Blogs

Oh, the joy of living!  When we get triggered, our life feels out of control and unmanageable, because it is.  This has become the usual way of living for many of us. We think we are controlling our life when actually it's controlling us. And the more we try to control, the more chaos and drama we create.  It's a vicious cycle.  Cunning and baffling, to say the least. Basically, we have sub-conscious thought forms constantly replaying and hijacking us.  We need to empty those thoughts on a regular basis, or they just build up like credit card debt. Yoga, pranayam, mantra, meditation, the...

BY KATHERINE AUSTIN On July 23rd, I brought yoga to Milliken State Park in downtown Detroit for our 4-week Karma in the Park program. It was a beautiful experience to share the healing teachings of yoga with so many from Detroit and the suburbs.  The interesting summer weather made for sometimes a chilly or rainy day, but it always seemed to clear up exactly when we started the yoga practice.  The light always wins! I decided to do this back in February when I heard about Fresh Air Fit's program to bring exercise to Michigan State Parks in the summer.  I really wanted to uplift Detroit...

It was 10 years ago on September 6, 2003 at the age of 43 that I opened the doors at Karma Yoga.  Who knew the incredible journey the universe had in store for me personally and professionally over this past decade!  As the saying goes, we make plans and God laughs.  He's got divine order down, and we are here for the ride once we figure that out. So much has evolved over these 10 years, too much for one little blog.  Eleven years ago I decided to listen to that small (soul) voice within me and take a risk.  I signed a short lease on a space that many said I'd never get into.  It was zoned...

....what can I learn here?   This is a beautiful line I was gifted with many years ago.  It has helped me shift my attitude to gratitude know matter the situation. Our journey this lifetime is just that, a journey. I like to call the situations, events and circumstances we go through exercises for our soul to "grow" through. So often we bolt when the going gets tough, when our stuff comes up.  Like a yoga pose, if we can stay in it long enough, like when it gets uncomfortable (not painful enough to cause injury) but uncomfortable, we have a huge opportunity to let the healing begin and break...

The past 6 months I've been in a yoga Teacher Training.  As I began practicing Kundalini yoga several years ago, I started to look at many of  the trainings offered. For a few years I actually considered whether I really "need" another certification, but ultimately decided that a TT is not about getting a piece of paper. It's about the next layer of your soul's growth on its spiritual journey. The further down the rabbit hole I went, the more clear it was that my soul and I really wanted to study with powerful teachers of this lineage that could transmit the teachings in the purest way. As...

Your core is the very center of your physical, emotional and spiritual universe. Everything about us somehow relates to this real and magical place, where energy, courage, passion and self-confidence generates. The famous psychologist, Carl Jung, once said that Manipura chakra is where we burn through our passions and desires in order to become a completely realized individual. Becoming a fully realized person will take you to the test. Believe me, I know how uncomfortable and scary change can be and that it usually requires us to give up something big (really scary) to make room for something...

My last son is looking at colleges and pondering where to begin his journey.  This is the last child of three. I've been through this before. Just like with the others, I won't stand in the way of his heart's calling.  I want him to find his passion, not mine.  We come here to share our gifts and talents. It's so important for us and us alone to find out our Dharma, without the influence of anyone else's dreams masking our own. (Sanskrit: à¤§à¤°à¥à¤® dharma, Pali: à¤§à¤®à¥à¤® dhamma) is the Law that "upholds, supports or maintains the regulatory order of the universe." It's...

I often hear from many that it's hard to commit to a daily sadhana or spirtual practice.  That makes sense to me. We have many demands on the path of the householder. Our lives go though many stages from studying, starting a career, growing in our career, relationships, perhaps raising children, community responsibilities, sometimes illness and so on. Many of us were not raised to create a daily self-care ritual.  In other cultures, it's quite common to start your day doing your morning prayers, exercises or the harvesting and preparing of cooking the day's food for you and your family. Committing...

Just recently on a Wednesday night I went in to teach my 5:45pm Kundalini class.  Later that night and the next morning, I received two incredible emails from some students who had amazing experiences. Kundalini is the yoga of awakening.  The yoga of miracles, some say. I've been immersed in hatha yoga for more than 17 years and I must say that when I was led by spirit to Kundalini, I couldn't believe how true this statement proved to be. "Kundalini yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan is a scientific technology for happiness. It extends the brain to imagine Infinity in its totality; then it is...

Whether we're talking to someone on the street, teaching a yoga class, giving a speech, or chatting on Facebook, we can have more impact with what we're transmitting if we learn to access our energy from the navel. I've been training yoga teachers for more than 10 years now, and projecting your voice as a teacher regularly comes up.  It can be a challenge. There's quite a difference between just talking louder (from your throat) so the room can hear you vs. speaking and teaching from your navel center, your center of power, self love, self worth, self esteem. When we speak from the navel point (your...