“CREATION IS READY TO SERVE YOU. IF
YOU JUST BE YOU.”
– YOGUI BHAJAN
WHAT IT IS KUNDALINI YOGA
Kundalini Yoga is the combination of ancient breathwork techniques, active movement, and sound for awakening and raising energy.
Many of the Kundalini Yoga positions and practices look easy on the surface. However, it is the repetition that challenges us and consequently changes our brain patterns, brain waves, and chemical makeup of our blood and bodies.
Pushing the body and mind can bring out deeply-rooted emotions and trauma, so be patient and allow yourself to experience the journey. All Kundalini Yoga is healing; we just may have to break things down first.
You can find that Kundalini challenges and nurtures the mind as much as the body in a way that no other yoga practice has. Not only does your body become fitter and more flexible; your mind is open and clearer.
BENEFITS OF KUNDALINI YOGA
– Nervous System
Kundalini yoga strengthens your nervous system. So when you’re in down dog or plank pose for three whole minutes and your entire body is shaking, have no fear! Your nervous system is toning.
– Willpower
Kundalini yoga awakens your inner willpower right at the core of your solar plexus (Third Chakra) at the navel point. What that means is that you build a strong heat in this region, which helps in digesting not only food but also past memories and self-doubt.
– Brain Power
Kundalini yoga clears the fogginess of the mind. When the mind becomes clouded with several thoughts, it feels a little like a cobweb of thoughts have formed and are difficult to untangle and with a few minutes of rapid breath of fire or one-minute breath, the mind becomes crystal clear, we feel more alert, focused, concentrated, with better memory and the capacity to make sound decisions.
– Creativity
Breathing alternately through the nostrils brings into balance left and right hemispheres of the brain. Kundalini yoga awakens our inner creativity by releasing our worries about the little things and opening us up to infinite possibilities that life has to offer.
– Compassionate Communication
In Kundalini yoga, poses like the Shoulder Stand open the throat center (Fifth Chakra). Kundalini yoga gives us the ability to pause and listen to the message behind that gut feeling. It enables us to quiet down the mind to the point that our thoughts become still and we can feel what our heart yearns for, something that will be good for us.
WHAT TO EXPECT
This Kundalini kriya is specifically designed for self-care with an emphasis on relieving stress.
Kundalini yoga is not to be taken lightly. It is like an express train that shakes and wakes you up.
Some movement and breath will leave you feeling high and totally blissed out. Other kriyas will really provoke and confront you.
What’s important is to stay present and accept pleasure and pain as part of the same journey to health and balance.
Our ego naturally leans toward pleasure and comfort. It takes concerted effort and discipline to begin to release the ego’s grip on our consciousness.
This effort is the work required to begin to access the truth of who we are, to create a strong connection to our soul and therefore our soul’s work on this planet. It is where we start to make great strides toward living as an enlightened being.
WHAT ARE THE RISK?
If Kundalini Yoga is practiced in the right way, there is not much chance that the effects of it will be harmful. However, the difficult thing about practicing “in the right way” is that it is very much related to the teacher who is guiding you.
Kundalini Yoga is certainly a powerful science and if not approached with intelligence and respect it can produce some challenges and difficulties for the practitioners. That is not meant to discourage you from taking up its practice, it is meant to help guide you so that you undertake Kundalini Yoga practice safely and thus, enjoy the enormous benefits that this form of yoga bestows