Sitting With the Elders: An Interview with Hari Kaur (Part III)

In this last excerpt from our interview with our distinguished featured elder, Hari Kaur Khalsa, we ask her to enlighten us on how best to harness the energy of spring in our lives.
Hari is a NYC based Kundalini Yoga teacher and author.

How Can we Best Harness the Energy of Spring?

Diet

We asked Hari for suggestions on how to best harness the energy of spring in our physical body, mind and spirit. For example, how should we eat, when examined in the context that Parashakti really advocates a vegan and live-food orientation towards eating as something that actually strengthens your ability to be an antenna for divine energy and create a stronger Dance of Liberation?

“In the spring you can lighten up. (Laughs) Lighten up. Start looking towards fresher foods.”

For people who do better with cooked foods in the winter, spring is a great time to start adding more of the fresher foods and raw foods. The sun is more present in the sky, increasing digestive power (according to ayurveda) and it is also when we are more physically active. She also suggests that if you are thinking about eating locally, then this is an excellent time to plant your own garden.

Cleanse

“The warmer time is also a great time to do a cleanse.”

Hari maintains that the once the temperatures get a little higher, it is easier to cleanse the liver. It is more nourishing for the body to do it now than in the depths of winter. Just as we spring clean our house, it is equally as important to look towards the house of our spirit. Set an intention to clear the body.

“I caution women who are my students about cleansing in that if you want to eat lighter is to do things slowly and often under guidance, because a woman’s nature is extremely sensitive. It changes almost daily with the cycle of her period and the different moon centers – even after her period has gone.”

She encourages you to find someone like Parashakti, who guides cleanses, in your community. Make sure to shift slowly so that you can truly benefit and avoid detoxing too rapidly, which can create stress for your system. In this way, slowly building to a more intense cleanse, under supervision, you can experience the greatest benefit from your cleanse.

Exercise

“Exercise, exercise, exercise. Go outdoors. Walk. Do yoga. Dance. Ride your bike. I have a scooter in which I scoot around New York as soon as the weather gets good.”

One of the most beautiful things about the city, in Hari’s opinion, that many people just don’t realize, is that people who live in New York probably walk more miles every day than people who don’t live in the city.

“It’s a beautiful thing. We walk everywhere. Where you may normally take the train, those extra five minutes – you just leave twenty minutes earlier and you walk it. If you can walk where you’re going, then walk where you’re going. Be outdoors as much as possible, if it makes sense in your environment.”

Whatever it is that makes you feel good, is what Hari encourages you to do. Get moving with your girlfriends. Go to classes. Do it alone. Go hiking. The important thing is to just get the body moving.

Open Your Heart

“Another thing that harnesses the energy of spring is something that my dear teacher said. He said that if you just watch the flowers open, you’ll know how to open your own heart.”

Hari says that so many people come to her and say, “I feel that my heart is closed. Or I don’t know how to open my heart.”

Now is the time to just watch the spring flowers bloom. If you don’t have a garden, you can always look for anything growing nearby, whether it be a leaf opening to the sun or even a blade of grass coming up. By doing this exercise, you will understand within yourself on a very deep level how to open your own heart.

We also wanted to direct you, sisters, to Hari’s website, where there is a wonderful guided meditation at the end of the book excerpt shared there. The meditation is about tapping into your birthright as a woman and true royal nature.

Hari agrees that this is a great meditation for spring that can be done daily and only takes a few minutes. We encourage you to enjoy it as part of your everyday spring meditations consistently or periodically throughout the year, whenever you need renewal.

Thank you Hari Kaur for a most enlightening sharing in our women’s wisdom circle. It was a great pleasure to sit with you.

Hari’s Upcoming Events and Activities

Based on the teachings of Kundalini yoga and meditation, and of Yogi Bhajan, Hari leads a program for women and will be leading her third program at Kripalu. It is open to women of all ages. It is focused on the study of the moon centers. This next program will be held from October 31st to November 5th this year.

She is also working with a church in New York that has a beautiful and large space. She is looking to host a non-profit organization out of that space. It will be specifically dedicated to women’s issues. The project is currently in development so she is very interested in networking with other women’s non-profits.

How Can I Reach Hari?

You can email her at hari@reachhari.com. Her website is www.reachhari.com . There is a calendar there where you can find out what’s going on.

Her two books are often at bookstores, but can alternatively be ordered from Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. They are also available from her Penguin, who is the publisher of both titles.

Hari’s Bio

Hari Kaur Khalsa directs and teaches Kundalini Yoga Classes and Teacher Trainings, Level 1 and Level 2, in the US and abroad. She is the former Director of Education and Training of Golden Bridge NYC (2007-2009). Prior to that she taught for Yogi Bhajan for over 10 years, co-directing his Level One Teacher Trainings in New Mexico and India. Hari is a caring, inspiring, and down to earth teacher, making the powerful and healing teachings of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan accessible to students of all levels. Inspired by years of study with Yogi Bhajan, Hari continues to serve all who come with smiles, and spirit.

Married to jazz musician Dave Frank, Hari and Dave make their home in New York City bringing music and yoga to uplift the spirit. Hari is co-author of A Woman's Book of Yoga: Embracing Our Natural Life Cycles (Penguin 2002) and author of A Woman's Book of Meditation: Discovering the Power of a Peaceful Mind (Penguin 2006).