Naad Yoga – The Yoga of Sound

Yogi Bhajan said ?Yoga without mantra is not yoga.? Mantra allows regulation and integration of the powerful effects of Kundalini, allowing us to reach for the heavens and stay grounded simultaneously.

Many of you have felt the positive impact of chanting so I want to say a little more about what?s happening

Importance of sound

The entire universe is built on sound i.e. everything is vibrating at a particular frequency. Even things that seem not to be moving like stones are still vibrating at a very slow, low frequencies.

The bible starts with in the beginning was the Word, science describes it as the big bang. Naad Yoga is the merging of our sound with the UniVerse ~ the one sound.

Importance of listening

To listen fully to another and to hear both on the surface but especially at a deeper level what they are asking for is perhaps the greatest gift we can develop but it requires a quiet, calm mind. We are often not listening as we are waiting to make our point.

?You say things just to say them, you hear things just to hear them. You actually neither say things nor hear things, because you don?t perceive anything. If you cannot perceive, you cannot conceive, you cannot be pregnant, you cannot deliver. If you cannot deliver, you cannot nurse? You don?t need intellectual knowledge, you need experience. If you are sitting here and you want to get knowledge, it is already in you?.. What do we experience? We don?t experience Wahe Guru!?We experience self. And when we experience enough self, we become the Wahe Guru.?

?You listen but you don?t hear. If you speak too fast, too loud you can?t be trusted. Communication happens but it has a lot of cracks in it. It?s not bonded. It?s shallow and reactive there is no flow of the psyche, it?s just ceremonial. ?Devotees must be expansive; hear Granth, hear shabd, hear friends, hear your enemies hear those who are indifferent to you ? you?ll know what their trying to protect themselves from and so you?ll understand cause and effect? (Yogi Bhajan)

Shabd Guru

Phonemes are the smallest unit of speech that distinguishes one word from another. Shabd Guru uses this atomic level of language.

There are two systems of grammar ~ one normal, the other ?nirukta? meaning beyond the forms.When a sounds innate vibration corresponds to or in some way reproduces what it refers to, it is a sacred language. These are ?fundamental vibrations that resonate with universal energies within us?.

The more you more away from primary languages the less the connection of the word to the object.

Sacred sounds are basic word units that were put together according to the energy, emotion and awareness they create. In this context;

(1) Ordinary language is highly ineffective.

(2) An affirmation is usually a temporary fix and that?s assuming we know what we need. If not it will be difficult to maintain motivation; if it is not a call to our destiny that resonates in body and mind at a cellular level.

(3) Mantras cleanse the subconscious and move our karmic blocks so that we get clearer about what we really need. Man = mind and Trang = wave. ?The science of mantra is based on the knowledge that sound is a form of energy having structure, power and a definite predictable effect on the chakras and the human psyche? Happiness, sorrow, joy and regret are vibratory frequencies in the mind? Change the frequency and we can direct our emotional energy devotionally

(4) Shabd Guru awakens our spiritual intelligence. It is our inner resonance meeting nature?s resonance. A care free state of being. This is actually the opposite of being careless. We are directed, clear minded but non-attached. It is being fully at ease within ourselves and this being mirrored back to us. It is called sahaj. It is being confident, cosy and blissful.

Know how not just know what

Shabd Guru gives procedural knowledge that is in your cells and subconscious, not just representational knowledge in your ideas. It informs our formative tendencies to structure our structuring. It is the order behind the order. A spiritual DNA.

The sound is not indoctrinating or trying to put something on you! It is an agent to clear, to awaken. Shabd is a perfect weave of rhythm, sound, tone and focus. The raaga conveys the feeling and the poetry and the words convey the meaning. When a shabd is sung in the prescribed raag it gives the words an emotional charge. Different shabds relate to different common themes which are then conveyed through the mood of the raag. There are 34 different raags which convey the whole range of human emotion.

2 Voices

We have 2 voices one the ego and the other the soul. We are often speaking to others and ourselves from the ego mind. We need to establish a relationship between the mind (selfish and impatient side) and the soul (honest and sincere side).

Shabd Guru gives us a bridge to acknowledge both and get them to work together rather than against each other.

Ultimate aim

Anahat means ?unstruck? (the sound of one hand clapping). It is the re-established of the unity of self that has been fragmented, shattered by the ego. To be shunyia is to be zero. The mind is silent but full of universal oneness

The Art

Tuning In with Kundalini Yoga

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??????????? ?????????????????????????????????????

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??

?Tuning In ??ONG NA MO GURU DEV NA MO

 

How To Do It ? ONG starts with the open mouth ?O? sound but soon leads into a nasal sound since the objective is to create a vibration in the sinuses and open up the third eye (pituitary).

 

This can be assisted by gently pulling up on the perineum (the area between the anus and genitals).

 

NA MO ? the NA, a bit shorter.? MO slightly elongated.

 

GURU ? shorter.? DEV ? is sung slightly higher.

 

And NA MO ? as before.

 

 

Purpose ? ONG is the sound of longing ? the desire to merge, to cross the ocean of our life and return to our original state of innocence.

 

NA MO ? to call on that which carries us across this ocean ? the GURU ? this is commonly translated as that which moves us from darkness or ignorance ? the GU ? the grunt, the groan, into the RU ? the ray (of light), the realisation.? The implication is that we are guided out of the darkness and into the light.

 

Actually, GU comes from the word GUHA which meant a cave.? If you go to the back of a cave it gets darker.? When it gets as dark as it can be ? in the pitch blackness – there is always still a tiny bright spark of light and then the return into the light, which itself even when it seems most bright still contains a tiny amount of blackness.? This is what we see in the Daoist Yin Yang symbol.? The implication in our life is that in all situations the opposite tendency is there.? So in the darkest part of the night there is still the movement into daylight and in the lightest part of the day there is contained within the darkness of night.? This means that even when we feel under the most extreme pressure and feel without hope the seed of change ? the movement into the light is there.? The challenge is to keep our neutrality so that we can thrive in any circumstances.? In this way we become our own best therapist and ultimately our own guru (teacher).

 

?If a person has a neutral, sensitive mind, when he must experience a bad time, he can sit down and say, ?Oh God! Wonderful!!? What do you want?? A bad time?? I don?t care.?? That person will communicate, talk and feel the challenge is fun.? He?s not upset.? He knows the night will pass, and there will be a warm day.? He knows he will have a lot of fun, so he preserves his energy for that time.? He keeps himself centred, whole and together.? When the time changes so he can expand, he applies all his energy.? He enjoys it all the way.? That neutral and sophisticated quality of mind has to be developed, trained, created, experienced, tooled, and fitted into all the grooves of habits and action. ??Once you accomplish this, any success in life is possible.? Without this training nothing is possible, except your fate and your old subconscious patterns.? An important part of Kundalini Yoga is to develop the Neutral Mind and its capacity for intelligence, endurance, and integrity.?? Yogi Bhajan.

 

To continue ?

 

DEV means invisible and divine, further pointing to the mysterious, unknown aspect of life.

 

The total explanation is; I call on infinite wisdom to guide me.? Sometimes you may experience tuning in energetically as coming down and in or sometimes more you feel the sound more internally.? Actually it is both simultaneously since we are establishing a relationship between the finite and the infinite; – the purpose of yoga; it is us calling on our own inner wisdom or teacher and the wisdom of the infinite, or our collective unconscious, if you prefer.? By tuning in we are given the opportunity to neutralise what has gone before we arrive at our yoga mat and make a connection to the highest part of us.

 

 

2nd part

 

AD GURAY NAMEH, JUGAD GUAY NAMEH, SAT GURAY NAMEH, SIRI GURU DEVAY NAMEH

 

 

How To Do It ? In a monotone the ending on NAMEH is clipped; there is no extension on the ?H?

 

 

Purpose ? This mantra creates a protective field of energy by balancing the 5 elements.

 

 

GURAY NAMEH ? identifying, naming

 

AD GURAY NAMEH ? AD means primal or first and relates to the earth element,

 

JUGAD GURAY NAMEH ? (jug jug ? running like a river) ? identifying with the guru through the times, relates to the water element

 

SAT GURAY NAMEH ? Truth revealed through the fire element and the burning of impurity

 

SIRI GURDEVAY NAMEH ? Great respect to the Guru of all Gurus

The 4 stages of the menstrual cycle and treatment protocols

The 4 stages of the menstrual cycle and treatment protocols

 

Phase 1; Ra…. preovulatory – warming up. Structure in place to reproduce. Catalystic phase – in heat. 3/7 Teenager ready to reproduce; hot flushes. The stage of Enchantress, priestess. Therapeutically it is generally good to clear any superficial/empty heat that is rising to the surface because the yin, the blood level is not nourished.

 

Phase 2; Ma …. Ovulatory – pregnant with potentialities, magical, focus on intention, egg released – lies in waiting, the infants call. 1/9 infant. Old witch/hag, dragon, shaman, sorceress (full or new moon). Therapeutically it is often good to tonify the yang (the primary masculine – 1/9) to clear cold/stuckness and stagnation of blood. Tonify the essence and clear dampness (stagnation of water). It can be a time when the energy is sinking and the blood and yang need to be strengthened and the energy lifted.

 

Phase 3; Da …. Premenstural … stormy, decision making, choice to go or not. Setting the holding space. The bud. Preparing for fertilisation. 4/6 Bride, lover. Warrior/(lioness?), inspired. Theraputically often a need to move stagnation of Liver Qi – the Liver governs the smooth flow of emotions. Phlegm obstructing the chest (the Lungs – lack of clarity/intuition – 6). Blood deficiency at this time can lead to an inability for the endometrium to grow, there can also be Yang Xu and coldness. Overall there is often stagnation of energy and blood and the need to use herbs and acupuncture to break through this.

 

Phase 4; Sa …. Flow. Eliminate or Illuminate. Separate (bleeding) Return to virgin state, or bond (meeting the sperm). 2/8 Daughter (madien/virgin). Mother (full or new moon). Theraputically move Qi and Blood and or stop bleeding (if too heavy

Breathing

Breathing

The new born first breathes then yells. Breath comes first then the word. Energetically the energy behind the word is the breath.

Cultivate the breath and value each word aloud or mentally to command the emotions.

There is a direct correspondence between our emotional state and our breath. If you slow your breath down you WILL automatically become more still, and stillness in the prana of your mind opens your sensitivity to the word. The breath is the vital link between the body and mind that gives us the ability to increase our sensitivity and compassion and decrease our ?emotional commotion?

If you breathe more than 20 breathes per minute you are ruled by your emotions. 14 ? 20 times ruled by emotions and mind.? 8 ? 14 ruled by your steady mind. Less than 8 and you are ruled by your soul, your happiness is guaranteed.

The catch is that breathing is part of our autonomic nervous system so is usually involuntary, unless we make ourselves conscious of it, so practice is needed.

Kundalini Yoga makes use of many different breathing methods; some emphasize the inhale, some holding the breath in, some emphasize the exhale and some emphasize holding the breath out. We have breath of fire, alternate nostril breathing, segmented breaths, sitali, whistle breath, lion breath, cannon breath, sitkari and vatskar to name some of them.

Beginners can be challenged initially because it automatically puts us more in touch, it sensitises us and asks us to focus. We could say that exercise focuses the body and breath focuses the mind and of course we put these two things together when we do a kriya.

The breath takes us from the gross to the subtle, the automatic to the conscious, from mine to not mine. It gives consciousness of the other, it is a way to extend and breakdown the boundaries between you and your universe.