A Story of Seva

Seva is selfless service. 

 There is a good lesson in this story for all of us: 

                There once was a very rich man, called Karori, who seemed to have everything in the world. However, he was not a happy man because he suffered from insomnia and indigestion. His life changed when he met Guru Nanak (founder of Sikhism) who could see right away that Karori was troubled.

                Instead of providing a remedy, Guru Nanak asked that Karori set up a community kitchen to provide meals to the poor and impoverished. Karori was taken aback by the Guru Nanak’s request, but he set out to fulfill the wise man’s request anyway, for Karori was also a proud man and this was an opportunity to show off his wealth.

                Soon Karori became deeply involved with serving the community. The community kitchen gave him a chance to get to know the people in the community and he came to understand these people as individuals. Over time, Karori started to care about the people around him. Not only he created the community kitchen, he also supervised the cooking and distribution. He worked hard to improve the welfare of the community. Before he realized it, his health has improved. He also changed from a proud, wealthy man to a kind and caring man.

                Karori believed his new and improved health was a miracle given to him by Guru Nanak. Guru Nanak smiled and told him: “The problems with your health were caused by your way of life and your attitude of mind. Your obsession with amassing wealth affected your sleep and your health. Once you started the free kitchen, you discovered the joys of giving and sharing. Your concern is now not for yourself but for others. Your obsession is no longer with how you can increase your holding of gold but the happiness and comfort that it can bring to the lives of others. You have subjugated the self to the service of mankind. You have attained a state of bliss, which many strive for but few achieve. You are now a true man of God.” (Dhillon, p.170)

This story is selected from The First Sikh Spiritual Master by Harish Dhillon, 2006. 

Winter Yoga Street Festival, 2013

We are very excited to announce our biggest event of the year: Winter Yoga Street Festival. Come visit Yoga Phoenix on Saturday, December 7, 2013, from 11 am to 5 pm, to relax, to learn about healthy yogic lifestyle, and have lots of fun!  

Here are some of the activities we are offering at the festival:

(Our schedule is out. Please visit this link to see our schedule and pricing for events, workshops, and healing fair)

Live Music & Event  Stage

Sirgun Kaur will be performing Aakhan Jor from her new album, The Cosmic Gift.

Ram Das Kaur will be singing and playing the harmonium.

Rajbir Singh will be singing and playing his guitar at the festival.

Enjoy performance by musicians from our yogic community such as Sirgun Kaur, Ram Das Kaur, Rajbir Singh, and Guru Gian Singh.

There will also be a gong performance by Rajpal Kaur, gatka demonstration (a form of martial art, mainly practiced by the Sikhs), special events such as Celestial Communication with Kewal Kaur, Breathwalk with Guru Simran Singh, and a community meditation – Touch Every Heart with Celebrate Us Now (Ardas Kaur and Sadhana Kaur). 

Celebrate Us Now: Sadhana Kaur and Ardas Kaur will be leading a beautiful community meditation.

Check out this video of Gatka demonstration from 2012's Winter Yoga Festival at Yoga Phoenix!

Free Food

Authentic Indian food will be served from 12 to 2 (until gone).  

Lifestyle Yoga Workshop

Our most experienced and qualified teachers will be offering various workshops on healthy, yogic lifestyle that can be practiced by anyone! Some of the workshops that will be offered on that day include:

·           Celebrate Women special workshop

·           Celebrate Men special workshop

·           Celebrate Children special workshop

·           12 Point Stress Relief Healing workshop

·           Intro to Ayurveda

·           Special Singing Bowls Concert

Healing Fair
Need some TLC for yourself or just curious about alternative healing methods? Our healing fair offers many different healing modalities including:

·      

·           Chair Reiki

·           Chair Massage

·           Group Acupuncture

·           Foot Reflexology/Massage

·           Heart Forgiveness/Kinesiology.

·           Numerology Consultation ( a tool for assessing one’s energy bodies and help to align one with one’s higher self and to excel in life) 

·           Sat Nam Rasayan (yogic healing method)

Global Dessert Bar

Many members from our community are fantastic bakers. Not only that, these members are also very health conscious. They have many healthy and delicious vegan/vegetarian desserts to offer!  Be sure to check out the bake sale!

Silent Auction

All proceeds from the auction will go to our Dharmic Training Center Fund for us to build a new training and education center in the near future.

Some of the auction items we have are:

·         Heart Forgiveness/Kinesiology Healing Session  

·         Reiki Training Level 1, 2, and 3

·         Yoga Passes

·         Yoga gears (shawl, head cover, bag)

·         Beautiful ethnic Jewelry

·         Spiritual/Yogic Jewelry

Canine Healing

We will also be providing healing services to our canine friends! For a small fee, our experienced healers will give reiki to your dogs. Reiki healing is all natural, non-invasive and perfectly safe for your pets.

Other Service and Activities

·         Kundalini Yoga manuals, CDs, and DVDs for sale.

·         Environmental Kids activities

·         Health and healing food books for sale

·         Plants for sale

·         Henna tattoo

After Party

Last but not least, the after party. Feel free to hang out with us after the festival, we’ll get to know each other better as we listen or sing some songs by the fire pit, and roast up some s’mores.

More events and workshops are coming to this festival! Come back later to check updates on our blog or on our facebook page: www.facebook.com/YogaPhoenix.

We look forward to sharing this wonderful day with you al!!

(If you would like to be part of this festival, contact Haritej Kaur: snwg115@gmail.com)