (EPS)
Introduces: The 10 Rights of a Kundalini Yoga Student
Every student is a partner in the sacred student-teacher relationship. The 10 Rights of a Kundalini Yoga Student was written by the Ethics & Professional Standards & Conscious Conflict Resolution (EPS) Culture & Ethics Committee comprised of members from all over the world. The goal is to empower students as responsible members of Kundalini Yoga communities.
It is available to read and print in 21 languages, in two sizes, and with a choice of two photos. Go online to find the printing instructions for the 10 Rights of a Kundalini Yoga Student to give to your students in their own language. There is a postcard size available along with a larger size suitable for posting in your classroom, studio or yoga center.
Anyone who has picked up a few yoga magazines has probably noticed the predominant type of yoga practice images that are on the cover, accompanying the articles, and even in the advertisements. It is usually an attractive, young, white, thin woman in tight-fitting yoga clothing in a pose that requires an impressive level of flexibility and acrobatic prowess that many long-time yoga practitioners have never even attempted. Given the pressure of a magazine’s priority of selling copies and turning a profit, this is probably not surprising. Subscribers to yoga magazines are predominantly women, and selling using this method has proven effective. The predominance of the limited portrayal is noticeable enough that a few researchers have decided that it is worthy of research and analysis. In fact, there are now at least a half-dozen studies published since 2016 that have analyzed the specifics of this portrayal of yoga, with a view to analyzing and discussing its implications. The Yoga Journal, being perhaps the dominant yoga magazine with 2 million subscribers and a long publishing history going back to the 1970s, has been one of the main sources of data for most of these studies.
A research team led by Dr. Jennifer Webb in the Department of Psychological Science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has published four studies to date described below. The first three were published in the journal Body Image. The first study examined the cover images from three popular yoga magazines that were published in a five-year interval starting in 2010: Yoga Journal in the U.S., Om Yoga & Lifestyle in the U.K., and Yoga Magazine which is in both countries. Using a formal coding procedure with specifically trained research assistants, they examined race/ethnicity, body size, shape, and objectifying apparel characteristics of the magazine cover images of 142 female models. These characteristics fell into three thematic categories: socio-demographic attributes, body-related attributes, and body-as-object/body-as-process attributes. The results revealed that over 2/3 of the models were white, almost 90% appeared to be in their 20’s and 30’s, the average appearance was of low weight with a thin and lean body shape, almost 2/3 were in an active yoga pose, and the majority had high body visibility (i.e. clothing that was skin revealing). This was, therefore, consistent with the hypothesized/expected general stereotype.
In another study, this team tackled an analysis of the physical appearance and clothing characteristics of the images of female cover models over the course of 40 years of the Yoga Journal between 1975 and 2015. They conducted a formal analysis of 168 cover images of single female models using a coding and rating procedure. The results showed that over 80% of the images were of a full or ¾ full portrayal of the models’ bodies, which allowed for further analysis of the characteristics of body portrayal. About one-third of the images were underweight, and 62% were of low normal weight. Noticeably, only one cover image (out of 168) was overweight. Body shape was dominated by a skinny/boney appearance (22%) or a thin/lean appearance (58%), and accordingly, breast size was small with 42% flat-chested and 47% small-breasted. In terms of clothing, 13% were wearing a bra or sports bra and 48% were wearing tank tops. In the portrayal of the body position displayed, fully 68% of the covers showed an active yoga posture. In a further analysis of how these covers changed over time, they divided the cover images across four decades. Although several attributes showed no change over time, more images of full or ¾ body portrayals, more thin/lean body shapes and more tank tops appeared in more recent decades, suggesting that the stereotype may be strengthening over time.
The third and fourth studies also worked with Yoga Journal images. One of these focused on the analysis of a subsample of full-page or larger advertisements from 41 issues across four decades of publication. Female model characteristics in the ads revealed 47% of models were non-white, 57% appeared to be in their 20’s and 30’s and their body size was underweight (7%) or low-normal weight (45%), with only one model appearing overweight. More white and younger models have appeared in more recent decades of publication. As with the magazine cover study above, the body images again favored the thin, lean, ideal physique. Their most recent study published in the International Journal of Yoga analyzed 230 images from a specific section of Yoga Journal called “Yogapedia” from 41 issues published in 2015 to 2016. This magazine section provides practice instructions for sequences of postures, accompanied by step-by-step practice images. Once again, the classic stereotypical body portrayal was observed, with over 80% female, 100% white, many (39%) in the 30’s age range, with predominantly (72%) low normal weight appearance. Only 11% were rated to be somewhat overweight, with none rated as underweight, obese, or with any disability.
Two other studies in a similar vein have been published out of the laboratory of Christiane Brems in the School of Graduate Psychology at Pacific University, both of which again focused on Yoga Journal images. Their first study analyzed 702 articles from a subsample of 33 journal issues between 2007 and 2014 and focused on a formal analysis of article content. They reported that postures (40% of articles) and breathwork (49% of articles) strongly dominated the content at the expense of content related to more philosophical/psychological content (i.e. introspection, meditation, absorption, etc.). In an analysis of trends, the postural aspect of yoga in the content was seen to increase over time, whereas there were declines in all of the other types of content including breathwork. The authors noted that “the current depiction of yoga in the popular media as exemplified by Yoga Journal is drifting from yoga's deeper philosophical roots and becoming more of a fashion statement rather than a holistic lifestyle.”
In their most recent study, they examined 3,129 images from both advertisements and article graphics that were a quarter of a page or larger from a subsample of 33 Yoga Journal issues between 2007 and 2014. They reported that the images were mostly white females (about ¾ of them) who were thinner than average (52%) and predominantly young adults (75%). Only 20% were persons of color and fewer than 2% were heavier than average. Advertisements were more likely to depict females over males, thin body size, and younger age. Trends over time showed a propensity towards increasing female representation over males and increasing representation of a thin body type.
Clearly, the analyses from these studies have confirmed the general perceived representation in yoga magazines of younger, white, athletic females with thin bodies, i.e. the “yoga body”. A significant limitation of these studies is that they have been conducted on a very limited subset of public media, primarily targeted at yoga magazine subscribers and practitioners. What would be particularly useful would be similar studies of more mainstream media portrayals of yoga, which would be more relevant to implications of these portrayals on the perception of yoga by the general population (a couple of research studies have examined Instagram yoga images). The prediction would be that a similar representation of yoga would be observed. The implications of how a very limited portrayal of yoga in the media may affect the general population has been discussed in all of these research articles. The major issues at stake include concerns about the exclusive portrayal of yoga practice as one severely limited by gender, age, body size, race, age, physical ability, and socioeconomic status, which serves as a barrier to practice for those on the other side of the stereotype. If fact, we know that yoga practice demographics are dominated by white females. There is also the issue of potential harm caused by promoting an unrealistic and unhealthy ideal body image (think the anatomically impossible body of the Barbie® dolls – there is actually a “Yoga Teacher Career Doll” version). This may be contributing to a form of “cultural programming” in the media in general that has been implicated in eating disorders. Future research should evaluate the image portrayal of yoga in the mainstream media, elucidate and quantify the actual perception of yoga by the general population, and evaluate potential strategies that might ameliorate the inaccurate perception of yoga practice and the barriers to practice. Perhaps it will be the “Barbie® Scientist Career Doll” that will do this research.
Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, Ph.D. is the KRI Director of Research, Research Director for the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He has practiced a Kundalini Yoga lifestyle since 1973 and is a KRI certified Kundalini Yoga instructor. He has conducted research on yoga for insomnia, stress, anxiety disorders, and yoga in public schools. He is editor in chief of the International Journal of Yoga Therapy and The Principles and Practice of Yoga in Health Care and author of the Harvard Medical School ebook Your Brain on Yoga.
Pranayamas, or yogic breathing techniques, play an integral role in Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan. One foundational Pranayam is Breath of Fire (Agni Pran). Breath of Fire is a cleansing breath that invigorates the body, oxygenates the systems, and strengthens the nervous system. It is worth revisiting Breath of Fire with your students to make sure they are doing it properly and receiving the maximum benefit from this powerful Pranayam1.
- Begin by sitting up very straight. Pull the shoulders back and let them relax around the heart center. Lengthen and connect the space between your navel and your heart center. Close your eyes 9/10ths and concentrate at the brow point.
- Breathe in and out through the nose with the mouth closed, so that you hear the breath in the nose and not the throat. The breath is happening in the abdomen, filling up your belly with the inhale and contracting your navel with the exhale. Engage your navel so that it supports the upper diaphragm with a contraction on the exhale, and the inhale occurs as you relax the navel.
- Equalize the inhale and exhale so that they are of the same duration. The exhale requires more energy to contract the diaphragm, but do not make the exhale dominant – keep it equal. When you are perfecting this pranayama, try blocking your ears with your fingers in order to easily hear your breath internally and ensure you are breathing in a steady rhythm with an equal inhale and exhale.
- Start slowly to ensure that you are doing it correctly, and then increase the pace to 2 or 3 breaths per second – which is quite a fast breath.
- Start with 30 seconds and increase the duration of Breath of Fire as you master control of the breath. When you finish, sit calmly with a long, slow breath, and let the energy release and integrate into your body.
1Breath of Fire while pregnant is not advised. Refrain from practicing Breath of Fire during the first or second days of menstruation.
More than 50 students traveled from around the world to share an experience of Level One Teacher Training in Espanola. It was an experience of growth and awareness and one that I’ll remember for the rest of my life. From the first time we tuned-in together, I instantly felt connected to the Golden Chain of students and teachers that extend back in time.
Personally, I was ready. I knew I was on the precipice of transformation, yet I had no idea what to expect. It was apparent from the very start that the next 28 days were going to be intense. Thankfully, I did not feel alone. I knew that this level of intensity is what also attracted my peers. And together we dove deep into ourselves, the teachings of Yogi Bhajan, and the possibilities.
I found myself often curious about the journey it took for each person to arrive in Espanola. The Ashram is itself both a destination and a stopping point on the path of Kundalini Yoga. From the students, trainers, and staff, to the welcoming ashram community and the land that made the container possible, it is all so precious! And a miracle that we had the opportunity to witness and receive. The living-dream of it all was accompanied by the reality of challenge, pain, heartbreak, frustration - it was our chance to confront and overcome our self-limitations and realize more of who we truly are.
Early morning sadhana, long days, practicum preparations, a myriad of emotions, along with demanding kriyas and meditations, provided the setting for a personal rollercoaster ride — and we all experienced our ups and downs. Change was happening on many levels, both inward and outward, and I most valued the safe space that allowed me to allow myself this deeply transformative experience. It was more subtle than dramatic, like the change we sometimes yearn for. Rather, it thoroughly penetrated the parts of me that I had yet to reach.
A favorite moment during the Immersion came after we completed the Healing Ring of Tantra meditation. It was a stormy night and the thunder crashed loudly just as we ended. The rain poured down the hardest I have ever seen and the sky lit up with lightening. As many of us stood to watch nature’s performance we became inspired, so we ran out to the middle of the grass screaming and twirling as the waters washed us clean. Yogiji affirmed he was with us.
In truth, the Immersion is difficult to put into words. I can recall the imprints on my soul left by everyone I shared this experience with, and the transmission of teachings that I will carry wherever I go. I can also name what it has given me - a solid foundation, a connection to yogic lineage, and a newfound trust and self-acceptance.
The Immersion affirmed Yogi Bhajan’s central message: Be You. It takes both strength and vulnerability to embody the essence of Yogi Bhajan’s guidance, plus a good amount of personal commitment and courage. The Level One Immersion reminded me of who I am and what I am capable of. This is the way of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan - to deliver to you an experience of yourself. This is the way of the Aquarian Teacher Training.
Sat Amrit Kaur (aka Ashley Christine Hardy) is from the Mojave Desert of Las Vegas, Nevada. She is a passionate yogini, creative spirit and humanitarian devoted to living her most authentic and joyful life. Her values include vulnerability, creativity, self-expression, service and community. Sat Amrit has earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies, interned at the US Capitol, worked for doctors, and in the public school system. She now teaches people Kundalini Yoga and meditation, leads movement and dance sessions, and facilitates creative workshops and women's circles. Sat Amrit works at KRI coordinating Trainer Forums and managing social media. She also has her own business mentoring young women.
Figure 1: A list of Lecture Topics can be found next to the search bar at the top of the home page.
Figure 2: All Lecture Topics have a broad description of the contents of the search
Figure 3: Lecture Topics can be further refined by selecting or deselecting Keywords.
In Gratitude,
Shabd Simran Kaur Adeniji, Fundraising Coordinator
The Yogi Bhajan Library of Teachings®
Kundalini Research Institute
Email: donations@kriteachings.org
Find us on Facebook “The Yogi Bhajan Library of Teachings”
www.libraryofteachings.com
The Yogi Bhajan Library of Teachings is a non-profit organization and all donations are tax deductible under IRS code 501(c)(3).
I Am a Woman DVD Series
3 Sets of Lectures from the Women's Teachings of
Yogi Bhajan, Master of Kundalini Yoga
I Am a Woman: Practicing Kindness, (Volumes 1-5)
1. Create Your Reality
2. Spiritual Acceleration
3. Act Great and Never Be Turned by Fate
4. Know Yourself
5. The Art of Appreciation
I Am a Woman: Conscious Compassion, (Volumes 6-10)
6. The Known and Unknown
7. The Primal Force of Life
8. Communicating With Compassion
9. The Law of Life
10. Being Me: My Actions Define my Reality
I Am A Woman: The Creativity of the Creator, Volumes (11-15)
11. Creativity through Communication
12. A Woman's Impact
13. Resolve Your Inner Conflicts
14. The Art of Being a Woman
15. Intuitive Applied Knowledge
Retail: $19.95 per DVD
Promo: $16.96 per DVD
Or $74.95 for any 1 of the 3 full sets of DVDs, a 25% discount from retail.
SUPPORT THE KUNDALINI RESEARCH INSTITUTE
& THE LIBRARY OF TEACHINGS
❁ A Note From Nirvair ❁ Back to Basics ❁ 21-Stages ❁ Yoga Research - Yogic Slow Breathing: A Better Way to Ventilate ❁ The Yogi Bhajan Library of Teachings ❁ Source Specials ❁ Recipe of the Month: Puerto Rican Pink Beans with Olives & Avocado ❁ Trainer’s Corner
The Yogi Bhajan Library of Teachings Endowment Fund
It is the fall season in this hemisphere. If you have the eyes to see and a connection to our Mother Earth, it can help you understand yourself and be inspired to make the shift as She changes Herself in this season. Yogi Bhajan gave one such instruction on October 26, 1988:
“The reason that you are rude to yourself is that you don't want to understand the sophistication about yourself. You are insecure about yourself is because you do not see the vastness of God. How blind can a person be, that they go through the fall season, seeing every leaf falling down and yet his own leaf of ego doesn't come down? Can you understand that winter will come, and the entire land will be covered with the whiteness and the grace of snow? Man has never even tried to cover for that season with his own grace.”
The equinox time, whether it is in the fall or spring, is a great time to balance the tattvas ( the elements of earth, water, fire, air, and ether that comprise your body) and to tone up the vagus nerve. This will help you prepare for the upcoming season.
Are you registered at the Yogi Bhajan Library of Teachings®? When you register, you can have access to our wonderful kriya database. We have 530 kriyas written up and we are using grants from Yogi Tea and your donations to add more every month. If you search on the word “tattvas,” four great kriyas come up. If you search the word “vagus,” five great kriyas come up. Certainly, enough to keep you busy this equinox time!
Another beautiful opportunity for growth this fall is The 21-Stages of Meditation that is being offered in Espanola, October 13th to 20th. Students and teachers from all contemplative traditions are invited to participate in this deep meditative experience.
All the best with blessings, Nirvair Singh Khalsa CEO Kundalini Research Institute
The affirmation “Patience Pays” given by Yogi Bhajan, is one of the most beloved and well-used affirmations in the teachings of Yogi Bhajan. It is the perfect answer for many unasked questions, and it gives a sense of serenity and trust. The Gurbani quote in the affirmation is by the Third Guru, Guru Amar Das ji. He says, “Why do you doubt, oh mortal being? The Creator Lord Himself shall protect you. He who created you, will also give you nourishment.”
Guru Amar Das ji calls us out for our lack of trust and reminds us that the One who brought us here will take care of us! Introducing your students to this affirmation is a great gift to them – try it and see.
Here is a beautiful quote by Yogi Bhajan explaining his understanding of Patience Pays.
I am very surprised at how you take the meaning of the words, “patience pays.” “Patience pays” means that your methodological advancements and production will give you the best results. It does not mean that when somebody is bullying you and you keep on tolerating it, that this is going to pay off for you.
So, let me make it very clear. Patience is the methodological advancement of one's own mental psyche. [And what does that mean?] The words are very simple - there is a psyche and each molecule of your psyche is alive. [This psyche pervades everywhere,] it is all around. All the people you know and all the people you want to deal with make up a multifaceted energy field. God is everywhere, and you know it is everywhere, but when it is manifested from Gupt… Gupt means “that which is hidden or unknown to the Chitre.” Chitre means “the known.” So, when God is brought and manifested - when we sit here and we talk about God, and we talk about love, and we talk about elevation, that is where we manifest God. God has to be manifested from unknown to known.
Whosoever shall [manifest God in this way] shall be exalted and this is the methodological projection of your personality. You go in a church and you sing hymns in the praise of the Lord. I don't know if that Church is a special place or not, but it becomes special when you exalt the Lord God. - Yogi Bhajan October 20, 1983
Download the audio from the SikhNet Gurbani Media Center here. Listen deeply to this affirmation and allow the hidden Divinity to emerge from the reality that surrounds us. Share this with your students and help bring prosperity and satisfaction to their lives.
"Patience pays. Wait. Let the hand of God work for you. The One who has created you, let Him create all the environments, circumstances, and facilities and faculties.
Too kaahay doleh paraanee-aa tudh raakhaigaa sirjanhaar.
Jin paidaa-is too kee-aa so-ee day-ay aadhaar.
Oh individual, why you are in a very doubtful state? The One who has made you will take care of you. The One who has created this Universe, all the planets, planetary faculties, and facilities on Earth, He is the One who has created you. Wait. Have patience. Lean on him. And all best things will come to you.
Dwell in God. Dwell in God. Dwell in God. Befriend your soul. Dwell in God and befriend your soul. Dwell in God and befriend your soul. Dwell in God and befriend your soul. All the faculties and facilities of the Creation, which are in your best interest, shall be at your feet. You need million things. Million things will reach you if you are stable, established, firm, patient. Remember, Creator watches over you and Creation is ready to serve you, if you just be you.
So please take away the ghost of your life and stop chasing round. Consolidate. Concentrate. Be you. And may all the peace and peaceful environments, prosperity approach you forever. Sat Nam"
Many of you have been to Espanola in the summer months to attend Summer Solstice or KRI trainings. Summer is hot and dry with long days and incredibly high energy. But have you experienced New Mexico in the fall?
As October unfolds across the deserts and the mountains, a dramatic and deep transformation is revealed. All of nature begins the process of preparing for winter – long months of cold and quiet. Waiting. Working on the inside as the outside slows to a pace of suspension.
The energy of transformation is strong, and it affects all things. The leaves on the trees turn color, the most spectacular brilliant gold, before falling. The plants push greedily green for one last day of fruit and flower – until they wilt before the specter of cold. And we, as Kundalini Yogis and meditators who live at Hacienda de Guru Ram Das, say goodbye to our last guests and visitors and once again turn towards each other in community and loving support.
This October we invite you to experience the sweetness of fall in Espanola with us. The 21 Stages of Meditation is a priceless opportunity to expand your inner horizons, experiencing the transformative effects of deep meditation. Students and teachers of all levels and from all contemplative traditions are welcome. Together we will complete three meditative journeys towards the pinnacle of our own inner awareness.
Join us and experience a New Mexico you have never seen before. The 21 Stages of Meditation, October 12-20, 2019 at Hacienda de Guru Ram Das.
Española City of Love
By Yogi Bhajan
Leaves changing, colors changing. Color in wide range.
Cottonwood trees golden yellow, standing tall - friendly fellows,
Golden marigolds fading in frosted morning air.
Beautiful blue sky, star laden.
A bright star falling. Falling.
Falling.
Cold announcing fall. Winter settling in.
Crystal air moving white - silent heavenly snow falling covering all.
Majestic mountain peaks so tall.
Home of our Guru, warm and cozy, the fire reflecting.
Rosaries repeating the ancient formula of infinite longing.
Calling. Repeating. Meditating on God’s Name. Essence of the heart’s beat.
Española, city of love. Peaceful. Graceful. Vision of the white dove.
4 seasons woven with crystal blue sky, star-laced nights.
Land of enchantment glistening with God’s light.
Within this sanctuary, I have built my dome.
Great! Great is Española!
God’s real home.
The most common breathing practice in yoga is long, slow, deep breathing. However, despite its simplicity and multiple benefits, it is also relatively misunderstood. The slow breathing practices in yoga are not simply slower, they are also deeper, with the diaphragm and lungs expanding more fully with each breath. Yogic breathing involves the noticeable movement of the abdomen, which extends outwards on each inhale, thereby earning it the name of abdominal or belly breathing. Apart from simple slow, deep breathing, yogic breathing or pranayama practices also included modified techniques such as Ujjayi, which involves a slight constriction of the glottis to create an audible breath. Other yogic breathing patterns may call for different breathing frequencies, different breath inhalation, retention, and exhalation ratios, segmented inhales and exhales, and breathing through specific nostrils. The deeper expansion of the lungs in simple long slow yogic breathing effectively increases the lung surface available for gas exchange and so it is more efficient use of the lungs. In addition, dead space ventilation (movement of air during breathing in the trachea between the mouth and lungs that does not participate in gas exchange) is relatively reduced. The resulting increase in efficiency is equivalent to one possessing a larger lung.
Unfortunately, the understanding of the accurate benefits of yogic breathing is often compromised by certain claims and misconceptions. The most common of these is the notion that slow yogic breathing increases oxygen in the blood and that most the public not privy to practicing this type of breathing are walking around chronically oxygen-deprived. In fact, unless one has a respiratory condition, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or one is at high altitude, blood oxygen levels are normally well maintained at very high levels. It should be noted that respiratory physiology is a complicated issue whose details are outside of the scope of this article, however, the reality is that both slow and rapid yogic breathing practices, if done appropriately, do not yield significant changes in oxygen or carbon dioxide levels. The main reason for this is that the effect of the deeper breath in long slow deep breathing is counterbalanced by the slower respiration rate. Deeper breathing with a typical respiration rate would actually lead to clinical hyperventilation, a potentially harmful state, which should be taken into account when practicing yogic breathing.
Research on the long slow pranayama practice, when practiced appropriately, has been shown to slightly improve gas exchange under normal conditions. In early studies in 1964, at the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University, research fellow K.T. Behanan (trained in yoga at the Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute in India) examined the effects of a series of pranayama practices on himself, with the results published in both a monograph and the Journal of Applied Physiology by his mentor. Three representative patterns of yogic breathing were tested, namely Ujjayi, Kapalabhati and Bhastrika. While these techniques required a 12-35% increase in oxygen consumption above baseline, the relaxed breathing that immediately followed, showed little indication that the subject had been exerting himself. A very thoroughly done study by Frostell et al. in 1983 using state of the art respiratory physiological research measures in advanced pranayama practitioners, made it clear that both slow and fast types of pranayama yield minimal changes in both oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. A more recent pranayama research study published in the journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine in 2013, had 17 yoga-naive participants tested to see if Ujjayi resulted in greater oxygen saturation when compared to regular slow yogic breathing. The results showed the greatest improvements in slow breathing without Ujjayi, likely due to the increased respiratory effort. However, Ujjayi did result in greater oxygen saturation. The researchers concluded that simple slow breathing with equal inspiration/expiration is the best technique for yoga naive subjects.
In addition to these studies performed under normal conditions, there is a growing body of evidence that yogic breathing improves gas exchange under altered, challenging conditions as well. In 1968, Shanker Rao from the Armed Forces Medical College in Pune, India looked at one subject who attempted yogic respiratory control at two different altitudes. The observations were carried out in the South-Western foothills of the Himalayas (12,500 ft.) and in Pune (1,800 ft.). He observed that the subject met increased demands for oxygen at high altitude by using long slow yogic breathing, which was effectively improving respiratory efficiency by increasing tidal volume (the total volume of air exchanged in each breath) instead of increasing the frequency of respiration.
Recent studies with a larger group of subjects support these early findings. In 2001, Luciano Bernardi et al. conducted a study in Albuquerque NM, comprising of 19 controls and 10 western yoga trainees to test breathing patterns and autonomic modulation at simulated high altitude. The researchers found that yoga trainees maintained better blood oxygenation without increasing ventilation (slow yogic breathing being a more efficient breathing method) and had reduced sympathetic activation when compared to controls. A subsequent study by Bernardi et al. looked at Caucasian yoga trainees, Nepalese Sherpas and Himalayan Buddhist monks. They found that yoga trainees were able to maintain oxygen exchange rates at high altitude that resembles the Himalayan natives. Therefore, respiratory adaptations induced by yoga practice may represent an efficient strategy to cope with altitude-induced hypoxia (inadequate oxygen supply). Another recent study lead by Colonel Himashree of the Indian army and published in 2016, further confirmed these findings with a large sample size of two-hundred Indian soldiers divided equally between an exercise control and yoga practice group. Indeed, the yoga group performed better at high altitude in a number of health indices such as respiratory rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure and anxiety rates.
In summary, slow yogic breathing is the most efficient way to ventilate and exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide. However, in addition to this benefit, long slow yogic breathing is also known to also offer numerous additional benefits including beneficial effects on heart rate variability, the chemoreflex response, autonomic function, and even on mood and mental health.
Reprinted from KRI Newsletter, February 2017
Nikhil Rayburn grew up practicing yoga under mango trees in the tropics. He is a certified Kundalini Yoga teacher and has taught yoga to children and adults in Vermont, New Mexico, Connecticut, India, France, and Mauritius. He is a regular contributor to the Kundalini Research Institute newsletter and explores current yoga research.
Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, Ph.D. is the KRI Director of Research, Research Director for the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He has practiced a Kundalini Yoga lifestyle since 1973 and is a KRI certified Kundalini Yoga instructor. He has conducted research on yoga for insomnia, stress, anxiety disorders, and yoga in public schools. He is editor in chief of the International Journal of Yoga Therapy and The Principles and Practice of Yoga in Health Care and author of the Harvard Medical School ebook Your Brain on Yoga.
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Everyday Grace
The Art of Being a Woman
Sat Purkh Kaur Khalsa
Every woman has within her an inner grace - an everyday grace. Combining personal experience with the teachings of Yogi Bhajan, Everyday Grace explores a woman’s path toward her highest identity - the Grace of God - with an authentic, contemporary voice.
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Guru Prem Singh Khalsa
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It is the middle of summer and New Mexico is hot! Our afternoon rains have begun, and thankfully, this brings the temperature down. The truth is, I love this time of year when the rains soak the desert. There is a unique smell that comes from the desert after a rain that is called 
It is Yogi Bhajan’s birthday this month on August 26th! We are celebrating the 
Stress is one of the most commonly used words in the English Language! According to 
Jaijot Kaur fell in love with Kundalini Yoga in 2012 when she completed her first yoga teacher training. She also enjoys dancing to live music, playing outside, and spending time with family. Today she is the Level Two administrator for KRI and a valuable part of the KRI team.
So, the short answer is, choose which ever of these three postures you can do with the most integrity, and use them interchangeably in the kriya. Develop your “comfort zone” with your meditative pose so that your straight spine and bandhas become second nature, freeing your mind to focus on the meditation or the mantra. If you can lock-in the muscle-memory of a straight spine with shoulders back and chin tucked, you will carry this posture with you throughout the day – driving the car, sitting at your desk, and talking on the phone. A straight spine helps you stay present in your body, use your muscles properly, and reduce the prospect of injury. And, by the way, good body alignment looks beautiful, too.
Sitting in front of our neck below the Adam’s apple is a butterfly-shaped gland named the thyroid. Small but important, it regulates numerous metabolic processes in our body by producing two main hormones: thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). The function of the thyroid gland is regulated by a feedback mechanism that involves the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland in the brain. When thyroid hormones are low, the hypothalamus produces thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH), which then signals the pituitary gland to release thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), causing the thyroid to produce more T4. Problems with any of the three components of the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis may cause thyroid disorders.
Over 12 percent of the total U.S. population will develop a thyroid disease over their lifetime. The two most common thyroid disorders are hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) and hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid), which occur in about 5 percent and 1 percent of the U.S. population, respectively, and are most common in women. Hypothyroid symptoms include fatigue, depression, joint and muscle pain, cold intolerance, weight gain, slowed heart rate, and menstrual irregularities. Common causes include Hashimoto’s disease, an autoimmune disorder, iodine deficiency, thyroid nodules, thyroiditis, and congenital hypothyroidism. The excessive thyroid hormones in hyperthyroidism cause metabolic processes to speed up with symptoms including irritability, trouble sleeping, muscle weakness, heat intolerance, weight loss, diarrhea, rapid heartbeat, and menstrual irregularities. Graves’ disease, another autoimmune disease, is the most common cause, but other causes include thyroid nodules, thyroiditis, and excessive intake of iodine, and thyroid hormones. Traditional treatments for thyroid disorders are medications or surgery. Hypothyroidism is usually treated with levothyroxine, a hormone replacement medication. Hyperthyroidism is most often treated with antithyroid medicines and beta blockers to manage symptoms. Another common and effective treatment is radioactive iodine, whereas surgery to remove part of the thyroid is the least-used option. People with thyroid disorders sometimes choose complementary and integrative medicine (CIM) to help manage the side effects and anxiety that come with traditional treatments.
Some scientists have suggested that yoga and meditation may lead to neuroendocrine changes that affect thyroid function. Werner et al. suggested in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine in 1986, that meditation could affect the secretion of hypothalamic factors and pituitary hormones, leading to more efficient functioning of the HPT axis. More recently, Singh et al. stated in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice in 2011, that yoga is well-suited to the needs of thyroid patients. Specific yoga practices have been recommended for maintaining thyroid gland function and metabolic processes as a complementary therapy. The intricate interplay between stress and thyroid hormones is especially important for autoimmune thyroid disorders, such as Grave’s and Hashimoto’s diseases. These disease symptoms are often worsened due to inflammatory responses triggered by chronic stress. Lifestyle changes, which incorporate strategies to counteract chronic stress such as physical exercises, diet, restful sleep, and relaxation techniques including deep breathing and yoga, can help in the long-term management of thyroid disorders.
Studies showing the benefit of yoga practice for those with abnormal thyroid conditions have been positive. Maske and Barnwal conducted two consecutive studies in India, which showed yoga to be effective adjunct therapy to medication in treating hyperthyroidism. In their study published in the International Journal of Applied Research, 40 patients with clinical hyperthyroidism were assigned to either yoga practice or control, and both groups were kept on medication for 6 months. After practicing hatha yoga 30-minutes daily for 3 months, participants showed significant improvement in T3 level, whereas the control group experienced no change. In their other study published in the International Journal of Medical and Health Research, 40 female patients with hyperthyroidism were assigned to either yoga or control. After 3 months, participants experienced a significant decrease in T4 level, whereas the control group experienced no change.
Studies have also shown the positive effect of yoga in treating hypothyroidism or its related symptoms. In a study published by Nilakanthan in 2016, 22 women with hypothyroidism underwent 6 months of yoga practice for 1 hour a day, 4 days a week, and continued to take thyroxine during intervention. Measurements post-intervention showed improvement in lipid profile as well as thyroxine medication dosage, despite no significant reduction in serum TSH. In another study conducted by Banerjee in 2019, 150 women with obesity-induced hypothyroidism experienced improvement in both body weight and TSH level after 45-min daily yoga and diet intervention for 4 months, as opposed to a medication and diet intervention. This study therefore recommended yoga for women in metro cities in India to reduce obesity and hypothyroidism. A case-study published by Gowda et al. in 2017 reported a 50-year-old man who underwent a tailored yoga and naturopathy intervention, and successfully managed his metabolic syndrome and hypothyroidism. At the end of 6 weeks, he experienced improvements in all physical measures including TSH level, went off medications, and reported better overall health. These positive effects were sustained after 12 weeks, as he continued the prescribed diet and yoga, implying that lifestyle changes are safe and effective interventions. In a study conducted by Swami et al. in 2009, 20 females with hypothyroidism underwent 6 months of 45-minutes daily pranayama and meditation. Their pulmonary function tests and TSH level were significantly improved. The authors suggested that the changes in pulmonary function may be due to improved respiratory muscle strength and air entry. In a study conducted by Singh et al. in 2011, 20 female hypothyroid patients reported significantly improved quality of life across all domains using the WHO QoL Scale, after practicing 1-hour daily yoga for 1 month. The study showed that yoga is helpful in managing hypothyroid disease symptoms, such as those related to energy levels, weight changes, physical appearance, and psychological motivation.
Studies conducted in populations with normal thyroid functions show mixed results on the effect of yoga on thyroid function. An early prospective study published by Gordon et al. in 2008 investigated the effect of yoga and physical training on 231 patients with Type II diabetes randomized into three groups: yoga, physical training, and control, and found no changes in thyroid hormones in any group over the 6-month period. In a 2018 study published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Hormones, 20 young, healthy women in Iran were randomized into a yoga group, where they practiced hatha yoga 90-minutes daily, 3 times a week for 8 weeks, and a control group where they continued routine activities. Results showed no effect of yoga intervention on any thyroid hormone levels. A 2016 study conducted by Chaturvedi et al. in India compared the effect of hatha yoga and physical exercise on a range of biophysical indicators in 216 perimenopausal women. Despite changes in other parameters, TSH levels did not change in either group and did not differ between groups. In another study published in 2017 in India, researchers recruited 50 healthy volunteers to practice yoga 75-minutes daily, 6 days a week for 41 days, and again no change in thyroid function was observed after short-term yoga practice. On the other hand, two studies have reported TSH reduction with yoga and meditation in populations with normal thyroid functions. In a study by Werner et al., 11 healthy young men with an average of 7 years of meditation practice experienced a continuous decline in TSH level, with no consistent changes in serum T3 or T4 levels over a 3-year period of Transcendental Meditation practice. In a randomized control trial conducted by Rani et al. in India, 126 women of reproductive age with menstrual irregularities underwent either medication plus Yoga Nidra or medication only. They performed yoga for 35-40 min a day, 5 days a week for 6 months. Results showed a significantly higher decrease in TSH level along with other reproductive hormones in the yoga group, compared to the control group, suggesting that Yoga Nidra was helpful in reducing symptoms of menstrual abnormalities and hormone imbalances.
In summary, existing studies have demonstrated the positive effect of yoga and meditation as complementary therapies for thyroid disorders. The benefits are most likely brought about by increased physical activity and relaxation, leading to improved regulation of the HPT axis and better management of disease symptoms. Yoga practice improves the regulation of the psycho-neuro-endocrine and immune systems and results in a more balanced state of health. Future studies that utilize a large sample size, more generalized populations, and randomized study designs are warranted to confirm and extend these findings.
Tianyu Tang grew up in China with a childhood love for singing, dancing, and reading. After gaining a liberal arts education from the U.S., she continued her graduate training in public health and epidemiology with a focus on cancer research. She stumbled across Kundalini Yoga in 2014, and has since found tremendous peace, creativity, and self-expression in this practice. She has worked in private research, international NGO, and academia. Currently she lives in Beijing and is exploring venues for her passion in teaching, writing, and working with children..
New Book!
Unlike animals, the respiratory system is under voluntary control in humans, which has allowed for the development of voluntary breath regulation practices in yoga and other behavioral disciplines such as Tai Chi and Qi Gong. The aim of these breathing practices is to change psychological and physiological state in a beneficial way. Research on slow yogic breathing has demonstrated numerous psychophysiological effects including reduction of autonomic arousal, increase in heart rate variability, improved oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange, and changes in the respiratory system’s sensitivity to these gases.
An interesting feature of yoga and slow breathing practice over the long term is the capability of reducing spontaneous breathing frequency, that is the respiratory rate when one is alert and relaxed and not actively trying to control the breath in any way. In the general population, the spontaneous respiratory rate is commonly between 10 and 20 breaths per minute and often involves little movement of the abdomen and is predominantly a shallow, more rapid chest breathing pattern. Slow yogic breathing emphasizes movement of the abdomen, or so-called abdominal or belly breathing, which allows for deeper breaths. It is likely that slower abdominal breathing is the more natural and healthful breathing frequency than the higher 10-20 breath per minute rate and, in fact, this slow breathing comes naturally to infants and children. Over time, as we age, people tend to adopt the chest breathing pattern. Contributing factors to this change may be higher levels of stress and/or anxiety, which tend to alter breathing to faster rates, and cosmetic/psychosocial factors such as avoiding the undesirable physical appearance of having the abdomen extended. In yoga and pranayama practice it is believed that the respiratory pattern can be modified over time to the more beneficial, slower, abdominal breathing pattern and some research has supported this contention.
In a Belgian study published in 1981 in the Journal of Applied Physiology, the spontaneous breathing patterns of 8 accomplished hatha yoga practitioners showed markedly different respiratory characteristics as compared with control subjects matched for sex, height, and age. The spontaneous breath rate in the yoga practitioners was 5.5 breaths per minute on average, significantly lower compared with the 13.4 breaths per minute in non-practitioners. Accordingly, the tidal volume (the lung volume of air displaced between normal inhalation and exhalation when breathing normally), in the yoga practitioners was 1.03 liters, significantly larger than the 0.56 liters in the non-practitioners. The authors suggested that the slower breathing rate was directly attributable to effects of the yoga and pranayama practices over time, proposing hypothetically that these changes could be mediated either by changes in stretch receptor characteristics in the chest or by a chronic reduction in sympathetic drive. However, a weakness of such a retrospective study of individuals who self-selected into yoga practice is that it is not possible to exclude the possibility that people with altered breathing patterns are naturally attracted to yoga practice. To address this concern definitively, prospective randomized controlled trials with naïve subjects are required and a number of studies have done exactly this, thereby addressing this concern.
In a research study by a French team of investigators published in 2005, 16 subjects who had not practiced yoga previously underwent an intervention of yogic ujjayi breathing involving very slow, deep breaths at 2 to 3 breaths per minute with a sustained breath-retention after each inspiration and expiration. They did this for 20 to 30 minutes daily for 2 months. The researchers reported that the spontaneous respiratory frequency was significantly reduced from 19.6 breaths per minute to 13.6 breaths per minute, and also that the increase in the duration of the exhale contributed most to this slower breathing pattern. One of the most recent studies to confirm this capability was conducted in India with 60 subjects naïve to yoga practice aged 20-50 years. They practiced slow breathing at a rate of about 6 breaths per minute for 8-10 minutes twice daily for 3 months. Their respiratory rate before the intervention was 20 breaths per minute and was reduced significantly to 17 breaths per minute afterwards. The study also reported a statistically significant reduction in spontaneous resting heart rate as well as a significant shift from a predominantly chest-thoracic breathing pattern to a breathing pattern with more abdominal-belly movement. Although such studies are supportive of the ability of humans to self-regulate their breath frequency to become lower, scientists often need additional information that elucidates the mechanisms involved before they can be definitively convinced. This is difficult in human subjects given the challenge of recording neural activity within the central nervous system. It would be ideal if there was an animal model of this phenomenon that would lend itself more easily to such mechanistic study. Fortunately, we now have a rat model of slow breathing.
A research team from Emory University published a paper in 2017 in the journal Frontiers in Physiology entitled “Slow Breathing Can Be Operantly Conditioned in the Rat and May Reduce Sensitivity to Experimental Stressors”. In this study they were successfully able to condition rats to breath slowly over multiple training sessions over 2 weeks by using a flashing light stimulus, which rats do not like. In the conditioning training with exposure to the flashing light, rats were able to turn off the light when they reduced their respiratory rate below a threshold respiratory rate of 80 breaths per minute (rats breath much more rapidly than humans). The conditioned rats reduced their average respiratory rate significantly from an average of 92 breaths per minute to 81 breaths per minute. This result shows unequivocally that it is possible for mammals to change their spontaneous respiratory rate with training. However, the study took an important step further by then challenging both the normal and slow-breathing rats with stressful stimuli. An animal model of this phenomenon would lend itself more easily to mechanistic study and, fortunately, we now have a rat model of slow breathing.
Studies have shown that slow breathing has numerous psychophysiological benefits and that breath regulation is one of the most commonly used practices immediately following initiation of yoga practice by beginners. There is, therefore, a significant potential for promoting the value of breath regulation practices in society, particularly slow breathing, which is relatively easy to learn and implement in day-to-day, real-life circumstances. The demonstration that humans can slow their spontaneous respiratory rate with practice, and the virtue of having an animal model of this that will lead to future research on the mechanism of these changes, suggests that we are moving quickly towards certainty and confidence regarding the practical benefits and application of slow yogic breathing.
These three actions applied together in a smooth, rapid flow is the mulbandh. This lock can be applied with the breath retained in or out. The key effect of the mulbandh is the blending of the prana and apana at the navel center. It stimulates the proper flow of spinal fluid and begins the transformation of the gross to the subtle.
Guruprem Singh says about mulbandh:
“The trick, with time and practice, is to learn to refine this lock so that only the muscles necessary to hold the lock are contracted. The perineum is located between the anus and the genitals. Learning to isolate the perineum when doing mulbandh is important because of the nerve structure of the body. The perineum is like a crossroads for many nerves and when it is properly balanced and stimulated it can send impulses from the first chakra up through the spinal cord.”
Sat Nam.
Greetings from sunny New Mexico. Summer Solstice Sadhana Celebration and the 50th Anniversary of 3HO is here!
On July 7, 1977, Yogi Bhajan talked about Summer Solstice Sadhana. I have used this quotation before, but it really captures the essence of Solstice for me.
“The purpose of a human being is to release oneself from this earth so that one can go to the heavens. That's why they say, heavens are above, earth is below. Whosoever is bound to the earth shall remain bound to the earth and remain bound to earth for infinity. You shall be nothing, your destiny is decided. There is no hell for you, there is no heaven for you, all there is for you is ghost, ghost, ghost, and ghost. That's why, when we do White Tantric Yoga at the summer solstice time, the entire land is filled with souls begging to hear you chant. It is amazing! There were six hundred people one day chanting [during White Tantric Yoga]. We were in ecstasy, and there was so much fighting above us! Those souls were trying to come deeper and deeper, the magnetic field expanding to go over and over, and in that hassle… I couldn't explain it. I wish you could all have those eyes. You should have watched what was going on. They were your ancestors who were hung in this earth-bound circuit for thousands, hundreds of thousands of millions and zillion years seeking liberation. It was an amazing sight to see. It was a wonder of God. That is why this time, when we wanted to let God speak to us, we heard a huge thunder clap. God spoke to us from mercy, not because we were very wonderful human beings, but because those thousands and hundred-thousand souls got relieved and released. That's called yagna, that's what we do.
“People do not understand summer solstice. These Americans do not understand it at all. That is the time when the sun’s energy and the earth’s magnetic field are at the peak. Aah, that is the most wonderful combination, to meditate, recite, and chant [during this time]. And in that openness, in the wilderness of the Mother Nature, we call upon the Heavenly Father.”
There is a lot of activity and opportunity to use the sun energy of the summer to accelerate our yogic and spiritual practices. 
Does practicing Kundalini Yoga inspire you to want to teach? Now is the time for Teachers! I just was teaching at our Spring Immersion in Bali. We had students from 22 different countries. I can’t say enough about the greatness of the KRI Immersions. Not only do you truly learn how to deliver a class in Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan® but it is a deep and profound experience of spiritual community!
The Aquarian Age is here, and it is calling you! We still have space available in our 
Hacienda de Guru Ram Das, affectionately known as “The Ranch,” was the home of Yogi Bhajan and his family in Espanola, New Mexico. It was here, on October 6, 2004, that he breathed his last breath and merged with Infinity. He loved his Ranch, and the spirit of Yogi Bhajan vibrates in every tree and rock still today. One of the very special parts of KRI Level One Immersion in Espanola is that you have the opportunity to experience the Ranch and make a physical connection to the place where Yogi Bhajan lived.
The Ranch started as a small adobe home on a country road, when Yogi Bhajan purchased it in 1974. They expanded over time and beautified the land to match his vision. He and his wife Bibiji worked tirelessly to make their home a place to welcome students and guests from around the world. The Ranch was always open to visitors for spiritual conversation and a delicious meal.
The Dome was Yogi Bhajan’s private meditation room, built by his students in 1975 as a gift of love and dedication to their teacher. Once asked about why the shape of a dome was chosen, Yogi Bhajan said, “If you take the globe and cut it in half, it is the shape of a dome. Because of this, a dome contains the energy of the earth.” Here, in this simple structure, he spent many long hours. It was his place of peace and solitude, where he meditated and worked.
Yogi Bhajan taught the first summer course in 1975 at the Ranch, a lecture series now known as “Under the Blue Sky of New Mexico.” Students came and sat in the garden courtyard and listened every day throughout the month of July as Yogi Bhajan lectured on how to walk the spiritual path as a conscious human being. Over the next 30 years, people came from around the world to visit and learn from Yogi Bhajan at the Ranch.
Once, a student asked, “Sir, we have met you and know who you are, but what about the children who are yet to be born and the yoga students who did not get to meet you? How will they understand who you are?” Yogi Bhajan replied, “Take a stone as tall as I am (he was 6’2½”) and engrave it, ‘Born Zero, Died at One’.” This is the memory stone that now stands at the Ranch. Born at Zero means he came from the Infinite, as symbolized by the circle. Died at One means he died when his consciousness was at One with God, the One Creator of everyone.
As you experience the Ranch, take a moment of silent stillness and feel the subtle energy. That is the energy of Yogi Bhajan, the Mahan Tantric, the Siri Singh Sahib. It is potent, powerful, and yet comforting and calming. It is something you will remember and reconnect with many times on your journey as a teacher of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan®.
Historically, yoga has been fundamentally a spiritual practice to attain unitive states of consciousness or the samadhi state. However, given the fact that yoga employs both physical (asana, pranayama, relaxation) and cognitive (meditation) practices to foster self-regulation and optimize human functioning, its relevance to restoring optimal functioning in disease states has been an obvious possibility. Even in the 15th century Hatha Yoga Pradipika are statements attesting to the benefits of specific yogic practices in reducing obesity, removing abdominal disorders, fatigue, and edema and generally “destroying all diseases” including leprosy.
By the beginning of the 20th century, we see the systematic application of yoga as a treatment for therapeutic conditions in India. The Yoga Institute in Mumbai documented the application of yoga as therapy to 124 patients in 1918-19, reporting “Symptom relief in most cases. Occasional verification by physician.” In a two-year period from 1920-22, 2,000 patients were treated with the identical claim of clinical improvement. Similarly, the Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute, founded in 1924 and also in Mumbai, was reporting in its 1930 volume of its research journal Yoga Mimamsa that “nearly two thousand people have been treated…as…patients. People suffering from constipation, dyspepsia, auto-intoxication, nervous debility, asthma, piles, seminal weakness, heart troubles and a variety of other diseases have found great relief from Yogic Therapy.” Unfortunately, such vague descriptions of clinical benefit clearly failed to meet any kind of acceptable scientific or clinical criteria that provide confidence in attesting to the safety and efficacy of yoga therapy.
Even as late as 1964 in a four-paragraph report by Higashi in the prestigious medical journal Lancet we are still provided with minimal documentation of specific quantitative details of clinical improvement. In a Tokyo sanatorium, they applied a daily 10-minute pranayama practice over a year to 50 male schizophrenic patients. The clinical outcome is marginally and vaguely described with the text: “About the beginning of the third month, we noticed that the patients gathered spontaneously at the usual place. When the session ended a quiet atmosphere prevailed for some time. Moreover the average number of patients participating was 81% as against 56% in the previous year.” It’s conclusion stated, “An exercise which controls breathing favourably influences the psychiatric regimen.”
Given the proliferation of yoga therapy in India, yet conducted without adequate research and clinical documentation, the Ministry of Health of the Government of India created a committee in 1960 led by well-known leading yoga researcher Dr. B.K. Anand to evaluate yoga therapy claims. It collected information from 71 institutions across India, visiting 19 select institutions, and yielded the 1962 Ministry of Education 72-page document entitled “Report of the Committee on Evaluation of Therapeutical Claims of Yogic Practices.” It concluded that for lack of proper data and the personnel adequately trained to collect such data, it was not possible for it to evaluate Yogic therapy claims. It further stated, “Unless a scientific assessment of the patient treated by Yogic therapy is organized under controlled conditions, it will not be possible to evaluate the important therapeutic claims of Yoga."
Finally, in 1966 we see the publication of perhaps the first acceptably-reported biomedical research evaluation of yoga therapy by Vahia, Vinekar and Doongaji in an 8-page paper in the British Journal of Psychiatry. In this case series study conducted with the Kaivalyadhama Institute they describe results of 4 to 6-week yoga therapy sessions with patients at the K.E.M. Hospital in Mumbai. A table in the report describes multiple characteristics including demographics, diagnoses, treatment durations, and quantitative percent improvements for 30 patients with psychosomatic conditions such as anxiety, depression, headache, insomnia, cognitive difficulties and other stress-related symptoms. They further included 3 detailed case reports that were presented in the format and with the amount of detail that would be viewed as reasonable from a modern clinical research presentation perspective.
It was not long after this that we see the first humble clinical trial publication in yoga therapy published in Yoga Mimamsa in 1967, to be followed by the first randomized controlled trials on yoga for hypertension by yoga researcher Chandra Patel in the U.K. in the early 70’s. From that first 1967 trial of yoga for asthma through to 2003, there were approximately 150 clinical trials published, a number which tripled to about 450 publications 10 years later by 2013. We are now fortunately in the position in this field in that we are experiencing an exponentially increasing growth in the number of clinical yoga research studies and publications with more and more of the rigorous randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses necessary to justify recommendation of continued yoga therapy research and implementation of yoga interventions in modern medicine.
Pranam Mudra balances and neutralizes the positive side of the body (right, sun, masculine) with the negative side (left, moon, feminine). It is a perfect way to bring the human system into harmony and prepare to receive the benefits of Kundalini Yoga. It is a graceful and humble mudra of supplication, acknowledging and opening the heart to the One.
Many students tend to hold the mudra a little low or let the fingers angle out away from the body. Take a moment in your next class to bring their attention to Pranam Mudra and help your students perfect the angles.
Palms are together with the bracelet lines of the wrist (where the palm and wrist join) placed at the heart center. The fingers are at 90 degrees, pointing straight up under the bottom of the chin. Apply an even and constant pressure on all 10 fingers and the palms as well as against the sternum (the breastbone).
“Now, please fold your hands. Watch, some people do not know how fold their hands… [Hold it at] exactly 90 degrees, all fingers together, thumbs together. And this is a 'V' shape, victory shape, between your thumbs and your fingers. It has to be at the heart center. Base of the three rings, [the bracelet lines of the wrist] health, wealth and happiness, must be at the heart center, understood?” Yogi Bhajan, April 22, 1997
The student notes will pop-up in the document. (See Example [2] below.)
Sat Nam.
Greetings from New Mexico where spring is in full swing!
May is a great month – two celebrations in the United States are very much in alignment with Yogi Bhajan’s teachings and mission - Mother’s Day and Teachers’ Day. Yogi Bhajan talks about the innate compassion of the mother in this July 5th, 1976 lecture.
“Many exploit this human creature, so much insult this human creature is going through, and so much abuse this human creature is going through. Still, this human creature maintains radiance and the grace because this human creature, known as a woman, is actually the fountain of the Divine Spirit.
“Now, I challenge the entirety of science. I challenge those who think that the whole world is in their hand. What I say to them is, ‘You can produce anything, but you cannot produce a system that has the intelligence of a mother's compassion.’ It's impossible. Because the day they can produce the intelligence of a mother’s compassion, they can produce God. Actually, there is no difference between the two.”
And this is what Yogi Bhajan said on August 2nd, 1997 about the faculty, beauty, and character of a Teacher.
“The greatest faculty of a teacher is they may look like kings, but they live like fakirs (ascetic monks). There is no harm in showing riches and grace and all that. For a commoner, that is fine. But in his heart, the teacher is the humblest of the humblest humble. That is the beauty of the teacher. A teacher is direct, commanding on the problem. A teacher speaks direct, confronting the student and elevating the student. A teacher speaks very personally, but himself or herself remain impersonal.
“The character of the teacher is that if they can honor their master if they can honor their teacher, they will be a very honorable teacher. If they don’t, they will be S…H…*…T. I don't want to pronounce that word but ultimately, they have to eat it themselves - there is no one else. Because when you cannot trust the one who taught you, you cannot trust what you have learned. And when you cannot trust what you have learned, that is a tragedy!
“So, that is why we say, it is not in God we trust, it is in God we dwell. A teacher of the Aquarian Age will not say, ‘In God I trust,” he shall say, ‘In God, I dwell.’”
If you are thinking about becoming a teacher, please come and share with us in the experience of beautiful New Mexico this summer. The KRI Immersion program will be in Espanola on August 3rd through August 30th, 2019. This is the 
With spring here, it is natural to think about renewing yourself. If you are already a Level One certified instructor, consider coming to 
Kundalini Yoga Level Two Teacher Training module 
The KRI Level Three program is a personal journey to self-realization through deep meditation, selfless service to others, and participation with peers in self-reflection. If you have completed your Level Two certification, beginning your Level Three journey is the path ahead of you. Take a moment and listen to these brief testimonials about the Level Three experience. Isn’t it time you experienced the growth of 
Pregnancy may be accompanied by several uncomfortable symptoms, which vary from woman to woman. Some common discomforts include backache, sciatica, and hip aches which could be caused by weight-gain, changes in center of gravity, and a loosening of the pelvic joints. Another common challenge is the development of varicose veins due to the increased pressure on the legs, the pelvic veins, and the increased blood volume. In addition, due to the increased pressure on the rectum and perineum and the increased likelihood of becoming constipated in later stages of pregnancy, it is common for women to develop hemorrhoids. Heartburn is another common pathology caused by pressure on the intestines and stomach. Finally, other prevalent challenges in pregnancy include nausea and vomiting, edema, incontinence, and headaches. Apart from physical discomfort, women may also experience psychological changes, with between 14-23% of women struggling with depression during pregnancy. While quality of life scores during pregnancy tend to be very good, some risky areas include partner life satisfaction, the limitations of physical changes, and fears surrounding labor.
Pregnant women are increasingly turning to yoga as a complementary and integrative modality to manage the physiological and psychological challenges of pregnancy. Yoga helps to tone the deep muscles of the spine along with the abdominal muscles that support the spine (these muscles are known as the “core”), which facilitates the recruitment of these deep muscle fibers for stabilization. As a result, yoga may be effective in alleviating leg cramps, backache, and strengthening the pelvic floor. In addition, yoga exercises may help with venous blood return thereby mitigating varicose veins and improve fluid circulation to prevent edema. It appears that yoga may also improve placental perfusion and alleviate endothelial dysfunction thereby reducing the risk of pregnancy-related disorders such as intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), and preeclampsia. Yoga also encourages relaxation, internal focus, and slowed breathing patterns, which are useful to manage fears, anxiety, and depression as well as prepare the practitioner for childbirth. Yoga classes may also provide a supportive environment where women can share their experiences, which may relieve feelings of loneliness and improve quality of life.
Several qualitative reports support the benefits of prenatal yoga, such as a 2017 study from the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health at Saint Louis University, MO. Over six months, fifty-two (52) women were randomized into either a yoga group engaged in a one-hour yoga class or a control group that received a presentation on exercise, nutrition, and obesity in pregnancy. The study highlighted a shift in attitude whereby women who participated in yoga reported a more positive attitude towards exercise and yoga. For example, yoga participants felt that yoga was a low intensity exercise that would not hurt their baby and gained self-efficacy by agreeing that they could impact their weight gain in pregnancy with regular exercise. A more recent 2019 study also found that prenatal yoga increases self-efficacy for labor by building confidence and competence by positive story-telling, affirmative language, pain management strategies, and a lower somatic response to stress. The stress management benefits were found to be of particular benefit to pregnant, urban, African-American adolescents who have high rates of stress and depression during pregnancy as well as higher rates of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Indeed, a 2015 community-based qualitative study found that focus groups of low-income pregnant African-American teenagers were interested in yoga classes for stress/depression management and relationship building. Health care providers should focus on these needs when designing future intervention strategies.
There is currently a growing body of evidence supporting the use of yoga interventions in pregnancy. A 2015 review of the literature examined 15 articles from the USA, India, Taiwan, Korea and Thailand published from 2008 to December 2013. The researchers concluded that 10 of those studies showed positive changes in maternal psychological or birth outcomes. Another review of Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) from 2004 to 2014 concluded that yoga interventions presented with lower incidences of prenatal disorders, lower levels of pain and stress, and higher scores in relationship. In addition, the researchers found that yoga was more effective than walking or standard prenatal exercises. Furthermore in 2017 after a systematic review of interventions targeting pregnancy-related low back and pelvic pain (PR-LBPP), the authors concluded that yoga may provide pain relief for PR-LBPP as well as some meaningful functional improvements.
Indeed, yoga may contribute to a reduction of pregnancy discomfort and so researchers in Taiwan set out to measure the impact of yoga on women in the third trimester of pregnancy. The experimental subjects took part in a 12-14-week prenatal yoga program of 3 sessions per week and reported significantly fewer pregnancy discomforts than a control group. A 2014 study from Brazil also found yoga to be effective at reducing pain in pregnant women, specifically lumbopelvic pain, which is a major problem for the majority of pregnant women. In this study, pregnant women were randomized to either a yoga group or a postural orientation group based on an instructional pamphlet for a 10-week intervention. The yoga sessions consisted of traditional Hatha yoga poses as well as focused breathing patterns, introspection, meditation, and relaxation. Pain intensity was assessed at the beginning and end of each session and researchers found that the median pain score was lower in the yoga group. The experimental group also had a decreased response to lumbar and posterior pelvic pain provocation tests.
In addition to the physical benefits highlighted above, yoga may also be an effective strategy to address the stress experienced during pregnancy. The natural bio-physio-psycho-social changes of pregnancy may cause increases in stress and researchers from the Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation in India aimed to ascertain whether an integrated yoga practice could decrease the stress response in healthy pregnant women. The researchers found that, not only did perceived stress decrease by 31.57% in the yoga group, it actually increased by 6.60% in the control group. In addition, the guided relaxation period in the yoga group correlated with increased parasympathetic activity and decreased sympathetic activity as measured by frequency bands on the heart rate variability spectrum. In a landmark study, researchers examined the effect of prenatal yoga on the stress and immunity salivary biomarkers from 16 to 36 weeks of gestation. Ninety-four healthy pregnant women were randomized to either the yoga intervention or a routine prenatal care. The intervention consisted of two weekly 70-min yoga sessions. Salivary cortisol (stress marker) and immunoglobulin A (immunity marker) levels were collected before and after yoga every 4 weeks. The results revealed that the intervention group had lower salivary cortisol and higher immunoglobulin levels, and infants born to women in the intervention group weighed more than those born to the control group. These findings indicate that prenatal yoga can significantly reduce pregnant women’s stress and enhance their immune function thereby suggesting it is a viable therapy for this population.
Another common psychological challenge of pregnancy is depression with up to 20% of pregnant women in the US experiencing depressive symptoms. The numbers are similar in Korea where researchers set out to determine the effectiveness of yoga in the management of prenatal depression. Their review of the literature included six RCTs, and the authors determined that integrated yoga interventions, including relaxation, visualization, breathing patterns or meditation, were associated with a significant decrease in depression levels. However, purely physical-exercise-based interventions did not achieve statistical significance in their improvement of depression scores. A more recent metanalysis from 2019 by the National University Hospital in Singapore included six (6) studies with a total of 405 pregnant women. Researchers found a statistically significant improvement in mood associated with yoga interventions. Despite the promise of yoga as a complement or alternative to pharmacological options, the authors note that the evidence is preliminary and participants only had mild depression. Nonetheless, these improvements are significant since a prompt and effective treatment of maternal depression during pregnancy is important, as depression is an independent predictor of negative maternal and fetal outcomes.
Despite the limitations of small sample sizes, lack of consistent randomization, different outcome measures and varying intervention lengths, the current body of evidence highlights that yoga is a promising modality to address a variety of physical and psychological health challenges in pregnancy. Although yoga is generally considered safe in pregnancy, pregnant women are advised to avoid hot yoga due to the increased risk of neural tube defects and other malformations among fetuses exposed to excessive heat as well as the risk of overstretching due to muscle and ligament laxity in pregnancy. Finally, researchers in Taiwan are experimenting with social media to deliver mindful yoga programs for pregnant women and finding that this new approach, using technology, may be a feasible way to reach women in the comfort of their own homes.
This month, we celebrate Teacher’s Day in the United States on May 7 - a big shout out to teachers, everywhere, including all of our wonderful Kundalini Yoga teachers. One thing I love about working for the Library of Teachings is that the KRI staff are all dedicated practitioners, and many are teachers, of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan®.
From May 4th to May 10th, we are hosting the annual Spring Fund Drive for the Yogi Bhajan Library of Teachings® to raise funds to support the maintenance and development of the Library. Beginning with the May new moon, we will be exploring the Library of Teachings through the eyes of the people who work here at KRI, showing you the ways they use the Library. Maybe you will see something new and be inspired to expand how you use the Library of Teachings. I think you will find their perspective interesting and motivating in your own journey with © the teachings of Yogi Bhajan.
For those of you who have already contributed to our Spring Fund Drive, thank you! As many of you know, even though the searchable database is incredible, there is more work to do! The focus of The Yogi Bhajan Library of Teachings continues to center on archiving, digitizing, transcribing, and editing the thousands more lectures, kriyas, and yoga sets by Yogi Bhajan. The Library of Teachings is funded by donations from you, the global community of students, teachers, and practitioners. We rely on your donations to make possible our ongoing programs and to undertake important new initiatives. Donors like you have built this database resource over the past 15 years, and we sincerely hope you will be able to donate again this year.
Tune-in to your inbox for our emails or if you have missed any of the emails, visit our 
Sat Nam.
Greetings from New Mexico!
April 22 is Earth Day, and Yogi Bhajan frequently spoke of our relationship to Mother Earth and Mother Nature. He was very concerned about what was happening to the planet. On the day after the 20th anniversary of Earth Day, he was reflecting on the small number of people, only about 2%, that cared about the planet. He went on to say on April 23, 1990, “According to all bylaws of the rules of Earth, if this rate continues, in fifty years the planet Earth will not be habitable for humans. Period. That is not an emotional calculation, that's very, very factual.” He urged the students in the class to take action for recycling and conservation of energy and resources.
Personally, I always appreciated how Yogi Bhajan would relate a concept, like consciously taking care of the Earth or recognizing the laws of nature, to a practical and spiritually uplifting instruction.
“If you call, this entire universe around you is at your service. If you know who you are and what your relationship is with the universe, you can always call. Sometimes, you have no faith and you do not even believe that nature can help you. Nature is a woman, that’s why they call her ‘Mother Nature’. Nature is a giver, a helper, a true friend, a sustainer, and nothing but constant harmony. So, if you are an aware person, then you must learn an attitude, which you can do very systematically. Sometimes, you do not know what to do. All right, just relax and say, ‘What should I do?’ You immediately will find that Mother Nature, in the form of consciousness and awareness, will start talking to you.” 6/30/77
My feeling is that it is time to start consciously talking to our Mother, the natural world. This awareness of our life on Earth can be aided by taking care of our internal and external environments, with small and large actions. So, on this Earth Day, join me in making a resolution to be kind to our own nature and to our natural Mother - the beloved Earth.
Have you decided to become an instructor of Kundalini Yoga as Taught by Yogi Bhajan®? If so, congratulations on making one of the most impactful decisions of your life. For Kundalini Yoga teacher training, KRI is the place to be.
• The Only Official Authority
KRI is THE ONLY institution commissioned and approved by Yogi Bhajan himself to provide Kundalini Yoga teacher trainings.
• Personal Transformation
More than a certificate and set of techniques, KRI training will evoke the positive transformation of your personal lifestyle and spiritual journey.
• Authentic Community
KRI is a diverse and inclusive community devoted to connecting, supporting, and co-creating. The 3HO International Kundalini Teachers Association (IKYTA) membership provides professional support, development, and networking.
• Portal to Advancement
An official KRI Level One teacher training is your starting point and prerequisite for advancement to the depths of the Level Two and Level Three training programs.
• Individual Support
Support is available each step of the way from dedicated, experienced, and spiritually mature teachers.
• Safe & Ethical
KRI upholds high standards in its CODE OF ETHICS and a zero tolerance policy. Any violation is reviewed and enforced by a third-party governing body.
• Global Consistency
You will find a consistent, top quality curriculum at any official KRI training, anywhere in the world. With a KRI licensed trainer, you can be sure that the program is aligned with Yogi Bhajan’s teachings.
KRI Teacher Training programs can be found all over the world. 
Here is what Yogi Bhajan said in 1997: "We are not asking everybody to tie a turban, what we are asking is for teachers to at least cover their heads. In old times, in any spiritual [tradition], Christianity, Judaism, Islam, they covered their heads. God has given the human hair on their heads for a purpose. Hair is a pure protein, a pure, heavy protein. Your gray matter and this pure, heavy protein is connected. This bunch of hair protects the solar centers in your skull. If you don't have any value for it, go and get them cut, it's okay. You shave your head, it's fine; but the caliber of your intuition will change. So what we want, when a person invokes the Divine, is that they should cover their head. Somebody asked, ‘What should I do? I am in a ski place. Can I put on a ski cap?’ I am not telling you to cover your head with a wood block, I am telling you to cover your head with anything available to you that can cover. It is fine with me."
Covering the head provides a sense of containment and focus while doing any practice or work that requires clarity of thought. It literally helps "keep your head” together!
Sikh Dharma is still a mystery for many people who practice Kundalini Yoga. If you have been yearning for a deep experience of Sikhism, Camp Miri Piri is for you. Camp Miri Piri is for and about Sikhs – five days of sharing the spiritual warrior experience. The camp is a celebration and a dedication to Guru Hargobind, the sixth Sikh Guru, who started the warrior tradition in Sikhism. He wore two swords, naming them “Miri” and “Piri”. These swords represented the balance between spiritual and worldly powers. This concept of the warrior-saint has permeated the Sikh philosophy and lifestyle ever since.
The goal of Camp Miri Piri is to challenge you to connect to your soul in a deep way. Here, you will find recitation of the five morning Banis, a powerful group Sadhana, challenging physical training, and inspiring Sikh stories and meditation. You will gain an in-depth experience of Sikh values by balancing the mind, body, and spirit through the practice of Gurbani Kirtan, Kundalini Yoga, meditation, and warrior workouts, as well as classes to build healthy relationships.
Inflammation is a disordered physiological response or consequence of immune reactions to acute injury or a chronic condition and has been associated with a number of diseases. Inflammation involves local or global changes in blood vessels, nerves, and tissues with symptoms including pain, redness, immobility, swelling, and heat of the affected area. Additionally, inflammation of internal organs, often associated with chronic conditions, may also occur and could include fatigue, nausea, mouth sores, chest pain, abdominal pain, fever, rash, joint pain, sleep disturbance, depressive mood, irritability, and mild cognitive difficulties with attention and memory. Chronic inflammatory diseases are the most significant cause of death in the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) ranks chronic inflammatory diseases as the greatest threat to human health. Worldwide, three of five people die due to chronic inflammatory diseases like stroke, respiratory diseases, cardiovascular disorders, cancer, obesity, and diabetes.
Inflammation is actually a defence mechanism in the body and a part of the body’s normal immune response. Infections, wounds, and any tissue damage would not be able to heal without an inflammatory response. In cases where harmful stimuli have not been removed and the inflammatory response has been maintained for a long period of time, the body develops chronic inflammation, which itself can eventually lead to disease conditions, including allergies, skin problems, and some cancers. Inflammation can also affect organs in so-called autoimmune diseases, in which the immune system attacks its own tissues as if they are threats to health. Examples of some autoimmune chronic inflammatory conditions include inflammation of the heart (myocarditis), kidney (nephritis), large intestine (colitis), and joints (rheumatoid arthritis).
Diagnosis of acute or chronic inflammation involves blood examination to evaluate the increased level of several inflammatory biomarker molecules including gamma globulins, C-reactive protein and fibrinogen. Additionally, patients with chronic conditions would have additional biomarkers assessed, including pro-inflammatory cell-to-cell signalling cytokines, such as tumour necrosis factor alfa (TNF alfa), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1beta), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8). In several research studies, up or down regulation of the expression level of several pro and anti-inflammatory transcription factors have also been assayed. Recently, the possibility of detecting salivary cytokines was assayed in several randomized controlled trails (RCTs), which provided promising results on non-invasive sampling among yoga practitioners even during practice (before and after breathing exercises, for instance).
There are several lifestyle-related risk factors associated with the development of chronic inflammation, such as obesity, unhealthy diet, smoking, stress, and sleep disorders. Altogether these factors induce accumulation of chemically aggressive free radical molecules, an increase in visceral body fat, and higher production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. There are several conventional drugs currently available to treat both acute and chronic inflammatory conditions and/or reduce accompanied symptoms. Depending on the type and severity of symptoms, patients might be prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as naproxen, ibuprofen, aspirin, acetaminophens (paracetamol), and Tylenol (even though these only reduce pain without affecting the inflammation itself). In more severe cases corticosteroids, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDS), and biological response modifiers (BRMs) might be administered. Anti-inflammatory treatments are prevalent in all known schools of traditional medicine, such as Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, and Russian herbal medicine. Known remedies include a root known as devils claw, the wood spider or grapple plant (Harpagophytum procumnens), the Hyssop plant, ginger, turmeric, and, in some cultures, cannabis.
Behavioural strategies, including lifestyle and dietary changes and mind-body practices, provide another useful tool for treating inflammation. Recent reviews have summarized the research on the benefits of mind-body interventions (MBIs) such as yoga for reducing inflammation in acute and chronic conditions. Even though it is not completely clear how MBIs work at the molecular or cellular level, several hypotheses have been proposed based on recent research advances. First, it has been shown that MBIs reduce expression of gene activity involved in the inflammatory response that are induced by stress. Several studies indicate that these practices are associated with downregulation of the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) pathway, reduced signalling through the proinflammatory transcription factor NF-jB, increased activity of the cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) family transcription factors, and upregulation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene. Potential mechanisms for these effects include alterations in neuroendocrine, neural, psychological, and behavioural processes. Second, yoga breathing exercises and meditation have been demonstrated to reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1 beta, IL-6 and TNF-alfa and have a positive impact on depression, anxiety, cognition, and pain. Lastly, yoga and other practices are well known to directly stimulate the vagus nerve. It was found that an increase in vagal tone is correlated with the capacity to regulate the stress response and likely contribute to resilience and the mitigation of mood and anxiety symptoms, which ultimately might reduce inflammation symptoms.
A significant number of RCTs have been conducted to address possible benefits of MBIs on inflammation status of both healthy and diseased individuals. A positive effect of a yoga-based lifestyle intervention was demonstrated in RCTs on groups of healthy individuals exposed to occupational hazards by three independent groups of researchers in India. There was only slight induction of pro-inflammatory factors observed after 12 weeks of regular yoga training as compared with a control group of non-yoga practitioners, in which the induction of proinflammatory factors was significantly higher. This suggests that regular practice of yoga can protect against inflammatory diseases and metabolic risk factors.
Another example of the prophylactic role of yoga is from studies on metabolic syndrome (MetS), which is a well-known precondition associated with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, defined by increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body weight, and an increased level of numerous biochemical proinflammatory factors. In several recent RCTs conducted independently in Hong Kong and India, it was shown that MetS symptoms were decreased after 12 weeks of regular yoga practices in the study in India and after one year in Hong Kong. In India, healthier choices in diet (dietary interventions) were also included in the intervention. In both cases, it was concluded that yoga and dietary interventions may have an important role in prevention of inflammatory conditions.
In the case of already developed pathologies, yoga might help to reduce post-treatment inflammation conditions and thereby expedite the healing process. In two independent yoga studies on breast cancer survivors (at Ohio State University (OSU) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)), it was reported that there was reduced activity of NF-kB, increased anti-inflammatory transcription factors, increased proinflammatory cytokines and also improvements in symptoms such as persistent fatigue and vitality in the group assigned to 12 weeks of 90-minute twice weekly hatha (OSU) or Iyengar (UCLA) restorative yoga classes, as compared with the control group. Such improvements are valuable for this population, since cancer survivors are known to be more than twice as likely as individuals without a cancer history to have these symptoms associated with poor health and disability.
Another example of yoga-based complementary/adjunct therapy is research on patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which is a severe chronic inflammatory system disease affecting both psychological and physical health. Comorbid depression is an important psychosomatic factor in this condition, which negatively interferes with the process of recovery. In a recent study from the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi comparing yoga plus RA medication versus RA medications only, the addition of yoga practice to conventional RA treatment re-established immunological tolerance, shown at the molecular and cellular level, along with a significant reduction in depression score. Significant improvements were observed in RA patients after just eight weeks of yoga practice that included, exercises, breathing, and meditation practices as compared with a control group.
In summary, there is an increasing body of research evidence on the positive effect of yoga, other mind-body practices, yogic healthy lifestyle and diet on inflammatory conditions. Long-term yoga and meditation practitioners have been shown to exhibit stronger immediate gene expression changes as compared to short-term practitioners, which in turn evokes the downstream health benefits. However, the “Achilles’s heel” of any behavioural approach is its need for discipline, commitment, and active participation from the patient, in contrast with much of conventional allopathic medicine where drugs and treatments are usually administered to the patient. In this respect, the role of patient self-care and behavioural strategies is very important for success in addressing the widespread occurrence of inflammation and inflammatory conditions.
Naila Omar Khayyam Alieva (Raj Kaur), PhD, is yogi and scientist. She is a certified Kundalini yoga instructor and Gong sound therapy practitioner. Naila teaches Kundalini Yoga and organizes yoga events and workshops in Singapore. She is also an active research scientist at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, A*STAR, Singapore.
April brings very beautiful but windy weather here in New Mexico, a reminder that winter has passed and spring is here! April also brings Earth Day, a celebration of our beloved Mother Earth. As many of you know, Yogi Bhajan advocated for the environment at every opportunity. He encouraged everyone to take care of themselves and the earth in a conscientious way. Here’s an excerpt from Earth Day (April 22nd) in 1990.
“Start looking at His creation as part of him. Start respecting it, and loving it, and start to be gentle and kind. You don't have to do any other exercise, you will be fine. Start seeing the spirit and soul of every human being. Look bright and beautiful and saintly - you represent God…
Now, you are trying not to pollute yourself and not to pollute the earth. A consciousness has set in, a time has started, and there shall be growth. Mankind will live in nobility, peace, and tranquility and that's a reality. It's not anybody's affair, it is everybody's affair. We are all part of One and One is part of all. It's my prayer that we guide ourselves to that righteousness. My prayer and my request is that you have an obligation to create a lot of joy, a lot of happiness, and elevate yourself so that the pollution can be counteracted with a joy in the body and in beings, so that you can feel wonderful and healthy. With this blessing and these prayers, may your life be very fulfilled and noble. I wish you the best of luck. Be prosperous, be generous, be kind, and be compassionate. Walk like angels, complete and perfect, pure in your psyche, and God shall walk with you. Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa. Wahe Guru Ji Ki Fateh.”
Read the 
After the experience of Level One training, you inevitably start to change and evolve as a person and as a teacher. That is the power of this amazing technology! Level Two Teacher Training will deliver you to the next step in your personal development.
Ravi Kaur is a Kundalini Yoga Therapist and healer in South Africa. She is a Family Constellations facilitator and uses this method to reveal states of illness in the individual and family lineage. She works in rehabilitation centers for recovery from substance abuse as a counselor, and in counseling centers that address violence towards women and HIV/AIDS. Ravi is an internationally certified systems coach and works with couples and families. As a doula, she accompanies women from conception to weaning in their journey of motherhood. Ravi is currently writing a dissertation on the experiences of pregnant women with PTSD who do yoga therapy.
The Aquarian Teacher, KRI Level Two Teacher Training Program
The Aquarian Teacher, KRI Level Three Teacher Training Program
2019 MELA Dates & Locations
The annual gathering for Level Three participants
June 8th – 11th in Espanola, New Mexico, USA
July 21st – 24th in Chateau Anand, France
For more information: 
Laughter is a physical reaction seen in humans and some other primates, usually consisting of rhythmic, often audible, contractions of the diaphragm and other parts of the respiratory system. It is a response to an external or internal stimulus and involves different neurological mechanisms than talking, with laughter being under weaker voluntary control than speech. Recently, several physiological and psychological benefits of so-called laughter therapy have been discovered. It appears that laughter reduces the level of stress hormones such as cortisol and epinephrine, while on the other hand, increases endogenous endorphins which activate the body’s opiate receptors for positive euphoric feelings and health-promoting effects. Laughter also improves immune function as shown by increases in the number of T-lymphocytes and white blood cells in the body. In addition, laughing reduces blood pressure by controlling vasoconstriction and relaxing blood vessels. On the psychological level, laughter therapy helps reduce mood disturbance including unpleasant feelings of tension, anxiety, hatred, and anger while alleviating stress and depression possibly through altering dopamine and serotonin activity. Laughter can also enhance interpersonal relationships and reduce insomnia, memory failure, and dementia.
The Vegetables
Sat Nam. Greetings from New Mexico. Wow, it is cold here – I know that many of you think of New Mexico as sunny and warm, but this winter has been full of snowfall. And how about that blood moon in late January! It was a beautiful sight in the clear skies, an other-worldly shade of red caused by the eclipse.
And speaking of the color red, February means Valentine’s Day, and that brings us the topic of “love”. Yogi Bhajan, in his years of teaching, had some wonderful perspectives on love. His message always boiled down to one concept. He said on June 15, 1994, “Don’t forget, human love is only for one thing, to love your soul. Then, the infinite world around you will be in love with you.”
On Valentine’s Day, 1996 he said, “Today is a Valentine’s Day. It has a lot of story behind it, but basically, it is a day of love. Somebody became a saint [because his] love was infinite. [So now,] we send each other cards, ‘Be my Valentine’ [or] ‘I am your Valentine.’ [In truth,] we are the Valentine. Why can't we be a Valentine of each other every day? Why don’t we have a fixed frequency? Why not? We are actually Valentines of each other.” During this lecture, there was a fantastic Kriya. Practice this Kriya directly from this lecture with 
Even though it is winter now, at KRI we know that summer is coming! (No dragons and no white-walkers, here.) Registration is open for our 
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder that is characterized by tremors, stiffness, or slow movement, although symptoms may vary greatly in patients. Symptoms may begin on one side of the body and worsen on that side, even when the symptoms are bilateral. Risk factors for the disease include exposure to certain environmental toxins, old age and having a relative with PD. In fact, researchers have identified specific genetic mutations that cause PD, but these are uncommon except in the rare cases of family members affected by the disease. Nearly one million Americans will be living with PD by 2020, and men are 1.5 times more likely to have PD than women. In PD, certain neurons in the brain gradually break down or die and many symptoms are due to the loss of those neurons, which are responsible for the production of a chemical messenger called dopamine. Clumps of microscopic substances within brain cells called Lewy bodies are also an important marker of the disease. Conventional pharmacotherapy treatment is symptomatic and either increases or substitutes for dopamine. Although medications help patients manage their problems with movement and control the tremors, the efficacy of the drugs diminish over time, and side effects include hallucinations, swelling, impaired urination, and compulsive behaviors.
Since there is currently no proven pharmacological therapy that can modify or halt the progression of PD, physical exercise may be a viable complement to manage the inherent decline of the disease. Recent evidence suggests that patients with PD who exercise might experience motor benefits such as improved mobility, balance, and gait velocity as well as non-motor improvements in mood, sleep, cognition, and quality of life. Other complementary therapies such as massage, acupuncture, deep brain stimulation, gene therapy, and herbal treatments may offer similar motor and non-motor benefits and alleviate some drug-induced side effects. In fact, over 50 percent of PD patients in the US use complementary or alternative therapies in addition to, or instead of, conventional treatment. Yoga and meditation rank amongst the most highly used modalities. Notably, the perceived efficacy of meditation is striking, with 85 percent of patients finding this practice helpful in reducing symptoms of stress, tremor, muscle tightness, anxiety, and improving clarity of thought. Since yoga combines meditation and physical benefits of exercise and breath regulation, it may prove to be an effective complementary treatment to PD, certain to be at least as effective as meditation alone.
In an early pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) at the University of Kansas, thirteen patients with mild and moderate stages of PD were randomly assigned to either a yoga intervention or a control group. The intervention consisted of twice-weekly sessions for 12 weeks. Researchers found that in as little as 6 weeks, the patients’ scores on the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), a clinical measure of health-¬related Quality of Life (QOL), was significantly improved. This improvement in UPDRS scores could be explained by improved motor symptoms such as decreased falls and improved balance as well as non-motor symptoms such as decreased anxiety and stress. Given the progressive nature of PD, the absence of deterioration of self-reported symptoms and improvements in clinical outcome scores suggest that yoga may be an effective intervention.
Researchers from Joseph Signorile’s lab at the University of Miami set out to determine how yoga would compare to exercise. Forty-one (41) patients with PD were randomly assigned to a power training (PWT) intervention, a high-speed yoga program, or a non-exercise control group. The yoga group practiced for one hour, twice per week for 12 weeks, and participants held a static pose for one breath before quickly transitioning to the subsequent poses in the series. The researchers found no differences between the yoga and the PWT group, but both programs significantly improved physical performance on a variety of outcome measures such as balance, walking speeds, and fall risks in older (60-90 years) PD patients. Another study from Signorile’s lab also found that three months of a Power Vinyasa yoga program was associated with increased speed of movement, less joint rigidity, increased muscle strength, and improved QOL scores. Given these findings and the exceptional level of exercise adherence, this form of power yoga could be a viable intervention to increase physical function in PD patients.
Additional studies support the therapeutic use of yoga as a rehabilitation intervention for individuals with PD. In a 2018 pilot RCT, patients received an eight-week Hatha Yoga intervention which included postures, yogic breathing (pranayama), and meditation. In contrast to the previously mentioned research, the breathing in this intervention was slow and focused, and the postures were held for multiple breaths. The quantitative findings are consistent with previous studies such as improved balance, motor function, and gait. Furthermore, the additional qualitative reports acquired suggest improved home and community mobility, formation of new supportive relationships, and increased ease in dressing themselves. This study further supports including a yoga intervention as community-based rehabilitation for individuals with PD.
Recent studies by Cheung et al. at the University of Minnesota focused on determining the safety and feasibility of yoga interventions for PD patients. Since increased risk of falling often accompany the progression of PD, Cheung et al. devised a 12-week intervention of twice-weekly yoga classes to address the unique concerns of the PD population. For example, postures focused on increasing the range of motion in the spine, hips, and shoulder girdles, which are particularly affected by the motor symptoms of PD. In addition, to improve balance and safety, all mats were positioned around the edges of the room next to the walls of the studio so that patients had an additional support for transitions and standing poses. The researchers deemed the program feasible with 90 percent of participants attending more than 75 percent of the classes and four out of 19 participants attended all the classes. Also, since no adverse events were reported, yoga therapists who seek to implement yoga for PD patients can consider the safety precautions employed in this intervention. In another study, they set out to determine the effect of yoga on oxidative stress since the latter plays an important role in the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in PD. Although the participants in the 12-week yoga intervention had good adherence and the participants reported that they “definitely enjoyed” the classes, there was no major difference in oxidative stress markers between the intervention and the control group.
Despite these encouraging findings, further research with larger sample sizes is needed to uncover the underpinning mechanisms of the action of yoga and to determine the impact of yoga on oxidative stress in PD patients. An upcoming trial comparing yoga with stretching and resistance training was recently completed in March 2018. The primary outcome measure from this study will be the level of psychological distress measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and therefore help us broaden our understanding of yoga’s ability to address psychological distress among patients with chronic neurodegenerative illness.
Today, I want to shout-out a big Thank You! to Snatam Kaur and all the Kundalini Yoga musicians worldwide. Your music has made all the difference for me and many of the people I teach.
In November, I started teaching yoga at 
Lynn Roulo is an American Kundalini Yoga and Enneagram instructor living in Athens, Greece. She teaches a unique combination of the two systems, combining the physical benefits of Kundalini Yoga with the psychological growth tools of the Enneagram. She has written 
We hope you have had a wonderful start to 2019! It is hard to believe we have arrived in February already, a month when some celebrate love and romance with Valentine’s Day. Instead of only expressing love to those around you, we invite you to take it to a deeper level. Yogi Bhajan taught about love and often highlighted the importance of self-love as the first step to experiencing the love at all. He explains in this lecture from 1989:
First learn to love yourself; an empty glass doesn't quench anyone’s thirst. First love yourself and show how much you love yourself. You can let people bask in your radiance and shine. Then love someone and you always will live in heavens while on earth.
He continues: I hope and pray that you will wake up. Awakening the Kundalini is opening the third eye. It means seeing the unseen; it means being practical and calculating; imaginative and realistic; truthful and self-loving. ~Yogi Bhajan, August 9, 1989. Ram Das Puri, New Mexico
Sat Nam. Greetings and Happy New Year from New Mexico!
In a 1987 New Year’s Eve lecture, Yogi Bhajan gives a great reminder. He said,
Raising Children with Values and Virtues
10 Things to Give Your Children
It started with love, as all good things do. But this type of love is not love for a possession, rather it is love for the sovereign inner being within the being. That love begins with the recognition that our children do not belong to us. They are like birds resting on our branches for a short while. If we truly love them, we lot go even from the beginning. We let go of our projections, attachments, expectations, needs, and desires. We nurture their bodies and minds with conscious care. We give them the time, space, and opportunities to develop self-confidence, wisdom, and self-awareness. We serve as their teachers, and we allow them to experience their own grace. Now, there is nothing left but prayer.
“There is no power nor worship in this Universe greater than prayer; there is no love other than prayer.” - Yogi Bhajan 7/14/82
The truth is that there really is no choice! They are going to follow their own path, whether we release them willingly or not. The test of our love is whether we feel joy in watching them fly or create tragedy in our own attachment.
On June 30, 1991, Yogi Bhajan made this heart-felt request to parents:
"I am just asking you, ‘please, give your children a chance. Don't let them walk on the same rough road on which you have walked. Give them the chance of encouragement and endurance. Let them stand on their own feet. Let them walk tall. Let them go through it now so they can have a bright tomorrow. Let them face it today. Give them a chance to handle today, whatever it is.’ You are alive and well today, and you can protect their today if there is a serious problem. But they have to protect their own tomorrow, with their own will and their own grit. Give them the chance to build that grit.”
At Miri Piri Academy, we have been working for more than 20 years to understand and apply Yogi Bhajan’s model of education. We carefully design and systematically apply the guidance that he gave: teach our students values and virtues, show them their vastness, and give them a love for seva. It has been a journey with many challenges, and we continue to learn and strive towards excellence every day.
Becoming a teacher or a parent is very much a journey, rather than a destination. Miri Piri Academy is pleased to announce that in January we will be launching a newsletter devoted to exploring the application of Yogi Bhajan’s teachings to the challenges of modern-day parenting. If you would like to subscribe to this new project, please visit our 
Saraswati Kaur Khalsa is the Assistant Principal of Miri Piri Academy and has been serving there since 2007. She has been a student of Yogi Bhajan since birth and completed her Level One Kundalini Yoga Teacher training under his guidance. Saraswati holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work and has been working with children and schools since 1998. Her daughter also attends Miri Piri Academy as a student.
Jugat Guru Singh Khalsa is the Principal of Miri Piri Academy in Amritsar, India and a KRI Certified Lead Teacher Trainer. From his childhood, he was guided by Yogi Bhajan and has dedicated his life to serving the mission of Yogi Bhajan by helping to shape the next generation into leaders and teachers of this amazing technology. Jugat Guru Singh is a member of the Chardi Kala Jetha, which travels around the world teaching and performing Gurbani Kirtan, including local performances at the Golden Temple.
As the teachings of Yogi Bhajan grow and spread across the world, fantastic training courses that focus on specific needs are being developed by sensitive and talented teachers and trainers. KRI supports these efforts and encourages the diverse application of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan®.
Here at KRI, it is our job to ensure that the teachings are conveyed with accuracy and portrayed with integrity. We have a system in place for the approval of yoga manuals, books, CDs, DVDs, research articles, website content, on-line products, or translations of existing KRI publications. After a thorough content and technology review, KRI awards the 
Athletes get plenty of strength training and often do their stretching, so why would they need yoga? The postural, exercise and breath-regulation aspects of yoga provide a unique opportunity for core strength training by engaging the entire midsection in order to support one’s body weight. Other physical benefits include improved coordination, proprioception, flexibility, relaxation, deeper respiration, and decreased recovery time from heavy workouts. In addition, the meditative, mindfulness aspects of yoga provide substantive psychological benefits that include improved stress and emotion regulation, improved mindful awareness, enhanced cognition and concentration, and the ability to achieve a flow state. “Flow” refers to an optimal psychological state involving a complete absorption in the task or activity at hand - a state generally coveted by athletes because it is associated with strong positive emotions, including a deep experience of peace, harmony, and unity. Since self-regulation and performance enhancement are critical to athletic performance, it is not surprising that an increasing number of professional sports teams are implementing yoga as standard training practice.
Specific studies have been supportive of the benefits of yoga for athletes since the 1990s. An early study correlated the benefits of Transcendental Meditation with the improved pistol shooting performance of 30 undergraduate students. Similar improvements were observed in 25 elite shooters by a team of researchers at the Ullevål University Hospital in Oslo, Norway. The researchers observed a greater improvement in competition results among the group that received meditation training when compared to a control group. Another early study from the University of Nevada, observed significant improvements in the running performance of high school long-distance runners after yoga exercises when compared to a control group of a “motivational shouting” exercise intervention.
Some studies have focused on specific physiological benefits that underlie the global improvements with yoga, such as a 2004 study, which was published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. The researchers observed the effects of a single yoga set on muscle soreness. 24 yoga-trained individuals were compared to a control group of 12 non-yoga-trained volunteers. All participants were female, and the researchers observed that both yoga training and the single yoga session appeared to attenuate peak muscle soreness after a session of eccentric exercise. These findings have significant implications for facilitating faster recovery from muscle soreness in athletes. A 2016 study published in the International Journal of Yoga examined the impact of 10 weeks of yoga on the flexibility and balance of college athletes. 14 soccer players took part in bi-weekly yoga sessions, whereas the control group, which was comprised of baseball players, did not receive any additional yoga activity. The researchers observed significant gains in flexibility and balance in the yoga group whereas no significant changes were observed in the control group. Another landmark study evaluated the influence of yoga on the postural skills of the Italian short-track speed skating team. Eight men and seven women were given a total of 36 yoga sessions over eight weeks of high volume pre-season training. The researchers observed improvements in 11 of the 14 postural angles analyzed. In addition, no skaters suffered injury from the training volume, and coaches even reported improvements in the efficiency of skating technique.
Apart from the improvements in physical performance, yoga also confers the additional cognitive benefits of the meditative, mindfulness aspect of yoga. Applied sport psychology, in its efforts to enhance the competitive performance of athletes, has traditionally emphasized self-control and the elimination of negative thoughts and emotions. Recent evidence suggests, however, that this suppression may actually have the opposite effect of aggravating these thoughts and emotions. Rather, it is suggested that interventions that emphasize acceptance rather than direct change or suppression of cognitive and affective experiences may lead to enhanced athletic performance. A 2017 meta-analysis conducted by the Swiss Federal Institute of Sport and the University of Basel in Switzerland reviewed nine trials with 290 athletes of various disciplines including track athletes, cyclists, dart throwers, rugby players, and hockey players, to name a few. The athletes received a mindfulness intervention that varied from 4 weeks to over 2 years and researchers found that mindfulness scores consistently improved across the various sport disciplines. In addition, researchers concluded that mindfulness practice can be considered a performance-enhancing training approach in precision sports such as shooting and dart throwing.
A recent study published in the Journal of Sport Rehabilitation in 2017 also found sufficient evidence to support the use of mindfulness with student-athletes to aid in managing negative emotions and perceived stress. There is also preliminary evidence that mindfulness-based interventions may reduce injury in the same student-athlete populations. One of the theoretical models that may explain these observed benefits is the effect of mindfulness on rumination and sport-specific coping skills. Researchers from the Center of Research on Welfare, Health, and Sports in Sweden, observed that athletes who are more mindful in daily life tend to regulate their negative emotions and not engage in excessive rumination, which may in turn, improve their coping skills in a variety of sport-related challenges.
A preliminary investigation into the effect of mindfulness and flow in elite youth swimmers included a 10-week yoga intervention. Although no statistically significant changes in mindfulness and flow were identified, participants did report perceived improvements in those aspects. Moreover, qualitative data suggested that the yoga intervention resulted in positive improvements on a range of cognitive and physiological aspects. It is possible that study weaknesses of small sample size and yoga practice compliance may have contributed to the nonsignificant quantitative findings. Other studies on higher level psychological benefits have been conducted, such as a pilot project conducted at George Mason University in Virginia. It found that five weeks of hatha yoga sessions resulted in an increase of self-reported mindfulness and greater goal-directed energy when compared to a nonrandomized control group.
In summary, studies to date have demonstrated the beneficial effects of yoga on specific components of athletic performance including both physical and cognitive characteristics. Future research should address the previous limitations of small sample sizes, lack of longer-term studies, and in some cases the absence of randomization. Dose response characteristics and the relative contribution to efficacy of the different components of yoga such as physical postures, breathing techniques, and meditation are worthy of additional study. These future trials would further improve our knowledge of the underlying mechanisms of how yoga practice enhances the specific components of athletic performance, which of course has relevance for human performance in the general population.
So many generous donations came through last month in our Year End Fund Drive! We cannot thank you enough! Thank you!! Your gifts fuel the growth of this incredible resource of Yogi Bhajan’s teachings. Your support is such a blessing.
We hope you are having a wonderful start to your new year. For many of us, this time of year brings a renewed sense of commitment to our daily practice and commitment to health, wellness, or anything we want to shift in our lives. In this lecture, Yogi Bhajan wishes his students a prosperous year and reminds them about the importance of daily Sadhana and trusting their Dharma. He says;
“Do not worry. The key word for this year, which can give you all the life you need, is your sadhana. Sadhana is such a beautiful companion. She will pull you from nothing to everything. But it requires a discipline on your part, and it requires a continuity. We have become Dharma within ourselves - complete and desirable. Some of us, under some circumstances, doubt that very much. Doubt is natural. But when you don't doubt, you have dharma. When you doubt, you don't have dharma. Doubt is an individual faculty to see that we require this doubt. No, my friends, that is not the right mental stage. The correct mental stage is when you let your mind watch what God wills, without doubt. How beautiful you will look. How saintly you will look. How radiant you will look. Many people will love you and experience you with calmness, tranquility, and quietness. And from your strength, they will grow - that is also the Shabad. You emit light that touches the boundary of other people’s arc line and aura. They enrich themselves, and this grace is called the best of the human race. I wish you a prosperous, prosperous, prosperous New Year … Bless all, bless the Khalsa in this coming year with prosperity and with success, with happiness and with unity. Bless the world with peace. May all have their dreams come true.” Yogi Bhajan, December 31st, 1998.
Read or listen to the original 
New Book!
Amy Carpenter, LCSW, CYI is a psychotherapist, Kundalini Yoga instructor and writer living in Rockport, Maine. She graduated from the Kundalini Research Institute in Espanola, New Mexico in June of 2007. Outside of a recent writing sabbatical, she has taught local KY classes ever since. Amy has two completed books; Glen Stone, a middle-grade novel, and Channel Crossing: The Challenge and Success of Solo Parenting, a self-help book. She has contributed articles to 
Join us this month as we explore “Move your Body – Lift your Spirits” with The Yogi Bhajan Library of Teachings®. In the darkening December days as we approach the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, we will be exploring the ways that Kundalini Yoga can be benefit your fitness regimen and, at the same time, launch our Year End Fund Drive for the Yogi Bhajan Library of Teachings.
"Recognize that the other person is you,” this is one of Yogi Bhajan’s most widely known teachings. To be community-minded is to understand the inextricable connection between ourselves and the people around us.
Group consciousness is not just being aware of how the people around us are influencing us, but also about how we are influencing them. What can we do to serve? What can we do to elevate? What can we say to inspire, bring a smile, and motivate each other? Being community-minded is both an awareness of the impact others have on us as well as the impact we have on them.
Between 1960 and 1994, the population of those 85 years and older in the United States grew 274 percent and this fact, coupled with increased longevity, is significant since the elderly spend three times more on healthcare than their working counterparts. Therefore, it is important to understand better the pathophysiology of aging and possible therapies to slow its negative effects. The normal aging process results in several physiological changes. For example, there is alteration of pulmonary mechanics, respiratory muscle strength, gas exchange, and ventilatory control, which are the collective outcome of degradation to anatomical structures such as the bronchioles, alveoli, and intercostal muscles. The renal system is similarly affected by aging since the loss of the kidneys’ cortical tissue directly affects the filtration rate, which results in fluid and electrolyte abnormalities and eventual renal insufficiency. While specific pathological features have not been identified for gastrointestinal tract senescence, changes in neuromuscular function, changes in the structure of the gastrointestinal tract itself, and changes in the absorptive and secretory functions all alter normal gastrointestinal processes. Likewise, the size of the liver decreases after the age of 50, leading to decreases in protein synthesis, such as clotting factors. Common endocrine changes include menopause in women and a slow decline of testosterone in men. T-lymphocyte-mediated immunity is also impaired and the elderly are more susceptible to infections and communicable diseases. As far as neural changes, the elderly lose 6 percent to 11 percent of their brain cortex, which can lead to a decline in cognitive functioning and may also facilitate neurodegenerative processes such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s diseases.
Sat Nam and Greetings from New Mexico.
We celebrate Guru Ram Das’ birthday this month. Guru Ram Das was a humble man and a great saint and healer. Although he was born a poor child and was orphaned at a young age, he became the leader of the Sikhs and sat on the throne of Raj Yoga. Here is what Yogi Bhajan said about him in a lecture dated October 30, 1985:
“The highest gift of this birthday of Guru Ram Das you can give to him is to be forgiving. That's how he was, very forgiving, very loving, the most compassionate. God took centuries and centuries and centuries, millions and millions and millions, zillions and zillions, zillions of year to create this whole cosmos. And out of all that, He figured out one self of Himself to produce in a human body – a personality, a psyche, a grace of His own representation. And we call it Ram Das, the servant of God. And that's what Guru Ram Das is – the most compassionate, the most creative, ever smiling in extreme... That's why we call on him [by chanting],
Fourteen years ago in the afternoon of October 6th, Yogi Bhajan breathed his last breath. At home on his Ranch, surrounded by family and students, he made that final journey and crossed into the subtle realm of spirit. For as long as I live, I will not forget the sounds, sights and sensations of that day.
Yogi Bhajan had been ill for a long time and was bedridden. The week before, he had his students push his wheelchair around the ashram to look at and touch each and every thing along the way. And although he then pronounced to all that he would live another six years, this rare excursion from his Dome had the joyous feeling of a blessing and the somber weight of a last goodbye.
On Monday, October 4th he started the process of withdrawing into that state of consciousness between life and death. Dark clouds gathered, and the afternoon was battered with thunderstorms. While that is a normal occurrence in summer monsoon season, by fall, New Mexico is usually graced with clear skies. But those three days in October, the sky roared and boomed like I had never seen before. On Wednesday afternoon, there was a wild, whooshing wind that ripped through the ashram with crashing thunder. I was not surprised when the phone call came that Yogi Bhajan had passed.
When I arrived at the Ranch, Yogi Bhajan’s wife, Bibiji, was sitting in the living room with a tear-stained face. “Call everyone, Shanti,” she said. “Let them come say goodbye.” At such a time when the heart was crushed, it was a measure of her compassion that Bibiji thought of the sangat and the feelings of others over herself.
Within the hour, the whole ashram gathered at the Ranch. Friends, family, students, and visitors alike sat together and chanted, “Guru Guru Wahe Guru, Guru Ram Das Guru.” In small groups of two or three, everyone had the chance to come into the Dome and say their personal farewell to their teacher.
Finally, when everything was ready, we opened the Dome door to bring his still body to the waiting ambulance. The sangat opened a path, and he was brought through the chanting crowd. As we shut the ambulance doors and it began its slow crunching roll over the gravel parking lot, I was struck with the reality that all things had suddenly changed. The chanting to Guru Ram Das rang in my ears and floated around me and carried my heart through the days ahead.
Although Yogi Bhajan has been gone from this realm for 14 years, I still feel his presence in each Kundalini Yoga class, no matter where it is taught. His legacy flows through his teachings and these are a gift to us. I am grateful to the 
Shanti Kaur Khalsa is a wife, mother, grandmother and professional writer who brings Khalsa values to every aspect of life. She is an engaging Sikh teacher who brings the wisdom of Sikh history into modern life. Shanti spent more than twenty years studying with Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji who inspired her on the path of Sikhism. She is an inspired kirtania who travels worldwide giving inspirational kirtan and lecture programs.
Yogi Bhajan told us that we should make “God” a part of our child’s life, but what does that mean? For some people, the concept of God is rooted deep in the dogmatic instruction of their youth. And while many have rejected that simplistic view, it is sometimes difficult to give voice to exactly what we think God is.
The concept of God, as Yogi Bhajan shared with us, is not the concept of a magical-man in the sky. It is a Generating, Organizing, and Destroying energy that pervades the universe and all creation, including you and me. It is not something outside of us, but inside and all around us.
When my daughter was two years old, she made up a song and repeated it constantly in the interminable hours we spent together at the swing-set. “1,2,3, God is with me, 1,2,3 God is with me” she used to chant over and over again. This is still my fondest memory of her childhood. This simple mantra wasn’t a reflection of her advanced understanding, or of my exceptional parenting; it was just a product of her surroundings. At Miri Piri Academy (MPA), God - the Divine Energy, is a tangible part of everyday life. We experience it in seva at the Golden Temple, Japji Sahib in the morning, Ardas (prayer) before school, Kundalini Yoga in the afternoon, meditation and chanting together in the evenings, and stories before bedtime. This is our life at MPA, and you can create this simple routine no matter where you are.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Make God a part of your life together.
Sat Nam from The Yogi Bhajan Library of Teachings!
October brings beautiful fall weather here in New Mexico, a reminder of the changing of the season and the slowing down from the busy summer months. October also brings the remembrance of Yogi Bhajan’s life as we honor his passing on October 6th and the celebration of Guru Ram Das’s Birthday on October 9th.
Guru Ram Das Ji is known to many as the “Lord of Miracles,” and he held a special place in Yogi Bhajan’s heart. Over the years, Yogi Bhajan taught us of Guru Ram Das Ji’s ability to manifest miracles, emphasizing Guru Ji’s qualities of selfless service, humility, grace, healing, kindness, and protection. In 1995, Yogi Bhajan shared how we can live Guru Ram Das’s teachings:
“Nothing matters, whether you are one or you are one million. It doesn't matter if you are pure or you are the ugliest human creature. It doesn't matter if you are fire and flamboyant and beautiful and your features are excellent or you are not worth looking at, let us put it that way. But whenever time and place, desh and kaal, confronts you and your compassion doesn't win - you are a dead man. And whenever there is a temptation and your value doesn't win - you are a rotten person. These are two practical things. Let me tell you the third. Whenever you are not you and your words couldn't come out divine, compassionate, sweet, uplifting, and elevating, you have lost the game of life. All that is what is put together as Guru Ram Das. Where man can excel, you don't have to control the whole world. You don't have to rule the universe. You don't have to show people you are rich or you are poor, you are great or you are small. All you have to show is to yourself. You have to win yourself, you have to conquer yourself, and you have to live yourself. That is what Guru Ram Das tells us. Let compassion win and let yourself win...”
The prostate gland is part of the male reproductive system and is located just below the bladder and in front of the rectum. Cancer of the prostate manifests as an abnormal proliferation of cells. Although some men do not have any symptoms, prostate cancer is typically associated with painful or burning urination, blood in the urine or semen, difficulty emptying the bladder, and painful ejaculation. While researchers do not know the exact causes of prostate cancer, they have determined that certain genetic changes, whether inherited or acquired during a person’s lifetime, contribute to the disease. According to the American Cancer Society, a high consumption of red meat or high fat dairy products slightly increases the risk, while other risk factors include radiation or chemical exposure, older age (typically over 40), and a family history of prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in American men after skin cancer and is the second leading cause of cancer death with about 1 in 41 men predicted to die from this disease.
Although there are now a variety of conventional treatments for prostate cancer including surgeries, radiation, hormone therapy, and chemotherapy among others, reports suggest that 25-50 percent of prostate cancer patients use at least one complementary and integrative medicine modality. Acupuncture is popular and effective among patients who experience hot flashes as a side-effect of androgen-deprivation therapy for prostate cancer. A 2013 review of the literature on exercise and cancer found that populations who were more active had less side effects from anticancer therapy and greater chances of recovery. Yoga offers many of the benefits of exercise, but in addition, yoga is likely to also better improve stress, mood, pain perception, and self-efficacy in patients with cancer. Indeed, research has shown that yoga can improve quality of life and sleep-related outcomes in patients with lymphoma and breast cancer.
The 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program, which incorporates meditation, body scan, and gentle yoga, in an early pilot study on 10 patients with early stage prostate cancer and 59 patients with breast cancer, showed significant improvements in overall quality of life scores, symptoms of stress, and sleep quality. The improvements in quality of life were associated with a decrease in activation of the stress hormone – cortisol. A follow-up study reported significant improvements at 6 and 12 months, showing that improvements in stress were maintained and that cortisol levels continued to decrease systematically over the course of the follow-up. The patients’ immune systems were likewise improved with a reduction in levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines.
In addition to stress, epidemiological data suggests that lifestyle choices such as diet may play an important role in cancer prevention. In 2003, in order to elucidate the effect of diet on prostate cancer, the lab of Dr. Dean Ornish (a pioneer of plant-based dietary intervention) conducted the Prostate Cancer Lifestyle Trial (PCLT), a randomized controlled trial (RCT), in which 93 men were assigned to either a control group or a vegan diet intervention group. The diet consisted of low-fat foods, legumes (including soy), whole grains, fruits and vegetables. In addition, the patients participated in stress management, psychosocial group support, and exercise programs including gentle yoga-based stretching, breathing, and meditation – this could therefore be considered a yoga lifestyle program. Adherence by intervention group participants was excellent at greater than 80 percent. They had a 4 percent decrease in prostate specific antigen (PSA, a measure of disease severity) whereas the non-intervention control patients had a 6 percent increase in PSA and 6 of those patients had to resort to conventional cancer treatment. Furthermore, no patients in the lifestyle intervention group needed radiation, surgery, or androgen deprivation therapy. Finally, when researchers exposed in vitro cancer cells to the serum of the lifestyle group patients, they observed 8 times more cancer growth inhibition than the control group serum, suggesting that this treatment approach had significant effects at the cellular and molecular level.
Cancer diagnosis and treatment is associated with significant psychosocial problems including stress, anxiety, denial, and exacerbated conflict with partners that needs to be addressed. Interviews with 44 of the participants in the PCLT group of the study after one year found that the lifestyle change intervention resulted in greater overall optimism and hope. In addition, patients experienced greater emotional availability and decreased conflict with their partners. Subsequent follow-up data also revealed significantly improved lifestyle behaviors compared with controls resulting in enhanced health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) scores and decreased stress. After 2 years, 27 percent of control group patients had reverted to conventional cancer treatment compared to less than 5 percent of the lifestyle group patients. These encouraging findings suggest that early-stage prostate cancer patients may be able to avoid or delay conventional treatment for at least 2 years by making changes in their diet and lifestyle.
Although the PCLT improvements in quality of life and mood and in the inhibition of cancer growth are important, molecular and biological outcomes, as strong objective outcome measures, are very worthy of analysis. Telomeres, which are protective DNA–protein complexes at the end chromosomes tend to shorten with disease and serve as a prognostic marker of risk, progression, and mortality in many types of cancer. In a pilot study funded by the US Department of Defense, Dr. Ornish and colleagues looked at the effects of a 3-month comprehensive lifestyle modification (with similar dietary and yoga-related practices to the PCLT) on 30 men with early stage prostate cancer. They found significantly increased levels of telomerase (the enzyme that counteracts telomere shortening). The researchers also identified significant modulation of biological processes that have critical roles in tumor growth and concluded that the intervention may change gene expression in the prostate. Remarkably, in the 5-year follow-up to this study, the relative telomere length in the experimental group continued increasing from baseline but decreased in the control group, therefore suggesting that long-term adherence to lifestyle changes can reverse damage to chromosomes.
The first study to examine the feasibility and benefit of a yoga program for prostate cancer survivors and their support persons was conducted by researchers at the University of Calgary in Canada. The yoga sessions ran weekly for 7 weeks and were 75 minutes in length. Participants were guided through gentle breathing, increasingly challenging yoga postures (as their flexibility improved over the 7 weeks) and 15 minutes of final relaxation in Shavasana pose. All the study participants, including their care-givers, reported significant improvements with regard to stress, fatigue, and mood after yoga. The researchers concluded that yoga therapy for prostate cancer survivors is a feasible intervention due to the high program adherence rate and the acute benefits for all participants.
In another landmark study, researchers from Neha Vapiwala’s lab at the University of Pennsylvania looked at the feasibility of an intensive yoga intervention for prostate cancer patients receiving outpatient radiotherapy. Although 18 of the 45 patients who started the program were unable to attend the requisite minimum number of yoga classes due to conflict with their radiation treatment times and the yoga class schedule, 12 of the remaining 27 participants attended over 50 percent of the classes. The results revealed reassuringly stable scores in erectile dysfunction, urinary incontinence, and quality of life. This prompted the researchers to conclude that a structured yoga intervention of twice-weekly classes was feasible for the cancer patients during a 6-9 week course of outpatient radiotherapy. They then conducted an RCT in which experimental group participants received twice-weekly yoga interventions over the 6- to 9-week courses of radiation therapy. Throughout the treatment, the yoga cohort reported significantly less fatigue than the controls. The sexual health scores and QOL emotional scores were also significantly higher in the yoga group.
In summary, these encouraging albeit preliminary findings suggest that yoga may be a viable complementary treatment for prostate cancer patients. The findings support the need for validation with larger cohorts and methods such as electronic activity tracking to better understand the underlying biochemical changes induced by the yoga practices. Future studies should address the previous limitations of attrition, unaccounted comorbid factors, bias, and small sample sizes. Future trials can also help us better understand the barriers to continued participation in yoga for prostate cancer survivors.
Sat Nam and Greetings from New Mexico.
We just completed our 
Sangeet Kaur discovered her singing voice at the age of 8, and studied music performance at the University of Toronto. After several years of singing with Canada’s first professional chamber choir, she became a longtime student/teacher of Yogi Bhajan in 1978. Sangeet Kaur is well-known as an accomplished singer and recording artist. She serves tirelessly in her local Sikh community, in her home studio, and via the internet --mentoring others to find their own true voices.
A child wants to be strong to face tomorrow. That's what a child wants, but the child is not trained that way. They are protected – not prepared. So naturally, children have to revolt and they can't take their parents' proclamation, “I want to protect you.” What for? What are you protecting them from? Prepare him, prepare her. -Yogi Bhajan April 17, 1993
Today I dropped my daughter off at the airport for another year at Miri Piri Academy. She was not happy about going to school this year and it was a difficult morning with tears and silence and anger. We had been discussing all summer the reasons I have made the decision for her to return to MPA again, but despite hearing and understanding my reasons, she wanted to try something different. She felt that she was missing-out on some alternate experience of teenage life that she desperately wanted to try.
As a parent, these are some of the hardest moments. The moments when we put our foot down, when we limit our children’s choices, when they cry or scream or protest repeatedly, and we have to stick to our decisions regardless of their anger or sadness. These are the moments when we have to remind ourselves that we are here not just to protect our children, but to prepare them. Setting limits is an important part of that preparation.
Ultimately, we want our children to recognize that they are part of the Infinite, that their spirit is vast and they have the capacity to transcend the limitations imposed by their communities, environments, and especially their own fears and mental patterns. The purpose of setting limits on our children’s environments and choices is to give them an opportunity to build their confidence, skills, and awareness for that moment when it is time to transcend those limits, even those limits that we have set for them.
So first, a person learns only in limited environments. And when they become perfect in the perfection of their own confidence in limited environments, then they can tackle unlimited environments. Yogi Bhajan, March 11, 1974
By setting limits we teach them how to navigate life where every choice has constraints and consequences. We teach them the skill of recognizing how to work within limits when necessary and how to overcome limits when circumstances demand it. Whether it’s a uniform, a schedule, limited screen-time, curfew, or school choice, as parents we set limits not only to protect our children but to prepare them to successfully navigate the maze of life. Every situation presents choices, positive and negative, and challenges to our beliefs about what we want to do or are capable of doing. Children will question and challenge every limitation, discovering within themselves new capacities and skills to work within those boundaries or the acumen to decide to transcend them.
Ultimately, as they gain confidence in themselves, they will discover ways around the limitations that are no longer serving them and respect for those limits that are valuable. For example, our younger and newer students protest bitterly about the daily one-hour screen-time limit at MPA. However, by the time they graduate they nearly always express appreciation for the opportunity to really be present with each other.
When my daughter inevitably grows in confidence, knowledge, discipline, and self-awareness, she will one day be ready for that alternate experience she is looking for. In a thousand ways, large and small, we prepare our children for life by setting boundaries so that they can grow strong enough to stand tall and transcend any limitation, real or imagined, that is holding them back.
The ability to self-regulate internal states, either physical, mental, or emotional, is a fundamental construct underlying not only the field of mind-body medicine (which includes yoga), but also much of what is in the broader field of behavioral medicine. The practices in this realm include cognitive and meditation skills, relaxation techniques, and the contemplative mind-body practices of yoga, tai chi, and qi gong. Through these practices, one acquires the skills of regulating functions including physical movement, respiratory activity, cardiovascular functions, and cognitive and emotional activity and reactivity. Research studies have confirmed that yoga practice can lead to significant improvements in muscular tension, neuro-muscular activity and coordination, basal respiratory rate, blood pressure, heart rate, cognitive performance, meta-cognition, and management of mental stress and reactivity of emotion.
The control of some of these functions is mediated through the direct command of the central nervous system including the ability to consciously relax muscles and change respiration rate – this is somewhat self-evident. What has been of more interest scientifically, with respect to self-regulation, is the ability to exert control over processes believed to be automatically regulated, such as the autonomic nervous system, which can affect changes in the activity of internal organs and functions including heart activity, blood pressure, and metabolic rate. This is because historically, and even currently, in the field of medicine these activities have been believed to be out of the control of conscious will. One of the most well-known measures of this self-regulation of autonomic function is heart rate. Historically, what is of particular interest, are the early descriptions of instances/cases in the West that have suggested the feasibility of this kind of self-regulation.
William James was a very notable philosopher, psychologist, medical doctor, and Harvard faculty in the late 19th century. In fact, the Department of Psychology on the Harvard University campus now bears his name, William James Hall. He was a pioneer in the field of psychology who gained widespread recognition from his seminal 1890 textbook The Principles of Psychology, a tome of 1,200 pages taking 12 years to complete. He also had the opportunity to interact personally with yoga master and proponent Swami Vivekananda during his visits to Boston in the late 1800’s. This influenced his work in research on contemplative states and practices, and meditation specifically, culminating in his landmark 1902 book The Varieties of Religious Experience. He was one of the early academics to recognize and describe the mind-body interaction and the capacity for self-regulation. In his 1890 text he wrote a clear statement of the mind-body connection: “Mental states occasion also changes in the calibre of blood-vessels, or alteration in the heart-beats, or processes more subtle still, in glands and viscera. …it will be safe to lay down the general law that no mental modification ever occurs which is not accompanied or followed by a bodily change.” He then cites cases of “exceptional individuals” reporting direct effects on the heart rate at will –a famous medical anecdote of a Colonel Townsend who could stop his heart at will and a 1889 report on voluntary control of the heart by a Dr. S.A. Pease.
The case of Colonel Townsend can be traced back to its first description by George Cheyne M.D. in his 1733 book A Treatise of Diseases of all Kinds. He recounts being called to examine Townsend with two medical colleagues near the end of his life, as he was on his death bed suffering from a terminal disease. It was Townsend’s wish to convey to them an experience/phenomenon in which “…composing himself, he could die or expire when he pleased, and yet by an effort or somehow, he could come to life again.” Despite cautions by the doctors not to do a demonstration given his condition, the Colonel insisted, and Cheyne describes the event of that morning.
Sat Nam.
Greetings from New Mexico!
Our friends and neighbors are joining us to celebrate the birthday, life, and legacy of Yogi Bhajan at Hacienda de Guru Ram Das. If you can get to New Mexico for the evening of August 25th, please come and enjoy the party! We also will be chanting the 2.5 cycle Adi Shakti Mantra, “Ek Ong Kar Sat Nam Siri Wahe Guru,” and the Guru Mantra, “Guru Guru Wahe Guru, Guru Ram Das Guru,” on Yogi Bhajan’s actual birthday which is August 26th. These two mantras are chanted all over the world on Yogi Bhajan’s birthday. If you have not done it before, it is a wonderful experience not to be missed. Check with your local Kundalini Yoga Teacher about the time and place that it will be chanted in your locale.
Yogi Bhajan’s teachings are so magnificent that it is easy to forget that he was an actual human being. In many ways, he was just like us - living life as it presented itself to him every day. Here is a story he told about himself, on his birthday, August 26th, 1989.
Epilepsy is a disorder in which recurrent seizures are caused by abnormal electrical discharges in the brain. A person is diagnosed with epilepsy if they have two unprovoked seizures (or one unprovoked seizure with the likelihood of more) that were not caused by some known and reversible medical condition. There are different types of seizures. Generalized onset seizures affect both sides of the brain or groups of cells on both sides of the brain at the same time. On the other hand, focal onset seizures can start in one area or group of cells in one side of the brain. Epileptic seizures are the result of excessive and abnormal neuronal activity in the cortex of the brain and often brought on by factors such as stress, alcohol abuse, flickering light, or a lack of sleep, among others. An electroencephalogram (EEG) to look for abnormal patterns of brain waves and neuroimaging (CT scan or MRI) to look at the structure of the brain are also usually part of the diagnostic evaluation. In the United States, epilepsy affects an estimated 2.2 to 2.3 million people. The key driver of direct costs in epilepsy is medical service expenditures, which are substantial. However, the overwhelming majority of total costs are attributable to indirect costs such as job absenteeism. For general epilepsy populations, total annual direct healthcare costs per person ranged from $10,192 to $47,862 and epilepsy‐specific costs ranged from $1,022 to $19,749. These costs are a healthcare burden that needs to be addressed.
Epilepsy cannot usually be cured outright, but pharmaceutical medications can control seizures effectively in about 70 percent of the cases. The mainstay treatment of epilepsy is anticonvulsant medications, possibly for the person's entire lifespan. Trials of single medications are recommended initially. However, if this is not effective, two medications simultaneously may be prescribed. Medications available include older antiepileptic drugs such as phenytoin, carbamazepine, and valproate and newer ones which include lamotrigine, levetiracetam, zonisamide, etc. Adverse effects from medications are reported in 10 to 90 percent of people. Most adverse effects are dose-related and mild and can include mood changes, sleepiness, or unsteadiness in gait. Certain medications have side effects that are not related to dose such as rashes, liver toxicity, or suppression of the bone marrow. Importantly, up to a quarter of people stop treatment due to adverse effects and some medications are not appropriate during pregnancy. Therefore, there is a need for alternative, nonpharmacological interventions.
There is credible and mounting evidence that yoga and meditation practices can improve stress, psychophysiological hyperarousal, and psychological well-being, and may be helpful in treating clinical problems such as depression, anxiety, and chronic pain. The relationship between stress and epilepsy is well known. Stress leads to release of glucocorticoids, neuropeptides, and corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH), which can excite immature hippocampal neurons and cause seizures, resulting in a vicious cycle. A majority of adult patients with medically refractory epilepsies have mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. Yoga and meditation interventions may modulate the disturbed limbic system activity in such patients and may help to maintain normal homeostatic conditions. Stress reduction and subjective feelings of well-being may be important factors contributing to seizure reduction and EEG changes ascribed to some forms of meditation. Yoga is thought to achieve seizure control through experience-related plasticity or through a shift in autonomic output toward relative parasympathetic dominance. Other proposed mechanisms of yoga benefit include EEG desynchronization and activation of inhibitory circuits through vagal nerve stimulation. One study has suggested that yoga training stimulates the vagus nerve, which may be relevant because electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve has been shown to decrease seizure frequency by 28 to 38 percent. There is therefore a positive rationale for the therapeutic role of yoga and meditation practices.
However, there has been controversy about the link between meditation practice and the neurological disorder of epilepsy. Some have suggested the concern that brain states induced by meditation could be conducive to triggering seizures in epileptics or could trigger epilepsy with patients with no known history or risk factors for epilepsy. The proposed epileptogenic influence of meditation is based on observed meditation-induced alterations in neurophysiology (hypersynchrony and increased coherence of brain activity) and neurochemistry (release of glutamate and serotonin). A study in 1993 found a significantly large incidence of complex partial epilepsy-like signs and experiences in meditators compared to controls. The study presented data of 221 meditators who displayed these signs compared to 860 non-meditators. However, several studies on patients with epilepsy practicing meditation have actually demonstrated improvement in seizure frequency and duration and EEG profile. A study published in 1995 has shown that experiences of unbounded awareness (transcendental consciousness) during meditation are correlated with specific physiological changes, e.g., global increase in EEG coherence, slowing of respiration and heart rate, and increased basal skin resistance. These changes are not epileptic-like and are not pathological but are positively correlated with intelligence, creativity, and mental health.
A number of studies have further attested to the safety and efficacy of yoga practices in epilepsy. Two unblinded randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in 1996 and 2008, recruited a total of 50 adults with refractory epilepsy and compared any type of classical Indian yoga to control conditions with no intervention or interventions such as yoga-mimicking exercises or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Results of the overall efficacy analysis showed that yoga treatment was better when compared with no intervention or interventions other than yoga. These data also suggested that yoga may have a role as an adjuvant therapy in the management of autonomic dysfunction in patients with refractory epilepsy.
A recent review paper on mindfulness-based interventions for epilepsy published in 2017 described three RCTs with a total of 231 participants in the USA (n = 171) and Hong Kong (n = 60). Significant improvements were reported in depression symptoms, quality of life, anxiety, and depression. Despite positive findings, the authors noted significant design limitations including unclear or high risk of bias, low statistical power, lack of measurement of longer-term effects, limited accounting for confounding factors, no measures of home practice, and poor reporting of randomization procedures, adverse events, and reasons for subject drop-outs. This systematic review concluded that there is limited evidence for the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions in epilepsy, however preliminary evidence suggests it may lead to some improvement in anxiety, depression, and quality of life.
In summary, yoga interventions may contribute positively to the treatment of epilepsy by enhancing quality of life and by decreasing seizure activity. Yoga interventions can be integrated into an outpatient clinic with good results, are noninvasive and low cost, and can be conducted even in the presence of language barriers and cultural differences. However, much more rigorous research needs to be conducted in this field and yoga can only be justified as an adjunctive treatment to antiepileptic drugs at the present time and should not generally be used as the sole treatment method.
Ishpreet Singh is a medical doctor and researcher from the Dayanand Medical College in India. He has worked extensively in India and USA with individuals with mental health and neurological disorders and is inclined towards integrating eastern yogic and meditation methods into mainstream medicine. He is an avid practitioner of Kundalini Yoga and meditation and brings this as a tool to help people heal, addressing deeper causes of illness and disease.
Make this your year to experience India – The Guru Ram Das Chetna Yatra
Have you longed to travel to India and see the Golden Temple? Make this your year to celebrate the birthday of Guru Ram Das in Amritsar. Join us October 23rd to 28th for the 
The following meditation, which can be found in the Yogi Bhajan Library of Teachings, is a powerful tool in building your own self-reverence and projecting that out to the world. Through the power of our own self-respect, we build the possibility of expecting respect from our children.
Sat Nam and warm greetings from New Mexico. Our June KRI Aquarian Trainer Academy Forum was fantastic! Our theme was “Culture, Community, and Communication”. Over 108 trainers attended the workshops and participated in robust discussions. It was inspiring and productive, setting the agenda for the Trainer Forums that will be happening around the world. Look for an 
Are you in the process of becoming a trainer? Are you available to immerse yourself in the process of personal growth as a trainer? Then the Trainer in Training Program in Espanola this summer will be perfect for you. We want you to join us this summer!
In July and August each year, KRI provides a Level One Immersion Teacher Training program in Espanola, NM USA and offers a parallel program in trainer development, fondly called the “TNT Program.” This program is a good opportunity to completely immerse yourself in the process of developing as a trainer. TNTs come from all over the globe to form a community of support for the student teachers. TNTs have come from South Africa, Cambodia, Brazil, Egypt, Mexico, Poland, Canada, Thailand, China, Japan, Israel, Argentina, Germany, Australia, and from across the US. Many TNTs go on to become Lead Trainers and bring Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training to their respective countries. Are you next?!
At the Immersion, the TNTs support students through their development into a Level One Kundalini Yoga Instructor while receiving training themselves from KRI Senior Trainers such as Sat Siri Kaur, Siri Neel Kaur, Sat Purkh Kaur, Dev Suroop Kaur, and Nirvair Singh. All of this in New Mexico, the land of enchantment that Yogi Bhajan called “God’s true home.”
During the program TNTs participate in all aspects of the training including:
The experience of anxiety, as clinically defined, is a feeling of dread and/or worry that may also be associated with continuing rumination and physical symptoms of the stress response such as rapid heartbeat, perspiration, and muscle tension. When this becomes persistent and heightened in intensity it may begin to meet the criterion of one of the anxiety disorders. Symptoms in anxiety disorders may manifest as panic attacks, feeling overwhelmed and uneasy in social situations, and a variety of possible phobias about specific places or future events. Anxiety is clinically significant if a patient suffers from anxiety symptoms for at least 6 months in any given year, as is the case for 6.8 million adults in the U.S. who suffer from one of the more common forms known as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Patients with GAD have persistent and excessive worry about a range of different things such as money, health, family, or anticipated disaster when there is no apparent reason for concern. Individuals find it difficult to control their worry. This may be related to past emotional traumas leading to an enlarged and overactive brain region called the amygdala, responsible for emotion and the stress response. When the over-sensitive amygdala is excessively activated, the basal ganglion region of the brain along with the frontal lobe, which are normally responsible for self-regulation, are unable to put the brakes on the amygdala. It is believed that a combination of biological and social factors, particularly stressful life events, play a role in the development of GAD.
Although pharmacotherapy is available for GAD patients, many patients remain untreated or are medicated but would prefer alternatives to pharmacotherapy. Prescription drugs that treat anxiety may only be effective at treating the physical symptoms and often carry a high risk for addiction and may severely impair mood, judgment, and cognition. Fortunately, for those patients with the knowledge and access to it, there is a credible behavioral alternative. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) addresses negative thought patterns and cognitive distortions in the way we look at the world and ourselves. The efficacy of CBT for anxiety disorders has strong support from a good body of clinical research trial literature including meta analytic review studies.
A growing body of evidence suggests that contemplative practices such as yoga and meditation may also be effective at treating GAD. Indeed, yoga and meditation, through engaging the activity of the attention networks in the frontal lobe, is a form of self-regulation that can inhibit and regulate activity in brain areas, including the amygdala, that are associated with fear and stress-responses. This regulation thereby decreases emotional intensity and perceived stress levels and improves ability to manage everyday stressors and emotional reactions. During mindfulness meditation practices, such as Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), individuals become less reactive to unpleasant feelings and more reflective, which then leads to positive psychological outcomes. When researchers recently evaluated randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of MBSR interventions, they found that the practice is moderately to largely effective at reducing anxiety and depression symptom severity among individuals with a range of psychiatric conditions. The most comprehensive review to date examined the effects of 209 trials of mind body interventions (MBIs) which included 12,145 patients and found MBIs to be more effective in reducing psychological and medical symptom severity than a number of control conditions.
Yoga is one of the MBIs that may offer some advantages to the benefits conferred by meditation alone. Indeed, physical yoga exercises and breathing practices may induce the positive changes in brain neurochemistry that is linked to a more positive mood and affect. Specifically, yoga has been found to increase thalamic GABA levels (a brain neurotransmitter), in a similar fashion to pharmacologic agents acting on GABA levels to alleviate anxiety. Pranayama or yogic breathing may also contribute to the shift towards a dominance of the parasympathetic nervous system (associated with relaxation). Indeed, a recent meta-analysis of eight RCTs of yoga interventions with 319 participants revealed evidence for small, short-term benefits of yoga on anxiety compared to controls. However, in that review, there were no effects found for anxiety disorders that were formally diagnosed. The researchers concluded that “yoga might be an effective and safe intervention for individuals with elevated levels of anxiety” but that “there was inconclusive evidence for effects of yoga in anxiety disorders”.
A preliminary clinical evaluation of yoga for GAD was conducted at the outpatient center of Riverside Community Care in the Boston area, in collaboration with Boston University and Harvard Medical School researchers. The results were published in a 2015 paper in the journal 
Yogi Bhajan gave us 10 gifts to give our children and the fourth one is to listen to them. Listening sounds simple, but it is not. Listening requires your own intuition, patience, and parenting skills. At its most basic level, active listening requires focus. In a stressful, fast paced world surrounded by phones, computers, and televisions, even this most basic pre-requisite for listening has become difficult in many homes. This is not something to feel guilty about. We have legitimate reasons for using our phones and computers throughout the day. We have work, emails, schedules, research, shopping, mapping, calls to make, and planning to do. But conscious parenting requires being aware of the impact of all that activity. When we establish healthy boundaries and habits for ourselves, we can be focused and present in our children’s lives. It is not always possible, but if we make listening our priority we can develop the habit of stepping away from work and other distractions to be fully present when our children are trying to communicate. This is the first and most basic step.
Thank you to so many of you who were able to stop by our KRI booth at Summer Solstice last month! We were happy to meet you face-to-face and hear your ideas and appreciation. We are truly humbled. You continue to support the evolution of this resource and we can’t thank you enough!
In the month of July we celebrate Independence Day in the United States, a wonderful opportunity for all of us to appreciate the many freedoms we are privileged to live with. 
If you are reading this, chances are you are already walking on the path of consciousness and working to improve yourself. You must be serious about your spiritual growth or you wouldn’t be practicing Kundalini Yoga. I mean really, why else would you get up in the early morning to meditate?
We have been blessed to receive these teachings from Yogi Bhajan, and for this gift we are grateful. But he often said, “I have not come to collect students, I have come to create teachers.” For the privilege of experiencing the joys of this path, it is our obligation to pass it on to others. As we practice Kundalini Yoga, everyone evolves eventually into a teacher in some form.
But what does that mean, to be a teacher? Beyond sitting in front of a yoga class, you are a teacher any time you apply what you have learned to help or sooth the pain of others. No doubt, this is true. But now, through the development of 
Sat Nam and greetings from sunny New Mexico. I am getting excited about this summer. There is a lot of activity and opportunity to use the sun energy of these long days to accelerate our yogic and spiritual practices. It really is about having an experience of consciousness.
I was just asked by the new ad agency for Yogi Tea about my first class with Yogi Bhajan in 1971. I am very grateful to Yogi Tea, as that company has been a major contributor for helping KRI build the Yogi Bhajan Library of Teachings®. I remember the experience of my first class so clearly, feeling more elevated and peaceful than I ever had before. I knew right then that I would spend the rest of my life practicing Kundalini Yoga because my experience was so profound. I decided to become a Kundalini Yoga teacher after my very first class.
In a class on April 15th, 1997, right at the conclusion of the kriya, Yogi Bhajan said this….
“You are pretty good these days. You get into it so fast, it's fun! If you desire it, you will have an experience - that's not something I am worried about. Continue to develop the Aquarian person in you. A Piscean person is like this, 'I want to know, take me there.' An Aquarian person is, 'I know. Give me the experience.' You are born by breath, you live by breath, you die by breath, and you experience by breath. There is nothing in you except the breath of life.”
The Trainers Forum at Summer Solstice is almost upon us! It will be held at the Langar Hall at beautiful Hacienda de Guru Ram Das. We have a spectacular line-up of presenters and workshops just for you! Members of the Aquarian Trainer Academy, applicants, those considering applying, and all contract administrators are invited and encouraged to attend.
This is an exciting event and is the beginning of the annual cycle of Forums around the world. The discussions are always engaging and illuminating.
The Academy has over 700 members from 50 countries. Come meet your fellow trainers and participate in the ongoing evolution of the Academy and all three levels of The Aquarian Teacher®.
Wednesday, June 13th (12:30pm – 5:30pm)
Thursday, June 14th (8:30am – 5:30pm)
