self care, spirituality, kundalini yoga

SADHANA

“Sadhana” is the Sanskrit word for a spiritual practice. Any form of spiritual practice from yoga to meditation, chanting or any spiritual activity can be considered a sadhana.

According to Kundalini Yoga Teacher, Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa who explained it in Omega that a daily sadhana’s many benefits include improving your health and energy, unblocking your creativity, and helping you tap into your intuition so that you can live “from a more authentic place.”

So often, we may find ourselves living a hurried life from the moment we wake up till the end of our day. Integrating mindful and intuitive moments may feel very inaccessible and confrontational in the busyness of our lives. Spirituality does not require you to move away from any of these experiences rather, it allows you to embrace and live these experiences with calmness, grace and a feeling of inner peace.

A daily sadhana is a practice I like in the mornings to integrate stillness and mindfulness within. A sadhana lays the foundation of how I would want my day to turn out. It is me showing up as my Higher Self and for my Spirit Guides. I can’t emphasize it further how grounding a daily sadhana has been and how it has been transformational to my life. It is your spiritual effort for showing up in your life.

Sadhanas are best started on a new moon (represents beginnings) and done the first thing in the morning. The timings most potent for a daily sadhana are from 4- 7 am also known as the twilight hours or ambrosial hours. It is where the infra-red rays and electro-magnetic energies of the earth are at its highest, harmonious and intuitive. A sadhana can be as short as 15 minutes to over an hour or more. It is the consistent dedication to yourself that triumphs anything else.

my story

I was introduced to Hatha Yoga when I was a young girl possibly when I was 14/15 years old.

It started as a tool to combat the deterioration of the curvature of my spine, Idiopathic Scoliosis- which probably did not help much. I would go to Yoga and Pilates at a women’s studio once or twice a week. For 18 hours of a day, I would have to wear an acrylic back brace underneath my clothes because of my scoliosis. The increased flexibility, coupled with me going through my puberty probably made it worst to the point I had to consider a spinal alignment surgery to realign my back. I did that surgery when I was 16 to rebalance my back, which in no way made my spine fully aligned, but it made me straighter. It led to the demise of a back brace corset and also the physical flexibility on my lower back. But it led to the birth of my self-confidence and the person I am now.

I was drawn to meditation when I read Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle back when in 2014 and when I dated a guy who would meditate with me in the mornings/evenings for 20 minutes or so. At moments of anxiety or emotional turbulence, I would always use meditation to calm me down but it was never a daily practice. I resumed heavy meditation since 2018 when I was at one of the lowest in my life. It was also the year I was introduced to Vipassana Meditation. I have been including meditation consistently in my life now for almost 18 months and it is such a powerful practice in my life.

Very much like a daily ritual, my daily sadhana is part of my daily ritual where I commit a spiritual time to and for myself.

KUNDALINI YOGA

I have only breathed the teachings and wisdom of Kundalini Yoga in these recent months. But it felt like it was the only spiritual practice I could stick to and the practice I have been looking for my entire life. I knew and heard of Kundalini Yoga back in 2017 but a part of me then felt like it was too intense for me at that point; as if I wasn’t ready for it. I knew it was a practice that was capable of activating and awakening the divine feminine energies beyond my understanding. Kundalini Yoga is basically an integration of Bhakti Yoga (the yogic practice of devotion and chanting), Raja Yoga (the practice of mediation/mental and physical control) and Shakti Yoga, (for the expression of power and energy). For me, it was the perfect integration of breathwork (pranayama), kriyas (practices), mudras (hand locks) and mantras (chanting). For Kundalini yogis, a morning sadhana is the foundation of the practice aimed to facilitate the Kundalini shakti along our chakras. It is a personal invitation and commitment for your sensitivities, intuition and your journey to a higher consciousness.

We all have various commitments and responsibilities as individuals. Some people spend their time running away from commitments while others overwhelm themselves with too many. Yet, you are what your commitments are. My daily sadhana is my spiritual commitment to myself, consisting mainly of Kundalini Yoga and meditation that range from 15 minutes to an hour sometimes.

Below is how my daily sadhana of mine looks like:

• Waking up with Ong Namo by Ajeet ( You can find this track on Spotify)

  
  

• Morning Protection Mantra Prayer

  I am in the light, the light is in me, I am the light (x3)

  Dear Archangel Michael/Divine beings, I call for you to surround me with a triple light shield and firewall. (Imagine yourself filled with a shield of white light)

  And to allow me to be a being filled with love, light, compassion, truth, understanding and wisdom. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

  I invoke and invite you my spirits guides, angels and divine beings to intervene in my life for the highest good and light for myself and others. I welcome you to enjoy Earth. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

  
  

• Either a Silent meditation/Guided Meditation/Kundalini Meditation/ Kundalini Kriya (I particularly enjoy Kriyan Kriya/ Har meditation or any chanting meditations)
  
  

• Daily 2 oracle card spread practice (I love my The Starseed Oracle)

5 TIPS on how to make your own sadhana

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Be Creative And Intuitive

There is no right or wrong way for how a sadhana is meant to be.

It is okay if you can’t wake up at 4 am or before 7 am. What matters is you do, that you consistently show up for this defining, spiritual practice every single day. Regardless of where you are, what occasion it is, how late you slept the night before, how tired you feel- you get up and commit. If you are not into either yoga or meditation or reading spiritual texts, what about taking that walk in nature, what about that HIIT workout you are into? Move your body, be creative and be intuitive. I switch my meditations regularly depending on what my body feels like that morning. I do not plan it the night before, rather I let my intuition guide me. It is recommended to take a cold shower before your sadhana to rejuvenate your senses. Think what lights you up, what part of you that you enjoy doing that inspires yourself, your loved ones and the world? I encourage you to look at what motivates you.

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Integrate essential oil

In the mornings, I like to freshen my face and set myself for my meditation by having a tiny drop of essential oil to pat around my face and inhale to. It is important to note that essential oils are extremely concentrated and if applied topically you ought to dilute it with a carrier oil. (I go for cold-pressed castor oil/hemp seed oil) The essential oil I am loving and digging now is Frankincense. It has a woody and spicy scent and is a powerful essential oil known for heightening intuition and maintaining a balanced third eye chakra.

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setting your sacred space

A sacred space could be as simple as a quiet spot in your room or in the house. It could be putting on some Solfeggio Frequencies music in the background. It could most certainly also involve lighting a candle, an incense and smudging your space with either palo santo or white sage. It could be putting some indoor plants or flowers around you. I love to use a meditation pillow or my sheepskin to sit on for my sadhana. The goal is to make it a comfortable space for you to relax and dive inwards with your spiritual practice.

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bridging your sadhana to your health

A spiritual practice’s benefits come hand in hand with maintaining good physical health for your overall well-being. Try to opt for more alkaline and plant-based diet and reduce your intake of alcohol. I personally enjoy being off alcohol and naturally opt for a cup of tea instead. Start by working on one specific meal each day and ask yourself, “how can I better nourish myself?” It could be substituting that processed ham for an avocado instead of opting for a juice, or a glass of water than a cup of coffee. However, above all, I believe in moderation. Personally, I allow myself to have that glass of wine occasionally. I also enjoy nourishing myself especially for breakfast as I believe is the most important meal of the day.

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Give Meditation a shot

If you have no meditated, I highly recommend you to give it a shot and perhaps integrate it into your daily sadhana.

Meditation has definitely been the most revolutionary to me in my spiritual journey thus far- and I am still not an expert at it by anyways. Meditation is not about having a thoughtless mind, rather, it is about training your awareness surrounding these thoughts, to the point they become so distinct and powerless because you hold your power over them. And what gradually flows in place will be a place of what-is, the place of strength, self-awareness, compassion, and an inner peace. I would recommend a guided meditation to start with first and then, try meditation to Solfeggio Frequencies/ Kundalini Music.

Alright, I hope this article has helped you in understanding what a sadhana is and how you can start one yourself too today. If you have a commitment to work towards the betterment of yourself, start with a sadhana and stick with it. I promise you, you will radiate in a different light. Sat Nam!

All my love,

Sylvia

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I am Sylvia— the founder, writer, intuitive healer, and human design reader of Arawme. “Arawme” is basically, a raw me put together.

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