Teacher of the Month Archives - Prana Yoga Center

Meditation is Your Greatest Ally

Senior Kundalini Yoga teacher & healer Hari Das Kaur studied with Yogi Bhajan, the Master of Kundalini Yoga for 24 years, until his passing in 2004. We are blessed that she shares with us her wisdom in classes and special events at Prana – how Kundalini Yoga and the healing art of the Yogis, Sat Nam Rasayan, has helped her stay grounded, calm and balanced in times of turmoil.

“In the midst of chaos, your greatest ally will be your meditative mind.”

~Yogi Bhajan

Your meditative mind can stop impulsive behavior and hold you to your basic values. In a Kundalini Yoga class, we build this resonance in ourselves very rapidly.

“Where love has become distorted and fraudulent, your purest touchstone will be your sense of true sold identity.”~Yogi Bhajan

You will cultivate and sustain a cozy and prosperous environment for you and for your family and will be supported by the technology to sustain a wholesome life based on kindness and goodness. Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan is a comprehensive yogic tradition, combining meditation, mantra and physical exercise with breathing techniques. It is a raj yoga (royal yoga) encompassing the eight limbs of yoga into a singular practice of excellence and ecstasy.

Sat Nam Rasayan

Everyone has an innate capacity for healing: to heal ourselves, to heal others and to help others heal themselves. You can begin today to access your own miraculous healing abilities and contemplate the questions:

Why does one person recover and another continue to suffer under seemingly identical circumstances?

How is it that a long existing depression can be lifted within minutes?

Science gives us answers to explain the mechanisms but healing remains a mystery and often considered a miracle. The purpose of healing is not just to rid us of disease and not only a measure to restore that which has been lost. Healing is the work of coming into balance in the present moment. The healer, through meditation and focus, enters a transcendent realm, in which he’s able to practice this sensitive process of healing.

Sat Nam Rasayan, probably the oldest known method of healing, has historically been handed down from generation to generation, from one master to one student, taught in complete silence. Fortunately, today Sat Nam Rasayan is taught in classes with language for the first time ever. This treasured healing system of Sat Nam Rasayan, a nurturing mystical yogic heritage, is now available for everyone to learn. This healing practice leads to awareness, balance, inner happiness, peace and flexibility – the essentials of healing. People who want to develop their capacity to heal need to strengthen the right spiritual muscles. It is very simple and as mysterious as that.

Hari Das is a Certified Kundalini/Meditation Instructor Level II, trained directly by Yogi Bhajan, the world-acknowledged Master of Kundalini yoga. Hari Das has been practicing and teaching Kundalini yoga and meditation for over 30 years. Her spiritual name ‘Hari Das Kaur’ means Servant of God.

Based on the belief that health, happiness and holiness are the essence of a fulfilled life, Kundalini yoga offers students a highly efficient system for creating physical, emotional, mental and spiritual vitality. Hari Das brings tremendous knowledge and dedication to her teaching as well as a light and joyful energy that is inspiring and uplifting.

Hari Das Kaur is also a third level practitioner and student teacher of Sat Nam Rasayan, the healing art of the Yogis, and a member of a very small group of global healers who are certified by Guru Dev Singh Khalsa to teach this ancient healing art.

Join Hari Das for her weekly Kundalini Yoga class every Tuesday at 12-1pm.

Upcoming special events:

November 10: Sat Nam Rasayan: Dream State & Meditation

November 26: The Power of Gratitude, a special Thanksgiving workshop. Register & details here.

Teacher of the Month: Alison McLean

May 12, 2016
Bjorn Minde
Happy & Healthy Back, Teacher of the Month

Alison is a doctor of physical therapy, certified Yoga teacher and teaches Happy Back Yoga classes and Yoga Therapy workshops at Prana.

How did you get into teaching Yoga?

I fell in love with Yoga in the early 2000s but was always intimidated of teaching Yoga. However, combining Physical Therapy and Yoga always has had a strong pull with me, in fact this was part of the reason I went back to school for my Doctorate in PT. My mentor at the time encouraged me to complete a Yoga Teacher Training so I could formally combine Yoga and Physical Therapy. I got certified through Prana Yoga’s 200-hour Teacher Training with Gerhard in 2012. The training really changed and evolved my life in a such a positive way.

Being a doctor of physical therapy you bring a unique approach added value for yoga to yoga. How has your training and work as a PT influenced you as a yoga student and teacher?

My PT training has taught me to slow down my practice and really evaluate how I am moving. I encourage my students to do the same. All of us have patterns of moving, some are functional and some dysfunctional. In a Yoga class, if we just go through the motions, then we always move through our familiar patterns. But, if we slow down and focus on the breath and alignment, we can teach the body to move in new ways. This will help heal any injury or prevent future ones down the road.

What does your own practice look like?

My own practice is continually evolving. Especially now following pregnancy and an cesarean. I had to let go of “I will get back to” and just embrace a new practice without forcing. It is such a gift to give life, so I want to respect my body where it is now. And, truthfully being a new mom, any time on the mat feels good right now. Even if this time is a short 15-20 minutes or a partner practice with baby. Someday I’ll hop back into my Ashtanga class again when the time is right. Currently I think my body is still healing from the surgery, so I am being a little more gentle. Plus, since I’m hyper mobile in many joints, the strengthening from holding poses longer is very helpful.

Do you incorporate yoga in your work as a physical therapist when treating clients?

Yes, I love adding Yoga to physical therapy work. Sometimes it’s just an intro to Yoga or sometimes the session is mostly Yoga. It depends on the patient’s goals and desires.

Besides seeing private clients as a physical therapist and yoga instructor you also teach public yoga classes and workshops, as well as anatomy trainings. What fascinates you about anatomy?

I am an anatomy nerd. The body fascinates me, it is so complex. However long you study anatomy, you can never know it all. Science is always discovering something new, either a new connection, function or even part. When you think you have finally got it, then something new is added to the mix changing everything. This keeps you on your toes and is forever evolving. The workshops I teach are just an extension to this knowledge combination. The workshop in June will focus on the Neck, Upper Back and Shoulders. With all the advances in technology we seemed to be glued to our devices, myself included. This posture can lead to lack of movement in some areas of the upper, back and chest, and poor positioning of the neck. We will use the Yoga Wall to reverse the effects of sitting and hunching to lengthen the spine and improve alignment. This will relieve a lot of tension in the neck, and top of the shoulders.

Who are your favorites teachers who most inspire you?

Some of the teachers who most inspire me and I have studied with are Judith Hansen Lasater, Ginger Garner, Roger Cole, Shelly Prosko, Jules Mitchel and Neil Pearson.

Join Alison’s Happy Back Yoga Wall classes on Wednesdays at 10:00am and Tuesdays at 7:30pm.

Her next Yoga Therapy workshop “Free your Upper Back, Neck & Shoulders” will be June 5 at 2-4pm.