Kundalini Yoga with Martha McAlpine – Time to Heal
Martha Wallace McAlpine 0:03
Which means that like ordinary day to day also that life is an experience of fearlessly unsealing that I could go out and use myself. Yeah, and not keep myself as very precious. Oh my gosh, what if? What if I go for a run and I sprained my ankle, I can come back and I can find it.
Welcome to time to heal a podcast about hope and healing. I’m your host, Emily Iannuzzelli. And today I’m talking to Martha Wallace McAlpin about Kundalini Yoga. I first met Martha back in November of 2018. When I did an in person Kundalini yoga class with her. It changed my life. It was unlike any other yoga class that I had ever taken, it was much more active. I just felt like vibrant and buzzing afterwards. So I wanted to bring her on the podcast so that we could talk a little bit more about what makes Kundalini Yoga special. And hear about her story in finding it and becoming wise and wonderful teacher. I have to apologize in advance. The audio is not up to my standards for this episode. But I promised you that the episode is worth listening to. Although if you’re particularly sensitive, you may want to take advantage of the fact that we have transcripts of all of the episodes on the website time to heal podcast.wordpress.com and join. Now begin Can you just introduce yourself
to start off with? Okay. So I am Martha Wallace McAlpine. I was born and raised in Wisconsin, but my parents, just two years before that returned from nine year on the Nicaraguan coast. The father was physician, the only physician for the miska Indians for their for 40 miles. And he built the hospital like literally built the building, built the infrastructure to train the nurses created a little medical school for the kids that were interested in involved to have subsequently grown up and gone on. And then one of those students treated him for prostate cancer as he was aging, which is amazing. But all that to say, growing up in Wisconsin, entailed Nicaraguan refugees passing through our house, medical students coming in and out from different sites. It can’t be overstated, that the world really was very large. For me, and I have four older sisters, and they were always in Nicaragua. And when he came to the states with my dad, and then they stayed for college, and my dad and my mom and I went, and I had Middle School in Saudi Arabia and high school in Swaziland in southern Africa, and then came back for university. And so I think it’s this wonderful combination of my father being a physician in direct contact with the physical body, and very, very respectful, always looking for how, how can I treat the body most lightly, and just keep your company so that it will heal itself? He looked for the simplest solution that people had control over the cells for oral rehydration, if it’s worked on infant mortality, and so if children under five were dehydrated, out of vomiting, diarrhea, the UNICEF provided package and sugars and salts that you could put in water. And then it’s like, well, what if we just measured that out, like salt and sugar with the cap from a coke bottle? And they wouldn’t have to buy these pack? How can we make it as accessible as give people as much agency as we can so that we can prevent people needing medical care, because they know how to care for himself. And he created a department of preventive medicine University, and the things that that was really embedded in me more deeply than I realized. And it’s very much a part of the way that I’m interested in relating to the physical lining now. And my mother went to so she raised all of us. Amazing. And then as I was going to university, she went to seminary, and so we were really cool. And commiserate and write papers together, and she made Dean’s list and I didn’t. And so her interest was becoming spiritual director helping people find their way through prayer to themselves, and the way in which they find themselves in relation to their source. I can’t imagine a better preparation for the work that I do in this intersection of my parents and how involved they were in, in the communities that they were leading and that they were studying.
Unknown Speaker 5:36
Yeah, wow,
Emily Iannuzzelli 5:38
are they still living your parents?
Martha Wallace McAlpine 5:41
My father died three years ago, and my mother is alive. And it’s amazing that she can’t she she got an infection of the central nervous system or spine in her brain were compromised by bacteria. And she suffered two strokes, and is now back at it, you know, and carrying her medicine ball up and down the stairs to build the strength of her bones. And I know that so much of that constitution of hers is hours of daily practice. A real strong connection to that, which makes her I know, that’s a part of why she’s well. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 6:24
Yeah.
Emily Iannuzzelli 6:26
Wow. Oh, my gosh,
Martha Wallace McAlpine 6:28
what am I, from my studies, I I’m very, very glad because I got the potentially the most expensive yoga teacher training that you could come up with. Because I, I completed my degree from Princeton, in comparative literature. We know that that is the way in which I approach and I read the punish shots. And I read the Vedas. And I read the sutras. And I read the commentaries. And I read modern neuroscience. And I read modern psychology. And the confluence of that information is not necessarily easy. But the training in how one text speaks to another over time. And over space. We are creating this new narrative, understanding ourselves. And I know that my ability, my training, and reading, understanding, listening to a text that plays out every time I teach, and then my master’s degree was from Harvard School of Education. And I’ve created my own path to that graduate program, because you could go into any of the other graduate programs. So I was in the School of Divinity School of Design and the School of Government and the law school to understand how is it that we created a citizen. And so the best way I know to respond to that is to create a daily practice that makes me a better citizen. This isn’t just for me, this is something I’m doing, to participate more fully, in who we are to be together.
Emily Iannuzzelli 8:19
That’s amazing. That’s amazing. And having done your yoga classes, like that is so cool to hear about that, because I feel like it is really special. And it’s so intentional, and every movement and all the words that you say are so thoughtful and, and I can, like I see, like the origins and that’s where I come like, oh, okay, I just have to go and do all that stuff. So, um, for listeners who aren’t aware of what Kundalini Yoga is, can you just give a brief description?
Martha Wallace McAlpine 9:03
Until I try to answer this properly, I tend to back out and and just for a second, say, let’s define yoga. Great, guys. If we don’t, some of us are making an assumption that yoga fits into a strip mall and it involves spandex and he and that that’s kind of the extent of Western Yoga is the downward facing dog in the hot classes, increasing your flexibility and chill, let’s back out and call that practice. That can be our asana practice. And then yoga for others is an ancient practice of reconnecting ourselves to the very source which creates both the context we live in the seasons, the daylight The food we eat the DNA within ourselves the structure of our mitochondria. And the way in which we have, unintentionally created a barrier, isolating ourselves as an individual from the source which creates it. And Yoga is a means of removing that separation. So let’s call that Swamiji. reunion. So what we can do is put that back together and strip out the word yoga and say, there are practices that create reunification. So yoga with a little Viper creates yoga with a big one. But there are practices that create reunification that remind you of how whole you are, and how magnificent this life. So creative meanie can done the same way we can think about Kundalini, Kundalini practice Kundalini practice, budget and change your trademarked that phrase. And so it became a type or style or brand. And that’s not at all what I’m talking about. Because I am not trained in that school. I’m trained in the community that comes underneath the umbrella of culture, comes through the Vedas, and clearly needs a class, we also have Kundalini energy. Increasingly, the energy is the most refined, creative essence of who you are. And so we want to do practices and techniques that give us access to our most yoga, the practice creates yoga and clinical practice, the technique, ch, Kundalini, the energy, and the being and the the activation of who we are made to be. Does that make sense? Yeah. Yeah, no, that’s
Emily Iannuzzelli 12:24
a really beautiful way to think about it. And also helpful to take a step back. You know, it’s really been in doing your classes that I’ve understood that, like, not in a verbal way, but just like in a feeling way. I was very much like into CrossFit for a long time. And I remember a couple years ago, I was visiting my brother in law and his partner in Durham, and there was a CrossFit box. And it was right next to a yoga studio. And my brother in law’s partner invited me to do a yoga class with him there. And so I was in the yoga class, but I could hear the CrossFit class next door. And, and I didn’t understand, like, I just didn’t understand yoga at that point at all. Like I thought it was just, you know, to be more flexible, and, you know, to work out to like a way to lose weight. And I was already very flexible. And so it didn’t, I didn’t understand the depth of it. And so I just remember being in this class, like hearing the CrossFit class next door, and then we were doing like in the Yoga has, we’re working on handstands and I remember asking the teacher, I was like, what’s the goal of this? Like, are we the goal to do it for 30 seconds, like is the goal to do, you know, to hold it for as long as you can until your arms fall off? Because at the same time, I was also working on doing like, handstand walks in CrossFit, which is a similar movement, but just for a totally different reason. And I remember this teacher kind of looked at me funny, and she was like, this isn’t really a goal oriented activity. I stopped, I was like, Oh, okay.
Martha Wallace McAlpine 14:10
You know, and a handstand in an asset classes is such a tremendous preparation, as an introduction to your own stability, as an introduction to your own tower, as an inversion of your address to turn yourself upside down as a means of moving forward through something that might be causing you fear, giving you a sense of confidence. Often is so important as a preparation for living. So I would have said, yes, there is totally a point to what we’re doing. And we’re absolutely turning you upside down or showing that you’re capable of living that way as well. Because you will be turned upside down at times in your life, and it will feel like you don’t have the capacity but little at a time you really have the capacity to To do nearly anything you choose, let’s begin. Well, I love that that’s,
Emily Iannuzzelli 15:06
that’s a better answer. But I think I think too, like we hear the things we need to hear at the time. And I think at that time, that’s what I needed to hear to kind of break up in my under misunderstanding and realize maybe there’s something else other than just, you know, trying to go at this as hard as you can just for the sake of achievement.
Martha Wallace McAlpine 15:33
Absolutely, no. I think that’s that’s a really stupid thing to say that we do here. We need to do it this time. And then, and then ideally, and happily, we often hear the next thing we need to hear along the way. Yeah. So I can just imagine, I came in. I began doing Asana on the very last day of university, and I had spent four years on the track team as a 10 pathway, heptathlete, and my body was so beaten up, jumping, running, throwing training, and I, I just happened into a class and I left feeling for the first this is how it feels to be at peace in my body. And I was, I was just mystified. I had always been fighting my body, I had an eating disorder at the same time that I was training for competition, and it was just an ongoing battle. And to suddenly be at peace in my body was a revelation.
Unknown Speaker 16:48
Yeah,
Emily Iannuzzelli 16:50
yeah, it’s a much gentler way of Yeah, of being. Um, so. So okay, so how did you get in teaching yoga, and so if you did your first class, your last day of university, then then what happened.
Martha Wallace McAlpine 17:14
And when I practiced for a while on my own, I would get up at 530, I don’t have a reason. And I got a Rodney video from the grocery store. And I would, I don’t know what compelled me, but I would get up at 530 and play that, everyone. And it was a VHS tape, you know, and I played it till it’s just that all wobbly and worn out. All I knew is it just, it was a compulsion. And then I went to the university bookstore and bought the Gita and about the sutras. And I sat on the steps outside the door, and I remember sitting with them on my lap, and just stroking the cover of this stack of books thinking, there’s something as soon as I read the nothing will be the same. And I, you know, I couldn’t even imagine how, how spot on that was, at the time, and, and I studied individually, and I got an individual teacher. And then I never had a class, I was never in a yoga class setting for maybe six years. Practice. I didn’t know how you could do that as a group. And I think that that’s a very different template for me, because I was always listening to me. And I was always working with one on one. And, and so the experience was always very personal. versus going into a studio where it’s fairly impersonal. And you’re doing as a teacher, you’re doing the best to meet the needs of the room. But nonetheless, you are teaching that many people at one time. Yeah, and it is such a personal thing. And so, I really think that those first six years were important for me to feel it out to talk it out and really be very aware of this is changing the fabric of who I am. Yeah,
Emily Iannuzzelli 19:15
yeah, no, that’s so interesting, too. I mean, I feel like a lot of times, like you’ll say, like, you’re not behind, or, you know, there’s no, like, do, like, you’ll say things that indicate that and I love that. Like, I love that because sometimes I’ll beat myself up and be like, Oh, I didn’t do it today. And then I’ll just like, think of your voice in my head saying like, you’re not behind and I’m like, okay, okay, okay. But like, even when you’re in the class, like a group class as a participant, there’s this like social impulse to look around and see like, Am I doing this right? Is this whatever else is doing? And that’s kind of like a beautiful thing. I guess about being stuck at home, and not have Having a studio to go to like during this pandemic time is maybe like that same experience that you had is communicating to people who follow you.
Martha Wallace McAlpine 20:11
Right. And I think I’ve always had my own practice, that perhaps it’s also just a feature of how I learned, some of us learns really well, in a group setting, and who motivates us. And that’s tremendous and important. And I know that that group of people is really suffering with this kind of separation, I know that I work very well, under my own direction. And so I think part of that is being raised overseas, and not having the opportunity that I had to be my own best friend and my own company. And my parents fostered this. And, and so I’m very committed to having the book open next week and trying to figure out how one thing fits to the next thing. I feel very comfortable with that. And I know that that isn’t how everybody goes. And so it’s always trying to not teach to what I’m comfortable with. But teach from my experience, into the possibility of ways that I don’t function so that everybody can be included. To Torah style, yoga is done, everybody’s facing each other. So you’re, you’re just directly in contact with community and seeing each other intentionally. And then communion is typically done with the eyes closed, which I absolutely adore. I am in my own experience. And even in group settings, you can hear everyone but still your eyes are closed. And there’s a freedom there, I’m not inhibited by some of the gestures are really quite peculiar. In other words, we may be flapping your arms or raising your hands over our head over and over. It’s good to be able to close your eyes and simply be on the interior of that experience. And so often, we’re on the exterior. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 22:06
Yeah. Um,
Emily Iannuzzelli 22:08
how do you think about healing in terms of Kundalini? Or do you think about it in, in broader terms?
Martha Wallace McAlpine 22:20
So again, I would, I would back out and say that, from an AI or Vedic perspective, Chandra, if we back a step further tenza, you could imagine is this great umbrella insurance, the way in which we relate to our power, the way in which we invest our money, or make a decision or are ruled by our habits. Control oversees the way in which we use our power to live our life. We think there is there two sisters science. And there’s yoga and yoga in the traditional conflict. Understanding is your relationship to your mind. You use the body to access mind, you know, when our body is tight, and then having been sitting on an airplane, our brain feels like it’s been stuck in a box, you know, it’s possible. And if we’ve been out for a good walk, and maybe we’ve had a good stretch afterwards, you’re we’ve been mobile and we feel rested and bright, in our mind is in a different state. And so yoga Asana, as a physical practice is simply a means of really accessing that bright space that holds our mind and our thinking, at a different level of perspective, we’re at a higher perspective, the sister science to yoga is the science of Ayurveda. And so are your VEDA is our relationship to the natural world, to the organic state, to the way in which the fabric of our physical selves are meeting, the moment of this day in time, space. And so I at my age, and in this day, and then in outside of Baltimore, and it’s cold outside, and there’s no green on the trees. And so that will have an impact on the very character of who I am. And if I can bring the character of who I am and what I made of, and how old I am and what I’ve been doing in relation to the season and the location that I’m in for balance brings me into what’s called swasta. SRA is the self and trust the means to be established in the self. So health is when you’re in great health, you’re thinking about the day ahead, you’re thinking about what you’re going to make for lunch, you’re thinking about the friends that you’re going to call in the afternoon. What do you need to accomplish to get through the day well Then you crack your toe on the corner of the kitchen counter. Yeah. Now, what are you thinking about you thinking about? Who told you or not establishing yourself as a great being of higher perspective, you’re thinking about the fifth digit on your left foot that’s now really throbbing and inflamed and requiring attention. So we’ve been reduced to a toe, or we’ve been reduced to a cough, or we’ve been reduced to a runny nose. And so healing is what, which reestablishes you self. And maybe you’re simply called from being outside. But that comb, makes you shiver and contract and print to pay attention to someone else’s conversation. So healing in that moment is simply getting one. Or healing can be an addiction. She’s taking so far out of yourself that you can’t remember how you used to feel. And healing is returning to a sense of if it can be a spring, it can be an immune function, it can be a long term, chronic situation. But when we return to ourselves, we know we know we are landed in itself, there is an understanding I am in Kundalini experience, what we’re looking for, that’s called the satnam. That’s what really brought me into the tradition and the exploration of creativity is truth anomalies, identity is, is that which we are. So we land in itself, I have not only practiced community, we’ll do a gesture and we will take action and we’ll move move in or move. And this will stimulate a granular balance. And it will stimulate a rhythm to our breathing. And this will balance the quality of our thought. And our body will become stronger and our perception will become clearer. And I know when I stopped and after that moment, I am more and more and more clearly set now. I think every time I do that some aspect larger spa is healed.
Which means that my ordinary day to day also that life can be an experience of fearlessly unhealing that I can go out and use myself fully. And not keep myself very precious. Oh my gosh, what if what if I go for a run and I like sprained my ankle, I can come back and I can find it. What if I go to dinner with my in laws, and it completely upsets me come back and I can sort it. I have the technology in my body. And I have the technique in my practice, to return to myself. Therefore, I can face the day with less reluctance, less hesitant, and this year couldn’t mean it to me is this incredible means of knowing myself and returning to myself and everyday adding to the understanding who I am today. Yeah. Well, I
Emily Iannuzzelli 28:37
love that. I love that, at that. That idea that this healing practice this kind of reset during practice, like allows you to be fearless in your life. I think. I know. I think that that is like missing for me or that’s something that I I don’t know. I’m having a hard time putting into words what I’m feeling but I think that’s so important.
Martha Wallace McAlpine 29:02
All of us have been in pain. We have been brokenhearted. We have been betrayed. We’ve been forgotten. We have been harmed and judged every day and we carry that at a cellular level. We our families have been judged and our parents influence at the cellular level. And at a structural level. This creates our posture. As a society we close forward and protect ourselves against that thing. It won’t happen, but when it does, it won’t be quite so glaringly painful. In condominium in yoga Asana, we’re routing the legs to find A symmetry investigation, so that we can stand in what we know and our heart can lie. We are very, very active in the physical body, in this practice, show that our posture can be one of equanimity because when I stood up, and I anchor into my feet next to my chest, I can’t tell, but even now, as I speak you, I do it. And my expression changes. And I am again returned to myself. And so all of us all day long require restoration. And when we can restore ourselves, we become more resilient. And when we’re more resilient, you’re more generous, because when I have enough and I am whole, I have more than here, would you like some noise? I have extra, and I know how to make more. Right? You don’t want us to keep it to ourselves. And it becomes such an expensive possible place. That it’s difficult to describe.
Emily Iannuzzelli 31:12
Wow, for people who are listening who like want, who have never tried Kundalini Yoga, like what I mean, they can obviously like find your classes online, is there? Like, how do we Is there like a way that we can like take that into our everyday lives? Is there like, like, your favorite movement, or like one thing that we can do? Like, when we’re not doing the classes?
Martha Wallace McAlpine 31:43
Oh, yeah. There are lots of them. And that’s what’s so great, is, I was headed into jury duty. And we parked the car, and I was 10 minutes early. And so I stood in the carpark and I did 10 minutes of standing movements, and, and all of a sudden, the prospect of jury duty was like, wow, I get to participate in something, this is important. And I’m here to do a duty and I old if anything happens, and I am brought to court, but somebody would pause for a minute and say, I’m here to with you. And I’m here to participate, because it really shifted my perspective. And it’s important to do, should we remember why are we here? Why are we here? And what are we up to? And so yeah, let’s do that. And then I want to also address what it is that like a really nuts and bolts What do I need to do to practice so that you know how accessible it is. So if you would if your hands and during your palms away from you, like you are holding up through your pushing in the against the wall, and from there, you’re just going to put your thumb and first finger tips detach and the other fingers are open. Now turn your palms to face each other and bring your hands right down next to your shoulders and your elbows come down by your ribs. This will be our breath out. And then straightening your arms, opening your elbows, reach your fingertips up to the ceiling. This will be our breath in. So exhaling coming down. Inhale going up to just go out and exhale, inhale.
10 more times 10 987 quicker 54321 and enough your hands up inhale and shake out your hands. And now just let your hands drift down your hands feel your head just that slightest expand. Like you got a little buzz of activity. Yeah. Deep in your breathing and it’s it’s for me. It’s just I have been driving my car in the outback and very gradually over the front of my windshield. I’ve been gathering grime. And then I stopped for a minute and I wipe my windshield cream. Wow, look at that. I didn’t even realize what had built up on my windscreen. Yeah, tiny gestures are a means of combining the movement of our body, the rhythm of our breathing, we clear the mind and we connect to that to moving energy that sense that you have an extension of the greater good of the world. That life is a gift. There is no separation between you and that which and So, it’s that simple. And I just really want people to know, it’s, it’s that simple, it can get caught up in. In the community brand, there is a connection with the Sikh tradition and in the Sikh tradition, would you wear a turban you would cover your head, you wouldn’t cut your hair. And so we’ll see if you noodle Kundalini, you will encounter the Sikh tradition. And you will encounter someone who may or may not resemble you, for people, you know. And in that moment, there can be a separation that’s further like, Oh, I’m not that I don’t have a turban, I don’t have a long beard. This is for me. And this is something that is for everyone. This is a householders practice. This is available as a remedy for a very, very modern age. This is for the Aquarian Age, this is for exactly where we are. Everything that you do in your community class, is strengthening your nervous system, strengthening your endocrine system, balancing your hormones so that you can handle tweets, and posts and news briefs that are coming hard and fast. And you can slow your breath. And you can keep that higher perspective, no matter what else you encounter. And there’s a necessary practice for all of us right now. And so this is a part of the heart of my teaching is availability. This is available for all of this is available to my 88 year old mom sitting in her chair, she can raise your hands up and down. And she can get the same brain response. So it isn’t about a 20 something in spandex pants. It isn’t something about CrossFit is awesome, I do fit, I do get workouts as well, they’re a tremendous way to get your cardio. But yeah, but this is something different. This really is accessible to everyone. And, and know that you are invited into this tradition. Yeah, and so you can wear anything you want. unroll your mat, anywhere you want you I’ve taught inside outside, I’ve got one person, I’ve got 200 people, you are all welcome, you are welcome. Here, you are welcome to yourself into the self that we share. Just kind of is going to roll out in that we’re going to have a blanket because it gives me a little bit of height. And I can also use it to pad my knees if I’m on my knees, I’m going to use two yoga blocks, because it gives me a little bit of height. And so sometimes if there are clusters that aren’t accessible, due to mobility of your joints, or an injury, then it’s great to have those blocks. Or you can also have a strap and the strap helps you to reach your feet if you’re don’t have that kind of flexibility to strap to use to go up and over the shoulders open chest.
So basic yoga prompt that you would find in an afternoon studio. And, and a willing spirit. I use music. So for my practice, I have a Spotify soundtrack. And so people at the beginning of the practice will download that. And I’ll say now we turn on, you know, color in your hearts. And we start there, so that my music starts and your music starts and you can use it or not. But it gives us a rhythm, it gives us a pace. Because it’s evocative. It’s the CO teacher that I used to carry us into the use of our senses. Traditionally, we wouldn’t use music for we would use months. And so there are things that I’m using, that are not traditional. There are approaches I’m using that are not a part of the Kundalini brand, which was created by Yogi Bhajan. But they are rooted in the tantric training that I come from. And so my classes and my approach might be a little bit different from other people that you encounter. And I would encourage you to explore and find the one that really resonates with you because that will be the way to make your way into yourself is finding a teacher who’s teaching feel available to your personal to you feel safe to you and feel methodical. These are big energies. I am very, very trained in the methodical with Kundalini because it is such a strong and a central force in our lives that we Want to make sure that we are empowering the right aspects of ourselves. We’re not empowering our arrogance, or our revenge or our tendencies towards education. We want to call me at first and have a sense of who we are. And gradually in power, our grace, or devotion, or focus, or forgiveness, our participation, right. So we need to come into this wisely and fully and know this is life changing.
Emily Iannuzzelli 40:39
Oh, my gosh, I could I could talk to you all day, this is so lovely.
Martha Wallace McAlpine 40:46
thing, one thing that’s important to know is that you would do and again, I’m speaking for the way that I offer my classes. And the way that I’m trained in my own personal practice, is that you repeat a sequence for the patients. And the reason being that it becomes more and more familiar, you begin with the physical experience, so that you have to kind of get your coordination going. And typically, you would do so you put your finger to turn your shoulders and you turn left and you turn right, you would maintain that time for two minutes. And in this way, we are regulating the breath, we’re regulating the movement, we’re building stamina, we’re building focus, and then we will talk. And then we will go on to the next until there are a series of movements one after the other, usually between 45 minutes and an hour, it can be shorter or longer. And we repeat that sequence of movements for 40 days. So the sequence is the same. And by doing that, you become familiar, your body gets stronger. Your familiarity grows. And so there’s a freedom like Oh, I know what’s happening. And, and ideally, you will encounter some boredom. There’ll be this great plateau, you know, between day 17 and day 23. You’re going like, Oh my god, we’re doing the same thing again. Again, why am I showing up for this? That’s fantastic. Because in that moment, you will meet the part of you that flakes out when you get bored, you will build the part of you that shows up no matter what. And that showing up no matter what will carry you to the end of those 40 days. And the more you do that, the more you will see through the things you’ve longed for in your day to day life. The desire desires that drives you that you can’t quite get into place, they will become possible. Because you will show up for yourself regularly. If you show up for yourself daily for practice. Yeah, and so by doing it for many days, and then we get attached to it. And we think it’s fantastic. And we think I have to do this every day because this is who I am. Well, let’s put that down. do another one. Right? Yeah. And we can know that there are other things. And people will come and go, No, no, no, let’s keep this one going. And I’m like, great, you can keep going. I’ve done the same sequence for over 300 days. Now. That’s my own, that I’m working in different directions. But what I’m teaching is 40 days at a time. And if something really lands for you, do it again, do 80 days of that, that’s fine. Or if specially if you’re new to it, keep going and try another one. Because each sequence is particular. Each sequence is therapeutic to a different aspect of ourselves. And so we might need one more than the other. And the one we need we we might really not like. Yeah, and so we stay with something we don’t like and, and it kind of breaks open. And it offers us something holy. Yeah. So that repetition is there with such intent? and it holds us and I’m so grateful for it. And I honor it so carefully in the teaching that I do. Yeah,
Emily Iannuzzelli 44:18
yeah, I had a really hard time at the end of the last sequence of IU one. Like I that like there’s every part of that was so lovely. a hard time saying goodbye to that. Yeah,
Martha Wallace McAlpine 44:33
yeah, I get it. I had a hard day and then we did those two those little two days in between before the new year. I just wanted to keep doing zeros you know, and really got put those down. And here we go. We’re starting out. But I’m really looking forward to this year because this year is a chance to move through each energy center of the body. energy flows through channels, the channels and Noddy’s. Just like our blood flows through veins and arteries. And those Noddy’s gather into three central channels and two of those channels criss cross through the body, and really criss cross the creative current and those currents. Each one has a particular aspect, a relevance to our life. And when we begin to think about them, we participate and really get to know ourselves one Center at a time. And that’s such a dynamic understanding of who we are and why we are and how much choice we have. It’s phenomenal. So this year, we’re moving one at a time, 40 days in each one to know ourselves from bottom to top. And everybody’s invited. Everybody’s invited.
Emily Iannuzzelli 45:47
So where can people find you?
Martha Wallace McAlpine 45:51
You can find me on our website MarthaMcAlpine.com. And that will give you information on daily Kundalini practice, weekly vinyasa practice, monthly small group calls with me. It’s called soul soil. We work. I give you inquiries, and it helps you shape your practice at home on your own. And then we gathered to hear each other findings along those inquiries. And so it’s this rich soil that we share. In small group setting we, it’s just phenomenal. So that’s a monthly experience and all of that on the website. You can find me on Instagram, you can find me on Facebook and YouTube are the daily classes. So every day, I am on teaching live, and my Facebook and my YouTube. And then of course those are recorded. And you can replay them in time. As you pointed out, never behind if you miss one. And are never never lost. Live Have you are You don’t have to be prepared for this. You have to get ready. Just join and you start where you are. And I am always there. I’ve been online every single day since March 15. Since the quarantine started, I never missed a day. And every once in a while you’ll see me do a field trip. We went to the beach, I need to go to
Emily Iannuzzelli 47:25
my mom, that one was so lovely. When you were at the beach, I loved that
Martha Wallace McAlpine 47:32
for down by the river or I’ll take it out on the deck that this is totally portable. It’s just part of your life. And I will take it with us and you will come with me. Wow.
Emily Iannuzzelli 47:45
Martha, thank you so much. This has been really beautiful. I welcome Yes, I don’t I don’t have any words right now. All I can say is thank you. Good. All right. Thank you for sticking with this episode. I know the audio wasn’t up to standard. But I think that the conversation on Martha’s wisdom really made up for it. So I appreciate you sticking with it. If you are enjoying this podcast, please leave us a review on Apple podcasts. It’s such a simple, easy thing for you to do. And it makes a huge difference in terms of the algorithms that help new listeners find the podcast. thank you as always, to Jessie Blake Rundle for his gorgeous music. The song that you’re hearing now is called Nomad exquisite. It’s the first track from his album radishes and flowers. But you can listen to like on Spotify Bandcamp Apple all the places where usually listen to music. Thank you also to Erin Drew. Her company on brand voice provides innovative voiceover copywriting solutions. So if you’re interested in working with her reach out. As always, check us out on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and if you have a healing story or a healing power, or an idea for season two, I’m going to start recording that soon. So shoot me a note
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
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