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Plant a seed of joy with Sahaja Yoga Meditation Network

Free weekly meditations and chakra energy workshops are open to all, online and in person

Although it sounds simple, living in the present can be very difficult. 

Instead, most people are focused on attachments to the past or are obsessed with the future. Meditation helps guide you to be in the present moment, which can help you cope with stress by focusing on something calm and peaceful.

Sahaja Yoga, which is offered in free community sessions in Halton, is a method of meditation based on an experience of self-realization (Kundalini awakening) that can occur within anyone. Sahaja means born with, signifying that we all have the capacity of reaching self-realization, a connection with the universe, and integration within ourselves. It also means spontaneous. Like breathing, it’s easy; we don’t think about it, but we can’t exist without it.

Chakra means "wheel" in Sanskrit and references spiritual energy centres in the body that correspond to specific organs and nerve bundles that shape our physical and emotional well-being. We can think of chakras as little engines placed within us that provide energy.

“We have this system built within us, but we need to go back to the roots of our being,” says Ioana Popa, Volunteer Coordinator and Instructor for Halton/Niagara/Simcoe Sahaja Meditation and Yoga. “We are very disconnected from ourselves. People are really feeling disintegrated from within. They are in isolation like islands and don’t know how to reach out, and if they do, they don’t feel like they are heard or seen.

"People opened up very much during COVID, and that’s how I got to know that people really suffer in isolation," she continued. "Hopelessness is even worse than a disease because you don’t see the end. That’s why so many people are in depression.”

The Sahaja Yoga Meditation Network created the 100 Seeds of Joy program to honour the 100th anniversary of the birth the founder of Sahaja Yoga, Nirmala Srivastava.

“With 100 Seeds of Joy, we want to offer opportunities for more people to try meditation,” says Popa. “We’re hoping to do 100 workshops by the end of the year. These are in person, and we will also try to offer online lunch meditations. Planting a seed of hope, a seed of joy. At least for people to know that it’s possible for them to meditate for a little bit. We’ll try to adapt and give them a session that will give them peace of mind, to find hope and that inner strength that will open more possibilities.

"We want to plant a seed of joy that will take them somewhere.”

The Sahaja Meditation and Yoga Network offers unique weekly meditations and energy workshops at Orchard Community Hub in St. Christopher’s Catholic Elementary School every Wednesday from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Online classes are also available. Each session will have a theme posted on the 100 Seeds of Joy calendar. Classes are free and open to everyone.

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