Articles about caffeine Menopause / Perimenopause

We feel that Kundalini Yoga is one of the best things you can do to help address the symptoms associated with peri-menopause and menopause . A regular Kundalini Yoga practice will help to optimize the function of the endocrine system and the reproductive organs as well and give you the means to stay balanced and energized. The Yoga sets we especially recommend for this time are: "The 5 Tibetan Rites" on our Kundalini Yoga for Beginners & Beyond DVD (each of the exercises in beneficial in easing or preventing symptoms associated with menopause). The"Positive PMS" segment on Yoga Quick Fixes (specifically designed to release tension from the ovaries and address endocrine balance). The "Your Life is in Your Own Glands" segment from our Fat Free Yoga DVD as well as the "Hands like a Teapot" meditation on that program. We recommend both sets on Dance the Chakras Yoga Workout, Yoga Bliss Hips, The "Strong Bones & Muscle Tone" and Fertility/Potency" set on Yoga House Call and the Sa Ta Na Ma meditation which is also on that DVD. We also recommend the Yoga Cleanse DVD. Also, all of Yoga Beauty Body will be very helpful. Peri-menopause represents a purification for a new phase of life, one in which new levels of inner and outer fulfillment can be realized. Kundalini Yoga with the appropriate lifestyle considerations can assist in making this process a graceful and joyful one. According to the Yogic tradition, menopause heralds a time in your life where you have learned and loved and gathered much life experience and wisdom. It is the sign that the time has come to share your wisdom with others. It causes a body mind shift to power and projection. It is a time to rule, to guide, to give, and to serve others. The discomforts of menopause can be eased by yoga, meditation, diet and exercise. There are lifestyle considerations which are also important. These include minimizing stimulants: meat, sugar, caffeine, alcohol, and dairy ( Yogi Bhajan suggested that a woman should eat very light vegetarian foods at this time in life and have her last meal of the day at 4:00 pm)We also recommend you drink lots of purified water. Essential Fatty Acids and/or Evening Primrose Oil, calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, (etc) are a few great daily supplements. Most important is doing Kundalini Yoga every day. Yoga Bhajan recommended that a woman should do Kundalini Yoga vigorously enough to break a sweat every day. This is the best hormonal adjustment. Weight bearing exercises like yoga will help maintain healthy bone mass.. Meditations and breathing techniques are very valuable at this time. This meditation can also be very helpful: wrists on the knees. Inhale in four equal parts thru the nose. Exhale in one part. On the inhale touch you index, middle, ring, and little fingers to your thumb progressively. Think Sa-Ta-Na-Ma on the inhale and Wahay Guru on the exhale. 11-31 min. We also highly recommend the breathing technique called Sitali Pranayam which entails inhaling through a curled, extended tongue and exhaling through the nose. 11 - 22 min. per day would be good for the symptoms associated with menopause.

You might also try Chasteberry (Vitex) which is often used in the balancing of hormones Please seek the guidance of a qualified health professional to know the correct dosage for you. Yogi Bhajans Top 5 Tips for Graceful Menopause 1. Do Kundalini Yoga vigorously enough to break a sweat everyday. 2. Practice the Minute Breath: work up to inhaling (breathing through the nose) for 20 seconds, holding the breath for 20 seconds, and exhaling for 20 seconds. Start with 3 minutes and work up to 31 minutes. This will completely cool out your system and regenerate you. 3. East sattvic, food, light and pure. Avoid overly spicy food and overly cooked food. Of course avoid fried food and all the usual suspects such as coffee, sugar, alcohol, and processed foods. 4. Be kind to your kidneys by taking about a small portion of yogurt blended with 6-8 ounces of low mineral spring water. You can add a dab of salt. 5. Drink celery juice. Eat parsley, sweet potatoes, water chestnuts, and beets.

Disclaimer: The advice we give is in no way intended as a substitute for medical counseling. Please consult your physician before beginning any exercise program or nutritional protocol.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is Kundalini Yoga anyway? Kundalini yoga is known as the yoga of awareness. Combining angular posture with sound and breath, Kundalini Yoga accelerates the energy of the body and mind and creates an elevated state which causes deep relaxation with clarity and alertness. It is a practice which, allows the individual to awaken the subtle creative power that is in each human being. When this energy is awakened and directed by the mind it creates health, awareness, creativity and an overall feeling of well-being. All types of yoga will awaken this kundalini energy. Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan is designed to work faster by acting directly to awaken this normally dormant energy in the body. You experience it when the energy of the glandular system combines with the nervous system to create such sensitivity that the totality of the brain receives signals and integrates them. Then a person understands the effect of the effect in a sequence of the causes. In other words, man becomes totally and wholly aware. We call it the yoga of awareness. Just as all the rivers end up in the ocean, all yogas end up raising the kundalini in man. What is the kundalini? It is the creative potential of the man. Yogi Bhajan, Sadhana Guidelines. How does it work? Using Kriya (physical movement), Pranyama (breath exercise,) and Mantra (sound current) Kundalini Yoga awakens the dormant energy at the base of the spine. This energy known as the kundalini or coil of the beloved is the infinite potential of the human being. Why so early? In the military, physical training is done just before dawn. Many religious devotees practice during these hours as well. Just before sunrise and just before sunset are the most powerful times to practice anything that integrates mind, body and soul. Known as the in between times, these hours before dawn and at sunset magnify the body, mind and souls ability to integrate with one another. Crazy as it may sound to the average Joe, theres less sunlight and therefore less electromagnetic waves and static. This allows the mind a clearer focus. Ive never done yoga before. Isnt this program a little advanced for someone like me? Kundalini Yoga is an amazing technology that works on more than just the physical body. Because of that, a student of any level or physical condition can come to class and each will get something out of it because you go at your own pace. Kundalini yoga meets the student at their level and lifts them up. Practicing in a group, especially a group that is together for a period of 40 days, creates a collective mind and multiplies the effects. Some students may be better at one exercise and others better at another. When a person feels challenged on one particular exercise, a stronger students energy and the collective energy of the group will support them and vice versa. Its really something that has to be experienced.

Whats the deal with 40 days? Many spiritual texts discuss masters, saints and sages who went through various trials and overcame great challenges over a period of forty days. Even most military boot camps are six weeks long, about 42 days. Since the mind is affected by the lunar cycles and it is said that the mind releases 1000 thoughts with every blink of the eye, doing a 90-minute yoga and meditation set over forty days affects the mind on the sub-conscious level. Over a forty-day period the lunar cycles of the mind are overcome and the subtle thought-chains of habit can be broken. A habit is a chain of thought patterns that have been repeated to the point where the actions resulting from those thoughts have become behavior. A 40-day meditation allows you to leverage the habits of the mind and create substantial change. Trying to change habits and patterns that youve developed over years of repitition is difficult. It cant be done by thinking alone. Trying to change habits and behaviors by thinking about them is like trying to change the oil in your car with the engine still running. You have to shut the engine off and take apart certain components in order to service the machine. In order to change your habits you need some special

YOGA BOOT CAMP Yoga+Boot Camp ~ Isnt that like, a contradiction? Dont be put off by the words boot camp. Other than the early morning hour of 6:15 AM, theres really no harshness to it. Kundalini Yoga is an ancient mind-body technology that works very pointedly on the physical body, glandular system and mind to give you the Ultimate Workout physical exercise and deep meditation so that you start your days with the utmost clarity, focus and determination, without the stress. Kundalini Yoga is very powerful in that it works on the psyche so that youre deeply relaxed as you start your day, not chasing and trying to keep up. The Kundalini Yoga Boot Camp is an early morning workout and meditation program using Kundalini Yoga technology and is designed to build your personal power to propel you to the next level in your life. The classes are structured to inspire self-discipline and focus, which allows you to become more effective, clear and creative, by experiencing and building a foundation of your own power. If you find yourself repeating the same habitual patterns and falling short of your goals, or things are fine and you would like to enhance whats already working, this program will help you to focus your energy so that you can make quantum changes. This program works GUARANTEED: We believe in Kundalini Yoga Boot Camp because weve seen it work in our own lives. So if you decide after two classes* that its not your thing, well give you the balance of your money back. How does it work, anyway? Your intention is magnified with the quantum energy generated by the practice of Kundalini Yoga. Done in a group this energy is actually multiplied. This will create the momentum necessary to move past whatever blocks you. This can be habitual behavior you want to quit, daily stresses of work, life, and relationships or even deep stress and depression caused by traumatic events. Or, perhaps you have a pretty good life, but just have a feeling of wanting more. Everybody has some challenge that blocks them thats what makes up the game of life. KYBC was designed to help connect you to your deep inner flow so that you can use more of the infinite YOU to have a greater experience of your life. The practice gives you more energetic awareness, which can allow you to make positive changes and expand your life. The ideal is to do forty days in a row, practicing on your own if you cant make it to class. This will effect the greatest change. However, if you can only come a few days a week or if you can only do 10 or 20 days you will still benefit and you will also be given the tools necessary to complete the entire program on your own time. Basically, 40 days changes a habit and Kundalini Yoga Boot Camp allows you to tap into a group energy that magnifies the whole process. That doesnt mean you have to do 40 days, but thats the ideal. Many students can only come a few times a week to give themselves a weekly boost. The overriding purpose of the program is to give you the tools necessary to set a foundation of practice thats right for you. Whats the class like? Each 90-minute class combines physical postures, deep breathing and relaxation with the sound current of The Gong. The Gong is an amazing instrument that creates a sound which puts you into a rapid, deep relaxation. You can learn more about the practice on the Frequently Asked Questions page, which has

more in depth information about the significance of Kundalini yoga, 40 day meditations, The healing power of the Gong and more Also, make sure and check out the blog for stimulating discussion about yoga, motivation, healthy living.

FREE On-Line Kundalini Yoga Training Lesson 11 http://www.kundaliniyoga.org/kyt11.html Addictions Food, diet, weight loss, eating disorders, and other addictive substances and behaviors-whatever our specific issue, everyday we are all confronted with what to put in our mouths and how the decisions we make affect our well-being. My approach is to use our addictive tendencies as a path to empowerment. In the process we can claim "the gifts from the garbage." 3rd Chakra: Yoga and making and breaking Habits The ability to make and break habits is associated with the navel center or third chakra. When our navel center is strong we have the will to make decisions and to keep them. There are many navel exercises and sets. Many of these can be found in my manual Transitions to a Heart-Centered World. Breath of fire is a great navel breath as is 4 part energizing breath. You will find the instructions for the 4-part breath on the Yoga Technology website - 4/4 Energizing Breath Do this 3-5 minute exercise 3 or more times a day, especially at moments when you are being pulled to a compulsive, addictive behavior. (Remember the navel center is slightly below the navel, approximately 1-2" below the navel itself, where many nerve centers converge. You can identify it by a pulse which gets stronger after navel exercises like the 4-part breath, leg lifts and stretch pose.) Many addictions, especially smoking, drugs and alcohol are related to the fire element. Navel breathing, especially breath of fire and 4 part breath, give us the fire energy we crave. As the energy we create begins to satisfy us, we are released from the hold of the addiction. A strong navel center is a requirement for being able to commit and keep your commitments to yourself. Daily practice to strengthen the navel center is the first commitment we need to make to ourselves. 2nd and 3rd Chakras: Digestion and Power Center There are MANY things going on in our body that we can connect with if we tune into and are present to our energy. The second chakra, which is located in the lower abdominal area, is where much of our additive and "food" issues reside. Whereas the third chakra can be identified by a pulse at a specific point, the second chakra is a space which generates rhythmic movement. The abdominal area is our power center. Women especially learn to hold in their stomachs. The result is a constant tension and continual blocking of our internal source of power. This is the area where our digestion and elimination is regulated. When we create stress by holding in our stomachs and have a negative attitude toward this part of our body, we interfere with our normal biological functioning. When the belly is relaxed, digestion and elimination can occur in a natural and peaceful matter. Imagine you were a large or small intestine and that you had to carry out your job under the adverse

circumstances that we create by holding in our bellies, blocking the energy flow and cutting off the breath. You wouldn't get the job done properly, so matter how hard you tried. EXERCISE--One way to cultivate a relaxed abdominal area is to practice long deep abdominal breathing. Lie on your back, place your hands on your belly, let your inhale push your hands up and exhale relax the hands back down. Many women in classes I have taught have experienced dramatic increases of energy with this simple breathing exercise. Our goal is to befriend our bellies and to consciously allow our energy to flow. Overtime our peaceful relationship with our energy and our body will supercede any programming of how our bodies should look. As we make friends with our bodies, HOW OUR BODIES FEEL BECOMES OUR COMMANDING TOUCHSTONE. Security is our Greatest Asset SELF-LOVE on an energetic level is our goal. For self-love to be real, we have to enjoy being in our bodies. This is of course a process that takes time. We have to be willing to feel uncomfortable and to experience our emotions. If we are willing, we will over time experience inner power and peace. Yogi Bhajan taught us years ago that "A woman's greatest security is herself." This summer he reminded us again that a woman's greatest asset is her own security. And in fact, a woman can not really function as woman, i.e. use all her innate gifts, until she feels secure within herself. Can you feel the power of those statements? Just writing those words again makes me sit up straighter and breathe deeper. I think the same is true for men. For both men and women, it is our inner connection that is our source of true power. Maybe the core issue is not food or addictions. Maybe the core issue is our own security, our own selflove, and our dedicated commitment to living our own lives. EXERCISE--The practice of long deep abdominal breathing as described above can be used to cultivate a feeling of security in your body and love of your physical form. Allow yourself to experience that the energy you bring in with the breath is feeding your body (because it is). This can produce a very satisfying feeling that replaces the addictive cravings. Another variation is to initiate the breath at the navel center. The focus on the navel center will help you consciously create the flame and the fire in your "lower furnace". The fire energetically builds your will power on a very organic level.

Feel Good My most powerful driving force is to feel good. Almost everything I do is in one way or another related to the fact that I want to feel good all the time. This does not mean that I do, but it does mean that I do the best I can to cultivate a state of well being. Admittedly, it is a continual, lifetime task. I must be vigilant at all times. But feeling good is so important to me that it is worth all the time and effort. I do yoga everyday to feel good. And what I eat is mostly (not all) determined by how I will feel after I eat. I remember several years ago I attended a class with about 40 women on habits, diet and eating. The teacher asked us, "Who considers how they will feel 3 hours later before they eat?" Only 3 women raised their hands. Wow.I was shocked. These were all spiritually committed women. So don't feel bad if you

wouldn't have raised your hand. But do consider that making it a priority to feel good is something to consider. It could change your life and be a key to dealing with eating disorders and weight. Actually, I believe that everyone is driven by the desire to feel good. We just need to make this desire conscious and learn habits and behaviors that make total well-being possible. 1st Chakra: Identifying Needs and getting them Met Finding solutions to all our human challenges is actually a question of identifying our needs and figuring out how to get them met. Security and satisfying needs are first chakra issues. Some of some our basic needs that relate to food and addictions include the following-

To feel secure To feel a sense of well being To feel nurtured To be nourished Please add to the list. I operate from the premise that we all have needs and that our lives are organized around how to get them met. We may sabotage ourselves by doing things that don't really get our needs met or are harmful. But we are still internally driven to attempt to satisfy our basic needs. In fact, I believe that eating disorders, drug, alcohol and tobacco addictions are unsuccessful attempts to get our needs met. In dealing with any challenge, the first step is to identify the need. The second step is to embrace it, NOT deny it or try to suppress it. The third step is to figure how we can satisfy these needs, without hurting ourselves, but instead by promoting our health and happiness. Substitutes -vs- Deprivation Food is often used an inadequate substitute for the above and other needs. Something is missing in our lives so we try to placate our craving with food. The problem with bad food is that none of our needs are satisfied including the one for food. In fact we just crave more food. This is a serious problem even for those of us who try to eat a healthy diet. Ingesting "food" that does not have its natural, complete vitamin-mineral content not only does not satisfy our bodies, it also creates cravings. This is because the body needs the complete vitamin-mineral structure to properly digest its food. If something is missing, the body will try to find it by depleting the rest of the body of those particular vitamins or minerals and by sending out "hunger" signals demanding what it needs. The problem today is that most of our foods are severely deficient in vitamin-mineral content. Genetically engineered foods are even worse because the natural crystalline structures of plants are simplified. As a result the cells cannot absorb what is left of the nutrients from the food.

This is the same for the water we drink. Pollution, purification, chemical additives and processing of water has debilitated our water to the extent that it cannot be fully absorbed by our cells. We are born with 98% water content in our bodies. Our cells are dehydrated down to about 75% by the time we are 40 or 50. And no matter how much water we drink, if it does not come from the few vital sources left on the Planet, our body's thirst for water is not totally quenched. Now all this is rather depressing except for the fact that we do have some very effective vitamin and mineral supplements available to us that can satisfy our bodies. And recently there have been some major discoveries that help us revitalize the water we drink. In addition, there is a lot that we can do immediately by choosing healthier foods. We can eliminate processed sugar, processed foods, fried foods, red meat and caffeine from our diet. The trick is substitution. Depravation does not work. Sugar Our bodies need natural sugar and foods of the Earth element. Fruits contain natural sugar. And there are many "health food junk foods" that are sweetened with honey and natural sugar from fruit. Although these are not as nutritious as a piece of fruit or carrot juice, they are not harmful like refined sugar and flour. I say minimize the damage and do your best to keep your body at peace without ingesting the known addictive foods-refined sugar being on the top of the list. Refined sugar is addictive because of what I explained above. The natural nutrients have been extracted and the body craves more in an attempt to get the minerals and vitamins it needs to carry out its digestive and eliminative functions. Caffeine from coffee, coke, chocolate also dehydrates the body. Since sugar is addictive, any amount of it generally provokes the craving and reestablishes the addiction. This is why it is recommended to eliminate it completely. If you have the guts to do this, I suggest having a good supply of substitutes on hand. Remember the need must be satisfied. Deprivation does not work. As the body gets accustomed to more complete foods, the sugar craving will subside. The need for natural sugars will remain because the body needs some of this food. Over time (and it may be a while) more natural sugars will be the only ones that satisfy you. When I was young my mother made the most outrageous refined sugar-flour based desserts imaginable. It took me several years to eliminate my desire for refined sugar. The dessert habit, however, is still in my genes. Now I am satisfied with a couple of bites of Golden Temple Ginger Snap Granola. To help break my refined sugar addition, I ate millet almost everyday for several years. Millet is one of the few grains that is an Earth food. All sugars are Earth foods. By eating millet, my body was able to have its need for Earth foods satisfied. I eat millet once in a while now. Amazingly I still like it. I am not saying it was easy. But I am sharing that it was possible and it was worth it. I feel so much better without refined sugar. And as I said, feeling good is a priority for me. Collective Addictions Addictions support each other. A stop smoking course recommended giving up coffee, teas with caffeine and alcohol at the same time. Each one increased the craving for the others. They recommended

substituting vitamin C, dried and fresh fruit. The vitamin C helps replace the nutrients lost and rebuild the substance in the body that is replaced by nicotine. When to Start The best day to begin any regime or Sadhana to break or make new habits is the New Moon. I have personally experienced that it is much easier to keep up and actually succeed when I start a fast on the New Moon. Yogically, forty days is the amount of time it takes to break a habit. Oils Somehow because of the cholesterol scare, we have gotten the message that oil is bad. Refined, fried oils are not easily digested by the body. Natural oils are needed by the body for optimum functioning. Olive or almond oil (not canola) in your salad dressing or added to your grains after they are cooked can satisfy these needs. It is very important that women do not eliminate oil from their diets. No oil speeds up the aging process and makes menopause more difficult.

The Box Technique Someone shared with me the idea that I now call the box technique. This is one way to deal with the psychology of what we eat and don't eat. We all actually use this technique all the time. There are things that we do not do and do not eat. We have them classified in a box. We do not eat food out of a trash bin. We don't eat rotten food. We wouldn't even think about it. We can choose to expand our box and put other foods in that box. This works if we keep the item in the box. And it circumvents a lot of mental anguish of trying to decide "to eat or not to eat." Over time the sides of the box will grow stronger and we won't even question our initial decision. When I was young, I often ate much more than I needed. I was of course uncomfortable after I stuffed myself. I worried about getting fat, which did not happen, but I did waste a lot of mental energy and made myself uptight. One day, after college, I decided that I did not want to live like that. I made the decision to eat only until I was full and then I would stop. It took me about 2 months to get into the habit and integrate the strategy into my psyche. I am so much more comfortable mentally and physically that to do any differently is not even an option. I have gotten better over the years too. I look at my food, appreciate what I am eating while I am eating, even try to chew more. It all helps. We have built in survival strategies. The trick is to discover your own version and use them to your advantage. As Yogi Bhajan taught us, the Universe is set up for us to win. Life on Planet Earth is to discover how to win our own game of life. We were all born with the innate wisdom to succeed and be happy. Divine Addicts Maybe weight and food problems are not really about food and weight. Maybe the issue is self-love. Maybe we should start out by loving our bodies as they are. After all everyone is different and therefore special. Maybe addictions are about taking back our power from those forces and "authorities" who we

have let manipulate us. Maybe every issue we face is a spiritual issue between me and myself and me and the Divine. My hypothesis is that we all have addictive personalities. We just have different addictions. Actually the addictive power is a spiritual necessity and gift. I believe we were given this quality to be able to hold on to our experience of God. I propose getting high on Kundalini Yoga and using this addictive power to hold on to the experience. This sounds easy, but this reorientation is a challenge too. Holding on to the feeling can be as challenging as breaking an addiction. What we are doing is breaking an old habit and creating a new one. We are training our mind to reorient our focus. We are reversing an energy pattern that has been in place for a long time. We are challenging an old belief system and creating a new one. The trick is to patiently train yourself and to keep up until you are addicted to God. You can cultivate an addiction to God with any Kundalini yoga set, breathing exercise or meditation. The important point is to do something to change your energy and then to focus on the feeling and satisfaction that you have created. Have fun feeling good and please share your results with us.

Many blessings and Sat Nam, Guru Rattana, Ph.D. Send comments or questions to Guru Rattana@kundaliniyoga.org

More Life According To Yogi Bhajan

Yogi Bhajan If you just feel happy for what you have, have an attitude of gratitude, and be grateful, then it will come true, you will be great and you will be full. Yogi Bhajan 3/15/98 You are not born to suffer. Suffering comes when your mind does not move. Yogi Bhajan 9/28/02 I still say every human who breathes is God, provided that person realizes this truth and acts like God.

Yogi Bhajan 5/7/65 Human is a blend of saint and soldier; this is a complete person. If you are not a soldier your sainthood will be kicked around. If you are only a soldier and not a saint, you will start kicking others around. Yogi Bhajan 8/6/75 Every breath of life is a precious gift and it is wasted in pursuing a thing called fear. That is why Guru Nanak said, "Have no fear and have no vengeance." Yogi Bhajan 6/7/89 I have put this lighthouses somewhere in this wilderness. They are the pioneers of hope. They are not perfect but they are trying. They have not performed their duty yet, they are making effort to do it. Yogi Bhajan 8/6/75 If you understand in technological terms that you have thirty trillion cells and God is dancing with them and you are part of that dance; you will not only be prosperous, happy and gracious, you'll find everything comes to you as it should be, and it must be, and it can be. Yogi Bhajan 4/98 You know what a teacher is? A chiseler, a polisher, a designer, whose touch can make an ordinary human the master of time and space. Yogi Bhajan 1/10/97 Our thoughts hypnotize us. Your thoughts are not you. They are released by your intellect. Yogi Bhajan 6/7/89 If in every moment of distress you do not look to any other power except One Creator, you shall never, never be unhappy. Yogi Bhajan 5/7/69 When I can give my head because I feel it is needed to meet the test of time and space of some brother, sister, friend or stranger, then no matter what it is used for, that is the state of fearlessness. Yogi Bhajan 4/98 If the environments challenge you to search your spirit, that is your starting point on a spiritual path. Yogi Bhajan 6/25/95 You don't have to learn things; you only have to learn within yourself that you are you. Yogi Bhajan 12/20/94 A status of fearlessness is that you can reach out in purity and piety. Yogi Bhajan 4/98 Understand the fundamental principle that a child is a gift, and it needs values, virtues and character. You can potty train a child physically, but if you don't train that child mentally and spiritually, you must and shall suffer. Yogi Bhajan 10/16/97

Don't go and get it; be and allow it to come to you. Yogi Bhajan 11/00 Success adores a prosperous attitude. Yogi Bhajan 4/89

God promised you three things: You will get a body, meet your teacher once in your lifetime, and have a chance to find Infinity. That is it - the rest is previous lives' karma. Nothing is earned here. It was already here. Yogi Bhajan 9/22/02 Duty performed is God lived. Therefore, we say those who are dutiful are beautiful. Yogi Bhajan 8/6/75 You have to serve humanity so that people feel you are kind to them. You have to reach out so that people will feel the compassion. And you have to be consistent with them, so they can feel that you care. Yogi Bhajan 7/11/95 Too much intellectual nuisance and too much insecurity are the worst diseases. Ultimately they will make both your mind and body sick. Yogi Bhajan 7/10/75 As the burning candle can attract the moth from miles away, that is the effect of human radiance. That comes to anyone who practices Simran (directing the breath and focus towards God). Yogi Bhajan 5/26/75

In reality you are neither happy nor unhappy. You are an idiot, because happy and unhappy are all your mental conception. Yogi Bhajan 6/1/83 First we create habits and then habits create us. Yogi Bhajan 2/5/92 When you look in the mirror there is only one thing you can do - just thank God for the continuous breath of life. Otherwise this reactive personality that you build will eat you up. Yogi Bhajan 10/29/84 This body is a miracle. It needs to be watched, studied and understood. Yogi Bhajan 4/12/86 When you walk, when you talk, when you speak and when you eat; you are being judged. Keep your grace in these four areas. Yogi Bhajan 7/9/81 Do not project physically, socially, personally, economically, politically or sexually. Project only with purity and grace. You will never, ever be handicapped. Yogi Bhajan 7/8/81 If you do not understand that life exists to challenge you with every breath, you do not understand living. If you do not challenge your life yourself, somebody will challenge it. Yogi Bhajan 3/12/89 The Age of Aquarius is about taking the pot of water (Aquarius) and nurturing the whole universe; becoming human in equal concept of service and then becoming angelic, kind and compassionate. Yogi Bhajan 9/22/02 The secret of happiness is in your power to sacrifice and uplift others. Happiness is in giving, not in taking. God will give to you. Trust in the fact. The fact of life is that you and God are one identity. There is no place for duality. Yogi Bhajan 9/02 May we all be wise on this day to hold each other's hands and understand that our commitment within us is divine, therefore we do not live in duality. Yogi Bhajan 6/15/03 The best thing to do when you are uptight is to whistle or sing a song. Yogi Bhajan 9/28/02 The most important thing you have to know and feel is that you are basically what you are. The first acknowledgement of God consciousness is to understand you are a man or a woman and to be perfect as a man or a woman. Yogi Bhajan 10/16/73 You are not rich or poor. You are what your mind tells you.

Yogi Bhajan 9/28/02 When your body is very young you can move a lot of things physically. When you are old, your body can't do all that, but your mind and your will can move it. Your spirit can come through and the flow can create an exalted self within you. Yogi Bhajan 5/3/00 You don't have to control the whole world, you don't have to rule the universe, you don't have to show people you are rich or you are poor, you are great or small. All you have to show is to yourself. You have to win yourself, you have to conquer yourself, and you have to live yourself. Yogi Bhajan 10/6/96 In these days when humanity is going through the bloodshed, it is obligatory for all those who live in peace and harmony, who love life and have reverence for it, to give at least 2.5 minutes for the prayer. That shall be a very kind act towards those who are going through pain and blood. Yogi Bhajan 10/16/73 You are pitchers. Whatever is in you, that is your value. By your habit and action, whatever you project to the outer world; that is your value. Yogi Bhajan 5/7/69 When your entire action is based on truth, when truth guides your action, you are the happiest. Yogi Bhajan 5/7/69

If you want to be happy, you have to be happy when there's no happiness around. How can you be happy that way? Because you feel the Infinity in you. Yogi Bhajan 5/11/91 Create no difference between you and God. That is the key to happiness. Tell yourself you are Godperson, tell your relatives, tell your surroundings and neighbors. Tell all the world.

Yogi Bhajan 7/8/81 What is the conviction of a Sikh? That now, ever, and ever I shall belong to the Guru. And once that conception is there, then the Guru is there, then God cannot go away. Yogi Bhajan 8/6/75 People do not know how to breathe. They are absolutely negative and careless about their breath. They forget that without breath, dust goes to dust. Yogi Bhajan 5/7/69 Breathe mechanically (with awareness). It will take away your fatigue, it will totally relax you and it will definitely change you. Yogi Bhajan 9/9/95 When you are called upon and it is your duty and you answer the call, that act is the act of God. That is divinity and when duty is performed, the reward is relaxation. Yogi Bhajan 8/6/75 When you don't remember God, God remembers you. And God is so great, whenever you call on Him, He answers you. Yogi Bhajan 5/7/69 Wherever you can do something out of compassion, kindness and reality, you must do it because you are human. Yogi Bhajan 1/16/00 Paying debts is one of the primary pre-requisites to becoming prosperous. Yogi Bhajan 4/89 What can you do for me? Only one thing. We want a good tomorrow, we want the best tomorrow. Take away everybody's sorrow,including yours. Yogi Bhajan 10/8/98 You are whoever you are, and you are born here with a duty to leave the pain and enjoy the pleasure of raising others to the highest consciousness. Yogi Bhajan 10/8/98 Whatever time and privilege I have to be with you is only to prepare you for these cusp years. When the Ages cross, your past shall be obsolete, it won't work for you. Your values won't work, your methods and procedures won't work, but in your memory of these teachings you will have the knowledge to cross the Age. Yogi Bhajan 4/6/93 Don't talk to a person, don't befriend a person - serve that person. Elevate them. Then you will be their friend forever, everlasting. Yogi Bhajan 4/97 Make the intelligent choice. Persist in your successes, not your failures.

Yogi Bhajan 4/89 A person who loves the teachings and loves the teacher must also love the self. When you love yourself you will be truthful to yourself and when you are truthful to yourself, you will throw out what is untrue in you. That is the positive way of living. Yogi Bhajan 5/7/69 You need to understand God: God has no fear or vengeance. You happen to be a personified God. Act like a personified God. Act like God serves. Yogi Bhajan 8/25/96 What you are is the gift of God to you and what you make of yourself is your gift to God. Yogi Bhajan 12/30/80 Talk to a child and the child's spirit, which is you. Show the child tomorrow, and that there is no sorrow. Straight, simple, heart to heart is how you should talk to a child and that lonely child in you. Talk heart to heart to your soul for your tomorrow. Yogi Bhajan 10/16/97 Performing of a duty in a dutiful way is a beautiful way and that's called Dharma. Yogi Bhajan 88/6/75 Drop your problem and solve someone else's. That is spirituality. Yogi Bhajan 4/98 Even in the most minute subatomic particle you are the excellent living reality of God. Yogi Bhajan 10/13/99 God has a rhythm in reality. That is why in manifestation of you, He provided everything in the womb. Then he provided all nurturing and security of the environment as a child. But he said to you, "When you will walk on your own, you have to walk complete." And for that completion you have to develop your upper palate and your frontal lobe. Meditate. Yogi Bhajan 5/3/00 Humans are suppose to be good all the time. So why are we not good? What is wrong with us is that nobody has told us it is our fundamental right to be good. Yogi Bhajan 9/9/95 You have the capacity to reach out to Infinity, and you have the capacity to be totally depressed. It is what you choose that matters. Especially in bad times, you must choose good things. Yogi Bhajan 9/28/02 Experience is in commitment. When you commit it is an experience that you stand committed, there is no bigger experience than that. Yogi Bhajan 10/16/73 Love has no boundaries, jurisdiction, territory, facets, purpose or projection. It is because it is. Meditate to reach that state, then you will start experiencing it and things will start coming to you.

Yogi Bhajan 9/22/02 Wherever you are, if you are there with wisdom, with the impact of wisdom, with the quality to share the wisdom, people shall come to you because you are part of the flow. Yogi Bhajan 6/19/98 Life is a continuous process of growing up being responsible - able to respond spontaneously. Those who have the capacity can deliver the responsibility. Yogi Bhajan 2/5/92 Is your spirit higher than the challenge so you can face it? It is simple. If your face and your grace do not give into the challenge, you are spiritual. Otherwise you are not. Yogi Bhajan 12/31/92 Without intuition a person is blind. There is not such thing as the third eye, it is actually human intuition. Yogi Bhajan 6/11/95 Yes and no are not two different things. It is your mind that tell you it is wrong. It is your mind that tell you it is right. Yogi Bhajan 7/10/75 I don't see anyone, ever. You all look like a bunch of rainbows to me. It is a world of Infinity where the elements do not rule, where the essence rules, where what is said is done, where there is no argument, reason or logic. Where God dwells, faith proclaims and essence is enjoyed. You do not have to hassle. Things come when they are supposed to. It is a world of service. Yogi Bhajan 3/27/79

Walk tall with your dignity, divinity and grace so that happiness will be with you in the New Age. Yogi Bhajan 10/13/99 Those who want to live mutually, understand others and help them understand others are always great. Yogi Bhajan 4/97 Gratitude is the open door to abundance. Yogi Bhajan 4/89

Trust is the keynote of life. If you trust in God the entire creativity will trust you because everything belongs to God. Trust is the key of love, happiness, dignity, divinity and grace. Yogi Bhajan 7/9/81 The soul has a journey and it is predestined. It takes longitude and latitude to be born. It selects its geography, its space, the protective nurturing essence of its parents and its environments. All that happens in the first seven years are set. Yogi Bhajan 10/22/94 The radiance of your spirit can be measured according to how the name of God vibrates within you and around you. If your sadhana (spiritual practice) is perfect, your spirit will be high. If you have forgotten to chant the name of God, you will be in the doldrums. If you become low and depressed, it is only because you have not warmed up your machine in the morning; you have not done your spiritual practice. In the Western world where there is such a criss-cross of mental thought patterns, you must find a way to bring your mind under control. You must learn to bring the level of yourself to zero, whenever you like. This is practiced in sadhana. Remember, you are you and you are not you. You are you in the frame of the defined finite, but you are not you, in the frame of the infinite. Yogi Bhajan Now, we are leaving the Piscean Age, the Age of 'I want to know', and beginning the Aquarian Age, the Age of 'I know'." Yogi Bhajan 12/20/94 Truly great fortunes were not received by hoarding money, but by circulating it. Yogi Bhajan 4/89 When you are stuck, all you have to do is sit and become an instrument. Just say, "Guru Ram Das, I don't know. I'm stuck. Take care of it." That's what I do. Yogi Bhajan 8/25/96 In your life you cannot lose your balance for a moment. The only way to avoid trouble is to move in balance. When you, your character and your body are in balance, you will ski down the mountain of marriage and life in balance. Yogi Bhajan 9/24/02 Perform the duty or die performing it. You will merge in God. Any human who dies while performing or having performed a righteous act achieves Godhood. Yogi Bhajan 8/6/75 Here are the common features of the Age of Aquarius: In their hearts, people will understand what is going on. They may not find words to express themselves, but one day they will. That day they will like to uplift fellow beings. The walls of hatred will fall down. Instead of ill will and gossip, there will be prayer on the tongues of everyone. Rather than competing for wealth, people will compete for spiritual growth. We will have a common belief of higher self, love for our Creator, and love for our consciousness and grace. Yogi Bhajan 9/24/02

The greatest protection in progress is to not forget who you are, where you started and where you have to go. Yogi Bhajan 10/16/73 You cannot go higher in your own concept by what others tell you. What matters is your own concept. You progress and your experiences are always yours. Yogi Bhajan 9/22/02 Take the teachings of the Age of Aquarius seriously and do not pollute them by mixing them with the Piscean teachings - that is the only danger there is. Yogi Bhajan 6/14/02 If you think you are poor you are poor because you do not communicate with your soul - the source of prosperity, the source of reality. Yogi Bhajan 7/25/89 You are nothing but the representative of God on this planet. In God you dwell and God dwells in you. Yogi Bhajan 6/1/83 You have the right to live as you want. The question is, are you living within your understanding of who you are? Have you understood your commitment, and the depth of your commitment? Yogi Bhajan 4/24/91 The three virtues of sadhana (spiritual practice). When you have your own mind under your control, intuition will give you all the knowledge of the world. When you have control of your mind through your social and structural facets, you have the answer to everything. When you have control of your own mind, you can see the soul and God right within you. Yogi Bhajan Your nucleus of life is: I am, I am. I am the creation of God, therefore all of my actions are with the will of God, therefore I accept the will of God. What is the will of God? Live with dignity. Yogi Bhajan 7/9/81 Your thinking pattern is based on what you normally speak. If you speak the word of God, your thinking pattern will become divine. Yogi Bhajan 7/10/75 Breathe one breath a minute. In three minutes you can get over any mood. Yogi Bhajan 9/10/95 If you want anything in life, patience is the base. Security lies in patience. Yogi Bhajan 7/8/81 The whole world may give you support ... but you if your own mind does not support you, you will not be in a position to do anything in life. Your own mind cannot be controlled and guided and give you the support until it is brought to a discipline. That word which brings a mind to a discipline to support you is called "Mantra". Man-tra ... to bring discipline to the mind. That is why we do Japa (Repetition of Mantra-Bani). Japa creates the heat. That is called Tapa; Tapa, that heat burns the karma. Out of the

karma grows the kindness and it becomes Dharma. Out of that it grows the compassion. That is called "Sidhi", that is called "power". From that comes the word "Sadhu", he who has controlled himself through the all aspect of life and that is what we call "sadhana". Which you do not normally want to do. How many of you are doing regular sadhana? Yogi Bhajan 6/25/87 Summer Solstice Why do we call God the Father? Father does not have a creative nature - father can only seed. We are a soul and part of that whole great soul which is the seed in you. Creativity of sustenance and deliverance is from the mother, and that is why the Earth is called mother. Yogi Bhajan 7/10/75 Those who see the devil in me are the devils. Those who see God in me are God. Because I am not me; I am just the mirror. Yogi Bhajan 3/27/79 You are a part of the soul, soul is a part of God and you are alive because there is a soul in you and you have the energy of the prana to live through it. But you don't agree with that. You get caught in your emotions, your traumas, your emptiness, your fulfillment, your ambitions, imaginations and God knows what. Yogi Bhajan 6/1/83 I don't care what your circumstances and environments are, if you can change your daily average pressure by balancing it in the morning with sadhana (spiritual practice), and once a week, come to Gurdwara (Temple) in a meditative, graceful, beautiful and pleasant fashion, then I don't think there is any possibility that you can be destroyed. Yogi Bhajan 4/8/79 You cannot blame or claim or relate to or expect anything from anybody. You have nothing to do with anybody if you do not know who you are. If you have no self knowledge, self relationship, self understanding and self identity, then everything you do have means nothing. Yogi Bhajan 2/5/92 The problem at this moment is the majority of us do not want to do sadhana (spiritual practice). These unfortunate people are really cursed. With all the teachings and all the knowledge, isn't it a curse? It is. Sometimes you use the children as an excuse, sometimes the husband. One way or the other, there is an excuse. To be realistic with you, an excuse is an excuse, and sadhana is sadhana. I know on some days, I am dead tired. I feel I can't do my sadhana. Then what do I do? I go to the bathroom, I take cold water, and I wash my face again and again, and again and again, until I understand that I am fully awake. When I am doing my sadhana, sleep sometimes wants to overtake me; I get tired. Sometimes I get home late and I have to get up very early. Then I do pranayam and I apply some yogic locks. I do a lot of things that I have learned and I go through it as gracefully as a humble human being should. Yogi Bhajan 8/23/78 Learning is not difficult; living is difficult. Discipline yourself and see how fast you learn. Yogi Bhajan 9/22/02 You are not with your self, your energy is not with your self. Then comes disease, that is how we use up our body. Then we die unaccomplished.

Yogi Bhajan 9/28/02 You cannot blame or claim or relate to or expect anything from anybody. You have nothing to do with anybody if you do not know who you are. If you have no self knowledge, self relationship, self understanding and self identity, then everything you do have means nothing. Yogi Bhajan 2/5/92 If you are effective and realistic and you find your spirit, behave and ride on it, you will be deeply remembered and honored. And those who see your example as a role model will be grateful that you led the way. Yogi Bhajan 6/17/02 One prosperous thought is more powerful than a thousand thoughts of failure. Yogi Bhajan 4/89 You loose all happiness in your life because of the fear of death. A person in fear and phobia has no intuitive sensitivity. Yogi Bhajan 3/12/89 First you have to master yourself and then you will become teachers. Teacher is very open, a public park where anybody can walk in; so teacher has to be very clean. Your conduct has to be crystal clear and you have to be absolutely transparent. Only then can you be a teacher. Yogi Bhajan 5/7/69 When we get insecure, we want to secure ourselves on the earth. Earth plays a very important part in our life. But earth is only one tattwa (element). What about water? What about fire? What about air? Yogi Bhajan 5/11/91

Infinity has everything. When you relate to infinity, infinity gives you everything. Yogi Bhajan 5/21/00

The game of love is to identify ourselves as the Infinity, not the individual. Yogi Bhajan 6/28/98 Visualize as much as you can conceive of yourself receiving and then lay positive claim to that visualization. Yogi Bhajan 4/89 Your greatest mantra is, "I don't know," "I can't say," "I can't do it," can't, can't, can't and when you can't, can't, can't all the time and you want yes, yes, yes, happen, happen, happen, miracle, miracle, miracle, what are you talking about? Just test it out, have gratitude, an attitude of gratitude, and see how many things come to you. Yogi Bhajan 9/2/91 Mind is not supposed to do anything to you, mind is supposed to do things for you. Mind is given to us; we are not given to mind. Yogi Bhajan 6/1/83 Yoga creates balance between the imbalances of head and heart, body and mind, soul and personality. Yogi Bhajan 9/28/02 We cannot survive through adversity without meditation. Meditation is a process through which you take your total self, total pride, total ego and total spirit and you put it on the line. It is the power in the individual to take you through ALL adversities. Yogi Bhajan 3/12/89 Don't listen to any words spoken against anybody, don't speak any words against anybody and don't act against anybody. Success will be yours. Yogi Bhajan 7/8/81 To bring the mind under your mastery is very simple. Any thought which comes to you, just ask, "Will it honor the Guru?" If the answer is, "yes", go ahead. If the answer is, "no", don't do it. Yogi Bhajan 9/25/95 Be light then you can be bright. Then things will happen to you, you will become rich, you will become prosperous. Yogi Bhajan Learn to be alert. Answer with a power of the soul. Relate with an affirmation. Every word you say should be an affirmation. Yogi Bhajan 8/22/86 Sadhana (spiritual discipline) is a test of self-grit. If your sadhana is more important than your neurosis, you are fine. If your neurosis is more important than your sadhana you are not. Doesnt matter how saintly you are, nobody wants to get up in the ambrosial hours. Why you still do it is a mystery. At that time, between 3 and 6 oclock, the rays of the sun pass at 60 degrees and you want to feel relaxed. You take a cold shower, wake up and meditate. Why do you repeat the mantra hundreds of times? To create a stamina, an absolute mental stamina. Without that there is no chance for the life to be smooth. If

somebody refuses to exercise, nobody can force him. But at that one moment in life when that person needs physical stamina, it wont be there. Sadhana is what your mental stamina requires. Love is what your spiritual stamina requires. Yogi Bhajan Let me teach you about meditation. When you meditate, the entire garbage of the subconscious starts floating. Meditation is not pleasant. Meditation cannot be pleasant, otherwise it is not meditation. You are doing something else. Meditation is just cleaning the house. Now, you have a Hoover going on, and you say there was no noise? There is no dust? How is that possible? Whenever you are going to clean the house, you are going to see the whole thing upside down, and when you are going to release the subconscious, you are going to find not only dirt of this life, but of lives and lives and lives and lives and lives. Meditation is a must process. It is an act of selfishness which a person must do. What will it give you? Unpleasant labor. Its a labor of sweat. Now, what happens in meditation? When you meditate with the Guru mantra, it must have respect it must have reverence. There are two things which must be there. When you sit and meditate, your mind goes berserk. It is a wrestling match. Give your life a chance. One tenth of the time belongs to the Guru. Im not asking you anything. I am not judging you, I am not telling you anything. But one thing which I have learned, and I am telling you, Guru as my guarantee: there is nothing good in living except those personal hours of meditation. Something has told me it can work. Those of you who devote one tenth of your time to the Guru with love and devotion, have received his blessing. Greetings to you. But those of you who are still half way, they should make today a decision. Let us do it for 40 days. If it doesnt suit you, then leave it. Thats how I started. Purpose of meditation is prosperity here and hereafter! Yogi Bhajan 1988

The purpose of the entire practice of the total human life is that when you leave the breath of life; you know you are leaving, you give it to Infinity as an offering, you close your eyes, say, "Wahe Guru" and be gone. That act of a moment is all of life in a nutshell. Yogi Bhajan 9/22/02 Live with applied consciousness, prosperity will breakthrough the walls, you will be flooded with it. You do prayer when you are in difficulty; pray when you are not in difficulty, that's the attitude of gratitude.

Yogi Bhajan 8/31/91 The day we believe in the subtlety of life, all of our problems will be solved, for subtlety can reach out and fill every gap. Yogi Bhajan 9/28/02 Think only in prosperous terms and think big! Yogi Bhajan 4/89 When union happens between a human and God, and that understanding comes, and you invoke your own spirit, then the entire universe will come through you. Yogi Bhajan 4/98 Everybody has Gods light and it must be lit by a persons own discipline. And the glass to keep it lit and shining should be kept by the persons own courage, strength and grit. I believe it. I believe this is the love. I believe everybody has the chance to love ones soul and every soul has the right to shine and every shine has to bring light and brightness, beauty and bountifulness to all, generation after generation. Yogi Bhajan Education is not what you learn from time. Education is what you learn from your intuition and apply to time. Yogi Bhajan 9/02 The greatest reward of doing Sadhana (Spiritual Discipline) is that the person becomes incapable of being defeated. Sadhana is a self-victory, and it is a victory over time and space. When you get up for sadhana, you defeat a part of yourself because you dont want to get up. Getting up is a victory over time, and doing it is a victory over space. That is what sadhana is. Sadhana is only for you-it is a selfvictorySadhana is an answer to every misfortune, and who wants to see you in misfortune? Sadhana is not a matter of advantages and miseries, misfortunes and handicaps. It is a very personal thing which does not relate to anybody except yourself. Yogi Bhajan Use the "One Minute Breath" each day. Practice it to the point you have mastery. All knowledge of the universe, here and hereafter, of the underworld and the heavenly skies, will dawn on you. Yogi Bhajan 9/22/02 You can only be proud of one thing-if you have found your soul within yourself. You can only be proud that you have found the selflessness within yourself, and you become Grace of God. Yogi Bhajan This is not a path of a man or god. It is a path of purity, piety, and the power of that divinity. I'm not important, you're not important. Your purity is important. Yogi Bhajan 12/20/94

Constantly direct yourself to your own higher self; you will always win in life, there shall be prosperity in your life, and you will never be poor. Yogi Bhajan Victory is my goal, victory is my strength. Victory is my guide, victory is my teacher. Just learn one word, "Victory." It is a very wonderful word. Start the year with the word victory. You are already in it. Repeat it as many times as you can to engrave it in your every molecule, "Victory!" Repeat it and make it the mantra of the year. The very mental utterance of this word is my gift to you. Bless you, be beautiful, be bountiful, be helpful, be your own grace. Best of the New Year and life as may be. Let the wind be behind you, angels dance with you and your consciousness guide you to victory. Yogi Bhajan 12/31/92 Taking is suffering. Giving is happiness. Yogi Bhajan 3/8/99 The only thing that pays in your life is patience. The one who does not have patience is a patient. The highest test of a human being is whether he has patience or not. Yogi Bhajan It is very difficult to become spiritual. That means you become a part of the universe and the universe becomes a part of you. Yogi Bhajan I have no body. I have no mind. I have no spirit. I am just the breath of God, the Breath of Life. Breath of Life, Breath of God. Yogi Bhajan You are a Temple of God. Simply you need to recharge yourself to face the obstacles and height of time and space. Those are your challenges. Yogi Bhajan 4/2/97 Truth you speak, trust you get. Lies you tell, distrusted you are. Trusted you win, distrusted you lose. Yogi Bhajan

When the breath is shallow, all problems come in. All caffeine, nicotine, all these drugs are the problem of the shallow breath. All those who crave sugar and sweets are shallow breathers. Yogi Bhajan 1/10/98 It does not matter who you are, it only matters how you radiate. Happiness does not come through materials, it comes through happiness. Yogi Bhajan You determine your worth. Nobody else can do it. Whatever worth you give yourself, that shall be. Yogi Bhajan 1/23/93 Self does not rest. Self seeks. Yogi Bhajan 8/2/95 All art, music, dance and handicrafts attempt to capture and reflect the flow of the universal life force. Yogi Bhajan Fantasy and anger totally destroy the human body. Tolerance is the greatest human asset. Yogi Bhajan 1/4/94 The feet express the heavens and the hands express the feet. If you want to adjust the psychic body, massage the feet. If you want to adjust the physical body, massage the hands. Yogi Bhajan 5/1/85 Glands are the guardians of your health. One of the great secrets of Kundalini Yoga which accounts for its power and dynamic, rapid results is the ability to make the glands secrete. Yogi Bhajan 3/23/87 The one thing you have to do in life is spread the light. Be the lighthouse. Yogi Bhajan 10/5/88 The price of nobility is discipline. The price of ecstasy is Sadhana. The price of God is living without doubt. Yogi Bhajan 5/23/84 Many Avatars came and claimed that God is in them. I agree. I want to know who that person is in whom God is not? Yogi Bhajan Ten things to do for your children: Love them, build their self-esteem, challenge them, listen to them, expect respect, limit them, make God a part of their lives, develop their love of learning, help them to be community-minded, let them go. Yogi Bhajan Those who do not move, move the universe. Those who move, don't move anything. Yogi Bhajan

If God, because of His Love has given you the life to experience His Grace, do it now. Dig deep into your values. Dig deep into your consciousness. Dig deep in your self and find it and live it. Yogi Bhajan If you are willing to look at another persons behavior toward you as a reflection of the state of their relationship with themselves rather than a statement about your value as a person, then you will, over a period of time cease to react at all. Yogi Bhajan A song which brings you together as one is the only thing in human nature that brings God, heaven and earth together in oneness. Yogi Bhajan If a woman sits with folded hands in her lap for a few minutes every day, and feels she is a container so vast that she contains the whole universe, she will never feel weak or have any problem. There's nothing beyond woman except God. Yogi Bhajan 7/15/87 Be loved for your knowledge, your experience, and your faith. Yogi Bhajan Anyone who has nine holes is holy, anyone who does not react to time and space is happy, and anybody who eats little and drinks little is healthy. Principles are simple. But to do all that what you need is an intuitive mind to control yourself. I hope you will give it a chance. Yogi Bhajan 6/9/98 Doing Sadhana is not to please God; it is to please your own self, to clean your own self, to cleanse your own mind. You'll find the brightness of the earth. Yogi Bhajan 7/11/82 Do not degrade yourself for the sake of temporary measures, which serve temporary situations to temporarily escape time. That is not majestic, graceful, human living. Yogi Bhajan Blessed God, give us strength, faith and truth to guide ourselves now and forever. Sat Nam, blessings, blessings, blessings. Yogi Bhajan 12/7/83 If you think you are poor, you are poor because you do not communicate with your soul, the source of prosperity, the source of reality. If you think you are desperate, you are desperate because you have no sadhana. Desperation, depression, and a feeling of destitution comes only to those who have no discipline or sadhana. Only a house which is not cleaned looks dirty and the mind which is not cleaned stinks. Sadhana is the most selfish act, because it is a self-cleansing. Cleanliness is Godliness. It is good to wear good clothes, look good, be bright, beautiful. But when you want to be blissful and bountiful, you have to have a clear mind, a mind through which your soul, your spirit can shine. Yogi Bhajan

Life is an essence of essential energy given as a gift of God to pay the debts of all previous lives in the human tenure, so that one may go home free with a radiant face. Yogi Bhajan Left nostril breathing gives you self-endurance, self effectiveness and self respect. Right nostril breathing gives you projection, sacrifice, power to attach, power to penetrate and power to exert. That is why God gave you both nostrils. Yogi Bhajan, 1979 Love is a sacrifice, love has no limit. When it has a limit, it is not love. Yogi Bhajan Some people think meditation is: You sit in a chair and chant Sat Nam, Om, God, Jesus. Or you sit on a mat with your back straight. This is not meditation; it is an effort to prepare yourself for meditation. Preparation is not the complete result. Yogi Bhajan You have never been told that your real mother is Mother Earth, who is actually controlling your electromagnetic field. Yogi Bhajan Thirty one minutes of mechanical (conscious) breathing can give you better health than you ever had before. It can give you strength beyond understanding. It can give you answers for every question. Yogi Bhajan 1/10/98 Serve people. Don't expect results. Don't put your harpoon into another. Just serve. People will love you. It will be an everlasting friendship. Yogi Bhajan 3/25/97 Consult your spirit, your soul about everything. Yogi Bhajan 1/27/86 The first faculty of a leader is that you have to be a leader of yourself. Yogi Bhajan Kundalini Yoga is a very old science for realizing the reality within the realm of consciousness. Yogi Bhajan 6/14/84

Why repeat the Name of God? So that it enters our subconscious memory. Why do sadhana? So that our conscious memory can subconsciously relate to the Supreme Consciousness. These are acts for the Self; they are extremely selfish acts. Yogi Bhajan, July 11, 1982 Meditation is the creative control of self where the Infinite can talk to you. Yogi Bhajan 6/19/96 We are obnoxious to our own life when we do not discipline it. Yogi Bhajan 4/16/85 No one else can limit you. If you want to limit yourself, you can. Otherwise the entire resources of the universe are yours to use. Yogi Bhajan No one wants to save their soul, all they want to do is save face. Yogi Bhajan 3/30/93 Yoga was made for human to be healthy, happy and holy. Kundalini Yoga was made for human to be healthy, happy, holy and aware. The secret of your soul is awareness. Yogi Bhajan 6/17/94 Common features of the Age of Aquarius: In their hearts, people will understand what is going on. They may not find words to express themselves, but one day they will. That day they will like to uplift fellow beings. The walls of hatred will fall down. Instead of ill will and gossip, there will be prayer on the tongues of everyone. Rather than competing for wealth, people will compete for spiritual growth. We will have a common belief of higher self, love for our Creator, and love for our consciousness and grace. Yogi Bhajan 9/24/02 Be contained, contented and conscious. That is happiness. Yogi Bhajan 1/12/76 Those without complexes live by the virtue of their soul all the time - a mental process with no division: "I am just a spirit among other spirits and I will merge back into the Great Spirit from which we all came." Yogi Bhajan 7/24/96

Love is consistent memory. With every breath, it comes, it lives, it excels in you. Yogi Bhajan 1/5/88

Love is a sacrifice. Love is not a projection; love is an attraction. Yogi Bhajan There are three areas where your unconscious can lock your mind and you will not be aware of it: your insecurity, your incompetence and your projection of your reality. Yogi Bhajan 6/4/86 If your mind goes along with you it is a blessing. If your mind obeys you it is a super blessing. Yogi Bhajan 11/7/85 Karma is Newton's third law. Buddha got enlightened with Newton's third law. Every action has a reaction, equal and opposite. Yogi Bhajan If you cannot bless yourself, then nobody can bless you. Yogi Bhajan 4/4/94 We call the time we spend on our maintenance, Sadhana. It is an essential part of life. If you do your Sadhana, your mind can take the pressure. It will guide you and groom you properly. Yogi Bhajan "Wahe Guru" is the mantra of the pituitary gland. Yogi Bhajan 11/28/84 You must understand that in the Age of Aquarius, each one shall be the leader of his own spirit. Each one shall be the pivot of his own life. Yogi Bhajan Human being is a meditative mind progressively committed and rationally progressive. It has three essences: divinity, dignity and grace. There is no other way to be happy. Yogi Bhajan Your life always changes in seven years. Within seven years your loss must turn into a gain and your gain must turn into a loss. This is how the Universe has been created. This is a cosmic cycle. Yogi Bhajan If you start valuing your breath, valuing your environment and valuing your projection, then one day you will be surprised that everyone in turn will value you. Yogi Bhajan 1/17/00 Mind is a link between Infinity and you. When the soul got the body, it asked God, "What is the link with You, my Lord?" And God said, "Mind." Yogi Bhajan 1/9/98 Be kind, conscious and compassionate. The whole world will be your friend. Yogi Bhajan 4/26/76

He who is the best student becomes the best teacher. Yogi Bhajan Is Yoga a religion? It is and it is not. In religion you have to believe something and in yoga you have to experience what you want to believe. Yogi Bhajan 5/17/92 Who is enlightened? One who can see everything: good, bad and neutral. One who sees all and sees God. If you cannot see God in all, you cannot see God at all. Yogi Bhajan You can never get rid of your fears, you can never get rid of your pain, no matter what effort you make, until you have the guts to forgive yourself. Just forgive yourself. Yogi Bhajan 1/29/86 Richness is when you can gracefully spend money. When you spend money and worry about it then you are poor. When you can live and laugh then you are healthy and when you live in complaint then you are unhealthy. Yogi Bhajan When I tell you to get up and meditate in the ambrosial hours, it seems odd. Why should you get up at 3:30 am? Because you require those two hours to work out your own mind, so that the rest of the day you can work out your life. "Amrit vela naam jaap." Rise in the ambrosial hours and meditate. Be with God. Whenever your mind will be in duality, you will be in trouble. There is no way you can function. Should I go north? Should I go south? If you cant decide which way you are going to go, you are going to sit right there. Youll neither go North nor South. Thats called duality. Life is a gift of God, and duality is a waste of that life. It doesnt matter who you are. You may be the President of the United States, or a beggar in the street. Whenever you have duality, you will be in trouble. Thats the law. Nobody can change it. To have no duality and to have oneness and clarity of mind, you have to keep your mind clean, smart, and healthy. Yogi Bhajan Body is not all. Mind is not all. Spirit is not all. All three make the sense. Yogi Bhajan 12/5/95 If you cannot find balance in your existence, nothing in your life will ever have any meaning to you. Yogi Bhajan 4/22/76 By doing a prayer, you are only concentrating on your own strength. You give yourself a chance to be stronger. A person who's spiritually strong can't be defeated. Yogi Bhajan 7/15/87

Not taking advantage of anybody else is called simple living. That is your basic responsibility. Yogi Bhajan The ordinary brain cannot be happy, because it is a brain of conflict. It has to be turned to the Oneness of the Universe. Yogi Bhajan When you are upset,when you are not contained and you are feeling very bad, just take a long deep breath. Then begin to measure so that you breathe five times per minute. It will not take more than 90 seconds and you will be content. Yogi Bhajan 5/13/96 In America we have expanded the technology of the machine to such an extent that we do not know where we are going. We have not developed the technology of the mind so we can halt ourselves when we want. And that is what is creating a lot of chaos in our lives. My personal feeling is that you must technically learn how to control the mind so that you can be useful to your own life. Yogi Bhajan 11/6/75 The connection between your power and your projection is the mind; therefore it has to be a quick, clean, classified, qualified mind -- a clean mind -- thats why you do Sadhana. Its a consciousness. Yogi Bhajan, July 11, 1982 In meditation God can talk to you and in prayer you can talk to God. Yogi Bhajan With all that I am, with the extreme mastery that I have realize, I have found ultimately that there is nothing in the Universe but prana (life force). If the pranas are vibrant and the arclines are complete, you have no problem. Yogi Bhajan 8/8/90 It is a human tendency to like to sleep between 3 am and 6 am. Its natural. But if you can be alert enough to work on your mind, to confront the day, then you are alert enough to take care of your life. The reason you dont get up early is not because you are lazy, tired or overworked -- thats all wrong. You do not get up early in the morning because the relationship between you and your mind is not established. Period. Yogi Bhajan, July 11, 1982

Divide your stomach into four parts: one part for food,one part for water, one part for air and one part to digest what is eaten. Yogi Bhajan 10/31/84 Inner anger can make you accomplish a lot but if you are angry and blaming, you will stay in low esteem. This creates a long term stress which dulls the mind, makes life boring and takes away your happiness. Yogi Bhajan 2/26/86 Kundalini Yoga is uncoiling yourself to find your potential and your vitality and to reach for your virtues. Yogi Bhajan 12/15/93 Life is moment to moment, breath to breath. Life is not granted by years or by time and space. The span of life is granted by breath: such and such soul granted so many breaths. Yogi Bhajan We live by the beat of the heart, not the thoughts of the head. Yogi Bhajan 1/24/96 Most people don't clean their subconscious through meditation, and get an overloaded subconscious. Then the conscious become dominated by the unconscious. It's just like when the arteries get clogged up and the heart loses vitality. Life becomes useless and empty and you start blaming yourself. You are never wrong, never were, never will be. But you are clogged up. Yogi Bhajan 7/23/87 Remember that intellectual knowledge does not hold and sustain you. Knowledge only becomes wisdom when you experience it with your own heart and being. Yogi Bhajan One prosperous thought is more powerful than a thousand thoughts of failure. Yogi Bhajan In the Computer Age we need a meditative mind and applied consciousness. We need to develop that mental power so that we are not ruled by outside circumstances. Yogi Bhajan 1/10/00 Twenty seconds inhale, twenty seconds hold, twenty seconds exhale. The moment you achieve that status, your intuition will open up. You will know everything. And when you know everything, you do not have to worry about anything. When you don't worry, you are clear. Yogi Bhajan 12/17/95 The purpose is to realize you and within you the truth in you, the light in you, the delightfulness of God in you. That is your Soul. Yogi Bhajan You are born to relate to the future. You are born to relate to the silence that can speak to you, that calmness that can stir you to infinity, that radiance that can give you absolute selflessness. Yogi Bhajan

Why do we suffer in our lives? Because meditatively we know, but directly we do not confront it. If you want to understand the secret of your own happiness, this is the one sentence which can explain it to you. Yogi Bhajan When the spirit flows, it will wash away all your weaknesses. As long as you have weaknesses, your spirit is not flowing. Yogi Bhajan6/16/84 People have been told there is a "God's will". Then it sounds that God's will is outside of you. That is not true. There is no such thing as God's will outside of you. Yogi Bhajan 6/13/84 Whatever your spirit of mind is, that is your breathing. If you can control your breathing, you can directly control your mind. A person who breathes only eight times a minute has self control. He can guide his destiny. He can carve his own way. But we forget. We don't remember that breath has any importance to us. Yogi Bhajan 10/27/69

It is difficult to work on yourself, but to change someone else from a negative to positive state of mind can be the easiest thing to do. Because when you are working with another person, your entire ego is at stake and you are stimulated to be at your best. And once you are at your best,you start to create the habit of being continually at your best. Yogi Bhajan Group consciousness is an intermediate stage. It is what you pass through in the journey from individual consciousness to universal consciousness. Yogi Bhajan Life is not given to you for any reason but to experience your own creativity and your own self in the dignity of its existence. Yogi Bhajan 10/22/85 In the Age of Aquarius, the depression and stress on mankind will tear up people who do not have the technical knowledge of self. Yogi Bhajan 5/19/93 People vibrate with a given physical energy. When the given physical energy vibrates and exalts the Infinite Word, then mental energy correlates and universal energy takes over.

Yogi Bhajan Every defeat in life is based on your own reaction. Yogi Bhajan 5/15/85 Stiffness in the body can make the body old and brittle even at a young age. It can make the mind's mischief intolerable to the point of insanity at any age. Yogi Bhajan 11/2/88 You have to know your strengths and weaknesses. Between your strengths and weaknesses is you. Yogi Bhajan 5/23/84 No two bodies are alike and no two minds are alike. What is alike? The soul. Yogi Bhajan When you walk on the path of spirituality, one thing is very essential: you must see the hand of God. Yogi Bhajan 5/30/96 Hair is the pranic antenna. It is energy, pure protein. Yogi Bhajan May our power of peaceful reality and purity and projection, in ecstasy of consciousness and the joy of love make us the givers, the servants of God. We will reach out for all needs, for all men, for all times. May our essence long to serve others and uplift our own consciousness in fulfillment, joy, peace and tranquility. Yogi Bhajan You have to be kind to yourself and you have to forgive your past and you have to have a beautiful tomorrow. The greatest communication is when you communicate with yourself that tomorrow is yours. Yogi Bhajan Who will take care of me? Me, myself, and I. Yogi Bhajan What is dharma? When in the utmost disgrace, you are still the grace,in the utmost provocation, you are still very cool, calm,quiet, peaceful and in the utmost insanity you are very, very sane. That is dharma. Yogi Bhajan You have to develop your eyes to see the universe beyond its existence. You must know the focus so you can see a huge tree, and its fruit, and also see the little seed which God developed into that tree is still there. It has not gone. Yogi Bhajan Give us strength, encourage us in spirit. Elevate us in radiance so we can be healthy, happy,holy and blessed with the bliss of our life and love so that we can smile, communicate and be as a spirit shining in Thy name to all human beings. Yogi Bhajan

Those who seek God inside, find God. Those who seek God outside, waste their time and waste their lives. Yogi Bhajan. Any time you do not have the answer for anything, hold the breath in. The moment you do this, the body will automatically computerize to survive and your question is heard with it. It will give you the answer. This is because the breath of life is life itself and everything is a facet of life. There is nothing beyond that. Yogi Bhajan 1993 As much as I have taught you, if you practiced one hundredth of it, none of you would have any trouble. Yogi Bhajan People who cater to children will always lose them because you are not giving values when you expand the ego to such an extent that there is nothing to stop it. Then life is destructive and the first thing such a child will do is to disobey the parents and leave the home. Yogi Bhajan. Give yourself a chance. Take your depth, count your dimension and direct your energy in God's way. You will find peace, happiness, prosperity and joy. Yogi Bhajan http://www.harisingh.com/newsYogiBhajanSays2.htm

More Life According To Yogi Bhajan Latest update 01/20/12 Presented with permission of The Teachings of Yogi Bhajan

My soul, bless me, be with me. Energize me so I can face the world with the strength of the spirit. Save me from duality, give me the reality and royalty so I can face my world in peace and tranquility. May this journey of life be completed with love and affection, kindness and compassion for all living things. Yogi Bhajan 1/23/98 You shall never be in a position to command the 108 elements of the universe until you know perfectly how to obey. Yogi Bhajan 4/23/97 Life is one simple challenge. Act, don't react. Calm yourself and claim yourself. When you reflect like a torch for a long distance, it takes away the darkness. Yogi Bhajan 1/17/00

The science, which teaches you how to absorb the shock of adversity and come out with grace and wonder of life, in the old days was called Kundalini Yoga. Yogi Bhajan 6/22/2001 When fundamentally and basically we do not do what we are supposed to do, then Time becomes the teacher. Time leaves no space. Yogi Bhajan 6/27/93 Our fears spoil our life. It is not you who betrays the soul. It is your fear that betrays the soul. Your fear tells you that only you can hassle and only you can make it. It is never true, never was, nor is, nor shall be. The guiding hand in this world is the hand of God. Yogi Bhajan 4/23/97 Medically, there is no medicine in the world to open up the capillaries other than the cold shower. In the morning when the sun is hitting the earth at sixty-degree angle, take a cold shower. Then, dry yourself, cover yourself with warm blanket, and meditate. The blood comes into all the organs to feed them and make them strong. On the outside, your skin is beautiful. On the inside, your body is active and youthful. Yogi Bhajan 4/24/97 You are caught between the memory of those things you have done and the thought of those things, which you want to do. You are caught between the two. Yogi Bhajan 9/7/99 Don't put so many stakes on the earth that at the time of going to heavens you are stuck with your own ropes to your own stakes and you can't get to the height. Yogi Bhajan 4/4/97 The thread of God in you, this candle of light, is the breath of life. And all breathe the same way. Some short, some long, some big, some hold it, some don't. But as long the breath is in us, we are alive. Yogi Bhajan 10/5/96 May we all understand that God lives in us as He made us to be in His own image. Let us honor that strength and serve in affection, in compassion, in kindness and in care. May this day change the life to become positive, courageous, and motivated, so we can walk on this earth with grace, with radiance and with prosperity. Sat Nam. Yogi Bhajan 1/23/98 There is nothing more important than you. You must decide what is wrong and what is right. If you decide it is right to be wrong, then go ahead. Experience it. Yogi Bhajan 9/20/77 When you only play the game of time and space, the whole life of the human being is wasted in creating the conflict and then solving the conflict. Yogi Bhajan 9/15/77 Live for each other. Today you will live for humans. Tomorrow you can live for God, your own Creator, O creature, and you can learn the truth. Yogi Bhajan 9/15/77

YOGI TEA (Jagan Nath Singh's Recipe) This is a staple in the yogi's armamentarium of health producing foods. It is tasty, energizing and cleansing. It acts as a gentle tonic for your entire system. It provides a gradual stimulation without the letdown that stimulants leave you with. One of the pleasant memories members of 3HO (Healthy, Happy and Holy organization) share is their first cup of well - prepared yogi tea after a vigorous workout in kundalini yoga. The uses of this precious formula are many. In the yoga tradition, Monday is a good day to increase the cleansing fluids in your body. Many people will use Monday as a liquid fast day. Then yogi tea or juices are used exclusively for a good systemic flush. People interested in a more powerful cleansing with the tonic use it periodically for a three day fast. Each day they will consume 8 to 24 cups. Because of its immediate energizing effect it is often used as a substitute to ease someone off of caffeine, coffee, cigarettes and even drug habits. It has tremendous effectiveness in warding off colds, lowering respiratory infections and fighting off the effects of flu. On the positive side it was often taken by women before sexual contact and by men afterwards, since it balances the flow of that creative energy in the body. In Ayurvedic medicine each food is thought of in terms of the qualities it blends. Each food is potentially medicinal or harmful depending on those qualities. If a food is universally health producing and neutral in the balance of qualities so it can be used by anyone, then it is tridosha - it combines all three major qualities. This is true of the components and proportions of them in yogi tea. Mostly yogi tea is taken because it tastes good and makes you feel good. It is a ubiquitous part of the yoga lifestyle. It is a medicinal and gastronomic blessing, which we share often. Yogi Bhajan has said the key to happiness is to sweat, laugh and drink Yogi Tea everyday. Ingredients: 16 sticks of cinnamon [the 3" long kind] 1 heaping TBSP of black peppercorns 2 level tsp of whole cloves 3 level TBSP of green cardamom pods, or decorticated cardamom seeds 2 2/3 cups of fresh ginger, chopped small A small palm-full of black tea like English Breakfast, or jasmine, or 6 tea bags Recipe: Bring 2 gallons + 1 quart of water to a boil in a stainless steel pot. When at boil, put in the cinnamon sticks, cloves, peppercorns, and ginger. The mixture will stop boiling. Keep the heat on high until it boils again and then lower the heat to a very slow rolling boil and cover the pot. Boil for 1 to 1 hours. Remove from the flame and let the tea sit for 1 hours at least, but not more than 3 hours. Strain the spices out. Bring back to boil and throw in the tea leaves. Let steep for 2 minutes. Strain the tea leaves out. This beautiful yogi tea liquid, called raw yogi tea, is them mixed to taste with whole raw milk. Use a ratio of 50% tea, 50% milk, but some of you may like it stronger. This recipe, though, creates a more potent raw tea than other recipes, so you may find diluting it 50/50 is fine indeed. After adding milk, bring the mixed tea back up to a near boil. Sweeten with honey. Use 1/3 cup honey per gallon of mixed Yogi tea. For a special touch, add 1-2 tsp of vanilla extract per gallon of mixed tea. The raw Yogi tea will last 2 weeks in the refrigerator, but once it is mixed, it has a life equal to that of milk, so mix only what you'll use in the next few days. Yogi tea without milk is not really yogi tea. The

milk aids assimilation and digestion. Herb tea may not be substituted for the black tea. In this combination and with the small amount it is a balanced chemical action. Below is more information on the ingredients if you want to understand more fully why Yogi Tea is so good for your health.

THE INGREDIENTS

Ginger is considered to be the universal medicine in Ayurveda. Ginger is one of the best herbs for nausea and vomiting. It aids digestion and assimilation generally, relieves cold spasms and cramps, and promotes menstruation. It is particularly synergistic with onions and garlic, the combination of the three being called Trinity Roots in Ayurvedic dietary therapy. Whether consumed as a delicious food, or as a potent medicine, ginger acts in diabetes both by stimulating pancreas cells and by lowering lipids (cholesterol, triglycerides) in the blood. Ginger is considered to be one of the most valuable Ayurvedic medicines in the treatment of arthritis, especially osteoarthritis. It is one of the best herbs for nausea and vomiting. It aids digestion and assimilation generally, relieves cold spasms and cramps, and promotes menstruation. Herbs and spices are typically not significant sources of nutrients in the diet, ginger has relatively high calcium and iron content. Ginger increases peripheral circulation, so is used clinically for cold hands and feet. Being diaphoretic, it treats cold and flu. References: Uma Pradeep K, Geervani P, Eggum BO Common Indian spices: nutrient composition, consumption and contribution to dietary value. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 1993 Sep;44(2):137-48 Fuhrman B, Rosenblat M, Hayek T, Coleman R, Aviram M Ginger extract consumption reduces plasma cholesterol, inhibits LDL oxidation and attenuates development of atherosclerosis in atherosclerotic, apolipoprotein E-deficient mice. J Nutr 2000 May;130(5):1124-31 Ernst E, Pittler MH Efficacy of ginger for nausea and vomiting: a systematic review of randomized clinical trials. Br J Anaesth 2000 Mar;84(3):367-71 Cinnamon is a very mild herb that is well tolerated by a broad variety of people. Cinnamon is a pungent, sweet and hot yang tonic. It increases general vitality, warms and energizes the body as a whole, counteracts congestion, stops diarrhea, improves digestion, relieves abdominal spasms, is antirheumatic and aids the peripheral blood circulation. Strangely enough, cinnamon enhances the flow of blood through the body, but, paradoxically, herbalists revere it for its ability to stop excessive bleeding.

Cinnamon bark excels in treating menstrual cramps. Many American women have found it to be a dramatic remedy, often giving relief on the first try, after years of monthly pain. Like dong quai, cinnamon is a warming herb, which in Chinese terms "warms the middle and disperses cold." This property makes it a very good choice to promote menstruation. Cinnamon enhances circulation to the uterus, so the warm relaxing blood can relieve the cramps. As you would imagine, cinnamon is often used together with dong quai for this symptom. The classic patient who can benefit from cinnamon is cold, dry and frail, and often has osteoarthritis, asthma and digestive problems. Since cinnamon is common as a culinary herb, it is necessary to be a selective shopper to get good quality. You will find medicinal quality cinnamon in your health food store, Chinese herb pharmacy, or from a top quality medicinal tea manufacturer. Chinese medicine authorities say that cinnamon is very safe, but should be used only with caution during pregnancy. References: Dhuley JN Anti-oxidant effects of cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) bark and greater cardamom (Amomum subulatum) seeds in rats fed high fat diet. Indian J Exp Biol 1999 Mar;37(3):238-42 Mancini-Filho J, Van-Koiij A, Mancini DA, Cozzolino FF, Torres RP Antioxidant activity of cinnamon (Cinnamomum Zeylanicum, Breyne) extracts. Boll Chim Farm 1998 Dec;137(11):443-7 Kurokawa M, Kumeda CA, Yamamura J, Kamiyama T, Shiraki K Antipyretic activity of cinnamyl derivatives and related compounds in influenza virus-infected mice. Eur J Pharmacol 1998 May 1;348(1):45-51 Cardamom is an excellent digestive enhancer, especially for cold and sweet food. Since it is widely consumed as a food, it is regarded as being quite safe. It is used in herbal medicine to treat gastralgia, enuresis (involuntary urination), spermatorrhea, phlegm, indigestion and gas. This herb has a warming, anti-mucus action, so is particularly appropriate to be used as a component in lung formulas. It is considered to be particularly rejuvenative for the spleen. According to Ayurveda, it removes kapha from the stomach and lungs, as well as being good for reducing high vata generally. One compound in cardamom oil, terpinen-4-ol, appears to suggest that cardamom can be effective in treating yeast vaginitis. Studies have shown that preparations containing high amounts of terpinen-4-ol have been as effective against yeast infections as the pharmaceutical antifungals nystatin (Mycostatin) and clotrimazole (Gyne-Lotrimin). Cardamom may have twice as much terpinen-4-ol as teatree oil. Recent studies have shown that cardamom has pain-relieving, anti-inflammatory, and antispasmodic effects. (pungent, sweet, hot) References

al-Zuhair H, el-Sayeh B, Ameen HA, al-Shoora H Pharmacological studies of cardamom oil in animals. Pharmacol Res 1996 Jul-Aug;34(1-2):79-8 Cloves promote circulation in the lungs and the stomach. They are warming. They treat cough, and enhance digestion. Cloves are widely used medicine in Asian herbalism. They are considered to promote circulation in the lungs and the stomach. Clearly, they are warming. They treat cough, and enhance digestion. Herbalists use cloves to promote fluid flow in the lymph system. The volatile oil is a powerful analgesic. In animal experiments, clove lowers triglycerides and blood sugar. (pungent, hot) References: Arai I, Amagaya S, Komatsu Y, Okada M, Hayashi T, Kasai M, Arisawa M, Momose Y Improving effects of the extracts from Eugenia uniflora on hyperglycemia and hypertriglyceridemia in mice. J Ethnopharmacol 1999 Dec 15;68(1-3):307-14 Black Pepper is known only as a humble condiment in most of the Western world, but in Asia, it is considered to be the foremost detoxifier and anti-aging herb. Black pepper is a warming digestive remedy, which has a carminative action. This herb increases circulation, and lowers blood pressure and contains compounds that prevent osteoporosis. While black pepper has been esteemed as a detoxifier, particularly in Ayurveda, recent research has begun to bear this out. At least in rats, pepper seems to increase release of carcinogens through the liver, reducing cancer. Piperine, a main active ingredient, protects against liver damage almost as well as milk thistle. Piperine is also getting a reputation for increasing bioavailability and absorption of nutrients. For example, in one recent study, scientists measured the absorption of turmeric active ingredients. Administering the turmeric along with piperine increased bioavailability by 154%, and reduced the time for absorption by half. Black pepper reduces free radicals. It is antioxidant, and prevents the depletion of glutathione. It also prevents the destruction of other antioxidants, such as vitamin A. Pepper is used in Ayurveda as an anti-kapha herb, particularly to release sinus congestion. Its warming nature balances cold herbs in formulas. It is ideal for kapha conditions such as glaucoma. Use black pepper as a culinary spice. An excellent Ayurvedic preparation for sinus congestion is to boil 10 peppercorns in milk, strain, and drink.

(pungent, hot)

References: James A. Duke, The Green Pharmacy, Rodale, Emmaus, Pennsylvania, 1997. Singh A Rao AR Evaluation of the modulatory influence of black pepper (Piper nigrum, L.) on the hepatic detoxication system. Cancer-Lett. 1993 Aug 16; 72(1-2): 5-9 Kaoul I and A Kapil. Evaluation of the liver protective potential of piperine, an active principal of black and long peppers.Planta Medica 1993. 59: 413-417. Shanmugasundaram KR et al, Amritabindu for depletion of antioxidants. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 1994. 42(2): 83-93. Yogi Bhajan, The Ancient Art of Self-Healing, Silver Streak Publishers, Eugene, Oregon,1982.