One of the most notable features of the RA MA Institute for Applied Yogic Science and Technology in Venice is the gong. It’s the only 60-inch gong in Los Angeles and the stories around it are the stuff of myth—mixed in with some truth. It takes months to make a gong this size; it was shaped by special order for Van Halen, but the band later changed their mind. Until Guru Jagat found it lingering on Sunset Blvd—“sad in Hollywood,”—as she put it, the instrument was waiting for the community that would collect and share space with its magnificent sound.
We could all say that the instrument of our own practice is waiting for just the right time to blossom. The time seems to be now for Ra Ma Institute founder Guru Jagat, who has taken up the challenge of sharing the sometimes esoteric-feeling practice of Kundalini Yoga (as taught by Yogi Bhajan) in a way that is relevant for the urban dwellers of LA. It’s no accident. Guru Jagat believes, “These technologies were developed for these times.”
There’s certainly a nod to the times, as the studio even includes ice cream cleanses (featuring raw coconut cream from the nearby Kippy’s), along with daily 4:00 am sadhana, a Kundalini practice staple. Guru Jagat teaches classes every day and is joined by a variety of other instructors who fill the all-day class schedule, including two of her teachers, Tej and Harijiwan. She offers special classes during the New and Full Moons, presides over a Sunday night practice and dinner club, and has hosted all-night practice and gong bath sessions (complete with slumber party). She is even partnering with Julian Schwartz on a burgeoning record label (RA MA Records). Guru Jagat wants the music to deliver the teachings to people who may never enter a yoga studio. Her plans are vast and include everything from fashion and jewelry collaborations to lecture series and online offerings, leading to the development of a full-service institute beyond a yoga studio.
The woman with a bold presence professes to love everything about the 80s wears Clippers T-shirts, embraces the Kundalini Yoga ethos of wearing white (toexpand her aura), and has a collection of big sunglasses. As she says, “Since I was small, the idea of understanding reality, as well as devotion and spiritual practice, were just a part of my life.” She was born with the help of midwives in a community in Colorado before growing up in Western Maryland where she and her family were the only Jews for miles around. Her brother joined the Hare Krishna community at the age of 13. Then, while she was living in NYC with an active ashtanga practice, Guru Jagat was introduced to Kundalini Yoga. Her next stop was the ashram in Espanola, New Mexico, where Yogi Bhajan was still holding court. Subscribing to Yogi Bhajan’s philosophy of making teachers and not students, she traveled further west to enroll in teacher training in LA with Gurmukh, Harijiwan, and Tej at Golden Bridge. She subsequently taught for 10 years at Yoga West. At this point in time, she professes to have more than 10,000 hours of study and training under her head wrap. “It’s intensive in this lineage — it’s not just about the credential or the certification; it’s about the transmission.”
Guru Jagat’s formal western education began in the CUNY system in New York (leading to her aforementioned intro to yoga) before she graduated from Antioch University. Her “good liberal arts education” of Humanities, English, and Poetry is revealed in the way she riffs off literature and pop culture references when she speaks to the room at the beginning of class.
Before a sense of mission and calling inspired her to open the doors of the studio near Lincoln and Rose, Guru Jagat taught around town, and for an impressive roster of private clients. Like many people to make the leap, she found that opening RA MA Institute was “a monumental transformation for me.” As she puts it, “My whole consciousness, my whole nervous system reorganized.” It was a quantum leap, one she feels the community has supported. Coming together in community to practice Kundalini Yoga was always Yogi Bhajan’s intention, and that the teachings would be shared within families to accelerate the clearing of karma. RA MA Institute is that family.
To support herself as well as the collective RA MA family of practitioners, Guru Jagat rises between 3:45 and 4:30am to begin her own practice. “When I was an Ashtangi, I got up at 6:00am six days a week and thought I was hardcore. Little did I know what my next step would be.” The woman who says she’s never forgotten her first Kundalini Yoga class states that the experience was like stepping into an energy field beyond time and space. The effects have certainly lingered.
Curious About Kundalini Yoga? Here’s Guru Jagat’s advice for novices.
- Observe how you feel before you go into class.
- Observe how you feel after class.
- Whatever happened in between, don’t worry about it and don’t think too much about it.
- If you feel better or have more energy, something happened.
- Come again and see how it goes.
- Wear comfortable clothes—anything that you can move in. White is said to expand the aura, but you can even wear jeans to class if you like.
- The turban or head covering hits reflex points in the skull and helps contain the energy. It’s optional, but try it out and see how you feel.
Guru Jagat founded and teaches at the RA MA Institute for Applied Yogic Science and Technology in Venice.
Felicia Tomasko has spent more of her life practicing Yoga and Ayurveda than not. She first became introduced to the teachings through the writings of the Transcendentalists, through meditation, and using asana to cross-train for her practice of cross-country running. Between beginning her commitment to Yoga and Ayurveda and today, she earned degrees in environmental biology and anthropology and nursing, and certifications in the practice and teaching of yoga, yoga therapy, and Ayurveda while working in fields including cognitive neuroscience and plant biochemistry. Her commitment to writing is at least as long as her commitment to yoga. Working on everything related to the written word from newspapers to magazines to websites to books, Felicia has been writing and editing professionally since college. In order to feel like a teenager again, Felicia has pulled out her running shoes for regular interval sessions throughout Southern California. Since the very first issue of LA YOGA, Felicia has been part of the team and the growth and development of the Bliss Network.