Yoga

Following my last meditation for prosperity, I’ve just completed 40 Days of Kirtan Kriya! Wahoo!! I would have liked to go on but alas the Universe had other plans.

Kirtan Kriya is a meditation involving chanting the primal sounds Sa Ta Na Ma, translating to infinity, life, death, rebirth. Each time you chant you press your thumb against the tip of each finger in turn, while putting your attention on your third eye and making a L shape projecting the mantra outwards as if a line of light is emerging from you.

Woah lots of stuff! You can read the instructions here.

I started doing it for 11 minutes each morning then tried out 31 minutes and felt great from doing it so where possible I did 31 minutes and twice I explored and had time to do 62 minutes.

In summary of 40 days of Kirtan Kriya:

Best warm-ups:

Stretch pose! I can’t believe I haven’t taught this in class yet.
Sufi grinds
Triangle

Kriyas I explored:

Aside from the ones I am teaching (I’ll get to that bit soon) I absolutely recommend No victory without strength (though not if pregnant as lots of bow pose) and laughter, it’s hilarious! Kriya for Inner vitality and stamina and 11 minutes of ego eradicator are winners too.

What I got up to:

I saw my friend who also has a small baby and regularly chatting to another on the phone. I also chatted with then met up with another friend who I don’t see often – ticking the connecting to actual people outside my usual routine box!
I went to my mums, explored the Abbey and woods.
I started teaching early Tuesday mornings at The Space East which is so far a great learning experience and I feel so much joy from it.
I hoovered my car!
I went mad for minimalism and tidied three rooms making a play space, an office and a spare attic room. I also condensed our filing cabinet and got rid of a ton of papers we no longer needed. I also tried doing Project 33-3 though I have more like 40 items of clothing now. I’m all for making clothes last and not buying them every three months. Stay in the loop with Lucy has two great podcasts on tidying and Minimal Mom is a great youtube channel.
The money from my car accident claim came! Halfway there to a new car with 5 doors.
It was our anniversary and we went to addiction yoga workshops at Joy, to explore the inner workings of our minds.
Baby S.K sleeping pattern is ever-changing and she’s sitting up and eating pureed food.
I joined a Mind charity 6-week course for postnatal health and mindfulness.

Creativity:

I wrote blog posts and put out two newsletters, apart from that nothing as I’ve been doing so much home organizations and makeovers! I miss it.

Money Mindfulness:

Suze Orman’s women and money podcast is my female resource for anything money, she’s a powerhouse and she teaches you to be one too!
Money Saving Expert (MSE) has a forum for all UK money related chatter, it’s great.
I bought a second-hand copy of sheconomics, their blog has a ton of content too.
I splurged on art supplies to make posters for an ebook I’m writing though I haven’t yet.
I bought toy storage, a bedside table, a mattress, and a new winter coat, stylish and practical from Landsend.

Feelings or habits:

Kirtan Kriya I feel teaches focus, patience and clears things on a subtle level. Some days feel like a total drag, I didn’t always enjoy it. It felt like I was going on the same train ride each morning that I only enjoyed afterward and that might have been food for the soul in some way.

I set boundaries quicker based on what feels true to me, such as going to family functions for times I set.

Near the end of the 40 days, I had a big talk on something that was bothering me between me and my husband. The behavior and talk I could have put up with for years but I just said it how it was and we got through it and all is well.

I read this article on making blocks into triangles and it made me completely turn around my whole state about an always recurring issue with the annoying TV shows on in the house. For them to be the smallest thing in my life and everything else to be much bigger, brighter and magnificent!

Moving on:

I was planning, near the end to do Kirtan Kriya for 120 days, as after all that seems a more fair experiment as studies I’ve read have had people do it for three months then report back with results. Though not this time, I will though, yogigems is over halfway through to 1000 days!

I’ve been writing a Kundalini ebook in any spare time and now the writing is finished I will get on with some art posters! I moved my basic supplies to my desk this morning.

I want to go through a bunch of money and organizational tasks that play on my mind before I turn 30 in less than a month. Boring money (there’s a UK site of the same name here) such as pension details, health insurance, high-interest savings accounts and so on.

I’m on the verge of writing more yoga courses, I find it easier to plan a block of classes with music then go over them at a later date. It stops the nervous pre-teaching state I used to get caught into, I’m more organized and I enjoy it.

I want to set up teaching closer to home in the evenings and will create a stretch goal for that.

Also, I keep putting off going to the woods and want to enjoy the weather while it is not freezing cold.

Is this the end of 40 days for me?

In short no, I started Meditation for prosperity – Har Har Har Gobinday and planned to do it for 40 days, though I became chesty in the same week and am drinking lots of water and tea to relieve it, that particular meditation didn’t sit right.

Another meditation I was keen to explore was breath awareness exercise, simply put is meditating, focusing on the in breath and the out breath. I feel drawn to quiet and sitting with myself and I’ve been doing that the last few days!

I will continue to 40 days, though I may extend them. I agree with Guru Jagat that 40 Days can be limiting and not put you on a path for doing it more long term like 40 years. Something to ponder.