Kundalini Yoga GR

14/07/2025

My summer kundalini yoga program is starting this week ! Join me on zoom to practice kundalini yoga with me most every Tuesday and Thursday, 7-8:15 AM until end of August.
If you wish to join, email me at kundaliniyogagr@gmail.com.
The program is free/donation if your heart feels like it, in favor of Hope Gardens.
https://hopegardensgr.org/

06/07/2025

Once a year I take a complete break from teaching yoga and become a yoga student... in company of my sister at a retreat with her amazing Berlin yoga teachers. This year we spent a week in Portugal in the south Alentejo region. It is one of my most favorite places in the world. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to Saifohn Patek and Boris !

16/06/2025

Human Emotions Kundalini Yoga Series_ Week 6_Final Week

This week we will focus on Joy
I looked up "happiness" in the Encyclopedia Britannica and stumbled upon this definition : " happiness, in psychology, a state of emotional well-being that a person experiences either in a narrow sense, when good things happen in a specific moment, or more broadly, as a positive evaluation of one's life and accomplishments overall- that is to say subjective well-being. This emotion often co-occurs with a specific facial expression : the smile.
As a yoga teacher I am interested in the latter, the sense of being happy overall. Psychologists have been trying to study predictors of happiness and found that income and health do not seem to play a major role in happiness but relationships do.
Happiness is also a state of mind, where you see the glass half full rather then half empty. Gratefulness for what you have is also a wonderful practice to increase yoru sense of happiness.

This week, we'll practice Surya kriya on Tuesday. This kriya is named after the energy of the sun. When you have a lot of sun energy, you do not feel cold, you are energetic, expressive and enthusiastic. It's also great for your brain health and health in general. And on Thursday, I will share a series of "happiness" meditations with you.

Photo : what happiness looks like for me

This week's schedule :
Tuesday June 10, 7-8:15 AM : Kriya of the week
Thursday June 12, 7-8:15 AM : Meditative flow of the week
It's too late to sign up for the whole series, but you are welcome to drop in for any class ($20 at the door) or adjust what you pay for the remainder of the series.
Or if you have any questions, email me at kundaliniyogagr@gmail.com
Article of the week :

16/06/2025

Summer 2025 free will donation kundalini yoga classes from July 15 through September 4th, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7-8:15 AM on Zoom for my students.

This summer I am inviting my students to join my kundalini yoga practice on zoom.
To sign up, just email me at kundaliniyogagr@gmail.com and I will set you up. You will have to sign a waiver and in exchange I will share a zoom connection with you.
I will share my practice with you Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 7 to 8:15 AM.
These classes are free will donation based. If you like my classes consider donating to my favorite non for profit organization Hope Gardens. Their hands-on programs and services invite people of all ages to learn how to grow their own food using affordable, nature-based, no-till gardening practices.
https://hopegardensgr.org/

11/06/2025

It's tonight !!!! Come meet many of the practitioners that work out of the Somatic Wisdom Institute office in such a fun format : meet each of us with a passport and be considered for the drawing of the most amazing gifts; try out 7 different kinds of Sacred Spring Kombucha; listen to Jeff Morton's mini instrument museum performance; check out Brie's amazing art .... I will be setting up my "booth" on the round carpet in the studio.

✨YOU’RE INVITED✨

Open House & Fundraiser at
The Somatic Wisdom Institute
Wednesday, June 11 | 6–9 p.m.
1324 Lake Drive SE, Suite 4
Grand Rapids, MI 49506

Join us for a summer evening of connection, exploration, and embodied healing.

Come meet the guides and trusted practitioners of the Somatic Wisdom Institute, tour our beautiful healing space, and experience the wide range of transformative offerings we hold, including:

✨Somatic therapies & embodiment practices
✨Breathwork, nervous system care & trauma-informed healing
✨Yoga & mindful movement classes
✨Silent retreats, storytelling circles & nature-based rituals

Guests will receive a special “Journey Through the Somatic Wisdom Institute” card to guide them through the space and into conversation with each practitioner. Complete the journey and be entered into a giveaway drawing of healing-centered gifts and services!

Light food and beverages will be provided. All are welcome.

This event also supports the Somatic Wisdom Foundation—our new initiative to expand access to healing for historically marginalized and under-resourced communities.

We can’t wait to welcome you!

www.somaticwisdominstitute.com

09/06/2025

Human Emotions Kundalini Yoga Series_ Week 5

This week we will focus on grief.

I love Shanti Shanti Kaur Khalsa's definition of loss, based on her 35+ in gathering experience serving people in life-threatening illness and their families : "Loss is an experience that affects all aspects of who we are as a spiritual being in an earthly body, and must be INTEGRATED. One's life is never the same after a loss. It is helpful to recognize and acknowledge that one is different from having gone through the experience and that this is a positive role grief plays in our lives. It is a spiritual experience done consciously".
In TCM, grief is the emotion of the lungs and large Intestine. Loss of any kind will often trigger a feeling of being drained and having difficult bowel movement.
This week's work, will start on Tuesday with New Lungs and Circulation kriya, and Thursday, for our meditative flow, we'll practice the meditation to Console, the movement meditation for Overcoming Grief, and end with the healing RA MA DA SA meditation.

This week's schedule :
Tuesday June 10, 7-8:15 AM : Kriya of the week
Thursday June 12, 7-8:15 AM : Meditative flow of the week
It's too late to sign up for the whole series, but you are welcome to drop in for any class ($20 at the door) or adjust what you pay for the remainder of the series.
Or if you have any questions, email me at kundaliniyogagr@gmail.com
Article of the week :

This summary is gathered from 35 years of experience in serving people with life-threatening illness and their families. Although some of what follows is from traditional grief therapy, most is from what Guru Gobind Singh (the 10th Sikh Guru) taught about loss from the example of his own life, and t...

07/06/2025

Hi dear Kundalini Yogis, you are all warmly invited to join us at the Open House of the Somatic Wisdom Institute, which is the new brand of our collective space. This is going to be such a fun event ... expect a fun journey to discover different practitioners that collaborate under the same roof (I will be welcoming you on my round carpet and offer short meditations, admire Brie's beautiful textile art show, listen to Jeff's music ... and win some incredible prizes !!!! It's this coming Wed June 11, 6-9 PM. Bring your friends and family, the more the merrier.

✨YOU’RE INVITED✨

Open House & Fundraiser at
The Somatic Wisdom Institute
Wednesday, June 11 | 6–9 p.m.
1324 Lake Drive SE, Suite 4
Grand Rapids, MI 49506

Join us for a summer evening of connection, exploration, and embodied healing.

Come meet the guides and trusted practitioners of the Somatic Wisdom Institute, tour our beautiful healing space, and experience the wide range of transformative offerings we hold, including:

✨Somatic therapies & embodiment practices
✨Breathwork, nervous system care & trauma-informed healing
✨Yoga & mindful movement classes
✨Silent retreats, storytelling circles & nature-based rituals

Guests will receive a special “Journey Through the Somatic Wisdom Institute” card to guide them through the space and into conversation with each practitioner. Complete the journey and be entered into a giveaway drawing of healing-centered gifts and services!

Light food and beverages will be provided. All are welcome.

This event also supports the Somatic Wisdom Foundation—our new initiative to expand access to healing for historically marginalized and under-resourced communities.

We can’t wait to welcome you!

www.somaticwisdominstitute.com

02/06/2025

Human Emotions Kundalini Yoga Series_ Week 4
This week we will focus on our emotions around shame and guilt.

Arlin Cuncic in his article about shame, defines this emotion as "a feeling of embarrassment and humiliation that arises from the perception of having done something dishonorable, immoral or improper. While shame is a negative emotion, its origins play a part in our survival as a species. Without shame, we might not feel the need to adhere to cultural norms , follow laws or behave in a way that allows us to exist as a social being. Shame becomes problematic when it becomes internalized and results in harsh evaluation of oneself as a whole person." When your inner critic becomes too harsh you might want to look at this emotion closer.
Arlin also mentions how to cope with shame in this same article. He recommends three main steps : explore your shame (understand), embrace your shame (bring it into awareness) and then aim for acceptance and self love.
In traditional Chinese medicine, the heart is associated with joy and happiness but also emotional restraint and emptiness. Shame, with it's associated feelings of inadequacy and self deprecation can be seen as a disruption for the heart's national capacity to feel positive emotions, resulting in lesser life force.

This Tuesday we will work with the kriya to throw off stress that focuses on practicing self love. Thursday, in our meditative flow, we'll practice a meditation to create self love as well as the meditation for stress relief and clearing the emotions of the past.

This week's schedule :
Tuesday June 3, 7-8:15 AM : Kriya of the week
Thursday June 5, 7-8:15 AM : Meditative flow of the week

It's too late to sign up for the whole series, but you are welcome to drop in for any class ($20 at the door) or adjust what you pay for the remainder of the series.
Or if you have any questions, email me at kundaliniyogagr@gmail.com

Article of the week :

Shame is a feeling of embarrassment about having done something wrong. Learn the psychology behind shame, its symptoms, and how shame is different than guilt.

26/05/2025

Human Emotions Kundalini Yoga Series_ Week 3

This week we will focus on our emotions around anger.
There is a lot to say about anger ... in our culture it is not really recommended as a go to reactions, but in certain cases, when you really need to stand up for yourself it can be a good thing. It is a protective mechanism when there is no other way. But you want to make sure anger does not settle in your body chronically as it generally will turn against yourself. There is much to say about the capacity to forgive. According to traditional Chinese medicine, anger is connected to the liver, and affects your third chakra.

For our Tuesday class, we will practice the Kriya for relieving inner anger, and for our meditative flow on Thursday, I will teach different breathing techniques to help reslease anger through breathing techniques.

This week's schedule :
Tuesday May 27, 7-8:15 AM : Kriya of the week
Thursday May 29, 7-8:15 AM : Meditative flow of the week
It's too late to sign up for the whole series, but you are welcome to drop in for any class ($20 at the door) or adjust what you pay for the remainder of the series.
Or if you have any questions, email me at kundaliniyogagr@gmail.com

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19/05/2025

Human Emotions Kundalini Yoga Series_ Week 2

After learning yogic tools to activate and relax the solar plexus and to use breathing techniques when strong emotions oveewhelm us, we're going to zoom into how to manage fear and release chronic fear. According to the western science, fear is connected to the amygdala, and serves to remember where real danger occurs so that you can stay away from it. According the the chinese traditional medicine, fear is the emotion of the kidneys and the bladder, organs that are both associated with the water element. When we experience extreme fear, our kidneys struggle to hold energy and we quite literally p*e our pants.
Kundalini yoga graces us with countless variety of kriyas and meditations that work to calm our fears and anxieties.

For our Tuesday class, I picked the kriya called "To relax and release fear" which works on our kidneys and the systems associated with it.
For our meditative flow on Thursday, I will teach different breathing techniques to help manage fear.

This week's schedule :
Tuesday May 20, 7-8:15 AM : Kriya of the week
Thursday May 22, 7-8:15 AM : Meditative flow of the week

It's too late to sign up for the whole series, but you are welcome to drop in for any class ($20 at the door) or adjust what you pay for the remainder of the series.
Or if you have any questions, email me at kundaliniyogagr@gmail.com

05/05/2025

POPCORN Series_LAST WEEK !!!

We're slowly coming to an end of this fun series where we explored so many different different aspects of the human body and mind connection.
For this last week, I picked a kriya that works on balancing the brain hemisheres. I thought that after last Thursday's work on teh frontal lobe, this kriya would fir in perfectly. Using the tool of mental mirrors we will reset the brain into balance.
For our meditative flow on Thursday, we will use a sacred mantra, also known as the magic mantra to reserve negative into positive.

This week's schedule :
Tuesday May 6, 7-8:15 AM : Kriya of the week
Thursday May 8, 7-8:15 AM : Meditative flow of the week

It's too late to sign up for the whole series, but you are welcome to drop in for any class ($20 at the door) or adjust what you pay for the remainder of the series.
Or if you have any questions, email me at kundaliniyogagr@gmail.com