Kundalini Yoga by Irina

My name is Irina. I show people how to feel AWAKE, JOYFUL, and ENERGIZED. Using kundalini yoga and reiki energy, I help them exponentially grow into their full happy, healthy, and empowered Selves.

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  1. Navigating the Mind Fields

     
     

  2. Am I valuable?

    Yesterday I realized that I don’t have very much self-worth. Self-esteem sure, self-confidence, sure. But worth? No. Like, I don’t think my diamonds are sparkly. In fact, when I look at what I’ve got going, I rarely even see diamonds.

    Maybe a tally would help:

    • I am a great yoga teacher.
    • I am very intelligent and astute.
    • I strive to create harmony amongst competitive individuals.
    • I am immaculate in confrontation. Not too much, not too little.
    • I am a rock.
    • I am loyal and devoted.
    • I have a huge heart and I share it even when I feel like someone has wronged me.
    • I can respect a person who is ‘different’ or ‘uncool’.
    • I am fiercely honest.
    • I am artistic, creative, radical.
    • I am courageous.

    Etc. Etc. I can list them, but when someone comes and contradicts these statements, or worse even, doesn’t even care or notice these, I feel lame. So what I want to do is unravel this whole I-am-lame thing I’ve got going and really feel expensive!

    And without fail, I’m gonna use some kundalini for this. Happy, healthy, holy, bountiful, beautiful! Sing it!

    Whoever doesn’t vibe this energy towards you is not to be permitted into your inner being.

     
     
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  4. "For the French Scorpio poet Paul Valéry, swimming had an erotic quality. He described it as *fornication avec l’onde,* which can be translated as “fornicating with the waves.” Your assignment this Valentine season, Scorpio, is to identify at least three
    activities that are like sex but not exactly sex — and then do them with glee and abandon. The purpose of this exercise is to educate and cultivate your libido; to encourage your kundalini to branch out as it intensifies and expands your lust for life."
    — Rob Brezsny Scorpio Horoscope for last week. Amazing description of kundalini and how it can be used!!!!! Kundalini Yoga, by the way, can be counted as one of the ways! For me, it’s KY, painting an original painting, and amassing immense power.
     
     

  5. I have a dream today.

    I have a dream that one day a group of wise, badass women will unite in the deep, unspoken bond of lady friendship and fearlessly, without ego and with impecable self-awareness, change the world. 
    I have a dream that this group of wise, badass women will not give any fucks about established, but harmful institutions of vapidness, insensitivity and power struggles.
    I have a dream that this group of wise, badass women will heal as much injustice as possible, empower as many as possible, and most importantly have fun. 
    I have a dream that one day a group of wise, badass women will love each other so much that they cause a change in momentum of this entire planet.
    Let freedom ring.

     
     

  6. I’ve been MIA. I’m still here. Just settling into my new space. :) 

    Sat Nam.

     
     
  7. What does it mean to know thyself? It means to pay attention to all the feelings and desires in the body. Then it means to listen to what those sensations make the mind think and do. Then it means to learn to shift these at command. It’s an art, a honed skill. Start with sex. Start with lust. It’s the easiest to track. That’s what kundalini is, after all, simply your lust. Still from the film Love In India. 

    What does it mean to know thyself? It means to pay attention to all the feelings and desires in the body. Then it means to listen to what those sensations make the mind think and do. Then it means to learn to shift these at command. It’s an art, a honed skill. Start with sex. Start with lust. It’s the easiest to track. That’s what kundalini is, after all, simply your lust.

    Still from the film Love In India. 

     
     

  8. Let go of 2012

    In MD? Come to my free class!

     
     

  9. squeeze stress

    Transitions. Lord! Changing jobs, cities, locations, partners. Adding a roommate or a family member. Birth, marriage, divorce, death. Transitions.

    image

    I’m currently in the process of moving. This move is one of the biggest of my life, as in I’m sure I’m not going to return home. I will carve out a new home. And as I carve this out, as I go through this transition, life will be wobbly. Like a fawn learning how to walk.

    Transitions bring out stress. For me stress is physical - aches in my body, tension in my neck, subtle twitches. It’s also emotional - rage at strangers, hostility at close friends and coworkers. And it’s mental - the thought that no one acknowledges me, that I am always making some mistake.

    When stress is super high, like it is for me right now, I actually do not want to do ANY yoga. My body likes it’s hyped up momentum, thank you very much.

    So with some gentle convincing, I ask myself to get on the mat, at least for a bit. (Even though this is when I need my yoga practice the most.) And at the very least, I’ll do the following stress squeezer:

    1. Sit down comfortably. Alternatively, you can lay down.
    2. Inhale.
    3. Scrunch and tighten every muscle of your body, and grind down on the back molars.
    4. Hold hold hold hold hold.
    5. Explode the air out your mouth with a cannon breath.
    6. Repeat 2 more times.

    And voila, you’ve squeezed out that tension!

    For more tips, click here.

    You can find Irina on Facebook or teaching at Opus Yoga Monday evenings at 7:45.

     
     
  10. "

    You leave your mark
    everywhere you step
    on everything you touch.

    Incandescent trails
    showing how you spent your time
    and used your mind
    beaming brightly to the world.

    Marks which either add
    to the making of a pearl
    or the burning of a city.

    You leave your mark
    everywhere you step
    on everything you touch.

    Pursuing your vision,
    keeps you from perishing.
    Manifesting your vision,
    is your gift to the world.

    You leave your mark
    everywhere you step
    on everything you touch.

    YOU ARE UNFORGETTABLE.

    "
    — 

    “YOU LEAVE YOUR MARK”

    by Grace Allen ©, a classmate of mine who is a spoken word artist.

    Much like I channel wisdom during yoga, she channels it on stage through her words. 

    Her company is Oracle Ink.

    If you want to buy this poem (framed) or have something like this written for you contact Grace- Oracleink@yahoo.com / 301-768-2304 .

     
     

  11. end of the world?

    … in a week? I don’t think so.

    But, by all means, join me with the kirtan kriya meditation. This meditation gives you the sense of continuity and deathlessness. So even if I’m wrong, and the end of the world does come, you won’t be bothered by that.

    How to do this:

    You focus on the 3rd eye and touching the tip of each finger with the thumb tip, you chant:


    Thumb and first finger - Sa
    Thumb and 2nd finger - Ta
    Thumb and 3rd finger (ring) - Na
    Thumb and 4th finger (little) - Ma

    For 11 minutes: 
    2 minutes out loud 
    2 minutes whisper
    3 minutes silent
    2 minutes whisper
    2 minutes out loud

    Translation:

    • SA   is the beginning, infinity, the totality of everything that ever was, is or will be.
    • TA   is life, existence and creativity that manifests from infinity.
    • NA   is death, change and the transformation of consciousness.
    • MA  is rebirth, regeneration and resurrection which allows us to consciously experience the joy of the infinite. 
     
     
  12. "Children notice where their parents focus attention. That’s why toddlers love their parents’ cell phones and keys more than their own toys. Where did you parents focus their attention?"