KRIPALU

What do I need to know?

Every week I’ll be sharing my personal stories and my thoughts and recommendations on healthy food, intuition, movement, growth mindset and women, all sprinkled with a touch of spirituality.

I’m writing about some of my life experiences – the good and the bad - with the hope that they resonate with you. Mine is not a linear path but a winding road with twists and turns - a life filled with family, friends, gratitude and love. Where has your path taken you?

Today I am a trained Holistic Health Coach and a major foodie. I love healthy, clean, organic food and to share my passion for wellness with anyone who will listen!

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Let’s Dive In…

Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, located in the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts, is a nonprofit organization offering yoga and mindfulness-based education programs. Since 1983 Kripalu has been offering unique programming that “inspires connection, compassion and joy.”

Their programming includes yoga teacher training, outdoor leadership training, kayaking, hiking, meditation, yoga, and more. It is a rare and special place.

Last week, I had the great pleasure of spending four days at Kripalu with my good friend Lisa, sharing in the practice of meditation and yoga. This was not my first time visiting this extraordinary place. My first two visits to Kripalu were in the early 2000s and my purpose then was to attend  three-day yoga workshops with my all-time favorite LA yogi, Bryan Kest. The third time, I participated in Kripalu’s R&R program, Retreat & Renewal. Each time I completed a program, I knew I’d be back for more inspiration. 

And so it began

I drove four hours from Cape Cod to Lee, MA, which allowed me space and time for the mental transition from a busy life to four days filled with yoga, meditation, and introspection. The Berkshires welcome you with a big sign on the side of the road, and I immediately felt the shift. Large green spacious land, open for miles. Mountains, lakes, and old-fashioned Inns line the streets. Summertime in the Berkshires brings people from around the world to attend Tanglewood Music Festival, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Center, Canyon Ranch Spa, and of course Kripalu. I was excited to arrive. 

For this fourth visit to Kripalu I chose a program led by Jillian Pransky called Return to Your True Nature: Pausing for Relaxation and Spaciousness which offered a unique combination of somatic movement and deep meditations. 

I was a bit nervous attending after so many years because I thought maybe at this point in my life, it might be too ‘woo-woo’ for me. But that was not the case. 

Lisa and I arrived on Sunday afternoon and started our experience by practicing a yoga class together. Feeling grounded and ready to partake in this program, we went to dinner.

We’re not in Kansas anymore

Walking into the dining room we immediately felt as if we were back at college. Long, communal sized tables with buffet-style food options with trays to collect our meals. The rooms are also a reminder that we were not at a regular hotel — they were bare bones with no TV or typical hotel room add-ons. For some, Kripalu may be too ‘crunchy granola.’ Others may just say it’s not their thing. But for me, it’s a vital connection to my spirituality and to like-minded people. So, the sparseness did not impact me and in fact I actually enjoyed it. I highly recommend the disconnect for a few days.

It was Lisa’s first time at Kripalu and practicing yoga. I was concerned that she might be out of her comfort zone. But from the get-go, Lisa was open to the entire experience, and I was grateful because that’s exactly what you need to truly appreciate Kripalu. You need to walk in the door open to whatever is going to transpire so that you can receive the teachings and return home transformed. 

The first of six sessions, led by Jillian Pransky, began the first evening. I was taken aback when I walked in the room and saw her. Jillian has an aura, and she was breathtaking and angelic. She’s been teaching yoga and meditation for 30 years and though she looks like she could be 35 years old, she’s closer to 55. It’s as if her years of practicing yoga and meditation have kept her physically and emotionally young and beautiful. Her voice was soothing, warm, and drew you into everything she shared. 

Jillian began each session with, “What do I need to know?”

Meaning; where are we at, what’s the feeling in the room? At first, the energy in the room was tense, tight, awkward, not easy breezy. This would change dramatically over the four days together. 

Our Nervous System

Jillian’s teaching included tools to support our body’s ability to relax so that we could be open to the present moment. But learning to truly relax doesn’t happen simply by saying to yourself, ‘I need to relax.’ In the world we live in today, our nervous systems are fired up too often by the constant breaking news, social media, texting, relationships, and work. As a result, we live in a chronic state of fight-or-flight, triggered by our sympathetic nervous system. Our bodies become contracted and tense, which makes it difficult to be present and in the moment. Jillian shared her unique tools to support our ability to relax and move our bodies to activate the parasympathetic nervous system of rest and digest. For our bodies to be in a healthy balance, we need to be able to move smoothly between the parasympathetic to the sympathetic nervous system. 

Jillian taught her signature method, LARLAR™️. It is a unique technique she developed to help people return to a state of calm, focusing on releasing tension, creating spaciousness, and fostering a deeper connection within oneself. The LARLAR practice provides tools to actively and intentionally relax so that you can then be open to the present moment to experience emotions, nature, and the world around you. 

LARLAR™️ broken down stands for:

• L      land

• A      allow

• R      relax

• L       listen

• A      attend

• R      reply

Each session with Jillian included her teachings about each element of LARLAR, starting with land, allow, relax. She then led us in a daily somatic movement practice followed by a deep and long meditation. 

Somatic movement is a mindful practice of movement that emphasizes internal physical perception and experience over external appearance or goals. It involves focusing on how movement feels in the body, rather than solely on the visual form or achieving a specific outcome. This approach fosters a deeper connection between mind and body, potentially leading to increased body awareness, stress reduction, and pain relief.

In two of the six sessions, Jillian led us on a slow-paced nature walk out to an open field where we practiced somatic breathing and meditation with the backdrop of the stunning Berkshire mountains. One day there was a large fire pit in the center of our circle with two amazing drummers beating spiritual music as our background. For me, it was other-worldly, grounding and spiritual.  

In the final session, Jillian talked more about LARLAR, this time about listen, attend, and reply. She gave us each a small two minute timer to bring home to remind us to practice twice a day. She led us in a long, deep meditation. As we came out of the final and blissful meditation, Jillian commented about the energy in the room, and asked us to notice if we felt how it had shifted over the four days. I took a deep breath and felt the connection and calm among the beautiful women (and a few men) in the room. The energy was noticeably calmer and there was now a connection among 50 individuals who started as strangers but had evolved into a community. 

My Takeaways

My spirituality is what prompted me to start this Substack seven months ago and initially I thought I was going to Jillian’s program so that I could dig deeper and be more authentic in my writing. I thought I was going there to learn about somatic movement and breathwork, which I did, but instead I walked away with so much more.

• I actually thought, humbly, that after practicing yoga for 20 years, practicing meditation on and off and being a holistic health coach, that I knew most of this wellness stuff. What I actually learned at Kripalu is that there is so much more learning for me in this world. My wellness journey continues. 

• What I actually learned – and what I didn’t expect, but what I needed to hear — slowing down does not mean growing old. Jillian said, “Life can be wide, not long and narrow.”  You can move slowly, appreciate everything in the moment, and still grow old beautifully and gracefully. This was gold to me. 

As a lifelong student of personal growth, the timing of this retreat was auspicious. I don’t know why yet, but I know it is, and someday I will look back on it and recognize why at this particular time in my life I needed this experience. I see more visits to Kripalu in my future. Lisa, thank you for joining me and being open. I am grateful for your friendship.

Have you been to Kripalu? Are you interested in slowing down to be more present? Please share your thoughts. 

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