Maya - The Bigger Picture

May a

the bigger picture

The Bigger Picture Maya Fiennes

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Contents 1.

Fear to joy Greece

2. Kings

and queens England

3. Mellow 4. Life

yellow Ireland

and death Nepal

5. Finding 6. Mind 7. Into

your voice Bejing

games Mexico

the void Africa

8. Credits

Kundalini yoga has been a gift in my life, and I wrote this book to help pay that gift forward. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of guiding so many students in its teachings.

I am humbled by the vulnerability and bravery my students have shown, and by how much they’ve learned and grown.

In many cases, they have taught me as much as I’ve taught them. This book was born out of a desire to share these remarkable stories of transformation and hopefully create even more. All of the stories I share here are true, but out of respect for my students’ privacy, I have changed identifying details and sometimes wholly invented characters to help protect anonymity. I hope you find these stories as inspiring as I do.

I often think of life as a Hansel and Gretel tale. Remember the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel, where they would leave breadcrumbs whenever they left the house in order to help them find their way back home?

This is how I see life. The breadcrumbs we leave behind are the choices we make every day, the path we choose. For me, as a yoga teacher, Kundalini yoga is what will lead us back home, to total alignment with the universe.

This is true even when that path can seem faint or twisting. Even when it can change shape beneath our feet. We can always make a choice of how to act and react. If we act from a place of negativity, the path can become rocky and our gait unsteady. But if we can find balance and take control of our emotions, we can see the bigger picture of what our true path should be.

This is why I’ve titled my book, The Bigger Picture. It is about the bigger picture that Kundalini Yoga can teach us about our lives through the Seven Points of Power—the seven chakras. My first book, Yoga for Real Life, was an introduction to Kundalini yoga and my personal yoga journey. In this book, I share more personal stories but also the stunning breakthroughs I have witnessed in my students.

Over the past 15 years, I’ve had the privilege of teaching Kundalini yoga on retreats and training sessions in some of the most breathtaking regions of the globe. In the process, I’ve also witnessed remarkable spiritual transformations in my students. In this book, we will journey to seven countries to witness seven of those spiritual transformations across each of the seven chakras. Along the way, I will also share some of my own transformative moments. There are many points of view about which chakras correspond with which countries, and this is my personal take, based on my personal experiences. I hope that sharing them will inspire your own spiritual journey, as well.

Assuming they do inspire you, the good news is that you need not travel to any far-flug places to achieve transformation. The tools I recommend at the end of each chapter don’t require a passport, just an open heart. They include study questions, exercises, and recipes meant to help with balance and alignment.

How you utilize these sections is entirely up to you. Take five minutes to ponder a study question and acknowledge the insights you uncover; take fifteen to journal about it; or devote twenty to a question, an exercise, and maybe a smoothie. What I do strongly recommend, though, is to give yourself a bit of grace and a bit of space in which to do it. That is, commit to that time with intentionality. You’ll be amazed at the changes you begin to see!

So what exactly is a chakra?

In yoga, we believe there are seven main chakras, or energy centers, in the body. Each chakra corresponds to certain emotions and areas of the body. Your root chakra, for example, is at the base of your spine. It is associated with a sense of confidence and groundedness. If your chakras are open and aligned, you have a sense of physical and spiritual well-being. If they are blocked, the shadow (negative) emotions are in control. Through our yoga practice, we are able to identify the chakras that are blocked and work to open them. In Kundalini yoga, this is achieved through a combination of breathing exercises, chanting and traditional yoga poses.

For those who don’t know me, my own path began in Macedonia. I have a fast-paced, no-nonsense, sometimes quirky way of speaking. My accent peeks through in my words, and my mind is filled with so much information from my continued travels that when I try to get it all out, it sometimes comes out in a jumble, looking like a kaleidoscope. I embrace this! And I hope you will too. After all, there is a reason we love kaleidoscopes as children. We look inside and see a rainbow of magnificent colors and shapes constantly shifting and changing. To me, this is a metaphor for all of us. We all are rainbows full of colors and shapes, constantly shifting and changing – and this is what makes us beautiful.

This same quirkiness informs my writing – and in fact everything I do. I aim for lightness and joy whenever I can, whether it’s in my yoga practice or in the tone of this book. Don’t get me wrong, I take my practice and my spiritual journey very seriously – and I’m serious, too, about my students and how I guide them. But I’m also serious about NOT being too serious! I am serious about laughter and joy and lightness – and I hope some of that will come through in this book, too.

Do you really just talk to the universe like you’d talk to a friend?

“ You look like a yoga assassin in that bodysuit, killing your self-sabotaging habits, one breath, one posture, at a time.”

- John Pearson, Founder of Mr Feelgood.

The course of my life has taken me from an upbringing in the former Yugoslavia, where I studied to be a concert pianist, to Venice Beach, California and around the world, where I teach Kundalini yoga. Growing up, the piano was a rare outlet for me in a culture that valued discipline and sobriety over any expressions of joy. As an adult, I emigrated to the UK, where I eventually took up yoga to help me with stage fright.

Studying Kundalini was a revelation to me. The combination of breath work and movement and the sounds of the gongs and prayer bowls stirred something deep within me. Kundalini helped me balance my first chakra and feel safe on stage, and from there I went deeper. I had searched for spiritual connectedness my whole adult life, and Kundalini was where I found it. As I continued, I began to evolve my practice, discarding some of the regimentedness of traditional Kundalini, and incorporating more joy, as well as music, into my practice. Twenty-five years later, this is my approach, which I share with students all over the world.

My first book shared much of what I’d learned and taught over my first decade as an instructor. So why did I write a second book? It all came so organically that I’m not kidding when I say I have no idea! But truly, this is exactly how the spirit works. I hadn’t intended for there to be a second book, until an inner voice insisted I should write one. Then, of course, I had to figure out what to write about. I had no idea about that either, so I brought the question into my meditation.

All right, if I’m supposed to write this book, tell me what I’m supposed to write, I asked the universe. (You might be wondering, Do you really just talk to the universe like you’d talk to a friend? Yes! You have no better friend in the world.) I was in deep meditation at a retreat in Rishikesh, along the Ganges River. It was freezing cold, and I sat there on the floor, wrapped in blankets, enveloped in a calm quiet. Suddenly, just like that, it all came down to me, the idea for this book.

When we understand something, we have an opportunity to grow.

And when we grow, we become the greatest versions of ourselves.

Believe me, I know how this sounds—but we are all capable of channeling messages from the universe if we are open to receiving them. You can call it flow or intuition if that makes you more comfortable, but there’s no arguing with that experience of the divine spark. What many people struggle with is how to be open to receiving rather than trying to grasp or to control it. There’s a very big difference between receiving and controlling, and these two ways of life will come up a lot in this book. When our chakras are balanced, we receive well. But when they are out of balance, we will want to try to control in order to get what we want. But remember this: we were not made to get what we want; we were made to allow what we want to come right to us. By balancing the chakras and being in harmony with the universe, we become able to receive life’s messages and gifts.

From fear to stress to depression, most of us face some sort of block in our lives. These shadow emotions rule us when their corresponding chakras are closed off. And before we get too far long, I must make one thing perfectly clear: “chakra” is not a yoga term. It needs to be taken out of that box. We all have chakras, whether you want to believe in them or not, whether you practice yoga or have never done a downward dog in your life. They are not scary, weird, airy-fairy, or occult. The word simply means an energetic place point in the body. And we are all made of energy, translated into human form. Don’t close the book! Stay with me. I know this can sound a little ‘out there’ – but it’s true! We are made of energy in the form of flesh, bones, organs, cells and matter. On a purely atomic level, human beings are no more than a mass of charged particles held together by force. Energy is what we are! And the sooner we understand it, the better off we will be, because we will have a deeper, broader understanding of ourselves, why we feel certain ways, and how we can heal. We don’t have to do anything to ‘summon’ these chakras or activate them.

They already exist. We just need to understand them. When we understand something, we have an opportunity to grow. And when we grow, we become the greatest versions of ourselves. And that is awesome.

If you can start to see life like this – that it really is on your side, that it wants the best for you in mind, body and spirit – then you will know it is always leading you to become more of this true you. This is the goal of the universe: to help us remember who we really are, and in doing so to play its part as our everlasting helper, protector and guide. As you read these next chapters, I hope you will see, as I do, the playfulness and genius of a universal force that loves us. I call it God, you call it what you need to. But whatever you call it, know this: God is for us and “if God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).

Just one last note: You’ll notice I’ve chosen to dress in a black latex body suit for the photos in this book.

It’s my nod to one of my favorite movies, The Matrix, in which the lead character, Neo, fights to claim his sovereign power and become master of his own destiny. Let me tell you, doing yoga in a tight latex outfit is not easy—but that’s the point! I wear the suit to remind myself that even within the limitations of our own bodies, our potential is infinite. We long to be one with the vastness of the universe, but we’re constrained by our human forms. But even when I am bound in something restrictive, I can still stretch and expand. We are all faced with our limitations daily—whether it’s our physical abilities or our skill levels, or even our life circumstances. But still, our minds can allow us to stretch beyond these limitations, and to open ourselves to what the universe has to offer.

A friend of mine saw the photos and interpreted my outfit a bit differently. “You look like a yoga assassin in that bodysuit,” he said, “killing your self-sabotaging habits, one breath, one posture, at a time.” Oh, did I love that symbolism, too! We are all at war with something in our lives, and Kundalini is truly the way we can overcome it—one breath, one posture at a time.

So, let’s begin.

Chapter 1 -

Taking the Leap from Fear to Joy Crete’s energy is undeniable. The largest of the Greek islands, it is the site of the first great European civilization – the Minoan – and is famous for its coastal beauty. For millennia, it has been a melting pot of cultures from Europe, Asia and Africa, resulting in a truly unique energy. This is one of the reasons I choose it as a location for some of my retreats and teacher trainings. The energy there is so intense that even photos of it strike a chord in the soul. That crisp, dazzling cobalt blue water against the stark white architecture—bold! Whether negative or positive, emotions are heightened on Crete. Perhaps this is the reason we feel ourselves expand here. As the Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis puts it: “The mystery of Crete runs deep. Whoever sets foot on this island senses a mysterious force coursing warmly and beneficently through their veins, sensing their soul beginning to grow.”

It was a sunny June afternoon when my students arrived in Crete to begin my teacher training course. Over the next three-and-a-half weeks we would all be staying in a quaint hotel in Frangokastello. Located on the southern shore of the island, the village is flanked by the clear blue Mediterranean to the south and the striking Lefka Ori mountains to the north. It is quite sparsely populated and known mainly for the ancient Venetian castle for which it is named. Between the special magic of this ancient ruin and the raw nature of the surrounding area, the entire place exudes a beautiful energy that I hoped my students would absorb.

In registering for my course, my students had committed to spending the next month completing the 200 hours of training required to become a certified Kundalini instructor. Not all intended to become teachers, but each of them had enrolled to immerse themselves in an intensive yoga experience. These retreats are always emotional; the concentrated daily practice brings up issues for just about everyone. But emotions started early this time. For one student, it was as soon as she’d checked in. Let’s travel back to the moment I met Priya…

“I need to talk to Maya right away!” I overheard from outside the hotel lobby. We were in the most idyllic setting and had only just arrived. I could not imagine what could be wrong. As I walked in, Priya made a beeline for me.

“Maya, I can’t be on the second floor,” Priya insisted. “I have vertigo and can’t climb the stairs. ”She stared at me with a look that was a mix of desperation and hero-worship, as if I were her guru and savior. I honestly worried she was going to bow. In her hands, she clutched a crystal, seeming to hold on to it for dear life. Oh help. Mayday!

I could see Priya was genuinely upset – and she was sure the stairs were her problem. But it was clear to me that her real issue was a blocked first chakra. Of course, vertigo can be a genuine concern, but Priya’s real problem was her complete lack of self-confidence. The first, or root chakra, is your foundation, responsible for your sense of security and groundedness. It sits at the base of the spine, where the Kundalini energy lies, coiled like a serpent. As the root chakra is awakened, the Kundalini energy uncoils and rises higher through each of the other chakras in the process of spiritual awakening. If the chakra is open, we feel safe and confident. Blockages in the root chakra, on the other hand, manifest as anxiety, fear or addiction, and with physical problems with the colon, bladder, low back or feet.

If Priya’s root chakra was blocked, no wonder she couldn’t step off the first floor! She didn’t trust herself to be able to face her fears. The way she looked to me and her crystals for salvation just showed her disbelief in her own power. But it is a real danger to give our power away to others. It can set up so many different kinds of unhealthy relationship dynamics, from codependent to even abusive.

Now, it’s not the mind’s fault (or in this case, not Priya’s mind’s fault) that it can get stuck like this on certain beliefs. This mental conditioning is how we learn, and most of the time it’s useful. But not everything we learn is good for us. One of the challenges we face is that, as we learn, we’re not always taught to think outside the box. In fact, often we are more encouraged to do what everybody else does, instead of doing what we really feel is right for us. Our fears take over—fear of failure, fear of ridicule, fear of isolation.

Of course, this is not to say that we should never feel fear. It can be a very powerful indicator for which direction we need to take. But often times fear can overpower us, and we become paralyzed by it instead of empowered. The mind begins to buy into the idea that certain concepts and conditions must be true because we believe them, when in reality they are only true because we believe them. This takes us away from our core being. And this is where Kundalini can be so powerful. It comes to wipe out all that doesn’t belong to us in order to reveal what’s really there: the soul. Michelangelo once said, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” What a magnificent image. We are all angels longing to be set free, and the chakras are here to help us.

Priya needed to set herself free. Despite what she thought, I didn’t have anything she didn’t have, except the belief that I had my own power, and a clearing of energy that allowed me to believe. Climbing those stairs was going to be Priya’s first step—pun intended! I just had to show her she was capable. Might as well take advantage of the newfound pedestal she’s placed me on, I thought, and use it for good.

“Priya, take my hands. I’m going to walk up the stairs with you,” I told her.

“No, Maya, I can’t! Please, I can’t,” she yelped.

Of course she could, I told her, and slowly, taking my hands and chanting a mantra with me, she started to walk up the stairs. “Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru, Wahe Jio,” we chanted. The mantra is meant to release all fears, to release one’s past. It is a chant of spiritual ecstasy, a celebration of the soul’s movement from darkness to light.

Priya understood the Punjabi words, so it was especially resonant for her. But our bodies can understand the meaning of a mantra even when we do not speak the language. There is something in our DNA that understands the code. The repetition and focus, the sound vibrations, they work together in a way that puts your mind and body in a different space and stops the chatter. The frequency takes over and you’re completely in a different vibration. It’s a very powerful tool, and one I encourage everyone to try. And in

fact, you can use any words that are meaningful to you. If you subscribe to another religious tradition, feel free to borrow words from those prayers. Whatever resonates with you.

Priya was ascending step-by-step, chanting the mantra for a few seconds, then falling apart again, protesting that she could climb no more. Priya truly believed she wasn’t capable of climbing those stairs, even as she was climbing them! Our minds are so powerful sometimes, they actually believe what they think! When we got to the top of the stairs, everyone was cheering—Priya was astounded.

“Maya, oh my god! I can’t believe I just did that! I’m so glad I’m here,” she said. I was so proud of Priya for overcoming this incredible hurdle on her very first day of our retreat. And more than that, for her courage to be so vulnerable and to trust me with that vulnerability. In doing so, she had transformed her fear into courage; she had come through the darkness into the light.

Let me explain this a little more. Imagine you have a bucket of dirty water. That dirty water represents your fear. Now put a hose of water in that bucket and watch as the clean water slowly starts to mix in with

I am powerful I am grounded I am safe

the dirty water, and the dirty water begins to dissipate. This is how the Spirit works. It works with our buckets and whatever is in them, cleaning them and filling them from the bottom up.

When Priya went up those stairs, a little clean water went into her bucket. We are not always responsible for what’s in our dirty buckets. Of course our decisions have an impact, but so much of that water comes from when we are children and we are unaware of what we are picking up. But when we are old enough to know we have choices, this is when we can stick that hose in and really start cleaning.

Priya was starting to see that she didn’t need me to clean her bucket! She just needed help learning how to do it herself. Sometimes we can grab onto someone else’s faith and let them pull us up, but we must not depend on that person as our power. No one belongs on a pedestal. We humans are just that: human. We are fallible, we make mistakes, we fall. And when we are put above others, we are expected to be perfect, and this will always lead to disappointment!

“I am powerful, and I am grounded in my power.” That is the sound of a healthy first chakra.

Priya was learning.

Now that Priya was safe and sound on the second floor, I took the opportunity to meet my other students.

Two young women really stood out to me, Melanie and Eva. Melanie was from Scotland and was only16 years old. She had been watching my yoga videos for years and told her mom she wanted to take a year off from school to study Kundalini. Impressive. That’s a strong determination.

“ I am powerful, and I am grounded in my power.”

Eva was from Holland and she was 19 years old. She had never done yoga before except once with her mom on one of my retreats. After that, she decided she wanted to do a teacher training course and had worked for two years to save enough money to be able to come. Again, impressive.

These two had a real sense of themselves, a confidence that is often the result of a secure and happy upbringing. A strong foundation leads to a strong first chakra – and vice versa! Not all of us are gifted these stable beginnings, however – and those of us whose early lives have been less grounded have to work on building a strong foundation for ourselves as adults. It’s true for many of us, and it’s good to also remember that everyone has their own areas of imbalance and their own work to do. The first chakra was Priya’s struggle; for Melanie and Eva, it was simply something else.

Over the next ten days, everyone devoted themselves to the training, and things ran smoothly. But I find that it’s often about a week and a half into my trainings that things start to break down a bit. People can only be on their best behavior for so long before they start to relax, and emotional triggers start to win out. Right on schedule, that’s exactly what happened on Day 10.

I was so excited to take my students to Frangokastello Castle, where I was going to lead a special chanting session: the sadhana – our morning prayer. What could be more beautiful? The castle is a magical place, built in the 14th century by Venetians, and absolutely gorgeous. Within the walls of the simple stone fortress are countless human stories, including the story of a legendary historic battle in 1828, during the Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire. Local tradition has it that on the anniversary of the battle, the ghosts of the soldiers killed march towards the fortress at dawn. They are known locally as Drousolites or ‘dew men’, named for the time of day they appear. I have never seen these shadowy figures – but whether they are spirits or simply the effect of meteorological conditions, the castle is a very special place. We had actually chanted there earlier in the week, but like I said, there’s something about Day 10 when people start to get comfortable.

I stepped away from the group for five minutes to prepare for the session. And of course, when the cat’s away, the mice will play! In this case, my little mice were Susan and Stuart. Susan was in her mid-forties and newly divorced. Stuart was a former London banker, a charismatic guy who decided to channel his intellectual energy into yoga after retiring. On this day, as he and Susan stood around the fortress grounds waiting to begin, his intellectual curiosity about the history of Frangokastello set off a chain of events he could not have seen coming. It began innocently enough, when Susan mentioned she wasn’t feeling well.

“What’s wrong?” Stuart asked.

“I don’t know. It’s like I have a really bad feeling inside,” she said “Well, you know what happened here at this site, don’t you?”

The first, or root chakra, is your foundation, responsible for your sense of security and groundedness.

“No, what?”

“There was a huge battle here where hundreds of people were massacred,” Stuart said.

“What! Oh my god, when?” Susan asked.

“I don’t know, eighteen-twenty-something.”

“Were they really massacred?!” Susan pressed.

“That’s what I read,” said Stuart. “It also said shadows of the soldiers march towards the fortress on the anniversary.”

“Stuart, stop.”

“I’m not joking, that’s what it said.”

“Seriously, I don’t feel well. I think we should go tell the others,” said Susan.

And that’s when it all snowballed. In no time flat, Susan had filled everyone in on the Frangokastello massacre and created total chaos.

“Who comes out?” one student, Tea, asked.

“The ghosts of the soldiers!” said Susan.

“Oh my god!” said Tea, picking up on the anxious energy.

“I really don’t feel well, you guys,” said Susan. “I feel like they’re all over me!”

Suddenly Tea and two other students, Annie and Sarah, felt unwell too.

“I was feeling kind of weird, too,” said Tea. “Do you think that’s what it is?”

“I don’t think we should be here!” said Annie.

By the time I arrived, two of them were physically shaking, and at least half the students had worked themselves into a total state. Priya, who I knew was sensitive to fear, was one of those struggling.

Stuart and the others were trying to talk some calm back into them.

Now, I did not doubt for one moment that they were feeling what they were feeling. However, they were in the midst of an avalanche of fear and it was picking up speed at every turn. What had started as a picture-perfect day turned into a nightmare in under an hour.

“Everyone, please let’s try to relax,” I said. “Everything is fine, you’re just—” “Everything is not fine!” Susan cut me off.

“Susan, take my hands and breathe with me,” I said.

Just as I had helped Priya, Susan was now going to need assistance in getting through the fear that she allowed in. And guess who was in the corner, not getting involved at all? That’s correct! Melanie and Eva, my teenagers. They were as calm as could be. Why? Not because they were better or braver than anyone else, but because they had a strong first chakra. Their foundation was intact.

I called everyone into a circle and explained: “What we study here is yoga for real life. We do Kundalini to make our nervous systems strong, so that nothing can shake us. We have to become the rock. The rock sits there for thousands of years and lets nothing shake it. Let us try to be the rock. There are challenges in life and there always will be. Life is full of them. If you start giving energy to the darkness, this is what you will experience. What kind of teachers will we make if we are not grounded in our own energy? How quickly we can lose our foundation. When we don’t have a strong foundation, any energy we don’t agree with can knock us out of alignment. Pick which wolf you want to feed. Choose which energy you will give your attention to.”

I could see they were pensive. Their minds had been conditioned to react in fear, and they were trying to decide whether to let in this new information or shut it down to stay “safe.” As I watched them thinking it through, I received a very strong message, a voice from the unseen world. ‘Leap into the sea,’ it told me.

Now, I can be impulsive, but even for me this was out of character! However, I’ve learned to trust such inspirations and to have faith that they operate for my good. Simply talking to my students was having little effect – perhaps something more drastic was needed. Leaving the cluster of anxious students where they stood, I ran like a child down the beach and into the Mediterranean with all my clothes on. The cold water was exhilarating, washing away any heavy thoughts and filling me with pure delight. There was a shocked moment among my students, but when they saw the light emanating from my every cell, they all jumped in after me. Talk about jumping for joy!

“ Be ye like a child that you may enter the kingdom of heaven.”

“Be ye like a child that you may enter the kingdom of heaven.” In no time, we were splashing and laughing and dunking and playing; all the negativity was falling away. We started chanting, “Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru, Wahe Jio” just as I had with Priya earlier. It is a perfect mantra for cutting through the mental noise any time anxiety or fear overcomes you. And lo and behold, when we exited the sea we were reborn, grounded and secure. My impulsive act following divine inspiration had led us from fear and anxiety back to ourselves.

I realize we don’t all have the Mediterranean in our backyards for when times get tough. A cold shower will do the same thing! When we feel out of control, when our emotions are getting the better of us, sometimes the shock of cold water is just the thing to allow our minds to reset. As for not allowing in the fear to begin with, building a strong foundation, a strong first chakra, is the key.

In these stories and those to come, something I hope to convey is that we all have work to do on ourselves, and that includes me. Yoga has helped me attain greater peace, but it’s after many years of work, and I still continue to work at it every day. A blocked root chakra was an early issue that I personally faced and had to unravel.

For me, this manifested when I first moved to London in my early twenties. I was alone in a big foreign city, and I was often overcome by fear and anxiety. Coming to terms with it took me a long time, and the mantra “Let Go, Let God” is the one that helped carry me through. It’s the idea of receiving rather than grasping, of having faith, of having flow. It took me time to get there, but now it’s not only imprinted on my soul—it’s literally imprinted on my body. On the back of my right forearm I have a tattoo that reads “Let Go,” and on the left, “Let God.” Growing up in post-communist Macedonia, we were atheist and quite poor. I learned early in life that in order to survive I would have to rely on myself alone. My parents couldn’t help me financially and there was no higher power—no God—I could turn to in a spiritual time of need. These were the messages conveyed. At the same time, I also always felt disconnected from my Slavic culture. Life there felt oppressive,

and I couldn’t wait to leave home as soon as I was old enough. (I’ve since returned and made peace with my home country, but that is another story.)

I knew I’d have to work incredibly hard to be able to leave Macedonia. I realized that the piano, which I had loved as a child, could be my ticket out. I became driven to play better and better, working tirelessly to improve. Along the way, I lost the joy of it, but still I pushed myself harder to succeed—to get out—and it won me a scholarship to London’s Royal College of Music.

I arrived in London in my early twenties, completely exhilarated, but also terrified. I had no one to rely on but myself—or that’s how I felt. Every day was a hustle, as I tried to balance school with any odd job that would earn me money. The fear propelled me, but it also left little room for joy. Slowly, I gained my footing. I played piano in fancy department stores and nightclubs around town. I even boldly lied my way through a job interview with a modeling agency, got hired, and faked my way through enough photo shoots and runway shows that I became a bonafide model.

It was in those early days that I met Camila, who was a model too, and also an actress. We became fast friends and roommates soon after. We somehow landed a penthouse apartment in the fanciest part of London for a rent far lower than market value. We had practically no furniture, save for a piano someone had gifted us. As low as the rent was, we still struggled to make it every month. We never knew if or when one of us would get paid, but somehow we scraped by.

I worked whenever I could, always pushing, always in survival mode. I had little ability to let go and enjoy my life, to appreciate all the doors that were slowly opening up to me. I was surviving but not yet thriv-

ing. I had no ability to see outside myself to the fact that I wasn’t on my own, that I had friends, that I had Camilla I could depend on—and that I had God. During this time, Camilla and I fell in with a group of friends who were also in fashion and film. They were into yoga, and would rotate hosting weekly sound baths and yoga sessions in their homes. It might not sound so unconventional today, but thirty years ago these pastimes were considered pretty far-out. My mother accused me regularly of being in a secta—a cult! But Camilla and I really got into it and would go every week, and I started learning how to ‘let go’ in my meditation. I realized it actually came quite easily to me, having already experienced that meditative “flow” state in my piano practice, but never having the name for it before.

Sitting in a yoga session, my mind slowly started opening up to another way of thinking and of living. My conversion was very slow—life had made me quite stubborn and cynical! But the more I went, the more I began to see the evidence of God in my life, and the more I was able to give up some of my control to my faith. My hard work had taken me all the way from Macedonia to London, to a prestigious Masters program and even a modeling career; Camilla and I had a penthouse apartment in an impossibly posh part of town; And around this time, I’d begun to meet people who had connections to some of the highest echelons of London society. (I’d somehow even ended up at a dinner at Buckingham Palace!) Certainly, hard work and discipline had been essential in getting me there, but the more I looked at my life, the more I could see a greater spirit at work, too! I was starting to learn that I could rely on that force, that I could open my chakras and be guided—just allow it. I could give God my troubles and let Him take care of me.

The more I sat in that knowledge the more I was able to move from fear to joy.

I’ve tried to let that wisdom guide my life since I discovered it, to balance my hard work and discipline with a knowledge that there’s a higher power looking out for me, as well. To be in a state of flow. To let go, and let God. By the time I got the tattoo, I had been living with the mantra so long I didn’t really need a reminder to myself. But I loved the idea that I could impart the message to others. That’s why the words on my arms face outward. When I stand in prayer pose, my students can see the message.

It’s a mantra with its roots in yoga, but it’s been adopted by many other groups, including those in the twelve-step community. That actually led to a funny first reaction from many of my Instagram followers when I posted a picture of it. Upon seeing the picture they started writing the most encouraging messages of “Well done, Maya!” and so on. I appreciated the positivity, but something about their reactions seemed off to me. I came home and asked my teenage kids about it, and they got it right away. “They think you’re in AA, Mom!” they explained, and we all had a good chuckle about the misunderstanding. Of course, I have immense respect for twelve-step programs and for those who commit to following them. I feel grateful that I never had to face that battle in my life, but I’ve worked with many who have. “Let Go, Let God” is but one of many overlaps in philosophy between yoga and such recovery programs, which are quite complimentary to one another. “Let Go, Let God” has much to teach many.

The Bigger Picture: Imagine building a second storey on your home.

It must have a strong, solid foundation. This way, you feel safe and secure that the second storey will be just as strong as the first.

When we feel solid within ourselves, wellness, pleasure, abundance and joy naturally follow. These are the glad tidings brought by a well-balanced first chakra.

However, many of us don’t have a grounded root chakra, and thus no solid foundation. This can be caused by many things, such as a traumatic or rocky childhood, financial challenges or loss of home or a parent. Often in response we try to find our safety and security in material things - money, houses – or in our relationships - but all of these things can be gone in an instant. What won’t be gone, however, is the superpower within us. Call it what you will – God, the Spirit, the soul - the most important thing is to recognize is that it’s within us and it’s what sustains us.

Exercises for the First Chakra: Following are four exercises that I recommend to help open the first chakra. Ideally, they’re meant to be accompanied by music that I’ve composed especially for each exercise, though it’s not essential. To see video demonstrations of all of my exercises with the musical accompaniment, please visit my website, mayafiennes.com.

Q. When have you allowed your foundation to be cracked or broken? Explain here.

Q. Would things have been different if your foundation was strong and immovable?

What would that have looked like? Describe here.

1. Standing up, bring the hands up and push forward and back as if to say, “back off!” This is pushing away all addictions to fear and negative thoughts. You can do this regularly for 3-5 minutes.

3.Walk barefoot on the sand or the grass for a few minutes. Relax the eyes and gaze in front of you with a slight smile and lose yourself in the feeling of gratitude, noticing the beauty of nature and loving everything around you.

2. Make a fist with both of your hands and punch the air, just like boxing. Continue for 2–3 minutes.

4. Sit down and close your eyes and try to meditate 5-20 minutes. This is the best way to ground yourself. Mother Earth will take away all your worries and give you safety. Taking a few minutes to enjoy this integration will make a big difference.

Feed Your Chakra Every chakra color has a unique vibration, and one way to tap into that vibrational frequency is through food. For the root chakra, that color is red. Try connecting with red’s unique frequency through these delicious and healthful recipes.

Juice: Blend or juice the following fruits and vegetables in whatever proportions you like for a rosy-hued drink that is full of essential nutrients: Beetroot, apple, spinach, lemon and parsley Recipe: Eggplant Parmesan Time: 40 minutes Yield: 2 servings Ingredients: 1 eggplant 1 shallot 4 garlic cloves 1 lemon 1 ounce fresh basil (or any fresh herb you like) 1 ounce vegan shredded mozzarella cheese (real cheese is fine if you prefer) ¼ cup panko breadcrumbs 2 teaspoon herb seasoning or just salt and pepper 14.5 ounces fire roasted diced tomatoes 1 cup couscous

Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F 2. Trim the eggplant and cut lengthwise into 4 planks. Place on a baking sheet and mix with 1 tablespoon olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Bake until lightly browned on each side, flipping halfway through, 15–20 minutes.

3. Peel and mince the shallot and garlic. Zest and halve the lemon; juice one half and cut the other half into wedges. Pick and tear the basil leaves. Add just half the minced garlic, mozzarella, breadcrumbs, and 2 teaspoons olive oil to a small bowl. Toss to combine.

4. Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the minced shallot, remaining minced garlic and herb seasoning. Cook until fragrant, 2–3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, ¼ teaspoon salt, and a pinch of pepper, and reduce heat to a medium-low. Simmer until slightly thickened, 5–7 minutes.

5. Add 1 ¼ cups water and a pinch of salt to a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the couscous, reduce heat to low, cover and cook until water is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, just half the torn basil, 2 teaspoons olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir the lemon basil couscous to combine.

6. Remove the baked eggplant from the oven and top with garlicky tomato sauce followed by the breadcrumb mixture. Return to the oven and bake until breadcrumbs are golden brown, 4–6 minutes.

7.Divide the lemon basil couscous between 2 bowls and top with eggplant parmesan.

Sprinkle with the remaining torn basil and serve with lemon wedges.

Renowned yoga instructor Maya Fiennes pioneer of the New – new thinking, new feeling and new ways of sharing, invites you to journey from the Maldives to Mexico, Kathmandu to Kenya with insights from her own experiences toward enlightenment – and the bumps along the way. Her enthusiasm and expertise are irresistible, as she guides us through each chakra using a mixture of breathwork, meditation, dance and yoga.

About the author : - ‘The Nigella of relaxation’ - The Sunday Time - Acclaimed author of Yoga for Real Life, a best seller translated into 8 languages.

- Internationally renowned concert pianist and composer.

Maya will take you beyond Maya - Deepak Chopra

The world is ready for this!

- Daily Mail