Category: Fashion

The Benefits and Uses of Mala Beads

Beautiful Mala necklaces hold a special significance for the wearer based on where they’re from, the power imbibed into them. All in all we feel and experience an energy resonance while holding the beads and this increases over time as we wear and use them for meditation.

Traditionally a mala means garland and has 108 beads strung together and one guru bead, in the very center, symbolic of the light and the teacher who helps lift our awareness making us self-reliant and independent. The guru bead is also a marker for your fingers during meditation and mantra repetition and you’ll feel it easily while using the mala with your eyes closed. 

A common way to use the mala is to engage in a japa, or mantra meditation. The repetitive recitation of a single sound, such as om, a few words, such as om so ham, or your personal mantra which can be deeply transformative is done once per bead. Tracing the beads of the mala with your fingers can help you keep track of japa, and you can set an intention to repeat one, two or three malas per day as a start. 

Similar to praying with rosary beads, meditating with a mala helps calm the mind, deepens the breath and gradually re-directs focus of the mind away from daily worries and towards positive and spiritual thought patterns.

Meditation is well known to positively affects the brain and mood. However finding the time and practice that enables us to be still, calm and focused for 10 minutes or more is generally quite challenging. This is where your mala and mantra are essential tools for achieving better attention, wellness and enhanced self-awareness.

Check out our online jewelry boutique. We feature three different types of malas.

Intuitive-Jewelry-Online.myshopify.com

love, k 🙂

Shakti Fest 2018 Yoga and Sacred Music Festival

Joshua Tree, CA –May 10, 2018 – Shakti Fest returns for its eighth season, this year on Mother’s Day weekend – May 10 – 14 at the Joshua Tree Retreat Center, in Joshua Tree, CA. Organized by Bhakti Fest, a leader in conscious festival events, Shakti Fest is a unique springtime celebration of the divine feminine spirit, described in Eastern philosophy as the ‘dynamic force which moves the universe’. The sacred yoga and music festival features world-famous yoga teachers, Kirtan music stars, wisdom workshops, sound baths, and a healing sanctuary.

 

 

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It’s divine timing that this yoga and sacred music festival is able to honor the spirit of the universal feminine to align with Mother’s Day. Shakti Fest 2018 music lineup inspires attendees to sing, dance and open their hearts. This year’s music line up inspires attendees to dance, sing, open their hearts, and includes the best Kirtan (a.k.a. mantra chanting) artists on the conscious music scene; Jai Uttal, Donna De Lory, Larissa Stowe, Govind Das & Radha, MC Yogi, Girish, Jaya Lakshmi, Prajna Vieira & the Mukti Kirtan Ensemble, Gina Sala, Vaiyasaki Das, David Newman, Fannah Fi Allah, and many more!

The entire Kirtan line-up is available at shaktifest.bhaktifest.com/kirtan/

It truly is a beautiful time to practice yoga indoors and out. With three yoga halls offering an abundance of classes over a three day period, there really is something for everyone! 2018 Shakti Fest teachers include; Shiva Rea, Mark Whitwell, Mas Vidal, Kia Miller, Georgina Meister, Cheryl Slader, Leeza Villagomez, Carmen Curtis, Hemalayaa Behl, Oleg Flow, Jennica Mills, Allison Prince and Katie Allen, Lisa Gniady, and Kristin Olson. Everyone can find their inner Shakti through energy inspiring sessions in a wide variety of yoga styles.

View the full yoga lineup at shaktifest.bhaktifest.com/yoga/

Shakti Fest Workshops cover a plethora of conscious and wellness topics including Ayurveda, breathwork, spiritual nutrition, tantric energy, Vedic astrology, Sanskrit, conscious relationships, women’s sexuality, bhakti art, and hoop dance, with internationally known speakers such as Michael Brian Baker, Mirabai Devi, Renee Baribeau, Dawn Cartwright, ZoĂ« Kors, Jeffrey Armstrong and Dharma Devi.

For workshop details see shaktifest.bhaktifest.com/workshops/

Shakti Fest Sound Healing Experience is a must. Yogis can immerse themselves in the powerful healing energy of sound baths with practitioners of this popular sonic meditation including Eric Sedorovitz, Gabriel Logan Braun, Lynda Arnold, Shane Thunder, David West & Enrique Pedrosa, Michelle Berc, and more.

For more information on the sound healing offerings visit shaktifest.bhaktifest.com/sounddome/

There is no place like the high desert to embrace and immerse yourself in a powerful conscious experience. The historic Joshua Tree Retreat Center is the oldest and largest retreat center in the Western U.S., located on a sacred vortex site with a walking labyrinth. This setting allows for serene inner reflection and uplifting spiritual renewal. Accommodation options include cottages, retreat center spaces, camping, and RV parking, all on site. There are also great hotels within a few miles of the retreat center. Shakti Fest Eco Artisan Village offers vegetarian and vegan food vendors, yoga clothing accessories, and gear, jewelry, art and unique collectibles. The organizers have set the event on running a green event, offering free water and mindful recycling practices.

For travel information visit shaktifest.bhaktifest.com/travel-info/Shakti Fest is a vehicle for the evolution of human consciousness through heart-centered revolution dedicated to the divine feminine that dwells within all of us.

Shakti Fest is a vehicle for the evolution of human consciousness through a heart-centered revolution dedicated to the divine feminine that dwells within all of us.

See you there!

love, k

 

shaktifest

Intuitive Affirmation of the Day

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Baisakhi Celebrations 2018

The Sikh community of Southern California came together for one of the largest Baisakhi celebrations at the Los Angeles Convention Center on April 8th 2018 that saw nearly 25,000 people attending the festivities full of devotion and exuberance.

The Sikh Dharma of Southern California along with the Guru Ram Das Ashram and Gurudwaras from Central and Southern California participated in some way through organizing langars, prayers, chants, decorations and the (nagar kirtan) float parade of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

The kirtan started at 7 a.m., which included spiritual and devotional songs and music performances by various groups like children’s, youth and women’s Jathas, as well as Ragi Kiran Jathas. Apart from the spiritual programs, the committee also organized a bazaar which had beautiful paintings, jewelry, books, keertan CDs and indian fashion clothes for sale.

The event included an honorary ceremony during which “Spirit of Baisakhi Awards” were presented to dignitaries for their contribution towards the Sikh community. These awardees were Congresswoman Judy Chu. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, and Internationally renowned teacher, author and spiritual leader Bhai Sahiba Bibiji Inderjit Kaur Khalsa, “Bibiji”, the beloved wife of Yogi Bhajan.

HAPPY BAISAKHI

love, k 🙂

Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is a world-wide symbol of the holidays in New York City. The 2017 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree was lit yesterday for the first time on Wednesday, November 29, with live performances from 7–9pm, at Rockefeller Plaza, between West 48th and West 51st Streets and Fifth and Sixth Avenues. Thousands crowded the sidewalks for the event and millions watched it live across the globe.

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony has become a national tradition hearkening back to the days of the Great Depression. On Christmas Eve of 1931, a group of construction workers put together a small, elegant Christmas tree on the site of what would become Rockefeller Center. In Rockefeller Center’s launching year, 1933, the first formal Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting took place. Since then it has become a national event including ice- skating spectacles, live entertainment and television specials.

The Tree will remain lit and can be viewed until 9pm on January 7, 2018. Check out the beauty, visit Rockefeller Center or watch the lighting from the comfort of your home.

#RockefellerCenterTreeLighting

Happy Holidays!!!

love, #krishna

 

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Bhakti Fest Yoga|Dance|Sacred Music Festival 

Bhakti translates as love and devotion. This fabulous festival is four days of camping in the starry California desert, or spending your stay at Joshua Tree Retreat Center practicing meditation and yoga to live musicians, singing kirtan and dancing barefoot to the likes of MC Yogi and Donna Delory until late at night. 

My whole heart is filled with so much happiness to be at Bhakti Fest. 
For those who like to keep the yoga and mantra mix going, White Swan Records offers innumerable soundtracks for the yoga of life. 
Coconut Bliss served delicious scoops of pure delight. Cool, creamy bites of salted caramel, ginger cookie, and hazelnut chocolate kept yogi and yogini faces more than relaxed, chilled and happy while vibing to the mystic afternoon beats of Girish. With an eclectic mix of rock, indian and reggae inspired rhythms, every artist set us off into a state of bhavtastic bliss!  

Bhakti Fest as a whole was  awesome. Part of what made it so powerful was that the entire sacred festival revolved around live music. It has been envisioned and talked about how Bhakti Fest is as a spiritual Woodstock, where thousands of people come together, chanting the names of God. 
Krishna Das has said that in India, people understand that God is within. The Hindu images associated with God, deities like Krishna and Hanuman and Ganesha, are symbols of the divine that live in each one of us. Chanting the names of God from any tradition is sacred because each repetition is said to be a seed, and sooner or later, that seed grows.

The seeds of love were certainly sent out with rain showers and rainbows in the early morning sky. It was breathtaking to look at and a rainbow has such a powerful message to convey. Lovely to gather there with a cluster of new friends, sitting on lawn chairs and blankets, singing along with other music artists, everyone dancing and spinning. Fantastic evening concert and such a transforming event @ Joshua Tree Retreat Center. 

We LOVE Bhakti Fest!! 
love, #krishna 

   

Navigating New York

New York City “if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.” NYC is renowned for its iconic buildings and larger than life energy. It has some unwritten rules which allows the city to operate at supreme efficiency and presents a straightforward grid, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to get where you’re going. Here are five awesome tips for finding your way around the city with our navigational guide.

 

1.) Fifth Avenue splits NYC’s streets between east and west. The reason the trick above works is because Fifth Avenue splits the east and west sides of the city. Addresses change by the hundreds every avenue.

 

2.) Odd-numbered streets go west and even-numbered streets go east. Additionally, odd-numbered buildings are on the north side of the street and even-numbered addresses are on the south. (On a north-south street, odd buildings are on the west side, and even ones are on the east.)

 

3.) The color of a station’s subway tiles can tell you if you’ve missed an express stop. Seriously, there’s a secret code hidden in the city’s subway stations.

 

4.) The address of a building can tell you what avenues it’s between. For addresses on the the west side, just add the first number of the address (zero if the address is only two numbers) to 5 for the lower cross street. For example, 225 W 37th St. (2+5=7) is between Seventh and Eighth Avenue. For the east side, just subtract 5 from the same number for the highest cross street. So 150 E 18th St (1-5=-4) is between Fourth and Third Avenues.

 

5.) Use the lampposts in Central Park. Central Park is enormous and it’s easy to get lost. But here is on easy trick, that will help you get your bearings. Most lampposts have a set of numbers engraved on their base that match up with the cross-streets you would be on if the street extended through the park.

 

 

 

 

Become comfortable exploring the city on your own. It’s one of the best ways to learn the neighborhoods and find hidden gems.

love, #krishna

 

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