Webinar Topics

40 Days Closer to Christ

A Nourishing Journey for Body, Mind and Spirit

“Be not conformed to this world,

but be ye transformed by the

renewing of your mind.”

Romans 12:1-2

Weekly Meeting Topics

Week 1 - Prayer, Praise, and Power

"You are very powerful, provided you know how powerful you are." - Yogi Bhajan

Take a close look at meditation and why so many people are drawn to yoga.
Find out how not praising God daily is like holding your spiritual breath.
Learn how to meditate and the power of sadhana (a daily spiritual practice).

Week 2 - The Body and the Breath

"There is more wisdom in your body than your deepest philosophies." - Freidrick Neitzche

Explore the connections between the spiritual and physical bodies.
Find out how our physical bodies are influenced by our spiritual health.
Learn useful breathing techniques to help you feel centered and calm.

Week 3 - Feasting, Fasting...and Fear

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?" Psalm 56:3-4 

Explore how daily habits and food choices determine consciousness.
Learn why an intellectual understanding of nutrition alone is insufficient to change behavior.
Discover how to balance temporal and spiritual needs.

Week 4 - Matters of the Mind

"Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth." - Colossians 3:2

Where is the mind and what does it mean to be conscious?
Take a deep look at the subconscious mind as well as the positive, negative and neutral minds.
Learn techniques for retraining the mind and clearing the subconscious.

Week 5 - The Thoughts We Think

“Our greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” - William James

Identify beliefs that are behind subconscious thought forms.
Learn how to manage your personal thought energy.
Learn what is at the heart of all addictions.

Week 6 - Conversion, Commitment, and Confidence

"The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest." - Thomas Moore

Is it possible to "master time"?
How to "Keep Up."
More ways to Communicate with God

*PLUS*
Nourishing recipes
Weekly tools and techniques
Group challenges
Meditations and yoga kriyas
Private Facebook support group

Are you up to a 40 day journey that will bring you closer to Christ?

Join now!
It is not too late!  
You can still get started with the video of the first class.  
(Our next 40 days will begin again in August.)

New course beginning at the end of August!  Stay tuned!

The Many, Many Benefits of Meditation

I've wanted to share the many benefits of meditation but I kept getting overwhelmed - there are so many.  And there is study after study.  But then I found this awesomeness:

 Source

Seriously.  This stuff should be taught in schools.  Oh. Wait.  It is!

"Well conducted mindfulness interventions have been shown to be popular with students and staff, and capable of addressing the problems of the young people who take part, and improve their wellbeing, reduce worries, anxiety, distress, reactivity and bad 23 behaviour, improve sleep, self esteem, and bring about greater calmness, relaxation, and self-regulation and awareness as well as improving aspects of cognitive function, and also some aspects of physical health. Mindfulness correlates positively with wellbeing, positive emotion, popularity and friendships, and negatively with negative emotion and anxiety." - Katherine Weare, (2013) "Developing mindfulness with children and young people: a review of the evidence and policy context", Journal of Children'sServices, Vol. 8 Iss: 2, pp.141 - 153

6 more days until my webinar course where I will cover how to meditate along with  how to develop habits and behaviors that take you to a deep, meaningful practice!  Join me!

The Power of Mantras, Part II

The Power of Mantras, Part I

Yesterday my 5 year old son was tossing toys from one hand to the other trying to "juggle."  I told him, 

 "Ya know, doing Sa Ta Na Ma meditation helps with coordination so you can do things like that." He has heard me do this meditation many times.  When I first started he would go around the house chanting "Santa Mama."  The actual name for it is Kirtan Kriya. 

I broke it down into smaller parts for him but he actually did the whole thing, including tuning in and out and holding his breath for 10 sec and silence at the end.

During the middle of the meditation, when we chant silently in our head, I noticed he was moving so I peaked at him thinking he was having a hard time sitting still.  He was wiping his eyes.  He quietly told me, 

"I'm crying for happiness." 

He was crying gently out of pure joy.  

That is a small example of the power of mantra meditation.  You don't even have to know what the mantras mean in order for them to be effective.  Some people say that the meaning is the same as "Sat Nam" since it has the same letters (the meaning is described in The Power of Mantras, Part I).  But it can be broken down even further:

Sa - birth

Ta - life

Na - death/change

Ma - rebirth

This is very reminiscent of Christ's life and resurrection and his promise that we, too, will live again. (John 14:19)

This mantra  has the power to break habits because it accesses that level of the mind where habits are created.  I will be covering in greater detail more about mantras and how they help to clear out the subconscious mind in my upcoming course 40 Days Closer to Christ.  Don't miss it - only 10 more days!

More about Kirtan Kriya
Kirtan Kriya is one of the most studied meditations and can help in the prevention of Alzheimer's and current patients. See the article on the Alzheimer Research and Prevention Website.

Here is another study that shows improvement in patients with dementia from practicing this daily meditation.

Here is another article: 3 New ways Kirtan Kriya Helps Keep Your Brain Sharp.

A how to video by my  amazing teacher and mentor, Felice Austin/Nam Joti Kaur.

More about mantras The Power of Mantras, Part I

Sat Nam,

Samantha

The Language of the Soul

"We pay too little attention to the value of meditation, a principle of devotion. In our worship there are two elements: One is spiritual communion arising from our own meditation; the other, instruction from others, particularly from those who have authority to guide and instruct us. Of the two, the more profitable introspectively is the meditation. Meditation is the language of the soul. It is defined as “a form of private devotion, or spiritual exercise, consisting in deep, continued reflection on some religious theme.” Meditation is a form of prayer.

Meditation is one of the most secret, most sacred doors through which we pass into the presence of the Lord. Jesus set the example for us. As soon as he was baptized and received the Father’s approval, “This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” Jesus went to what is now known as the mount of temptation. I like to think of it as the mount of meditation where, during the forty days of fasting, he communed with himself and his Father, and contemplated upon the responsibility of his great mission."

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: David O. McKay, (2011), 29–37, Chapter 4, Elements of Worship

The Power of Mantras

When I first heard the chanting in Kundalini Yoga, it scared me off to be honest.  But when I looked deeper into the matter (years later) I realized how beautiful the mantras are.  They are all about praising God, plain and simple.  I suddenly knew there was nothing to fear.  Next, something beautiful happened.  Immediately I experienced spiritual blocks falling away.  And this was just from learning about the mantras, later I would go through many more experiences that taught me the power of words and mantra.

A mantra is a word or a sound repeated to help an individual concentrate during meditation.  It is also a slogan repeated frequently.  It is not the same as "vain repetitions" (Matthew 6:7). Vain means to have or show an excessively high opinion of one's appearance, abilities, or worth and, in this case, repetition mean much speaking.  A mantra is the complete opposite.

In Kundalini Yoga and Meditation the mantras are in the language Gurmukhi, and I think they read like Psalms in the bible.  Here is an example:

Mantra Title: Aap Sahaee Hoa

Aap Sahaee Hoa Sachaa Daa Sachaa Doaa, Har, Har, Har

Translation: 

You, Divine One, have become my refuge. True is Your support, Great Creative Infinite

Psalm 91:2 reads:

"I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust."

Pronouncing these ancient words correctly vibrates different parts of the roof of the mouth, touching on meridian points, balancing and stimulating different parts of the body and brain.  Take the technology part of it and combine it with the command to praise God and you start to see the power behind the practice.  Actually practice it and you will start to feel it.

Sat Nam,

Samantha

Sat Nam....(pronounced Sut Nom)
it's the most frequently used mantra in Kundalini yoga
SAT means truth
NAM means name, identity, to identify with or to call upon
Sat Nam can be translated to mean, "Truth is my identity."  When spoken as a greeting, you are essentially saying, "I see your true nature" or "I recognize the divinity within you."

The Power of Mantras, Part II

Why 40 Days?

The number 40 appears across many faiths and belief systems.  Here is just a sample:

• Christ fasted 40 days and 40 nights. (Matthew 4:2, Mark 1:13, Luke 4:2)
• During Noah's time, it rain for 40 days and 40 nights. (Genesis 7:4)
• It took the Israelites 40 years to reach the promised land. 
• One of the prerequisites in Judaism for a man to study Kabbalah is that he is 40 years old.  
• The Israelites were challenged twice a day for 40 days before David defeated him (Samuel 17:16). 
• Jesus appears to his disciples after his death and stays with them for 40 days before ascending to heaven. (Acts 1:3)
• Lent consists of 40 days preceding Easter although it differs from East to West on the inclusion of Sundays in the count. 
• In Islam, Muhammad received his calling at age 40.  Believers have also been encouraged to devote themselves to God for 40 days to see wisdom come forth.
• In Hindu tradition some of the fasting periods consist of 40 days.

But when I heard a lecture given by a Kundalini Yoga instructor about the science behind how consciousness is changed after doing something consistently for 40 days, I was amazed.  He states that the iron in our blood is a recordable substance much like the old cassette tapes.  We make more than a million blood cells with every beat of our hearts and with that it records on the bone marrow of your body everything about who you are (and who you think you are or are not) then and there at that moment emotionally and physically.  That's why meditations are given in minutes (11 minute, 31 minute...).  It isn't about the minutes spent meditating but the approximate beats of the heart.  Your red blood cells live for about 112 days.  In 40 days there's a "tipping point" when the new blood cells start to overpower the old blood cells.  Now there will be a whole set of new blood cells that are carrying with them a brand new intention and attitude.  So that is why there are 40 day Sadhanas.(Sadhana means daily spiritual practice, or devotional in Christian terminology.)

Isn't that just cool?! Here is the link to the You Tube video if you want to hear it from him.

Instinctively I always felt that the popular "21 days to build a new habit" thing wasn't long enough.  It actually takes an average of 66 days so hopefully your first 40 day journey Closer to Christ is a good start to continue for a lifetime.

“Therefore when we do sadhana, what do we do? We challenge the weakness, the laziness and our self-destruction. We challenge everything which is going to destroy us tomorrow.” 
–Yogi Bhajan, 1/21/88

So, of course, if you can go beyond 40 days and keep up - endure, you will become the person you truly wish to be - with Christ's help, as always.

Sat Nam,
Samantha

40 Days Closer to Christ Journey

Are you ready to take your spirituality to a whole new level?  

Step up your commitment to Christ by diving deep within. 

This 40 day journey will open your eyes and your heart to intentionally connecting with God and help you find greater access to Christ's atoning sacrifice.  With an LDS perspective that supports how yoga fits perfectly into a Christ-centered life.

"...for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." - Luke 17:21

"The truth is; we've got it backwards.  We're working life from the outside in, when it's really an inside job to begin with." -Dr. Habib Sadaghi

40 Days Closer to Christ: A Nourishing Journey for Balancing Body, Mind & Soul

In this webinar course you will:

• Learn how diet and daily habits determine consciousness
• Learn why an intellectual understanding of nutrition alone is insufficient to change behavior
• Find out how to balance temporal and spiritual needs through ancient practices of yoga and meditation
• Discover meaningful happiness by examining your true divinity 
• Participate in weekly challenges for personal growth and daily journaling exercises
• Have access to a private Facebook support group where participants share their stories, questions, challenges and achievements

*Registration for this class is now closed....