Laurel Nest Yurts

Here at Laurel Nest Yurts, we are always trying to think of ways to be more sustainable. There are many ways to do this, but one simple and obvious way is to reduce waste.  We generate a good bit of waste material from both sewing our covers and making the yurt frame.  Finding something to do with this material is a challenge and we do everything we can to keep this material from the dump. 

Some uses of our scrap:

We sell our canvas to artists in the area.  A local friend of ours makes drum bags with the canvas scraps.  We use the scraps for tying and wrapping our pre-cut fabric.  Our wood scraps that are small are used in our wood stoves.  Other scrap fabric is turned into various pieces for building projects at home or sculptures.  However, our latest new product, the Wipi, was designed with our scrap wood from the roof rings in mind.  We are proud to say that most of the wood material is “recycled” and the Wipi is a beautiful new design!

So what is the Wipi? It’s a wee bed for a little child…. our daughter’s first bed was the trial run.

Our daughter's first bed...

After 3 years of a family bed, Hal is encouraging Emilia to have her own space.  She loves it for sleepover parties with her cousin, but only takes naps in it.

It’s pretty amazing though, hung from the ceiling and pivoted off one central spot, Emilia’s wipi is a small tipi bed.  I love cuddling with her and the fun of being in a round floating bed has many benefits, too.

The rocking motion is so nice with a small child, it’s  the same motion they feel in our womb.  It has positive effects on the limbic, circulatory, and other systems. It activates a deep, powerful relaxation response. Apparently the rocking increases blood and lymphatic circulation. In order carry toxins away from the cells, our body requires motion; the body’s drain system, the lymphatic system, has no pump. So the motion activates the drainage, and leaves you feeling so refreshed.

It’s so nice, and I notice that when I wake up from a nap with Emilia in her bed, I am so refreshed and completely limber, not at all stiff.

I was telling one of my girlfriends about the bed, and she quickly decided she wanted one! We’re making them for kids and adults, too… oh what fun it is to rock in a lovely wipi bed!!

We’ll be taking more pictures soon, to give you more information about the wipi.  In the meantime, if you’d like one for yourself, give us a call, (877) Eco-Yurt!

‘Create a self-sustaining environment in any situation,
from the farm to the city… by planning your lifestyle
to increase resources, conserve energy and reduce
or eliminate pollution or waste.’ Bill Mollison

Steve Fry's demonstration patch for chemical-free, low weed and low water vegetable gardening, supports the growth of kale and other leafy vegetables over the winter months

Winter is a time for warm drinks, cozy fires, and daydreaming about warm weather.  That said, most of us in colder climates don’t harvest our food from a winter gardens.  Permaculture gardens are places of abundant life throughout the year, and with little to no effort, you could eat fresh kale everyday!

What is permaculture? Permanent agriculture or sustainable food producing systems.  Permaculture advocates a mutually beneficial arrangement: the Earth
provides nourishment for us, and we in turn provide nourishment for it.   According to Mollison, if farming practices were truly sustainable we would require less than 10% of the Earth to feed all the people of the world. This can happen if we modify our consumption and become more responsible with our waste.  Through Permaculture we can reduce waste, leading to fulfilling, sustainable and responsible lifestyles.  Permaculture is different from organic gardening in a few subtle ways.  In permaculture we: 

• Observe and imitate nature. Lots of inter-planting for pest control, using mulch to conserve soil and water, allowing plants to self-seed, and most importantly, attempting to put back into the
soil whatever is taken out.

• Utilize effective design that minimizes energy for maintenance.

• Are responsible for all ‘waste’ produced on the property.
Waste contributes to enriching the soil rather than contributing to pollution and landfill.

• Produce as much of our own food as possible. This minimizes the energy used transporting the food to them and also means that what comes out of the soil is returned to it.

• Attempt to provide nutritious food and shelter for ourselves, and native birds and animals as well.

• Always looking to make the best use of the energy and resources, rather than importing them onto the property. (These might include water, sun, wind, leaves, bird droppings, seaweed, eggshells, lawn clippings, kitchen scraps etc).

We want to design for minimum waste.  Natural systems waste very little energy, time, water, and other resources.  If we imitate nature and its complexity in our design systems, we will develop systems where co-operation between elements is inbuilt, resulting in harmony and sustainability (meaning less work for us!)

When the waste of one is fuel for the next - there is no waste.

Bantam chicks are sweet and friendly!

So basically, we are creating a micro version of world peace (er… peas?)  Where do we start?
First off, with your soil.  Add nutrients to your soil with compost and mulch from your land (see last years blog on sheet mulch).  Check your soil’s pH.
Second, develop water management systems.  Ideally 15% of your total space should be dedicated to water storage.  Learn to use water as many times as possible before it leaves your property and try
to ensure that it leaves in a drinkable condition. This will take some practice!
Third, develop systems to deal with pests. We don’t use pesticides, of course, but rather create ecosystems for native animals that will take care of them.  Attract native birds, frogs, lizards,…
Fourth, companion plant.  In nature, things that grow together have similar needs and symbiotic relationships…
Fifth, grow lots of perennials and save your seeds or buy non-hybridized seeds…. Hybrid species cannot be collected for propagation the following year, as they do not reproduce ‘true to type’.  Heirloom seeds from your area have stood the test of time, and are a great bet.

Some of our favorite animal friends in the permaculture garden?
1. Cute little bantam chickens, ducks and geese  “A chicken’s need for water comes automatically from a tank off the hen house. Its need for greens are created by rotations in the orchard and vegetable beds; its need for insects meet the gardens needs for pest control. It also supplies direct fertilizer where it walks and tractoring where it scratches. Most importantly, it supplies us with feathers, eggs and meat.” Permaculture Visions, PDC
2. Worms, worms, and more worms
3. Birds
4. Bees (plant thyme, lemon balm, catnip, marjoram, hyssop, sweet basil, and mint)
5. Lizards and frogs help eat all the nasty insects that like your food!
6. Rabbits and guinea pigs are great for weed and grass control, plus have great manure! (you do need a good movable cage…)

Well, that was a lot of information, and yet it’s barely enough to get started…
I got a lot of information from www.livingschools.com.au from the Introduction to Permaculture pamphlet by Faith Thomas. Living Schools offers a Permaculture Design Certificate, as well as a wealth of information on their website.
There are many good books available including:
• Permaculture – An Introduction by Bill Mollison
• The Earth Users Guide to Permaculture by Rosemary Morrow
• The Permaculture Home Garden by Linda Woodrow
And for those who are really keen…
• Permaculture: A Designers Manual by Bill Mollison
…is the definitive guide.

Reflecting on our past year, 2010 and looking forward to 2011….

As the year 2010 winds to a close, there is so much to be grateful for, so much growth over the past year, and so much to come.

Our yurt manufacturing facility...

Reflections on the past year begin with nearly tripling our sales!  Thanks to all our customers, our 100% positive feedback, our facebook family, and all the people on our manufacturing team for making this happen!

We started our year off by moving our manufacturing facility to our current location at 264-1 Marlowe Drive.  It was a big move, and the space is serving us well.  We have a demonstration yurt, a large sign that you can see from the road, and a large woodshop and sewing studio.  People stop in and visit frequently, and our central location is convenient and closer to our home.  We’re happy to say that with all the sales this year, we are ready to grow and expand our sewing studio into another part of the building.  We are replacing our demonstration yurt with a new one that reflects our design changes (read on!)

In 2010 we did lots of work on our yurt design.  We were determined to improve our product, and also our manufacturing efficiency.  The result:

In the spring of 2010 we launched our new cover pattern for the roof.  The new pattern has a better fit, a stream-lined sewing process, is easy to customize, and is visually more pleasing to the eye.  Our window design is new and improved with removable velcro windows, making it easier to repair or replace the screen.

We are proud to offer natural fabric alternatives while also providing our customers with the safest fabrics available.  We still offer our standard natural cotton canvas and Polaris, a poly-cotton blend with a vinyl coating, but we have expanded our fabric offerings to include a fabric upgrade that is a heavier poly-cotton blend with an acrylic coating. The ability to remove the screen also offers an unobstructed view through the clear windows.

Painting the yurt cover makes it last longer and the micro-spheres add insulating value.

This fabric is longer lasting and more resistant to tears and weathering, making it ideal for roofs.  In 2010, we began using thermal micro-spheres suspended in paint, and began offering thermal coatings to the yurt covers.  The coating offers the customer almost unlimited color choices, seals the seams, and adds life to the fabric.  So far we have been very pleased with the results and our customers enjoy the increased insulating value as well as the attractive look of a painted canvas.

In January of 2010, we are launching our new ring design that we believe will add strength and simplify the manufacturing process. However, the real benefit is that it makes the ring and rafters easier to make for our  Do It Yourself customers.  Another benefit is our yurts will have larger rings, and thus larger skylights.  The 12’, 15’, and 18’ yurts’ ring diameter will be 36” and our 20’, 24’, and 30’ yurts have a 48″ ring diameter.  Now our yurts have more natural light from the dome and the opening mechanism is easier to install and more wind resistant.

With the new ring design, comes a design change in the rafters.  We will now be using 2×4 and 2×6 rafters instead of 5/4 boards, thus no longer needing to special order boards.  In addition, our dome-opening kit is simplified, so that our customers can choose to buy the dome directly from a dome manufacturing company and can install the dome kit themselves.

Our new designs have made our yurt stronger, more visually pleasing, and will help Do It Yourself builders .  We are excited about receiving results from our engineers about our design and the overall improvements we made.

Our Yurtle, pop-up yurt

Fold up the yurtle, tows like a turtle...

Of course, we can’t forget launching the Yurtle™.  Our solution to a pop-up yurt, the Yurtle™ modernizes the idea of a nomadic lifestyle and helps people find a solution to zoning laws and regulations. We have been purchasing inexpensive trailers and beginning to modify them to accommodate yurts and yurt decks in anticipation of Yurtle sales this winter and spring. We are excited for our customers who are enjoying their Yurtles™, and look forward to building more!

We are continually asked about our workshops and when the Do It Yourself manual will be completed. The workshops and manual have been on hold while we worked out the details of the new designs.  We will be hosting our first workshop of the year on Febuary 5^th and 6^th. We will be teaching all the new design improvements in these classes. We will be working to add all of the details of these improvements to the manual and have it available once it has been formatted and edited.With such a busy year behind us, we know we have a lot work ahead, and some important goals to realize.  Our New Year’s Resolutions:

Our yurt building manual will be ready soon!

We want to finalize our Complete Yurt Building Manual and add our design changes.  We are taking lots of pictures, have hired a designer to make it easier to read, to improve our diagrams, and to format it into a easy to use manual.  Of course, our manual will include our design changes, and will provide information both on how to build your yurt frame and sew the cover.

Real windows and real doors make for a cozy yurt!

We will continue our goal of receiving 100% positive feedback from our customers.

We hope to expand our sales to state parks and campgrounds.

What a beautiful yurt home, with insulated walls...

We would like to offer more photos and testimonials, so as our gift holiday gift, we ask you to send us your pictures and testimonials!!!

And just for fun…

As we make more yurts we have more scrap wood and fabric.  We’ve been trying to think of positive uses for our scrap and coming soon is a surprise new product we will be launching in January.  It complements the yurt, and hint: “don’t lose sleep over it” because we’ll let you know about it soon!!!

Make sure to check our blog and facebook page for pictures and more information over the next few weeks!  Much warmth and well wishes for a wonderful 2011!

Our lovely raked trails...

Isn’t your favorite thing in the winter getting snowed in? I love an excuse to play around in the snow, go sledding and have a snow day.  My favorite thing? I enjoyed shoveling the trails to our yurt.  Think- shovel about 150 yards of trails between yurts.  Check off another reason I love yurt living!  It feels so good to work up a sweat in the cold…

The windy storm that hit a few days before the snow fell knocked a tree in the trail, and Hal chainsawed it out of the way.  Then more shoveling…. and then we decided to pull a lovely Christmas tree Hal had planted in a pot a couple years ago up to our yurt.  We got the wagon, heaved and hawed our way up the hill (and slid backwards a bit on the snowy trail)… we made it up, just in time for our daughter Emilia to wake up from her nap and help us decorate the tree.  This afternoon, we’ll go hunting for winter weeds to decorate the tree with.  Even though everyone is always asking if we’re staying warm, and they’re so worried about us yurt dwellers, we do stay cozy… and we bundle up and play outside a lot…

So often people who are interested in a yurt ask the same general questions.  Some of the questions I’ve been hearing lately are: Do you get cold in the winter? How does the yurt do in strong winds? And can you connect the yurts if you build several?

So I thought I’d take a second to let you know about these top questions/ concerns…

Yurtin' in the winter...

First off, do we get cold? The answer is yes, we do get cold when we go outside! But of course, we keep our yurt warm and toasty (and our daughter Emilia walks around barefoot…) We do enjoy spending a good amount of time outside, so we do get cold outdoors….

Our FAQ section provides a lot of information about heating and cooling a yurt, and we’re happy to answer questions, too! http://www.laurelnestyurts.com/category/faq/heating-and-cooling  As you may know, yurts were designed for use in some of the coldest climates on the planet. Their circular nature makes them more efficient to heat (with 12% less surface exposed to the elements than their rectilinear equivalents).  We use a NASA-developed reflective insulation which consists of a layer of bubble wrap sandwiched between two reflective foil layers. The foil works by reflecting radiant heat in both directions (to keep the heat inside in the winter and outside in the summer).  Insulating the floor is important. You can use standard types of insulation under the floor (e.g., blown-in or rigid foam) or use stress skin insulated (SIP) panels to build the deck itself.

Now for the second concern: how do yurts do in the strong winds? This answer is simply answered that one of the benefits to yurts is how well they do in the wind! Yurts are ideal in high winds, partly because they are circular (and therefore the wind goes around the yurt, with no corners to catch the wind). Also, the yurts amazing design gives it strength and flexibility because of the integrated roof and wall structure (the whole structure being held in tension between the central compression ring and the encircling tension band).

Becky Kemery's book is a great source on yurts.

Becky Kemery, author of “Yurts, Living in the Round” relates this story: “I heard a story about a fabric yurt in Japan surviving a tornado in Japan that damaged nearby houses. The only thing that happened to the yurt was that the skylight bubble blew off, which I’m told is a design feature to allow for pressure release when a vacuum is created inside, thereby keeping the yurt from imploding.”  Amazing, and makes me happy that I live in a yurt in WNC, where we experience lots of high winds!

The last question we hear from families often, who want to build several yurts that connect, creating a “family compound”.  How do you join these yurts? There are many options, from simplest to most luxurious.  We connected our yurt with our daughter’s by building a connecting deck. This is convenient and increases our space so much! To protect us from the elements, we could build an awning to enclose the deck, or even make it into a screened in porch. A covered walkway, breezeway or enclosed hallway is another popular choice.

Yurts can be as simple or luxurious as you want...

Yurt living is in many ways comparable to any other lifestyle.  It can be as simple or luxurious as you want.  Your yurt can be set up on the ground, used as a nomadic space you move every few weeks or months, or it can be set up on a deck with radiant floors and several real windows and doors… Whatever lifestyle you choose, you can pick and choose your luxuries.  One of our customers owns a small piece of land, has goats and is almost entirely off grid, with one of the most stellar shoe collections I’ve seen… so live it up, live, love, yurt!

Lately I’ve been so happy to see the winter weeds dusting the trails and sidewallks… I love winter weeds and am grateful for the life they bring as winter comes in fully…

Black Eyed Susan, so lovely....

The plants grow and bloom during the cool season when most other plants are dormant.  Winter annuals typically grow low to the ground, where they are usually sheltered from the coldest nights by snow cover, and make use of warm periods in winter for growth when the snow melts.

Goldenrod

Some common winter annuals include henbit, deadnettle, chickweed, Queen Anne’s Lace, and winter cress.

Don’t go crazy weeding your garden of the winter annuals.  They are important ecologically, as they provide ground cover that prevents soil erosion during winter and early spring when no other cover exists and they provide fresh vegetation for animals and birds that feed on them.  Although they are often considered to be weeds in gardens, this viewpoint is not always necessary, as most of them die when the soil temperature warms up again in early to late spring when other plants are still dormant and have not yet leafed out.

And they’re such a gift… beauty and flowers in the cold months of winter…. peaking out of snow.

Thanks to these sites for some of the information and pictures in this blog. And thanks to Rob Brown, my high school science teacher who taught me about winter weeds for the first time.

http://winterwoman.net/2010/01/05/winter-weeds/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annual_plant

http://skaneatelessuites.com  

I usually try to stay a little shy from politics with this blog, as I know that we get slammed with disheartening news so often.  However, I do feel that part of my mission with this blog is to educate and inspire people, and now I’m calling some of you to action.

Our local, organic farm stand at Gladheart Farms

One of the most important freedoms that we have is choosing what we put in our bodies.  That said, I feel it is very important to protect equal access to healthy, organic foods and natural herbs and remedies.  Over the last year or so, a battle has been waging over HR875/S425 that has turned into the current legislation in process, S510.  This issue is of grave importance to me and I hope it will be to you.

Of all the many facets of sustainable food, food safety is probably on the top of the list. After all, what good is it, if it’s not safe to eat? Out of the perils of systematic pesticide and herbicide use, sloppy factory conditions and general negligence in the factory food sector, we find ourselves in a situation where a number of elected officials are looking to make food safety a priority in the United States.

Food safety with these porkers?

At its core, I respect the desire to make the food supply safer, but as Senate Bill S510 has taken a number of liberties against food independence, I wonder who’s backing the bill and why? Certainly, it’s not solely about food safety.

Senate Bill S510 is summarized to “A bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to the safety of the food supply” except it has a number of dangerously fascist ideas nestled within its outlined text. A small farmer becomes equated to an industrial farm, and the profit-driven industrial farm’s mistakes are passed on to our fellow CSA.

Hickory Nut Gap Farms piggies live the good life and eat natural foods and clean spring water!

If this bill goes through, all our small farms will have to pay various fees that could possibly put them out of business and make it impossible for us to continue getting locally grown organic food.  This makes no sense because the people who brought us food that was recalled were large-scale industrial foodies; our small farms have had little to no recall.  So who are we trying to protect?

Wonderful, organic kale field is easier to monitor food quality... and a large city enjoys!

Let’s look at who supports the bill. According to maplight.org, huge corporations like General Mills, Kraft Foods North America, National Association of Manufacturers and 25 more organizations support this bill. In opposition: American Grassfed Association, Family Farm Defenders, Small Farms Conservancy 93 others in an open letter to address the Senate Bill S510.

The letter is to the point: the regulations that the government would like to enforce don’t actually apply to small operations, specifically organic farms. The disease-laden corporate industry is infected within the large-scale operations where pushing product over quality is more important and safety can sometimes be overlooked. The Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) publishes an extremely up-to-date recall list proving this point effectively.

The scenic midwest, full of picturesque miles of pesticide laden grain farms...

Over the last three years of my purchasing local, responsibly-raised food, I have never once encountered a recall of any sort.

On Govtrack.us, where you can read the bill in its entirety, an anonymous answer to the question of redundancy within the Food Science Experts that work for the FDA was quite clear in its support of knowing the land from which food grows:

“Although one may try to argue that one incident is too many, it appears that the majority of the incidents actually occur in large producers who are “in it” for the money. To strangle the small farmer with regulations and taxations harms not just the industry, but the future of the next generation of farmers who would gain their skills of growing healthful food from this generation.”

That’s not to say family farms go without issue, but the small farms are able to catch issues quicker, track their product faster, contact their customer base personally and are held to a local reputation that means far more than any corporate marketing could ever buy.

As I write this blog, I’ll admit that I’m feeling a chill and a rising sense of urgency.  Let me just add one more comment: who brought us MSG (monosodium glutamate as an additive), high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), aspartame, genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), Avandia (prescribed for type 2 diabetes) and Vioxx (arthritis pain medication)?  The FDA permitted all these toxic substances and allowed them to become a mainstream part of our diet.  FDA also permitted the sale of antibiotics for nontherapeutic purposes in animals in CAFOs, a practice that has resulted in antibiotic resistance and the creation of difficult-to-treat infections like MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus). Properly-prescribed, FDA-approved pharmaceutical drugs are responsible for over 100,000 deaths each year in this country [*Starfield, Barbara--p. 484]. FDA’s true clients are not the American people but rather the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

S510 is not about protecting public health but rather about increasing federal control over food and transferring market share from the local food system to the industrial food system. The bill grants broad rulemaking power to FDA, a grant not merited by the agency’s track record. Its passage will cripple local food over time. (Kennedy, Pete)  That said, I would like to ask that we come together to protect our food and drug sources.  I personally prefer organics from my local farms and natural supplements, and would like to have easy access to them. Urge your senator to oppose this bill as it is written; it can severely impede the right of food independence. It is our own responsibility to ensure the food we eat is raised ethically with cleanliness and the utmost focus on food safety in the United States.  Below are some links you can use to take action:

Please take action and forward this information to your circle of influence in the same way.

Thank you Pete Kennedy for the wealth of information you made available, and to the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund.

To locate the contact information for U.S. Senators, go to www.senate.gov

Talking points to discuss with your senators (compiled by Pete Kenedy, Esq.) http://www.ftcldf.org/111_Cong-S510-Talking-Points.htm

Petition to vote NO! to s510 http://www.ftcldf.org/petitions/pnum1061.php

Sources for this article:

http://www.hickorynutgapfarm.com

http://www.gladheartfarms.com

Kennedy, Pete Esq http://mrscottyl.blogspot.com/2010/10/s510-revised-fda-coming-to-farm-near.html

* Starfield, Barbara.  ”Is US Health Really the Best in the World?” Journal of the American Medical Association.  JAMA, Volume 284, No. 4; July 26, 2000.  Accessed online 22 September 2010 by link at http://www.drug-education.info/articles/Starfield.htm for http://www.drug-education.info/documents/iatrogenic.pdf

http://www.justmeans.com/Senate-Bill-S510-Food-Safety-or-Food-Fascism/27723.html

http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/?p=5133

http://thegormleyfiles.blogspot.com/2009/10/senate-bill-510-825-billion-dollar.html

http://www.real-sonic-bloom.com/real_food_is_freedom/government_corporations%20threaten_farmers_markets.htm

Over the last year we’ve seen a rising need for bamboo yurts.  We’ve done some research on curing and treating bamboo, and have a goal of creating a bamboo yurt on our land.  We recently got a bunch of bamboo for free off Craigslist and are starting to treat it and prepare it for some building projects.

Why bamboo yurts? Our goal is humanitarian aid as well as sustainability.  In many places where there is no access to lumber, bamboo can be found in abundance. You can harvest, cut, treat and build with a very small tool kit.

Bamboo Yurts, Australia

Some basic tips: harvest the bamboo during a dry season and then cure it.  The reason you do this is that you don’t want the bamboo to mold.  There’s lots of ways to cure or dry it, and it really depends how much time you have.  If you’re in a big hurry, you can get a torch and heat it until the color changes.  This makes a lovely smell and is a pleasant task.  For other curing ideas, check out http://www.ehow.com/how_4812295_cure-bamboo.html

Bamboo yurt walls using more of a dome design

As far as design ideas, we’re thinking of modifying the general yurt into a more “yome” like design.  It doesn’t really seem effective to tie a bunch of bamboo into khanna, so we’re thinking of using dome style walls.   There’s a company that is already doing this in Austrailia, and their yurts are beautiful!  Check out http://www.bambooyurts.com.au/yurts.html for more information.

Our goal is to build a large bamboo yurt (maybe 24 feet in diameter… this is still up to the wonders of the universe).  Hopefully this will be our home or a large yoga space.  We’re still tossing around ideas, but we’ll blog again when we start making progress! Keep your fingers crossed!

What a dreamy yurt!

For more pictures of Yomes, check out another local company, Red Sky Shelters…. the home of the Yome!

When Hal and I committed to our relationship 4 years ago, one of our commitments was to pursue healthy lifestyle choices of diet and yoga.  It has been my dream for over 5 years to be a yoga teacher, and this week I am starting on that journey.  I feel giddy just talking about it.

Thank you Sierra for helping me start this journey!

I remember talking to a yoga teacher of mine when I lived in Charleston 5 years ago, and telling her how I knew that one day I would be a yoga teacher, but I was still exploring the various yogas and had not found the one that deeply resonated with me.  I have to thank Sierra Hollister, kundalini yoga teacher extraordinaire, for helping me start on the journey to become a Kundalini Yoga teacher sometime four years ago.  (Sierra teaches on Monday mornings from 10:15 am – 11:45 and Thursday evenings from 7-8:30 at Asheville Yoga Center and on Tuesdays for lunch from noon- 1pm at One Center Yoga.)

The Kundalini Chakras

Kundalini yoga is a physical, mental and spiritual discipline which is a consolidation of the highest physical and meditative techniques found in the teachings of Raja yoga, Shakti yoga, Bhakti yoga, tantra, Kriya yoga, Laya-yoga, Nada yoga and the pillars and Yoga Sutra of Patanjali.  Kundalini yoga is called the yoga of awareness because it directly affects ones consciousness, develops intuition, increases self knowledge, and unleashes the unlimited creative potential that exists within every human being.

Mainstream traditions have shown that kundalini energy can be awakened and enlightenment attained by practicing a combination of yogic techniques—ideally following the guidance of a certified teacher—including the use of mantra, prana and breathing techniques, sadhana, asana practice, meditation, or purely through devotion and prayer.

The Kundalini, Coiled serpent

According to one source, the word kundalini literally means “the curl of the lock of hair of the beloved.” It is a metaphor, a poetic way of describing the flow of energy and consciousness which already is said to exist within each person. The practices are said to enable the person to merge with or “yoke” the universal self. This merging of individual consciousness with the universal consciousness is said to create a “divine union” called “yoga”.

Kundalini is a Sanskrit word meaning either “coiled up” or “coiling like a snake.” There are a number of other translations of the term usually emphasizing a more serpent nature to the word – e.g. ’serpent power’.

According to the yogic tradition Kundalini is curled up in the back part of the root chakra in three and one-half turns around the sacrum. Yogic phenomenology states that kundalini awakening is associated with the appearance of bio-energetic phenomena that are said to be experienced somatically by the yogi.

This appearance is also referred to as “pranic awakening”. Prana is interpreted as the vital, life-sustaining force in the body. Uplifted, or intensified life-energy is called pranotthana and is supposed to originate from an apparent reservoir of subtle bio-energy at the base of the spine. This energy is also interpreted as a vibrational phenomena that initiates a period, or a process of vibrational spiritual development.

The main emphasis is a difficult regime of breathing techniques meant to increase the store of “prana” in the body. The well known physical postures are only meant to be an aid to maintain peak physical fitness, so as to support the real work of the breathing practices. All of this has, according to tradition, to be accompanied by prolonged and unbroken meditation practice.

Thank you to these sources for the information and pictures for this blog.

Sierra Hollister

Asheville Yoga Center http://youryoga.com

One Center Yoga http://onecenteryoga.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kundalini_yoga

http://www.crystalinks.com/kundalini.html

http://truthspeaker.wordpress.com/2010/01/20/urgent-kundalini-warning-from-andrew-strom/

At Laurel Nest Yurts, we pride ourselves on helping people get into yurts… one of our past customers referred his friend to us, and he had a blast building most parts of his yurt.  He built the entire frame and then came and spent a weekend with us.  We made some measurements, and together Hal and Chris sewed the yurt.  Below is a testimonial Chris wrote, along with some pictures of his  yurt.  

“I started to build my own Yurt in 2005. Five years later I had it nearly done except for the cover. I was only

able to work on it a couple of hours a month and I spent the last two years fiddling with the cover – trying to

learn to sew and trying out different fabrics. When I heard about the launch of Laurel Nest Yurts my anxiety

melted away since I knew they would be the folks who can help me finish my project. I had passed through Laurel

Nest back in 2006 on my way to a winter hike trip and met Hal and Asia on one cold 9 degree winter evening. I

contacted them and explained my troubles and we scheduled a time to work on a cover. I loaded up and headed to

Laurel Nest! We had a great time working through the custom design. Hal had a solid process for determining

size, shapes, cuts, and seams and in two days we had a great looking cover with four windows. I learned a lot

about making Yurt covers which is great, but I don’t know if I’ll ever try it again by myself since Laurel Nest

Yurts is here to help. Staying at Laurel Nest and enjoying the fellowhip of Hal, Asia, and their collegues and

friends not only helped me on my project, it gave me new focus on what is really important in life.

I’m so exicted to have this yurt completed and Laurel Nest Yurts made it all possible.”

Thanks Chris for bringing your prjoect to us!!  Your yurt is beautiful!