Tag Archive for 'ki'

With an unshaven, untrimmed beard, and turban, Sada-Anand Singh Khalsa does not look like your average gaijin. What’s more, with a daily routine that begins with an hour of yoga and an hour of mantra recitation, and a home atop Ikoma Mountain, he doesn’t act the part either. Khalsa has brought the timeless teachings of Kundalini yoga, and Sikhism, to the Kansai. After a brief stay in Tokyo in 1969, Khalsa returned to Japan in 1989, living in Kobe. He taught yoga there until the earthquake hit, and a little afterwards. “We tried to offer rehabilitation classes, classes to balance the hemispheres of the brain after an earthquake. But really, people were just trying to figure out how to survive.”
Around that time Khalsa met his wife, Kudrat Kaur Khalsa, another rarity in Japan: she was and is a complete vegetarian. Kudrat Kaur, who was born in Yokohama, got involved in yoga and vegetarianism while living in Tokyo.
A big adjustment for Khalsa–and yoga teachers throughout Japan–came after the Aum cult incident. Overnight, yoga got a bad name and the number of practitioners declined, despite the non-divisive, non-violent teachings offered. “We lost many office workers, in particular girls whose parents wouldn’t allow them to cotinue.”
Khalsa, who has been a Sikh for 25 years, follows fairly strict regimen: besides not shaving (a beard serves as an antennae for energy, Khalsa explains), Khalsa doesn’t drink alcohol or smoke, and does two or more hours of yoga practice a day, which includes yoga postures, kundalini breathing exercises, mantra recitation, and meditation. A gentle and warm man, Khalsa makes clear that these are not fixed requirements for all yoga practitioners. Rather, this is merely what he personally sees as important to follow a spiritual path. “We are totally into people taking responsibility for themselves. Nobody has to do anything for some guru.”
Khalsa’s teacher is Yogi Bhajan. The teachings involve breath control and retention, and various locks to move Kundalini–which basically means ‘ki’ in Japanese–throughout the body. In addition, physical techniques, mental focus, and aims for stillness and balance are equally important. Most practitioners attest to its effectiveness for physical ails and stress, as well as spiritual development.
Khalsa’s group is affiliated with the 3HO Foundation–the three H’s referring to healthy, happy and holy, the body-mind-spirit connection. The Foundation is particularly strong in Europe and North America and also produces the popular ‘Yogi Tea’ herb teas. The foundation promotes yoga, health, nutrition and natural childbirth teachings. Kudrat Kaur, in fact, gave birth to her daughter ‘naturally’, with a midwife, and has taught natural childbirth classes.
When he was five, Khalsa survived a bout with polio, which he believes led him to a healing profession. He grew up near Chicago before moving to California where he grauated from Palo Alto University, majoring in Psychology. He began practicing yoga in 1972 in San Francisco.