ishnaan... even Yogiji was human

[Guest guest]

Thanks Gurusurya for recalling his words on

this.

I have to add a few more from him.

I, too, am from NYC by birth and upbringing. Yep, we have cold water

there but I came to this path after I had moved to Fairbanks, Alaska.

Yogiji would come here twice a year to do the Tantrics, and stay at the

ashram. The water at the ashram was cold. Colder than you can imagine.

It came from a 100 foot well that came up through several yards of

permafrost on the way to our shower head. By the time this water hit

you, there was no more breath! You just couldn't inhale or exhale (now

i understood the phrase 'breath taking').

One morning Yogiji came out of the shower....shivering intensely... and

he said (and I wish all ya'll could hear his exact tone, but imagine

how one might sound after maybe sleeping in the snow all night) "you

people..... you people in Alaska can add a little *varm* water to your

shower". The director's wife humbly said "thank you Sir, thank you very

much".

I just smiled, as I had already been adding a little *varm* water to my shower. This water was beyond

cold. It was like Cryogenics.

 

I take my cold water straight here in MA., albeit, gradually from my

extremities.

 

Blessings,

Dharam

www.gongology.com

 

gurusurya wrote:

 

Sat nam,

One summer at Women's Camp (perhaps 1986?) Yogi Bhajan mentioned that it

had come to his attention that some of us were taking our cold showers by

beginning with warm water. He said "you're kidding yourselves." He explained that the benefit comes with the shock of the cold water--it

always forces me to take a big inhale--like jumping into a cold lake. He

went on to say that if we wanted, after the cold shower (spinning under

the cold water, stepping out of the stream, patting all over, repeating

at least 3 times) then we could move on to warm water. Go ahead wash

your hair, luxuriate, anything you want...but always begin and end with

cold water.

For many of us that have practiced this for many years, it feels like an

essential part of the day. In New York, our water is very cold--it is

coming from underground and moving very fast--even in the summer. When I

am in a warmer climate, like in Florida for Winter Solstice, I sometimes

feel disappointed that I can't get what I'm looking for in a cold shower.

One time someone complained to Yogi Bhajan about our very cold water. His comment: "you are very blessed."

There have been times in my life when I felt I couldn't face the cold

water, like after an illness. I will mix a little warm in, just to take

the edge off, pretending that I am in Florida. But a voice always

answers "you're kidding yourself." Sometimes, I am.

Blessings,

Gurusurya Kaur

Kundalini Yoga in Park Slope

Brooklyn, New York

__________

[Guest guest]

" Thank you Sir... thank you very much " ..... ))

 

Well, that was brilliant.

 

And especially thanks for the post about finding your center before 'do'ing a

cold shower, and the guide to the detailed immersion process, over the shock and

awe process. This clarified a lot for me personally.

 

And since we're sharing ishnaan resources here, I can add that I've briefly seen

a video from the Khalsa Chiropractic Council meetings, which were closed

meetings to most non 'MD' yogis.

 

In those videos the Siri Singh Sahib spoke about using Ishnaan on individual

fingers and toes alone as a form of therapy (but he said it had to be icy cold).

And then he said something which people in the audience even asked him to

repeat, surprised... He said you can use cold water even on the genitals, to

keep them flowing and functioning well.

 

I believe this was separate from the traditional cold shower routine, and more

talking about the therapy in detail used for specific issues or healing. I image

that the fingers and toes therapy would relate to the reflexology and brain

paths connected to them.

 

Anyone having additional thoughts, or expanding on this would be interesting.

 

In the meantime, I'm waiting for NYC water to get to the 7-11 Slushy

consistency, and for icicles to be hanging off my shower head... That's when the

fun begins.

 

" Thank you Sir... Thank you very much "

 

Fateh Singh