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Ancient Alchemy
5th-12th June& 7th-14th August
This week away in the “Grail Country” also known as the Land de “Oc, (Occitania), Southern France, will inspire and raise up the opportunity of the “inner” and “outer” journey. This sacred place holds the mystery of the Grail Love Story. Ancient Alchemy, are for those wishing to have a profound experience, using Kundalini Yoga for the Inner Journey, and the Occitania will take care of the rest. 7 Days, 7 Chakra’s and 7 Destinations to arouse and awaken dormant cellular energies and memories. The intention behind this retreat is to awaken profound healing, inner sense, the healing of masculine and feminine (inner and outer), to work with the Song of Song’s, and bring that Divine Love into your Life, finally, once and for all
The cost includes:
• Twice daily Kundalini Yoga and Meditation to heal, empower and liberate the entire being’s of all participants
• 2 Sumptuous and delicious vegetarian organic meals a day, and a packed lunch
• Accommodation in the Farmhouse, in a shared room (single rooms too)
• Daily walks to natural hot thermal springs and baths at Rennes Les Bains
• A trip to Rennes Le Chateau
• A secret adventure to the cave of Mary Magdalene, where tremendous energy resides.
• A Trip to The Fountain of LOVE!
• The Purification Pool
• A trip to Monsegur can be arrange for an extra 20 e pp
• A trip to The Gorges de Galamus can be arranged for an extra 20e pp
• Flights to Carcassonne with Ryan Air
I welcome you to a week of mystery, magic and Magdalene….
Held at La Val Dieu, nr Rennes Le Chateau, France.
Cost: £480.00 (£380 camping in August)
http://www.lavaldieu.com
To make bookings and enquiries please contact Siri Datta direct on:
E-Mail – siridattakaur@googlemail.com
Telephone – 07966 451 292
Web Site – http://www.siridatta.co.uk
March 9, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Wake up and Roar…
By Siri Datta Author of “Open Your Heart with Kundalini Yoga” & ‘Mini Size Me
Ride the Raw Yoga Revolution”
You know that feeling…when suddenly a surge of wild energy soars through you? Perhaps triggered off by a club anthem, walking into a stadium at a football match, just about to leap from a bungee and of course the moment when your lips kiss against the lover of your dreams!
What is that? I have asked that very question since the age of 12 after feeling it within rush through for the first time. What is that surge, that rush, that aliveness that fills your whole being, and in that moment you are IT ALL. Why does the heart pound? Why do the hairs in your arms rise up in unison? Why does every goose bump protrude and why do we find ourselves smiling from ear to ear and yet still feel that the happiness inside is going to burst through us and we may explode?
That my friend, is Shakti, pure creative, raw life force. That is the promise of energy that awaits us all. That mysterious serpentine uplifting essence is our birthright. We all have that within us, it lies dormant because of our allegiance to our minds and the low standards that we set for ourselves.
This is our LIFE!!!! We may not have another chance!
Draw closer and I shall reveal what I have experienced to be true. Let me share with you the keys to supreme life and daily creative juice. Allow me to whisper the secrets of the Gods, the hidden knowledge of the Ones, who knew how to simply become all that we are capable of in this lifetime.
4 Years ago I embarked on a Raw Food Lifestyle, after being diagnosed with Candida. The very next day I began a 100% raw diet, as an experiment to see whether I could restore myself back to awesome great health, to eliminate the Candida which I was told could take years and to inquire whether this Californian fad was all it was cracked up to be.
Within 3 weeks I reconised that I was onto something of extreme value. Weight was dropping off me, I was requiring less sleep, I would wake up in the morning with passion and my skin and eyes where beginning to shine from the inside. I was changing… There was something fresh about my body, there was a luminescence, and I could see the light inside shinning through.
I investigated into what was going on.
I discovered some startling facts:
Fat is an over acidification of the body.
Fat is saving your life; fat is a response from the body to an alarming over-acidic condition!
Through the absorption of raw foods only I understood that I was changing my body from acidic into alkaline. This is the first process that kicks in when beginning a raw diet. We need to understand that the body creates fat cells to take away acid from the vital organs. All the acid that has been stored in your fat cells in your body begins to break down and is passed out through all elimination points (bowels, kidney, skin, lungs and nose).
This acid has come from meat, fish, yeast, mushrooms/fungi, (and the waste products of these living organisms) tea, coffee, dairy, alcohol, tobacco and wheat being the main culprits.
I realised that I was ingesting the energy from these living fruits and vegetables to restore my whole being. My diet was feeding me energy, not depleting it. I was absorbing the vital life force present in my foods. This added energy jumpstarted the natural detoxing period that blessedly comes from this Raw Nutrition Diet.
I began to experience the detox zone as the acid began to come out. To assist with this vital and necessary phase I began weekly coffee enemas, which I preformed in the solitude of my bathroom. Detoxing can reveal itself as spots, colds, lethargy, aches and pains within the body, emotional outbursts, mood swings and sometimes zero energy.
I began noticing that the detoxing came in waves, it certainly was not linear. Our bodies continues to cleanse through the layers of debris within in waves, it is not a constant process, the sun eventually shines between the clouds, and when you shine – wow! It’s worth the detox zone.
David Wolfe author of The Sunfood Diet Success System states that 1 month of 100% Raw Food will clear 1 year of the debris left behind from a cooked toxic diet from your body. So work out how long you have been on a cooked diet (your whole life – right?) and then equate that into the amount of time you would need to be 100% Raw to finally cleanse your whole system.
Detoxication can be the greatest event of your life, as it reveals the body’s true condition. This process begins from deep within and works its way out. Interestingly enough it begins from the head down and symptoms occur in reverse order from the way they developed. Disease comes into the body first in the ether, then the mental bodies, progressing into emotions and finally residing within the physical body, as we detox the disease is released in reverse, within the cleansing of the physical first, then the emotions, then the mind and finally the aura and the whole subtle anatomy.
The process of detoxing begins as soon as the blood becomes thinner than the lymph fluid. Allowing the trapped toxins within the lymph to diffuse back into the blood to be eliminated. Clean and light foods thin the blood.
If you felt that you were beginning to detox too quickly, you could introduce heavier foods such as coconuts, avocados, nuts, seeds and slightly steamed veg.
As soon as cooked food enters your mouth detoxification stops immediately.
Our inner environment has been deprived of oxygen and your cells literally begin choking to death. Over acidification poisons our cells and destroys our DNA.
In short the National Standard Diet that we are advised to maintain, is in factual evidence weakening us, numbing us out, dampening our life force, dulling our creativity and then, in turn from our weakened DNA we go on to create a next generation of human beings living well below par, where we have all the ingredients on this planet to be radiantly alive and bursting with beauty, strength and vitality.
Mysteriously enough combined with Kundalini Yoga and its ignition of deeper levels of awareness and being, this raw lifestyle revealed to me the magical energies of passion, purpose and the drive to create and make changes and differences within my life. I began to ask myself “What is my life about?” “What am I willing to live for?” “What am I willing to die for?”
If you have never asked these questions – you are not living yet.
So I studied this alkalizing process, and `I began to take a product from the US called “Supergreens” by Innerlight. A supplement that consists of 49 different powered greens, grasses and sprouts, along with a prime ph balanced liquid. This took me from first to second gear. What I discovered is, that it is the greens that boost this alkalizing process.
I made sure that I had a luscious green salad everyday and I was aware that it was foods such as cucumbers, wild herbs, fresh green juices and celery that were the most alkaline.
After 6 months I noticed that the sugar cravings had subsided, the urge for coffee and bread didn’t turn me crazy anymore and that I was now sold on this way of life and I hungered for more experiments and experiences into how far this supreme radiant health could evolve into.
So you have to ask yourself – “How do I truly feel?”
What is keeping you from experiencing the lean, healthy and truly energetic body that you deserve?
Are you content to continue feeling lethargic, uncreative and halfhearted in your passions?
I suspect not….
And neither was I.
For more information on Mini Size Me and Kundalini Yoga go to www.minisizeme.co.uk for workshops and retreats with Siri Datta and Dunkan Campbell.
Email Siri Datta at jeshoua33@aol.com or call 07966 451292
Benefits of a Raw Food Diet
1. Increased Vitality
2. Less sleep required
3. Shining skin and eyes
4. Rebuilding your body’s tissues and inner structure
5. Inherent powers, prime animal instincts and responses
6. Growth into new direction within your life
7. Naturalise and Neutralise your body
8. Strips away chemicals and toxins within your body
9. It compels you to live naturally and in harmony with the Earth
10. No physical waste – packaging, bones, shells, – only compost!
Knowledge before you begin:
1. Variety is critical
2. Peer pressure will step in
3. Detoxification is a factor
4. As are emotions and balance
5. Breaking addictions will play a role
6. and a proper mindset is important.
Quotes:
“The link between success and diet is absolutely critical” – Anthony Robbins author of “Awaken the Giant Within”
“Within three words – “Raw Plant Food” – is a major key to unlocking humanity’s dormant powers – David Wolfe, author of The Sunfood Diet Success System”
“One leaf from the hedgerow is worth a plate full of salad” – Love Skydancer, a supernatural Immortalist.
January 8, 2009 at 6:27 am
ConsciousConception
Balancing the Trinity
Siri Datta will introduce you to the idea of “Conscious Conception”. Working with Kundalini Energy, to bring acute awareness into the “grace” that invites conception. To infuse your subtle energy, harness your projection and to direct and focus your life-force with authenticity and integrity.
Are you aware that the sexual genes are less than 2% of the total genes, but they have the power to change the expression of 40% of all the other genes? This means if we can uplift and raise the frequency of the sexual genes, they in turn will elevate 40% of our DNA!
During this workshop, you will come to experience Kundalini Yoga techniques to delve deep into the gene pool, and create small changes in the expression of these sex-related genes. This in turn, will alter the expression of the muscles, liver, nerves and brain.
Leaving you free and open to use your perception, instincts and intelligence to apply consciousness to your relationships and the liberating freedom of great communication.
Conscious Conception is:
• For people considering having a baby in this lifetime
• For people who are trying for a child, but experiencing problems
• For women who have mis-carried
• For people interested in this relativity new subject (teachings were discovered in 2006)
Siri Datta is a master teacher of Kundalini Yoga. She has been teaching and researching Human Consciousness for over 12 years. She is the author of Open your Heart with Kundalini Yoga, and regular writer for many health and spirituality magazines.
She oozes enthusiasm and inspiration. Her passion is to clearly and directly guide people through this time in evolution with the techniques of Kundalini Yoga, also known as The Yoga of Awareness.
She is part of this Global Transition and it’s her life’s work to share and teach this technology.
Siri Datta – siridattakaur@googlemail.com
http://www.siridatta.co.uk
January 8, 2009 at 6:16 am
SIX
The Path to Prosperity
Everything that happens to you is according to time and space.
The six directions cover this “space”:
• In front (the future)
• Behind (the past)
• To your Left (feminine energy/relationships)
• To your Right (masculine energy/relationships)
• Above (soul Consciousness)
• Below (earthly Consciousness)
Siri Datta will introduce you to the idea of “ The SIX Paths to Prosperity”. Working with Kundalini Energy, to propel you fully into these six directions. To infuse your subtle energy, harness your projection and to direct and focus your life-force with authenticity and integrity.
Focus, Energy and Time is all that it takes to create Prosperity. During this workshop, you will come to experience Kundalini Yoga techniques to unblock the six directions. There will be kriya’s to magnify and create a multitude of experiences in your personal direction in life.
PROSPERITY = Pro Spirit
• Project consistent focus throughout the future
• Clear and dissolve the past
• Elevate the feminine consciousness
• Direct and re-align the masculine consciousness
• Awaken states of gratitude and clear the path to God
• Stabilise and ground yourself to become a Pillar of Strength
Siri Datta is a master teacher of Kundalini Yoga. She has been teaching and researching Human Consciousness for over 12 years. She is the author of Open your Heart with Kundalini Yoga, and regular writer for many health and spirituality magazines.
She oozes enthusiasm and inspiration. Her passion is to clearly and directly guide people through this time in evolution with the techniques of Kundalini Yoga, also known as The Yoga of Awareness.
She is part of this Global Transition and it’s her life’s work to share and teach this technology.
Siri Datta – siridattakaur@googlemail.com
http://www.siridatta.co.uk
January 8, 2009 at 6:09 am
What is Kundalini Yoga?
Throughout the ages, in every civilization, there has been a hidden pathway, a secret technology of discovery, which enables the individual to reach the ultimate potential. This is a technique that has the ability to elevate, inspire and awaken the individual to their own greatness. That greatness is within every one of us, and the technology that can do this is Kundalini Yoga.
As an enthusiastic teacher of Kundalini Yoga, I am always asked ‘What is it? Is it like Hatha Yoga, or Ashtanga Yoga? Is it dynamic or static? Are there meditation or breathing techniques?’ My answer is always the same: it is all of those things, and a multitude more.
Yogi Bhajan, the Master of Kundalini Yoga, now living in New Mexico, has explained that there are 22 major forms of yoga, each one expressing a facet of the whole. A good way of understanding this is that each different form of yoga is like the facet of a diamond. The diamond herself is Kundalini Yoga, the mother of all yogas.
Kundalini Yoga is the most inclusive of all yoga practices as it includes all aspects of yoga within its teachings. In this practice there are over 8.4 million kriyas (completed sequences, or sets). These kriyas are made up of asanas (postures), pranayama (breathing exercises), mantra (chanting), mudras (hand gestures), bandhs (body locks) and meditation.
The kriyas are a blend of dynamic and static postures that deliver a perfect sequence of
energy, tones and feelings played upon the instrument of the body. In the ancient scriptures it is said that Kundalini Yoga is the fastest way to create the transformation that the individual is seeking. There is a certain depth, completeness and timelessness that is inherent in Kundalini Yoga.
Kundalini Yoga is a legacy. It has been practised as an exact science by masters in communication with Infinity, coming directly from the Soul. It is a practice that has been experienced and handed down through enlightened souls for many thousands of years. It is said that Christ, Buddha and Moses practised Kundalini Yoga.
In ancient times it was often taught and passed down through the line of kings. These Kundalini Yoga masters did not specifically or personally pass on the knowledge. Rather it is thought that the teachings were handed down via an authentic lineage of Raj (Royal) Yogis. Kundalini Yoga knowledge was transmitted through meditation and altered states. It was this practice that was kept within the bloodline of royalty. We understand that the very first transmission of Kundalini Yoga was passed to the Hindu god Shiva, who in turn passed the knowledge to his consort Parvarti. From the Bhagavadgita we can understand that Lord Krishna was a keeper of the teachings, which were then passed to King Janaka, who was an early Raj Yogi and master of Kundalini Yoga. This was passed on through that lineage to Guru Ram Das, a Guru of the Sikhs, via the subtle realms. Guru Ram Das was bestowed the High Throne of Raj Yoga, known as the Takhat. The word takhat literally means ‘high throne’ and is not specific to any exclusive form of yoga; there are many other takhats. This meant that he had to pass the technology on with his blessing to anyone who came along. It was through Guru Ram Das that the teachings were passed on to Yogi Bhajan. In 1969 Yogi Bhajan took Kundalini Yoga to the United States, against the wishes of his peers. Until then, it had always been highly secret and was never practised in public.
Since Kundalini Yoga has become so popular in the United States the Kundalini Research Institute (KRI) has been developed. This was founded to verify, promote, produce and preserve the teachings of Yogi Bhajan, exactly as they had been passed down.
There is much confusion surrounding kundalini and Kundalini Yoga. Some experts say that it is the most potent and powerful way to change consciousness, while others warn against practising it, or veil the entire teaching in secrecy. Yet how can something as essential to consciousness as kundalini be feared? Some people worry about raising the kundalini energy, but teachings from Yogi Bhajan have dispelled many misrepresentations and myths surrounding kundalini and his explicit teachings have given researchers techniques that can be thoroughly tested out. Kundalini Yoga is also known as the ‘yoga of awareness’. Awareness leads to understanding and understanding gives way to acceptance. When you can accept yourself, all your limitations fade away. All your fears, insecurities, and self-belittlement cease to be. In its place are abundance, hope and the wisdom of your true worth. Kundalini Yoga is so much more than a set of physical exercises. If genuinely practised, with respect and reverence, it will change your life.
There is only one way that you can practise Kundalini Yoga. It is very specific, clearly laid out and it is practised as it was given, with no alterations. Its path can take you to many places, whether you wish to achieve enlightenment or to release parts of yourself that are out of date and do not reflect the person you wish to be. Kundalini Yoga can also offer an approach for those who have only limited time to devote to this practice, but who also deserve the rewards of this priceless gift. The practice is easily understood and accessible for complete beginners to yoga who have decided that they need a tool to help them balance out everyday pressures. This is the yoga for modern humankind. This practice is for our present-day dilemma: to feel whole and complete while maintaining our day-to-day responsibilities. Kundalini Yoga is a sacred technology that is greatly needed at the present time. It is direct, powerful and simple.
It is important to understand that Kundalini Yoga is concerned with preparing the body for the kundalini energy to rise up through the Sushmana (the energetic spinal column). The scientific aspect of Kundalini Yoga is designed to provide you with the experience of your highest consciousness through the raising of your kundalini. Kundalini is your latent spiritual potential. Through the practice of Kundalini Yoga, this psychic nerve centre is awakened; its revelation is the release of your true potential. For this energy to awaken safely, body and mind need to be strong and able to deal with this very powerful change in consciousness. The practice of Kundalini Yoga is the powerful cleansing of the whole being. Not only do the body and mind need to be cleansed but also the energetic aspects of ourselves. The chakras (energy centres) and meridians (energy pathways) need to be unblocked and activated to allow this new influx of dynamic energy to flow freely throughout the whole being.
Kundalini and chakra work are closely linked. The kundalini energy can be depicted as a serpent, coiled in three and a half turns, sleeping in the Muladhara (Base, or Root, Chakra), the densest of all the chakras. But please note that Yogi Bhajan does not support the concept of kundalini as the coiled serpent, but rather as the blueprint for the full potential of humankind. Kundalini is known as the spiritual nerve, seated in the base of the spine, waiting to be awakened. With the practice of Kundalini Yoga this nerve can be stimulated and start to become activated as it breaks through the blockage at the Muladhara, travelling upwards through the Sushmana and piercing every chakra along the way, until it reaches the Crown, where full enlightenment is attained.
You do not have to charge in with the intention of raising the kundalini to full enlightenment, although this is the goal of all forms of yoga. There is a more acceptable, more gentle, way of introducing you to the sheer potential that is within you, and showing you how this potential can be released. This method is to gently rouse or stir the kundalini energy in the Ida and Pingala channels, which interweave around the Sushmana, every time you embark on a kundalini kriya. The general pattern of a kundalini kriya is to awaken and build up the Pranic energy. This is then guided to the relevant area that you wish to work on. For example, if your digestive system needs working on, a set to help with decision-making or an emotional state that is upsetting you might be helpful. By directing the energy to a particular chakra, organ, or issue in your life, this blockage will be dissolved and once again you will be back in balance. The negative effects will harm you no more.
There are over 8.4 million kriyas, all designed to deal with the day-to-day challenges we face. There are kriyas for physical issues, such as the digestion, circulation, immune system (disease resistance), lower back problems, glandular malfunctions, menopause and sexuality problems. There are also kriyas for the mind, to clear confusion, addictions, haunting thoughts and creative blocks. Additionally, there are kriyas to balance the emotions, to bring about feelings of ecstasy, to dispel fear and paranoia, to bring about stillness and to attain the empowering ability to accept and forgive all aspects of your life.
Meditation is also a very important part of the practice. This allows the body and mind to process the journey of the kriya. The energy has travelled along a certain pathway, awakening, dispelling and moving your energetic bodies. The meditation process is a lesson in inner awareness. Sometimes the meditation will have a breathing technique to enable the mind to quieten as you turn inwards into the realm of feelings and emotions. When this happens you will be able to observe your thoughts as they come and go. This is the start of the practice known as ‘becoming the watcher’. It is through this method that you become master of the mind.
At other times there will be a mantra to accompany the meditation. A mantra is always equipped with a coded sonic vibration that cuts through the psyche and starts to balance out areas within that need attention. When there is a mantra, you may find yourself immersed in the sound. This is the most powerful part of Kundalini Yoga. The word mantra breaks down into man, which means ‘mind’ and tra, which is ‘to vibrate’. Therefore, mantra means ‘to vibrate the mind’. This miraculous technique shifts many character traits and behavioural patterns that keep us suffering. In the chapter on Mantra (see page 51), I will explain exactly how this sonic science works.
I would like to close this section by saying that you can never predict a kundalini class. It is always full of surprises, since many changes will be going on in all the various people present. There have been times in my classes when there have been outbursts of laughter, which is always good fun and I actively encourage it. Yoga is usually synonymous with seriousness, quiet and solemnity, but this is not always the case. Laughter is common in my classes. It is, after all, an explosion of happiness. This usually happens when a painful emotion or memory has been released. It is also common to find yourself so immersed in the kriya and the breathing that you surface to find tears falling down your cheeks. You may not actually be crying, but tears are falling silently. This is always a very powerful realization of the many changes that are taking place within you.
When you experience this, you will find that harmony and balance are restored to you, and you will feel within an endless supply of energy and happiness. When you experience this, even for a few brief moments, your life will not be the same again. The inner light is now switched on, shining through you, and others will not fail to be drawn towards you. You will become a beacon for humankind, a touchstone for the truth, and the living reality of who we really are.
To everyone who embarks on the path of kundalini, I wish you the greatest journey. May your path show you the many examples of Divinity that are around you at any given moment. May you realize the ultimate truth: that only Love can set you free. Be free, my friend, as it is your birthright.
Be Grateful, BE GREAT and BE FULL Yogi Bhajan
January 8, 2009 at 5:57 am
Having just come back from the gorgeous goddess retreat with Siri Datta I feel lighter, brighter and all together prepared to face life with renewed vigor. The retreat is set in the beautiful Languedoc region and involves a mixture of yoga, wonderful walks and exploring the local region and mysteries. Also if you are worried it will all be salad and sacrifice then just wait until you taste Pat’s wonderful organic cooking, the chocolate mousse is possibly the best in the world and I know as I have tried them.
The idea of going on a retreat can be daunting but Siri Datta’s warmth and her sheer radiance put you instantly at ease as she leads you through the magical transformation of your chakras. Be prepared for some magic I can not recommend this retreat enough I loved it. Its as near to Hogwarts as you can get. Enjoy…
Carolyn Billingham
Director
bis recruit
Dear Siri
Thank you for such a wonderful week! I had the best time and have been telling everyone I know and meet about the enchanting magical place and about your inspirational teaching of Kundalini yoga.
I came away with more than I could have hoped for and will be eternally grateful for meeting you and the journey everyone shared during this time.
I did not know what to expect really only that my intuition told me it would be an important healing and life changing experience which it definately was.
I was worried as I knew very little about what Kundalini yoga was and thought that I would not be very good as I had never done it before. I had nothing to worry about however as you clearly have a gift with your teaching abilities.
I have left wanting to learn more about Kundalini yoga and desperate to find a teacher in my area so if you come across anyone please let me know.
Thank you
Bright Blessings
Rachel x
Dear Siri
The week for me was fabulous, and very different from anything I have ever done before.I loved it all, it was such an experience. The Kundalini yoga was new to me but truly amazing and would love to find a local teacher to carry on with it all. I enjoyed the whole natural beauty of the area and would like to go back again one day, as there is so much more to see. Every day we had an adventure , the visits to the villages, hot springs and (very cold!) pools, caves, the angle sanctuary and the atmosphere of the market were all magical memories will never forget. I enjoyed the friendship and the laughter! it was great.I didn’t take enough photos of everything mainly views on the walks but Ive attached some photos, of course in real life the views are stunning.
The homemade food was delicious, perhaps a small packed lunch would have gone down well on some days when we were walking. I wish I had more colours with me for the 7 day chakras!
With love to you and your parents,I think its great what you are doing and I hope you soon find the perfect place.
Love Gaye xx
Dear SiriDatta,
I would ilke to extend my gatitude for the wounderful solstice day with yoga and Raw foods.
I am a complete novice to yoga practice, i had the feeling to celebrate the new year in an authentic way. To honour myself and to connect to a greater awareness and honouring of the universal principles. i have also been on a journey of discovery with living foods which was an attractive addition to your work.
I am a Sensie of Ki Aikido in Bath and have developed the aiki sprirt over the past 16 years, the reason i am telling you that is to say that i found your practice to be very close to the aiki way and one of the first ways i have found that comes any were near to the spirit for life.
I am very pleased to have found this form of yoga now and look forward to the continuous unfolding and joy that life can be opened up to.
i wish you and your extended familly lots of love and prosperity for the new day and year to come.
love and ki
Jonathan May
Thanks Siridatta. You are such a physical testament for the wonders/benefits of Kundalini Yoga! xx Monica Perdoni, The Green Parent (Journalist)
January 6, 2009 at 6:59 pm
The Daily Express recently sent one of their favorite journalists, Emma Roberston to Siridatta’s latest Dissolving Past Relationships workshop at Alchemy, London.
Click Here to read the article
Siridatta is holding her next Dissolving Past Relationships at Alchemy on 29th-30th November.
Click here to see the flyer for this Workshop
July 7, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Siridatta, turned her back on the empty glamour of the fashion industry to focus on teaching yoga. She has now over ten years’ experience teaching Kundalini Yoga and meditation, in the UK and abroad.
What first led you along the yoga path? How long ago was this?
I first discovered yoga in 1996, after reaching the heights of being a “kool” fashion designer, and feeling a real emptiness.
My 13 -year old dream of being a designer was not all it was cracked up to be. I felt there was something missing, and I began to search for what that might be in 1996.
So in essence, I felt an inner yearning. I knew there had to be more to life than outer success.
How long were you practising yoga before you trained to be a teacher?
For about a year, three times a week.
Where did you train?
At the SKY – School of Kundalini Yoga. It was the only yoga training available in the UK at the time.
What type of yoga do you teach and why?
Kundalini Yoga. This style was the one for me, and I knew it in an instant! It challenged me like no other, it demanded endurance, stamina and commitment to deeper and richer qualities.
This style isn’t about a physical practice, it was a commitment to a lifestyle; I was being asked to take full responsibility for my entire life and who I was. All of this I desperately needed – back then I was irresponsible and fickle.
When do you fit your own practice around your teaching?
I always do my yoga practice first thing in the morning. I get up at 5am, and I am done by 7.30am. We call this our Sadhana, and, as kundalini teachers, we are strongly encouraged to do this practice.
But in reality, my entire life is my practice – my relationships, what I eat, what I notice, where my attention is, whether I am creating beauty and ease in my existence or harm and conflict.
What do you enjoy about teaching?
I love encouraging people to go beyond what they believe is possible. I love bringing qualities out of people that they may have forgotten about in the Western World.
Old traditions such as honor, integrity, honesty, endurance, loyalty and passion – these qualities are what makes a person rich and deep.
I so love to see my students claiming the full power of their being and using it way beyond what they thought was possible.
What do you think really makes a good yoga teacher?
A person who truly walks their talk. A person that magnifies their students, encourages truth, strength and expansion.
A teacher is someone who truly delivers that person to God, so that the student actually has an experience that obliterates doubt once and for all. A teacher delivers an experience.
To you, what are the most important elements of yoga – and what are the challenging elements?
The most important elements of yoga are times in solitude, meditation and inner experience. Prayer is also high on my list. It is the true inner journey of experience; of the eternal truth of our never-ending vastness and freedom.
The challenging elements are the daily practice, the commitment, the realization that yoga is lifestyle and a living prayer.
Do you think we in ‘the West’ give enough time and attention to meditation?
No, I don’t. We in the west think yoga is postures, and breathwork. Yoga is life, it’s the way we make decisions; it’s the work we do and the way we love.
The greatest question we could ever ask ourselves, is “What is my life about, what is my purpose?” What do I stand for? What is my legacy?
That is yoga, and those answers will only ever arrive during meditation. Otherwise all we are doing is gymnastics.
How is yoga perceived in the UK now? Do you think it will continue to grow in popularity?
Yes I believe we have realized now that yoga is not a fad, and it will only continue to expand.
From my experience, we are a great nation of people – and when we are “touched”, we catch alight and burn with radiance. We are so incredibly strong, inside and outside.
Is it feasible to earn a reasonable salary as a yoga teacher in the UK?
Yes, it is possible to earn a reasonable salary in the UK. Speaking from experience, there is a chance you will be teaching non-stop.
I was in this situation and noticed that I wasn’t teaching from a place of passion, but necessity. So I stopped, as I felt I was not being true.
Slowly I came back making sure that I only taught a small amount of classes a week, so that I would burn with enthusiasm.
I now have to do other things to create an income that enables my lifestyle to be comfortable; I write for magazines, create nutritional programmes, and write books.
What advice do you have for someone currently training, or considering it as a future career?
Teaching yoga is not a career, as such – it is your heart’s longing. I think that if you view it as a career, you are missing the vital point. You teach because you care, and you want people to become free and at peace.
Use this link to go direct to Siridatta’s Raw Foods and Yoga Programmes
www.anaharta.com
Siri Datta teaches kundalini yoga exclusively at hotels across London, including The Metropolitan, The Halkin and The Great Eastern Hotel. She also teaches at Triyoga, Alchemy and at yoga retreats worldwide. Siridatta’s new book, Mini Size Me,co-written with Dunkan Campbell is published in April 2008.
For more information about kundalini yoga, see:
www.kundaliniyoga.org.uk
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February 13, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Siridatta 