HealingSource.com

Yogi Bhajan said many times that “any country in which woman is not respected is doomed to failure.”

In fact, women’s studies were a major part of the “Kundalini Yoga movement” and spiritual awakening era started by him in the United States in the late 1960s.

Inspired by the intrinsic belief that women are the “hidden” leaders of society, he helped women understand why it was so important that they, the mothers and nurturers of mankind, walk a path of grace, spirituality and strength.

He showed women their true creative and intuitive potential – their Womanheart, as one teacher calls it.

For over 30 years, that teacher, Sangeet Kaur Khalsa, sat at Yogi Bhajan’s feet, as often as her busy life allowed, soaking in every possible bit of information on women’s wisdom. He trained her and often personally challenged and molded her. Then in 1991 she created Womanheart, perhaps her biggest contribution as a spiritual teacher.

"Womanheart is a term that covers many things,” Sangeet says in her book Womanheart – Healing our Relationships, Loving Ourselves. “It is a state of being – of being kind and compassionate, courageous and conscious. It is a way of life, a path we as women walk, ‘the way of excellence and grace’.”

Patricia Mindorff, who attended her first Womanheart retreat in the early 90s, said the title picked by Sangeet to characterize her teachings is very fitting of what she experienced as a student over the years.

“It is a beautiful title,” Mindorff said. “With a continuous spiritual practice we can experience that the Womanheart philosophy comes from the heart, reaches the heart, expands the heart.”

It is that very heart-to-heart connection with other women that keeps Jennifer Powell coming to the retreats year after year, and it is what will prompt her to travel to Arizona all the way from Texas to attend again this year’s “Womanheart Spiritual Immersion” at Saguaro Lake, near Phoenix, from October 2 through 4.

“I look forward to feeling that sense of community, of camaraderie and sisterhood,” she said. “It is very uplifting and motivating, it’s the boost that I need for my own spiritual practice.”

Much of the atmosphere of comfort and trust is due to Sangeet’s strong and uplifting presence.

Once a student of Yogi Bhajan, and now a teacher of the same yoga, meditation, and philosophy, Sangeet’s drive is to elevate and heal others, also helping other women see the best in themselves, their true potential.

“For centuries men have been trained in leadership skills, but they could not deliver the world to peace and harmony, and certainly not working by themselves alone,” Sangeet wrote in her book Womanheart. “Now it remains for us as women to also take up the lead – not as pseudo-men, but as women trained to lead from the heart as well as from the head, from compassion as well as from consciousness.”

Sangeet said her hope is that each year, every retreat can provide the atmosphere of love that women need to grow. And she hopes the teachings can take women to a more expanded awareness of themselves, so that they can go back home and, in turn, help make positive change in the lives of those around them.

During her talks about women’s wisdom, Sangeet reminds her students how important it is to walk their highest path.

“The dumbest man knows by instinct how much more powerful you are than he is, and it’s unnerving to him to see you cry,” Sangeet often tells students.

During the retreats, Sangeet helps them discover themselves through yoga and meditation as well as through her vast knowledge of numerology, Kundalini Yoga and meditation and yogic lifestyle.

Mindorff said understanding her numerology also served as a supplement to her spiritual practice.

“I love using the music and meditations specific for me and my birth numbers,” she said. “The Womanheart manual I got last time is my bible right now.”

Marge Jantz, another longtime Womanheart fan, said the spiritual retreats are a great place to learn and grow because of the support the women and staff are always willing to give.

One of the most magical moments of all 6 retreats she attended was while taking a nap after sadhana.

“Someone came up and lovingly tucked my blanked around me and around my neck,” she said. “I got really weepy, because that was something that was so foreign to me, with my mom having passed away when I was very young.”

The unbound love pouring from heart to heart during the retreats set the perfect stage for women to transform, and to leave each retreat with newfound confidence.

Mindorff said the support and love shown towards her during past retreats have helped her open her own heart to others after the retreat.

“Each retreat was so impactful and helped me structure my life in a meaningful way,” said Mindorff. “Now I take each experience and put my heart into it.”

For those experiencing Womanheart for the first time this October, veterans like Powell, Mindorff and Jantz say: don’t kid yourself. Womanheart won’t change your life.

It will, however, give you all the tools you need to change it yourself.