Kundalini yoga is a popular style of yoga that combines asanas with mantras, pranayama, and other practices to awaken the kundalini energy in the subtle or energetic body.
This style of yoga was popularized by Yogi Bhajan, who brought it to the United States in 1969. Before then, Kundalini Yoga was considered a secret science, taught only to selected students.
Kundalini Yoga is the science of breaking boundaries. Some say that practicing yoga can be a dangerous way to do it, but like any physical and mental exercise, it must be practiced under the direction of a qualified teacher who has years of training and self-process to understand its effects to be awakened.
Some practices of Kundalini Yoga may seem strange to outsiders, but every practice in this tradition serves a purpose.
What is Kundalini?
what is kundalini
Kundalini is an energy that lurks in the subtleties at the base of the spine. When activated, it lifts the central channel and passes through the seven main chakras or energy points.
When dormant, it is usually symbolized by a coiled snake. Sadghuru from Isha Yoga explains that this is because, like a coiled snake, it is difficult to perceive the kundalini when it is not moving.
By regularly practicing certain asanas, pranayama, mantras and meditations, Kundalini Yogis believe that you can increase your Kundalini energy and awaken each of your chakra centers and elevate yourself to a higher level of consciousness .
Some Kundalini teachers say that even as little as 5 minutes a day of regular devotional yoga practice can be enough to positively change your life due to the awakening of Kundalini in the subtle body.
Awakens the snake and balances the chakras
Awakens the snake and balances the chakras
One misconception about the kundalini rising experience is that it’s something that happens to you. But traditionally kundalini evergy is actually your identity. Its ascension or awakening is less an experience than turning on a light in a room. Suddenly, you can clearly see and recognize everything that is already inside. It is never separate or outside of you.
As the Kundalini ascends, it travels along the spine through the seven major chakra points located in the central channel of the subtle body. Each of these chakra points is a window into self-knowledge and has different qualities that manifest when activated or stagnant.
– Muladhara aka Root Chakra. Associated with basic needs for survival. This energy center is rooted in trust and security.
— Svadhisthana, also known as the Sacral Chakra. This energy center is called the “Seat of Ego”. Creative energy flows here, associated with the Moon, sensuality, and reproductive energy.
— Manipulation chakra also known as solar plexus chakra. This is the energy center for directional action and movement.
— Anahatha is also known as the heart chakra. The emotional energy center of the heart is the bridge between the three lower chakras and the three upper chakras. It flows with compassion.
— Vishuddha also known as Vishuddha. Clarity and authenticity rule this energy center. By expressing the truth and listening to the truth, the illusion of the world begins to unravel.
— Ajna aka Third Eye Chakra. This energy center is associated with intuition and self-liberation, allowing us to see the world and ourselves: the truth.
— The crown chakra, also known as the crown chakra. This is the energy center of transcendence.
Who is Yogi Bhajan?
Acknowledgments: https://3ho-europe.org/
Yohi Bhajan was born in Harbhajan Singh Puri in 1926. His village is in the part of India that became Pakistan when it was partitioned in 1948. He was eight years old when he began training with an enlightened yoga teacher named Sant Hazara Singh. The same teacher declared him a master of Kundalini Yoga when he was 16½ years old.
Throughout his life, he taught yoga to people from all walks of life. But when he moved to Canada to teach yoga at the University of Toronto, and then to Los Angeles, USA, he broke with centuries-old tradition to reveal the scientific secrets of Kundalini Yoga by publicly teaching it.
In particular, he recognized that the hippies of the 60s and 70s were trying to find their way to a higher consciousness through drugs and hallucinogens. But he offered Kundalini yoga as a science that would allow her to rebuild her nervous system without drugs.
Yogi Bhajan legally changed his name to Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji after becoming a US citizen in 1976.
In addition to introducing Kundalini Yoga to the world, he is an entrepreneur, women’s rights advocate, and has founded numerous programs to help drug addicts.
Many have described him as a spiritual leader who was “at home in a pulpit, lectern, boardroom, living room or on the grass in a park”. His goal is to teach people Kundalini Yoga and train them to be teachers.
Today, Kundalini Yoga is taught around the world, and research shows it benefits the nervous system and even supports mental health therapies. In the United Kingdom, a 2016 study showed that children in the foster care system and their carers benefited from regular practice of kundalini yoga.
What to Expect in a Kundalini Class
What to Expect in a Kundalini Class
Most certified Kundalini Yoga teachers and Yogi Bhajans wear white turbans. The structure of each class is very specific and the teacher doesn’t change the order because it’s real tried and true science designed for a specific outcome.
The six-part instructional structure of the Kundalini Yoga course is as follows:
— Adi Mantra (Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo)