Kundalini Buzz

Golden Milk Recipe, by Sat Nam Kaur

Sat Nam Yogis and Yoginis,

I'd like to share a recipe with all my Kundalini Family: a healthy drink to help with your yoga practice, whatever style it may be!

Golden Milk is a useful tool in the practice of yoga because the main ingredient, turmeric, lubricates the joints and helps break up calcium deposits. It's perfect for new students just starting a practice or for experienced yogis wanting to expand their daily sadhana. In the last couple of years, Golden Milk has been added to the evening program at Summer and Winter Solstice on White Tantric Yoga days. It's comforting and soothing as well as a tasty treat.

Enjoy!

Love and Light,
Sat Nam Kaur Khalsa

Golden Milk

Turmeric, a root ground into a bright yellow powder, is one of the main ingredients in curry powder and is used extensively in Indian and South Asian cuisine. Research shows that turmeric may be of value in preventing diabetes and cancer as well as being an excellent lubricant for the joints. It's also great for the skin and mucous membranes, especially the female reproductive organs.

For one cup at a time:
¼ - 1/3 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/3 cup spring water
8 oz. milk, dairy or non-dairy
1 Tablespoon raw cold-pressed dietary almond oil
Honey, maple syrup or agave nectar to taste.

Boil turmeric in water for 5 to 8 minutes, add more water if needed. Then add milk and heat till just bubbling. Remove from heat and add almond oil and sweetener. A sprinkling of ground cinnamon makes a yummy treat.
Batches of turmeric paste can be stored in the refrigerator for a month's supply of Golden Milk. Take about ½ to 1 cup of turmeric powder and add enough water to cover. Boil gently 5- 8 minutes, adding more water if needed, and cooking to a thick paste. Store in a glass container and keep refrigerated. Use ¼ to ½ teaspoon paste per cup heating up as described above.
In the last couple of years, Golden Milk has been added to the evening program at Summer and Winter Solstice on White Tantric Yoga days. It's so comforting and soothing and a tasty treat as well.

Why I Love Kundalini Yoga, by Ram Ravi (Lara C)

 I'm a true yoga mutt. I love the flow and heat of Ashtanga and the way Hatha makes you look deep into your own anatomical structure; but when it comes down to it, Kundalini is the practice that truly resonates with me. What can I say? I'm a weirdo! I really get a kick out of waving my arms above my head like a madwoman and sticking my tongue out for 11 minutes at a time. I delight in geeky discussions about the hypothalamus and the pineal glands, and the mention of repeating odd words for 31 minutes while rolling my eyeballs inward and upward brings me the utmost joy.

I wasn't always weirdo yogi--it's been a journey. It began about four years ago when I took my first Kundalini course at a UT informal class shortly after I moved to Austin. I had done some yoga before but nothing like this. The course consisted of about 8 classes and for each we focused on a specific chakra starting with the root chakra and working our way up. Each day we did various kriyas and meditations that correlated to the chakra we were working on. Our instructor asked us to wear the color that represented the specific chakra we were learning about each time we came to class (i.e. red for the first chakra, blue for the third eye, etc.). Most of the people in the class thought it was weird, but secretly I loved every minute of it. By the time we got to the heart chakra class there was no turning back, I was hooked. Click here to read the rest of Ram Ravi's story.

I Was A Kundalini Gong Head, by Mehtab

No doubt about it - the sound of the Gong is addictive.

There used to be a time many years ago when I did not play the Gong at the end of every Kundalini Yoga class I taught. I thought it might be a good idea not to get every one all strung out and dependent on a gong relaxation. So every now and then I would play some music and mantra and chill instead.

And then I noticed people were twitching, peeking at me during relaxation to see if I might pick up a mallet and then giving me a thumbs up when I turned the music off and struck the gong.

"Man, I am just so here for the tea and the gong," a rather aromatic student told me one night after what I thought was also a pretty good yoga class. But I took that pretty well, because after all sometimes I am only here for the gong too.

What is it about the gong that makes people want more and more? Well, I decided to write a book about it and right now I am deep into discovering some of the mysteries about the gong and Kundalini Yoga.

The book is titled Gong Yoga (due out next year) and I uncovered some interesting research in the use of the gong for healing and meditation. For example, the psychiatric hospital in Bali that uses the gong to treat schizophrenia and the seers in ancient courts who played the gong to open their psychic powers of prediction.

The healing power of the gong has proven itself over and over again in my Kundalini Yoga of Sound classes. The headache that disappears, even the neck injury pain that suddenly vanishes.

I think one reason the gong becomes addictive is that it produces a spontaneous state of meditation and integration that only requires you to relax, really relax, and listen.

As I am writing in my book:

The ability of the gong to quiet the mind, to halt it in its tracks, and to overcome its hold upon the consciousness was well expressed by the master Kundalini Yoga teacher Yogi Bhajan who once said, "To the mind, the sound of the gong is like a mother and father that gave it birth. The mind has no power to resist a gong that is well played."

With this surrender of the lower mind to the sound of the gong, the listener can enter into that transcendental state where inner truth can be accessed and a vision journey can begin. As the gong is played in this state of shunya or nothingness, visualizations spontaneously arise from this new emptiness that can provide the meditator with insights into their current state as well as awaken the intuitive mind to the higher truth of existence.

In this respect, the gong is the yogi's instrument for creating a spontaneous meditative state that only requires the listener to let go and let gong.