Maya Fiennes is a well respected Kundalini yoga practitioner and instructor, based in Los Angeles. Trained as a classical pianist, Maya first found Kundalini Yoga when she was looking for something to help calm her pre-performance nerves. She tried other forms of Yoga, but it was Kundalini Yoga that gave her the key to relaxing and controlling her emotions.
What exactly is Kundalini Yoga? Yogi Bhajan, who brought Kundalini Yoga to the West in 1968, describes Kundalini as an ‘uncoiling of yourself to find your vitality and your potential’. For Maya, it’s a brilliant and effective way to deal with today’s life stresses. ‘It was the one Yoga technique that gave me the simple, quick tools I needed to either de-stress, energise or calm myself. It’s about real life and dealing with its ups and downs’. Maya’s retreats and classes are in high demand in LA, but thankfully her classes are now available online, as are her range of DVD’s and her best selling book, ‘Yoga for Real Life’.
Tuesday
Theme: How to deal with stress and love
I meet many passionate but frustrated people who never seem to achieve what they are capable of. They have an immense love of life and its possibilities, yet are continuously frustrated that they cannot manifest them. But once the energies in the second chakra are rebalanced, creativity and passion flow with ease in their lives again.
Adrenal Exercises
These exercises balance and rejuvenate the adrenals and build back strength if you are feeling tired, unfocused, or close to burn out.
Sit cross-legged in Easy Pose and interlace your little fingers in front of your solar plexus with your thumbs up. Now pull your fingers in opposite directions and start the Breath of Fire, that is rapidly inhaling and exhaling through both nostrils, just like sniffing; (it is the best detoxifying breath), really pumping your breath from your belly. You will feel a pull across the back. Do this for one to three minutes. This pose will generate heat, and works on the left side of the adrenals.
Still in Easy Pose, follow with Cannon Breath, pucker your mouth into a firm O Shape. Now breathe through the mouth loudly, keeping your inhale and exhale equal, relaxing your hands in your lap and breathing loudly through the mouth. Repeat for one to three minutes. This strengthens the right side of the adrenals.
Love and Passion Tonic
This simple drink is supercharged with essential minerals, vitamins and amino acids without adding fat, cholesterol or lactose. An ancient aphrodisiac, it fuels the bonding of relationships.
- 240 ml (1 cup) young coconut water, fresh or canned with no additives
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of cayenne pepper
Pour the juice into a glass. Stir in the vanilla and sprinkle with cayenne.
For more information have a look at Maya’s Creativity DVD , her How to Detox and De-stress DVD or Book Yoga for Real Life
- Kundalini Yoga: How to control your emotions by Maya Fiennes - 25th March 2016
- Maya Fiennes’ Sunday Plan - 5th March 2016
- Maya Fiennes’ Saturday Plan - 4th March 2016
