So this yoga thing

I got started with kundalini yoga after I went to talk with my soul sister Elizabeth and she had just got done with a 40 sadhana, which is essentially doing these mudras and mantras, breathwork for 40 days. She was glowing and couldn’t stop talking about how amazing she felt. I was sold, it was really amazing to see her doing so well and it showed

I did some research, and although there’s a ton of kundalini in the east bay (hippies in Berkeley maybe?) there wasn’t much by where I lived.  I did sign up online for a teacher based in Nevada City, who is an amazing teacher and gives really great classes for free online.  I happened upon a yoga collective in SJ, where I would get over to their Sunday class as often as I could.  It’s tough timing though, last thing I want to do on a Sunday evening is get out of the house for some yoga, but I know as I type that, it’s EXACTLY what I am supposed to be doing.

Not entirely sure what prompted me to sign up for a 5 day full immersion yoga retreat. I guess I thought, ok, this is really amazing in a class, it could be something really spectacular with 200 other people chanting and doing breathwork.  This isn’t your typical kind of yoga either, it’s about your energy flow and sitting for a half hour in Sat Kriya (hands over your head in a mudra and chanting) was pretty daunting

The thing that was the most daunting?  Not these wacky positions, or the breath work.  It was what I was going to wear! No shit, that’s what stressed me out the most.  Head covers, white clothing, it was enough to make me go on a yoga clothing spree.  Good that I had taken time in the months up to the retreat to buy a lot of really nice, soft, comfy, movable clothing, so I shouldn’t have worried.

I had posted on Facebook that I was commuting from the Bay Area and kindly had offered to car pool.  I’m making a mental note that I am not going to do that again, kindness or otherwise.  Woof that was a lot for several hours.  I am glad I didn’t run into either of them that much the whole weekend.  I did offer to bring one of them and a very sweet Sikh woman home with us, as they both needed to be in SF.  By the time we got to Alamo on the way home on Sunday, we were like sisters running around the Sprouts.

Upon arriving, I met with Gina, an older experienced yoga practitioner and we were cabinmates.  Just us, and it was perfect.  We ended up sitting together the whole weekend and it was amazing to have her to guide me and we had the best conversations.

In a word, it was hard. 5 days, 9+ hours a day of this.  But also in a word, it was transformative. What makes me so sad is that even though I thought this was going to be a reset of my daily practice, one excuse and another has made me not do it.

My goal is to go through the online classes that I purchased and to do this really simple 11 minute morning routine.  That’s my intention, every day I wake up and think, today’s the day and I turn over and hit the snooze.

It’s there for me whenever I need it.  Now I have to make the decision of doing that again or being a roadie for ALC.  But I have time to decide that