Kirtan Kriya @Piccadilly Circus - 28th July 2024 @1.30pm

I am passionate about bringing these sacred teachings to the wider public! In a world where we are encouraged and drawn to all that is outside us with ongoing bombardment of stimuli.  All portraying wrong messaging from the need for materialism to the over sexualisation of women. Our attention is drawn to everything outside of us, to everything that we can not control! Having a connection to that which resides within is one of the most beautiful things that we can gift ourselves. As Yogi Bhajan rightly said, ‘if you do not go within, you will go without.’ As Martin Prechtel author of ‘Secrets of the Talking Jaguar’, writes, ‘The modern world has become a discourteous complication drowning in an unnatural, unconnected soup of over-information, bereft of wisdom and any sane direction. For our bodies, minds, and souls to survive this worldwide cultural disaster, we need the delicious complexity of our real indigenous natures to reappear.’

I was blessed to have a group of my own practitioners happy to offer their time on this sunny afternoon in Piccadilly Circus, London! Thanks to Mark for watching us as we meditated, to Chloe, Johannes, Anita and Petko for taking part in Kuṇḍalinī Therapeutics First Open Meditation.To Nedim Nazerali for his fabulous presence, filming us with such grace and diligence. 

I was a little apprehensive to how easy it would be to create a meditative space in such a hectic and bustling part of central London. As we chanted together we were totally submerged into our group practice and was even more immersed than I have ever felt before. It was as if the energy of the space created this polarity, which felt sublime and very rewarding.

Research on Yoga Practitioner’s Demographics shows that Yoga here in the West is predominantly practiced by white females, aged between 25-34 who are both highly educated  and with a higher than average income! Sat Bir Khalsa, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School spoke about this  social injustice at his recent workshop. ‘The people of low social economic status don’t have access to yoga, and they are the ones who need it the most’ (3/11/24 Central YMCA, Kings Cross).

Kirtan Kriya, a meditation known to Kuṇḍalinī Yoga is one of the most important meditations one can do! There has been ongoing research on this meditation accrediting it for its numerous health benefits from improved mood levels to decreasing inflammatory genes, while increasing healthy ones. More significantly it is revered as a successful practice in treatment to prevent Alzheimers. Research by a group of researchers including Helen Lavnetsky, Dharma Singh Khalsa and Moa Wolff have shown that Kirtan Kriya improves cognition, the active part of the brain that is central to memory! At a molecular level, Kirtan Kriya is affecting/upgrading immune function; anti viral genes in a positive way whilst suppressing inflammatory genes. Research has further shown that Telomerase, an enzyme at the ends of each chromosome which deteriorates with age and stress, can increase, restoring the integrity of chromosomes! Further research has shown that Kirtan Kriya stimulates eleven different regions of the brain, maintaining the anti ageing effect of deterioration of the Central Nervous System! 

Other benefits include improved mood levels, increase blood flow to the brain, reduction of anxiety, depression, tension and fatigue. Improved sleep, as well as bringing total mental balance to the individual psyche. 

This meditation involves mudra, mantra and visualisation; our fingers move in synchronisation with the mantra. With Gyan Mudra we say, ‘Sa’, with Shuni Mudra ‘Ta’, with Surya Mudra ‘Na’ and with Buddhi Mudra ‘Ma’. Each of these Mudras hold their own energetic and planetary qualities. The Mantra Sa Ta Na Ma is very similar to the mantra Sat Nam, meaning ‘truth is my identity’. When pronounced, the tip of the tongue stimulates the roof of the mouth, connecting to energy centres and at the same time creating a vibrational ripple effect in one’s brain. While synchronising both mudra and mantra, one also visualises energy moving from the cosmos through the crown of the head in a ‘L’ form and out through the third eye point. Such similar practices have been used in Tibetan Meditation, as a way of drawing in the cosmic energy! Just through visualising the panic energy moving in  this way we support an increase of blood flow to the brain! After all the earliest texts on yoga speak primarily on the use of visualisation in meditation. As the saying goes, ‘where our attention goes energy flows!’  

I am keen to do more open meditations like this in order to bring awareness to the public at large to how we DO have the power to take control of so many things in our life just by starting with a connection to ourselves! 

To join us on future Open Meditations do drop me a line!  😊🙏🏽💗

References:

1: Yogic meditation reverses NF-KB and IRF-related transcriptome dynamics in leukocytes of family dementia caregivers in a randomized controlled trial. Black DS, Cole SW, Irwin MR, Breen E, St Cyr NM, Nazarian N, Khalsa DS, Lavretsky H, Psychoneuroendocrinology, 38:348-355, 2013.

2: Yoga Prevents Gray Matter Atrophy in Women at Risk for Alzheimer's Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Krause-Sorio B, Siddarth P, Kilpatrick L, Milillo MM, Aguilar-Faustino Y, Ercoli L, Narr KL, Khalsa DS, Lavretsky H. Journal of Alzheimers Disease. 2022 M 11 d0i:103233/IAD-215563

3: Impact of Yoga Versus Memory Enhancement Training on Hippocampal Connectivity in Older Women at Risk for Alzheimer's Disease. Kilpatrick LA, Siddarth P, Krause-Sorio B, Milillo MM, Aguilar-Faustino Y, Ercoli L, Narr KL, Khalsa DS, Lavretsky H. Journal of Alzheimers Disease. 95:149-159, 2023.