Krysalis

Viewpoint Development
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Orientation

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"Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the darkwoods, every meadow, every humming insect. All are holy in the memory of my people. We are part of the earth and it is a part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters. The bear, the deer, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The wind...gives our children the spirit of life." Chief Seattle

Krysalis
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Orientation
The reverence for nature and the spirit of life, as Chief Seattle shares with us, is the spirit that we hope to bring to you throughout our eight week course of Krysalis Body/Mind/Spirit Development. Each course in our progressive series will offer you a wide range of information as well as physical movements

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designed to revitalize both the body and the mind. The overall goal of this course is to assist each person in rediscovering his or her own natural, physical flexibility and strength, as well as his or her own naturally calm, compassionate and open mind. We will present what we hope is useful information from various philosophical, scientific, religious, holistic and medical traditions. In this class you will learn about revitalization and detoxification from a number of perspectives: We are looking at detoxing the body, speech and mind in order to achieve the greatest results of focused positivity and total well-being. Students will experience and receive information in three main areas; 1) Movements and Revitalizing Breathing (Pranayama), 2) Viewpoint Development, and 3) Health. Students will also be introduced to aspects of Meditation. Each physical movement is designed to bring forth changes in one's energy flow, which automatically affects the quality and intensity of one's thoughts and feelings. In this class, you may experience a series of release sensations, as well as a sense of discovery of new and positive energies that have been shut down for a long time. You may find yourself laughing or crying after class. You may feel very aware and alert after class, or you may feel tired. This is a natural readjustment phase of the revitalization process. This introductory class to detoxification of the mind and body is designed to bring forth a great deal of energy that has been repressed by yourself and oppressed by others. Some of this energy is negative and toxic, and some of this energy is extremely positive and healing. Some feelings need simply to be experienced and released. Others need to be channeled, organized and worked with. According to ancient yoga systems, each of us has a vast store of positive energy dormant within us, hidden in the very center of the spinal cord, that we can access through various forms of yoga. This pure and radiant energy is known, in Sanskrit, as Kundalini; the current of love, compassion, joy and inspiration within us all. This energy has been experienced by people of all cultures and creeds throughout history. The methods of Kundalini Yoga are designed to bring forth, as quickly as possible, this natural state of happiness that is within each of us. In order to access this energy, we must learn how to let go of negativity towards one's self and others. In becoming aware of this negativity, we will also become aware of the enormous amount of mental chatter we produce. Gradually students will learn how to 1) recognize the negative, chattering "complaint mind" and 2) choose to actively guide negative thoughts toward more helpful and effective ends. As the body/mind/spirit becomes accustomed to clearing negative

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energies, space is made available for the positive energy to flow through and restore a sense of well-being.
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Kundalini is described by a modern day practitioner, Gopi Krishna, in his book: The Awakening of Kundalini: "...The peace and bliss, and also enhancement of their creative ability, experienced by some of those practicing healthy forms of Yoga, owe their origin to Kundalini. The mental and physical well-being, and also the cure of sundry ailments sometimes effected, are often due to its regenerative office. There is no sphere of human activity and thought in which the impact of evolutionary apparatus is not felt. Once the mechanism is recognized there would be no scientific study as extensive and as fraught with momentous consequences for mankind as this. This is the fountainhead for all that is productive, noble, heroic, and sublime in man. The human body, with its extremely complex formation and with still many unexplored functions and processes, particularly those occurring in the brain and nervous systems, is yet an enigma to science." The peace and bliss described by Gopi Krishna are not going to be felt immediately or with a few weeks or months of training. It takes time and effort to effect a cleansing that can clear the path for the energies that he describes. In this class, we will be clearing energies and experiencing a more modest form of kundalini, which is simple energy recharging our bodies and minds with a sense of greater stamina and vitality. Some class members, however, may experience changes in their dream states, and some may experience seeing auras or light around the body, or even around trees and animals. Each person's experience, whether dramatic or subtle, is valuable and unique. The main point is to adopt an exploratory and compassionate approach to your own unfoldment. In her book, Kundalini Yoga for the West, Swami Sivananda Radha states: "Without self inquiry you are subject to the authority and opinions of othersparents, friends, the mass media, and so on. We must investigate all our concepts and ideas, anything we have accepted blindly, without question. Such unquestioning acceptance of authority is tantamount to allowing ourselves to be hypnotized, programmed, conditioned. " Swami Sivananda Radha writes further:

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"...What you are thinking now may hold no value in three months or three years. You will have grown, your awareness will have increased, and your level of understanding will have risen. From being a sleepwalker, a hypnotized and conditioned person, you gradually become a person who is aware....The purpose of Kundalini Yoga is to become aware and to know yourself. This is the path that leads to freedom." A person who is aware and in knowledge of the self is also aware of the feelings and needs of others. Self realization is found through selflessness, gradually letting go of the little self, allowing the unfoldment of the natural, loving Self that we all have within us. We hope the Krysalis process will assist you in attaining this goal. Welcome to the Krysalis process. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We would very much appreciate any suggestions (including constructive criticism) which you may have to offer as to how this course is progressing. Thank you so much for your time and effort in this process. In the words of Goethe: "Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."

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