Archive for the ‘Updates & Info’ Category:
Yoga for Children
Many of us struggle our entire lives to free ourselves from the debilitating, limiting, and mostly false beliefs, perceptions, and patterns of our minds. Children do not initially have these patterns. They learn them by observation, trial, and error.
When a child is not limited by his or her mental patterns, his or her creativity, imagination, self-esteem, and natural wisdom and knowledge flourish. The child is removed from culturally inherited beliefs, fears, and negative conditioning. The child fully steps into his/her glory and radiance. Good manners, care and concern for others, positive morals, and values naturally manifest themselves.
Yoga is a means through which we can keep our children program-free. LakulishTM Yoga for Children helps children relax and focus. Each class employs the use of Yoga postures (Asana), deep diaphramatic breathing (Pranayama), and meditation.
There is a link between the cycles / habitual patterns of the mind and improper breathing. Deep diaphramatic breathing immediately calms and focuses the child’s mind. LakulishTM Yoga postures, which are done in combination with deep diaphramatic breathing, allow the child to breathe deeper into his or her lower abdomen, immediately eliminating stressful and more negative thoughts and emotions. Meditation helps children develop focus and concentration as well as become more observant of their own positive and negative behavior patterns.
Children who practice Yoga:
- sleep better
- are less anxious
- are more focused
- are more self-confident
- display good manners
- become role models for other chlidren
- avoid drugs and gangs
- are respectful of others
- are more creative
- get better grades in school
- perform better on quizzes and tests
For more information on how to get your child enrolled in LakulishTM Yoga for Children classes, please contact Jennifer at (904) 392-6588 or email lakulishyogaschool@gmail.com
Affiliated with Lakulish Yoga, LLC, USA
Children’s Yoga Classes Starting September 8th!
Lakulish School of Yoga (affiliated with Lakulish Yoga, LLC) is partnering for six weeks with the Cyprian Center For Expressive Arts to offer a series of Lakulish Yoga classes to children of all ages.
The classes will begin September 8, 2010 and will run through October 13, 2010. They will be held every Wednesday afternoon from 3:00pm until 4:00pm.
If you are interested in signing a child up for these Yoga classes, please visit the Cyprian Center website at http://www.cypriancenter.org or call (904) 829-8828.
City Yoga Is Now A Donation Based Community Yoga Center!
View the original release HERE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRLog (Press Release) – Jul 01, 2010 – St. Augustine, FL July 1, 2010 – When times get tough, the tough get innovative. In an effort to bring yoga to the people of St. Augustine, FL, City Yoga of St. Augustine now allows students to pay what they can having switched to a donation only business model.
City Yoga of St. Augustine is located in the historic downtown district of the Oldest City in the Nation, St. Augustine, FL. The yoga studio opened it’s doors to the public in October of 2009 and has been steadily growing ever since. Owner Angela Jones remarked “I initially wanted to open this business with a donation model, but feedback from my peers was strongly against it. I listened to their feedback, putting my heart’s voice to the side. I knew I’d revisit this decision, but I decided to wait until the studio was a little more financially stable. We have a healthy student base now. I feel certain this is the right time to change to a donation based model.”
Offering yoga by donation may seem to be a new trend in the United States; however, in it’s birthplace, yoga was always offered in this fashion. Yoga by donation allows the studio to maintain the integrity of this ancient art by offering their practice the way it was originally intended. Now, more than ever, it seems to make perfect sense. Growing a business through tough economic times means adapting and being willing to take risks, and that is exactly what City Yoga is doing. For a successful example of this model, look no further than “Yoga To The People”, a donation based yoga studio which has grown to be three locations strong.
Classes at City Yoga of St. Augustine are offered on a daily basis and every class is donation based. Often, City Yoga will hold specialized workshops and events – these workshops and events may have set fees, depending on the facilitator.
City Yoga is also hosting a DJ Yoga Party on Sunday, August 1, 2010 at 6:00PM – this event is free to the public and will be held at the St. Augustine Beach Ocean Pier Pavilion. The event will consist of a yoga class set to a live DJ as well as a short meditation. All ages, sizes and fitness levels are welcome to attend. (It is highly recommended attendees come well hydrated with a yoga mat, a long towel and some water – the floor is concrete so if possible bring two yoga mats to stack.) “We are holding this event to show the people how powerful, amazing and fun the experience of yoga can be. Yoga is for anyone regardless of age, weight or any other disposition. We encourage everyone to come and give it a try, it will be a great time – it may just change a life or two.”
When it comes to the donation based studio, City Yoga of St. Augustine, specifically, Owner Angela Jones had this to say: “It is important for our students to know that they are assisting members in the community who could not otherwise afford to participate in class. I believe that this is simply the right thing to do… taking a leap of faith may not be easy, but how can you betray your heart? How can you judge who should be able to participate solely based on financial status? The cost of yoga has become outrageous, it is time to make a change – no actually, it is time to BE the change. Plant a seed and watch it grow.”
For additional information about City Yoga of St. Augustine, including class descriptions, times and location visit http://www.cityyogastaug.com or call 904-825-0999.
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About City Yoga of St. Augustine:
City Yoga of St. Augustine is a community centered, donation based yoga studio located in St. Augustine, FL. City Yoga is dedicated to providing a safe, non-competitive and enjoyable environment for the practice of yoga. City Yoga offers a variety of yoga styles and classes.
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Several Upcoming Classes This Week
I am teaching many Yoga classes this week at CITY YOGA. Click the link for more info on where City Yoga is, rates, etc.
Upcoming Classes Are:
TONIGHT, Thursday June 17th: 7pm – 8:30pm Lakulish Yoga
Friday June 18th: 8:30am – 9:30am Gengle Yoga
10:00am – 11:30am Traditional Hatha Yoga
Sunday June 20th: 10:00am – 11:30am Lakulish Yoga
1:00pm – 3:30pm Chakra Workshop (must pre-register)
Monday June 21st: 10:00am – 11:30am Traditional Hatha Yoga
Hope to see you in class!!!!
Upcoming June Workshop: Exploring The Chakras
NEW WORKSHOP ANNOUNCEMENT!
Exploring The Chakras
w/ Jennifer Jacobsen of Lakulish Yoga
SUNDAY, JUNE 20, 2010
1:00pm – 3:30pm
AT CITY YOGA
125-B King St., St. Augustine, FL 32084
Cost is $30 per person. Pre-registration online required.
This workshop will explore the chakra system. Students will learn:
* What the chakras are
* Where the chakras are located
* What the Sanskrit word chakra means
* Why the chakras are important for spiritual evolution
* What prana is and what its function is in the body
* What kundalini is and what its function is in the body
* What the three gunas are
* How the three gunas are embedded within each chakra
* The need to purify the chakras
* The relationship between the chakras and mantra
* The relationship between chakras and Yoga postures and breathing techniques
* The relationship between the chakras and the endocrine system
Please bring a comfertable cushion to sit on. You may also wish to bring a notebook and pen for taking notes. Food is not permitted in the workshop space. Bottled water only is allowed.
REGISTER ONLINE RIGHT NOW!
NEW! Thursday Evening Yoga!
THURSDAY EVENING YOGA
DATE: Every Thursday Evening
TIME: 7:00pm – 8:30pm
LOCATION: City Yoga, next to Flavors in downtown St. Augustine.
COST: See Rates
MORE: This class consists of basic Hatha Yoga postures, Pranayama, and ends with OM chanting and meditation. The Hatha Yoga focus is on developing a healthy body, mind, and spirit through postures that are stable, comfortable, and yet challenging enough to help build a strong foundation in the body. This class builds energy and heat (tapas) in the spinal column and body and cleanses the body’s energetic pathways through a set sequence of yoga postures performed in combination with certain guided breathing techniques. In class, Jennifer draws attention to Yamas and Niyamas as an important part of building and maintaining Prana (vital life energy) built in the practice.
For class, bring a yoga mat. You may wish to bring a towel as the heat will be on just slightly.
City Yoga is located at 125 B King St. Saint Augustine, FL
Private yoga classes are always available. Call (904) 392-6588 for more information.
Which Wolf Do You Feed?
Science tells us that our bodies are 99.99999% empty space and energy. Within our cells are atoms and within those atoms is a whole lot of nothing. But that nothing holds the potential for heath or disease.
Our bodies are composed of energy. Now energy can have different qualities. Energy also vibrates at different speeds and densities. As energy vibrates at slower and slower speeds, it becomes more dense and more solid. Take water as an example. Energy and temperature are linked. As particles vibrate faster and faster, they build heat. As particles vibrate slower and slower, they become colder and lose heat. So when water vibrates at a slower speed and loses heat, the temperature decreases, and water eventually freezes to form ice. If we add heat or increase the vibration and speed of the particles of which the ice/water is made, then the ice will melt and once again turn into water. If we further increase the speed of the particles, increasing the heat, then the water will eventually evaporate and become a gas.
The same thing happens within our own bodies. Our bodies are 80% water and 20% matter. And even that 20% matter is not really solid, but it only appears to be solid because it is energy vibrating at a very slow speed.
Yoga scriptures tell us that energy is of three kinds: Sattvic, Rajasic, and Tamasic. Sattvic energy is very light energy. It moves at a very high vibration. It is pure and made up of Light. It has the quality of peace, joy, bliss, and has a calming effect on the human being. Rajasic energy moves at a slower vibration. Yet Rajasic energy is the energy of motion itself. It is activity and has the qualities of passion, materialism, and brings out in human beings the desire to succeed, to make money, to obtain power, and even can begin to produce greed. Tamasic energy is very heavy. It is dark, dense, dull, and stagnant. It holds the quality of inertia. It vibrates at a very low speed. It is a cold energy. It brings out all the negative qualities in the human being: anger, hatred, jealousy, possessiveness, darkness, and evil.
The Yoga scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, tells us that there are only two Lineages: the Lineage of Pure Light and Energy (Prana) and the Lineage of Mind/Ego. Mental energy is made up of mostly Rajas and Tamas. Mind is a very heavy. It is composed of mostly solid, dense, dark energy with just enough motion and passion to stir it up and keep it moving and active in our perception. Matter is just another term for Mind. Mind is that slow vibrating 20% solid energy which makes up our human bodies.
We have a choice. And this is what we have forgotten. We are 99.99999% empty space, which is energy. We choose a certain percentage of that energy to be solid to create this physical reality. But it is all an illusion created by Mind, created by us as individuals. Everything in the world is ruled by these three energies (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas), called the Gunas. Even the elements fall into combinations of these three energies. And we are nothing but elements. Our bodies are broken down into elements, minerals. We survive on minerals and elemental compounds.
Just like a barbed wire fence is mostly empty space with just a little bit of solid form to hold it all together, we are mostly empty space with just a little bit of solid form holding us together. Yet that solid form is our own choice.
But please remember, with that choice, comes a price. Rajasic and Tamasic energies comprise this solidity. Yet, Rajasic and Tamasic energies will control you, bind you, manipulate you, and bring disease (dis-ease) into your system. Disease and sickness lead to old age and death.
Sattvic energy is light in weight and of a high vibration. It is the quality of pure Light. It moves at a very fast speed energetically. It builds a great amount of heat. By increasing the amount of Sattva within our systems, we increase the amount of life sustaining energy that the ancients called Prana, Chi, Qi, Mana, and Tao. This vital life energy is the very energy that our Soul is composed of. This is not religion. This is science. It is the science of nature, a science we have forgotten.
Food is meant to nourish and sustain our bodies. We SHOULD be eating for this vital life energy. Instead, most of us eat for pleasure and out of desire. We eat for our Minds and Egos. Food is meant to be consumed for replenishing the vital nutrients, the vitamins and minerals that our bodies need in order to maintain proper functioning of our organs and internal life systems.
Food is also energy. Everything is energy. What we consume also falls into the three energetic categories. There are foods that are light and of pure energy. There are foods that are of a more active and passion forming energy. And there are foods that are of a more dark, dense, and inert energy. When we consume foods that are of the passionate and darker energies, we become more passionate and darker/denser as a result. What we eat, we become.
We are composed of atoms. Atoms are made up of electrons, protons, and neutrons. Most of the matter in our bodies is due to the density of the protons and neutrons in the atom. Electrons are of a very light and fast moving energy. Some atoms have more electrons than others. Some atoms have more protons than others. Generally the substances in life that have more electrons also have more oxygen, and the substances that have more protons contain more hydrogen.
Now, atoms converge to form molecules, and molecules converge to form compounds. Molecules can be simple, made up of a few atoms, such as water, or can be very complex combinations, such as our DNA. Yet, our very DNA is just energy. It is a certain combination of atoms that becomes a very map for everything from our physical characteristics to the genetic potential for diseases. From our biological lineages, we have a wonderful possibility and a great burdon all wrapped up into one. Our possibility comes from the fact that we are the only species on the entire planet that have the ability to transmute energy. We can change our physical form. We can change the combinations of atoms in our very body. We can affect our own cells and our own DNA. We do this through changing the combination of energy density within our bodies. We can change the amount of Sattva, Rajas, or Tamas of which we are composed in any given moment. We hold a great burdon because we carry within our DNA our parents energetic blueprints. Thus, we carry within us their energetic Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas combinations as well as atomic combinations and genetic potentials for certain diseases.
Food is just one of the ways we bring energy into our beings. And there are certain elements that our bodies do not naturally produce when our energies are so solid and of a low vibration. Thus, we need to consume elements like zinc, iron, and calcium. Our bodies run on minerals. Minerals feed our Light bodies. They are directly connected to the Sattva energy within us. The very elements that are within stars are within our own bodies. We are literally composed of star dust. So, the idea that we are star children really is not far fetched or inaccurate. Our entire planet is composed of the same elements that are within a star and were there during the formation of a star. We would die without sunlight, and yet the sun itself is one giant, burning star.
Our bodies run on a few specific minerals and elemental compounds: calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, sodium, sodium bicarbonate, and manganese. Urinary and salivary pH tells us just how much of these minerals our bodies contain. If we are low in these minerals, our bodily fluids become acidic. When these minerals are in a proper balance in our bodies, our bodily fluids are alkaline. pH stands for the potency of hydrogen. The more hydrogen we have in our bodies, the more acidic our bodies become. The more oxygen we have in our bodies the more alkaline we become. If you connect the dots, you will begin to discover what I have discovered. That is, that hydrogen, acidity, lack of minerals, low pH, low/slow vibrational energy, Rajas and Tamas, and Mind/Ego are all interconnected. In the same manner, oxygen, alkalinity, abundance of minerals, normal to high pH, high vibrational energy, Sattva, and Light/Consciousness are all interconnected.
Yoga is the process of turning base matter into energy. Food is a critical component of this process. And alkaline food is a part (yet not the whole) of this topic of Food.
Simple deduction will lead you to discover that alkaline food is Sattvic in nature. Alkaline food has the ability to increase our positive, light, pure, life sustaining energy. It has the ability to also bring our minds into a calmer, more peaceful, more loving, positive state. We can literally become primitive animals or conscious energetic beings through what we eat alone.
Minerals increase our pH, making our bodies alkaline by nature. Yet, most of the minerals in our food and water have been stripped and removed due to farming, food processing, and water purification. We are 80% water, and so we need to replinish that water with highly alkaline mineral water. Yet most water in existance today is stripped of all minerals, rendering most water acidic. Pure water, straight from the ground, is alkaline. Yet, because we feel it is safer and necessary to cleanse and purify our water (and due to our low immunity and the acidity of our bodies, it probably is), we remove all the minerals and fail to replenish those minerals in adequate amounts when the purification process if finished. If minerals are added back into the water, usually, if you test the pH of the water, you will discover that not enough minerals have been added to bring the water back up to a pH of 7 which is considered netural (1-6 pH is acidic, 8-14 is alkaline, 7 is neutral). So we flush our bodies with acid water and that 80% of our bodies becomes acid. If we eat 20% acid as food, we all develop latent tissue acidosis, and the process of disease and decay and degeneration begins.
We are composed of billions of cells. Those cells are like fish in a fish tank. If the fish is living in acidic, low pH water, the fish will become starved for oxygen. Bacteria, yeast, fungus, and mold (microforms) will develop in the waters. The fish will die. The same thing happens in our own bodies. Our cells are our fish. If our internal fluids are acidic, then we develop bacteria, yeast, fungus, and mold in our bodily fluids and in our blood. Live Blood Cell Analysis will show you just how acidic you are by showing you just how much of these microforms are in your blood. These microforms are the very agents of the Rajasic and Tamasic energies within our own bodies. These microforms crave the very foods that will prolong their existance: pasta, white flour, sugar, rice, yeast, beer, fermentation, meat, bread, cheese, mushrooms… anything made from or with bacteria, yeast, fungus, and mold. Try to cut these out of your diet and not eat any of these for a solid month and tell me that you do not crave any one of these things. It is not YOU that is craving these things. It is the microforms that are craving these things. Rajas and Tamas are not just on a physical elemental level. They are energies, so they are on a mental, emotional, and spiritual level as well. We are dimensional beings. Our very thoughts and emotions can make us acidic or alkaline.
Our billions of cells are all like individual fish. Each cell is an individual life form. We think we are this one main conscious entity. Yet within our bodies are billions of living, breathing (yes, cells breathe through cellular respiration), reproducing life forms. Each cell has an individual task it performs. And cells are grouped by their function. Our cells consume food and excrete waste just like we do. Our cells have little body parts. And according to function, cells are divided into little nations within us. There are cells that make up the blood. There are cells that make up the heart that pumps the blood. There are liver cells, lung cells, immune system cells, and skin cells, just to name a few. And all of these cells work individually and yet also in perfect harmony with eachother in order to create the universe of YOU. Your apparenly solid form is only due to the billions of individual life forms within you working diligently 24/7.
Take care of your body. Take care of not just the external body. It is more important to take care of the internal body. Take care of your cells and they will take care of you.
Cells live and die. But before they die, they make a 100% exact carbon copy of themselves to carry on their work when they die. Now, if a cell is attacked and damaged due to an acidic and low energy internal environment, that cell will become wounded and will not reproduce properly. Thus the celluar copy will be different, imperfect, and flawed. Ageing, diseases, and cancer are all caused due to cellular malfunction. This damages our DNA. It changes our DNA. And thus our genetic code changes over lifetimes and is passed down over lifetimes.
Can you imagine the genetic possibilities if we only change the way we eat? How it will affect our DNA? The future of our race and our children and their children? There is a DNA molecule within each cell.
Flawed, damaged cells within the heart cause corinary problems. Damaged cells within the endocrine system cause endocrine and hormonal imbalances and malfunctions. Flaws within the skin cells cause wrinkles. Liver cells become overworked due to having to filter out acidic and toxic fluids. Joint cells can become undernourished and overused leading to arthritis.
Diet can reverse disease, sickness, cancer, ageing, and even death.
Medicine needs to evolve in order for us to evolve. Nutrition and medicine needs to begin even before the cellular level. It needs to begin at an energetic level, for we are energetic beings. We are 99.9999% space and energy.
Choose well.
There is a Cherokee tale about two wolves. A grandfather is having a conversation with his grandson. It goes as follows:
“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego. The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”
The old chief simply replied, “The one you feed.”
So, again, choose well. Which energy do you want that 99.99999% of your empty space to be composed of? Which direction do you want your life to take? What do you want your thoughts to be composed of? Your emotions? Your spirit? Which Lineage do you want to belong to? The choice is yours. We all have free will. Choose well.
Until next time.
In Love and Highest Light,
Jennifer Jacobsen (Urja)
Learning the Science of Spiritual Evolution
Jai Bhagwan.
A lot of people ask me … what is Lakulish Yoga? Who or what is Lakulish?
Lakulish is a Sanskrit name, and like most Sanskrit names and terms, Lakulish is a process. Lakulish is the very process by which Yoga happens. Lord Lakulish represents the very Energy into which all matter transforms through this amazing gift we call Yoga.
Yoga is very presicous and very sacred. It has been around since the beginning of time. Yoga is a lifetime commitment to certain eternal Truths.
We presently live in an age of darkness. The great texts of Sanatana Dharma (the Eternal Law that is Yoga) call this the age of Kali (Kali Yuga). This is the age of ignorance, for we have forgotten who we are. We have separated from God. We are hurtful to our own selves, our own systems, our friends, companions, neighbors, and our environment. We lie. We cheat. We steal. We possess. We covet. We exist with sickness, disease, and with rajasic (passionate, greedy, power-seeking, materialistic) and tamasic (dark, heavy, lazy, dull) negative imprints in our minds.
It is this negative mindset that causes the separation. It is the mind that makes us sick and diseased. It is the mind that hurts, that lies, that cheats, steals, possesses, and covets. What we are on the inside, we will project into our outside environment. Our world is on the verge of destruction because we are destroying ourselves inside our very beings.
What is worse than this, is that in this age, Yoga, the very means by which we undo this individual and global sickness, has been reduced to a fad. “False prophets” abound, and it seems there are gurus on every corner professing to teach spiritual enlightenment or transfer some kind of spiritual energy that will instantly “awaken” anyone. But I caution you: be very keen and careful. If anyone is going to sell anything having to do with Yoga, they should sell God 100% of the time. I encourage you to pay attention to any spiritual teacher’s actions, not just his or her fancy, charming words, spiritual powers, or supposed energetic state.
Sadly, in this day and age, Yoga has become “en vogue” and a cliche. Everywhere I turn, I am faced with this reality (or should I say illusion). We are so far into ignorance, that we have even forgotten what Yoga is. We have forgotten that Yoga is about Union with the energy of God (Consciousness, Source, Energy, Chi, Kundalini, Creator, etc). Yoga is about removing the negative imprints of the mind so that our vital life energy (Prana) will grow and build and take over our bodies.
Right now, our most negative mental tendencies control us. And look what has happened to us and to our world. We like to think we are decent people. Civilized. But the truth is we are all very uncivilized, barbaric people attempting to show some degree of outward decency. But we do not like to think of ourselves this way. We like living with our delusions and hallucinations.
The truth is, when we separate from God and we think we (our minds) can control the body God created and run it effectively and efficiently … we fail. We all get old, sick, diseased, frail, our bodies rot, and we eventually slowly decompose and die. But the truth is we do not have to. We don’t. It all depends on who is in control.
When we step foot on the path of Yoga and we awaken our vital life energy (Prana) to the point where it becomes stronger than our mental energy, God decends into the body. The body becomes a Temple. We become Living beings infused with Light. The mind becomes a friend. It becomes clear and sharp and slices away the negative energies that once ruled us. The mind becomes clear as crystal, and we become reflections of that inner Light, and we reflect that Light to the world.
Change happens one individual at a time, one Soul at a time. Right now we are experiencing an Energy crisis. We have strayed so far from our Maker that we have forgotten who we are. But we are never lost.
There is a science, a very precious science, that has been passed down from a Soul who has walked the path of Yoga successfully to a Soul who deeply desires to do so. That science is the path of Yoga itself. That science is Lakulish.
Yoga is not a religion. As a science, Yoga deals with the elements: fire, water, earth, air, and space/ether. It deals with physics and chemistry. It is the very science of learning how to convert matter into light. And this very science will bring you to the footsteps of God, should that be a place you wish to travel. If nothing else, Yoga will allow you to live a very happy, joyful, long and fulfilling life. God does not want us to be unhappy. God does not wish for us to live in a cave. God does not want us to suffer. God wants us to enjoy this life we have been given. Yoga enables us to enjoy life fully. When we live under the governance of our minds, we are not allowed to live fully and peacefully.
Yoga cannot be put into a box. It cannot be canned. It cannot be labeled. It most certainly is not exercise or mere postures and breath work and most certainly does not belong to anyone! While it may relieve stress and make a person feel peaceful, its purpose far exceeds these effects.
I am writing this to you because it is time. The way Yoga is depicted in this age is inaccurate and incomplete. The purpose of Lakulish Yoga is to bring change, individual change.
Yoga is a part of an Eight-Fold system:
1. Yamas
2. Niyamas
3. Asana
4. Pranyama
5. Pratyahara
6. Dharana
7. Dhyana
8. Samadhi
Yoga is meant to unfold systematically, in this exact sequence. If you practice Yoga, or think you are practicing Yoga, and you practice out of this order, you cannot practice and have what you are practicing still be called Yoga. Yet Yoga centers all around the globe do this every day.
This is a very important and key statement. The first two steps of Yoga are called “The Law”. It is the Dharma. It is the Code of Conduct, God’s Code of Conduct. The Law of building and maintaining Energy. A Niyama can only happen when a Yama has successfully happened. And an Asana can only happen when a Yama and a Niyama have successfully happened. Thus, the only way a Pranayama can occur is when the other 3 prerequesites have happened successfully (there is a Yama in Pranayama and a Yama in Niyama). All of these words may sound very foreign to you, and that is okay. The purpose of my classes is to help you understand and practice this Yoga system, to develop your own individual practice.
Meditation is 7th on the list. And we think we know what meditation is. Meditation happens to us. We cannot just sit down and meditate. Yet meditation has become a fad and is taught everywhere. We can practice and hope that one day meditation will happen to us. But that practice requires a lot of work.
Union is WORK. Yoga is WORK. It requires daily practice. It requires a constant, unwavering committment to certain Codes of Conduct, called the Yamas and Niyamas.
The Yamas and Niyamas are at the core of the Lakulish Yoga teachings because Yoga cannot even begin without them. They are not philosophies to be glanced over while we push ourselves through vinyasas and twist ourselves into pretzels in Yoga class. The very first phrase in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras begins with the word “atha”.
1.1 Atha Yoga Anusasanam
1.1 Now we begin Yoga
Atha implies that Yamas and Niyamas have successfully been implimented. Then Asana happens. Then Pranayama can happen. Then God appears in the body. Yoga postures are a gift to mankind. They are the very means by which the bodily energy channels and organs are cleansed of impurities in order for the body to become a Temple and for us to become Living beings of Light.
I teach Yamas and Niyamas in my Private Yoga classes. I also teach nutrition and diet, Yoga practices, scriptures, mantra, and postures. I tailor each class to my individual student’s needs. Each person is different. Each person is in a different place on his or her spiritual journey. I have been blessed with an amazing, out of this world teacher, Swami Sri Ashutosh Muniji (I call him “Bapuji”). He is the current lineage holder in the Muni Mundal Yoga line. Muni Mundal is an order has been around for a very long time. Lord Lakulish was a member of Muni Mundal. And so was Patanjali Muni.
Lakulish Yoga teachings thus rely heavily on teachings from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and from the Bhagavad Gita, as these texts are very dear to our Yoga Lineage.
If you are interested in learning Yoga as it was traditionally taught and should be taught, please contact me at (904) 392-6588 to set up a private session. If you have questions, I will be more than happy to sit down with you and discuss any concerns you may have.
I certainly do not have all the answers. And I do not profess to be a teacher nor a guru. God is the only Guru. I am a student, and like my Bapuji, I wish to remain a student. I want to walk this path of Yoga, and I aspire every day to do so. But it is time to pay it forward.
It is time for me to share what I have learned from my Bapuji. It is time for humanity to wake up. We have slumbered in ignorance far too long. It is time to reunite with that Energy from which we have strayed so far. It is our birth right. And it is our duty.
Jai Bhagwan. Jai means “victory” and Bhagwan is that Energy. Let us let the Energy of God prevail within our internal nation once more. Let us find our Freedom, our Liberty, and our Justice. Our Founding Fathers understood this Truth when our country was formed. May we too understand this Truth again.
In Love and Highest Light,
Jennifer Jacobsen (Urja)
$20 OFF Private Yoga Classes Through April 30th!
Have you wanted to try Yoga but do not know where to start?
Do you want to try something more one-on-one before moving to a group class?
Are you looking for more advanced, in-depth teachings?
Are you wanting to create a daily schedule and personal home practice for yourself?
Are you wanting to learn more about scriptures, meditation, pranayama or mantra?
IF SO, from now until the end of April, I am offering my PRIVATE YOGA CLASSES for $55!!
That’s a $20 savings!
SPRING INTO ACTION!
Call (904) 392-6588 for more information.
How Yoga Can Assist In Cancer Treatment
by Jennifer E. Jacobsen, LMT, RM
Owner, Lakulish School of Yoga
Saint Augustine, FL
YOGA is becoming more and more recognized as an accompaniment to cancer treatment. Mostly viewed and experienced as a way to relax the mind and to tone and shape the body, Yoga is a very ancient science that is misunderstood in today’s society. While the benefits of Yoga surely can include a calm mind and fit body, Yoga is a way of building and maintaining healing energy while removing the more damaging patterns and behaviors that otherwise drain this precious, healing resource. To be a Yogi, one must master one’s mind.
Mental, emotional, and physical stress stem from a mind that has become destructive rather than constructive. While most people live their lives in search of creativity, success, abundance, and a sense of accomplishment, they often do so at the expense of their own well-being. Most of the time, this is unconscious. Some people live very successful and creative lives, and then there are people who intend to live very successful and creative lives yet do not know how to. At the end of the day these individuals feel mentally, emotionally, and physically drained and exhausted.
Exhaustion, stress, and lack of energy all stem from behaviors and patterns of living that are in disharmony with the first two laws of Yoga: Yamas and Niyamas. The Sanksrit word Yama means “death”. The Sanskrit word Niyama means “death inside”. We must ask ourselves, what is it that needs to die in our external environments and in our internal environments? Of what can we let go? What is no longer needed? In which ways are we damaging ourselves, allowing our minds to drain our energy, and leading destructive rather than constructive lives?
Patanjali, a great Master of Yoga, has shone his light on a path we all must follow. In his legendary Yoga Sutras, he tells us that the reason our minds, bodies, and spirits are not at rest is because our minds are violent. It is the mind that seeks to hurt its own system and the systems of others. We are not truthful with ourselves. It is the mind that deceives its own self and attempts to be deceptive with others. The mind is a thief. It steals, covets, hoards, and eventually drains our energy in patterns of which most of us are unaware. Yet, for the Master of Yoga who has reclaimed his or her own energy through Yamas and Niyamas and the practices of Yoga, the mind is no longer an enemy, but it is a great friend.
The question that then forms in the mind is, what does Yoga have to do with cancer? Cancer appears in a body that is destructive rather than constructive. The internal cells are in a state of attack, and the body is a battlefield.
Science has been able to prove that cancer cannot exist in an oxygenated environment. Dr. Robert O. Young, head of the pH Miracle Center in Valley Center, CA, has demonstrated that when the pH of urine drops below 5, on the scale of 1-14, the chances of an individual developing cancer increase dramatically. A low internal body pH deprives the body of oxygen, and the blood becomes dirty. Our internal cells are like fish in a fish tank. If the cells are not bathed in pH balanced water, and if our “fish tank” is not kept clean, the body begins to lose more energy than it gains because it is forced to clean up a dirty internal environment. In a dirty fish tank, bacteria grow. The bacteria morph into yeast. The yeast morph into fungus. The fungus morph into mold. These toxins deprive the body of oxygen. The internal pH of the blood begins to drop, and the body goes into survival mode. The pH of the blood will only drop when the tissues in the body have become so toxic that they have entered a state of latent tissue acidosis. The degree of latent tissue acidosis is most commonly measured by urinary pH. A urinary pH of 5 or below signals severe latent tissue acidosis and a body that is severely deprived of oxygen. The state of the blood can clearly be seen in a Live Blood Cell Analysis.
How does a body end up in a state of latent tissue acidosis, and how can Yoga return a body to health? The world of Yoga practices spans every bodily system. A Yogic diet is an alkaline diet centered around pure, fresh, organic fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and low-acid grains. Making the body more alkaline is the key to eliminating latent tissue acidosis. Cleansing the body and bringing fresh oxygen into the system also makes the body more alkaline. Pranayama (building healing energy in the body through breath) brings fresh oxygen into the lungs, the blood, and the cells. Both Pranayama and Yoga Asanas (postures) cleanse the body’s internal organs, remove acidic toxins from the body, and cleanse and heal energy pathways in the body (refered to as Nadis in the Sanskrit language). The practices of Yoga are designed to clean the blood.
Aligning oneself with the Yamas and Niyamas destroys the damaging patterns and behaviors that make an individual more extrovert, stressed, and capable of draining the healing energy built through the Yogic practices of Pranayama and Asana. In fact, there is a Yama in Pranayama. It is therefore necessary to be mindful of one’s attitude towards oneself and others before the practices of Yoga can begin to heal the body. This is the reason Yamas and Niyamas are the first two steps in the eightfold path of Yoga.
It is exciting that Yoga has been recognized as a useful and helpful addition to cancer treatment. Yoga is currently being taught in conjunction to cancer treatment in Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, MC Anderson, and many other major cancer treatment centers. As a patient learns the ways his or her mind has become destructive rather than constructive, the practices of Yoga will naturally heal the body. The human body is remarkable by design. It contains everything it needs to heal itself, and the body is constantly amazing practitioners in the medical field. Unexplained miracles happen every day.
The practices of Yoga can bring a person who is out of balance into a state of balance. It can help an individual live a very long, happy, creative, and abundant life. It can assist a person to live free of sickness and disease, to move from a dark place into a place of love and healing light. This is my prayer for all of those who suffer with cancer or any dis-ease.
If you would like more information on how Yoga can help you with your internal battle for health, please contact Jennifer at the Saint Augustine Lakulish School of Yoga online at http://lakulishyogaschool.com or by phone at (904) 392-6588.
