“The science which teaches you how to absorb the shock of adversity and come out with grace and wonder of life (…) Kundalini Yoga.” Yogi Bhajan©The Teachings of Yogi Bhajan.

In the words of Shakti Parwha Kaur in “Kundalini Yoga, the Flow of Eternal Power”(1): “When you buy almost anything with moving parts, the manufacturer provides a book of instructions. The owner’s manual recommends procedures to get maximum efficiency. It lists checkpoints and times for periodic maintenance. It tells you what to look for if it’s not working properly and it suggests how to avoid future problems”.

Far from being a collection of promises of happiness and mysterious esoteric sayings, Kundalini Yoga is a manual of instructions for the human being, with practical solutions and applicable knowledge.

(1) See Resources Page - Credits for link

Basically it is a faster road leading to awareness.

There are 22 different schools of yoga. Kundalini Yoga is called the “Yoga of Awareness”. It is a sacred science that enables the uncoiling of your consciousness, your creative potential, the energy of your soul itself, through physical postures (1) specific hand positions (2), specific sounds & sound sequences (3) & specific breath patterns (4).

Kundalini Yoga goes far beyond taking care of your physical aspect and restoring your health and youthfulness. Yes it does that. But other forms of yoga do that too. Going to the gym and exercising can do that also. Kundalini Yoga goes much further. It addresses your subconscious and unconscious patterns of behavior and gives you a fast way to shift them, thus enabling you to change your life fairly rapidly within the safety of a class, rather than continuing to battle the same reoccurring external circumstances for years or even decades.

How does it do that? You will notice that many of the postures reflect a triangle or an angle of a triangle: Kundalini Yoga is a science of angles and triangles that cut through and interact with our electromagnetic field, commonly known as the aura, in order to change the neurological activity of our mind, which influences our glandular activity and our nervous system. In other words, the postures and chants act as a coded language to shift established habitual patterns of your brain that keep you limited in your life, for example through fear, shyness, anger and other reactive means of protection. This in turn positively influences your body’s functions.

In the words of Yogi Bhajan: “Life is one simple challenge: act, don’t react. Calm yourself and claim yourself. When you reflect like a torch for a long distance, it takes away the darkness.” ©The Teachings of Yogi Bhajan.

Yoga means “union”. Union of the Mind, the Body & the Soul, union of Man with Infinity. In the words of Yogi Bhajan & Gurucharan Singh in The Aquarian Teacher(2) “All forms of yoga focus on stimulating and regulating the human energy that is the essence of consciousness. The energy is called the Kundalini”. Kundalini basically means “coiled” – the extended translation is “the curl in the lock of the hair of the Beloved”. In the words of Yogi Bhajan “You uncoil yourself, you reveal yourself, you identify yourself”.(5)

Yogi Bhajan broke with a long standing tradition of secrecy when he came to the West determined to teach it openly, which had never been done before, for fear that the technique would be abused. He had to endure death threats and made a lot of enemies in doing so, yet he kept up, saying that with the technological advance and the rapid changes that were about to influence the world, people needed tools to strengthen their nervous system and learn to withstand the pressures of the times. No other yoga would be as rapidly efficient, and time was of the essence. He would quote the Yoga Sutras (ancient texts): "What you can achieve in 12 years of Hatha Yoga, plus 6 years of Raj Yoga, plus 3 years of Mantra Yoga, plus 1 year of Laya Yoga can be accomplished in a single year of perfectly practiced Kundalini Yoga." (5)

(1) Asanas
(2) Mudras
(3) Mantras
(4) Pranayams
(5) Cited in "The Aquarian Teacher" See Resources Page - Credits for link

Kundalini Yoga is to a person what an owner’s manual is to a vehicle. A helpful collection of instructions that guide, instruct and help to: 

1. • Learn how to function as a human being on a daily basis, in a conscious, deliberate and appropriate manner, as opposed to randomly, reactively or out of habit.
2. • Learn how to be present in the moment, as opposed to being stuck in the past, mentally drifting into a fantasy, or numbing oneself through various addictions.
3. • Withstand the tests and challenges of life and “absorb the shock of adversity” with grace.
4. • Learn to transmute stuck memories and painful experiences into useful wisdom.
5. • Gain better health, vitality & overall wellbeing.
6. • Nurture the connection between our deepest infinite self (or soul, “heart”, the presence within connected with the “Divine” or the Infinite) with our finite expression (personality, limited circumstances within the physical world).

 I have always lamented that we come into the world without an “owner’s manual”. Yet our body is quite a complex and multileveled structure. Equally intricate and sophisticated are our psychology and emotions. Regardless of the circumstances of our early environment in life, we are usually taught “manners” and rules, how to behave in order to not bother people around us, but we are seldom taught how to function optimally and readjust when we feel “out of whack”.  How do we recover our neutrality when our personality traits (ego) overwhelm us and make us react in ways that disserve us? How do we lift ourselves out of a depressing mood, as opposed to numbing ourselves through various addictions to suppress the feeling? How do we soothe an irritated nervous system? How do we deal with the assaults of life and transform a challenge into an opportunity? Kundalini Yoga will make you experience the answers.

The benefits are innumerable, but here are just a few basic ones, in the physical, emotional/psychological and spiritual domains:

PHYSICAL:

Health: increases circulation and purifies the blood. Reinforces the immune system.

Stamina: increases your overall energy and resistance to fatigue, diseases.

Toning: promotes muscle strength and flexibility.

Weight control: balances the metabolism, digestion and assimilation, leading to less cravings for unhealthy foods.

Youthfulness: gradual relief from stress, addictions, depression, insomnia lifts years off your face and your overall appearance.

Relaxation: promotes physical – and mental & emotional - calmness & peacefulness.

Pain Relief: gradually promotes a loosening of areas of tension, typically – but not limited to - the lower back, knees, shoulders, neck.

MENTAL/EMOTIONAL/PSYCHOLOGICAL:

Good Mood: greatly helps alleviate symptoms of depression & lifts your mood by activating the glandular system.

Optimized Response to stress: gives you tools to either energize or calm your nervous system according to your needs and circumstances.

Centeredness: teaches us to remain open and calm in the face of adversity.

Psychological Shift: works through & changes patterns of behavior that keep you stuck in the same situations over and over again.

Focus: Coordinates the two hemispheres of the brain and works on different brain centers. Helps to greatly restore or enhance your focus and attention. Lifts the “mental fog” that can make us feel unclear and scattered.

Clarity: Cleans out the ghost (repetitive) thoughts that would prevent you from being able to assess each present situation without the bias of passed wounds.

SPIRITUAL:

Inner Connectedness: promotes an experience of connection to that “inner presence” within you that is beyond your physical body, emotions & feelings, thoughts & opinions.

Connectedness with Infinity: In the words of the Master: “Kundalini Yoga is the science to unite the finite with Infinity and the art of experiencing Infinity in the finite” (concrete world).

Knowledge (“Gyan” or “Gian”): gives you specific tools to readjust to a neutral space within you where you can rely on your intuition rather than on the experiences from the past. Promotes the experience of knowledge through an instant grasp of the environment.

Elevation: Promotes exalted experiences, a feeling of elevation, sometimes elation.

A classical Kundalini Yoga class includes a few basic steps and can last from 90 mins (the most common, less for children and seniors) to 2 hours+:

First we always “tune in” together with a mantra called the Adi Mantra, consisting in the words “Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo”(1), which basically mean “I call upon/bow to the Divine Teacher within”. The purpose of tuning in thus is multifold: to center ourselves and create a delineation with our daily world for the duration of the class; to call upon our inner guidance and connect inward, to pay respect and call upon “the Golden Chain”, i.e. the lineage of masters and teachers who came before us and perfected this technology. When pronounced accurately and perfected so that each sound is produced in the correct specific area of the body, this mantra has a tremendous effect on the brain frequency and immediately puts us in a receptive state of meditative yet alert awareness: we feel totally connected to our highest potential and the infinity of the creative universe (how one names or views this creative universe is one’s own personal religious belief – I am only mentioning the feeling, the experience, which is both unique to each person and universal).

(1) On the Video page, you will find two videos (in English only) explaining and demonstrating how to tune in most effectively with this mantra. I am honored to feature authorized videos from Jugat Guru Singh, whom I consider one of the purest sources of reference for any question pertaining to the science of the Naad (sound current) in the context of this technology. Not only does he understand the science of the Naad but he can also reproduce it at a high level of proficiency, which is more rare.

Then the teacher may deliver a lecture, to frame the class. It may include current events or personal experiences, to tie into the topic of the class and illustrate the yogic philosophy underlying it.

After that, the teacher will often lead you (2) into some warm-ups consisting in basic postures in movement to promote flexibility of the spine, increased width of breath, loosened muscles, etc.

(2) A Kundalini Yoga teacher does not do the exercises nor the meditations with you. He/She may demonstrate how to do them, but then his/her job is to stay alert and to hold a meditative atmosphere conducive to your going through your own experience and transformation. The teacher needs to be focused on you the student, not inward on him-/her-self.

You are then ready for the “Kriya”, one of the main items on the menu. A kriya is a set of exercises - or a “stand-alone” exercise (one that is complete by itself, such as Sat Kriya, for example) - done to achieve a particular purpose or effect. For example, we could do a “Kriya to relieve inner anger” or a “Kriya for the adrenals and the kidneys” or a “Kriya for detoxification”. Kriyas are plentiful and extremely varied: some can be very physical series of exercises and some are done sitting down and moving the upper parts of the body, from the torso up, only. Sometimes Kriyas are similar to very active meditations, which can also be called “Kriyas” when they are very energetic. (Meditation does not necessarily entail sitting still and being silent!).

The purpose of the series of exercises is always to apply stress in the form of pressure on specific areas of the body, on specific organs or along various systems (digestive, nervous, endocrine, mental etc.) and then to train you to acquire new beneficial reflexes under stress to remain balanced and thus optimally effective. With practice, the experience you live in class, that of circumventing reactions and triumphing over adversity gets automatically remembered and the beneficial reflexes are triggered when life tests you.

It’s then time for a deep relaxation. During this time you can totally relax and let your mind wander, or just listen to the music. Now is the time to reap the benefits of your efforts and let the energies stimulated disperse where they are needed. Enjoy!

It will then be time for the other “pièce de résistance”, the meditation. This will consist in a posture to hold anywhere from 3 to 11 minutes, in advanced classes up to 22 or 31 minutes. Some meditations test your grit and your mettle. Some bring out tremendous mental chatter and challenges. Some are very active, some are still. They usually involve a mudra (hand posture), a pranayama (breathing pattern) and a specific place to focus your eyes on (tip of the nose, third-eye-point on the forehead, etc) and may involve a mantra (sound current) to either listen to or chant to. Nothing is left random, and every detail has a specific effect and purpose.

Lastly, we will all close the class together, by singing one of the many versions of an old Irish folk tune, “May The Longtime Sun Shine Upon You”, to wish ourselves and everyone many blessings and guidance on our way on. Yogi Bhajan has insisted this song be sung to close every single class and contrary to certain rumors, singing it is not optional. The song has many adaptations in various languages, notably Spanish, French, Russian etc… We then chant 3 “Sat Nam”s (“Truth is my identity/I am truth”). “Sat” is held for a long time (several seconds) and “Nam” is short.

Take time to “come back to reality”, speak with fellow students, have some tea, a glass of water, and fully ‘wake up” so that it is safe for you to drive home and get back to your regular activities. Don’t underestimate the power (beneficial) of these exercises.

Final notes:

For class you will be most comfortable with a mat (some yoga centers provide them) and a small pillow to sit upon for long postures (optional but recommended). Also bring a shawl or a sweater: the exercises will make you sweat and stimulate the element of fire in you, raising your body temperature, while the deep relaxation and the meditation will cool it down.

It is advised but by no means an obligation to cover the top of your head, for optimum protection with a white cloth. It is not optional for the teachers to cover the top of their head, however.

Enjoy the ride!