Open Heart Ceremony
For Your Safety with the increase in COVID infections, we have moved this event online from 9-10:45am and have reduced the ticket fee price.
I want my 2022 to be filled with magic!
Join Jessica Brazil, LCSW, IKYTA Certified Kundalini Yoga Teacher and Neenel Kharb, MS, RYT Kundalini Yoga Teacher for a Workshop and Ceremony to invite in a more open heart into 2022. This workshop will include Kundalini Yoga Kriyas, Movement, Meditation and Mantra practices, Breathwork, Sound Bath, Journaling, and Ceremonial Energy to facilitate a process of letting go of wounds and attachments lingering from 2021 and beyond and expand into heart consciousness in 2022. Jessica and Neenel are advanced Kundalini Yoga teachers who are seasoned in the practice of expanded awareness and facilitation of practices that generate alternative states of consciouness through yogic technologies. This ceremony will include:
Kundalini Yoga & Meditation
Breathwork & Mantra
Sound Bath with Crystal Bowls, Handpan and Gong
Open Heart Ceremony
About the Teachers
Jessica Brazil (Mantra Preet Kaur), LCSW, IKYTA Certified Kundalini Yoga Teacher
Jessica’s yoga and meditation teaching styles are influenced by a variety of Mindfulness teachers and an intuitive blend of hatha, vinyasa, and kundalini yoga. Her passion is helping people tame fear to embrace whole-hearted living through the power of creative visualization, dream awareness, breath, ceremony, tuning in to the subconscious and unconscious self, and in doing so connect more deeply to awareness and creative potential. A passion for Hawaiian culture and our indigenous nature has created opportunities for working with a wide range of ages, cultures, ethnicities, sexual orientations & gender identities, and life experiences from infancy to geriatrics, professional athletes, leaders, performers, military professionals, and public figures. Her areas of strength are in opening the mind-body-spirit relationship. Jessica believes, accessing whole-hearted living is the key to happiness and our passions blended with a willingness to receive help, practice authenticity, and being adaptable to change are key ingredients to living a healthy, happy, and peaceful life.
Neenel Kharb, MS, Kundalini Yoga Teacher
Neenel Kharb is both a holistic mental health counselor and certified yoga instructor. Her yoga practice is inspired by her experience studying mindfulness practices in India, including breathwork, postural alignment, physical movement, and meditation. She is passionate and dedicated to supporting her students in nurturing the relationship between body and mind. She believes having an open, nurturing and playful heart is the path of achieving of peace and joy and has guided many students in development a more loving relationship with themselves and with others.
What is Kundalini Yoga?
The kundalini energy, or shakti, was first mentioned in the Vedas, ancient religious texts originating in India. The texts, written in Sanskrit, describe the Kundalini shakti as a divine, feminine energy located at the base of the spine. Kundalini is derived from the Sanskrit word kundal, roughly translated as circular. Practitioners envision Kundalini energy as a coiled snake that is asleep, waiting to be woken. Through Kundalini Yoga practices, the energy is awakened and encouraged to move up the spine and used as a tool to harness the nervous, mental and physical energies to gain complete control over them.
Kundalini Yoga is composed of five elements that are practiced in an established order. Sessions follow a course that begins with tuning in using an opening chant, followed by kriyas, relaxation, meditation, and a closing chant. Beginners may find they feel strange participating at first, but it is important to keep an open mind and remain consistent.
Breathwork is foundational to kundalini yoga. Various breathing techniques are used, each pair specifically to movement and meditation. Popular breathing techniques used are Long Deep Breathing, and Breath of Fire. Long Deep Breathing is done through the nose by slowly and deeply expanding the abdomen on inhales and contracting on exhales. This technique is excellent for soothing anxiety and calming the body. The Breath of Fire engages the stomach as you exert force on the exhale. This rapid, repetitive breathing provides abundant physical and emotional health benefits and can improve some depression symptoms.
Mantras, chants, and using sound vibrations direct specific energy and frequencies to the body and brain. Our emotions, happiness, joy, sadness, vibrate at their own unique frequencies. The sounds created by mantras, or chants, signal chemical reactions to take place in the brain and body that enable us to align more closely with the frequency of our intention. A remarkable aspect of mantras is they are not exclusive to yoga practices or meditation. Mantras can be utilized while driving, working, or before going to sleep. Being aware of what sound currents generate specific states of relaxation or that energize is helpful with the guidance of a skilled teacher.
Kriyas combine breathwork, posture, and mantras to achieve a specific result. Kriya means action. They effectively create harmony throughout all of the body, mind, and spirit.
Hand positions, mudras, are used to activate energy. Different mudras stimulate specific energy. Popular mudras are the hands pressed together in front of the chest or thumbs and index fingers pressed together.
Meditation in kundalini yoga is practiced in precise time increments depending on desired results or states of awareness. Meditation encourages the release of trauma and emotional and spiritual wounds and promotes healing of the physical and mental bodies. In Kundalini Yoga, shorter-length meditation affects the body’s electromagnetic field and blood circulation. If you continue longer, effects begin to occur on the nervous system, glandular system, cells, and body rhythms.
Kundalini Yoga and Mindful Living Group
Kundalini Yoga is commonly referred to as “yoga awareness.” This ancient form evokes a deep awareness and powerful transformation in those who consistently practice. If you feel a push to find more purpose in life or feel that you are not reaching your highest potential, Kundalini Yoga may be something to consider. Other forms of yogic practices are beneficial in their own way – especially if you are looking for something more physical body focused. Kundalini Yoga concentrates heavily on spiritual awakening, creating and maintaining a deep mind-body connection, and evolved awareness.
Incorporating Kundalini Yoga into coping skills and daily routines has been proven to significantly reduce symptoms of stress and anxiety – amongst many other illnesses – and improve the lives of practitioners. Therapists trained in Kundalini Yoga are able to utilize the many benefits for treating patients with various concerns, such as generalized anxiety disorder, PTSD, Addiction, and eating disorders, are among the few.
Mindful Living Group believes in treating and maintaining the body and mind as a synergetic system rather than separate entities. Along the spine, to the top of the head, lie the seven main chakras. Frequently, one or more of these energy centers can become “blocked,” disrupting the body’s flow of energy and balance. Feeling “stuck” is a common experience and symptom of blocked energy. Kundalini Yoga unblocks the chakras allowing energy to flow freely and find balance. Chakras often become blocked because of increased stress, trauma, or poor self-care and are likely to create various other physical, mental, and spiritual issues. Kundalini Yoga practice taps into the body’s natural desire to calm, relax and heal itself.
Too little, or lack of quality, sleep is a common problem people experience. The reasons for poor sleep are countless and often relate to stress or difficulty in relaxing. The consequences create a domino effect of issues around mental and physical health. Guided relaxation and meditation during Kundalini Yoga sessions have been shown to significantly help individuals reach deep states of relaxation that improve quality of sleep and reduce restlessness.
Benefits of Kundalini Yoga
Benefits that are associated with Kundalini Yoga are both evidence-based and anecdotal. Although studies were not extensive in number, results continued to demonstrate positive effects. Reduced symptoms of anxiety and stress, including improved sleep, self-appreciation, self-esteem, and positive mood, are commonly reported. Kundalini Yoga establishes a deeper mind-body connection, providing insight into how your energy, motion, and emotion interconnect.
The practice creates effective and noticeable improvements on the physical body, during and after sessions. Long, slow, deep breathing calms the body’s autonomic nervous system resulting in lowered blood pressure, heart rate and reduced stress and muscle tension. Consistent practice establishes a neutral state of mind allowing reactions and emotions around life’s turbulence to be less harmful to your peace.
Yogi Bhajan, credited for introducing Kundalini Yoga to the western world which has birthed many wonderful masters who have continued building upon this practice, stated, “The process of growth through Kundalini Yoga is a natural unfolding of your own nature … like a snake, you will need to shed old skin to be more of who you are.” Committing yourself to and practicing this form will create a change in you. The spiritual connection you have with yourself and others increases. Practitioners frequently report the development of and growth in empathy, creativity, internal peace, and charisma.