Kundalini Yoga - 6

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ADDICTIONS - GIFTS FROM THE GARBAGE

 

Many of those who have filled out the questionnaire for the Kundalini

Yoga Training indicate the desire to use Kundalini Yoga to lose

weight. Questions and topics discussed on the Kundalini Yoga List

often include eating disorders, caffeine and addictions. Following

are some ideas on how to use Kundalini Yoga to deal with these

issues.

 

Food, diet, weight loss, eating disorders, and other addictive

substances and behaviors-whatever our specific issue, everyday we are

all confronted with what to put in our mouths and how the decisions

we make affect our well-being. My approach is to use our addictive

tendencies as a path to empowerment. In the process we can

claim " the gifts from the garbage. "

 

3RD CHAKRA: YOGA AND MAKING AND BREAKING HABITS

 

The ability to make and break habits is associated with the navel

center or third chakra. When our navel center is strong we have the

will to make decisions and to keep them. There are many navel

exercises and sets. Many of these can be found in my manual

Transitions to a Heart-Centered World. Breath of fire is a great

navel breath as is 4 part energizing breath. You will find the

instructions for the 4-part breath on the Yoga Technology website -

kundaliniyogameditation.html

 

Do this 3-5 minute exercise 3 or more times a day, especially at

moments when you are being pulled to a compulsive, addictive

behavior. (Remember the navel center is 2-3 inches below the navel.)

 

Many addictions, especially smoking, drugs and alcohol are related to

the fire element. Navel breathing, especially breath of fire and 4

part breath, give us the fire energy we crave. As the energy we

create begins to satisfy us, we are released from the hold of the

addiction.

 

A strong navel center is a requirement for being able to commit and

keep your commitments to yourself. Daily practice to strengthen the

navel center is the first commitment we need to make to ourselves.

 

2nd and 3rd CHAKRAS: DIGESTION AND POWER CENTER

 

There are MANY things going on in our body that we can connect with

if we tune into and are present to our energy. The second chakra,

which is located in the abdominal area, is where much of our additive

and " food " issues reside. The abdominal area is our power center.

Women especially learn to hold in their stomachs. The result is a

constant tension and continual blocking of our internal source of

power. This is the area where our digestion and elimination is

regulated. When we create stress by holding in our stomachs and have

a negative attitude toward this part of our body, we interfere with

our normal biological functioning.

 

When the belly is relaxed, digestion and elimination can occur in a

natural and peaceful matter. Imagine you were a large or small

intestine and that you had to carry out your job under the adverse

circumstances that we create by holding in our bellies, blocking the

energy flow and cutting off the breath. You wouldn't get the job

done properly, so matter how hard you tried.

 

EXERCISE--One way to cultivate a relaxed abdominal area is to

practice long deep abdominal breathing. Lie on your back, place your

hands on your belly, let your inhale push your hands up and exhale

relax the hands back down. Many women in classes I have taught have

experienced dramatic increases of energy with this simple breathing

exercise.

 

Our goal is to befriend our bellies and to consciously allow our

energy to flow. Overtime our peaceful relationship with our energy

and our body will supercede any programming of how our bodies should

look. As we make friends with our bodies, HOW OUR BODIES FEEL

BECOMES OUR COMMANDING TOUCHSTONE.

 

SECURITY IS OUR GREATEST ASSET

 

SELF-LOVE on an energetic level is our goal. For self-love to be

real, we have to enjoy being in our bodies. This is of course a

process that takes time. We have to be willing to feel uncomfortable

and to experience our emotions. If we are willing, we will over time

experience inner power and peace.

 

Yogi Bhajan taught us years ago that " A woman's greatest security is

herself. " This summer he reminded us again that a woman's greatest

asset is her own security. And in fact, a woman can not really

function as woman, i.e. use all her innate gifts, until she feels

secure within herself. Can you feel the power of those statements?

Just writing those words again makes me sit up straighter and breathe

deeper. I think the same is true for men. For both men and women, it

is our inner connection that is our source of true power.

 

Maybe the core issue is not food or addictions. Maybe the core issue

is our own security, our own self-love, and our dedicated commitment

to living our own lives.

 

EXERCISE--The practice of long deep abdominal breathing as described

above can be used to cultivate a feeling of security in your body and

love of your physical form. Allow yourself to experience that the

energy you bring in with the breath is feeding your body (because it

is). This can produce a very satisfying feeling that replaces the

addictive cravings. Another variation is to initiate the breath at

the navel center. The focus on the navel center will help you

consciously create the flame and the fire in your " lower furnace " .

The fire energetically builds your will power on a very organic level.

 

FEEL GOOD

 

My most powerful driving force is to feel good. Almost everything I

do is in one way or another related to the fact that I want to feel

good all the time. This does not mean that I do, but it does mean

that I do the best I can to cultivate a state of well being.

Admittedly, it is a continual, lifetime task. I must be vigilant at

all times. But feeling good is so important to me that it is worth

all the time and effort. I do yoga everyday to feel good. And what

I eat is mostly (not all) determined by how I will feel after I eat.

 

I remember several years ago I attended a class with about 40 women

on habits, diet and eating. The teacher asked us, " Who considers how

they will feel 3 hours later before they eat? " Only 3 women raised

their hands. Wow. I was shocked. These were all spiritually

committed women. So don't feel bad if you wouldn't have raised your

hand. But do consider that making it a priority to feel good is

something to consider. It could change your life and be a key to

dealing with eating disorders and weight.

 

Actually, I believe that everyone is driven by the desire to feel

good. We just need to make this desire conscious and learn habits

and behaviors that make total well-being possible.

 

1ST CHAKRA: IDENTIFYING NEEDS AND GETTING THEM MET

 

Finding solutions to all our human challenges is actually a question

of identifying our needs and figuring out how to get them met.

Security and satisfying needs are first chakra issues. Some of some

our basic needs that relate to food and addictions include the

following-

 

* To feel secure

* To feel a sense of well being

* To feel nurtured

* To be nourished

 

Please add to the list.

 

I operate from the premise that we all have needs and that our lives

are organized around how to get them met. We may sabotage ourselves

by doing things that don't really get our needs met or are harmful.

But we are still internally driven to attempt to satisfy our basic

needs. In fact, I believe that eating disorders, drug, alcohol and

tobacco addictions are unsuccessful attempts to get our needs met.

 

In dealing with any challenge, the first step is to identify the

need. The second step is to embrace it, NOT deny it or try to

suppress it. The third step is to figure how we can satisfy these

needs, without hurting ourselves, but instead by promoting our health

and happiness.

 

SUBSTITUTES VS DEPRIVATION

 

Food is often used an inadequate substitute for the above and other

needs. Something is missing in our lives so we try to placate our

craving with food.

 

The problem with bad food is that none of our needs are satisfied

including the one for food. In fact we just crave more food. This

is a serious problem even for those of us who try to eat a healthy

diet.

 

Ingesting " food " that does not have its natural, complete vitamin-

mineral content not only does not satisfy our bodies, it also creates

cravings. This is because the body needs the complete vitamin-mineral

structure to properly digest its food. If something is missing, the

body will try to find it by depleting the rest of the body of those

particular vitamins or minerals and by sending out " hunger " signals

demanding what it needs.

 

The problem today is that most of our foods are severely deficient in

vitamin-mineral content. Genetically engineered foods are even worse

because the natural crystalline structures of plants are simplified.

As a result the cells cannot absorb what is left of the nutrients

from the food.

 

This is the same for the water we drink. Pollution, purification,

chemical additives and processing of water has debilitated our water

to the extent that it cannot be fully absorbed by our cells. We are

born with 98% water content in our bodies. Our cells are dehydrated

down to about 75% by the time we are 40 or 50. And no matter how

much water we drink, if it does not come from the few vital sources

left on the Planet, our body's thirst for water is not totally

quenched.

 

Now all this is rather depressing except for the fact that we do have

some very effective vitamin and mineral supplements available to us

that can satisfy our bodies. And recently there have been some major

discoveries that help us revitalize the water we drink.

 

In addition, there is a lot that we can do immediately by choosing

healthier foods. We can eliminate processed sugar, processed foods,

fried foods, red meat and caffeine from our diet. The trick is

substitution. Depravation does not work.

 

SUGAR

 

Our bodies need natural sugar and foods of the Earth element. Fruits

contain natural sugar. And there are many " health food junk foods "

that are sweetened with honey and natural sugar from fruit. Although

these are not as nutritious as a piece of fruit or carrot juice, they

are not harmful like refined sugar and flour. I say minimize the

damage and do your best to keep your body at peace without ingesting

the known addictive foods-refined sugar being on the top of the list.

 

Refined sugar is addictive because of what I explained above. The

natural nutrients have been extracted and the body craves more in an

attempt to get the minerals and vitamins it needs to carry out its

digestive and eliminative functions. Caffeine from coffee, coke,

chocolate also dehydrates the body.

 

Since sugar is addictive, any amount of it generally provokes the

craving and reestablishes the addiction. This is why it is

recommended to eliminate it completely. If you have the guts to do

this, I suggest having a good supply of substitutes on hand.

Remember the need must be satisfied. Deprivation does not work. As

the body gets accustomed to more complete foods, the sugar craving

will subside. The need for natural sugars will remain because the

body needs some of this food. Over time (and it may be a while) more

natural sugars will be the only ones that satisfy you.

 

When I was young my mother made the most outrageous refined sugar-

flour based desserts imaginable. It took me several years to

eliminate my desire for refined sugar. The dessert habit, however,

is still in my genes. Now I am satisfied with a couple of bites of

Golden Temple Ginger Snap Granola.

 

To help break my refined sugar addition, I ate millet almost everyday

for several years. Millet is one of the few grains that is an Earth

food. All sugars are Earth foods. By eating millet, my body was

able to have its need for Earth foods satisfied. I eat millet once

in a while now. Amazingly I still like it.

 

I am not saying it was easy. But I am sharing that it was possible

and it was worth it. I feel so much better without refined sugar.

And as I said, feeling good is a priority for me.

 

COLLECTIVE ADDICTIONS

 

Addictions support each other. A stop smoking course recommended

giving up coffee, teas with caffeine and alcohol at the same time.

Each one increased the craving for the others. They recommended

substituting vitamin C, dried and fresh fruit. The vitamin C helps

replace the nutrients lost and rebuild the substance in the body that

is replaced by nicotine.

 

WHEN TO START

 

The best day to begin any regime or Sadhana to break or make new

habits is the New Moon. I have personally experienced that it is

much easier to keep up and actually succeed when I start a fast on

the New Moon. Yogically, forty days is the amount of time it takes

to break a habit.

 

OILS

 

Somehow because of the cholesterol scare, we have gotten the message

that oil is bad. Refined, fried oils are not easily digested by the

body. Natural oils are needed by the body for optimum functioning.

Olive or almond oil (not canola) in your salad dressing or added to

your grains after they are cooked can satisfy these needs.

 

It is very important that women do not eliminate oil from their

diets. No oil speeds up the aging process and makes menopause more

difficult.

 

THE BOX TECHNIQUE

 

Someone shared with me the idea that I now call the box technique.

This is one way to deal with the psychology of what we eat and don't

eat. We all actually use this technique all the time. There are

things that we do not do and do not eat. We have them classified in

a box. We do not eat food out of a trash bin. We don't eat rotten

food. We wouldn't even think about it. We can choose to expand our

box and put other foods in that box. This works if we keep the item

in the box. And it circumvents a lot of mental anguish of trying to

decide " to eat or not to eat. " Over time the sides of the box will

grow stronger and we won't even question our initial decision.

 

When I was young, I often ate much more than I needed. I was of

course uncomfortable after I stuffed myself. I worried about getting

fat, which did not happen, but I did waste a lot of mental energy and

made myself uptight. One day, after college, I decided that I did

not want to live like that. I made the decision to eat only until I

was full and then I would stop. It took me about 2 months to get

into the habit and integrate the strategy into my psyche. I am so

much more comfortable mentally and physically that to do any

differently is not even an option. I have gotten better over the

years too. I look at my food, appreciate what I am eating while I am

eating, even try to chew more. It all helps.

 

We have built in survival strategies. The trick is to discover your

own version and use them to your advantage. As Yogi Bhajan taught

us, the Universe is set up for us to win. Life on Planet Earth is to

discover how to win our own game of life. We were all born with the

innate wisdom to succeed and be happy.

 

DIVINE ADDICTS

 

Maybe weight and food problems are not really about food and weight.

Maybe the issue is self-love. Maybe we should start out by loving

our bodies as they are. After all everyone is different and

therefore special. Maybe addictions are about taking back our power

from those forces and " authorities " who we have let manipulate us.

Maybe every issue we face is a spiritual issue between me and myself

and me and the Divine.

 

My hypothesis is that we all have addictive personalities. We just

have different addictions. Actually the addictive power is a

spiritual necessity and gift. I believe we were given this quality

to be able to hold on to our experience of God.

 

I propose getting high on Kundalini Yoga and using this addictive

power to hold on to the experience. This sounds easy, but this

reorientation is a challenge too. Holding on to the feeling can be

as challenging as breaking an addiction. What we are doing is

breaking an old habit and creating a new one. We are training our

mind to reorient our focus. We are reversing an energy pattern that

has been in place for a long time. We are challenging an old belief

system and creating a new one. The trick is to patiently train

yourself and to keep up until you are addicted to God.

 

You can cultivate an addiction to God with any Kundalini yoga set,

breathing exercise or meditation. The important point is to do

something to change your energy and then to focus on the feeling and

satisfaction that you have created.

 

(by Gururattan Kaur Khalsa)