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’.
Wednesday
Theme: Removing Obstacles
Confidence comes from within, but also from keeping your word to yourself, resolving to do something and following through. When you are clear about what you want, the Universe will often find ways of giving it to you. You just have to be open. Listen to your own little bursts of inspiration, and act on them.
Immune Booster
When you are tired, sit in Easy Pose, or in a chair – in fact you can do this pretty much anywhere. Close your left nostril, and inhale and exhale through the right nostril only, as fast as you can, mouth closed. That way you only breathe masculine, yang energy – sun energy. It will completely energises you within a few minutes. It’s as if you have had a coffee, because it changes the chemicals in your blood. This is the most effective detoxifying breath, because it heats the nostrils, burning off toxins. Breathe normally to start with, and then, as you get more used to it, speed up a little bit.
Manipura Shake
This helps digestion and therefore elimination
- 60ml (1/4 cup) coconut milk
- 120ml (1/2 cup) filtered water
- 2-3 large fresh figs, peeled and cut in small pieces (use dried if you do not have fresh)
- 1 date, pitted and finely chopped
- pinch of ground cinnamon
Place all the ingredients in a blender and puree
For more information have a look at Maya’s Willpower 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
