Sa ta na ma (June 26 2019)

I like to think that I use my free will these days and that I have detached myself a long time ago from programming, the kind of programming from my culture, society, church, family, expectations. But I realize sometimes how deep are the roots of some knowledge I ve been exposed to in my early childhood and adolescent life . I don't necessarily remember when I began or stopped to be afraid of Satana (the devil in ortodox believes) ,the evil fallen angel that takes you to hell, the opposite of light, the monster that Jesus always was at war with, probably I heard about him in church growing up and learn about him. In school, yes we had religion classes but only ortodox religion. Then even saying his name made me be afraid. But time passed and I have moved on, grown up and discoverd my own reality and truths. Religion now is an interesting subject to me I like to study it experience, learn. So in my journey to learn and grow I was practicing kundalini yoga , Sa ta na ma is the name given to a fundamental kundalini kirtan kriya, which is a type of meditation. It is one of the most important meditations in Kundalini yoga and it was popularized in the West by Yogi Bhajan. Also sometimes simply called kirtan kriya, sa ta na ma is said to help reorient the mind and prepare it for transformational change. Using the meditation is also believed to bring profound physical, mental and spiritual benefits. And here is where the programing kicks in, I had such a hard time concentrating on the kriya because somewhere deep in my subconscious the word Satanama was very close to Satana,and the fear involuntary kicked in. I realized later in the practice that I was actually letting go and releasing this old, fear tattooed in my brain, and once I made the connection free will was in. We do things every day not realizing that we are driven by fears or anxiety that are not even ours. So next time you are afraid to try something different, something new, something spiritual, something different ask yourself why not? Be curious, be kind, be adventurous and let your spirit free. Much love always. Loredana