“Life is not for wasting, it is for reaching to the wonderlands of your own consciousness.”
Yogi Bhajan
All yoga is aimed at creating a union between the body, mind and spirit – to balance and harmonise. So much of modern life draws us out of ourselves, from marketing to high tech communication devices to high speed travel. This is a technology to deepen your connection with your Timeless Self. It delivers you to yourself, allowing you to go beyond a narrow, limited view of the self and to discover your full human potential.
What is Kundalini Yoga?
Yogi Bhajan often called Kundalini Yoga the “Yoga of Awareness”; through movement, breath and meditation, greater levels of consciousness are reached. Yogi Bhajan often warned his students that he could not promise them there would be no problems in life, but that these tools would help them to face their problems. Rather than reacting to a situation from a habitual pattern, when we can consciously choose our attitude and take altitude, we can face the situations life brings with strength and grace. This is part of yoga: being able to live in a state of Cherdi Kala – of continuous upliftment.
The word Kundalini (literally meaning: the curl in the hair of the beloved) refers to the latent creative energy that resides at the base of the spine. Yoga practices tap into and raise this energy up channels along the spine (ida and pingala), balancing the chakras and creating an experience of divine union between the self and universal consciousness.
What makes Kundalini Yoga different from other styles of yoga?
Kundalini Yoga is meant for people living normal everyday lives – balancing jobs, families, and the challenges those bring – rather than for monks or ascetics. Like many forms of yoga, it follows Patanjali’s yoga sutras, and is a ashtang (eight limbed) yoga, focusing on yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi. However, in Kundalini Yoga, these eight limbs are developed concurrently, in a single practise, rather than consecutively (mastering one level before moving onto the next). This makes it very well suited to the modern yogi, who may be fitting yoga practice in between a nine to five job and other life commitments. It is a powerful practice that leads to profound effects and change, in a short period of time.
A Kundalini Yoga class will typically consist of: mantras to tune in, warm ups, a yoga kriya (a complete set of yoga asanas with pranayam, as taught by Yogi Bhajan, to produce a specific effect), deep relaxation, and meditation. Often asanas (yoga postures) are combined dynamically with breath and movement, and can produce noticeable change in state of being with only a few minutes practice. One of the powerful tools used in Kundalini Yoga to balance and to heal is your own voice. Mantras are used for tuning in and closing the class, and are often combined with postures or in meditation.
Satwant shares the teachings of Yogi Bhajan with such joy and warmth and creates a wonderful space to learn and practice Yoga. Her classes gave me a greater understanding of the power of Kundalini Yoga and the connection between our body and mind which a has allowed me to deepen my own personal practice and gain confidence as a teacher.
Sam