Well had a very rough night’s sleep, the wind was howling. To sleep in these basic conditions, one has to be a hardened camper!! Really not sure how Sangeet did it. She was having the cold shower at 3am when the outside temperature drops to it lowest, I was frozen!
Once I did manage to get up, still feeling like I needed a lot more sleep. I tried out the showers, apparently if you stay in the showers long enough the water is supposed to get warm……this is so untrue, I had my arm under the shower for at least 15 minutes the water remained cold, very cold!! Okay now we have an issue I need at least one warm/hot shower a day, preferably as soon as I awake…I washed my main parts (I will let you figure that out!). Headed over to the main shelter.
Breakfast was being served.
There is a solstice diet, which was designed by Yogi Bhajan (except for lunch).
Dinner
Mung Beans and Rice
Beets and Carrots
Solstice Hot Sauce
Golden Milk
Yogi Tea
Naturally, the lines for the portable restrooms move along quickly!
Golden Milk is milk with turmeric paste dissolved in it, and it is served at night after White Tantric to ease muscles sore from long hours spent in meditation. This is what Yogi Bhajan had to say about turmeric: “There is nothing more effective than turmeric to clean your body and purify it. There is nothing more precious on this earth but turmeric. Turmeric, it solves every problem which cannot be solved.
After breakfast we had the karma sewa meeting. On registration the participants can choose what karma sewa they would like to do.
What is Karma Yoga?
Karma Yoga (also called Seva) is a necessary aspect of Kundalini Yoga. It is based on the law of Karma: “Everything you do, comes back to you tenfold”. This is true for all your negative actions, but also for whatever you do positive and selflessly. Without Karma Yoga, there is a risk that doing yoga just for yourself, instead of slowly dissolving the ego, hardens it and leads to narcissism. Karma Yoga supports the creation of community and leads to friendship, love and group consciousness.
My karma yoga was security, we had to monitor traffic coming in and out of the solstice site, also have a walk around the area making sure people are parking where they should…
At the beginning of the meeting we did the global sardhana meditation.
What is the Spirit Voyage 40 Day Global Sadhanas?
The Spirit Voyage 40 Day Global Sadhanas is an opportunity for you to come together with a global sangat (spiritual community) representing over 75 countries and numbering over 20,000 participants. For 40 days, led by Spirit Voyage, a community comes together to all practice the same Kundalini yoga meditation, mantra or kriya. Participation is free. The Spirit Voyage 40 Day Global Sadhanas are a place for you to come home to yourself, to feel connected to a community no matter where in the world you are, to get the inspiration to stick to practices that you might not otherwise try, and to experience the incredible power of Kundalini yoga for yourself. They are gifts to you from you, and each has its own special gift to unwrap. During the Spirit Voyage 40 Day Global Sadhanas, people from different nationalities, races, faiths, genders, sexual orientations, and walks of life lay all their differences aside and celebrate their similarities as beings of light and as people of love.
The above play botton should start the Humee Hum track, if you are having issues please do comment with the operating system and which explorer you are using. Thanks in advance for your help.
The theme of this years summer solstice was ‘Recognize the Other Person is You’
For your information here is the information on the meditation
Ram Das Puri
After the meeting we went to Dr Sham Rang Singh Khalsa’slecture on the kara. We first met the Dr in Nevada City. The lecture was very good.
Due to stomach issues I am unable to eat the solstice food, luckily there was freshly cut watermelon, in this heat it was great to eat that. Temperature during the solstice event was between 90 to 100 degrees F.
Now time for my security sewa, I was given a radio, which was probably a big mistake. I kept trying to order pizza. Also kept saying there is a taxi waiting for Jesus. As you can tell my security sewa did not last long! Time to find another sewa group!
In the evening there was an international party, this is held by one of the sangat members, they cooked a fantastic dinner, also hosted the party at their home where around 300 solstice members attended. This year we were also blessed by 25 yogis from China and 25 from Taiwan. One of the Chinese ladies gave a demonstration of Kung Fu and Thai Chi.
The party was fantastic. Great music and amazing food.
Mandeep Kaur from Sage Hills Healing took the yoga set this morning, it was a fantastic class. She explained about Kundalini yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan. It reminded me of my Kundalini Yoga Immersion course at Espanola NM.
Picture of Mandeep Kaur
Mandeep began her journey as a teacher in 2000. She was led to practice Yoga due to a chronic, painful low back compression combined with an intense early onset of Menopause. After just one yoga class she was amazed at how much better she felt, balanced and stronger.
Her Dharmic path as a teacher has been remarkable and vastly rewarding in many aspects and layers of being a Human, Woman, Wife, Mother, Sister and Daughter. Her Soul’s purpose in this life has been clearly shown to her and her teaching’s convey this life lesson of “Awakening to your Soul’s Purpose”.
The issue with the car keys locked in the trunk were resolved by Taya, she called AAA, who came out and unlocked the car. Thank you so much Taya!
Afterwards the class was split into two, you could either stay with Jai Dev Singh or attend the class by Dr. Sham Rang Khalsa. This is a shame as I am sure Jai Dev Singh’s class was also good.
Whilst walking to the class of Dr Sham Rang Singh I could smell pizza, I thought it was the mind playing tricks. Nope, for lunch with had pizza!! Boy! My Kundalini was rising!!!
Whilst having lunch we had a lady called Melissa from San Diego giving Sangeet and I a cacao drink…I told her that if I want chocolate I have the real thing not this fake stuff!! She later came over and forced me to drink some other ‘super food’ I commented that she was trying to kill me! Melissa is setting up a yoga studio and juice bar in San Diego….beware guys!! Just kidding!
In the afternoon the class was again split in two, Dr Sham Rang and Simrit Kaur, again the choice was difficult, as my singing is super fine (I do a fantastic rendition of Purple Rain by Prince, well I think I do!) we decided to go to Dr Sham Rang’s class.
The evening programme was a concert by Simrit Kaur.
Better get to sleep as we have a 3:30am start tomorrow. My stomach issues seems to have eased today, perhaps I need more yoga, especially as I am determined not to have surgery…Jai Dev Singh has been saying that if there is one Kriya you should do for digestion it is the stretch pose.
Although it can be challenging, when done correctly it has a tremendous effect on the entire body. Stretch Pose activates the navel centre. By working on the navel point, stretch pose resets the entire nervous system and strengthens the abdominal area. In conjunction with Breath of Fire, it is calming, rejuvenating, and it purifies the blood. By working on the navel, it boosts resolve and self-esteem.
Lie on your back.
Raise your head and heels 6 inches off the ground.
Focus the eyes on the toes and stretch the toes so they point away from you.
Place your arms either above your thighs with the palms facing down but not touching the legs, or along side your legs with the palms facing your body but not touching.
Begin Breath of Fire.
In many sets, this posture is held for 1-3 minutes. Most people can muscle through the first 30 seconds or so, then the body may start to shake and the face may go into contortions, and then—collapse. Beginners are not expected to hold up for the full time.
Here are some techniques to master the posture without too much effort. First, understand that even though this posture takes some physical strength, it isn’t physical strength that keeps you up. It’s the navel center and the breath that gets you through. If you engage proper technique it takes less, not more, effort to go the distance.
The Lower Back and Legs
To create better stability in the posture, press your lower back into the floor as you raise the legs and apply a slight root lock. This action draws the navel center in and keeps the lower back in constant contact with the floor. It also brings the focus of the exercise to the navel center and provides the necessary base for the posture. Keep your toes pointed and feel the stretch from the navel center all the way down to your feet.
The Chest and Head
To raise your chest and head, first lengthen the back of your neck and bring the chest and head off the ground at the same time, then pull the chin into the throat into neck lock. This brings the heart center off the floor and creates a counter stretch from the navel center to the top of the head. If your head comes up too far, you put pressure on the heart and make it harder to keep your lower back on the floor. Mindfully lengthening your neck will help counter this tendency. Your upper body is stretching toward the top of your head and your lower body is stretching toward your feet. The navel center becomes the balance point or fulcrum of your body.
The Breath
Your breath doesn’t need to be overly rapid; it should remain at a steady pace throughout the exercise. You may have noticed that breathing faster doesn’t make the time go by faster. Maintain a rate of 2 to 3 breaths per second and mentally chant the mantra Sat Nam. If you can focus on the breath and the mantra, and relax the muscles that aren’t needed, the time will fly by!
As you get more proficient in the posture, investigate different areas of your body and discover the muscles you don’t need to use to maintain the posture and relax them. For example, the muscles in your face are not holding up your legs, so try relaxing them; try a little smile. The energy released from the face can be used by the muscles that are actually needed to maintain the pose. As in all postures, you should be relaxed yet focused.
Stretch Pose Tips
For beginners, 3 minutes of Stretch Pose is close to impossible. Here are some simple techniques to gain confidence:
Place your hands underneath your buttocks, this gives support to the low back and makes it easier to keep the legs up.
Raise one leg at a time, and then switch after a minute or so. Or try bending your knees slightly.
You may want to start with alternating 10 seconds in Stretch Pose and 10 seconds resting. Build up your time slowly and rest for 1-3 minutes when you finish. As you feel yourself getting stronger, increase the hold time and decrease the rest time.
Allow your body to work into the posture, experimenting with these suggestions until you have built up the necessary strength of body and mind. Before too long, you will breeze your way through 3 minutes of Stretch Pose.
Benefits of Stretch Pose
Adjusts and strengthens the navel point, your power center
Tunes-up your nervous and digestive systems
Strengthens the reproduction organs and glands
Contraindications for Women
Do not practice Stretch Pose in the following circumstances because it puts extra pressure on the female reproductive organs:
As we were running late we decided to take a cab. The driver Paramjit Multani was very helpful and gave good conversation. The cab cost $50!!
Gurdwara:
The Sikh Cultural Soociety
95-30, 118th Street
Richmond Hill
New York
NY 11419
Tel: +1 718 846 9144
At the Gurdwara there was fantastic singing of Kirtan (devotional music) and as always a great lungar (free vegetarian food).
We then got the subway from Lefferts Blvd to 110st, cost of subway $4.50 for both of us!!
Ended up having to get off the subway at 59th street as the next stop was way past our needed stop. They announced this at the last minute. Ah well adds to the fun.
Harinam, Sangeet and I got back onto the underground after having a fantastic night. We wold like thank Harinam for taking time out to show us Greenwich and will be seeing him and his wife very soon!
After the Gurdwara programme we were invited to have tea with Pritpal Singh and Pritpal Kaur (She taught us a class in posture)
As we never turn up empty handed we dashed to the gas station to get something nice. All we found was a bag of funnyuns!! So we took them. Just hope they enjoyed them. I know we do!
The house was built by themselves and it was very beautiful. We spent 2 hours learning about each other it was a great bonding moment.
Hi, thanks for visiting my blog, feel free and have a look around.Here is a bit about me, as you may or may not have guessed my name is Mandeep,I work to travel as opposed to work to pay bills and die!Every trip for me is an adventure, I have been very fortunate to stumble across amazing places and meet awesome people along the way.
Why gaygoat? When I first started this blog I was a vegetarian, so gaygoat – happy goat! Also you have to admit it is catchy and a URL you will not forget!
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