We are MOVING!!!!

To all of my wonderful light beings out there: WE ARE MOVING!!!

I am thankful to Blogger to giving us the simple formatting start we needed, but we are giving a new format a try. Let me know you thoughts!!!!!!!

Now you can easily find all of the post, audio, podcast, videos, book one on one sessions with Param Sevak Kaur and even sign up for our NEW mailing list (which will include a monthly new letter with recipes, meditations and quotes just like you have come to expect from our blog)

So what are you waiting for!

Have you checked out the new home for Whole Soul Modern Girl?

Click on the link below to check it out.
If everything checks out we will be officially setting down roots and placing wholesoulmodergirl.com on this page.
<3 PSK

 CLICK ME
www.wholesoulmoderngirlblog.weebly.com

Ever Have "One of Those Days"?

Ever had "one of those days"?

I know I have. I have even had entire strings of them which leads me to wonder, are "those days" secretly breeding like bunnies somewhere just to spite me?

It can be hard, and normally it is just one small event that sets off the whole mess!!!! You can spiral down into a pit of frustration and despair that seems impossible to climb out of. 

As a musician and a self employed reiki healer, some months can be exceedingly light for work, especially the winter months. This often leads to stress and frustration as I attempt to grab on to anything, it seems, to keep myself afloat. 

I start to drift away from my yogic and meditative practices and begin to drift into a cycle of negative thought and worry; but then I am reminded by loved ones and that soft voice inside, "you do not have to let your self sink down into this negative pit of anger and despair. You have the choice and power to change this!"

The Negative Mind is rather over-developed in many western countries. What was once an area of the  mind that would help us protect ourselves, has now instead led many to shrink away from the world and into themselves.

The Negative Mind gets a bad reputation in this day and age. Do not be confused. You NEED your Negative mind. It is what allows you discriminately identify danger; without it we have no boundaries for ourselves. We must find a way to balance our Negative mind and allow it to flourish in a healthy way.

So what can we do when one of "those days" comes along, or heaven forbid, it and its entire extended family?

First:

Stop and Breathe!! 

Remember last time when we talked about the amazing benefits of even just a few minutes of breath work? 

Yep, just three minutes of pranayam can completely shift your mood and thought pattern. 

Second:

If you can, go OUTSIDE!!! 

Get some sunshine. Sunlight is noted to boost Serotonin levels.

Serotonin levels can affect mood, appetite and digestion and sleep, not to mention many other mental and bodily functions. 

Third:

Meditate and do some Yoga! (Yep you knew that one was coming ;) )

Exercise is great for the body and can help relieve stress and release endorphins, and on top of that yoga works to balance the flow of energy in the body: exactly what we need when we get ourselves into a funk.

There are many different mantras and meditations to work with your positive mind.

One simple one that is great for both children and adults is the:

"I am Happy I am Good Meditation"

Posture:

Sit in Easy Pose.

Mantra: 

I Am Happy, I Am Good, I Am Happy, I Am Good.

Sat Naam, Sat Naam, Sat Naam Jee

Wha-Hay Guroo, Wha-Hay Guroo, Wha-Hay Guroo Jee

Mudra:

In the rhythm of the mantra, shake your index fingers up and down (like  parents might sometimes do when they are reproaching a child).

Another is the:

"Meditation for the Positive Mind"

Posture: Sit with an erect spine. Curl the ring finger and little finger into each palm. Bend the thumbs over to lock them into place. Keep the first two fingers straight. Bring the arms so the elbows are by the sides, and the hands are by the shoulders with the two fingers of each hand pointing  straight up. Bring the forearms and hands forward to an angle of 30 degrees from the vertical. Press the shoulders and elbows back firmly but comfortably. The palms face forward.

Eyes and Mental Focus: Close the eyelids. Roll the eyes up gently and concentrate at the brow point, the Third Eye area at the top of the nose where the eyebrows would meet.

Breath: Create a steady, slow, deep, and complete breath.

Mantra: Mentally pulse rhythmically from the brow point out to infinity with the sounds: Saa taa naa maa

Saa is Infinity. Taa is Life. Naa is Death. Maa is Rebirth/transformation. This describes the cycle of life. This kriya brings a total mental balance to the psyche. The entire mantra means, "I meditate on Truth, Truth that I am.”

Time: Try it for 40 days. During that time eat lightly and speak only truth directly from your heart. Practice for 11 to 62 minutes.

To End: Inhale deeply and exhale three times. Then open and close the fists several times. Relax.

Found in The Mind: Its Projections and Multiple Facets by Yogi Bhajan

Also work on kriyas that strengthen the Navel Center (this works on many things such as, increasing your self-esteem).

A short and sweet kriya my family and I do for the navel center is found by itself and at the beginning of the Kriya for Awakening the Ten Bodies.

1) Stretch Pose. Lie on the back with the arms at your sides. Raise the head and the legs six inches, and the hands six inches with the palms facing each other slightly over the hips to build energy across the Navel Point. Point the toes, keep your eyes focused on the tips of the toes and do Breath of Fire. 1-3 minutes.

2) Nose to Knees. Bring the knees to the chest, with the arms wrapped around the knees. Tuck the nose between the knees, and begin Breath of Fire. 1-3 minutes.

3) Ego Eradicator. Sit in Celibate Pose or Easy Pose. Raise the arms to a 60° angle. Curl the fingertips onto the pads of the palms. Thumbs aim at each other above the head. With eyes closed, concentrate above the head, and do Breath of Fire. 1-3 minutes. To end, inhale, touch the thumbtips together overhead. Exhale and apply mulbandh. Inhale and relax. 

*Make sure to tune in with the Adi Mantra before you start any kriya and listen to your body. We found it best to start at 1 min per exercise and then slowly work up (do what your body feels is best).

I hope these tips bring you strength and grace when you must face the bad days, and help you meet them with joy and wonder. 

Bright Blessings,

Param Sevak Kaur

*Please share your thoughts and progress in the comments. I'd love to hear about your journey!

Adding One Little Thing to Your Life, Could Change it Forever!

Now I like to think that I am a healthy person.

I went vegan not long back (no don’t worry, I don’t care if you eat meat), am gluten-free, dairy-free and corn-free for health reasons and eat mostly organic fruits and vegetables. I do yoga at my lowest once a week if not every day and I meditate multiple times a day.

Yet, I still struggle with one thing. One seemly little thing....

Drinking water.

You see I have never been good about drinking water and it is not even that I have a problem with the taste.

I just do not even think to drink it most days.

I have tried everything, adding fruit, lemon juice, carrying around a big bottle, carrying around a small bottle, even writing reminders, but nothing sticks.

Now on a seemingly side note I also have asthma and GI problems, on top of other pesky issues (I'll get back to this in a moment).

You maybe wondering why is she bringing this up?

What does that really have to do with water?

Or maybe you’re saying well duh you don't drink water so of course these are problems.

But if you think about it... if you didn't feel thirsty would you be drinking water all the time?

Thirst is not actually a reliable indicator of dehydration for many people and this has been an ingrained problem for me.

I am not thirsty so I don't need to drink water....

But did you know "the Institute of Medicine determined that an adequate intake (AI) for men is roughly about 13 cups (3 liters) of total beverages a day and for women it is about 9 cups (2.2 liters) of total beverages a day." (from the Mayo Clinic)

I'm lucky if I'm consuming 2 cups a day some days...

Water is a basic building block of life right? Along with air and food, humans need this to function and even survive.  We take in this life force every moment of the day often not even stopping to think about where it came from or how important it is to our survival.

Do you know I discovered recently that dehydration directly affects histamine and mucus production? Both being connected to asthmatic systems? Hmm. So now my lack of water is connected to my breathing and allergies.

We also know that water is a main element in your body's elimination system. So a lack of water leads to the buildup of toxins and can lead to autoimmune disorders and general GI issues.

But this still didn't explain why I couldn't get myself to stick to drinking water. I knew it was good for me. I tried everything, but seemed to always self-sabotage.

What is interesting though, is as I began looking at things from a yogic stand I saw some connections I never saw before...

So lets take a look at the intake of water and such from a yogic stand.

In the east they call this life force many different names: one is prana. The classical "definition" of prana is: the energy of the universe. Yogi Bhajan once said "Praana is the most powerful and most creative thing God ever created, because out of praana came life."

Now let us take this a little further. In Kundalini Yoga, we look at the body as not just one physical body but 10 interconnected physical and energetic bodies.

You have the soul body, the negative mind, positive mind, neutral mind, physical body, arc line, auric body, pranic body, subtle body and radiant body.

The topic of the 10 Bodies can be a little hard to understand when first looking at them. I am working on a beginner course and future blog posts that will actually go through them all so don't worry and stayed tuned!

Today though I want to look just at the 8th body, the Pranic body.

This is the body that deals with your prana and is closely connected to your physic body. In eastern numerology if you are born in August on the 8th, 17th or 26th of a month you may have a weak pranic body.

I personally was born on October 8th, so this applies to me!

Two areas are closely tied to a weak pranic body: Fear and being open to illness.

If you think about this just from a personal experience stand (which I always encourage you to do) how does your breath react when you are scared?

If you are truly scared your breath goes all haywire, often times becoming rapid and shallow.

Now think about when you felt ill last. Were you taking calm, deep breaths?

Now lets put these two concepts together.

Water, food and air are all prana.

When I began my yogic practice, I did not think twice that many of the pranayam exercises were difficult for me. Aren't they for everyone?

What opened my eyes was my pranayam Module Weekend for my Teacher Training program.

Each weekend focuses on a different topic with intensive practices relating to the specific topic and with a month long practice leading up to the weekend.

For the pranayam weekend we were asked to do a combination of 30 minutes of pranayam exercises each day (not all together and many quite simple to while doing daily tasks) on top of stopping and take slow deep breaths as often as we were able.

I got through maybe a week of doing any of the practices, which is very unlike me. I tend to only miss at the most a few days of our daily practice, if any at all. This month I almost didn't even do the practice. And to top it off I started experiencing physical asthmatic discomfort as I worked to bring prana into my body.

I even could not, emotionally, get through more than one minute of our one minute breath practice without sobbing...

I was so relieved to just make it through the weekend, that I pushed aside any thought of pranic work and went on to the next month. Fast forward to a month or two later as I felt safe enough to begin looking into my experiences from that weekend.

I know I am a giver.

I feel fulfilled when I serve others and give of myself (often without thinking of my own energy limits). But when it comes to receiving I become uncomfortable. I assure people I am fine on my own, that they do not need to trouble themselves. I will make full healthy lunches for others while I personally skip meals, or just grab a shake.

I have also been controlled by fear of my own potential for most of my life. Falling into a more supportive role for everyone around me.

When I stopped and thought about it, I realized I struggle accepting prana in any form into my life.

Let us say that again.

I struggle accepting life force, for my own well-being, into my life.

WOW.

That is pretty intense.

But knowing the root concern allows us to fix the issue not the symptoms. It is not that I don't like to drink water, I personally struggle to allow any prana into my body that is not vitally necessary.

So what do I do now, you ask? What do you do now, if you are in the same place as me?

It is a big thing to handle partially because a lack of prana leads to physical and emotional imbalances. Including a strong feeling of fear when dealing with life...

Well my friend, now we work to heal ourselves.

We work to allow bits of prana into our life every day. It may start as a trickle, but as we work to unblock the faucet, the flow of prana will grows to a strong stream.

I spoke about your breath and gave a few simple pranayam here to get you started that can help.

Also try the Ra Ma Da Sa meditation for 11-31 minutes a day:

Here is just a simple track I recorded of the Ra Ma Da Sa meditation mantra. There is just around a minute of the melody vocals to get you started and then up to 31 min of just a simple relaxing backing track to chant with. So you can listen to your own voice while chanting.

Posture: Sit in Easy Pose (sitting on the floor, with legs crossed) or in a chair with feet planted firmly on the ground, with the spine straight, and a light Neck Lock applied (chin pulled back slightly).

Mudra: The mudra (hand position) is most important. The elbows are bent down by the sides, and are tucked comfortably but firmly against the ribs. The forearms are almost perpendicular to the floor, with the hands extended out at a 45 degree angle from the center of the body. Most importantly, the palms are perfectly flat, facing up, hands bent back at the wrists. You should feel a pull in the lowest part of your forearm as you almost hyper-extend your wrist to make the palms flat. (This tends to be the most challenging part of the meditation so it is important not to let the hands relax out of the position.) The fingers are kept side by side, except that the thumb is spread from the other four fingers.

Eyes: Eyes are closed.

Mantra: This mantra consists of 8 basic sounds:

Ra Ma Da Sa, Sa Say So Hung

Translation:

Ra - Sun

Ma - Moon

Daa - Earth

Saa - Impersonal Infinity

Saa Say - Totality of Infinity

So - Personal sense of merger and identity

Hung - The infinite, vibrating and real.

This mantra taps into the energies of the sun, moon, earth, and the Infinite Spirit to bring deep healing. It is important to pull the navel point powerfully on the words So and Hung. Note that the word Hung is not long and drawn out. Rather, it is clipped off forcefully as you pull in the navel. Chant one complete cycle of the entire mantra with each breath. Then deeply inhale and repeat. Remember to move the mouth precisely with each sound. Try to feel the resonance in the mouth and in the sinus area.

Mental Focus: You can choose to mentally visualize the person or persons that you are wanting to heal, as you send this energy to them for their well­-being.

Time: Continue chanting for 11 to 31 minutes.

To End: To end the meditation, inhale deeply and hold the breath, as you offer a healing prayer. Visualize the person you wish to heal as being totally healthy, radiant, and strong. See the person completely engulfed in a healing white light and completely healed. Then exhale and inhale deeply again, hold the breath, and offer the same prayer again. Exhale, inhale, and hold, repeat the prayer, and exhale.

To complete, inhale deeply, stretch your arms up high, and vigorously shake out your hands and fingers for several seconds. Keep the arms up and hands shaking as you exhale. Repeat two more times and relax.

If you are a visual person here is a video explaining the meditation:

Most importantly with any healing process:

Don't judge yourself if you "fall off" or don't do as well as you hoped one day. It happens, life happens.

Just take a deep breath and pick up where you left off.

I also find that a support system of any kind can be a great help as well.

So let us start TODAY! I know I am recommitting with all of you today. Right here right now to let the Life force of the universe nourish my body.

So let’s see if we can add at least one extra deep breath, a moment of letting someone help us and yes, an extra glass/ bottle of water a day.

We can do this! We will open ourselves to the prana of the universe and maybe even start drinking those glasses of water ;)

Bright Blessings,

Param Sevak Kaur

*Please share your thoughts and progress in the comments. I'd love to hear about your journey!

Do not run from the storms that are coming, but allow them to let you find yourself.

Brrrrrr. It is quite cold up here in New England. Not to mention all of the snow storms we have been getting in the last two weeks. Actually as I write this post another foot of snow is on it's way and should be here by the full moon. It actually quite appropriate as we approach this full moon. The Full Moon for February is called many things, some call it the Hunger Moon, the Cleansing moon, the Wild Moon, and more widely know the Ice moon or the Storm Moon.
This is a time when much of the earth in the Northern Hemisphere is sleeping, when snow and ice cover the ground and storms are a plenty.

Last Month's Wolf moon was a time of letting go of the past and finding your strength to move forward. The wolf called you, with a firm voice, to cast off what no longer served you. To survive and thrive!!!

The Storm Moon, though its name may seem strong and the situations it brings up may seem quite frightful at times, calls to us with a more gentle voice as the world screams and swirls around us.

It says, "Come inside now. It is not time to stand out in the storm, but go quietly within"

This moon is a great time for taking healing you time, inward journeying and meditation. Think of it this way spring is on its way and you are preparing yourself to burst out of your shell as a beautiful flower. But, how can you do that if you do not take the time you need to prepare in your seed. If the caterpillar is forced out of it's cocoon too soon it often dies not ready for its amazing transformation. But, if it takes the time to sleep and build its strength let nature takes its course, when it is time it bursts out of the cocoon it emerges as a beautiful butterfly. 

In times when I go in and am struggling I remember the caterpillar and the imaginal cells:

A Story for Our Times
 from Anodea Judith's  book, Waking the Global Heart, p.35.  

"Within the chrysalis a miracle occurs. Tiny cells, that biologists actually call “imaginal cells,” begin to appear. These cells are wholly different from caterpillar cells, carrying different information, vibrating to a different frequency–the frequency of the emerging butterfly. At first, the caterpillar’s immune system perceives these new cells as enemies, and attacks them, much as new ideas in science, medicine, politics, and social behavior are viciously denounced by the powers now considered mainstream. But the imaginal cells are not deterred.  They continue to appear, in even greater numbers, recognizing each other, bonding together, until the new cells are numerous enough to organize into clumps. When enough cells have formed to make structures along the new organizational lines, the caterpillar’s immune system is overwhelmed. The caterpillar body then becomes a nutritious soup for the growth of the butterfly.

When the butterfly is ready to hatch, the chrysalis becomes transparent.  The need for restriction has been outgrown. Yet the struggle toward freedom has an organic timing." 

~~~~~~

So take this time and look within. I find that it helps to sit down with a piece of paper and some crayons and just let what ever I want come out. No judgement, no purpose. Just an outlet other than words. This way I can honor what I am feeling without over analyzing it. Try it this month at least once a week and see what happens. Also yourself at this time to express yourself with no judgement, no direction, just to express yourself.  

Because remember :

"I AM what I AM. And thats all right! Thats all right."

Here is a the Meditation for the storm moon to help you go within without judgement:

Meditation for the Neutral Mind:

Sit in easy pose with the spine straight. Put both hands in the lap with the palms facing up. Rest the right hand onto the left. The thumb tips may touch or not. Remove all tension from every part of the body. Sit straight by achieving a balance. Close the eyes. Imagine seeing your self sitting peacefully and full of radiance. Then gradually let your energy collect like a flow at the brow point. Let the breath regulate itself into a meditative slow, almost suspended, manner. Concentrate without effort at the point and mentally vibrate in a simple monotone, as if shopping the sound, projecting each syllable distinctly:

Wha-Hay Gu-Ru

Infinity identity from darkness to light.

Practice for 11-31 min

From The Mind p155

May you always see the light that shines from within.
Bright Blessings

PSK

Some times I'm scared of myself

So I'll be frank with you all.
Some times I am absolutely terrified of myself, of taking a look inside of myself.

Why you ask?

You know I don't even really know the answer. Some people say it is because we are scared of our own greatness. Others say it is because we are scared of our own darkness. All I truly know is that when I am true, real and honest with myself, and try to take a look in there are times when I feel such a vastness inside that it scares me.


Now really it is not a "bad" vastness no, it is just simply vast. Full of all the darkest of nights and brightest of days. Full of endless gorgeous possibilities and a wasteland of despairs.

And that vastness, as large as this entire universe, completely and utterly terrifies me. Some days when the band aid of "my reality" is ripped off (the world I have create in my mind that is contained and "simple") and I am asked to embrace the infinite potential and totality of myself, I just want to curl in a tiny ball and cry.

Seeing that vast void within is like watching at a star 'explode'. 

It is truly terrifying and yet at the same immensely beautiful.

Maybe it is because I have created this concept of what it is to be a light being and that there is no place for the darkness that I hold inside of me. Maybe I have been told, and lead to believe, by myself and others that you can not have darkness with light?

But I know some where deep inside of me this is false. There is not light with out darkness and vice versus. So how the hell does a "holy" light being experience the dark within with out judgement or restriction?

Many different belief cultures have darkness balanced with the light. (I am just pointing out some of the feminine archetypes I have personally been drawn to there are many more)

Some in the judeo/ christian faith, look to the Black Madonna as well as her pure virgin counter point. Also, some see Eve and Lilith as a balanced aspect. There is also Persephone and Mother Kali just to name a few other.

So why is it that we as humans feel we must be one way or the other. That this great vastness must be placed into our little box so we can 'understand' how we relate to it?

Maybe this is the biggest question for ourselves? What happens when we stop trying to BE something? The sun does not decide to shine each day, the tree does not decide to lose it's leaves in the fall. They just ARE. 

But do we even know what and who we are... 

We become so wrapped up in what we should be that we forget who we already are.  And I guess that really is what comes to scare us. We are not afraid of our greatness or of our darkness, but the fact that we are it all and we do not know how to deal with that. 

All Light is not good and all Darkness is not bad and that makes the world and ourselves more complicated to deal with. 

It means we see ourselves in everything, because we are everything and that is HUGE!!! So maybe that is why I am scared to look at myself. I am scared that I am a big infinite ball of Gray. A creator and destroyer. That I am more amazing and more terrible that I could ever imagine. And that that is exactly as I was made and therefore I have an immense responsibility in this world to honor and acknowledge EVERYTHING. Because, if this vast darkness and light are inside me, and I was made this way, then that amazing beauty and horrible destruction all has a purpose and we are all part of it. 

So maybe when I go to take a look inside, I will look from a place of wonder instead of a place of judgement. And then when I look into the sparkling terrifying vastness inside myself I will no longer be scared, but amazing and grateful.

*Added meditation

In response to everything I thought about, wrote about, and posted yesterday, it seems the universe decided to give me a helping hand. Here is a Meditation that deal exactly with what I posted about :)

To make peace with the shadow try reciting the 18th Pauri of Japji Sahib 11 times a day. 

At 40 or more days you "clear yourself of attachment to good or bad, to overcome deep feelings of inferiority, to break self-destructive behavior patterns, and to surrender in complete acceptance of what is-both in yourself and in others".
From I am a woman p 83

18th Pauri of Japji

Asankh murakh andh ghor.  Asankh chor haraam-khor. 

Countless fools, blinded by ignorance. Countless thieves and cheaters. 

Asankh amar kar jaahe jor. Asankh gal vadh hatiaa kamaahe.

 Countless impose their will by force. Countless cut-throats and gather sins.

Asank paapi paa kar jaah. Asankh kuriar kure phiraah.

 Countless sinners who keep on sinning. Countless liars, wander lost in their lies

Asankh malechh mal bhakhi khaah. Asankh nindak sir karah bhaar.

Countless wretches, eat filth for food. Countless slanders, make their heads heavy 

Naanak nich kahai vichaar. Vaariaa na jaavaa ek vaar.

Lowly Nanak, gives this explanation. I cannot even begin to describe You. 

Jo tudh bhaavai saai bhali kaar. Tu sadaa salaamat Nirankar.

Whatever pleases You, All will be blessed, You always protect us, Formless One!

To help me keep track of my 40 days. I color in a petal each day I mediate, so when I finish I have a beautiful lotus to remember my journey:

Love to all

PSK