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Bee Buzzing

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Bee Buzzing



Finding Balance

Rediscovering an old friend is how I have felt with Brahmari! I have found this to really help me relax deeper into mySelf!

Breath First: Try Brahmari or a humming type of breathing to reduce anxiety, overwhelm and get you back on track. I love this breathing, it really brings me right into the present moment, vibrates what may be stuck or calms what is in overdrive.

Sit and feel the floor or back of a chair supporting you. If you feel safe, close your eyes, and try using your thumbs to close off your ears, let your other four fingers rest on your forehead.

Inhale through your NOSE with an internal Humming sound. P A U S E.

Exhale through your NOSE with an internal Humming sound. P A U S E

Focus on the vibration, the feeling and the length of your exhale. Let it become longer and longer each time.

A few rounds will bring you into Presence and more is even better. Your inhale hum may sound like a buzzing bee, and the exhale will too, at a different pitch. Brahmari means bee and Pranayama is the affecting of our Life force.

ps. If you are pregnant, heavily menstruating, with high blood pressure or prone to seizures this Pranayama is contraindicated. Try Long Deep Belly Breathing.

Stay well my friends, and a deeply Happy New Year wish to each of you.

Durga Energy!



2022 Offerings

Mastering our Self Course

Starting January 21st:: Brand New Deep Dive into Mastering our Self::Check out the program and see if it is for you. Whether you are wishing to advance your teaching platform or grow your connection to your practice, this course unfolds uniquely to open your inner domain to strengthen and calm your being. Tools, strategies and practices to awaken your inner True Nature, come home again.



Trauma Informed Yoga Course:: Resources for Resiliency

February 19th to July 23rd, 2022, Live on Zoom

Every Saturday, 11am-1pm, PST, for 6 months, join me to engage in a holistic experiential method to unlearn what locked in the trauma triggers and to integrate transformational practices for living. It took a lifetime for these triggers to lodge in our body, let’s give ourselves a wide berth to unlock, unlearn and establish a safe and reliable way to communicate, advocate and relate to our deepest needs. One of the benefits of teaching on Zoom, all these classes will be recorded! So if you have to miss one, I can send you the recording so you will not loose any of the teachings. All recordings will only show me not the entire group for privacy.



Live Zoom Classes Still going strong!!!

Every Monday and Wednesday Night, 7:00 pm to 8:15 or 8:30 pm Pacific time, I am here!

Yin with Restorative yoga and Deep Relaxation: Yoga Nidra

All donation based, come all regardless of what you can offer.

On a personal note,

I still feel there can be so much to be afraid, worried and anxious about. Be brave friends, have courage, we have so much more to draw from than we imagined. Right? These yogic tools and practices have lasted this long because they work. So…work them! Jump back in, chant a mantra, find a pranayama (breathing exercise), come to class even if you just lie there! Listen to a Yoga Nidra! Call a friend, take a walk. Rub your whole body in warm sesame oil and then take a lovely hot/warm bath or shower! Light a candle, eat a sweet juicy fruit, cook a cozy meal. Sit by a fire, sing a song, write a song! Dance. Feel into it, we are here for a reason. Change the channel from anxiety to being present. From depression to any activity. From fear to courage or at least presence. I know we’ve got this, I’ve been working it all year, and yes, I feel you. Joyous New year blessings to each of you.

Love, light and a warm hug,

Denise Divine

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Spring Renewal for Body, Mind and Heart::Trauma Informed Yoga Now

Spring Renewal for Body, Mind and Heart::Trauma Informed Yoga Now

Dear Survivor and Thriver in life,

 Today’s thinking will tell you that you are responsible for what is happening in your life. That you “can manifest your dreams” and make your life as you want it.  That thinking makes it so.  That what you think you become.  That every action produces a reaction. That if you would just change your thinking you can change your life.  That who, what and where you are in life is because of how and what you are thinking and doing.  Let’s look at this for a moment. What we do know:

 

Trauma changes this. And it is not your fault. You are not broken, you don’t need fixing and you did nothing wrong.

 

A situation, encounter or experience that overwhelmed your nervous system and left you unable to fully process and digest what happened, no matter the intensity, lives unresolved in your body and mind.  Your heart is impacted. You may have internalized what happened and even feel responsible which creates shame, guilt, self-blame, self-loathing and self-sabotaging behaviors…that you may not even realize. You cannot change what you do not understand. Change initiates from Awareness.  To feel safe, relaxed, creative, curious and contained requires reconnecting with your body sensations without overwhelm. Survival mechanisms are stored in our body and disrupt these healthy and balanced feelings and processes and need to be replaced with resources that provide resiliency.

 

Your self-protective patterns, behaviors and reactions have been all you knew to stay safe.  Your body/mind/heart may not realize that what happened is over now and is still working to keep you safe. It was not your fault, you did not create what happened and now you have a chance to change your internal relationship to it.  You won’t forget but you can reorient, recharge, recreate a healthy response and realize a path to internal freedom.  From this balanced place of awareness, yes, then you may find that you can re-empower your life. 

 

Trauma Informed Yoga gives you these ways and means to do just that, gently, lovingly and gradually, without revisiting the trauma.  You need resources and this 6 week course is a beginning, it is a place to enter into the wound, without ripping the scab off.  It is a totally somatic experience, where feeling into the body and mind will begin to open the heart and put the control into your hands, without triggering, without harsh or abrupt measures.

 

Sign up now for this 6 week course::Resources for Resiliency 

Saturdays, 9:30 am – 11L30 am, PST

Live on Zoom

14 maximum students 

March 6th- April 10th

$135, sliding scale still available

 

Email me ASAP with any questions denise@divinelightyoga.com

I am deeply humbled and grateful to offer this course again, and look forward to your brave and tender hearts being with me.

with love and gratitude, Denise

 

 

New Trauma Informed Yoga 6 Week Course

New Trauma Informed Yoga 6 Week Course

“Trauma, by definition, is unbearable and intolerable.”  

(Bessel Van der Kolk, “The Body Keeps the Score”)   

 Period. 

 

Have you ever experienced anything that was unbearable and intolerable? At any time, for any length of time and in any place or with anyone? 

 

Every unhappy, sad, scary, or disappointing encounter may not be traumatic, may not be unbearable or intolerable. But, what is unbearable and intolerable is trauma, and is unique to each individual.  So much of the way we integrate experiences is based on our childhood, resiliency factors and sense of well-being. 

 

I imagine every human being has at some point had this kind of experience happen. It does not mean that every person traumatized is living with a form of post trauma patterns, habits or beliefs. It does mean that more than not are suffering. That trying to push what happened out of our mind, to act like it never happened or to just get on with it takes a tremendous amount of energy fueled by feelings and memories of shame, guilt, remorse, self-blame, self-hatred, anger, and grief, to name a few. These feelings prevent us from being able to authentically experience vulnerability, because the experience has been that to be vulnerable is contrary to survival. 

 

Without healthy vulnerability, life looks and feels like a mine field, every step is measured, calculated and evaluated for potential danger. Protection, guarding, masking, incongruent behaviors, and an overall existence of feeling threatened are a way of life. 

 

To open ourselves up to love, joy, success, and feeling our emotions from a traumatized point of view is to risk our very survival.  This is not an exaggeration, this is a simple truth, that dare not be spoken out loud for the risk of ridicule, pity or fear of retaliation. 

 

A great truth is that what we know in ourselves and bring forth will heal us and what we don’t know and cover up will harm (or kill) us.  Kill, as in quash our innate desire for a joyful and contented life.  

 

Trauma informed yoga acknowledges that every experience is taken into the mind/body/spirit complex and simply addressing only the mind or only the body and ignoring the spirit is  incomplete  and for whole integration to take place, the mind/body/spirit needs to be united according to each individuals unique needs.

Yoga is union, trauma informed yoga is to unite the damaged, torn, fragmented, wounded, absent, and missing parts of ourselves to make whole again. Trauma informed yoga allows all aspects of who we are to be a part of who we wish to be. The parts we hide, protect, and run away from are welcomed and shown love and understanding while they are gently integrated into the parts we show to the world.

The release of old holding patterns for survival produce 

~phenomenal surges of energy and vitality for healthy and balanced decision making, relationships and creativity, 

~joy for living 

~renewed outlook on life and possibilities

~untold and before unknown potential for living

 

Releasing the old makes way for the new, with authentic awareness and natural positivity.

 

Join me starting March 6 for six weeks to not go into your trauma, but to go into the somatic (in and of the body) responses to trauma locked within you.  Using the most innovative, simple and accessible research based tools for integrating and balancing ourselves we will:

 

~Create a safe, intimate and inviting environment (live on line) where the sacred is essential and recognized in each of us.

~Learn how to recognize what a trauma trigger/response is in our own body. (How, when and from where it comes).

~Develop a new relationship with this trigger, shifting our unconscious reaction based in the original trauma to a new conscious response to regulate our body, mind and heart.

~Integrate the old terrifying, paralyzing, and uncomfortable feelings into a fresh, aware and fluid response and relationship with our selves.

~Practice hands on techniques to balance ourselves from the moment unconscious triggers appear to restore balance, calm and especially an empowered new stance.

~Realize a kinder, more loving and joyful relationship with the part of us that was traumatized to who we are right now. 

~Complete these six weeks with a radically shifted perspective on how we are able to move out into more of our life in the ways we desire. 

 

 

If you took this course in 2020, I encourage and welcome you for a renewal of your practice.  If you are new to this precious self-care practice, know that you will be held in a tender and strong container of safety, truthfulness and complete acceptance.  

 

Register Here: Resources for Resiliency

Saturdays/ March 6th– April 10th

9:30 am-11:30 am, PST (12:30 pm-2:30 pm, EST)

Suggested Fee $135, sliding scale available for those in need. 

Class size limited to 14 on line students, Zoom link sent on confirmation of registration.

Due to the intimate nature of the work, classes are not recorded to maintain the privacy of each student. Each student will receive a handbook of the curriculum for future use.or

 Sign up now, payment on line, we begin March 6th.

 Application on line.

I am genuinely glad to offer this again and hope you will reach out to me with any questions, concerns or comments. denise@divinelightyoga.com

See you soon and know, each conscious breath reminds us of who we are.

love,

Denise

Trauma Recovery Resources Are Real

Trauma Recovery Resources Are Real

The CZU Complex fires are the second largest fires in California history. I am not thrilled to be a part of that history, yet, I am. The number of homes lost, people evacuated, and emotional stress is nearly incomprehensible. Thank you to the hundreds of fire fighters, bold and brave Bonny Dooners who stayed behind and saved homes and to every single person who has offered help. It has been amazing to see people pulling together. We are some of the lucky ones, our home survived, we are all safe, only one animal loss, a sweet hen, and otherwise, we are good.

Fluctuating emotions are real, gratitude that overflows along with sadness for all the losses. I know when we are allowed back to our homes, back into our community (still evacuated since Tuesday night August 18th) it will look devastatingly different.

Scenic beyond words, the trails, mountains, biking roads, hiking paths, trees, flowers, streams, quaint areas, Pie Ranch, Pescadero, Hwy. 1 from Bonny Doon on north, this is our life and it is changed. Mother Nature will regrow, I wonder how it will feel to see it. My heart hurts. Smoke still lingers in the air, little fires still burn, only 51% contained. Bonny Doon is a small mountain community about 18 minutes outside of Santa Cruz, heading north up Hwy. 1, before Davenport. I chose it for its incredible and raw beauty and peacefulness, the animals, trees and hills. It is nicknamed “A Little Slice of Heaven” and also “Battle Mountain”. Now I now why, for sure. These people will fight for what they love and to preserve this heavenly realm. Me too, I am grateful to be in this sacred space. I pray all my friends who lost their homes will rebuild and return.

Here is where I am offering what I can,

Sending you a heartfelt hug, these challenges have been so real and yet, with some interesting perspective, it is all exactly what is proving to me how strong and helpful these tools are.

Love to you,

Denise

Candleabra Tree Pescadaro, CA

Candleabra Tree Pescadaro, CA

Wilder Ranch Mountain bike ride

Wilder Ranch Mountain bike ride


Graduate Case Studies Needed

Dear friends,

A long time friend and graduate of both the Divine Light Yoga 200 & 300 Hour Yoga Teacher Trainings is in her final stages of her( second) Master’s degree in Holistic Counseling. She is seeking case studies. Mina is a brilliant and deeply empathic woman with years of teaching, interpersonal relationship work and a compassionate way of delving into connections to help bring awareness and light to life situations. As a dear friend and colleague, we have explored many in-depth ways of moving out of being stuck and wounded and into flow and healing. I highly recommend working with her and if you are seeking a nurturing and affordable therapeutic relationship, here is an opportunity to reach out. Please contact her directly.

In her own words:

“In a world where increasingly we are expected to communicate in 30 second sound bites that entertain our listeners, where can you turn when you need to process something more deeply? 

We are living through turbulent and confusing times. Have recent events upturned the balance of your life? Are your usual self-care strategies overturned by recent events? Have the friends and family you ordinarily turn to become too preoccupied with their own problems to be able to even listen? Do you need someone to talk to? Someone who is able to hold safe, non-judgmental, empathic space for you? I am here for you. I can listen. 

·      Simply finding a safe place to share your story is a powerful act that sets transformation in motion. I offer you compassionate and active listening. 

·      Are there parts of yourself you have abandoned that you want to activate to live a more fulfilling life? I am excited to collaborate with you in reintegrating your life. 

·      As multi-layered human and transcendent beings, we have everything we need to heal ourselves. My presence and gentle guidance offer a catalyzing agent for your healing journey.

Together, we can tap into the innate wisdom of your psyche, working with dreams and synchronicities, artistic expression, breathwork, and, most importantly, paying compassionate attention to what arises in the body. 

I am just starting out as a trainee in the field of psychotherapy. I bring to my practice my training in holistic psychology I am currently receiving from John F. Kennedy University in my Masters in Holistic Counseling program as well as years of working in a holistic education environment with school-aged children, as well as my work in the community as a yoga teacher. Thirty-five years of personal meditation and yoga practice have taught me patience, focus, and equanimity. I can hold the space of trust that allows your healing to begin.  

Foundational to my platform is my Bachelor’s degree in gender and religious studies. I am sensitive to the pervasive issues of systemic injustice and the ways these issues can affect our relationships to ourselves and the world around us.  

Call or email me for a free, 20-minute discovery session to see if it feels right for us to work together.

Available for counseling in the state of California under the supervision of licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Sveltana Kreimer (MFT#53525), or Lifecoaching outside California.  All sessions currently available through Zoom, due to COVID-19 restrictions. 

408-963-6694 ext. 476

jkelly@processes.org
Supervised by Svetlana Kreimer, LMFT
MFT#53525

 


We are Safe, We have our Home, Thank you! Teaching Wednesday night!

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We are Safe, We have our Home, Thank you! Teaching Wednesday night!

Dearest loving yoga family!

With great gratitude and joy I report that we are still standing. Our home and property, the horses, chickens, dogs and cats are all safe. We, all 7 of us, soon to be 8 (daughter’s partner arriving soon) are safe and surviving. In fact, the truest test of our humanity has been exposed and I am awed at the grace, tenacity and hard work of so many who are still fighting these persistent fires. I especially recognize the maturity and strength of my son Jay who got us all out of there with many precious belongings on Tuesday night between 1 and 5 am. I recognize and honor my daughter, and the friends who live with us in getting those amazing horses out. The animal rescue angels who miraculously showed up in the darkness and asked, “who needs help?” as they stood in the darkness of the equestrian center where they had gone to get a trailer.

I recognize and am grateful to my son’s girlfriend who tended to the dogs (3) and cat who were thoroughly freaked out. I bow to all of our friends and neighbors who pulled together and aided us, with homes, beds and food. We all pulled together, calmly and collectively to get ourselves safely out of there with all the animals in the middle of the night. Thank goodness PGE had just restored power one night before and we had lights to evacuate in and not total darkness.

I am so grateful to my son, who went back up the next morning, obtained a generator and with the blessed help of friend Matt (electrician) who just texted that morning asking if we were okay and said, YES, he will go up into the fire and help wire the generator to the well pump so Jay could climb on the roofs of the houses (2) and garage and begin to set sprinklers to keep the place wet! Jay made sure to go up every 8 hours every day to refill the generator with gas. He then began to journey around the fire ridden community and help others and chop down trees to make fire breaks and bring food, water and gas. He took fire roads, back roads and rail tracks to get in because we were not allowed in, but he went. He said the only thing he regrets so far, is not knowing these amazing people in that area better before this happened. He said our neighbors up in the Doon are amazing people. They are!

I am grateful that after a week of moving to several places, daughter sleeping in car, son and girlfriend in truck over night and just being displaced, we found a lovely house and another apartment for all of us and dogs. We are lucky, so many are displaced and I cannot imagine what they are going through. I am grateful to dear new friends housing our 14 hens and 8 new baby chicks!!!! I am grateful to friends taking care of our cat! This is the village caring for everyone.

My heart is shredded and I have not even been up yet to see what it looks like in one of the most beautiful places on earth. My heart is aching for my friends and so many I know of who have lost everything. It is a weird numb feeling to look at a pile of ash where your home was, I am on my knees that our home is there.

Right now, I am in a house with my daughter and the others are across town in another apartment. All animals are safe. I intend to teach, I need to ground into teaching and to remember that this practice, this earth will regenerate and our work is to remember the true transient nature of everything. I need to remember that we are absolutely resilient, after all, this is what we LIVE, KNOW AND TEACH. We will recover, we will be better somehow for it. We have all had a chance to see parts of ourselves and I tell you, what I have seen is so beautiful.

We will have a long restoration as the smoke damage is intense inside the houses and I don’t even know what that entails! But, thank God and all our angels, we have a house to restore! We will provide sanctuary to all we can, as I have always known my home to be a sanctuary for harmony and love. I will keep in touch with you all, for now, please join me on line for classes, see my schedule on the Live Classes page, I would love to see you and hope we hold each other. thank you so much for all of your outpouring of love and support during this time. We are love, we are safe, this is a lesson to remember the impermanence of life, of things, of all. We are just caretakers and so far, the Mother is mad as hell about the way we are not taking care of her. Climate destruction is real, things need to change and resource depletion, the massive abuse and destruction of our planet is coming back full circle. This was not a once in a lifetime event, this is our new reality. Big love to our Mother who is hurting, and to all, to all of you!

Classes begin again: WEDNESDAY

Please follow me on INSTAGRAM, link on my website and DENISEDIVINE where I will post updates.

Why Truth Matters, True Test of an Authentic Spiritual Practice

I wrote this before the fires erupted. After great consideration regarding the abuses of Yogi Bhajan, here is my deep reflection of an authentic practice.

If you are a seeker of truth, integrity and a divine life based in teachings of authenticity, you may find this helpful. With truth, it may be disrupting to hear, and yet, it sets us free. I hope this sets some part of you free.

In the beginning:

Yoga found me and burst open my heart and awakened in me an awareness unknown to me ever. From the beginning, a humble and graceful teacher opened my eyes and heart to the wisdom of practice. Her name was Bonnie Richter and she was a gentle loving angel. She worked with me one on one for a year, and then said it was time for me to leave the nest and move on. I was not to become attached to her, but to realize the Light within. I will always be deeply grateful to her. Three years later after becoming a Hatha yoga teacher, I became a Kundalini Yoga teacher certified by the Kundalini Research Institute and completed the advanced Level II trainings (5 modules) thereafter. I do not just practice and teach yoga, I live yoga.

We created a dear community of loving and generous practitioners in Annapolis, MD. I attended many Yoga Journal and Omega yoga conferences, as I had not yet found the yoga festival culture, Bhakti and Shakti fest as well as the Wanderlust events had not started for me. I continued yogic education with more workshops and a 500 hour Hatha Yoga training. I attended Summer Solstices (10 day KY events in NM) for many years, which included 3 days of White Tantric Yoga (a creation by Yogi Bhajan, as he deemed himself the only Mahan Tantric in the world).

A decade later

I found so much solace in coming to my mat every day where I could unload my suffering and stress and touch pure joy. I realized how many people were suffering and these practices changed lives! I saw community grow and felt our bond. It was palpable. Difficult to do, I uprooted from MD in ‘11, and was welcomed into a new KY community in Boston which held me during a very stressful transition. Eighteen months later I moved to California, 2012. Two major moves, incredible life changes and now landing in an entirely new world, a new part of the country where I knew no one. And every day I was nurtured and held by that time on my mat. Every day the suffering, joy, fear and all mind stuff would be left on that mat, on that meditation seat and worked out of my body. By this time I had witnessed many discrepancies in the practice and with several Sikh’s within the Aquarian Academy (the organization that trains teacher trainers where I had been accepted) and KRI at that time and I felt an incongruence in the practice and its roots. Personally I continued to chant mantras (both in Sanskrit and Gurmukhi), practice some meditations from KY and focused on Hatha asanas. My Sadhana, daily spiritual practice, deepened into the study and practice of additional and other yogic techniques.

During my early years, I had numerous challenges with the authenticity, origin and “lineage” as claimed by KRI (Kundalini Research Institute). I researched for years as my nature is to understand deeply coupled with a true heartfelt faith in my experiences. I had practiced and taught Hatha Yoga already for 4 years by the time I included KY in my practice. I was told emphatically by my original KY teacher that I “could” not do both, I had to choose. I did not choose, it was antithetical to me to divide the practices, as the pure definition of Yoga is to yoke and all of the tools of the 8 Limbed Path of Hatha were included in the KY teachings (in our manuals) and thus, it seemed an orthodox viewpoint and one limited from ignorance to not teach and practice both forms, respecting them separately.

Origins of Yoga practices

I found references through the years in many of the sacred texts of yoga discussing Kundalini and how to awaken this sacred dormant energy. It is an ancient knowledge and no one can claim it as theirs. What is consistently explained is that awakening this dormant energy must and should be done with devotion (clear intention and attention), purity in body, mind and heart, mindfully and slowly. Any techniques to rush this process can very well cause serious problems, such as mental, emotional, spiritual and physical disharmonies.

The techniques always involve Pranayama (specific breathing practices) with the main channels of Ida, Pingala and Shushumna; Bhandas (“locks” in the body at the perineum, diaphragm, and throat) Mulabhanda, Uddihanda and Jaladhara; Asanas (postures such as seated ones) and especially creating the ground for the awakening with a Sattvic leaning lifestyle of proper food, rest, play, observation and proper use of the Sense organs and Meditation (time spent focusing on the inner light/Self).

The Chakras are recognized as gateways towards this realization of Self in most of the practices to awaken Kundalini because they provide something for the mind to focus on, they are located in the Subtle body and are connected to the main channels and provide abundant information to the Self in the awakening process.

Mantras (sacred sound currents) and the practice of them can be a very useful and uplifting way to feel a vibration within and have been utilized for centuries. Chanting and singing throughout history are a way for communities to connect and join in voice and heart. I am not aware of any temple, holy place or sacred site where singing, chanting or some form of sound or music is not of benefit. In many of the sacred texts there is mention of the Shabad, the sacred sound current, this is well known and documented in many teachings.

Sanskrit mantras, Bija mantras (seed sounds) and other sounds are incredibly powerful. In KY as taught by YB, because he was born and practiced Sikhism (a religion originating in India/Pakistan), he chose to incorporate the sounds from that religious path into his practice. These mantras are recognized in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib; the Sikhs recognize this as their “living guru” and treat it as such. It is a physical document, akin to the Bible, Torah or Koran, in that it holds the teachings of the 10 Sikh gurus among other revered and recognized teachers of spirituality, from Rumi to Kabir. The language is Gurmukhi, as I understand it to be a derivative of Sanskrit, I cannot verify that. However, the chanting of these mantras is one of the single most uplifting ecstatic practices I found in all of KY.

Clearly, chanting of mantras is a practice worldwide that brings incredible solace, joy, peace and harmony to our hearts and bodies. I play the continuous sound of these in my home and car and have noticed through the years that the “chatter” in the back of my mind is one of these mantras. Whether a Sanskrit or Gurmuki one, does not matter, they carry the healing vibration of the Shabad and provide a great tool. These are not Yogi Bhajan’s nor do they rest in the domain of the Sikhs, KRI or any group. They are universal, sacred and belong to no one.

Kriya Yoga is a specific practice not to be confused with the “kriyas” that Yogi Bhajan invented in his practice. If you wish to learn more about Kriya Yoga please visit: Kriya Yoga, Paramahamsa Yogananda. The Kriyas in KY per YB are a series of exercises designed to deliver a consequence. As any Hatha teacher can share with you, Vinyasa Krama is when a teacher creates a sequence of Asanas to deliver a consequence.

Every Hatha Asana will specifically deliver an action in the body/mind complex, it will have a result. The art and science of creating healthy, balancing and definitive sequences takes practice, knowledge of anatomy both subtle and physical and awareness of the potential effects. This is called Vinyasa Krama, creating a consequence from a sequence. I am aware of what I am doing when I teach every class, in terms of aiming in a direction for a cause. In teaching teachers, I spend a great amount of time on this particular topic, as it is possible for a teacher to create unhealthy, imbalanced and possibly damaging sequences. I share this so that you will discern in your participation in yoga classes, how you actually feel afterwards. Not just to feel “good” but to notice the true results, which we will now go into.

Yoga aims towards Self Realization

Every spiritual sacred text I read on the teachings of yoga continue to point in the direction of Self Realization. To “know thy self” “Thou Art That” is the ultimate teachings, the ultimate aim. A life without self awareness, inquiry and connecting to that which is beyond our small microcosmic realm is seen as nearly a waste. Just to indulge in feeding the sense organs with pleasurable or exciting experiences cannot and won’t satisfy our natural inner need to feel whole, healed and pure Joy.

Just because you have an “experience” with a practice, whatever it is, does not mean it is one that delivers. To each of us, this is unique. Unique, because each of us is unique. We may share orientations in direction with a practice, we may share desires and passions. We crave community, to belong, to find our tribe, our people, and to feel whole. We are born into this world and according to the Yoga Sutras, we “forget” that we already are whole, divine and a part of all that is. The individualization of being in our own body creates the idea and sense that we are separate from others. This feeling of being separate can be terrifying and as we grow up, we continually seek to find a way to feel connected again, until we remember we are whole and that the connection we seek outside of ourselves is already available within.

An authentic spiritual practice will remind you that you are whole, it will connect you to YOU in your heart and will strengthen your understanding of yourSelf and others. With devotion, proper habits and inquiry/reflection of what you are thinking, saying and doing, you will witness your own Self and realize that what you seek is already inside of you. With authentic practice, you will return to a deep calm inside and know that no matter the chaos on the outside, there is a river of calm on the inside. This is a true result.

Call it faith, call it mindfulness or anything you like, the important element here is the remembering, realization and reconnection to the knowingness that you are a part of all that is and always was. This is a true result.

This feeling resides in the Anahata Chakra, the Heart Center and can easily be covered over with the myriad of emotions we experience from fear, anger, worry, anxiety, depression and more, stress, trauma, hardship, and a lack of practice.

Awakening Kundalini is Awakening Awareness

This feeling as I call it, runs within every one of us. Awakening Kundalini energy in a calm, healthy and balanced way can and will connect us, as will other yogic practices. It is not to awaken this dormant energy that should be our goal, but rather to remove the veils of illusion that prevent us from realizing our true Divine nature. This realization may include awakening Kundalini and it may not. This realization is the Aim of Life. It will remove the fear of death, it will create a boundless connection to our deepest heart nature and it will provide clarity and strength of character without doubt. This is a true result.

Once we have awakened this connection, and we continue to practice we now have a choice. I see exactly where my mind takes me, what my desires are, how I may or may not respond in situations of stress, agony and joy. I also know what can block my connection to this Heart energy and how I can confuse or distort truth to suit my needs. Each of us has what is referred to as an ego driven nature, where the impulse is to meet our needs, we want what we want and we don’t want what we don’t want. And we will do a lot to maintain that.

Moving our awareness to our “divine” nature is what an authentic practice in my humble opinion will provide us with. This is a true result. It is our choice as to how we respond in every situation, we are not two people in these two sides of our nature, unless we truly are mentally unstable. We are able to witness our own duality, and choose which way we respond.

Values and Virtues

The Values and virtues many lack or have not learned to connect with may become very clear. Patanjali gave us 10 yogic precepts, the Yamas and Niyamas to strive to live by. These are profound and yet simple precepts that allow each of us, unique individuals, to interpret, experience and practice them to our level of awareness. With increasing awareness our relationship to these will morph and change over time and what used to be held as a definition at one point in our life may change dramatically over time.

Satya, truthfulness is one of my most meaningful precepts. From day one of learning of it I challenged myself to root out every time I was not truthful, and I saw how incredibly easy it had been for me to not only live with many untruths, but to justify them. Rather than feel terrible about myself, I made it a game and decided to see where I could now be more truthful, where could I change my thoughts, words and deeds to be truthful. Where was I lying to others and most of all, to myself. I changed my entire relationship to truth and developed a whole new language to speak truthfully and kindly. It was a real awakening and over time I realized how much more congruent I felt and how much self doubt had disappeared and how I could genuinely trust myself more. I kept my word by not making promises I could not keep, even when it disappointed someone if I had to say no. I gathered my words with kindness when I had to say something that I felt might be difficult for another to hear. I stopped having harmful thoughts and worked to root out the feeling, situation and cause of them. I realized that anger, frustration, swearing or disappointment were not “not spiritual” , they were an acceptable form of expression when I took full responsibility for the expression. This is a true result.

The Yamas and Niyamas gave me a joyful, accessible and profoundly simple yet deep way to inquire with myself and to check in on my “spiritual progress”. Spiritual maturity to me, is about us being able to see all of our Self, in all the light and dark, in the polarities that we exist in; To love and forgive myself when I fall back into a way that brings harm to another or myself. Spiritual maturity comes from awareness and may or may not be your goal or direction for your practice. I heard the term many years ago and decided to understand it and see what it might bring to me.

Kundalini Yoga as Universal

Awakening Kundalini is an ancient and important part of many yogic teachings. The methods are varied and many ancient sages have shared their experiences, practices and tools for us today. I feel that all yogic paths have merit, and I use my sense of discernment to witness the results of the practice and the awareness of the teacher. Kundalini is a term used to express the awesome and magnificent power of our life force that once awakened, moves us to be all that we forgot we could be. It opens us to the joy that quietly and always lives inside of us. It is not fantastical but it may feel like magic. It is different and unique for every one of us. This, is our true birthright. And we must work to reach it, and provide a foundation for it to exist in. No one person owns it, how to awaken it and most especially can truly awaken it in us. If our practice awakens it, we will gradually and gently realize or even quickly realize more. Value that, don’t discount or devalue it.

The hope and grace of an authentic practice is to witness in ourselves an evolution towards increased authentic awareness, in the way we think, speak, and act. Every thing we participate in is an example of the results of our practice.

I understand awareness as me being able to know what I am doing, how I show up, where I use my energy, am I living in a balanced, natural, harmonious way, am I kinder, more compassionate and resolute. Am I filled with anxiety, self doubt and confusion or am I calm, clear and able to process and understand what is happening. Am I able to be clear with my own fears and soothe myself with truth and light in a time of need? This is a true result.

Sovereignty and the Collective

I have never been comfortable handing over my self authority to another, whether it be a doctor, teacher, guru or leader. As a very young child I was encouraged and taught to question authority and derive an understanding for myself. If you know me, you may know that I will speak up and out. I think I came here to seek truth and from my near death experience at 15 to now, I feel grateful beyond words, beyond anything that I may not know all truth, but I know that there exists no absolutes.

I encourage every student, my adult kids, friends and family to dig deep and find that connection to our inner divine realm. To experience and soothe ourselves with that river of calm that flows beneath the chaos. To me, that is what this entire practice is about. Many may feel an experience with the Divine, to those that do not share that belief, connecting to a deep abiding eternal essence provides grace. This is a true result.

Yogi Bhajan gathered many tools from many paths and created his own sequences of actions and called it Kundalini yoga. He took his life knowledge from being Indian, living in his religion, community, family and amalgamated it into a practice. He realized the value of his presence, a large figure he took up a lot of space energetically and in all ways. His presence was commanding as my teachers said. Adorned in his turban and speaking with his accent and espousing these teachings, he gathered followers. The times were ripe for this. An entire massive organization grew up around him as many were inspired from his teachings and it became a thing, Kundalini Yoga as taught by YB. He did not invent or create the breathing exercises Pranayamas, Bhandas, Mantras, Mudras or Meditations. These are not his to claim and with a bit of research you will find them universally taught elsewhere. He did invent the Kriyas, the exercises. He did lecture a lot and told fantastical stories to prop up a clearly overly inflated ego self that is absolutely wounded and deviant. He claimed to have mystical and near magical powers, which are neither provable or unprovable. He invented White Tantric Yoga and called himself a Mahan Tantric. He preached one thing and did another. Clearly he held the attention of his audience and managed to manipulate so many. He was not the first to do so and will not be the last.

Many people have had strong experiences from this practice, and yet, I ask, do these experiences authentically awaken your awareness, strength of character and connection to your own divine existence? Are you more clear of what brings you closer to your authentic Soul light? Sitting for 3 days in White tantric yoga can help us overcome our own wriggly nature, our monkey mind. And it can also instigate forms of psychosis. Yet, with that, what else has it awakened in you? Are you more clear in your life with your true nature? Are you developing more of a witness consciousness? Are you holding the reins of the senses, the Ego aspect of our personality? Do you find more of a loving nature arising within whereby you can confront those issues that cause disharmony, trouble and fear? Are you less avoidant and procrastinating? Are you clear with your virtues and values without projecting onto others? Are you taking things less personally? These are true results.

Toxic Teacher?

Warning, this content may be alarming and upsetting:

We are now being told by KRI to trust the teachings of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan and to realize that his toxicity did not influence the teachings. YB said to follow the teachings not the teacher and yet, he demanded loyalty from his innermost circle of followers. Nearly a year of investigations, articles of inquiry and revelations from past followers of YB, we now know of his absolutely indescribably horrific, dangerous, damaging, deviant and demented behaviors towards many of his followers. His cult styled behaviors, threats, punishments, physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual abuses and his extravagant and criminal acts are no longer legend or myth but are reality. The raping, molestations, bizarre sexual practices as well as his incredibly strange and harming demands ranging from mono-diets to one size fits all Ayurvedic practices, are recognized as coming from a deeply damaged human who wreaked havoc on a number of innocent women and children for their lifetime. I will say that clearly men were harmed as they chose to believe YB’s misogynistic teachings couched under the guise of empowering and honoring women. Women, children and men were greatly harmed and many men and women enabled and covered up for this abuse, for 25 years.

I cannot rectify, justify, recognize or frankly align with this particular brand of yoga again, because to know the man now is to know his mind. And that same mind that brought the level of harm and destruction to so many with his words and teachings was uttering out of the other side of his mouth these practices. To hold both of these concepts simultaneously, the dark and the light is the work of being human. And yet, we have choice, we have awareness to recognize that this particular brand of yoga was created by a man, not a Godhead, not a Christ consciousness, not a Buddha.

But the Experience…

Are the glorious experiences coming from the practices, or the gathering of like minded souls who want to find and feel God in each other? Is it that we crave connection and love so much that we believe we are experiencing it with these practices? Or are we? KY now and forever will be marred with the knowledge that as YB taught sitting there in his white turban he was violently harming trusting and innocent women and children behind the veneer.

That as he espoused the grace and divinity of women and taught Women’s Camps, he raped and assaulted women followers. That as he married off couples, he would also purposely torture some with his claim of wanting them (women) to be his. That as he espoused family values, he asked his followers to send their small young children to either live with other families or off to India to a boarding school he created where they were sadly bullied and molested. That he forced a 16 week abortion upon a woman follower with his baby, after which she nearly died from hemorrhaging.

But what really rips my guts apart, is the enabling and brainwashing that occurred to allow all of this to happen. It took a lot of people to keep this secret, to provide a place for this to continue for 25 years and worst of all, it took a lot of people who claimed this practice lifted them closer to God to act out and not have the courage, the integrity, the grit to stand up to this man. And now, those same people want to rebrand this practice and keep going with it, disavowing him. Or worse, disavowing the absolute clarity of the investigation thus negating the many victims.

Is not a genuine authentic spiritual practice one that awakens within us a clear and doubtless awareness of what is healthy, acceptable, good and right?

At what point would anyone ever believe or consider that these kinds of actions, FROM YOUR SPIRITUAL TEACHER were okay? Where was the character, divinity, dignity and grace that was so preached? How deeply depraved not only was this teacher but were the followers to cover this up, to harm those that tried to come forward, to create such an environment of exclusivity and illusion? How is it ever possible to separate the teacher from the teachings knowing that the teacher in this very clear case in in fact the originator of the teachings?

This is not another religion where the practitioners and leaders have gone off the rails. This is a practice created by a man who lacked a complete moral compass. The degree of mental compartmentalization, mania, and pure psychological pathology is nearly impossible to comprehend. I can only acknowledge that he was simply a man, believing in his own God complex and feeling completely justified in all of his actions, the same as any common criminal pedophile or rapist.

Where Do We go from Here?

I end with this, I will accept that many will be attached to the practice and that it will continue. It is a multi million dollar business and hundreds of people have invested their lives, hearts and souls into a way of living as an American Sikh, as a KY teacher or trainer and have yoga studios and entire livelihoods fixed on this. There will be many who decry the outrageousness of the reports and claim them to be false. There will be many who will strive to live by the new mantra of trust the experience of the teachings, let go of the teacher.

I get it, we are devastated as a community to realize the level of deception not only by YB but by many many people in the higher “ranks” of KRI, SSSC and 3HO. Many in the “old guard” knew and turned a blind eye and will have to deal with themselves. The publication of Pamala Dyson’s book, “White Bird in a Golden Cage” was a clear and evident tipping point that finally pried open the coffin that had carefully been nailed shut to hold these secrets forever. I appreciate those at KRI and SSSC that knew enough to know that this had to be addressed and began an investigation. I do not appreciate the lack of thoroughness in the investigation, regarding leaving out massive parts of abuse regarding children in the boarding school and the criminal issues around the many businesses the corporation owns.

To those that had the phenomenal courage and integrity to come forward, I thank you, I honor you and I hold you in the most loving and supportive light possible. What you went through can never ever be changed, what you go into now is light, I pray. You are the ones who truly are the teachers. You are the ones who honestly practiced truth, integrity and witnessed the most painful and enormous realizations. You are the ones setting the path to Light and truth. You are the ones who awakened, realized and are of pure light. Your courage and conviction is an example for everyone to learn and live by. Thank you for doing what you did to come out of the darkness and bring to light what we all needed to see.

Let us all witness this truth, let us all look deep within and see our own Light and Dignity. Let us hold these polarities and yet choose wisely what we shall think, say and do. I do not honor YB and acknowledge my 16 year struggle to feel his light, I never could. I honor that within me was always a discrepancy between what I felt and experienced with the practices and our community and what I felt from the teacher. I honor awareness, I honor that which I cannot touch or see, but I feel it. I honor the courage and strength within me to know.

I honor and will practice the universal sacred in Pranayama, Mantras of all paths, Bhandas, Mudras, Meditation and asana. I honor the Yoga Sutras, the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads and too many sacred texts of truth to count. I honor the pain and struggle so many are living in right now. I honor the amazing artists who sing these mantras with love in their hearts. I honor the teachers who will decide how to be truthful with themselves and their students. I honor the divisions, disparity, polarity and confusion and trust that Light, LOVE and Truth will prevail. I honor that I am doing my best to truthfully and lovingly resolve my heartache not in realizing the reality about YB personally but in learning of the enormous suffering of so many in the name of spirituality. I honor everyone struggling to rectify their experience and truth. I love you all and thank you for taking your time to read this. Perhaps it has shed some light for you as to how to understand what a true authentic spiritual practice is and the results.

It is not enough to just have a powerful experience but to witness our awareness, courage, values, virtues, kindness, tenacity and more grow. Cultivate your practice with Mantras, Asanas, Pranayamas and learn what the 8 Limbs of yoga are and practice them. That will lead you to Samadhi, to the Light.

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From my heart to yours

From my heart to yours

Resources for Resiliency

Do you want to know a secret? What makes you feel good deep down about yourself? It is when you know, without a doubt, that you have your own back. That you, YOU are able to tend to your needs, to hold yourself in a kind and loving, non-critical way…most especially in the face of pain, suffering, fear, anger, abandonment, rage, grief, worry, shame, embarrassment, failure, and rejection. That you know, that even when you fall down, that you will get up. That you know that when things are their darkest, that you will come through, and that somehow things will be better for it. That you know, without doubt, that you are here exactly for what is happening, even in the greatest pain. This is not new age fluff, this is a way of living, a commitment to learning about yourself from a place of curiosity, patience and cultivating authentic self love.

To find our way to this, which lives already inside of you, perhaps untouched or out of reach at times, is to do what we are here as humans to do. It is not esoteric, it is here and it is real. There are ways and means.

Every situation, relationship, encounter, experience we have had over our lives has shaped the way the think, feel and then live life. I haven’t found a manual for life, yet. I have experienced a lot of practices that have given me an indomitable inner strength and fortitude to carry on with grace and self love.

Without judging whether our lives have had trauma or not is not the point. Let go of debating if you carry trauma. We do. It is relative to others and does no good to compare it.

What is the point is to witness where it lives in our body,

to connect to how it feels when we are triggered and then

to learn how to integrate and work with that.

The profoundly uplifting news is, you can do that. The not so great news is misunderstood. We cannot “forget” the trauma, rather we can release the energetic charge that sends us into triggered behavior unconsciously and we can with ease begin to manage ourselves with an enormous amount of newfound self love.

This is life changing, and that is an understatement.

What do you have to loose to begin this work? Just a lifetime of triggered behavior patterns, habits and tendencies that have kept you blocked, unhappy, frightened, isolated, and worse, trapped in your mind with the same ideas revolving around about who you think you are.

I have two spots left in this 6 week trauma course, and a FULL SCHOLARSHIP donated by a very generous student. Our first run of this course is limited to 10 students so we can hold this intimate container. In this course, we are not using conventional talk therapy methods, you do not need to recount your experiences, we will not tell our stories, we will work in a somatic way to feel into what our stories have resulted in and that is the miraculous moment.

I invite you to join me, starting this Thursday, July 10th. Online, live streaming. email me now or register on line: Scroll down to see Resources for Resiliency Course

If you don’t know me or how I hold space to teach, call me, get a feel for our connection. 410-570-2878. If you have financial limitations, please email me. denise@divinelightyoga.com

If you know anyone you feel could benefit from this profound work, please share this email.

Thank you for your trust and for walking this walk with all of us.

Be the Light and Light the Way:

A Dialog on Race

What an enlightening conversation we had yesterday with 12 heart centered and curious humans desiring to bring awareness and integrity to this movement. We started with Ahimsa and the conversation flowed thanks to so much openness, trust and honesty. I hope you might join us next week, to learn how you can bring some of the sacred yogic tools into your daily life as a participant in dismantling and reforming of the systemic racism that is in place today.

Sign up for free, Live zoom dialog:: A Dialog on Race

Mantra for our times

GOBINDAY MUKANDAY

(GURU GAITRI MANTRA)

Gobinday, mukanday,

udaaray, apaaray,

Hareeung, kareeung, nirnaamay, akaamay

 

Sustaining, Liberating, Enlightening, Infinite

Destroying, Creating, Nameless, Desireless.

This mantra can eliminate the karmic blocks or errors of the past. It has the power to purify one’s magnetic field, making it easier to relax and meditate. It is a protective mantra, an ashtang mantra (having eight parts). Besides helping cleanse the subconscious mind, it balances the hemispheres of the brain, bringing compassion and patience to the one who meditates on it.

One of my favorites to chant with… this mantra reaches into my soul and I find such inner solace and joy. Try learning it and see how it feels.

ps. Still live streaming classes, join in.

Sending you a warm hug,

in light

Denise

New Courses!

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New Courses!

NEW NEW:: It feels so right to offer up this new work:

Resources for Resiliency, A Trauma Informed Yoga Course

Developed in tandem with Bridging Mind and Body (formerly You Go Girl Yoga), this course came from over a year and half of research with experts in the fields of trauma, yoga and yoga therapy as well as from my steady practice and teaching for the past 20 years. I welcome you to our 6 week on line LIVE classroom community. How will it feel to be in your own home participating in a live streaming format? We are not sure, and yet, I know that we develop and foster community and a clear sense of connectedness when we join together in our hearts with a commitment to being present! I feel strongly we can join together and reach new levels of interior awareness, growth and integration with this course work. During these 6 weeks you will be mindfully tended to with exceptional attention to your experience and feedback. We are all carrying trauma…now is the time to awaken a sincere understanding and resource ourselves. From our full cups we may heal and find possible overflow to help others. First, we must help ourselves. Sign up now, complete details are here! And, email me asap with your questions, concerns and ideas, I would love to hear from you. denise@divinelightyoga.com

NEW NEW ::

Be the Light and Light the Way, A Dialog on Race

4 Weeks of Crafting a deeper understanding of the Yogic Teachings to clear away the inner debris for our light to come through and shine to meet this moment! Jump in to any or all of these important discussions from a completely new point of view. Unifying, exploring, renewing and strengthening are some of the ways these conversations can manifest. As a white woman, I realize my privilege allows me to look away when it gets uncomfortable. As a yoga teacher, utilizing ancient and other culture teachings, I realize the sincere need to acknowledge the origins of other cultures, realize their values and honor them. A dialog on Race is about the realization that we are the Human race and yet there are many that are suffering incredible inequities. My humble hope and desire is to open the conversation from the platform of the Yogic Teachings, to offer up platform for more understanding, open and honest communication and connection. Sign up and learn more HERE.

Free and All are Welcome! Join this Discussion!

  • Join me LIVE on line for some movement, breathing, feeling and finding our way into these tender hearts…I am here, and I would really love to see you. All of July, take me with you wherever you go, let’s keep this alive: Monday-Thursday Live Yoga Classes, Donation Based

  • Have you seen my new Offerings page? Free downloads for you, stay healthy!

    Short helpful videos and Yoga Nidras

  • Visit and subscribe on YouTube, I’m adding more helpful content and would love to hear from you on what you would like!

Some beautiful new music I hope you might enjoy: Massimo Kyo

Meantime, stay well, know you are never alone, and all that we are experiencing is bringing us to a whole new paradigm.

Sending love,

Denise

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Immunity and Relaxation :: Free Yoga Nidra

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Immunity and Relaxation :: Free Yoga Nidra

Yin and Restorative yoga are deeply integrative practices. Like yogic medicine, they reach into the crevices of our being and heal us in a stealth and quiet way. No sweating, no pushing, no straining, in fact, quite the opposite of our “yoga culture” here in the US. Yin asks us to drop into something even deeper, go below the surface of the physical body, drop into the connective tissue, into the organs, into the subtle realm and then surrender into the complete unknown. Time is the change agent in this practice. One to three minutes is the first level of unraveling, we squirm, we may wiggle, realize how we are breathing, finally find a moment of settling, allowing gravity to draw us into a pose/place/feeling/moment and then, something may float to the surface in our mind/body.

Four to six minutes is a whole other world. Dramatic shifts and changes show up, like something that finally gives way, in our body, the breath and finally deeper into our Soul, essence, being, mind/heart arena. Now we are getting into something we had no idea was even there.

“Our issues are stored in our tissues” is a wonderful phrase to seriously pull our focus into what is showing up. Dropping into, arriving into, being in a yin asana for a period of time, with a breath of awareness is like having a deep therapy session without talking and with heart inquiry. Releasing what arrives, and extending our exhales heals our body, mind and hearts and with this release will increase our immune response.

Inflammation, a leading if not the leading root cause of disease begins to be witnessed and moved in this practice. Yin nearly “demands” that we be present to ourselves, it seems like it could be easy to drift into plans, thoughts and possible worries, and yet, holding a pose for many minutes will bring you into the present moment. Being present increases awareness, awareness allows us to see what we are doing with habits, food, drink, practices, and choices that create unhealthy imbalances which lead to illness and disease. Once we see it, we cannot unsee it. And now we have choice, to make better decisions.

Restorative yoga is like the kind and loving sister to yin. She welcomes us into her loving arms to be held and nurtured. Using pillows, blankets, bolsters and straps we fix the body in a completely relaxed pose and with breath we finally learn to let go. Hovering between the worlds of sleep and awake. Yoga Nidra, which works extremely well in this practice, is the creme de la creme of practices. Once we are completely relaxed, secure and safe in a pose and able to let go, a gentle guided full body relaxation or visualization begins. Yoga nidra means “yogic sleep”, where we are awake with the body fully in the parasympathetic nervous system response, rest and digest, all muscle tension released. The actual moment of yoga nidra is not the journey, the guiding words but it is the result of the journey. What happens at the end.

Done daily or at least weekly, the practices of yin, restorative and yoga nidra provide a cumulative impact, gather steam and begin to have profound and measured effects on your entire body, mind and heart complex. From poor digestion and gut microbiome issues, insomnia, anxiety, stress reduction, injury healing to mental and emotional instability, these practices will heal and reset your responses to life’s challenges. All ages, everyone can benefit from these practices and can do them.

Here are some links to studies to geek out on. Dive in and just do it!

Chronic Insomnia

Mood, Mind and Concentration Brain Scans

How Yoga Nidra works and why

Benefits of Yin Yoga

Please join me on Monday and Wednesday evenings for the full experience, Yin with Restorative and Yoga Nidra. Trust your experience, trust what you feel and what shows up for you. Classes are donation based and no one is turned away. I hope to see you on line, and send you so much love and joy!

Live Streaming Schedule

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It is all happening now....

It is all happening now....

My sweet yoga family,

 

How are you feeling? Are you being gentle with yourselves?  So much is coming through so fast, new insights, feelings and heart opening energy. Yesterday in our morning class (online) we connected with the Magdelene Pink Rose Crystaline energy meditation, as Venus was at her most radiant.  This is a new anchoring of the Feminine Divine, here now on Earth.  We connected the energy lines between our Heart, Womb and 3rdEye, to align our potent placement here within.  Divine flowering opened our hearts and healed our connection to the Womb of the Mother Earth.  I felt such a powerful upward energy that it brought me to tears and to this story I am ready to share with you.  Maybe it will be meaningful to you.  

 

Several years ago a completely new anchoring of my relationship to the Feminine Divine began. As I rewrote the Divine Light Yoga 300 Hour Teacher Training (from the initial offering), I realized the Yang (masculine, linear, projective) nature of the DLY 200 Hour Teacher Training, and it was a new time for the Yin (feminine, circular, receptive) focus on an advanced teacher training that developed the subtle side of our teaching platform. (I am not teaching these course currently).  What revealed itself to me, was that all of existence moves in a circular direction. As we grow, learn, and experience, it may feel at times as if we are “right back where we started”, and yet, with mindful and calm presence, we may realize we have “evolved up a notch”.  That teacher training provided a unique and genuine experience into revealing the subtleties of our True Nature, to revealing true authenticity .  It confirmed for me that building a bridge between the Feminine and Masculine Divine was essential.  For all men and women, we must learn to come together in a completely new way. It showed me the roots of so much conflict, within me and the world. This was big. I asked to be shown more on this and the Universe delivered. Just not in the way I could have imagined.

 

Soon after graduation I was confronted with a choice I never wanted to make ever again. It placed me exactly in the firing line of the one male that I had sworn to never again be near. As the next two and half years unwound a nearly soul destroying experience, it also recalled into deep question my entire relationship with all men, with the entire Masculine Divine (within me and Universally). I struggled as I felt pulled down into the depths of anger, rage, pain, fear and outright violent tendencies.  My strong fire nature ended up being nearly overwhelmed as I could feel myself sinking into a heaviness, despair, fear, dullness and losing a part of my heart.  I know you have gone through things in life like this, where it is all just too much, too painful, too scary.  It felt like outside forces were taking over, and my deep inner connection to my Divine Nature was feeling separated.  Right when I needed it the most, I was feeling disconnected.  My body was not responding, my heart was not connecting and my mind was foggy and bouncing between emotions.  This frightened and frustrated me, after all, is this what shows up after 20 years of a committed spiritual practice? Was my own self betraying my Self? Previously believed resolved trauma surfaced as unresolved trauma and called into question practically everything that had held me steady. I was stunned by this. I realized this was not just about me, it was about all of us, it was speaking to a universal pain, to a collective trauma inflicted upon the entire Feminine (and Masculine) and that on a microcosm I was experiencing what the macrocosm was exposing.  We were all being called to task.

 

 

 

Answers began to arrive, people showed up in my life in the most unexpected ways, I paid attention, I did not give in to the victim mentality, instead I reached deep into a broken heart and remembered how I had asked for this. And the irony was not lost on me.  What had sustained and awakened me before this situation occurred,  needed tweaking, I needed to dig deeper and get to the root cause of my own suffering to understand our collective suffering. This is the root teaching of all I practice and teach, so I knew this was the way through, by going right into it.  

 

I renewed my daily practice, I recommitted to giving myself permission to feel more deeply (which is exactly what scared me the most) and I acknowledged that my rage, my anger and deep emotions were okay.  In fact, they were a tool I could use to heal myself.  They are energy and I needed all I could muster.  I began to bike ride and felt a renewed sense of playful childlike fun. I practiced and taught Yin and Restorative yoga (subtle and slow) with Yoga Nidra (deep healing of the nervous system). I asked for help. I chose to expose more of my vulnerabilities. I opened to the possibility that maybe what I believed about men and the Masculine was inaccurate and based on my trauma, and that my experiences with my father, grandfather, brother, ex-husband and many other men had all been supreme opportunities for me to see into something differently. 

 

 I resolved gently and slowly to ask to see the pure good in men, to see how a healthy and loving relationship functions. All the while, that ongoing nightmare situation was resolving and I walked away disillusioned yet clear, is that even possible? Incredibly, I realized the trauma that man had experienced and why it resulted in his behaviors.  I realized the trauma my father, grandfather and brother had experienced (to the best of my memory) and it helped me to see them in a more compassionate light. I began to see the collective trauma to the Masculine and the resulting trauma to the Feminine and the synergistic relationship of trauma to inflicting pain and harm.  I felt a little like Arjuna when Krishna shows him the mighty power of the Universe and he is blinded by the light in the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 11.

 

It took me what felt like a year to heal my body (post menopause can wreak havoc without proper attention), to regain a new connection to heart and to balance my mind.  The mind and emotions came into balance with a renewed focus and direction into studying Yoga Therapy. Every Master teacher, new friend and focus opened me in a completely unprecedented way. In 15 months I witnessed more loving and healthy relationships than I could remember. I witnessed and experienced so much love and support that it empowered me to be more and more vulnerable, I felt the inner light get brighter and brighter, I felt stronger and yet more soft.  A whole new unfolding was happening within.  I studied with complete fervor and dove deep into my own trauma with the tools of somatic therapy. Moving, breathing, dancing, biking, hiking, loving, playing, writing, sharing became my renewed reality. Accepting the changes in my body and releasing resistance to integrating the past were my new daily.

 

I chose to embrace the deep wisdom coming through for me.  The wise woman was birthed.  I am ready to fully embrace and hold space for this most magnificent time in life.  This is my 60thyear and I live fully embodied, ready and whole .  Gratitude extends beyond my heart and soul.  I share all of this with you, openly and honestly because I know we all suffer the same, we hurt the same and yet each of our stories are unique.  

 

I love to synthesize information, experiences and wisdom, to bring them into a simple and palpable context for use.  I love to take content of the most profound nature and break it into digestible bites. If the last three years revealed anything, they revealed everything. I learned we are all traumatized, on some level and we share in a collective trauma.  And never has that been more substantial than now.  I realized there is one specific tool I used to heal and resolve the deep pain, suffering and anger I had experienced. It allowed me to find my way to a whole new resolve, a new unfolding, a renewed sense of Self. I feel it will be a powerful for you too, when used as a tool and not a weapon.  

 

It is commitment. 

 

Unequivocal commitment to full, radical, unabashed, primal, essential authenticity.  Period. 

 

All else will come, once we commit to authenticity.  The larger question posed is, how do we do it? What does it mean? How does it look? Feel? What are we to do? To be? This is not a little thing, this is larger than you, it is us.  And it will yield profound, life-enhancing, heart opening, mind blowing Soul experiences. It is passion, compassion, and everything else you can imagine, really. Once you commit, you cannot control what will unfold, but you can learn to be with what is from a deep place of courage and ecstatic joy.  Again, really.  

 

Rooting out trauma, integrating it and the resulting stories I had created from those traumas (around the most important men in my life) gave me an entirely new relationship to my authentic nature. The most astounding part of this healing, this integration of experience was my not even understanding how the early trauma had impacted me and resulted in a myriad of behaviors. 

 

For now, I encourage you to simply sit with this concept, to gently allow in the possibility of considering the ways your life shows up where you are not feeling full, rich, harmonious, solid, strong, kind, patient, or feeling fearful, worried, overwhelmed, angry, resentful, jealous, frustrated, empty, and…fill in the rest. I hope to open dialog with you on how we can use this tool of commitment to authenticityto awaken and reharmonize our lives.  More to come, for now, consider.  

 

Thank you from my heart for reading to this point,  I love you and feel you deeply.  

In light and love

Denise

ps. I’ve added some new videos to my Offerings page that may give you more balance and integration right now. And remember, you can meet me on our virtual mats Monday through Friday, go to my Live Classes page. I hope to see you soon.

 

 

 

 

NEW Live Streaming Classes! Starting Monday till mid May

NEW Live Streaming Classes! Starting Monday till mid May

Sat Nam dear Yoga Family!

I am delighted to invite you to join me Monday through Friday for LIVE Streaming classes on Zoom. From Yin with Restorative and Yoga Nidra to Restorative Vinyasa Flow with an emphasis on healing breath work and Meditation to a fun Friday morning 30 minute All Breath and Meditation, let’s meet on the mat LIVE together!

Click Here to see the Full Live Schedule and a purely heartfelt Donation button is on the schedule page for classes.

You can register for these classes in advance and the link will be sent to you.

When you register, your info will be included in the Divine Light Yoga email base, so that we can stay in touch with more offerings and exchanges of important Yogic and Ayurvedic Lifestyle, you may unsubscribe if you wish. Overwhelm is a real thing!

GHEE Making!

I finally made that Ghee video, check it out on my updated YouTube Channel and look for new videos to come, I have exciting plans for new content to make your life richer and more joyful!

Please feel free to follow me on Instagram and FaceBook where I am posting last minute changes and inspiring quotes and hoping to fill your hearts!

Talk to me! Send me your ideas and requests, I am wide open to input.

Coming Shortly: NEW:: 8 Week Healing our Trauma and Calming our Triggers Course, this intimate and phenomenally life changing course has been in the making for over a year. It will be limited in attendance to insure my complete attention to you in our safe and secure group setting. WE will be LIVE on ZOOM and each of us will join together to create and hold a sacred and nourishing space to understand and integrate what holds us back, prevents us from fully experiencing love and life and most of all, to completely realize our highest selves. Bold ideas, bold work…tender hearts, loving presence. Email me with questions and interest, more info coming. denise@divinelightyoga.com

Let’s keep holding each other in these ethereal circles of love, let’s remember we are all in this together and peace in our hearts is the most important work we can do right now. A calm heart strengthens the immune system, more than anything else you can do!

Eat well, fresh, organic and home cooked:)

Sleep well, go to bed early, rise early, meditate and pray!

Be kind to each other, play games, clean out closets, write notes and cards, laugh and stay elevated!

I am so humbly happy to be able to see you on line, thanks for being patient with the technical dealings and feel free to let me know what I can do to be there for you during this time!

love, light and a huge ()virtual hug!

Denise Divine

Wednesday Night Yin Restorative Yoga LIVE Streaming

Wednesday Night Yin Restorative Yoga LIVE Streaming

Please join me (again) tomorrow night, live from Santa Cruz, California

Wednesday, March 25th at 7:00 pm Pacific Time, 10:00 pm East Coast,

for a deeply relaxing and juicy stretch of Yin Yoga followed by a nourishing and nervous system calming Restorative Yoga with a guided relaxation, Yoga Nidra. We won’t use the Gong, as we learned it does not translate well on line. Thank you for your patience as we navigate this new territory!

Grab your blankets, pillows and some books for blocks and let’s meet on our mats tomorrow night!

Yin Restorative Yoga with Deep Relaxation Time: Mar 25, 2020 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/154001810?pwd=aUJmdXBwbWdSU0drS2xYWEs2Q0Z6QT09

Meeting ID: 154 001 810

Password: 598358

One tap mobile +16699006833,,154001810# US (San Jose)

+13462487799,,154001810# US (Houston)

Dial by your location +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)

+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)

+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)

+1 253 215 8782 US

+1 301 715 8592 US Meeting ID: 154 001 810

Find your local number: https://us04web.zoom.us/u/fcNBmb6aW4

Tonight March 23, First Live Stream Yin Restorative Class

Tonight March 23, First Live Stream Yin Restorative Class

Please join me tonight yoga family for a deeply relaxing Yin Restorative yoga session. Let’s bring our tender hearts together and feel some restoration!

Gather a blanket or two, some pillows, books to use as blocks and settle in for an hour of deep healing and to put a calm smile on your face.

Offering tonight is gratis, from my heart to yours. Please join.

Topic: Yin Restorative Yoga

Time: Mar 23, 2020 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/484900474?pwd=eU13L0gwbmFlV3krNTZBWVBiVXVMUT09

Meeting ID: 484 900 474

Password: 112333

One tap mobile

+16699006833,,484900474# US (San Jose)

+13462487799,,484900474# US (Houston)

Dial by your location

        +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)

        +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)

        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

        +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)

        +1 253 215 8782 US

        +1 301 715 8592 US

Meeting ID: 484 900 474

Find your local number: https://us04web.zoom.us/u/fcNBmb6aW4

October East Coast Kundalini Yoga Workshops

October East Coast Kundalini Yoga Workshops

Please join me at the beautiful Ridgely Retreat in October for two amazing workshops!  

It's been a year and I am thrilled to return with new content and Yoga Nidra, deep relaxation to soothe our frazzled nerves and more!  Let's move, dance, laugh and chant together and find our bliss.  I hope you can make it!!  Let's do this Annapolis!  

Friday Night:  
Fall into a Deep Relaxation and Find that inner quiet

Saturday Afternoon:  
Oh yes, let's move and find a new realm within of answers and calm

DLY_100617_MA_Flyer_WebVersion-01.jpg

Register early and be ready for big hugs and loads of love!

February Sunflower Yoga Nidra and Gong Relaxation

February Sunflower Yoga Nidra and Gong Relaxation

Take a break from the stresses of the day, lie down and let this soothing guided visualization carry you to your happy place! Enjoy my friends! Hope to see you in classes! Every Wednesday night at Santa Cruz Yoga, Ingalls Street, 7:30pm! for this Restorative class.  

And, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Noon to 1pm, All Levels Vinyasa Flow, Santa Cruz Yoga!

Be well, be light and let your life flow.  You are loved.