EVENTS and COURSES
Alongside the general classes I also regularly run workshops, events and teach at festivals where I look at various aspects of Body, Mind and Spirit health. For most courses you are welcome to drop in at any stage. Please contact me via this website for a booking form/ more information if you are interested in attending. We can also bring any of these courses to your group. Currently running and recent events include:
Welcoming the I-Thou Workshops
These are our regular yoga-psychotherapy workshops. The dates left for 2021 are 18/09 and 4/12. Each one running from 9.30am-6pm. September will be at The York Yoga Studio, in-person only. December will be online on Zoom only.
My intent for this group is that it becomes a dynamic, supportive, safe place to go deeper into both Yogi Bhajan's teachings and into your own personal development towards Self-realisation. It will be an opportunity for deepening relationships by raising your awareness both with each other and with the Guru/Teacher. This work (even though we may do it in the tiniest of increments) influences the vibrational field of our whole planet and has the power to transform the karma of 7 generations of your family both past and future. It is therefore preferable to commit to all four sessions both with your presence and financially (though the Universe will provide the latter if you provide the former!) but if this is not possible speak to me anyway.
Past topics have included "Listening and Acting on Intuition", "The Three Minds and their Interplay in Managing Stress" and "Warrior-ship: Lining up Divinely".
Alongside the general classes I also regularly run workshops, events and teach at festivals where I look at various aspects of Body, Mind and Spirit health. For most courses you are welcome to drop in at any stage. Please contact me via this website for a booking form/ more information if you are interested in attending. We can also bring any of these courses to your group. Currently running and recent events include:
Welcoming the I-Thou Workshops
These are our regular yoga-psychotherapy workshops. The dates left for 2021 are 18/09 and 4/12. Each one running from 9.30am-6pm. September will be at The York Yoga Studio, in-person only. December will be online on Zoom only.
My intent for this group is that it becomes a dynamic, supportive, safe place to go deeper into both Yogi Bhajan's teachings and into your own personal development towards Self-realisation. It will be an opportunity for deepening relationships by raising your awareness both with each other and with the Guru/Teacher. This work (even though we may do it in the tiniest of increments) influences the vibrational field of our whole planet and has the power to transform the karma of 7 generations of your family both past and future. It is therefore preferable to commit to all four sessions both with your presence and financially (though the Universe will provide the latter if you provide the former!) but if this is not possible speak to me anyway.
Past topics have included "Listening and Acting on Intuition", "The Three Minds and their Interplay in Managing Stress" and "Warrior-ship: Lining up Divinely".
Kundalini Yoga for PTSD
York and surrounding areas. Or we can travel to be with your group!
8x1.5 hour sessions
Based on the Toronto Treatment Programme for treating PTSD. (Jindani, GFS Khalsa 2015)
Develop the powerful self-esteem, good habits of self-care and robust social supports needed for post-traumatic growth.
Become a “master of” rather than a “slave to” your circumstances.
New course coming soon. If you'd like a course in your area please get in touch.
Kirtan Evening
Starting 7th October and every 1st Thursday of the month. 7pm-10pm. Private venue.
Shared veggie supper that you can just grab in between chanting. If you have a particular chant you would like to learn or one you'd like to bring please speak up. For example, if you have a personal situation you would like healing or a Shabd you'd like to be more familiar with. Bring any instruments you play or just pick up a rattle or drum from us…and you all have a voice that is just perfect for kirtan!
Yoga Movie Night
We plan to hold these nights on a regular basis. The next one is TBA, 7-10pm at a private venue. Shared veggie supper followed by a movie (to be decided, so let me have your ideas of Spiritual movies you have benefited from) and a meditation. An opportunity for Sadh Sangat (fulfilling, conscious company).
Contact me for further details.
NB: We will be restarting these nights on 18th November this year and every 3rd Thursday evening after that.
Relate to your Essence - Working with the Five Tattvas
A five week Kundalini Yoga course that will help you become conscious of how the five elements: earth, water, fire, air and ether (the densest of the levels of separateness from Pure Consciousness) influence you.
Earth (Pritvi tattva). An animalistic nature. Greedy to possess things which we can channel into being greedy to become a great saint or teacher.
Water (Apas tattva). Lustful and likely to exploit others which can change to service.
Fire (Agni tattva). Instead of directing anger at others be angry at your own negativity.
Air (Vayu tattva). Instead of being attached to earthly possessions be attached to the whole Universe!
Ether (Akasha tattva). Instead of being an egomaniac identify yourself with the Infinite. Have pride that you are human!
“When you are made of mud how can you get rid of mud? When you are made of earth, how can you get rid of earth? Nobody can get rid of the five elements of which he is composed. All he can do is channel their projections.” Yogi Bhajan
These five elements that make up our physical world shape our experience. Each person has a dominant tattva which expresses itself in our personality and constitution.
If we are unaware of how each element is affecting us we can end up wallowing in the most base condition of each tattva. Kundalini yoga and meditation can lead us to them being experienced in their highest forms of love, ambition and devotion.
Throughout this course we will use dance, Kundalini yoga and meditation to help strengthen the glands and the nervous system so that we have the capacity to transform how the tattvas work in us and through us.
Weighty Matters
Introducing the idea that there is more to the extra weight you might be carrying than simply calories. Many of us carry around the extra weight of unresolved issues from the past or feelings of guilt. This can create a buffet of low self-esteem, food cravings, addictions, blocked emotions, health issues and physical inflexibility—to name just a few!
This 6 week course is designed to help you find, face and address the issues that may be weighing you down.
We will use mantra, kriyas, meditation, breath work and relaxation to help change the messages you feed yourselves. Get some tips on nutrition too!
When the messages change lightness of heart, mind and body can follow.
When you feel more positive about yourself watch out—because nothing is beyond your abilities!
“LOSE WEIGHT THE KUNDALINI WAY”
This series gives beginners to Kundalini Yoga a set of new thoughts to say to themselves (mantras) and new ways to use their bodies in sets of exercise called kriyas. By clearing up a variety of issues and freeing emotional blocks the intention is that self-esteem rises and the weight begins to fall off.
This course is suitable for anyone wanting to rid themselves of unnecessary baggage. Whether that is excess physical weight or emotional and mental baggage that no longer serves you to live a healthy, happy and holy life.
It is suitable for all levels of fitness, flexibility and experience of yoga.
Kundalini Yoga is for an experience of your Higher Self so it is ALWAYS FOR YOU! Bringing yourself to class with the intention to do your best is all that is necessary for your Kundalini to rise and for lasting transformation to happen.
INVESTMENT for whole 6 weeks is £55.
We can bring this course to your group or you can click on the link above to purchase the video series!
The Voice Within: Listening and Acting from Intuition
A one-day Kundalini Yoga and Gestalt Counselling Workshop
9.30am-6pm
Investment: £63, sliding scale available
We are constantly surrounded by the noise of daily life: traffic, computers, construction, neighbourhood dogs, our own children, you name it. It’s hard to find peace and quiet in the modern world. In fact we shouldn’t even try. Instead we should build the inner capacity to create peace and quiet within ourselves. The exercises, meditations and group sharing we will do on this workshop aim to support you to quit resisting the outside world and invite it in. We will begin to build the qualities necessary in coping in this modern world, building your vitality. Tuning in and learning to listen both within and without, first to your own inner voice and then to the voice of the Infinite.
Contact Nam Prakash Kaur to book/ get info
E:[email protected]
T:07966673037 W: yogapsychotherapy.co.uk
This workshop will particularly suit anyone who wants an opportunity to discuss the effects their Kundalini practice is having on their lives (the agony AND the ecstasy!). If we just turn up to classes/ practice by ourselves we may have many questions come up. Come along and spend the day in the company of other yogis/ yoginis and get the chance to share those questions with people who will listen (and learn to listen without judgement also!).
8 Week Kundalini Yoga Course on the Chakras
The chakra system can be looked at in various ways. One example of this might be our journey from conception, infancy, through the sensual toddler years, the teenager years, adulthood and beyond (and back?) into Spirit. Often we become stuck in one (or more) of them. How many of us get that teenage desire to control and manipulate a newfound power or throw a toddler tantrum when important others in our lives do not do as we would have liked?? Working on the chakras can support you to remain balanced and “channel emotion into devotion instead of commotion”!
Each Week: A general clearing of the entire chakra system. Each class will use Kundalini yoga and meditation to bring in Prana and create the powerful psychic heat called Tapa which raises your kundalini energy and activates the chakras.
Week 1: Muladhara (1st chakra). The foundation of the system. The person centred in this chakra needs to feel safe.
Week 2: Svadhisthana (2nd). Associated with change. In this chakra the need is for the freedom to be creative.
Week 3: Manipura (3rd). Personal power. The need to achieve something.
Week 4: Anahata (4th). Unconditional Love. Concerned with balance.
Week 5: Vishuddha (5th). Purification and Communication. The need here is to be able express yourself.
Week 6: Ajna (6th). Perceiving the realms beyond. Centred in this chakra you will perceive things differently and find clarity wherever you focus.
Week 7: Sahasrara (7th). Here we are all One. We know the unknown and are conscious of the Infinite.
Week 8: The Aura (8th). In the Kundalini system we work with an 8 chakra system which includes the Aura which is also a vortex of energy.
Breathwalk Meditation Workshop
This one day workshop will take place on a beautiful farm full of diverse wildlife. Breathwalk (or just explore) around a stunning organic garden, through woodland, across fields and around lakes designed with conservation in mind. Family and friends very welcome. Children can join in as they choose (or not) though they remain the responsibility of those they arrive with. The meditations are not designed with them in mind but they are simple enough for any age and ability to be able to get something out of. Please be aware that careful supervision will be necessary as this is on a working farm and the lakes are very deep in places.
What to bring? Please bring food (vegetarian only) and drink (no alcohol or pop) to share at lunchtime. A timer or stopwatch (your mobile phone?) would also be useful. Wear comfortable clothes and footwear. If it has been wet then old shoes/ boots/ wellies may be necessary.
There will be one breathwalk program taught before lunch and one after. There is a possibility of coming along for just half a day at a reduced investment. Contact for further details. The workshop will go ahead in light showers but will be cancelled on the morning if the weather is looking very unkind to us. Please phone/text to confirm if in doubt.
What is Breathwalking? Breathwalk is a way to exercise and increase our positive moods. It is an approach to access our self-care. If you can walk and breathe you can breathwalk. We just add focused attention and patterns of rhythmical breath and sound. This evokes the relaxation response and creates an immediate gateway to the cognitive and physiological potentials we all have within our body/mind interactions. Breathing and walking comprise two of our most simple activities yet they are also two of our most powerful actions. By bringing them together in a systematic and meditative way we can enhance our physical, emotional and spiritual fitness. We can tap into our vitality to fully enjoy and excel in our lives.
“The techniques and practice of breathwalking create vitality and an alternative to traditional forms of exercise that can result in profound health through oxygenation to the body. It’s part of my regimen and I recommend it wholeheartedly.” Anthony Robbins, “Awaken the Giant Within” and “Unlimited Power”
COURSE ON THE TEN BODIES
The Ten Bodies is a Kundalini system of empowering and liberating archetypes that can help us manifest the message that we are Pure Love, that the Universe is a Benevolent Process and that Happiness is our Birthright.
This will be a beautiful journey of exploring and awakening our Ten Bodies. Awareness of the Ten Bodies (one of which, of course, is the physical body!) is based on ancient yogic science. They can be looked at as different aspects of the psyche. Each class will include a teaching, pranayam (breathing exercises), kriya (exercises that have a predictable effect), mantra, relaxation and meditation.
"Knowing how to access your Ten Bodies on command can serve you in some very practical ways. The art and science of the Ten Bodies allows you to realize that any disharmony you experience can be identified and then restored to harmony." Guruchander Singh
You are very welcome to just turn up for a class without doing them all but it may be best to confirm with me beforehand that there is a place available when you wish to come. Each class will stand alone and beginners can still join in at any time (if space allows). It is, of course, going to be best if you can attend them all so that you get the experience of the whole picture.
Investment, as usual, is £10 drop in or £45 for a block of 5 classes. If you wish to book for the whole course it is £85.
I am looking forwards to you joining me on what will, I am sure, lead to some amazing discoveries – contact me for more details.
Valentine's Weekend Special Event
Every year at this time we will have a special "Valentine" vibe! As marriage is the highest (hardest?) yoga I am inviting partners to come along to classes this weekend absolutely FREE of charge!! Even if your partner already attends classes regularly one of you can come for free. The classes will not be totally couple-centred (so if you are on your own they will still be just as useful to you as always) but there will be some teachings that will be particularly helpful for you finding your way in relationships to becoming One Soul - and we are always having a relationship with ourselves! Each class will finish with a Venus kriya. Venus kriyas are only to be practiced by those with some previous experience of Kundalini Yoga - so get along to the next few classes if you want to join in with them - but they last only 3 mins so if you cannot do them you can experience their benefits indirectly and learn where you may like to be heading without feeling too left out! They are incredibly useful as there is one for every single situation a couple may find themselves in - conflict resolution, clearing the effects of a busy day, creating unity and so on and so on...
Kundalini Yoga at the Equinox, Solstice and other Turning Point Gatherings
Check out our events on The Rising Dawn Sanctuary Facebook page
Rebirthing
A four week course. Please note that the first of these classes needs more time than a general class allows so will run from the earlier time of 10am - 12.30pm. The other 3 sessions will be done in the general York Sunday classes) will be devoted to some kriyas that Yogi Bhajan called "Rebirthing" These are powerful teachings that Yogi Bhajan gave us to assist in clearing out our subconscious (which he called "the storehouse of misery"). They will help heal the pain of the past and overcome obstacles which keep you from living your best life - awakened, rejuvenated and present to your purpose here on Earth. Beginners are welcome at these classes if you feel drawn towards them. A "housecleaning" for the body, mind and emotions.
Please wear a headcovering of natural fabric - preferably white cotton - to these kriyas.
Watch this space for a whole weekend retreat on these teachings next year!
Testimonial: Here is what one beautiful Spanish student said after the first one (which is fairly typical - except the groans about aching muscles! lol): "I slept at the end the "siesta" as you told us. I got up with lot of energy, and yesterday, in the morning, having a shower, it was like I feel different my skin, with more femenine strength, healthy. I feel more in peace with my privacy. Sunday evening I feel like when I was teenager that i used to do lots of things, very active. I feel happiness and I am aware of me on a deeper way. Thank you very much for this huge present!!! It has been lovely!... Hard for my ego, but now I face the life with a diferent look. Bless you!!!!"
Nourishing the Adrenals Workshop
Investment £45 (concessions available).
Includes lunch which will be soup, salads and raw chocolate dessert.
Yogi Bhajan (the Master of Kundalini Yoga who brought the teachings to the West in 1969) asked, “Do we have a reserve capacity to get to our destination despite the snowstorm”. He said that even if our energy is flowing well and we are eating well and sleeping enough (and that may be unlikely over the Christmas hols!) if our adrenals fail it is hard to keep up. We get tired and snappy. Glandular balance, and in particular, strong adrenals and kidneys are important to have that extra edge, to control anger and hypoglycaemia. Without strong adrenals the heart cannot function well. Over-eating and drinking over Christmas can leave the adrenals “blown out”! So whether it is snowing with you or not at the moment do join us.
This half-day workshop will include breathing exercises (pranayama), Kundalini yoga exercises and meditations to nourish the adrenals and kidneys. There will be space to discuss our own experiences and to look at dietary requirements for healthy functioning adrenals. We will also share some nourishing food over lunch together and discuss ideas for healthier eating.
This workshop is particularly suitable for beginners with no experience of Kundalini (or other) forms of yoga or meditation but experienced practitioners will also find it beneficial.