Kundalini Yoga
This is a yoga of Awareness. It is dynamic, powerful and holistic, using all the tools of yoga to expand your awareness of body, mind and soul.
With over twenty-two major forms of the practice of yoga - not mentioning the invented creations that blend yoga and whatever is on trend at the time - it is not surprising that you may not have heard of Kundalini Yoga.
If each of the 22 different paths of yoga emphasize some facet of the whole, for example, Hatha yoga emphasizes the use of the bodily form, others emphasize the use of sound, as in Laya (mantra) yoga - where does Kundalini Yoga fit in? Well think of these different forms as being like a facet on a diamond with Kundalini Yoga being the diamond itself. If you turn it any one particular way, you can find a facet. But if you try to understand the entire diamond from any one facet, you'll find yourself with a very shallow and incomplete understanding. Because Kundalini yoga is the diamond itself, it gives greater transformative power than any one facet can. It opens pathways to change and healing that seem to go around limitations and to penetrate blocks.
You do not need to be flexible or an experienced yogi to reap the benefits of Kundalini Yoga. It is a practice for everyone, or for anyone who wants to be happy. I like to describe it as a tuning, cleansing and shaking up of the body, mind and soul, taking you out of your steady, heavy first gear and straight into your full potential, allowing you to fly high in your shiny, polished vehicle of a body.
Like all yoga, it focuses on moving energy, life force, prana, within your body. Kundalini Yoga, however, is specifically designed to awaken the dormant energy that lies at the base of the spine. This is like releasing your creative potential, your destiny, and this is what enables you to fly!
A Kundalini class will seem very different to any other yoga you may have done before.
There is a physical component in the form of a Kriya - this is a sequence of timed postures with a predictable specific effect. The movements are often repetitive and can be challenging (mainly for the mind, which frequently questions what you are doing and insists you should stop!)
Mastering the mind is one of the principle aims of Kundalini Yoga, so you can be in control of your thoughts and feelings, rather than your mind and emotions taking control of you.
Various Meditation techniques are used, some including Mantra, the yoga of sound and “magic words”. Combined with music, mantra is a magical and powerful addition to a Kundalini practice.
Numerous breathing techniques - Pranayama - are also used. Actively and consciously using your breath during every exercise increases the effects and brings the benefits of Kundalini practice to you very quickly.
There is always a Relaxation within the class, a vital requirement to allow the effects of the Kriya to be integrated within the body, and to teach you how to stop and listen.
Kundalini Yoga is a spiritual practice (like all yoga), but you do not need faith or belief to practice. In fact, doing is believing!
Approach it with respect, with reverence and openness and it will help you achieve your personal best!
It is very different to any other type of yoga I've done before, each time I leave with my body tingling with energy, feeling free with such a sense of calm, being centred, grounded, and what I can only describe as peace
Philippa
Just wanted to thank you for this morning. It was transformative! I felt so alive afterwards and calm and invigorated. You are a fabulous teacher and I felt really connected and not self conscious at all, so thank you for making me feel so at ease.
Natalie
A Kundalini Yoga class can feel very strange at first, which is why I have made this video to introduce you to the basics of Kundalini practice, and hopefully ease you into class by taking away the weirdness! If you have never been to a class before, I recommend you take a look.
