Join me and Kris on a journey into Kundalini yoga, where we discover how it helps us connect with our inner selves and brings people together. We dive into the deeper meaning of Kundalini yoga, showing it's more than just physical exercises—it's a way to find inner peace and connect with others.
In this episode, we talk about three main things:
1. the strong community bonds formed through yoga
2. how Kundalini yoga helps us listen to our inner voice, and
3. how yoga can be a haven during tough times.
I share my yoga story, from practicing with my mom to how it helped me after having a baby. Kris and I discuss how yoga can free us from the pressures of society, the importance of making yoga welcoming for everyone, and how yoga communities can help us feel less alone. Come with us to explore the wonderful world of yoga and the sense of togetherness it creates.
Show Notes
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#selfdevelopment #Wellness
#thym4teawithmikita #manifest #purposefulliving #liveunapplogectically #freedom #podcast #womeninpodcast #podcastlife #empoweringwomen
Join me and Kris on a journey into Kundalini yoga, where we discover how it helps us connect with our inner selves and brings people together. We dive into the deeper meaning of Kundalini yoga, showing it's more than just physical exercises—it's a way to find inner peace and connect with others.
In this episode, we talk about three main things:
1. the strong community bonds formed through yoga
2. how Kundalini yoga helps us listen to our inner voice, and
3. how yoga can be a haven during tough times.
I share my yoga story, from practicing with my mom to how it helped me after having a baby. Kris and I discuss how yoga can free us from the pressures of society, the importance of making yoga welcoming for everyone, and how yoga communities can help us feel less alone. Come with us to explore the wonderful world of yoga and the sense of togetherness it creates.
Show Notes
Leave A Review
Let's Connect
#selfdevelopment #Wellness
#thym4teawithmikita #manifest #purposefulliving #liveunapplogectically #freedom #podcast #womeninpodcast #podcastlife #empoweringwomen
Right now, we are all being asked to transform, like everything is being crumbled down, and most of us feel some of that right, like things the carpet's being pulled off from underneath us. Things are transitioning and shifting in ways that we aren't necessarily prepared for, that we don't want, and, whether you're feeling that in general or in your life, like we all have moments in our life where, like the shit hits the fan and what are we going to do? Because we don't have control and things aren't going the way we want and our emotions get big right. And so yoga, and Kundalini in particular, gives us the ability to regulate our nervous system in a different way.
Speaker 2:Hey there, I'm Makita, a small town girl with dreams who started a podcast with an old headset and a laptop at my kitchen table and made my dreams come true. On my podcast, time for Tea with Makita, we chat about living life unapologetically, on your terms, from career advice, entrepreneurship, relationships and everything in between. This is your one stop shop for real conversations and inspiration. If you're looking for connection, then you found it here. Join me every Tuesday as we dive into those sometimes hard to have conversations. So grab a cup of tea or coffee and get comfy, because this is Time for Tea with Makita, and the tea is definitely hot. Ever feel like you need a super power boost of motivation with exclusive tips and tools with your goals in mind? Well, say hello to your new inspiration hot spot, the Tuesday Tea Newsletter. You're a weekly infusion of big thinking energy that will propel you to chase your wildest dreams and never shy away from using the power of your voice. Sign up for the Tuesday Tea Newsletter today at beautifullyunbalancedcom and elevate your goals to the next level. Welcome back.
Speaker 2:It is definitely Time for some tea and I'm your host, makita. First, I just want to say, as I always do, thank you so much for sharing your time, your space and, of course, your amazing energy with me today. Today we are diving into the transformation power of yoga and community. As Alan once wisely said, the only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it and join the dance. And today I have the amazing privilege of speaking with Chris. She is a kandilini yogi who embodies the philosophy of guiding others to trust their intuition and live fully. Chris's journey in yoga is not just about poses and then we're dog, but it's also about connecting deeply with oneself and others. So welcome, chris. Thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 1:Thank you for having me, makita, this is lovely.
Speaker 2:Yes, as someone who has practiced yoga. And then I kind of got out of it and I was reminded why I started in the first place, because it brings you to such a deep connection. And it actually led me to the power of breath work, which I use a lot, and you do use so much breath work in yoga that I didn't even realize it in the beginning how much it connected everything. So I'm really excited to sit down with you and just have this conversation about helping others to connect deeply with themselves.
Speaker 1:Yes, very much so. I'm so glad you said that, and I love that you brought up Alan Watts in the introduction. I am not as familiar with Alan Watts as I should be, as I want to be. I have a student who was in one of my teacher training programs and he continually astounded me posts from Alan Watts, articles from Alan Watts, videos from Alan Watts, and so he is like my Alan Watts feeder, and so I love that you brought him up in the introduction to our conversation today. That's perfect.
Speaker 2:Yes, you can let him know that too, Like guess what?
Speaker 1:happened. I will. I'm totally going to message him afterwards and be like you got to listen to this podcast, because the first thing she said was Alan Watts, you're going to love it. Yes, and I'm also really glad you talked about breathwork and because I think your experience is so similar to so many people's experiences with yoga.
Speaker 1:Where we initially come to the practice for, like that physical practice, we're looking to have our bodies feel better and kind of, maybe get stronger, maybe lose weight, whatever the case may be, to come to a yoga practice. Maybe we don't want, you know, strenuous work like HIIT or weightlifting or anything like that. Maybe we feel the overwhelm and the anxiety. So we know that yoga can help with that. But once people get on their mat, my experience is that they realize there's so much more to it than just the physical practice and often in my experience that's what gets people to stay is everything else besides the physical practice. And I always say breath is the gateway to everything else, and if you can't breathe, if you're not breathing, you're holding everything else to, and once you can breathe, you can move your body. Once you can breathe, you can become aware. Once you are aware of your breath, you're aware of everything else around it.
Speaker 2:That is so true. And the thing is, what led me to yoga was this I did a lot of HIIT and I was like I needed something to bring me down, but that I was like I want to tone naturally, without weights, and I was like I'm gonna try this and see how it works. And then I just fell in love with the simplicity of it, like you just don't need a lot, you just need yourself in a mat, and if you don't have a mat, that's okay. You got carpet something, it'll be fine.
Speaker 1:You can do it, just a little bit of space. One of my teachers always says that even if you're just sitting there imagining yourself doing the poses and moving to the practice, if you're breathing with it, that's your yoga. Like that's all you need, and I absolutely love that. And that's one of the reasons I moved into Kundalini actually is because I have always taught yoga very non-traditionally, where a very accessible yoga it's not Instagram yoga. You don't have to stand on your head, you don't have to have the lululemon pants, you don't have to have the life for me mat. You don't have to spend thousands of dollars to walk into a studio. You can be in your pajamas, you can be in your sweatpants, you can be in your ready t-shirt that you've worn all week. You don't have to have a mat. And Kundalini yoga does more than that. Like my teacher, guru Singh, and Brett Larkin when they were teaching, that's what really attracted me to it is you don't have to even have an hour to do a practice. You don't have to. You can do it from a wheelchair, you can do it from bed, you can do it from anywhere, at any point. You can do it in your kitchen. We have the Grisht Ashram is that concept of yoga of the householder, and I think that the last couple of years have shown us how things can change.
Speaker 1:Traditionally, people had that expectation of oh, I'm gonna go to this fancy yoga studio, I'm gonna have an hour and 15 minutes of yoga, 75 minute yoga practice, otherwise I'm not really doing yoga. And I'm gonna have the seated meditation, I'm gonna have Shavasana and we're gonna own and then I'm gonna walk out and get my green tea and be done right and like. That's great. If you have the privilege and the ability to do that, fantastic, good for you. If you get to do that and you wanna do it, great. But that's not reality. I mean, I raised two daughters, I run a business, we have life and 75 minutes for yoga is just not attainable for me. And so being able to have permission to take 10 minutes in my kitchen to do some forward folds, to stand in tree, to use the counter to stretch my back, like fantastic and to stand there and breathe as I'm doing, whatever I'm doing, that's yoga and I love that.
Speaker 2:Yes, now let's just bring it back, cause there may be some people that are new to yoga they're thinking about okay, I wanna start this practice. It sounds great. Let's just rewind it back and just tell people a little bit about what Kondalini yoga is and what it represents, because it embodies a lot of things.
Speaker 1:Yes, it sure does, and it has evolved, just like other practices have. So Kundalini yoga is one of the branches of yoga, just like Hatha, vinyasa, ashtanga, all of those different lineages of yoga. Kundalini is an ancient lineage of yoga as well. It is more on the energetic, feminine side, so that Vinyasa yoga, that Ashtanga yoga, is very power yoga is strong and structured and masculine energy if we're talking Mipya and Yang Shakti, shiva energy, and so, like that strong power flow is structured. Kundalini is very much the fluid, intuitive, expressive, feminine, traditionally feminine, classified energy and that practice so it is. There's familiar poses that you'd recognize from a traditional yoga practice, but we do them in a very different way, and so the way I define Kundalini yoga is simply it's a practice of breath, movement and awareness, and breath is always first, just because breath is the gateway, right, like I said, like if you can't breathe, you've gone too far. That's what I always say in class If you can't breathe, you've gone too far. Back off a little bit.
Speaker 1:And so with the Kundalini yoga we do what are called Kriyas, and it's defined as a complete set of movements, basically when it sums it up, and everything we do is focused on aligning the energies in the body, opening our awareness to what's going on within and around us and giving ourselves time to shift our perception. And so let's say that we're doing, like right now I'm doing a sadhana, where we're doing some twists right, and so we do this movement side to side, twisting in whatever form or where our hands want to be for two minutes, and that time can be different depending on what you're trying to accomplish and how much time you have. But we do these movements for two minutes because that gives our body time to recognize what we're doing, to get comfortable with what we're doing and then to integrate the movements and the understanding that comes from that movement. And on an energetic level, we are starting to understand with that breath. It takes us time to pair with our breath.
Speaker 1:I mean, you get it too right. Like I'm in yoga practice and I'm trying to breathe, all of a sudden I realize I've been holding my breath for the last 30 seconds. You know, after two minutes you have to breathe, and so then you start to catch that breath and realize how you are moving with the breath, and so it integrates all of that, all of those components, in a very different way so that you come out of that practice Just your awareness has shifted, your physical body has shifted, your energetics are shifted and your nervous system is much more regulated.
Speaker 2:Yeah, cause I think some, for a lot of us, we are in the masculine so much that the Kundalini really helps you transfer that energy. And I think that's the most relaxing part of it is that you're in that feminine energy and you're having that moment to just sit with your breath and go inward. So I love that. And you mentioned that you feel that yoga is for everybody Not everybody, but everybody. Yes, how has this belief influenced, like your teaching style and the way you are connecting with others as they get into the practice and really find themselves there?
Speaker 1:Yes, that's such a great question. So when I owned my yoga studio, I really made it an inclusive place for anyone who walked in the door, and I still carry that in the communities that I offer online too. No matter who you are, no matter where you're from, no matter how you present or what your background is or what you're wanting or needing, or where you are in that moment, you are welcome and everybody can do yoga, even if you've never touched your toes before, even if you have pins all the way up your spine and can't move your back, if you've had hip replacements, senior placements, all of that stuff. If you're 99 years old all of those different ages and no matter your size or your shape, everybody can do yoga, and so the way I teach is very much accessible and inclusive. It's trauma-informed.
Speaker 1:I have had just a little bit of training in trauma yoga, so I don't wanna say that I am trained in that, but I have some understanding of that, and so, even in the language of like you're not, you don't have to do this like, here are your options. This is what I'm gonna guide you into, but if that doesn't feel right in your body, here's some other things. And if none of those feel right, you get to find what feels good to you, and that's exactly what you should be doing. So that kind of thing, because the last thing I ever want, no matter where I am or what I'm doing, is to have someone feel like they have failed or that they feel uncomfortable in their own bodies. The goal of this is to love your body, to love yourself and to really step into that fullest expression of beauty, of who you really are. And our outward expression is, I think, an art form and we should embrace that and encourage that in others.
Speaker 2:I like that you said art form, because it truly is our bodies. Everything like it is an art form and being able to move your body and being so inclusive. I love the fact that you talked about every body type, every age group, no matter what your physical limits are, because you know some people have limitations, but you can do yoga and there are very different variations that you can do, and I love that you are creating this inclusive community For you. What have you noticed as being like the biggest impact that you've seen in your community by being so inclusive and just kind of welcoming everyone?
Speaker 1:That's a great question. So I kind of enjoy watching new people come into our community because as a culture, we have created this really open community and I always tell people when we practice together in person, like if you're new, you can't hide in the back corner, because someone in that room is going to introduce themselves to you and ask you who you are and welcome you in and want to get to know you. Like we are not a community where you can just hide in the shadows, because we are going to embrace you fully. And I think that's one of my favorite parts of creating this type of community is I lead the way and I, you know, I model this type of behavior and I expect that out of people in my community.
Speaker 1:But it just snowballs, like you know. It's like that bubble in the water that ripples out where this is what I had, this is my intention for this, this is my integrity, and everyone who comes in starts to take that on themselves, and so it just is a beautiful thing to watch others do the same thing and welcome people in and make these connections. And you know you like, if this women's retreat I just did last weekend, a lot of those people were new, like there were usually. I have a core group of people that know each other and practice together, and this one was a little bit mixed up and it was kind of great because everyone was from different walks of life and different ages and they're all there for the same reason, but coming from different places and watching them integrate and support each other in so many different ways, that's my favorite part of this type of community.
Speaker 2:I love that and you know what I think that is.
Speaker 2:I think people need to know that because when you do if you ever decide to, you know, go into a yoga studio or join Chris online or you know, just to have the experience there is such an openness.
Speaker 2:A lot of times, when you go to places like that, you're, you know, you're worried about I'm not going to be able to hit the pose. This is going to fall, I'm going to do something crazy and everybody's going to look at me and I don't want to be the one that you know embarrasses themselves. But everyone is there for their own reasons and for most of the time that I feel like everyone's there to release something. They're, you know they're there to like find their own peace and calm and to connect with others, and I feel like there's such a shifting of energy, like the energy is always so high and it's always so positive, like it's always like this electric energy that's just like supercharges the room. Do you feel that a lot Like? I know you mentioned your retreat Like the energy is just like electric and you have people that are coming together and like you're not going to hide. Hi, my name is Makita.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, totally yeah, and I love that and I think that attracts people too, because in society we have become so isolated, right, and we're told to hold and keep everything in and not express and not be messy and not, you know, mess up and not be emotional and not connect with it. It's dangerous, you know, and it's scary and people are scary and what are going to? People are going to think of you and when we have this space of openness and like, yeah, come on in, like I'm in my jammies today, how about you? You know, like I haven't washed my hair in a week, but that's okay, you know we're going to go breathe together and it's going to be great, and thinking it's more online because you can't smell me kind of thing, right, and so that I think, attracts people, because that energy is starting, it's like a beacon right In the universe and that old adage of like attracts, like people are seeking out that type of connection and we're often told that we either don't deserve it or it's not out there or whatever.
Speaker 1:Those stories are in our own heads, like when we kind of the opportunity arises and we fall into this or we just stumble upon it. Oh my gosh, what is this. This is this feels so good, right, and I love that yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think one of my yoga is the only exercise, well, form of exercise that I've ever done. That I did not click like I didn't continue it because I wanted my body to look a certain way Like it was continued because it. It was a personal transformation for me, like I truly felt more graceful when I walked, I was aware of my posture when I was moving, I had this increased flexibility and joints that were hurting before were not hurting anymore because of that. Like I just felt more connected because of it and, honestly, I started yoga. I was trying to think of like the first time I did yoga it was actually when Denise Austin used to do lifetime, which was my age here.
Speaker 1:I love that. I know it, I know it. I'm right there with you.
Speaker 2:And I would do it with my mom because she used to do to Austin. So I would do it with her and we would do the yoga together and I just kind of continued it from there. But how for you? What was your personal transformation for yoga?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, like you, I did yoga with my mom and this is how old I am. Like we had the book with the black and white pictures, like the original yoga book with all the black and white photos, and we would just I would just open it and like I'd pick a pose and we would do it together, like that's how old I am, so that I've done yoga my whole life, and in college I kind of moved away from it because you know life, and when I started working, my body started to hurt and I started to feel uncomfortable in my body and like it was just not being a yogi. We know our bodies right and so when things start to go wrong, we know very quickly and it's like what the heck is happening here. I don't want this. I heard I feel bad like you know, I'm not sleeping well and so I went and I found Pilates, first with a friend of mine, we went to Pilates class and then I remembered, oh, this feels a lot like yoga.
Speaker 1:And so after I had my first daughter, I started to do yoga regularly. I had returned to just yoga on my own, like I had a yoga for runners book, kind of thing that I had found and was doing stuff like that again. And then I had never gone to a yoga class in my life and I was in my 30s the first time I walked into a yoga class and I hated it because I had had my own practice my whole life. Like you're not going to tell me, like there were way too many downward dogs, the breathing was off, like I hated every bit of it because I'd never had that group yoga experience, right. And so I gave it another try because I needed that community at that point. Right, I wanted that connection of community and it was at a Y and I think that was really formative in how I teach yoga, because where I was going to yoga it was, it was a gym but it was a community center and so there were people from all walks of life and all levels of yoga and I was fortunate enough to really find a teacher that I absolutely loved, my first yoga teacher. She was, you know, it's just this beautiful, human and very spiritual and very calming and just very insightful and a lovely teacher as well.
Speaker 1:And so I was able to have that experience as my first yoga experience and I think that that was really what gave me the motivation to do what I do now and to teach yoga in the way I teach, because then you know I would go to yoga studios and like my favorite thing to do when I travel is to go to a yoga studio. I love just trying out and do different yoga studios because I just love that experience and like immersing myself in that culture of the yoga studio. And some of them are matches and some of them aren't, but every place I go I really get a lot out of it. And and so that experience in the Y then going to yoga studios, it was like, oh, this isn't, this isn't for me, I don't have the money to buy the things and I'm getting weird looks because I'm in these ratty sweatpants Even though I can do these yoga poses, but like they clearly don't want me here because I don't look the right way and and I thought I'm, that's not yoga.
Speaker 1:And so I kept going back to that experience at the Y, right, like kept going back to that communal experience and kept going back. And just because we may weigh a little bit more, or we have big hips, or we're five feet tall, or, you know, we have a limited mobility, doesn't mean we shouldn't get that same experience, and so that really it just always just reverts back to. I always go back to that first experience that I had in my yoga class. I don't know if that answered your question, did that it?
Speaker 2:did. Yeah, no, I think we all have our own, you know, personal transformation. And then you have things that bring us back to that, that grounding, like you know. You step away for a little bit and then you're like I'm missing something.
Speaker 2:And for me, coming back, I was invited to speak at this conference and I was lucky enough that the people that invited me also let me participate in some of their activities and was they have this yoga instructor come and it was so beautiful because they had like different, different, like they had like different representations of like air and fire and water.
Speaker 2:They had all these rocks and crystals around and they were talking about the chakras, like it was. It was so amazing and I was like this is why I love this, and I didn't realize I had so much stress and you know, just all these things that were like happening and like in that moment it was like such a real release and I was like you know, I was dealing with something and I didn't even realize, like how much of a challenge that was going on inside of me. So I was like huh, and it like really brung me face to face with my challenges and helped me to like put a word to it Because, like we say, you know, I was at the time. I was like I'm having such such anxiety, but it was like I'm not having anxiety, I'm stressed, I'm worried. That's not what it is. You know, we give it names that don't really coincide with the actual feeling and I was just curious how has the practice helped you, like, overcome some personal obstacles or challenges?
Speaker 1:Well, first I want to just honor the fact that you went to that place and you felt that and you acknowledged it and you, like, took it and looked at it and explored what it really was, because that is hard, like that is vulnerable and that is hard and that is not always the place that we want to go. So I just want to honor the fact that you did that and say how amazing that is, and just honor that experience first, and then the things that I think really stand out for me, the things that has helped me the most, are really this Kundalini practice. In my past life, before I did yoga, I was a music therapist and so I use music as therapy. I worked in schools, I worked in hospitals, I worked in nursing homes, hospice, all of those places, and the power of music is just amazing. That's a whole nother podcast. But so that sound I understand that sound and music is always a deep connection for me and Kundalini with that breath, combining breath and sound, because we do a lot of mantra, we do a lot of singing in Kundalini, paired with movement of a different type, like there's just something about it.
Speaker 1:I found Kundalini. I found Kundalini before COVID, but I did my training and really dive deep into it during COVID, during isolation and all of that kind of stuff, and I firmly believe that I would have had a very different experience if I hadn't have found that practice, because that deep awareness that comes from the practice, of that breath and that sound, and literally you can just dump it all out and look at it and then pick up the pieces that you want. And, like you said, so much of what we are feeling is misinterpreted or ignored, not intentionally, but just misperceived. And the practice of Kundalini in particular gives us a spaciousness to realize. Oh, I'm feeling that in my shoulders and it's because of X, y and Z or I call it downloads of. Like I'm stuck, I'm feeling stuck and I don't know what to do in this situation, like it's keeping me up at night. Okay, what do I do? I'm going into my mantra and of we know, wa guru or whatever the case may be, whatever mantra I want, or I have this yoni kriya that I do because I really want to touch my feminine side and get back into that expressive emotion, whatever the case may be, I can step into that practice and it it almost like explodes my mind so that I can take the pieces apart.
Speaker 1:I have a temper and so I get fiery very quickly and I'm very protective of my people and things like that.
Speaker 1:And so Kundalini has given me the ability to pause and take a breath and have perspective of understanding, and I think this has been one of the biggest lessons I've gotten from it is understanding that everyone is coming from their own place and that my anger is my own emotion and that's showing me something deeper that is still stuck in there and that these people that are causing my emotion really don't have anything to do with it and they're coming from their own place, and so that gives me that spaciousness of it.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I really think for my practice, it really has one helped me get through COVID and that isolation because I'm a people person and running a leading a community through that crisis was a lot. And with my own personal practice, like I really had to dive into my personal practice to keep me grounded and anchored and not lose my mind and really continue to be a solid leader that people could rely on. And then the further awareness of that emotion and intuition of, oh, I do, my body really knows what's going on and if I listen to it, it's always a hundred percent right. A hundred percent right.
Speaker 1:It's just whether I choose to listen to it or not.
Speaker 2:That's true, and I'm glad that you said that, trusting your body and listening to it, and I like the fact that you bring in music and, yes, that's like a whole nother episode. Combining music and mantras is very, very powerful and it's also joyful, right, because you know there is a joy that comes from doing the, the, the kandilini. So we talk about finding joy and we talk about, you know, community and just having a space and pretty much you're really holding space for people. Like you said, your emotions is yours and everybody's coming in with their own emotions. Beyond the physical benefits, how do you think that yoga continues to like help people to have contribute to their emotional and mental well-being?
Speaker 1:Yes, okay, so I have a big answer to this question. So we are stepping into and this is kind of astrological as well, but it goes back to energy, right like we are stepping into Aquarius, like the age of Aquarius, like the old song, your Donnie of the age of Aquarius, which I absolutely love saying, like a couple years ago 2021, I think is when it really began that shift and I was like I was going around everywhere saying, oh, we're stepping into the Donnie of the age of Aquarius. So right now in particular, too, like yesterday, the planet shifted you've probably heard, pluto went into Aquarius as well with the Sun, and so right now, we are all being asked to transform, like everything is being crumbled down and most of us feel some of that right. Like things, the carpets being pulled off from underneath us, things are transitioning and shifting in ways that we aren't necessarily prepared for, that we don't want, and whether you're feeling that in general or in your life, like we all have moments in our life where, like the shit hits the fan and what are we gonna do? Because we don't have control and things aren't going the way we want and our emotions get big right.
Speaker 1:And so yoga, and Kundalini, in particular, gives us the ability to regulate our nervous system in a different way, and yoga does this as well. If we are not on our mat, we don't know our bodies to the level in which we can re-regulate our nervous system, and everything we do on a yoga mat, everything we do in a Kundalini practice, has a very prescribed benefit and impact to our bodies, whether we know it or not. And so when we're on our mat, we get to see our emotional body from a different perspective. And when we're moving our body, with our breath, with our sound of our personal sound of our own vibration our voice is our own personal vibrations, like a fingerprint, our voice is our own then we have a whole nother layer of that emotional body that we are in touch with. And right now, or in those times of struggle and panic and big emotions and upheaval, the practice that we have gives us the ability to step back into that regulated nervous system, the less reactionary part of us, of our existence, and have different perspective of like yeah, this is not what I want to have happening, but you know what. I can handle anything that's thrown my way and I may not want this to be going on, or this is not what I choose, but this is what it is and I'm going to figure out how to get through it.
Speaker 1:And then, on a greater picture as well, we are being called in to become light leaders. Right, and I'm glad you brought up joy, because our inherent nature is joy and that joy is what needs to lead us forward, like we need to move from our heart, from our place of joy, from our inherent nature of beauty and joy, and our yoga practice is how we get in touch with that, whether it's Kundalini or yoga Kundalini, very much so, because we have that breath, we have that sound, we have that movement all tied together. Like that just opens the channels to that native state of joy and intuition and we're all being called to step up to the plate to change the world for the better, to connect in a different way, to lead in a different way, to call out the dark and bring it into the light, and I mean that is from our yoga practice. We do that. That was a big, deep answer but you know what?
Speaker 2:I love the fact that you mentioned that we're entering into the age of Aquarius and this is a in its transformation, because I had this feeling and I was like I don't know, I just felt like this, I don't, I can't really describe, I haven't really dug deep enough, you know, in work to like really understand like what was happening in the moment.
Speaker 2:But I knew change was happening and I just I got up out of bed and I was like I need to breathe, I need to do some mantras, like I need to just shift a little bit, to let go, because what will happen will happen. I can. I can control me and what, how I react and what I do forward, but those people around me I can't control that. But in this moment I can control this moment, and that's what I did. And afterwards I just felt this like sense of calm, the sense of knowing, and are you bringing that up? I'm like, yep, that was yeah, that's what it is like, that's what it is. You know, like I like knowing like what's happening around, like where we're at, and you know what's what's transpiring, and that's really what I can really start connecting things.
Speaker 1:Yes, I love that too. And you know, if we don't have our yoga practice, like, we just get up and we have these feelings of like I don't know what's going on. I feel really yucky and I'm anxious and I'm not sleeping. I don't know what's going on. Maybe it's your fault, you know, or maybe it's this fall, or maybe I need a new job, or, and you know, and with our yoga practice, we have that ability, just like you said, to be like okay, I don't really know where it's coming from, I'm just gonna take a minute, I'm gonna breathe, okay, oh, now I feel my nervous system coming down, and that gives us that next step of like you said, of like okay, I don't know what this is, but I know I can handle it and I'm grounded in my body now and I'm ready to move forward.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so powerful it is. What advice do you give to someone who feels disconnected like because sometimes we do feel disconnected from our body, from our spiritual self, and when people are considering not just yoga but kandilini as a path of reconnection, what would you, what advice would you give to someone?
Speaker 1:My first advice, if you are in the throes of feeling completely disconnected, is get in water. That sounds like a weird answer, but that water element is cleansing, it is grounding, it is releasing. There's something about water putting our bodies in water that makes us shift. So get in water, whether it's a bath, whether it's you staying in your shower, whether you go put your feet in a lake or the ocean, or you just go even sit by that and you just feel that in the air. Get by water. That will ground you back into the moment.
Speaker 1:And then I encourage you to reach out to communities, to find communities, and know that it isn't always going to be the right fit the first time. It's like finding the therapist. Keep looking until you find the one that really resonates with you. I would love it to be me, I would love for everyone to be part of my community, but I'm not for everybody, and that's okay. I would rather people find the one that resonates with them, because that's going to be the most powerful experience, and in those moments of disconnect you don't want to pull in more disconnect, and so you want to be able to find the community that is right for you.
Speaker 1:And so, yeah, I think the hardest part is taking that step of walking into the yoga studio or going to practice online or having a conversation with someone. Bring a friend. If you have a friend, that'll go with you or do it with you. That makes it a little bit easier. But really, I think that first step is get into water and the second step is just go explore Google, like online yoga or I could give you names, like my teacher, brett Larkin, myself. Follow those places that have really inclusive, community, supportive communities that you can find to go.
Speaker 2:I like the fact that you said water, because there's something about when I get full all over the place. And even my kids, like we. Not too long ago they experienced a loss and the first thing we did was pack up in the car and we went to the ocean and we literally set for like hours where no one said anything and it was the most peaceful, energizing experience. And then afterwards we got out, we laughed and everyone just we felt good, like it's just something about it. So I really love that in that we bring it back to community, because even in that moment of sitting there, we were all sitting there, but it was a sense of community that we were there together. We're all experiencing something different, but we're still in community together and finding that community.
Speaker 2:And sometimes you may not find the right one the first time. That doesn't mean stop. It just means you're going to eventually find the community that works for you. So, with that being said, before we wrap everything up, how are you redefining self care for yourself? I don't like to think of self care as just one sauce fits all box. That means different things for different people. So for you, what does that look like?
Speaker 1:I love that or feel like, yeah, totally. And it's funny because in my community I just posted that question the other day of I got a many petty rate and I was like is this self care? What do you think Is this self care? And it was a resounding yes. But there's more to that conversation of I think. Again, when we say we're looking for communities and my community is inclusive, if you walk into somewhere and it's like, well, you have to do X, y and Z to be part of this, then for me that's not me. Maybe someone needs a little bit of structure and that's fine. But for me I'm like, no, I'm not going to tell you what to do. So with self care it's the same way, right? Someday self care can look like a walk outside. Someday self care can look like bingey Netflix. Someday self care can look like hanging out with my friends going out at night, whatever the case may be getting a manny petty, but really I think it's important that you said that feeling right, what does it feel like? The most important part of that self care is one understanding where I'm at in my day, week, month, energetically, what's coming Like if I'm heading to a retreat, if I'm leading a retreat. I'm not going to build myself. I'm not going to do a lot before that. I'm going to give myself time to rest, Like I am going to binge Netflix. I'm going to sleep in if I can, I'm going to go to bed early. I'm going to take a lot of baths. I'm going to take all of those things because I know what's coming Right, and afterwards I'm going to clear my schedule and sleep and sit on my couch and read a book and hug my babies. And that's what I'm going to do, right. That self care Sometimes self care if I am feeling behind in my business or I'm not sure what's coming in my business or I need to organize myself, like that is like looking at my financial statements and planning events, that organizing stuff that's self care too.
Speaker 1:The bottom line is that it regulates my nervous system and brings me back to a resting state. And if I do self care like, I'll be honest, when I got my Manny Putty there, it wasn't really self care because it didn't really do much for me. It was great. I taught my friends.
Speaker 1:I've, you know, my toes nailed are pretty, whatever the case may be but it didn't do much shifting for my body and as I think about self care, there are things that I know that always bring me back to myself and give me spaciousness, that sense of spaciousness and calm. And it is my Kundalini practice, right, it is always being in water, like I love the water and so I always will go to the water. It's always putting my feet on the grass or on the ground, bare feet, you know, like I don't wear shoes, and right now we have lots of snow and it's difficult to not wear shoes, but I feel that in my nervous system, right, like, the more I can put my feet on the ground, the more grounded I am, and so with that, I think it is just that checking in and giving yourself permission to do things that don't necessarily look like self care, and in my community, that's how I'm shifting that perspective of like, yeah, you know, self care may look like sleeping for a day. Self care may look like saying no to something.
Speaker 1:You know self care may look like driving away and not coming back for a week. You know self care may look like I don't even know, you know, like getting your makeup on and doing your hair and going out on the town for a fancy night Like. How does it feel in your body? That's the ultimate question. And you know, I think we have these cliches of, like you know, massages and many pennies, which those are great self care, don't get me wrong but they don't always. They're not always the self care we need.
Speaker 2:And so, giving ourselves permission to really tune into what it is we need in doing that, I like the fact that you connected the self, self care to how it shifts the body to come to this state of feeling spaciousness, at ease, not having the stress, and when we do that as part of our self care, when it relaxes us, when it releases the energy. That's the feeling that we want when we're talking about redefining self care. So tell people, I guess, yes. So tell people how they can connect with you, how they can find more about what you're doing with Kondalini and maybe join your community.
Speaker 1:I would love that. So my community, it's a Facebook community. Right now it is the Awakened Yoga Collective. It's on Facebook. It's a community of like minded humans getting together doing yoga, kundalini, all things manifesting and changing the world. So you can find me there. You can also go to my website. It is simply chrisbatsnercom. I have a YouTube channel now, which is also just chrisbatsner, where I have a lot of practices. Next week is a full moon, and so you'll find full moon practices coming up that are live. I also have lots of communities, so I have a yoga with Chris community, which is a monthly membership. I have Kundalini community, which is all things Kundalini and building community around that practice of Kundalini. You can find all of that on my website, which is simply chrisbatsnercom.
Speaker 2:All right, you guys, do not worry, I'm going to have all that information for you in the show notes so you can start connecting with Chris and learning more about how you can transform your life with Kundalini yoga. All right, all right. Now. That is all the tea that we have to share today, but guess what? You can join me each and every Tuesday for more delicious hot tea. Until next time, my friends Namaste.