Here's another post from Kundalini Teacher Training student, Amarpeet Singh. If you're thinking about heading to Winter Solstice, read on to get excited! You may even be inspired to join us for morning sadhana at Westgate--4am on Friday, Saturday and Sunday--or at North on Friday at 4:30am !
![Amarpreet&Sat Purkh, 3rd day of White Tantric[1]](http://yogayoga.typepad.com/.a/6a00e550867b9d88330105363a2891970c-120wi)
I hope that everyone is blessed with the opportunity to experience Summer Solstice in the mountains of New Mexico outside of Espanola and Santa Fe. I went to Summer Solstice in June, 2008 after having only practiced Kundalini Yoga at Yoga Yoga for two months, so I was frightened that I wouldn't fit in--that it would be a lonely 10 days with no contact with no one and nothing familiar--but from the moment I boarded the passenger van from the airport in Albuquerque to take a group of us up the mountain, the 15 of us--mostly strangers--got along very well. We were people who might not normally mix--all shapes, sizes, ages, colors, genders, and socio-economic backgrounds who came together for a common purpose.
It's called the "Summer Solstice Sadhana Celebration" for a reason: at the center of the experience is sadhana every morning from 4-6:30am. I stumbled out of the van behind one of my new friends to set up my tent, and quickly realize that the location we chose was about 25 yards from the main shelter where sadhana takes place every morning. I knew a little bit about sadhana already: that it is recommended that you do it early in the morning when the world around you still sleeps; that there is a yoga set/kriya; that Japji is read; and that you chant the Aquarian Mantras...but that was it.
It really is difficult to describe sadhana on Ram Das Puri, except that there were a BUNCH of us, and we encouraged each other with our energy because there's always strength in numbers. The living energy and enthusiasm of devoted yogis/yoginis plays a vital role in transmuting any discomfort about waking up early, crawling out of a warm sleeping bag, and setting up a stiff body on a concrete floor with small amounts of cloth or sheepskin underneath you. Spirits flow together like osmosis in such an environment. Just do the kriya and you will be rewarded--it's not a large amount of time, and there is so much benefit beyond the physical experience. Listen to the mantras afterward or chant along with the LIVE kirtan during sadhana at Solstice. Some folks simply drag their sleeping bags down to the shelter and sleep through the entire experience because it is well known that you will benefit from the energy regardless of whether you actively participate or not. I confess that there were very few mornings that I actually went down to the shelter for sadhana; however, I was so close to the shelter that every morning I drifted in and out of sleep to the sweet sounds of sadhana wafting up through my tent--I still miss it so much that I can't wait to go back and actually get up and go every morning next time.
Until next the time I'm at Ram Das Puri, though, I'm committed to my daily sadhana. Inspired by what I experienced every morning up on the mountain, I awaken (not as early as I would like yet!) to the sounds that I heard up on the mountain with the hope of reproducing that experience. I long for the experience of doing sadhana with a group--the larger the better--but Yogi Bhajan suggests imagining a million people surrounding us when we are alone doing our sadhana, and we can be certain that there are millions of people with us around the world. There's an ever-growing popluation of people awakening in consciousness and sharing our experience together as we strive to make the world a better place, one moment at a time...
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