Category: Jodh - URBAN YOGA CHICAGO

How to use meditation to process Grief

4/22/2019

by Jodh Kaur

Whether it is the death of a loved one - human or animal, the end of a relationship or the realization that your life isn’t exactly how you thought it was going to be, we experience grief in many ways throughout our lives.

Grief is not linear. We don’t just get over it or work through it after the loss and move on.

As we grow through life, grief will re-emerge and we will have the opportunity to experience it again, surrendering into it, seeking the lessons that lie within. Grief may visit around expected times like the anniversary of the loss or a birthday or a big event in your life, but it also may pop up when you least expect it - seeing the first butterfly in spring or hearing a song may elicit an unexpected memory followed by tears, anger or confusion. Grief can be a signal to stop, listen, and surrender. Like savasana, it’s an opportunity to integrate once more.

We can use our meditation practice to support us in this process. When grief visits, take time out to sit on your mat and play your favorite mantra. Have your journal nearby to write down anything you may want to revisit. As you listen to or chant the mantra, allow your feelings to come forward. Acknowledge them, feel and experience them, and have gratitude. Feel the anger, sadness, despair, loss, fear, uncertainty - any feelings that come up for you. Feel them. Cry if you need to, tears are healing. Hug yourself or a pillow. Feel compassion for You. Chant or listen to the mantra, letting the sounds of love and healing surround and support you. Continue daily as long as needed to help you digest your grief with the knowledge that you can return to this practice at any time.

Finally, when you are ready, share how you’re feeling with someone else. Allow yourself to be held, supported and loved. This vulnerability builds connection, trust and understanding. And through this meditation and connection with others, we heal and restore ourselves and each other.

My Soul Dictated Change

4/8/2019

by Jodh Kaur

Change is inevitable. What’s exciting is we have the capacity to dictate change through our actions, thoughts and daily habits. Our attitude and how we embrace this change also influence its trajectory. Once we have that momentum going, all we need to do is keep up.

What brought me to Kundalini Yoga was the resolve that “I can’t live like this anymore.” I was a newlywed who recently earned my Master’s Degree, yet I was living with stress and chronic neck pain that left me feeling old, burned out and exhausted. An emotional breakdown was my line in the sand.
My soul was called to Kundalini Yoga. When I attended my first class, I knew I was where I was meant to be. In my second class I learned about the 40 day commitment and started mine that day. Within 40 days my neck pain had resolved. This was pain that periodically had me frozen in bed, it was pain that no healer or healthcare practitioner could help me with. At 32, I thought I would live with for the rest of my life. And it was gone. Within 40 days.

Truthfully, I never looked back. Why would I?

Over the last 11 years, I have healed myself over and over through my daily practice. I have experienced ongoing change in my life spurred and supported by breath, mantra and movement. While I may not approach my mat with the same enthusiasm every day, there is no question that I will practice. I keep up because I know it works. I keep up to continue to grow and change. I keep up because I don’t want to go back. I keep up for me, my relationships, for you, for us, for this community. I keep up.

It’s a simple choice, every day to keep moving forward. Just keep up. And don’t stop.

Continue this discussion with us in the 1000 Day Workshop.

How to Create Discipline & Gain Confidence

12/26/2018

by Jodh Kaur

Setting goals and making commitments to myself keeps me on track and moving forward. It’s the simple daily disciplines that keep me plugging into my goals each and every day.

For example, I love to run, but I have found registering for a race is the best motivation for me to run consistently and to challenge myself to run farther and harder each week. When I have that race on my calendar, I map out a training schedule and I stick to it no matter what. Likewise, I love Kundalini Yoga & Meditation, but it is my regular commitments to my 40/90/120/1000 day practices and my #forlife challenges that keeps me practicing daily and finding ways to use my practice in my life and in my teaching. Because of this commitment, I do not compromise completing my sadhana every single day.

It isn’t enough to just set a start date. We need a plan and commitment, rewards and consequences. We need to have skin in the game. Achieving the goal should mean something because we know it will really hurt if we fall short. It is this commitment to self and to our goal that keeps us moving forward when we are uncomfortable, tired, lazy, something comes up or we just have a case of the “Idontwannas.”

And the beauty is when we have discipline in one area of our lives, we develop the self-confidence and the knowing that we DO have discipline which means we CAN have discipline in all areas of life - with food, with money, relationships, fitness, our practice, with our time - even with Netflix!
Accountability helps too. Sharing your goal with someone means that person can help you hold the vision for you and your goal and will challenge you when those excuses start creeping in. One of my mentors says “excuses are self abuses” so be kind to yourself, share your goal with an ally, someone who will hold you accountable and not give you an easy out.

Finally, start today. There is no reason to wait until Monday or January 1. Kick start your 2019 with a week of discipline already under your belt.
I would love to hear your goal - what are you working on right now or what are you setting out to achieve for yourself in the next 3 months?

The Hidden Power of Those Around You

11/14/2018

by Jodh Kaur

You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.

Consider those around you. Are you feeling inspired, stretched, elevated, uncomfortable or even in awe of what they are doing? When we ally ourselves with those who are living their purpose and accomplishing what they set out to do, we have the permission and motivation to do the same. Who we surround ourselves with matters. It impacts how we spend our time, what we think & talk about and where & how we take action. In fact, witnessing an ally’s action can prompt our own. It motivates us to keep up, to put one foot in front of the other (no matter how scared we are), to live our truth.

In the words of Marianne Williamson:

And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we're liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.
Elevate yourself. Delve Deeper. Teacher Training. Privates. Sadhana.

5 Steps to Creating Your Daily Practice

10/24/2018

by Jodh Kaur

Autumn is here and shorter days, colder weather and the holiday season are all right around the corner. This can be a tough time for many of us - Seasonal Affective Disorder, feeling blue, managing family and old (and new) conflicts around holiday time. Even those with ideal situations feel the stress of expectations that come in the last months of the year.

This time of year it is critical to establish a daily ritual or practice that will build our reserves so we can manage life’s challenges with grace and compassion for ourselves and each other.

At Urban Yoga Chicago, we regularly encourage our clients in class to commit to a 40 day practice and in response, we often hear things like:

“How do I get started?”
“I need to create an altar.”
“I need a special space in my home and need to paint, move furniture, get a mat, buy a cushion, get some photos, collect candles etc (you get the picture 😜).”
“I’ll start on Monday.”

As human beings we tend to stand in the way to our own salvation by making things so much harder than they need to be. Discipline isn’t something certain people are born with, it is something we are all capable of creating with daily activity. While it’s nice to have a dedicated space and an altar, these are not necessary prerequisites to having a daily practice. All that is required is for YOU to take time each day to devote to YOU and the nourishment of your soul.

Here are 5 simple steps to create a daily practice:

Realistically identify how much time you can dedicate to a daily practice. (You don’t have to commit to 40 days of a 2.5 hour Aquarian Sadhana).
Select a kriya or meditation. Not sure what to choose? Talk with your teacher - we are here to help.
Start your practice right away! Either the day you choose your kriya or the next morning.
Block time in your calendar each day for your practice. Think of this time as your daily gift to yourself. The ideal is to practice early in the morning between 4-6:30am, the real is to practice every day (ahem, sometime before your go to bed). Suggestion: set an alarm in your phone that will go off every day to remind you to practice. (I have mine set for 8:30pm and in the event I don’t complete my practice in the morning, I set this alarm which gives me time to complete it before bed). Feel like ignoring your alarm one day? DON’T.
Mark in your calendar your day 1 and day 40. Commit to yourself. You are worth it.

After you get going with your practice, feel free to add any of the bonus steps:

Practice in the same spot on the same mat or blanket every day.
Practice at the same time every day.
Keep a journal next to your practice space and jot down anything that comes up during your practice.

Yogi Bhajan said, “Having no self-control is like driving a car without brakes. Having no self-esteem is like driving a car without gas. So how far can you go?”

A daily practice gives us both. And yes, You are worth it.

I would love to hear what you are commiting to for the next 40 days.
Reply here and let me know!

Are You Serious??

7/17/2018

by Jodh Kaur

Let's get serious... actually let's not - life is way too serious these days! Some of you may be like me and have a tendency toward the serious-ness of life. While I do have a fun loving even funny side to me, I often find my default is the serious Jodh Kaur- even my name, "Princess of God who is an UNDAUNTED and Brave Warrior for Truth and Righteousness" has a serious flair to it, does it not?

I have found that my career choices - Crisis Social Worker, working in Corporate America and yes even Yoga Instructor and Business Owner - all serious stuff! Right? Even my personal growth and development journey - wrestling with myself to be better (whatever that means), happier, kinder, more communicative, emotive, REAL (the list goes on) - all VERY serious! Right? Well that's what I thought anyway. But somewhere along the way, I started thinking - where's the fun? Where is the playful side of me? How do I lighten up in my teaching and my daily life? 🤔

I have always taken the teachings of Kundalini Yoga, this technology, my practice and my teaching very seriously. After all, this is life changing, transformational technology!

However, I experienced a shift last year during our Teacher Training where I witnessed how FUN teaching & practicing yoga can be and how we can truly use it to work with all aspects of self, including drawing out our inner child. Our first trainer, Gurudass, had the challenge of coming into UYC where she knew no one other than Savitree and me, yet through her kind and loving teaching style, we experienced teamwork, sharing, supporting each other, even strengthening our intuition in a totally light and joyful way.

We quickly learned that Gurudass loves to bring the inner child out of us serious adults. Her teaching and travels around the world have provided her with the unique ability to engage with her students quickly and authentically (without using any of those ice breakers we all try to avoid at networking events). Though our own experiences with Gurudass and her teaching, we knew we wanted to bring her and her ChildPlay Yoga course to UYC so that the Midwest would have the opportunity to call out the inner child in all of us.

Gurudass calls ChildPlay Yoga - the Yoga of Fun. Yes it's an amazing opportunity to learn how to teach yoga to children, but what is even more valuable it is an opportunity to teach yourself how to reconnect with the child inside of you.

We invite you to join us November 9-11 for ChildPlay Yoga. In honor of our anniversary this month, we are offering special pricing for this course. Register by July 25 and save $125 off the full price of the course.*

Have questions? Let us know.

Come play with us!

Unpacking. 4 Years in the Making

7/3/2018

by Jodh Kaur

In July 2011, we stepped into the dusty indoor market on Granville and Broadway in Chicago to create our first space. With the help of our community, we hung tarps to create walls, we swept the dusty floors best we could, laid out the mats and brought flowers for our altar. In this pop up market - Urban Yoga Chicago was born. We offered Kundalini Yoga Saturday morning and Mantra Meditation Sunday morning each weekend for the rest of the summer.

Over the next couple of years, we chanted and cooked together, we did flash mob style meditations in the mall, on the Metra and in the park and we popped in on yoga classes around the city. In 2013, we rented space at another yoga center in Chicago and offered our first Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training and it was during this training, we found our home in Evanston. If you have been to our center, you have seen the crockpots and teapots in the kitchen. Each weekend of teacher training we would pack those crockpots (and the food that would go into them), the tea and all of our supplies for the weekend and head to the yoga studio where we would unpack and set up. All of that work motivated us to find a home of our own - something we hadn't before considered.

We moved into UYC in April 2014 and officially opened our doors in May. It has and continues to be a tremendous journey filled with lessons, laughter and personal growth. Through all of this Savitree and I have forged a relationship and partnership that is based on direct communication, mutual love & respect, understanding & appreciating each others' gifts and allowing each other to lead through our strengths. Each and every day we are uplifted, empowered and sustained by our shared love of this practice, of this community, and in our mission to hold space for each of you, in your spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional growth and development. We hold space for you to be the light and that part of Special that only you can be.

In celebration of you and the UYC community, we invite you to our Anniversary Open House and Celebration on July 14 from 12-4pm. We are offering mantra, sound healing, food & community time and drums & dancing. Register for one event or stay all day and if you happen to be busy that day, we would love for you to swing by for a quick hug and a Sat Nam -we would love to see you!

Please click here for a description of the day's events. We ask you to register for each event individually so we know how many to expect throughout the day.

We are so grateful for each and every one of you. Thank you for being a part of this community and for your love and support over the last 7 years.

With absolute love and gratitude,
Jodh

PS In April, we were featured on the Podcast Ready.Aim.Empire where we shared a portion of our journey. We invite you to listen to that episode here (it is also available on iTunes, episode 206).

PSS Stay tuned for our special July offer!

How we connect with Anthony Bourdain

6/8/2018

by Jodh Kaur

Sat Nam,
I remember reading Kitchen Confidential around the time I began taking Kundalini Yoga. At the time I was a stressed out Crisis Social Worker and I was searching for more out of life. The stress brought me to Kundalini Yoga, the search brought me to food. Problem was, I was terrible in the kitchen!

When I started dating my husband, I had visions of myself in the kitchen whipping up these beautiful, delicious meals - but they never turned out according to my vision. Then I read Kitchen Confidential, by Anthony Bourdain, and fell in love with the story he told. His writing style, his truth - it all seemed like such an adventure. I wondered how could I improve my skills and could I possibly even learn to cook for others? I began watching his shows and other cooking shows, reading cookbooks, learning more about cooking and practicing (lots of practicing).

After class one day, I shared my interest in cooking with Savitree who happened to know a chef and she connected the two of us. Chef Joshua was a private chef for a family in Chicago and he invited me to spend Fridayafternoons with him each week. He would cook, I would observe, write down his recipes and take photos. It allowed me to understand and experience cooking in a loving and organic way. Experimenting with different flavors, colors, textures, trying new foods and combinations. And now, after years of practicing, making mistakes, figuring things out - I can say I love to cook (and I’m pretty good at it too). I’m grateful at the opportunity to be able to cook healthy, delicious food for my family and community and hopefully be an inspiration for others in the kitchen too.

Anthony Bourdain allowed me to see a chef as a real, accessible person and made cooking and food an adventure. He inspired me to be adventurous and to experience new foods and cultural cuisines when traveling, adding a whole new element to our travels.

This morning when I learned of Anthony Bourdain’s suicide, I broke down. My heart breaks at the pain he must have been in and for the pain his family is experiencing. My heart goes out to anyone who is living with depression, it is a cold and lonely place to be. While we know about the public figures we have lost this year, my guess is many in of you have been affected by suicide at some point in your life. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the suicide rate in the US has increased 25% since 1999 and middle aged adults have seen the highest increase.

I invite you talk about mental illness and suicide. In fact, talking about suicide does not give someone the idea to kill themselves. Addressing suicide, asking about it, can actually open the door to a conversation and allow one to get help. Let’s check in with each other. If you know someone who struggles with depression please reach out to them. In fact, reach out to the strong person you know who is always there for others - they may need to talk too.

Most importantly, please know you are not alone. If you are reading this email, you are part of a community that loves and cares for you. If you are feeling lonely, scared or lost, please connect with us or someone you know. Connection and community are key to our mental, emotional, spiritual and physical health and well being. We live an a chaotic and confusing time. It is easy to be isolated. It is easy to lose ourselves in our phones and in the busy-ness of life. It can be really scary to sit down on the mat and spend 3 to 11 minutes alone with ourselves. You are not alone with your fears. I think we have all been in a dark, lonely, scary place - I know I have. Connecting with others is how we gain support and encouragement through times of difficulty. Connecting with community is how we know we are not alone, we are connected, loved and part of something.

We love you and we are here for you.
If you need help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255.

With all my love,
Jodh

Self-care can happen anywhere

10/22/2015

Owning Up & Taking Responsibility

10/20/2014

[Repost from September 18, 2014]

We all do it. We screw up. And this morning, I totally blew it!

I did not show up for class this morning. I can’t imagine who ever woke up early and waited in the parking lot for me to arrive until such time that you decided that I was a no show. My sincere apologies! I am embarrassed.

To the early risers who showed up this morning, please email me at jodh@urbanyogachicago.org to receive two free classes: next Thursday and the Thursday after as well as as much Yogi Tea as you can consume (and take a thermos with you!).

With much love,

Jodh

Categories

Archives

March 2020
September 2019
August 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
May 2017
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
March 2015
October 2014

Favorite Links

SavitreeKaur
JodhKaur
SachKiret

Kundalini Yoga Quotes:

“I’d never felt anything like it; it was just an opening of energy and a feeling of such liberation.” -Marika Bethel, owner, Glowing House

“Within the first ten minutes, I thought, ‘[kundalini yoga] is the best thing that’s ever happened to me,’” -Gabrielle Bernstein

"Kundalini Yoga is the crack cocaine of yoga; if Hatha is a mild weed high, Iyengar is a deep hash glow and Ashtanga is amphetamine, Kundalini Yoga blows the F*@&ing doors off." -Russell Brand