355: Kundalini Made Easy with Elevate The Globe Britt + Tara

Namaste, it's Sahara Rose. And welcome back to the Highest Self Podcast, a place to discuss what makes you your soul's highest evolvement. If it's your first time listening, welcome. I am so grateful that our souls are connecting at this part of our journeys. And I know so many people are opening up to greater spiritual, spiritual wisdom and gnosis, the internal knowing that we all have. And I feel like the spiritual awakening is more of a spiritual remembering. It's remembering what we already knew for so many different lifetimes that are resurfacing right now. And it's really an exciting time because conversations left and right are about healing and empowerment and dharma and yoga sutras and chakra system and so many other beautiful healing modalities that aren't new but rather ancient. And I'm really excited because we're going to be diving into one of these practices today on this episode. So if you haven't heard yet, my new book, discover your Dharma just came out on January 5th, and I am just beyond so grateful to see it making its way to so many of your homes. Just the messages I'm receiving, the reviews that I'm reading on Amazon, the number of people who are saying it finally gave them that ounce of courage, permission, intuition, that they were needing to just finally take that step towards their dharma. So if you haven't checked out the book yet, Discover your Dharma is all about finding your soul's purpose. I created this framework called the Dharma Blueprint framework that really guides you step by step throughout the process of unraveling your soul's purpose through the Dharma archetypes, looking at what you're excited about, looking at the obstacles you've overcome, different superpowers that you have, and so much more. So this book is really my life's work. So far, I have gone through my own journey of not knowing what my purpose was, my family being really against me, living my purpose and trying to believe in myself, even though I had no evidence to, until finally I wrote my first book, second book, third book, and this book, discover your Dharma, is really all about the how. How I was able to go from confusion to Clari and live a life in true alignment with my soul. And all of the tools and tips that I've learned along the way that I essentially channeled down to share with you. So if you haven't checked out the book yet, head over to my show notes. You will find a link iamsaharrose.com dharma and on that link, not only can you get the book wherever Books are sold internationally, as well as on Audible, Kindle, et cetera. But you can also submit your receipt and get three exclusive practices that are not included in the book. Now, those are my discovery, your Dharma meditation, my Dharma embodiment practice, to dance, your Dharma, and my Dharma tapping practice. So head over to iamsaharrose.com dharma to get those bonuses and to get the book. Now, since the book coming out, I shared a little update in my last solo cast that I did about embodiment as the sun being and rewilding. And I have been deepening my understanding of my human design archetype, which is the projector, and going deeper into to my different gates in my chart and really looking at myself and giving myself a lot more rest than I ever have before. I'm someone who can keep going and keep creating. And the moment I'm done with something, I'm. I'm onto the next. And I believe a lot of it is because I just have a huge mission here, that I'm very excited to create all of these things and have the energy to bring it alive, because I'm in that stage five of the five stages of Dharma that I speak about in the book. But stage five is really when you're living your Dharma, so you have all of this energy. However, does that mean you should just work all the time? No. And that is something that. Because I have been in this process of writing the book the past two years and, you know, creating everything else that I create, it has just been go, go, go for the past decade when I wrote my first book. So I have been really trying to lie down a lot more throughout my day. Just, you know, in between things, just lie down to let my body be in a more rel receiving state. Lying down on my foam roller, vertically up my spine, so from my head to the base of my tailbone and opening up my arms to let my body be in this more relaxed state. And I've also been really deep diving into somatics and using different body state practices to transform our minds. So something that I'm really excited about and diving deeper into and integrating in my own life. And in this episode today, we are going to be talking about different practices, specifically from the Kundalini tradition. So Kundalini is a method of yoga. And in this episode, we discuss how it's different than a traditional Hatha yoga class, which is typically the type of yoga you would do at the gym or at a yoga studio. Power yoga, Vinyasa yoga. These are really in the Hatha school of Yoga. But Kundalini is something that is a bit different. It's a more energetic style of yoga. So I wanted to bring on my two friends, Britt and Tara, who are really experts at Kundalini. They are Kundalini Yoga teachers and they just wrote this new book all about different morning practices that we can do with Kundalini. So in this episode, we dive deep into what Kundalini Yoga is all about. I asked them about this ancient technology and how using the breath and different yogic postures, we can achieve states of euphoria, bliss and even samadhi, the feeling of complete peace within. Now, these girls are dear friends of mine and I love their more feminine approach to Kundalini yoga, which can be very rigid and masculine sometimes. I've tried Kundalini in the past and never totally resonated with it because of that reason, but I love how they bring a more feminine, open approach so it doesn't have to be as strict. And I know their book has plenty of meditations that you can just do on their own. They're incredible people to learn from. So without further ado, let's welcome Elevate the Globe girls Brit and Tara to the Highest self podcast. And before we get started, I have an announcement for you. Do you feel deep in your soul that you have a purpose but are overwhelmed and confused about where to start? Are you a multi passionate person who needs a clear focus and direction so you can truly make progress and impact this year? Do you know deep down that your highest form of joy is your highest form of service, but need clarity on how to make that your reality? Well, you're not alone. Our school system and society has not trained us to follow our intuition and honor our Dharmas. In fact, it can feel like totally foreign territory. But the thing is, discovering your Dharma is the most important work you can do. And without discovering our Dharma, we will never experience true happiness. Because happiness is the byproduct of living your purpose. I was where you might be right now, confused and overwhelmed about my own Dharma, questioning if I even had one, if my dreams were just wishful thinking or if my obstacles had happened to be for a reason. Because it was my opportunity to share them. And through my journey of deconditioning and unraveling and getting true with myself for many, many years, I finally got the courage to write my first book, second book, third book, my newest book, discover your Dharma and help thousands of others discover their Dharmas too. So I'm so excited to bring you the first ever course, the 21 Day Dharma Discovery Journey. In this course, in just 21 days, in less than 10 minutes a day, I will be your dharma coach, guiding you step by step on how to discover your dharma. So if you're interested in learning more, head over to iamsaharrose.com Dharma discovery again, that's. I am Sahara Gross.com Dharma discovery. The link is in the show notes, and I'm so excited to see you live in your dharma. Welcome, ladies, to the Highest Self podcast. It's so great to finally have you here.

We're so happy to be here.

Thank you. Yes.

So the first question I'd love to ask you is, what makes you your highest self? So we'll start with you, Brit.

I am my highest self when I am wackiest in my full expression.

I love it. We were just singing some karaoke, so I totally resonate with that one. I love it. And it can. You know, it's like, here you guys are like Kundalini, like teachers and authors, and it's when you're just wacky and being playful and fun that you feel like your highest self. So I love that answer. What about for you, Tara?

For me, I'm a highest self when I am not operating from any space of fear at all. It's just not present whatsoever.

I love that when we're just like, yep, this is it. Like, there's no shackles of fears, like, attached to it.

Yeah. And there's been a lot of. I think that's when you have to work through constantly.

Yeah. 100%. Yes. So, you guys, you know, we haven't done a conversation on Kundalini Yoga before, and it's something that you guys have been teaching and practicing for so many years now. So can you share with us how both of you got into Kundalini Yoga? And what is Kundalini Yoga?

Yeah, I feel like Brit got into it first, so she'll go. She'll. She'll share.

Okay, I'll start. Yeah. So this is Britt, and I like probably many of you, and you too, Sahara. Found Kundalini when I was at one of my darkest points and was just in a breakup, was moving, didn't like my job, Everything was kind of crumbling around me, and I was looking for answers and looking for healing, looking to expand and really alchemize a lot of the energy from my childhood that I hadn't looked at or healed. And as the universe would have it, I went into a gym yoga class that I thought was just working out my abs for the weekend and nothing more than that. And it ended up being a Kundalini class. And in that class, I sat in the back. I had no clue what was going on. I had this full emotional breakdown and experience that I hadn't had in so long. And I just felt so connected to the practice that almost unconsciously, I started going back every single week. And that's really how it started. From there, I just started listening to the mantras and talking to the teacher and asking him all of these different questions, and I had all these experiences, and I was so excited. And it just opened up this whole new avenue for me where I was finally excited about something that wasn't drinking, wasn't destructive, wasn't consumed in all of these patterns and people that had been consuming my energy for so long. So it was cool. It was exciting. And from there, everything just started expanding and went to Costa Rica on a yoga retreat and started just pulling in a morning practice at one point and practicing on my own even pretty early on, and became a teacher. And, yeah, that's kind of how it all really kicked off for me. But it was an exciting, definitely, like, turning point in my life.

I love that. And when we look at those five stages of Dharma discovery, you, like, literally went through each one of just, like, something needed to change. You ended up at this gym, yoga class, and then you went on your spiritual journey and, like, research it more, and here you are. It was just, like, a perfect example of it in action. So thank you for sharing that. What was it like for you, Tara?

Well, it's funny because the Brit and I. Well, we've known each other since we were 12, so our paths have always, like, merged at some point and then, you know, separated and merged. And it was at a merging point, and it was at Britt's bachelorette party that, you know, up until this point. Let's backtrack. Up until this point, I was. I had gone through a breakup. I had moved across the country multiple times. I was just at a place where I knew that I needed to make a change, right? Like, I knew if I kept going, things were not going to be turning out in my favor, meaning I was not going to be living in my highest self. It would just be bad. So I knew I had to make a change. So I went through a breakup, and I was finding myself alone a lot, and I was turning to astrology, and I was kind of dating a lot of people, and I still felt like, what is going on here? I was turning to Psychics to tell me things and also to learn from them so that I understood how to use my own gifts. And. But then we come to Britt's bachelorette party, and she's telling me. And I've watched Britt go through her whole journey, and I knew that if Britt's gone through, I'm watching her going, she's really good right now. I knew she went through some dark stuff, and now she's really good, and she wants to teach us a class at her bachelorette party. I had to leave early. I didn't get to do it with her, but it was enough because some of the girls were kind of being mean about it. They were like, this is weird. Why are you doing that? Just making fun of her. And I'm like, make fun of Brett. Come on. Like, she just, you know, like, this is helping her. And so it just intrigued me. It was like, what is this? And I. It took me a year to find a studio to even take it up in San Francisco. I was living there at the time. There really wasn't any. And there was an ashram in the Haight. In the Haight. On Haight Ashbury. And it was like, five people a class by donation, and so I had to take an Uber every time, and it was across the city. And I was like, this is a lot. And I just. I took it one day, though, because I was like, brit is working through all this stuff. She's doing cool stuff. And I took a class, and I think I did spinal twists where you're, like, using a lot of your breath. And I just had this feeling of getting a little high in my body. And I never really done drugs at all up until that point. And I was trying to lay off on the alcohol. And so I was feeling this thing that I'm like, is this what it feels like to be hi on something? I was like, I can do this with my own breath. The teacher was like, if you're feeling that, you're just creating energy. And I lost my mind. I was like, this is unreal. And I was just obsessed. And then went on a long journey with. It went really deep, dark, into a lot of clearing. A lot of crying on the floor. For no reason, but for a reason, you know, I didn't know what was going on. A lot of shifting stuff in my body, and it just kind of landed me, you know, on the pathway to.

Where we are now.

So it was really through this, like, this kind of convergence of seeing Britt at our Bachelor at party Seeing the change she had gone through and going, what did she do?

I love that because, you know, when we're living our dharma or even just on the pathway for it, we inspire others to do the same. So it's not her being like, yo, bitches, get your lives in order. Like, it was like, she's just like, I love doing this practice. I'm in fact so inspired that I want to spend my bachelorette party doing it. That you're like, there must be something to this. And just seeing her shift in her. Her glow inspired your own too.

Exactly.

Yeah. So for those people who might not know what is Kundalini Yoga? Because I feel like it's a word a lot of people have, like, heard, but they're just not quite sure what it is.

Definitely. Yeah. So you'll. If you Google Kundalini, you'll see all these crazy stories about the Kundalini energy. And of course, we have the Kundalini energy at the base of our spine, coiled like the snake, and that's what spirals up through our chakras, and that's the energy that we can activate. And the form of Kundalini yoga and the practice of it is an ancient technology. It was recorded in a lot of yogic scriptures and traditions as one of the first yogas. So a lot of the hatha and the bhakti and all the beautiful yogas, you can find elements and pieces of them in Kundalin. And Kundalini tends to have pieces of all of them in a traditional class. So you'll find the mantra, the breathwork, the movement and the stretching and that yoga and then the chanting and more of the solitude and the silence in Savasanya. So it's a lot of the different elements, but it is the Yoga of awareness. And it really does help so fast to really clear the subconscious mind and just up level your consciousness to really be aware of who you are and why you're here and really what you're doing. So it's cleansing out the garbage. It works pretty fast because it's more intense. But yeah, it's beautiful. It's a beautiful practice. And there's so many different ways to experience it because there are things, thousands of meditations and thousands of kriyas, so you can really pick and choose what you want to focus on.

So for someone who's like, well, I've done a lot of different yoga classes like downward dog and child's pose and vinyasa flow. What's the difference between that style of yoga and Kundalini Yoga.

Yeah, I love that question, because I think we hear it a lot, and I see it as more of a connecting with your spirit, connecting with your higher self, connecting with the cosmos, connecting in, but connecting within. Right. So it's very, very big on connection, and it's very. It's devotional to the self and to the creative force and wisdom inside of you and activating that. And the experience I've personally had with Kundalini Yoga is that almost of, like, you can go to places of transcendence, which I have not found in other yogas, which I love. Other yogas for different things. But the practice of Kundalin, Kundalini is one that feels almost like you get on a rocket ship and you go literally to the stars every day, and you go higher and higher and higher because you're actually utilizing that Kundalini force that does propel you in ascension, really. And it helps you ascend your own limited beliefs and all the limitations and the fears and whatnot. You're activating so much energy, and you're breaking through so much with the angles and the triangles of the specific structures that are called for with the times. It can be very masculine, but it's also very feminine in a way. It can be very gentle as well. So it's just an experience, right? It's a spiritual experience all baked in. Sometimes even three minutes. You're like, whoa, where did I just go in three minutes?

So what are, like, some examples of Kundalini Yoga practices?

So many. Yes, there are so many. So as teachers, often teachers will have books in front of them because, like you were saying on our podcast, it's almost impossible to. You were saying about remembering the sequences was hard for you, and it's almost impossible to learn all these things. Of course, we know so many meditations and kriyas by now, but there are thousands. So you kind of gravitate to ones that you're working on and ones that you want to help you or focus on. So that's really how our book and all of our rituals came about. Because, for example, there's a meditation for addiction. And so we have, like, the addiction rehab in the book, because there's this meditation that you can do for 3 or 11 minutes where your thumbs are out and you're pressing on your temples beside your eyes, and you're pulling the jaw back, and there's mantras and everything. And it's a technology that science is now getting behind and able to have results and kind of prove, which is exciting, but it's this weird wacky combination that actually activates a specific result. So there's something for everything really. But a lot of times it comes down to something that you're looking to heal and release or activate more of within yourself. So so many different ones. There's one for prosperity that's really big and well known that isn't just for money or wealth, but it just activates your energy like a flower to bloom, expansion. And there's.

What about this ego eradicator? It's like every time I hear of Kundalini Yoga, I hear of this one.

Okay, so good.

Yeah. This one is Breath of fire is the base of it, right? It's that equal inhale.

Exh.

It's really energizing breath. Right. So it's actually energizing the lower chakras as well as the. Is the. Well, the solar plexus, right. Is part of the lower chakras, but it's really pumping energy. And what you're doing is you have your thumbs out in a V over your head, elbows are straight, and you're activating meridian lines and it's activating your heart center. And you're pumping energy from your lower chakras into your heart center. And you're also like tuning up your aura. And it just helps you to balance the ego, if you will. So balance the ego with the spirit. And it's very, very good warmup. It's a perfect three minute meditation. You can do it for as long as you want, but you can do three minutes of breath work sitting in the car or before you go in a meeting. And it helps reset you. It helps come back into your heart center, come back into your body and really speak and, you know, nurture the room with love versus coming from a place of ego up in your head.

Yeah. My friend used to teach Kundalini Yoga and I would go to some of her classes. But like, she wanted us to hold her arms out for like 11 minutes. I was like, I cannot do this. But it kind of felt like almost like militaristic. Like is that part of the background of Kundalini Yoga? It felt like warrior training.

It can be, yeah.

A lot of people call it like the Hogwarts. Like, and especially when I started in like West Hollywood with Tej and Gramukh and some of the older teachers that really are in their 70s and 80s now still teaching that we're really connected to the tradition and kind of the roots of it really created that kind of energy. So, yeah, it does have that side of it, like Tara said, like, it definitely has that masculine structure side of it. And then it does have the feminine, I would say 100%. We're both known for pulling in more of the feminine energy. And we've been told that so many times that in our classes we don't have that kind of militant energy. It's more loving and more feminine, but it's the same practices, so it's just a little softer. And I think it's just really whatever you need in the moment. For me, when I first started, I did, it helped me to have more of that militant energy. And that teacher that I mentioned was very much like that. Like, he would do all the most rigorous kriyas and the craziest 11 minute hands are out and do not bring them down type of teaching style. But it really, like kicked my energy in gear and helped me to shift a lot. So I think it definitely depends on the teacher. Definitely depends on what practices you gravitate toward and what you need and desire in the moment. But there are definitely a balance of both.

Another one that my friend would do is like, hold your arms out, like towards each other's shoulders. And I think, like staring to each other's left eye. Is this, is this one of the poses?

Facing each other?

Facing each other like this? And you had to like hold your arms out for like 30 minutes or something. And what is this white tantric component?

Yeah, yeah, it's. It's called white tantric. And there are some. We've done some where. I remember my first white tantric, my arms had to be diagonal and they had to be holding the other person and I was staring into his eyes for 30 minutes and his whole face transformed. And it was just, it was crazy. Sometimes you hold it for 60, 62 minutes. And we do every Thursday with our. Not every Thursday, but you know, the mastermind that we host, they do a 62 minute meditation every single Thursday. And it becomes normal. And what you're doing, what's happening when you're holding your arms out for 11 minutes, you're like, this is freaking torture, right? Like, oh my God. You start to see patterning of how you react to situations, right? And then you keep your arms out and you hold it and your subconscious starts to pick up on it, starts to relax. It starts to pick up and go, I actually can get through this. I'm starting to feel a little bit better. My arms might be going numb. Oh, I can get through this. I can hold this for 11 minutes. I can do hard stuff. We can do 60 minutes. I can do anything. I basically can do anything. You start to be able to break through because you're watching your brain tell the stories it always tells you that stops you from doing things. And so it's a way, in a way stillness in some of these kind of practices, because there's so many in Kundalini Yoga. But these are the kind where you start to really see, like, oh, those are the what kind of stories are actually coming up in my mind and, wow, do I do that in other ways? You know, one of the biggest stories I would find was about 10 seconds before every time the teacher would be like, okay, bring your hands down. I would bring my hands down and I'd be like, are you always giving up? Like, right before you get the thing? Because it seems like this is a pattern. And I started seeing it everywhere in my life and I was able to break through it by just doing weird things on my mat for long periods of time, you know.

Yeah. The way we move our body, it gives us so much information and energy. And like, are we someone that's really hard on ourselves? Are we someone that gives up? Are we someone that says I'm too weak? Are we someone that pushes our boundaries and doesn't listen? So it's like gives us just such information that I feel like no words ever could is just to be in the practice and the embodiment of it.

Yep, so true.

So is white tantric a kind of Kundalini or is this like a different thing?

Yeah, so white tantric is a type of Kundalini and it's normally one whole day. Like they have him in la or they had him. They had them before twice a year. And it's an eight to ten hour day and then. And there'll be winter solstice and summer solstice. We've been up a few times up in New Mexico where it's three or four days of it. And yeah, you always have a partner and it's very specific and there's specific people that are the teachers of it. And it really is powerful, but it's very intense and it can really break through a lot. Like, you know, they say like 10 years of meditation or something like that. It's very potent energy work. But I've had some very expansive experiences as well in them. Like a pretty crazy story was my first time that I did it. And you can choose a partner or you can just get paired up with somebody. And I felt like I should just get paired up with somebody and I didn't know why. And I sat across from this girl and we went into this meditation and I was getting very annoyed the whole time, like, so annoyed because she kept putting her hands down. She kept, you know, she wasn't like looking at me in the eyes. And she was having all these problems. And I started getting so frustrated. Like, why did I get this partner? This is the worst partner. I'm not going to get anything out of it. And the day goes on. The day goes on. She starts to tell me things. We start to get to know each other. And her mom had actually passed away and she had just left the country, left her job and just went and traveled and just, just completely didn't deal with it at all. And it was coming into her awareness to actually heal and look at. And she could barely handle it. And so had this whole experience with her. Fast forward two years later, my mom got diagnosed with cancer and I was going through a whole journey with my mom. And then she passed away. And then a year after that, I got this vision and a meditation showing me that three years before that I had been involved with a lot of healing around my mother's death, before it even happened with this woman to prepare me and to assist me and help my energy with being able to deal with it then. So it's those kinds of things with hindsight that I had no idea what was happening or why I was there or what I was going through. But then looking back, I understood exactly what that journey was. So it definitely has a lot of layers in the white tantric and it's really profound. Yeah.

We'll take a quick break so I can give a shout out to our sponsors. You know, when you open up a box and are in love, that is what happened when I opened up the kits from Anima Mundi Herbals. Their Sacred Heart Love kit has my favorites, including Blue Lotus tea, which in enhances intuition, Mucuna which enhances dopamine, Cacao, which opens the heart, ethically sourced Palo Santo mist and their euphoria elixir. It is divinity in a box and pairs perfectly with their coconut milk powder. I mean, Anima Mundi is literally my love language. And I know you are going to be obsessed with her stuff, which you can learn more about on episode 240 with the founder. She's gifted us a generous 20 off which you can get at animamundiherbals.com with coupon code sahara. That's animamundiherbals dot com a n I m a m u n d I herbals dot com with coupon code sahara are you that person that all your friends and family members come to when they need wellness advice? Are you carrying constantly looking up new ways to heal and balance your mind, body and spirit, including listening to this podcast? Well, have you ever considered having a career becoming a holistic health coach where you get to decide your own hours, work with people, tackling the subjects that you are the most passionate about and having financial freedom along the way? Well, I am so excited to be teaming up with my very own alma mater Institute for Integrative Nutrition to offer their basic biggest discount yet. You'll receive $2,250 off tuition, an extra bonus that they're offering just with my high self Podcast listeners on how to launch your dream book. This course is going to get you super clear on what your book is about and how to bring it out into the world. I've created a webinar for you on how to have a thriving business as a health coach. So using social media, creating passive income, how to have a wait list of clients and become become the best known coach in your niche with raving testimonials, tickets to a live upcoming IIN conference where I will be meeting you over there. Super excited to connect and a bundle of all digital wellness guides like Ayurveda Self Love, Whole Food Eating etc so all you have to do is head over to my show notes. You'll see the link over there. It's a little bitly link. It'll take you right there. You'll be able to receive a sample class, check out the curriculum, get all your questions answered and I'm so excited to have you on this mission raising the vibration of the planet together as a health coach. Again head over to my show notes. You'll see the link right there and I'll see you inside. I feel like just eye gazing is such a profound practice. Like it's so hard to see and be seen and to like hold that gaze and like every part of us just wants to like hide or look away or laugh or like say something to like negate the experience. And then like sometimes I catch myself when I'm eye gazing. Like I almost check out by trying to analyze them. Do you know what I mean of like oh like let me look at her eyes shape or her this or that like rather than just like being there and connecting and like you can just pick up on like where are the things do I go? Do I in experience try to analyze it for more like distance from it. Do I try to like. Or sometimes if I'm eye gazing and I can, can see that person is feeling very emotional and wants to start crying, I'll like try to smile and like make them happy. And it's like there's my, you know, entertainer, like, you know, maybe that person just needs to cry and I should just like watch her, you know, and like hold that stoic energy. So it really teaches us so much about ourselves.

It does. And that, you know what, the way that energy works. It's interesting because in the White Tantric there's sometimes room. The room is what, how many people would you say? Like 800 people?

Yeah, it's thousands.

Thousands and thousands. If we've done it with, I've done it with thousands of people at summer solstice. Yeah. And they like line you up and you're, you're just pairs and pairs of people and you have to line up pretty exact. So what's happening is the, it's using this like diagonal energy that's being pushed through the room through the Mahan Tantric, the person that's organizing and hosting it and teaching it and leading it, and energy is being pushed and you can kind of feel it. You can kind of feel this like sort of swaying. And that energy is like that, that sort of six dimensional. This is my interpretation of it, that six dimensional energy that is geometric shapes that kind of come in and smash through things. And then you're also physically holding postures that are awkward and weird and you're mirroring back things to the other person and you're also seeing, getting a mirror of yourself from them. And it's just wild, the sort of depth that you can go because you're sitting there for so long and you're almost in this trance and the energy's like moving like this rocking ship, just like, like breaking. What's that? What's that? Not pong. Is that what that thing was called?

Ping pong?

No, the, you know, the old computer game that was like the, like ping pong, you know. And you have snake.

Snake, right. No, I don't.

Yeah, probably. I don't remember it.

I know what you're talking about.

Yeah, I'm bad with analogies.

But yeah, it is a good practice to look at your partner in the eye too. Like you were saying, just even for a minute you can start to really see people's soul.

Even like friends. Like sometimes I've like eye gazed with like a friend I've known for years. But we've Never eye gazed before and you do it and it's just like such a deeper connection between the two of you. And like sometimes with friendships, you take the other person for granted or you see them in your own light and just to eye gaze and be like, oh, my goddess, like, you are my sister, like, I am so grateful for you. It's something that we just don't do enough of insight. I've actually heard it can even work well online. Like, eye gazing online has been proven to be quite effective. Maybe not as much as in person, but so important we continue that connection. And what do you recommend for people who they may try doing Kundalini Yoga, but they're like doing the poses and like, they're weird, right? And they start judging themselves and they're like, this is so weird. Like, what am I doing right now? Like, this is crazy. Or like, is this cultish? Like, is something wrong with me if I'm doing this? How can we overcome that inner dialogue?

For sure. I felt like, I felt like that for a while in the beginning. And yeah, I think it's just about realizing that for me, I was doing so many weird things in my life that were not actually serving me and helping me. So if I could just let go and not worry about what other people thought of me and actually experience weird things that were helping me, then why not? So I think it's just about trying it and being open and seeing what you feel and what results you get. And then for the most part, most people that we see and ourselves, you just don't care anymore after that. You're like, oh, this is worth it, you know, doesn't really matter.

I do like the weirdest things in the airport. I'm like, I hope now people ask me what I'm doing.

What are like, good, like airport or like on the go. Kundalini practices.

Oh, so many things. You can do Cat Cow. We do Cat Cow and Kundalini faster, right? So you're really utilizing them. It's always like, stuff you want to utilize the breath. Like, extra.

Like, be extra with your breath.

Like, and it's usually through the nose, unless it's specified through the mouth. And it's like you just want to hear. You want to hear yourself. Like your breath is singing to you, right? Breath of Fire. And anyway, with your hands in Gyan Mudra, your index finger, thumb touching, you could do the Ego eradicator. God, you could do that on the plane. Even people, I think you're crazy. And then that's fine. Whatever you Know there's just, you know, even shoulder shrugs. Squeezing your shoulders up to your ears and dropping them down and using the breath. It really helps to open up the throat chakra and just relax. And then there's some like stress breath works that you can do. Like the. There's like segmented breaths you can do. Four in, four out through the nose. Eight in, eight out through the nose you can do. There's one for, we love the one for releasing anger. Fists of anger. And it's through your mouth and you sway, your hands are in fists with thumb actually with it underneath all your four fingers. And you're like swimming almost like backstroke and it's like getting angry and there's a whole meditation for that. But you know, if you're in the airport, my go to is like just breath of fire. Straight breath of fire. And that's that equal inhale, exhale through the nose, pumping the naked.

And I want to ask you guys about this because I have so like traditionally breathwork like Wim Hof and stuff, it's through the mouth. Then I was doing some reading that said that the breath should always be through the nose. Because our nose has these like ability to like clear like pollutants and stuff in the air that our mouths do not. And if we're breathing from our mouths, it like creates a fight or flight like stress response. Because the only time we breathe from our mouths is if we're like panting or running away from something. But I know so many breath work practices are through the mouth and I'm assuming designed that way. So what is your take on nasal verse? Mouth breathing?

Yeah, it does do different things like you're talking about. But typically when it's through the nose it is more calming. Um, you can do like nostril breathing of course where the left side is more calming and the right side is more activating. But it just depends. I mean I could see what you're saying as far as the using the mouth to just kind of be more shallow. Fight or flight. Because if you just test how you breathe normally, typically if you time yourself for a minute and you just see how many breaths you take and you become aware like any normal meditation. As far as like are you breathing in your belly, Are you breathing in your chest? You'll probably start to notice that if you're breathing through the mouth, it's more shallow and in the chest and probably faster breaths, more breaths per minute, which is is technically and typically a sign of more anxiety and where you're more in your head and less in your heart. But yeah, they do different things, like especially breathing in through the nose and out the mouth. They're in through the mouth and out the nose with different postures and different movements can activate different parts of the brain. But yeah, the typical just nose in and out is more calming and more relaxing and tends to slow down your breath and, and open the diaphragm and pull down the lungs and get your breath into the belly more.

So like, it does activate that parasympathetic nervous system that's relaxing. Right. And like what Britt's saying, it's like if you experience it, like experience it. Kundalini Yoga is all about experience. So like, try it for yourself. If you're breathing in versus with your mouth, that's way more activating. It's like, whoa, I'm going to pull in so much breath. If you're breathing through your nose and expanding your belly out, that's expanding and that's relaxing, but it's relaxing into the expansion. And so it's activating different things in your body and it's just a different experience.

Yeah, I've been focusing a lot on breathing into my womb space. My brain is so deeply down into my womb, womb and like imagining like my yoni is breathing to like bring that like connection there. I know like Kundalini Shakti is an energy. Does Kundalini Yoga speak into Shakti energy, have practices to enhance our Shakti energy?

Absolutely, yes. Yeah, that's the thing. It's like. And there's, there's even, you know, meditations for it.

Right?

So there's, there's major meditations for that, that shakti. I mean, there's, there's mantras for it. The Adi Shakti, the divine, divine feminine. There's so many ways.

You know, and you know, like lots of like hip rolls and yes.

You know, there's lots of feminine Kriyas. There's, you know, Kriya's, she meanings the sets of movements to activate, you know, that, that sexual center, that second chakra where there's a lot of emotion, where a lot of women especially we hold a lot of fear and anxiety and trauma as well. And you know, even from our ancestors. So, you know, this. There's.

There's.

So that's the thing. It's almost like an adaptogen. You can literally, you can even do one breath work one your whole life and get so much from it. It. Even though like, you might be able to activate your full like shakti energy by doing something that Actually activates more masculine energy in you because you're deepening. You're deepening your experience, and it's an experience. So, yes. Short answer is yes. There's so many things you can do for your shakti. And we actually have a ritual in our book to activate that. And, you know, that's kind of like the juicy. We should probably do some, like. Like a whole yoni. Yoni, yeah. And meditations and. Yeah, it's interesting.

I love that.

Yeah. And I think it's like, so. So many of us, we can naturally feel like our bodies do want to move in that way. Like, our bodies want to circle, they want to undulate, they want to spiral. And that's the texture of the feminine. And to allow your body to guide you. I feel like that's when I, like, really feel the most tapped in of just like. Like, putting on music and, like, letting my body move and however it wants to move. And sometimes it's, like, beautiful and sometimes it's just really weird. And it's like whatever my body wants to express, letting myself do that. And I love how with Kundalini Yoga, for someone that's like, I don't know how to just, like, play music and dance, like, that feels like, really far away from me. They could do these Kundalini practices to give them more structure and, like, a feeling of, like, okay, I'm doing this practice for this long. And that can make them feel, like, safe to step into that. And then I know in Kundalini classes out, actually, they often have dance parties at the end. So it's like, to celebrate with that energy. And it's like, how beautiful to be able to. And Osho Dynamic Meditation does the exact same thing. You go through this, like, more rigorous process, but then you, like, bring this essence of, like, joy and dance that I feel like in our society, we forget to celebrate. We forget to, like, make the light at the end of the tunnel. We're just like, okay onto the next thing. Got over it. Like, what's next? And, yeah, like, oh, my God. It's like my body went through that experience. And now I get to, like. I think we've, like, in some ways, as a society, we're like, we've mastered or not mastered, but we're okay with, like, rest with, like, lying down. Like, we can all agree, like, we need to take more naps, we need to lie down, but we're still not okay with being wild and free and dancing and expressing. I think that's still, like, the next space that we're going to be moving into.

Agree. Yeah. And it's funny what you said about celebration because recently with our book coming out, we had a team member that works with us and she was like, did you guys know when you finished writing the book? I said, congratulations to you. And you said, for what? And it was like two days later because we would just move on so quickly. So that has been a big part of my practice is slowing down and celebrating and bringing in that dance. And even in every posture or movement. How can you celebrate more? So we really grounded in and did a salulita trip and we just really consciously and intentionally create grounded space now for that celebration as we're activating and embodying it more and more. But definitely find that in the practice there's a lot of shaking out your body like animals do, to release stress or the dance. And even laughing out loud is in some Kriyas. And there's very wacky things that, like you said, may feel really uncomfortable and are not just laying down, but if you allow yourself to get to those places and do these things that are really uncomfortable, then you train yourself to do them more often and to break free from them. Those confines that tell you, oh, you can't twerk in an airport, or whatever it is that is holding you back.

Yeah. And it just shows us like, these universal truths how real they are and how universal they are. Because whether it's Kundalini yoga or shamanism or, you know, indigenous practices, Middle Eastern practices, African practices, they all have these same types of elements. They all have shaking, they all have trans dance, they all have breath work. Like, these are things that humans just knew that we needed subconsciously and we have only just like recently forgotten or, you know, felt too uncomfortable or that it wouldn't fit into, like, the patriarchal mix for us to express ourselves in this way that now we're. We're refining all of these tools that are age old that have told us like, yes, your body needs to shake and it needs to stretch, it needs to move and it needs to vocalize and all of these different things of like, I feel like we've forgotten to be human. Like, sometimes when I'm doing like, different practices, I. I'm like, oh, my God, I haven't been a human in so long to just like, you know, like, like an animal is just like, like allowing themselves to be that animal. Like, when do we just let ourselves be like, human and make noises and like weird movements? And I feel like, like Kundalini shamanism all of these different practices are like, here to remind us that this has always been a part of us.

Yes. Be weird. It's. We always feel the, the people that are new to Kundalini are always there. It's always a self conscious thing for the most part. It's always like, I'm gonna stick my tongue out and breathe like. And like people will be quiet. And we're like, be louder.

It's okay, no one's watching you.

Anyway, Be louder. But we're so domesticated, you know, like, we're like these like domesticated wild animals that are like, I can't do that or like, I'll get in trouble if I do that, or, you know, and it's just like a lion that has been like made to believe it's a little house cat. And then it's like, oh wait, I can roar and like climb tre trees and like be in the jungle. And I just think, you know, I was reading this book and this guy had these little like, fish and they were in his, his aquarium and he was going to change the water and he put it into the bathtub. Now this is a big bathtub. And he was just thinking, all these fish are probably going to swim around and they have so much more space now. And they all just stayed exactly where they were, like all around each other. Like they would not move. And it was just such a great example of how as humans, humans, like we confine ourselves, we put ourselves in that limitation because we're self conscious or feel like we can't or feel like we need permission when not only are we in a massive bathtub, we are in an ocean, but we have confined ourselves to think that we're still in this little fish tank. And I also think the fish tank analogy which just came through is we think everyone's watching. Like, we think every person in class is like, ugh, her tongue. Gross. Like, no one's thinking about you. And that's so freeing because everyone's in their own experience, right?

Yeah, exactly. So it's fascinating.

That's such a good analogy.

The fish.

Yeah. Because it really does make us realize, like, okay, well, how am I, you know, operating in that way in my life? And where is there a bathtub around me that I'm still in a little square here.

Totally. Well, this is why we need more jungle dance parties.

Exactly. Firmly standing for lion Kundalini Bath.

All the things, all the celebrations.

I love it.

Yeah.

The dancing has been. Well, it's funny is Britt and I, we grew up dancing like, actual, like, trained dancers. And it's definitely part of how I used to express myself and how I used to move emotion. One of our retreats in Bali, I remember it was the first time I had done, like, an ecstatic dance and a. And I remember having to go to my room afterwards and just cry. And I was like, why am I so emotional? I was just dancing, and then I was like, oh, because I just moved so much energy. And it was so fun, but it was, like, such a release. And so all these things really are. And, you know, I love the Kundalini because it isn't just sitting there and being quiet and trying to make your monkey mind relax. Especially if you're new to meditation, you've got things to do, you've got breath to focus on. There's mantra listen to it moves you through, and it uses movement. And then now, as like, we are, I'm more advanced in the practice at this point. I want more dancing and I want kind of all of it. I want all the experience of all of it to really ascend, you know, like, to really help myself expand beyond.

Yeah. And one of the things I often think about is, like, at the time that these practices were originally, like, downloaded, we were very active as people. Like, we were farmers. We worked outside. Like, we did not sit in a chair all day. There were no chairs even back then. So a lot of times we really needed a break to just, like, sit down and be. Whereas I think in our society we're, like, sitting all day already. That, like, what we really need is to, like, move and, like, shake and sweat and twist, because we don't get to do those things in a normal day. That I think, like, that typical meditation practice of just, like, sit down and don't move and, like, close off all your thoughts, it just. I just don't think it works for most people. It doesn't work for me for sure, because it's just then you have this battle against yourself and then this judgment and then this, I didn't do it right. And, you know, of course, there's beauty and benefits to stillness. And I think stillness is not the goal, but it's the natural place that we arise when we're in total unity. However, when you just try to immediately get there, it doesn't really work. Like, I remember I was recently reading this conversation between Osho and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and they were, like, debating, and this was, like, way back, it was Osho's first English talk, actually, and Osho was Saying I don't agree with a technique for meditation because this is Osho's understanding. Because if, if technique is needed, meditation is not there. Because meditation, stillness just naturally arises from a state of being. And then what Maharishi's disciples were saying, well, the Western mind can't just be in the stillness and nothingness. Like we need a technique because it's our way of getting there. And it was just this beautiful like conversation back and forth. And I totally understood both perspectives. Like in, like when I'm in Costa Rica, like I can just sit by the waterfall and I don't need a technique. I am just pure presence and pure being. But my life is not sitting by a waterfall every day. So sometimes I need to just like turn off my laptop and like do this breathwork practice so I can get there.

Yes, exactly.

And that's exactly what it's. It's not. You know, I feel like you can be as devotional to things as you need to, but also know, like, you know, in my practice as well, I know when there are times when I am at a place where I could just be quiet and I don't need to move or I just need to listen to mantra, mantra and I don't need to move because I'm already there. And it's the there ness that you want to get to. That's exactly what it is. It's just getting there. However that works for you.

Yeah, definitely. And a lot of the Kundalini has the kriyas and the movements and the warm ups in the beginning. Is the idea to then arrive at the meditation at the end to just help with what you're talking about? Because especially with. It's funny to kind of read some of the old lectures of some of the old yogis and they were talking about that, that people in the west really need this and they need something that can help them to arrive at that place, especially in California and New York, even back in the 60s. So it was just designed to help to get to that point. But exactly like you said, depending on how many stressors you have in your life or how many kids or your schedule and this and that, it might take you longer to be able to get to a place where you're able to just connect deeply to your heart center or to source and receive a message or get clarity on your pathway forward or whatever your intention is. So that can definitely help to have that movement and some sort of structure and technique to help you and like Tara said, to have, have devotion or commitment to Something that you desire, I've found, has helped me have more freedom because for a while I was commitment phobic. And I was like, nope, not doing a ritual for 40 days, not following somebody else's anything. And I started to get into that space, and even if it's just for a little while, or you commit to something for five days or 40 or whatever, I found that I was able to open up more. More freedom and more intuition with having that balance of, you know, the structure and the flow and the masculine and the feminine. So that was a big awakening for me. Like, how can I bring some technique and some flow and, like, marry these things to create something that. That allows me to move forward and. And shift and heal and change?

Yeah, absolutely. I think if you're definitely someone who struggles with that commitment and that, oh, my God, like, I so resonate with that so often of being like, well, I don't want to do someone else's thing. Like, I'm just going to do my own. And it's like, you know, maybe it's a thing for a reason. Right? Like, if all these people are benefiting from it, there is a reason for it. So sometimes it's like our own ego by being like, I want to do it my way. But then we're like, amazed by what happens when we follow through with a process that's set up for our success at the end.

Right? Yeah. And then just allowing it to evolve. Right? Allowing your practice with it to evolve. And just in general, allowing things to evolve and not being so stuck that you are moving into a new direction, but you're holding on to something that isn't working for you anymore. If the meditation, you've gotten what you needed to get, because you can get one. You can do one for your whole life, but your soul knows when it's time to move on from that one and move to a different, different one. Move to something, you know, a little bit more, like, movement oriented within a Korea and maybe need to do a Korea for 40 days, you know, it's just different.

I love that. So many modalities for us. It's like a Disney world of experiences we get to have.

I love it.

That's what I miss most about, like, festivals. Have you guys gone to Bali Spirit Fest?

No.

It's like every spiritual modality there. So you can like to, like, a kirtan and then like, a dance practice and then like a channeling session with a galactic being and then like, this. And it's like, so amazing. I'm like, this is heaven.

Thank you.

I love that.

Literally been looking at it for like.

Five or six years.

Yeah, yeah.

As if it's. I mean, apparently it's happening in 2022. So I am there if it's happening.

Done. Yay.

Well, where can listeners learn more about these Kundalini practices? I know you have your new book that's out that really breaks it down with, like, easy to follow morning rituals they can do every day. So can you share with us about it and where people can get it?

Definitely, yeah. So it's called Good Morning Intentions and we have 21 rituals that pull in the Kundalini Yoga. So often there is a breathwork or a mantra or a meditation and. And then we bring in the other modalities that we love and have helped us as well, like crystals and oils and nutrition and self care. So there's different focuses for each ritual, like addiction, rehab, comparison, detox. There's one for your hormones for masculine support, more feminine like postpartum and menstruation and all of that. So we basically compiled all of these different modalities that we love and really focused in on specific subjects that you may be drawn to. So we share a lot about our stories. And really each of the rituals holds a story about our lives and our healing and how we navigated and used the practices. So it's been so fun to share it and it's just about learning more about how you might want to create a morning ritual for yourself and how we have and the different elements of a morning ritual. So, so it's something for everyone. And you can choose a ritual and commit to it for 40 days. You can use the. The book like a tarot deck and just pick one you can jump around. It's really just meant to be fluid and serve you and what. Whatever way you need to. So that is Good Morning Intentions and. And yeah, you can find it all over at. And Amazon, Barnes and Noble, all the places. And we're on Instagram at Elevate the Globe and we share everything over there, so it's easy to find us.

Amazing. Well, thank you ladies so much for sharing your light and for making Kundalini Yoga more accessible for so many people. I know it's going to benefit so many people who are moving through so much right now. And share with us. If you're listening to this episode, if you are going to go try Kundalini, Kundalini right now, share us in your poses. Share your top three takeaways. Maybe we can do a giveaway of the book or something. Share your takeaways. Tag us and we can't wait to see Amazing.

Thank you.

Thank you for having me.

We love you.

How amazing was that conversation? It really actually inspired me to give Kundalini a chance again, especially with two feminine teachers. I think that that really is going to change the game for myself and for so many of us who don't really resonate with the more rigid mascul type of practice, but rather want to have something that's fluid in our lives. So I definitely recommend checking out their book, checking out their work. They are two beautiful souls and I'm so grateful to have them here. And if you're wanting to dive deeper in discovering your Dharma, I invite you to join me for my 21 day Dharma discovery journey. You can find all of that information in my show notes and over on my website. I am Saharrose.com Dharmadisco Recovery if you loved this episode, I would love to send you a free gift which is the first half of my unreleased book Eat Right for your Mind Body Type. This is a different book than Eat Feel Fresh, my first book ever which is not released anywhere and I am gifting it exclusively to those who leave a review of my podcast in the itunes store. So all you gotta do is head over to itunes where you may be listening to this podcast and leave a review. Take a screenshot that you've left it and email it over to me@saharaatfeelfresh.com again that's Sahara S A H A R A@eatfeelfresh.com and I will send you back the first half of my unreleased book Eat Right for your Mind Body Type which goes all into Ayurveda, doshas, plant based nutrition, body types, all of the things in a really fun and engaging way. So this is my gift to you for free for supporting the podcast. Every single review I personally read, it really, really helps the podcast be listened to by more people so we can raise the vibration of the planet together and I am so grateful to have you on this journey. Thank you so much for listening and I'll see you on the next episode. Namaste.

Pam.