Eight Human Talents

Book Excerpt - Introduction

Introduction: One day someone asked me what I used to be like before I did Kundalini Yoga and Meditation. I stared a moment, not out of rudeness, but because I honestly cannot remember. I am a very different person now. I believe that in doing this work, following the way of yoga and meditation, I have healed and blossomed on a cellular level, and connected with the truth of my soul's journey. In so doing, I have also been of service to others. All this has happened in my life because of this incredibly profound healing technology called Kundalini Yoga and Meditation. I believe that part of my purpose here in this lifetime is to bring what I have learned to others.

I am so enthusiastic about the miracles I have seen happen with yoga and meditation. Learning to meditate will attract all that you are longing to understand.

It's not the life that you live, it's the courage that you bring to it.

When the challenges in life come, as they do to everyone, I have tools I use to begin healing myself. Some of them are very simple and take only a few minutes of my time.

Yoga is not about self-improvement, it's about self-acceptance.

More and more, people are becoming drawn to yoga and meditation, and this does not surprise me at all. It's important to understand doing yoga is not just another "self-improvement" craze. Yoga is not a practice of self-improvement at all. It is a practice of self-acceptance, which is a very different thing. You don't need to be "fixed"; you simply need to reconnect with how wonderful and perfect you already are. Yoga is about remembering who you truly are. That is why doing yoga, even on the smallest level, can change the course of your life, just as it has mine. Your birthright is happiness. You are born as a spiritual being to have a human experience.

In Kundalini Yoga, the biggest challenge is usually not the exercise itself, it is getting myself just to do it! The fact that I teach yoga for a living doesn't mean that I always remember to use it when I most need it. Sometimes I know that I need to refocus and that it's worth taking three or five minutes to do something to make myself feel better, and yet my negative mind will still win the battle. Sometimes getting myself just to do it is harder than any super-advanced yoga handstand I could try.

Misery is a choice we can count on. Misery is not elusive, it's always there for us.

If we can make one step towards happiness, towards healing, towards change, miracles begin to happen. The Kundalini Yoga and Meditation in this book are a way of making those small steps towards happiness.

If you will try even one thing from this book -- one breathing exercise, one stretch, one meditation -- know that somewhere I am cheering right out loud for you, because I know making that first step is the hardest thing to do, and in just doing it, even once, you have achieved an enormous victory for yourself!

Next: Mantras