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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
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. Contact me for information about the new hsp therapy group which will start in January.
May the upcoming holy days bring you peace, joy, laughter and love! |
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Over the next 40 weeks 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:
Dec. 1: "Covering Your Karmas"
Yoga for the Radiant Body and Keep Up Spirit
Meditation with Har Har Har Har Gobinday
Dec. 5 & 8: "May I Never Forget Him"
Yoga sets for Energy and Positive Projection &
Attracting the Positive and Protection from the Negative
Meditation with Sat Narayan
Dec. 12 & 15: "Pleasing God"
Yoga for Self-Worth and Releasing Negativity
Meditation with Guru Ram Das
Please note that the ashram will be on holiday break from December 16 - 31. Classes will resume as usual in January!
Mondays 11am - noon
Location: 305 Glenwood Drive, Chapel Hill, NC
Fee: $10
Thursdays 6:15 - 7:45 pm
Fee: $15 drop in or $10 per class when paying for multiples
same address and contact as above
Special Workshops
Dec. 11, Sunday, 8 am - 3 pm "Sacred Sound and Mantra" with visiting musician Sat Purkh Kaur. Fee: $90, includes lunch.
Learn more about your own voice, the science behind mantra, what mantras mean, and experience the uplifting practice of chanting!
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:
March 12, Sunday, 10 am - 5 pm, includes lunch. "Humanology" - lifestyle aspects of yoga. Fee: $90
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!
"United State of Women" - a workshop/gathering
Perhaps you have heard about the Women's March on Washington on Saturday, January 21. If you are not able to attend physically, come and join us at the ashram that day from 1 - 3 pm. We will be uplifting one another through our own healing potential as women, with dance, poetry, and more! You will receive a special gift for attending and yogi tea and snacks will be provided. Fee is $25.
Please reserve your space by Jan. 15.
Mark Your Calendar for the next Sacred Feminine gathering:
Sunday, Feb. 19, 2017 1 - 4:30 pm
Our theme will be "Angels Among Us!" Fee is $50
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| Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training, Level One |
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The current course is already under way, but it's not too early to begin thinking about next year's 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!"
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! |
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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.
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Quote of the Month
"We are all born happy. Life gets us dirty along the way, but we can clean it up. Happiness is not exuberant or noisy, like pleasure or joy; it's silent, tranquil, and gentle; it's a feeling of satisfaction inside that begins with self-love."
Isabelle Allende
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Recipe of the Month
Sesame-Mixed Vegetable "Noodles" with Herbs
(I just made this for dinner - Yum! The daikon radish is a liver cleanser, & the sesame tahini & sesame seeds are an absorbable form of calcium)
Sesame Dressing
1 cup sesame tahini
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup mellow red miso
3/4 cup plus 2 TB pure water
1/4 cup black sesame seeds
In a large bowl, whisk together the tahini, sesame oil, lemon juice, miso, and 1/2 cup of the water. Add the remaining water a bit at a time and continue whisking until smooth. Stir in the sesame seeds and set aside.
Vegetables
4 cups daikon radish, julienned on a mandoline
2 red bell peppers, cored and julienned
3 medium zucchini, julienned on a mandoline
3 medium carrots, peeled and julienned on a mandoline
6 baby bok choy, leaves thinly sliced on a bias
3 scallions, whites and about 1 inch of green, thinly sliced
1 big handful cilantro leaves
sea salt
In a large bowl, toss all the prepared vegetables and the sesame dressing until evenly coated. Season to taste with salt.
This recipe is from the book "Living Raw Food" by Sarma Melngailis |
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Service Opportunity
In this season of gift giving, a fun thing to do is to help needy families around the world. One of my favorite ideas is to give a gift of honeybees. This can help families from Uganda to Haiti to earn income through the sale of honey and beeswax. An added benefit is that when placed strategically, beehives can as much as double some fruit and vegetable yields through natural pollination. In this way, a beehive can be a boost to a whole village. You can give a gift of honeybees through a $30 donation to www.heifer.org/catalog |
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Sacred Listener, Transpersonal Counseling and Kundalini Yoga, Chapel Hill, NC
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