March 2017
 Spring is coming! March 20 at 6:29 is the exact time of the equinox. All your winter planning is springing into action now. Wake up your spirit along with the plants and everything else that's been hibernating all winter!

 
In case you're wondering about the change in the newsletter:
What does "Mata Shakti Ashram" mean?
*The word "Mata" means "mother" in India. In Portugese and Spanish, the word "Mata" means wood or forest, and Mata Shakti Ashram is located in a quiet wooded setting.
*The word "Shakti" means empowerment and primordial cosmic energy. Shakti represents the dynamic forces of feminine divine energy that move through the entire universe.
*The word "Ashram" means the locus of activity for spiritual practices.
 
Mata Shakti Ashram will be filing for non-profit status, and is asking for your help as we determine how best to move forward. If you are interested in finding out how you can support this center of spiritual  practice, contact me: hardarshan@matashaktiashram.org
Just a reminder that the website to check for class schedules, etc., is now www.matashaktiashram.org.
You can also find out about my FengShui/sacred space consultations at www.sacrednest.com
 I will continue to include information about special events related to my counseling practice in this newsletter, and www.sacredlistener.com will be the website focused on the psychotherapy services that I offer. 
 
 
 
 Over the next few months of classes, the yoga sets and meditations will be drawn from insights from the book "The End of Karma" by Dharma Singh Khalsa, MD. This book takes the 40 parts of Japji, the sacred Sikh morning prayer, and illuminates the basic message of each. This path of inquiry is open to people of all beliefs and faith traditions! Topics for each week:
 
March 2: "The Thousand Petaled Lotus"
Past Tense, Future Perfect Yoga set
Meditation with Har Har Mukunday
 
March 6 & March 9: "Formless, Peaceful, Divine"
Creative Energy Yoga Set
Meditation to Take the Finite to Infinity
 
March 13 & March 16: "Countless"
Yoga Set to change Emotion to Devotion
Meditation to Build a Body of Light
 
March 20 & March 23: "Speaking from Deep Meditation"
Yoga set for The Power of the Word
Meditation for Finding Happiness and Peace Within
 
March 27 & March 30: "Primal Sounds"
Yoga Set for Adjusting the Centers of Interconnection and Intercommunication
Antar Naad Meditation
 
 
  Mondays  11am - noon
 March will be the last month for the Monday morning class!
Location: 305 Glenwood Drive, Chapel Hill, NC
Fee: $10
call for more info/directions: 919-257-7814 or email: hardarshan@matashaktiashram.org
 
Thursdays 6:15 - 7:45 pm 
Fee: $15 drop in or $10 per class when purchasing a 5 class pass.
 
Special Workshops 
March 12, Sunday, 10 am - 5 pm, includes lunch.
 "Humanology"
Learn about the yogic philosophies of life cycles, relationships, pregnancy and birth, prosperity, and death. We will have discussions and practices around each of these aspects of human life.  
 Fee: $90
 
 This is part of the special monthly workshop series that is an opportunity to join part of our teacher training weekends. You may want to attend if you are interested in what teacher training is like, if you've already done teacher training and want to revisit some of the topics, or are just interested in the topic presented. Here's a preview of upcoming workshops:
 
April 9, Sunday, 8 am - 12 pm. "Relaxation and Kundalini Yoga" with visiting instructor Dukh Niwaran Kaur. Learn to give and receive relaxation massage! Fee: $50
June 2, Friday, 6:30 - 8:30 pm. "Kirtan!" 6:30 - 8:30 pm
includes refreshments, Fee: $20
Stay tuned for more information about this workshop series.
If you are a registered yoga teacher, and need some continuing education credits, these classes have been approved by Yoga Alliance for CE credits. You will receive a certificate of completion. Please specify if you are taking any of the workshops for this purpose so I can have your certificate ready for you at the end of class! 
 
  Register now for the next Sacred Feminine gathering: 
Sunday,April 30, 2017     1 - 4:30 pm
"Living in Your Security as a Woman"
We will have some fun imagining safe space and protective and nurturing resources, as well as connecting to your essential spiritual self. Chanting, art, music, yoga, meditation and snacks will be part of our uplifting day!
Fee is $50
Sign up with HarDarshan by April 25: 919-257-7814 or hardarshan@matashaktiashram.org
 
Workshop with visiting instructor Kartar Singh Khalsa
 
Saturday, May 6, 1 - 3:30 pm
"A Prayer for the Earth"
   
At a time when so many across the Earth are transfixed by images and of terror and mayhem caused by a few, at a time when waves of dread, triggered by their actions, are reverberating around the globe and causing so many to know fear—let us come together to make a Prayer for our Earth and Ourselves.
Let us choose peace and tranquility.  Let us set it deep in our bones, and let us send waves of it across our planet to heal and hold her and all our humanity. 
Let us explore the very nature of fear.  Let us find and heal it in ourselves.  Let us know and recognize its gift; let us know fear as a friend sounding the alarm and giving us the energy and stimulus to wake up, to call us to our Selves and our consciousness.  Let us remind ourselves of who we are and be the people we have come here to be.  
Let us use the tools bequeathed to us by generations of yogis to know wholeness and healing, and the true nature of the human and potential. 
 
Register with HarDarshan by May 3. hardarshan@matashaktiashram.org 
919-257-7814   Fee: $40 
 
 
 
Visit and "Like" us on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/kundaliniyogachapelhill
 
 
 
 
Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training, Level One                             
 
 It's time to start thinking about the next Level One Kundalini Yoga teacher training, which will begin in September of 2017.
Consider joining us for what many have said is "The best thing I have ever done for myself, the best decision I ever made!"
Contact HarDarshan for an application. hardarshan@sacredlistener.com
Here are some photos of the beautiful training space:
 
when the weather is nice, we have lecture and discussion outside!
 
walking meditation in the heart labyrinth
 
enjoying graduation!
 
blissful meditation
 
Stay tuned for more info on the Level 2 training "Conscious Communication", coming in the fall of 2017!
   
 
 
 
Durga's Magic Closet!
The closet is making some changes, also! All yogic white clothing is now in the Free Box! All books are also free! All yogic music CDs are $5.
Shop before or after class or make an appointment: (919) 257-7814 or hardarshan@sacredlistener.com
 
 
Quote of the Month
 
Recipe of the Month
Matcha Green Tea Smoothie
This smoothie offers ten times the anti-oxidants of regular green tea!
Blend the following ingredients in a high power blender and enjoy!
2 cups pure water
1 grapefruit, peeled and quartered
1 tsp. spirulina powder
1 tsp. matcha green tea powder
1 handful fresh spinach
1 handful of ice
This recipe comes from therawfoodworld.com
 
 
 
Service Opportunity
Mata Shakti Ashram welcomes your support! How can you help?
Time and Talent: help with yard and garden maintenance, upkeep of classroom and workshop/training spaces, vegetarian raw food prep, help with social media and technology.Talk to your friends and perosnal community about Mata Shakti Ashram, for we are truly "grass roots"!
Finance/Funds: Donations of money to assist Mata Shakti Ashram pay the overhead cost for the current space, pay guest teachers, and provide some scholarships to those in need. Let us know how much you are willing to pledge monthly or yearly over the next year to 5 years, as we prepare the non-profit status. Every donation will receive a class pass to share with a friend to acquaint them with the ashram.
Thanks to Lisa Brown, Jennifer Pittman, Lindy Hoeft, Joni Liebel, and Michelle Hill, who have already given their support!
Stay tuned for an open house, and contact HarDarshan for more information: 919-257-7814 or hardarshan@matashaktiashram.org
 
 
Sacred Listener, Transpersonal Counseling and Kundalini Yoga, Chapel Hill, NC