Spirituality

I’m a traveling yogini that loves to learn about different cultures especially the indigenous people. When I west to India for some retreats I flew to Delhi and then to Rishikesh or a city nearby and then went by bus to Uttarkashi where it is said is a land of sages and swamis. I stayed in an Ashram where there supposedly lived many great saints, sages, and swamis.

My days living in the Ashram started at 4am with a morning meditation (30- 60 minutes). After the meditation came pranayama, or also known as breathing exercises, to purify the energetic body and nadis that prepare us for the next thing which is the physical part of the yoga philosophy: the asanas. It’s tradition in India to do sun salutations. It’s part of their religion almost and so we do the Surya Namaskara and the basic postures. The day continues and we follow by studying the sacred scriptures with a Swami and after another meditation. This is called Sadhan. Sadhana means a spiritual discipline. Amma Sri Karunamayi (an Indian saint/avatar) said that if we practice the sadhana with intense discipline we will achieve samadhi or enlightenmen. She also said that practicing daily sadhana was like putting a shield so negative things stay away.

I believe that in order to live a healthy and happy life one must have a sadhana and it doesn’t have to be like what I shared in the Ashram it could be much simpler and made by anyone. The teachings of the yogis say to cleanse the body first thing waking up. These techniques are also part of a Sadhana. For example: waking up slowly and cleaning our tongue is very important. In India it‘s an Ayurveda exercise to clean the tongue with a tongue cleaner and preferably made of copper. Many bacteria get stored in the tongue so it’s very beneficial to clean the tongue. It’s also good to do every other day a cleaning of the nostrils with a neti po. The neti pot looks like an Alladin lamp and you fill it up with pure water with some salt and then you pass it through one nostril and watch how the water comes out the other nostril and viceversa. This is a very good preparation for Pranayama or also known as breathing exercises. Before meditating its crucial to do pranayama to purify the energetic bodies and to connect with our higher self faster and get more benefits from meditating. Meditating is all about being present and connected with everything. A discipline in meditating leads to a more peaceful and calmer life. In my personal experience I notice that I don’t react like I used to before. Now I always remember to breathe. When I breathe I am here and in the Now. Paying attention to my breathe reminds me that a clear mind is better than a busy mind to handle anything in life. Some people struggle to meditate and I don’t blame them. It can be quite boring and uncomfortable at the beginning. At least for me I was clueless and didn’t believe it would help me in any way. I‘ve now been meditating for more than 10 years and I can tell you from experience that with constant practice and determination you will notice a difference in you. Yoga helps remove all the layers of dirt that we have all around our bodies that our physical eyes can’t see but our third eye can.

My Gurus have shown me also rituals that have the purpose of cleaning the impurities and karma. Karma is a Sanskrit word that basically means that whatever we do comes back to us. In India they believe in reincarnation so this life is not the only one that we’ve lived. As a matter of fact we’ve lived millions of lives but some people don’t remember them. Rituals help to clean karma even from other lives that we don’t remember and that we might have done something that is affecting us in this life. By removing the negative karma our life improves and the blockages are removed so we can manifest anything we want.

At the moment we are celebrating Sri Ganesha Chathurti Navaratri. Each day I wake up and meditate to the mantra: Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha for 30 minutes or more. Then I watch on Facebook Live: Amma Sri Karunamayi‘s ceremonies for Lord Ganesha. I’m in Houston, Texas and my Guru Amma is in India.

I have an altar at the moment for Lord Ganesha and a green candle. I have the Sri Chakra and the Shiva Lingam and of course a crystal statue of lord Ganesha in green. Whenever I can I chant the mantra during my day. This only lasts some days. It is believed that by doing this Lord Ganesha will remove all the obstacles in our lives and protect us. The color green is also a color for abundance. During this auspicious times I wear a Moldavite ring and its green beautiful color connects me to Ganesha. Contributing in a ceremony is also a form of tapas or a practice carried out to achieve purification and spiritual powers. A real yogi does tapas. Fasting is a very popular form of tapas practiced in India. Fasting also has many benefits for the body. Fasting can cure cancer since the cancer cells die of hunger. By fasting one also remembers that we are a spiritual being having a material experience.

Life is a school with many classes. The universe works in mysterious ways.