See Your Inner Beauty

Welcome. This kriya is to see your inner beauty, really calling in your inner joy, your connection to self, connection to all, bringing about ecstasy, bringing about happiness within. And so let's begin. Come seated in easy pose, also known as a cross-legged position, palms facing upwards at your knees. Gently close your eyes and just feel your presence within yourself, taking a moment to check in. Noticing if your breath is shallow or is it deep, not trying to change or manipulate your breath, just be. Be in a place of acceptance with where you are right now. And together, let's inhale long and deeply. And with this exhalation, feel free to release a sigh. Good. Again, inhale long and deeply, breathing into any stresses, tensions, worries, pressures, anxieties, and exhale, release. Last one, inhale long and deeply into any pains or aches you've been feeling lately, any sicknesses or discomforts. Sip in a little bit more breath and exhale. Begin to rub your palms together, bringing heat into the palms of your hands. Doing so also charges up your electromagnetic field, your auric field. And then bring your palms together into prayer at your heart center. Really press your palms firmly against one another, thumbs into the center of your chest, eyes still closed, focusing inwards and upwards into your third eye, right between your brows raised just slightly. In the beginning of every Kundalini Yoga practice, we start by chanting this mantra called the Ari Mantra, Aung Namo, Guru Dev Namo. When we chant this, we're bowing into the wisdom within, the teacher, the master, the guru that you are, that I am, that we all are individually, that also then connects to the wise ones, the teachers, the gurus, the masters who have come before us. We'll chant Aung Namo, Guru Dev Namo three times, and then it will lead into the Mangala Charan Mantra, a mantra of protection, calling in love, calling in light, calling in the wisdom throughout the ages. And it goes like this, Aar Gurana Me, Jugaar Gurana Me, Sat Gurana Me, Sri Guru Deve, Na Me. We'll chant that mantra three times as well. And let's inhale to tune in together. Aung Namo. Slight inhalation through your mouth. Aung Namo. Inhale through your nose. Aung Namo. Aung Namo. Aung Namo. Aung Namo. Aung Namo. Aung Namo. Guru Devnamo Arghurainamaya, Juhargura Naamaya, Sathudu Naamaya, Siri Gurudev, Vahey Naamaya.

Arghurainamaya, Juhargurainamaya, Sathudu Naamaya, Siri Gurudev, Vahey Naamaya. Inhale, suspend your breath, hold, allow the vibration of the mantras to resonate through your entire body, around you, around the space where you're practicing today and beyond. And exhale, Sat Naam. And now gently open your eyes, feel free to wiggle out your hands, your body, shake yourself back into this moment. And now we'll begin with a warm up.

So a lot of this practice today is seated. So if you'd like to have a pillow or a bolster or a blanket, feel free to sit on that. You can also roll up the blankets. I have a bolster that's a few inches up off the ground. And so feel free to modify however feels good to you.

If at any moment in time sitting in cross-legged position becomes too cumbersome on your knees or your joints, feel free to release a leg out, both legs out, whatever feels right for you. And so now we're going to begin with our warm up called Sufi Grinds. You're going to bring your hands to your knees and it's much like a spinal flex where your flexing and rounding your back. So like a seated cat cow, but then we create a circular movement. And so you're inhaling, flexing forward and then spinning your spine around to a flexing position and curling, and then inhale forward, exhale round, inhale forward, exhale round.

Continue here, and then when you're ready, you can close your eyes, focus inwards at your third eye point. Try to keep your chin parallel to the earth. So you're really isolating this movement to just be your spine. Feel that your hips are also opening. Soften the expression on your face and now switch directions.

You might feel or hear some cracks in your spine and that's you just making space between each bone in your spine, returning back to your nature, fluid and flexible, made mainly of water. And inhale into the center. Hold for a moment. It's still closed, feel that your spine is still spiraling this energy from your seat all the way through the crown of your head and exhale. Plop your palms to face upwards and just be for a moment.

Feel the effects of the warmup. Enjoy this moment of pause before we begin the set and inhale, exhale. Now let's switch our stance here. Whichever leg is in front, let's bring that to the back, balancing our hips. Feel free to push away and pull away your bottoms that you really feel that you're seated and grounded on your sit bones.

And now we'll begin our sets. Bring your hands together in prayer pose, palms really firmly pressing into each other. Your thumbs pressing into your sternum right at the center of your chest. Roll your shoulders up, back and down, relax your shoulders. Feel like your spine is straight, you're sitting tall, lifting up out of your hips.

Your chin is tucked slightly back. And now the gaze is important here. Your eyes are actually open, but looking down at your thumbs. You may not quite be able to see your thumbs, but that's the goal. And so your eyes are open, looking down at your hands in prayer pose.

Try to see your thumbs and breathe long and deeply here. Do your best to come to a full belly breath, feeling that with every inhale, you're filling your lungs, your ribs, your belly, with this purifying cleansing energy that comes through your inhale known as prana. And with every exhale, feel that it is so powerful that your belly button can touch your spine releasing any negativity, any unhappiness, any self-doubts, lack of self-worth, confidence, anything that's keeping you from knowing that your beauty is deep within you, that there is a beautiful light of joy and ecstasy that exists within always, at all times, including this moment right now. This is the day. Allow the intention of your gaze upon your thumbs, your hands in prayer pose to be that the truth within you, that you are a beautiful, bountiful, blissful being exists right here in your own hands.

As sure as you are breathing in this moment and your heart is beating, so too are you a beautiful being who has limitless opportunities and possibilities right within your reach. Such moments here allow each breath to be filled with such pure ecstasy, pure joy, your commitment to you. And inhale long and deeply, hold in that breath. Keep your gaze still at your hands, at your thumbs here in prayer pose. Allow that deep connection to self, beautiful, bountiful, blissful, and exhale.

Gently gracefully relax your arms, relax your hands as we move into the next asana, the next pose. If you're seated on a blanket or a bolster, just move that aside, we're going to come into what's called celibate pose. So a few modifications here. You can come seated in rock pose, which means that your buttocks is onto your heels, or the true celibate pose means that your knees are as wide as your hips and your bottom is on the ground. If this is too much tension on your knees, on your ankles, then you can come into rock pose, or you can use your blanket or your bolster and place it underneath your bottom and it gives you a little bit of height so there's not too much tension on your knees.

You can also straddle your blanket or your bolster or your pillow just like this. And that might be really comfortable for you. So find the asana, the position, the posture that feels right for you here. If all together, celibate, rock pose, any of this type of modification is too much still, you can always come back to cross-legged position, easy pose. So find the position that feels right for you.

And once you've arrived there, place your hands onto your knees. And just like how we warmed up with that spinal flex, you're going to inhale, flexing your spine forward, shoulders back, shoulders relaxed, and exhale, you're going to round your back. But you're going to do this quickly so it'll look and perhaps sound like this. So you may inhale as you flex forward, exhale as you round your back, or if you like to keep a long, deep breath as you are, pumping forward and back, find that breath that feels right for you. But what's most important is the quick movement of the spinal flex.

And once you've found that, eyes closed, focus inwards and upwards into your third eye, and begin. You may find that as you continue here, there is a lot of heat that's being built throughout your spine, from your belly into your lungs. You may feel your face getting flush. Allow yourself to feel that. You're starting to cleanse and purify through your entire body, starting to energize, circulating this energy that you really cultivated in that first asana just by sitting in prayer pose.

Let that heat, your feelings start to burn through what might have come up for you from that first asana. Any of those doubts, any of that heaviness, any lethargy, any blocks or barriers that are keeping you from really seeing yourself as a beautiful being and all that you've experienced throughout your life, knowing that you carry such wisdom within you, such beautiful light. Feel that this energy is one that is awakening within you, that is allowing you to create beauty out of any experience in every moment. Continue here in these last moments, maybe trying to pick up the pace a little bit more if you can. That's a choice, otherwise wherever you are is perfect.

Commit here. Every exhale, releasing those doubts, inhale, calling in the beauty, calling in joy, calling in ecstasy, connection within. And inhale, spine straight, hold, shoulders rolled up, back and down, eyes still closed, focus it deeply within your third eye point. Feel the energy circulating within you, so abundant, bright, beautiful. And exhale.

Simply slowly open your eyes and let's move with grace to our next asana. And so coming out of celibate pose, we're going to stretch our legs out and it's going to feel so good. And so this is called life nerve stretch. Stretch your legs out in front of you, if you're sitting in easy pose, come out of that, come into this asana, this posture with your legs out in front of you, spread your toes, roll out your ankles. If you want to give your knees a little massage, feel free to do so, maybe you want to massage your ankles a little bit.

And so what this asana calls for is for you to be able to hold onto your toes if you can. So this is, I'm going to demonstrate what it looks like to be able to do this asana fully. You're going to take your peace fingers, meaning your two fingers, your index finger and your middle finger, wrap your other fingers with your thumbs and you're going to wrap your big toes with those peace fingers. Take your thumbs, push into your big toenail, spread your toes wide and you're going to keep your spine straight. Try to keep your neck in alignment with your spine, so no C curbing, not trying to bring your forehead down to your knees, not trying to tuck your chin in, you want to keep the spinal alignment.

And then you're going to bend your elbows and that's what's going to bring you down. Maybe you come down just an inch or two inches, maybe half an inch, however far you come down is perfect. And so just feel that stretch. And as you continue here, you might find that your flexibility comes through when you find yourself coming down further. And so a couple modifications are hold onto your knees, walk your hands out, find where that stretch is.

When you start to feel like you're losing that spinal alignment and coming into a C curve, you're going too far. So then pull back, find that spinal alignment and then bend your elbows, close your eyes, focus at your third eye point and just breathe long and deeply here. And that asana that feels right for you and when you're ready, begin. Use your breath to soften your muscles in your legs. Breathe into the tensions, the stresses, the thoughts, the emotions.

Don't deny them. Know that they're there as an opportunity for you to breathe into them. And then as you exhale, release them softly, gently, and as you do, perhaps you find that your flexibility is allowing you to bend further down, melting into this pose. And that is where the beauty is. That is where you can find that inner joy, that inner ecstasy, that deep connection within yourself.

Do your best to keep your eyes closed here, that all that you need is deep within you. I'm here with you, I'm not going anywhere, so you can close your eyes and just focus on you, allowing all the distractions to just melt. Just as your muscles are melting with every breath. Allow yourself to truly be in this moment. And a deep connection to self.

Even in discomfort, even in what feels like an awkward pose, an awkward moment. As you breathe, as your heart beats, you still can be deeply connected to self. Last moments here. To vote these last moments to you. Soften your face, find the joy in this moment.

And the beauty in this moment. And inhale where you are, hold in that breath just for a moment, savor this. Consider your flexibility, your openness, and exhale. Gently, slowly come out of this asana, roll your shoulders up, back and down. Shake your legs, shake out your hands, and with grace, gently moving into our next asana.

Which is also our meditation, so you're going to come into easy pose, cross legged position. If you feel like you want to take a moment to just move your body around, to feel your spine coming out of that life nerve stretch, feel free to do so. And so as you get comfortable, I'll share with you this meditation. This meditation is calling in the wisdom within you to know that what is to be already is. And so the mantra that we are going to be chanting is hami ham brahm ham.

Which means exactly that, what is to be already is. We are we, we are one, we are creative forces, creative powers. And with that creativity, we truly can create beauty in any situation. And so as we're chanting this mantra, again, it's hami ham brahm ham. That brahm sound is actually B-R-U-M.

We kind of roll the R, so your tip of your tongue flicks the roof of your mouth when you say that. So try that for a moment, brahm, brahm, it's kind of like ba-dum-ch. And so it's like a D sound, but really it's an R, brahm. And so the mantra again is hami ham brahm ham. And as we chant this, our posture is that we are seated in easy pose, our spine is straight, our chest is lifted, shoulders relaxed, and your hands are in a specific mudra, which means hand position.

So your thumb and your pointer finger are connected. This is called gyan mudra. And they say that the pointer finger is known as our finger of wisdom, of knowledge, calls upon Jupiter energy. And so that's what we're calling it, knowledge and wisdom, to know that what is to be already is. Let's be in this moment of beauty, of bounty, of bliss.

And so eyes closed, focus inwards and upwards into your third eye. Again the mantra is hami ham brahm ham. If you'd like to listen to me chant it a couple of times before you join in, feel free to do so. And let's inhale to begin. Hami ham brahm ham, hami ham brahm ham, hami ham brahm ham.

Chant with such joy next to see. Hami ham brahm ham, hami ham brahm ham, hami ham brahm ham. Hami ham brahm ham, hami ham brahm ham, hami ham brahm ham. Hami ham brahm ham, hami ham brahm ham, hami ham brahm ham. Hami ham brahm ham, hami ham brahm ham, hami ham brahm ham.

Hami ham brahm ham, hami ham brahm ham, hami ham brahm ham. Hami ham brahm ham, hami ham brahm ham, hami ham brahm ham. Hami ham brahm ham, hami ham brahm ham, hami ham brahm ham. Hami ham brahm ham, hami ham brahm ham, hami ham brahm ham. Hami ham brahm ham, hami ham brahm ham.

Last one. Hami ham brahm ham. Inhale. Suspend your breath, hold, allow the vibrations of this beautiful mantra to resonate within you, outwards and beyond the beyond and exhale. Stay here in this moment and complete stillness and silence just for a moment and feel yourself so beautiful, so radiant, attractive, magnetic.

And inhale, exhale and gently slowly open your eyes and feel free to stay seated or come lying onto your backs for shavasana, deep relaxation. Feel free to place the blanket on you or use it as a pillow, you can place your bolster underneath your legs to relax your lower back and once you come into your comfortable shavasana position, gently slowly close your eyes, allow your mind, your body to melt into the earth. Feel that beauty, the light within you radiating beyond your body, beyond your mind, out into the cosmos and allow the vibrations of the gong to continue to cleanse, to purify as well as to amplify your beauty, your joy, your ecstasy. Stay here in this moment and feel free to place the blanket on you or use it as your pleasure. You You You like to stay in Shavasana for the rest of this time feel free to do so Otherwise together. Let's inhale And exhale Wiggle your fingers and toes And roll your ankles roll your wrists Rub your palms together And rub the soles of your feet together And feel free to cat stretch here if you'd like to bringing your knees to one side twisting your torso in the opposite direction direction looking in the direction of your hands and Then switch sides bringing your knees to the other side twisting your torso in your arms the opposite direction looking towards your hands And then return back to center hugging in your knees give yourself a loving embrace feel free to rock back and forth Or side to side or gently roll over to inside and meet me here back in easy pose cross-legged position Hands together and pray at your heart center Taking this moment to close your eyes notice how you feel here seated just like how we began today's practice notice any subtleties any shifts and And We'll close by saying long time Sun together May the longtime Sun shine upon you all love surround you and the pure light within you guide your way on Inhale to chant one long sat-nam together meaning truth is my name truth is my essence truth is my identity sat-nam sat-nam