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As my love affair with Kundalini Yoga expands, I have been wearing a lot more white. I wear white in the morning for my Sadhana (Daily Nirvana Morning Practice). I wear white when I go to class or to teacher training. And, I even just bought white kaftans to wear around the house.

It is said that white expands your auric field by one foot. A strong aura gives you a stronger and more solid sense of your identity and supports you in filtering out negative influences.

It also expands your conscious awareness because you have to be aware to keep it clean. LOL.

Here are some of Yogi Bhajan’s thoughts on wearing white for you to consider.

“We wear white because it’s a simple scientific fact that every piece of matter or material has a foot and a half aura. Every animal has a three and a half foot aura. Every human has a nine foot aura. And if we wear the cotton and we wear the white, this color therapy gives us one extra foot of aura.

“So, I trust my students will behave right, but in case they behave like animals, they will still have a margin, an edge. And that is what it’s all about. You have to wear a natural fiber and you have to wear white. It’s a pure color therapy and it’s called auric color therapy.”
[From Beads of Truth, Spring 1981]”We adopted this color because of our background and to support our development. We ask you to wear white so that you will reflect what is outside and go within yourself—that’s what white clothes can do for you.

“When you are totally dressed in white, the entire face reflects, and then it is very difficult to become intimate. Wearing white demands that the other person deal with you on a higher level, because that person has to concentrate himself in order to advance.

“The most difficult thing on this planet is to wear white top to bottom; but it is also the greatest therapy. If you really want to test yourself, live in a white room. What it does to you in one week will shock you. From one Sunday to another Sunday, you’ll be a different person without doing anything.

“Some people think we are laying a trip. We are not laying a trip on anyone. We wear yellow. We wear blue. We know these colors, and we know their reaction. We are not formal. Sit in your own living room with a yellow house turban on—and then a white house turban. You will find the difference. Don’t ask me. Colors create an uncontrollable action in your subconscious mind of inspiration, productivity and expansion. Colors have an effect on consciousness.

“We wanted to develop a very fast, progressive, spiritual and technical method of all the colors, so we have adopted the one color of the seven colors, which is white. To you, white is just one color, but to me it is the total balance of seven colors.”
[Summer 1975, published in I am a Woman, p. 156.]

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We all have such busy lives. So much to do. ALWAYS! We wake up thinking about it and spend our days doing, doing, doing … and from being human beings, we become human doings.

I learned the hard way that I needed to slow down and take breaks. I was a human doing for so long that I burned out my system.

I loved intensity so much … too much … and, when life stresses piled on top of overworking, my body couldn’t take it anymore.

I used to completely abandon self-care during intense launches for work, sometimes for 2 months at a time. I thought self-care was optional until my body broke down.

That’s what it took for me to finally learn to pause and take pleasure breaks throughout the day and week, no matter how busy I am.

I love my work and get obsessed with it, so it feels like play. The danger of that is that too much of this kind of play and failing to balance it with other kinds of play and pleasure leads me to depletion.

The way for me and for you to avoid depletion and burnout, to stay nourished, peaceful and connected to ourselves, is to build in pleasure breaks daily and weekly, even during busy periods. For me, that means that even during launch time, I don’t put self-care aside.

My Daily Nirvana self-care routine comes first and happens daily weekly and monthly, no matter what. This is my commitment to myself and it’s non-negotiable.

Comment below about your commitment to yourself in this area.

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One aspect of practice we haven’t yet discussed is evening practice.

It’s fabulous to have a wind down routine to review your day and prepare your body to sleep.

Here are some ideas:

– Take a warm bath. I hop in the jacuzzi most nights for 15 to 30 minutes and listen to inspiring audio while I stretch my body in the jacuzzi.

– Make yourself some turmeric milk (use a non-dairy milk if you are dairy free); it’s also called golden milk and there are some great recipes online.

– Light a candle.

– Sip your milk while you do a little reading or reflecting.

– Review your day and think about how congruent you were with Your Light and your Targets. Where did Shadow Priorities win out? Become aware of what you might shift in future for your Light Priorities to win.

– Did you follow your Daily Nirvana Practices/actions towards your Targets? If not, reflect on what happened and self-correct.

– Do NOT make yourself wrong for any of what you see. Be honest with yourself in a kind, loving and gentle way.

– Rub a little oil on your feet.

– Listen to soothing music.

– Do a little gentle, restorative yoga.

When you are lying in bed, make your last thoughts positive ones about things you want to dream about that night.

There’s lots more you can do with an evening routine. This is a good start.

Comment below on how this lands for you. If you have any other ideas to share on evening routine, please do share!

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Even those of you who are still engaged in this practice are feeling overwhelmed. Overwhelm is a common feeling these days, and it’s not my intention to add to it.

It has come up, and whatever comes up, we can work with. There’s a way through every block, and overwhelm is a block.

Today, take some time, even a few minutes, to allow yourself to fully be with this feeling of overwhelm that has come up. Get to know what it feels like in your body.

Instead of resisting it, be with it.

Instead of reacting to it, be with it.

Even make friends with it.

Breathe deeply as you get to know it.

It’s likely it has a message for you …

If so, what is that message? Is it a message for you? Is it about something you need to communicate to someone else like a boss, a lover, a friend, a family member, or even to me? I welcome your expression of your overwhelm or whatever it is that is coming up for you as you navigate this practice.

Keep breathing deeply.

Feel into how you can listen to that message and integrate it into your day and your week.

If you need to communicate something to someone, see if you are ready to nudge yourself to communicate now or schedule a time to do so.

Share in the comments below about anything that emerged for you in this inquiry.

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Let the day reveal who you are. Look at each moment in your day as holding clues to the mystery of who you are, your light, your Naam (I’ll talk about this more tomorrow).

For now, enjoy each moment for what it reveals about you, and share below about what you found after trying this experiment.

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Yesterday, we played a game. Today, I have a similar game for you, with the delicious ingredient of grace added in.

There are amazing blessings in each moment. Can you find the grace both within you and within that moment? Acknowledge it. Act from it.

Then, things will happen from you, and not for you or to you.

If you have a few minutes, listen to “By Thy Grace” by Snatam Kaur. Here is a link to the lyrics.

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In fall of 2011, I went on my first live retreat resting into a sacred circle of sisters. For the first time, I truly felt embodied as an adult woman. It was amazing.

But, I didn’t give myself enough space to slowly go into the retreat and integrate afterwards. I was rushing, rushing, rushing before the retreat and left on the first flight I could get after the retreat ended.

I know now that I need to more slowly and gently move towards a deep experience and also allow myself time to integrate and rest afterwards.

Daily Nirvana Temple Foundation has been an intense and deep experience. Today, allow yourself the time and opportunity to rest in whatever you have received from this experience. And, forgive yourself if you have a critic in your head saying you didn’t do enough.

Whatever you did is perfect for your stage of growth. Accept it, love it, listen to it. And, go back and dive in to the past weeks if you haven’t already. The content is there for you. It’s not going anywhere.

Rest, integrate, be loving towards yourself.

Your Checklist

We have 4 days left in the 40 day practice. Choose whichever of the following ideas feel fun or healing to you, and practice them as much as you like, for a few minutes, or for longer, depending on how much time you have available.

– Start where you are. Too often we judge ourselves for being ahead or behind. Wherever you are is perfect. There’s nowhere else you need to be.

– Forgiveness: If you haven’t participated in the 40 days in the ways you had wished to, then forgive yourself. My favorite forgiveness practice is Hoʻoponopono which is a Hawaiian practice that literally means correction. Imagine saying this to yourself or to anyone else from whom you seek forgiveness. Repeat the following at least 3 times.

I’m sorry
Please forgive me
I love you
Thank you

– If you haven’t done Week 1, Your Light yet, listen to the audio and do the worksheet. You can do it in less than 30 minutes and you will feel better afterwards. If you did Week 1 already, then review it, and turn your light brighter and higher today. What can you do to brighten up yourself, you day, or someone else’s day.

– Journal or reflect for a few minutes about what you had hoped to receive from this practice and what you did receive. Was it more than you expected? Was it less? How did you show up? Is there some way you’d like to show up differently?

– Build some extra ease and relaxation into your day to allow yourself to integrate whatever you have experienced over the last 40 days.

– Choose a song that reflects your mood about this 40 day practice and dance your feelings either to release them or enhance them.

– Light a candle or burn some incense, just for fun – a quick mood enhancer.

– Do something you’ve been longing to do, but haven’t been doing. It could be something small even like taking a hot bath or rubbing oil into your feet or something else quick and easy like aromatherapy.

– If you have any anger in your system that you want to let out, and you don’t have access to a punching bag, hit a pillow, or your bed, or a couch and let out all that emotion. It’s amazing how different you can feel within just a few minutes of doing this.

– If you haven’t been doing your morning practice, start again.

– If you haven’t developed an evening practice, start one.

– Call someone from your past who you have thought about calling, but haven’t done it.

– Play with your intuition. Ask yourself, your intuitive voice, to share with you what the next step is that you can take towards Daily Nirvana. Do that.

– On the last day of this practice, Day, 40, CELEBRATE! Whatever did or didn’t happen on this journey, you chose to go on it and I’m sure you learned at least one valuable thing along the way. Celebrate yourself for giving you this gifts and celebrate whatever it is that you learned.

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