Spiritual Retreat, Gurutej, Kundalinin Yoga and Stress Management

Yoga empowers you to create a Spiritual retreat anywhere inside yourself. Yesterday, I shared my journey with Kundalini yoga and also shared that I would be interviewing Gurutej. Before I get to that the picture that you see to the right was submitted by a good friend Jinny. This is a beautiful angel picture taken in Sedona, Arizona.

Now for the interview with Gurutej. Here is a link for Gurutej for her new and powerful DVD's and for her videos.

In 1969 Gurutej met Yogi Bhajan. Bhajan is credited for having brought Kundalini Yoga here to the United States. As one of his original students, Gurutej emerged as a founding practitioner of Kundalini. Through his instruction and spiritual guidance, Gurutej is considered a foremost authority on Kundalini and internationally recognized as one of a handful of Kundalini Yoga Masters in the World. For more information about Gurutej’s background, visit her bio page .

Hi Gurutej please explain Kundalini Yoga for our readers: I could say it is the coiled energy at the base of the spine but truly it is the coiled or latent awaiting energy encoded in every fiber of our being which links us to that infinite energy.
It goes up the spine but we also need to know how to bring it back down. Up is the fun part but distributing this energy so it serves our total being and our projection into the world- that is the part that matters.
Anyone who has ever written something or has a product knows creation is only part of the package distribution is the key. How to of distribution of the Kundalini is what all talk is about.

How does Kundalini Yoga release stress and the nervous energy from the energy field? Kundalini Yoga is a great esoteric and practical science. The magnetic field is the first line of defense in the body. Through specific asanas and chants Kundalini yoga helps calm the parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system helps us do what we need to do. Parasympathetic nervous system helps us release and relax.

Try this: Finger Tips Release

Relief for over-worked hands and brains
Hands facing, join fingertips with light pressure. Move hands in and out by bending the fingers.
A variation is to lightly tap the fingertips or with fingertips lightly touching create little circles
1-2 minutes

Gift

The stimulation of fingers nerve endings activate various glands in the brain. Helps feel more lively and relaxed.

This seems like a tiny little thing to do, and yet calms our nerves and releases stress. In my Energy Guru flip charts there are 18 of these in each chart. They can sustain you during the day. Put them on your desk; carry them in your purse. Use them.

I experienced a Kundalini Awakening in my late twenties, this awakening happened after practicing Kundalini yoga on my own without a teacher, is this common? I lived in a remote are in Tennessee and there were no teachers available.
Common? It happens to enough people and each person matters. It is allot of energy and is always best practiced with a head covering so the energy doesn’t just burst out the 10 th gate. Also the nervous system needs to be strong enough to handle the energy. How do you know if yours is strong enough? If you drink allot of caffeine or do allot of sugar then you will want to precede slowly as you release these habits. They both weaken the nervous system as does lots of other stressors and life situations. Changing our response to these will help to.

I’ll give you a couple that came to me last weekend. I am doing a tour in Feb/March 2009 there is no room for mistakes. I have someone in England and another person in Ireland coordinating my teaching there and a third person for one part of India and a fourth person for the other part of India. I get this call on Saturday telling me that the place I think I am teaching in London is booked with another group. That it is urgent that I call the owner and straighten it all out. I had just spent $300 on postcards and shipping to publicize this trip. Catch I didn’t set this up in the first place and the person that did is very responsible. Do I follow as I was instructed to do by a dear friend of the owner of this center I am to teach in or my own intuition, which said, “Relax let Rashpal deal with this she will do a great job. Just call her and make her aware that there is a problem.” I did and two days later it was all resolved in my favor. We ruin our nerves for nothing. Fear creates stress and strain. Fear causes disconnect which creates more fear and so on.
Prevention is always the best. Do Kundalini yoga with a teacher, a DVD with someone who has studied for many years and knows what he or she is speaking of because they have done it. There is always room for the Kundalini energy to come up at any time and it can happen making love or playing ball. We all need to strengthen our nervous system so we can handle the energy.

Way to prevent it from happening:
Squeeze root lock if ever you feel it is too much energy. That means squeeze the rectum and sex organs and lift that energy up to the navel no further. Keep the energy low and let the rest of the energy come back down to that level. You can also pull neck lock, which means bring the head back link an Egyptian Turtle. You may look like you have a double chin but it stops the energy flow from blowing through. These are part of the lock and Banda system that are part of Kundalini yoga
Kundalini seems to be more vigorous than most yoga practices; can you recommend a gentle breathing meditation for a beginner?
Four Part Breath: Miracle Breath
Breaks up feelings of being overwhelmed and anxious
[Blow your stress away!]
Sitting up straight, inhale through the mouth, filling your lungs in four equal parts—starting the breath as low as possible in the abdomen. Exhale through the mouth in four equal parts, from the upper chest down. If you feel relaxed you can do this exercise breathing through the nose. Repeat the cycle.

1-3 minutes

Gift

Instantly reduces stress, so you may see a situation more objectively. Helps dissolve feelings of overwhelm and nervous anxiety.

Another:
Hum—To rebalance you and make for easier communication (connect head and heart)
Easy to do almost anywhere.

Put your lips together and create the sounds hum the heart sound.

60-90 seconds

Which of your DVD’s would you recommend for a beginner? Intermediate? Advanced? The Chakra Yoga DVD is great because it has 2-3 exercises for each of the 8 chakras. You can do it all or just parts you feel you need.
I don’t think in these terms to be truthful. Each DVD gives you alternatives if you can’t perform the exercise the way it is shown. Kundalini yoga is more about going past your own comfort zone into a place of strength and break through. They are not hard exercises in terms of acrobatics they are usually self-challenging. Constantly confronting yourself as you challenge yourself to hold your arms up in at a certain angle, and just keep them there come what may. It requires that you connect deeply within to your deep inner core and a neutral mind, beyond fear and ego. You stretch beyond your fears and self imposed limits and are honest about what might hurt you, and what you just really don’t want to do because it is hard. They are very different.

Once you get an exercise you close your eyes 90% of the time so you get connected to you. That is what KY is about. You feeding the essence of you using your body as the vehicle to do this.


What is special about your DVD set? I will give you a quote from a very well known literary agent in LA. He said and he is a trained Iyengar teacher and has published three yoga books, these are the best yoga DVD’s I have ever seen. Everyone over 30 should be doing this kind of yoga.” Joel Gotler

For more information about Gurutej and The Energy Gurus, visit her websites – http://www.gurutej.com, http://www.theenergygurus.com or http://www.theenergyguru.blogspot.com
Her virtual blog tour page is http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/2008/10/gurutej-presents-4-kundaini-yoga-dvds.html.