Spring Yoga Classes in Stoke-on-Trent

It is clear that my only purpose in this life is to awaken to the Self and to share whatever I find along the way with others. Through my practice of self-enquiry and yoga, I would love to share these teachings with you through the medium of Kundalini yoga and meditation. We are all serving each other as we stand as mirrors to reflect the undeniable yet sometimes covered truth of who we are.

If you feel this life is for freedom then I would love to meet you.

I am offering up an evening class which needs to be booked in advance and a drop in daytime class.
I am also opening up a meditation evening at my house where we can sit together and rest in silence.

Here are the following details about what is coming up:

Wednesday 6:30-8pm: Beginner's Kundalini Yoga course, Yogi Smith Studio, Stoke. Start date: 30/3/2016
This is a 6 week course where we will cover the foundations of Kundalini Yoga. This is an excellent opportunity to find out more about Kundalini and to experience your full potential as a human being. We will calm the mind and body with breath and exercise so we start to experience our true selves.
Classes are suitable for everyone, although please inform me if you have injuries, pregnant or have additional needs.
Yoga mats are provided for.
You will need to pay for the course up front. 6 week course cost £35. If for any reason you are not able to pay up front but wish to attend the course, please email to discuss.

Thursday 6-7pm: Tea and Meditation, Meir. Start date 31/3/2016
Come along for a cup of tea and an evening of sitting in meditation. This mindful meditation session will be an opportunity for you to unwind from the mind's chatter and to sit in the beauty of silence. I will guide the meditation. There will be tea after.
Suggested donation: £2


Friday 10-11:30am: Mixed Ability Kundalini drop in, The Hub, Fenton. Start Date 1/4/2016
This is a mixed ability drop in class, suitable for those who already have a foundation in Kundalini yoga and are looking to deepen their practice. This is more of an intermediate practice, although open to beginner's. We will be practicing different Kriya's, Meditation's, Relaxation and Mantra's. Particularly effective to change negative habits and replace them with new ones.
Please bring your own mat and blanket for relaxation.
Drop in class: £5

Please bring water for both classes.

Please email if you wish to attend. If unable to pay for course up front then open to negotiation.

Love,

Jenni

Guiding the Way

Guiding the way without purpose
You have only shown me love
How lucky I am to have found you.

I bow at your feet
A thousand times over
And now true blossoming can grow
Into this open space.

For I have no place now.
Nothing sticks.

Any veil is dissolved in this truth.
Here is my hand, empty
Please take it and lets go all the way home.

-Jenni
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The Science of Naad

All of life vibrates around sound. It has the power to transform, heal, uplift and have a lasting imprint in our subconscious mind.

Naad is a Gurbani word, the language of the Sikh's, meaning the "essence of all sounds". Kundalini Yoga's lineage has been passed down from the Sikh master's and Guru's. 

Now for the science behind Naad...

There are eighty-four meridian points on the upper palate of a human's mouth. You can feel that upper palate with the tongue and experience its different surfaces. There are two rows of meridian points on the upper palate and on the gum behind the upper teeth.

The tongue stimulates those meridian points, and they in turn stimulate the hypothalamus which makes the pineal gland radiate. When the pineal gland radiates, it creates an impulsation in the pituitary gland. When the pituitary gland gives impulsation, the entire glandular system secretes, and a human being obtains bliss. 

More than bliss. Sat (truth), Chit (Consciousness) Ananda (bliss). 

Have you ever had an experience where you are singing and you feel alive? Your heart is singing out and you feel amazing? Well chanting, reciting or singing Gurbani (or any other mantra) does that, but is also balancing your whole glandular system!

Gurbani is different from Sanskrit, the ancient Indian scripture which most yogi's are familiar with. It is not as old and there are a few more vowels added in, making it easier to recite or chant. You do not need to know what each word means for a change in consciousness to happen. It is more of a feeling your way into each word, stepping out of the mind realm and coming into the heart. It is here that the finite and the Infinite consciousness will merge.  

There are some amazing mantra's in Gurbani on the website:

www.spiritvoyage.com

Have a listen and see what you think. Mantra is a such a direct, quick route to experiencing your Self, Soul or Universal Consciousness. For me, chanting or reciting Gurbani (or any other mantra) is remembering. Remembering our Source. Our divine self. As we get lost in the world of experience and identity, any path which takes us back home is surely a good one!

Attitude of Gratitude

One of the most powerful memories I have is of laying under the blue sky on the grass one hot summer's day. The birds were singing and I could hear a plane go past in the sky. The silence behind that entered by whole being. I had no thoughts, no awareness of I, just a feeling of complete everythingness. I was listening yet part of it. I existed in that moment with the grass, the sky, the birds and the sun. The tickling of the ants on my feet were felt but no desire to react. I am free. This is heaven. This bliss. This is the space of non-duality.

When I go back to that experience in my mind it makes me cry. Not because it has gone. But it feels me with gratitude. And it feels like my heart is pouring out with thanks. Just one moment of pure clarity is a strong enough to stand as a reminder of truth.

Mooji says "tissues are for issues" but tears that come from the longing of the Divine, of God, of emptiness...these are holy waters. Allow them to flow freely. Blessed are these tears!

I believe we have all had these moments of clarity. Whilst we cannot re-create or go back to that experience, allow it to stand as a guide for you. 

Fill the heart with gratitude. 

Take some time out. 

Listen to the birds.

Immerse yourself in the perfect moment of silence.

Homemade Seitan Recipe: High Protein, Vegan

There is a lot of controversy about gluten these days. Gluten-free has become a popular marketing term and a "gluten-free" chocolate cake somehow seems to be a bit more ok than the non gluten-free version! If you suffer from gluten intolerance, then I would certainly avoid this, but for those who don't I see gluten as a very good protein source, especially if you are vegan.

Seitan, sometimes know as wheat protein, is very popular in the East. It is basically whole-wheat flour without the starch, leaving just the wheat gluten. Most of the veggie meat substitutes are made from wheat protein, but have a lot of sodium and other extra things added in for "flavouring" which alters the nutritional content of this food. Homemade seitan is super easy, very cheap and you can choose what flavours you want to add.

Nutritionally, this Seitan recipe has 28g of protein per 30g serve and 1g fat. I do not add salt in but I cook the seitan with dulse or kombu seaweed for it's iodine content and flavour. Miso also works well. 

Seitan keeps in the fridge for a week. You can use in stews, stir frys, anything really. It definitely has a meaty texture so makes a good meat substitute.

HOMEMADE SEITAN RECIPE:

Dough

• 6 cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 2-3 cups Cold Water (add slowly)

Broth

• 4 cups Water
• ½ chopped Onion
• 1 Tbs. Miso Paste
• couple strips kombu
• 2 cloves Garlic
• pinch of turmeric
• black pepper

Instructions

1. Combine flour and water. Mix until a stiff-but-cohesive dough is formed.
2. Form dough into a ball, place in a bowl, and cover with cold water. Cover and let stand 4-8 hours.
3. Knead the dough and rinse until water runs clear, about 10 minutes. Squeeze dough and press out as much liquid and air as possible. Use a sharp knife or a bench scraper to cut the gluten into bite-sized pieces.
4. Combine ingredients for broth (or use your preferred vegetable stock) and bring to a boil. Drop gluten pieces into boiling broth and return to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cook, turning gluten pieces occasionally, until the broth is mostly absorbed and reduced, about 30 minutes. Discard onion.
5. To use seitan right away, drain. To store, cover with broth and keep refrigerated up to a week, or frozen. Thicken and reduce broth as a gravy if desired.

Making choices

I have often found myself saying things like "let God work for you" or "lets see how things unfold".

Acceptance and surrender are powerful ways of moving through life as they bring you to each moment as it is. We know that the mind likes to jump into the future, or get stuck in the past but both are still ok! There is no enemy here! I feel life is a journey of making choices and we can use lessons from the past or hope from the future to make these choices. Choices from the higher place.

Spiritual teachings talk about leaving all desire for the future as it only exists in our imagination. The mind likes to conjure up an image of yourself sitting on a couch like a sack of potatoes not doing anything. How do we make choices and live life if we don't have dreams or desires of the future?! But we can. If we listen to the heart, the heart guides us. It may not give you the result that the mind wants but we still have yearnings. As a human being we all have this inherent sense of evolving and to get away from suffering. Each moment gives you choices and it is the practice of listening to the heart that leads you to your dreams.

Dream big.
You can have success, money, good relationships, intimacy, health or a nice house. If that is what your heart really wants. If it is based around fear, conditioning, social conventions, lack of, then you know it is not fulfilling you.

I used to feel inadequate or not "spiritual" enough as I had secret desires of owning a converted barn with a forest garden to grow fruit and vegetables. I love fitness but kept it quiet as I thought it wasn't spiritual to push your body and mind with weights or cycling. I should be content with everything meaning I am a calm person who meditates and practices yoga all the time. Now, I embrace all my desires. I am content with them all. And I try as much as I can to be led heart over mind.

Play the game of life but AS life and in LOVE. Why not? Let's see what this year brings...

Find your Gift

Let's get straight to the point here and ask "the big one".....

What is your purpose?

What is your individual gift that you can offer? 

I love asking these questions to myself over and over as it changes so much depending on where I ask it from. If the mind is asking then it tends to think in a more logistical, practical and productive way like a set of certain skills I have. This is constantly shifting and evolving as I learn new things and become more experienced in the skills I do have.

If I ask from the heart, then it is always the same answer. My purpose is to realize my Self and live in love, from love and to love. Then your gifts just come out of this space.

When we add these two answers together, we get a nice little result. We are able to put out into the world what we have learnt or are good at on a practical level, but from the heart. You just know when things are in flow or not.

So with that in mind...ask yourself the questions. Write down answers, but also meditate on it and drop into the heart.

You just being You is the Greatest gift you can give. You are an embodiment of God. What greater gift is there than that?

For a Tantric Numerology Reading of your birth date which gives you your GIFT number, follow the link:

https://www.3ho.org/tantric-numerology-reading

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