Is Kundalini Yoga Different from hatha or other forms of yoga?

Kundalini yoga is a style of hatha yoga that originated in Northern India, in the Punjabi area and was brought to the West in the late 1960’s. Kundalini yoga is very much like other types of yoga in that there are yoga asanas or exercises, pranayama – breathing practices, mudras – hand and body gestures, mantras – the use of sound and traditional chants to activate mind, body and spirit and also has a goal of meditation as an ultimate state of consciousness to aspire to.

Traditionally Kundalini yoga is focused on the spiritual life of the practitioner. Through the discipline, tapas, we strengthen or harden the container so that we can facilitate a long and happy life for spirit. Similar to how fire and heat hardens clay and makes it a strong container. Kundalini yoga practice is a tool to connect with yourself and your consciousness through sets or kriyas that include meditation, sound, breathing exercises, and certain postures. 

The idea of kundalini awakening is basically the awakening of our own awareness and consciousness. All systems of yoga that originate in India are concerned with the concept of kundalini energy and the potential of awakening this energy.

 There is evidence that yoga has been around for millenniums. Archeological and textual references to postures, practices and philosophical ideas point in the direction of a system of movement, gestures, sounds, ethics and beliefs that make up the foundations of all of today’s styles of yoga.  

Yoga is meant to be just as much a spiritual practice as it is a physical one. The text that have survived and the teachings that have been passed down through those text and orally encourage us to practice on the basis of improving our lives on the physical, energetic, mental, spiritual and emotional levels. Stringing together one moment of bliss to the next until we are living in a state of bliss.

A fully conscious state of bliss. Kundalini yoga a practice that will help us get there. This is why it is known as the ‘yoga of awareness or consciousness’, because it gives us the tools needed to attain consciousness and not just consciousness, but blissful consciousness. This is the idea behind Kundalini awakening and other tantric lineages.

Kundalini yoga is believed to have originated in Northern Indian in the area known as the Punjab, though Kundalini energy is referenced in the Upanishads, which is a collection of ancient Vedic texts that are sacred teachings of spiritual practice in India.

Kundalini yoga, as many forms of yoga, was almost a secretive practice that was passed on from teacher to students. It was shared as a sort of ‘body science’, where certain kriyas (or practices) helped prepare the body for the movement of energy. These teachings were eventually passed down to many students who share them openly with students today. In Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training you will learn more about the history of the Sikh tradition and the role of Kundalini Yoga within that socio-religio lineage. Many of the teachers of kundalini yoga also embrace Sikhism but it is not a requirement of the practice merely an observed phenomenon.

Kundalini yoga today embraces various yogic principles and mechanics that form a comprehensive practice that allows practitioners connect with purusha and to experience the feeling of purusha (the eternal spirit) within the self - the awakening of Kundalini, and to connect to the purusha of all that is.  

Kundalini Yoga tradition includes practices in Bhakti yoga, which is the practice of devotion and involves chanting is part of the Kundalini process; Raja yoga , which is the practice of meditation, mental discipline and study; and Shakti yoga, which is the ultimate expression of the divine feminine in our human experience. These three forms of yoga bring us the physical postures, deep meditation, pranayama or breathing exercise, and chanting that make up Kundalini yoga.

One of the beautiful things about Hinduism is the use of storytelling to convey an ideas, feelings, and experiences. A fundamental story is that of Shiva and Shakti, which is where mythologically where Kundalini energy comes from. In yoga teacher training we discuss the myths, the lived experience and the teachings that come from traditional stories.

The story goes that Shiva, the all-knowing and steadfast source of power and consciousness, had been in deep meditation for thousands of years. Being the unmoving observer that he was, he sat in silent observation while Shakti, who represents divine energy, danced for him. She longed to be united with him so intensely that she continued to dance for thousands more years, in hopes of provoking Shiva to join her. She felt, in all of her longing, that the two of them belonged together.

Eventually, he does wake and joins her in a harmonious union, which is said to be how all of nature was created. Her divine energy, with the ability to create and grow, combined with his reliable source of power and consciousness, created enough swirling energy that life formed.

This life comes from a life force energy, or prana, that had previously sat dormant, thanks to Shiva’s unmoving period of meditation. Just like a snake sits coiled around itself when it is dormant, so too does this life force energy.

In terms of Kundalini yoga, prana sits coiled at the base of the spinal column, waiting for an awakening. Just like Shakti danced for Shiva, pulling him out of his dormancy, Kundalini yoga ‘dances’ for our dormant energy, pulling it upwards along the spinal column, eventually awakening Kundalini energy. As it moves along the spinal column, it passes through the seven major chakras, which is why many Kundalini classes focus on the chakras. A stagnant or blocked chakra can interfere with energy flow, getting in the way of our awakening. Much like a bend in a water hose. Hence the process of awakening kundalini involves a set of practices that allow energy to flow freely. Advanced studies of subtle anatomy suggest that there can be excess’ and deficiencies in the flow of energy through our subtle anatomy.

It’s an entire experience that is both incredibly challenging and blissfully rewarding. The Atlas approach to the Kundalini is accessible and includes teachings from somatics, functional movement and good safe exercise design.  The main ways that Kundalini yoga is different than other types of yoga:

REPETITION

Kundalini Yoga incorporates repetitive movements (think, twisting left to right over-and-over-again), pranayama (most easily understood as breathing exercises), meditation, and chanting mantras (like SatNam– all is truth) for prolonged periods of time to shift our consciousness. Mantras in the kundalini tradition come out of Punjabi dialect and look similar but not exactly the same as traditional Sanskrit mantras used in other styles of hatha yoga.

The reason repetition is so important in Kundalini yoga is that it helps get the energy flowing. Our bodies are energy systems that pull energy from the universe around us on a continuous basis. When we have blockages in our subtle anatomy, the energy be excessive or deficient and can be felt on the mental, emotional, spiritual or physical levels.

Repetition of chanting of a traditional words, meditative focus and pranayama breathing helps rejuvenate our bodies by facilitating a flow of energy, or awakening Kundalini.

 

STRUCTURE

Kundalini yoga has its own unique structure and methodology. The repetitive movements and accompanying pranayama breath work are numerically precise (e.g. performs 42 squats inhaling with your head to the right and exhaling with your head to the left). The duration of how long you do each movement in a sequence is also very precise.

In a typical Kundalini practice, we move through yoga asana/postures holding or repeating for specific periods of time in a set routine, whereas Vinyasa and Hatha-based yoga styles offer a little more room for creativity. The vinyasa or hatha experience can vary greatly depending on the yoga teacher or style of yoga. 

The idea behind this set structure is based on the ancient teachings of Tantra yoga and is designed in a way to move the flow of Kundalini Shakti energy through the chakras, from the root chakra, or Muladhara, upward toward the crown chakra, or Sahasrara.

When this happens, a Kundalini awakening can occur and serves as a sort of launching pad from which our most love-filled abundant life can take place. It can be a beautiful experience and can from time to time feel overwhelming. Teachers are trained to support you in your experience.

KRIYAS

These set, Kundalini sequences of movement, breath and mantra are called kriyas. The kriyas come out of the traditional practice and have been influenced by modern movement practices as well as a variety of teachers and researchers at this point. The kriyas are designed to direct our subtle body energy to stimulate the nervous system and glandular system through the manipulation of purusha and prakriti.  

Some Kundalini kriyas will leave us blissed out with a profound sense of calm, relaxation, clarity and joy and others may trigger us. Kundalini Yoga is called the “Yoga of Awareness.” It is designed to challenge the ego and bring our triggers to the surface so that we may learn and grow. If you find the exercises irritating (or you don’t want to do 42 frog squats in a row and begin to get tired, angry, frustrated), this is precisely the point. Some teachers would say that this is the point. At Atlas we encourage you to find your edge, notice it, and progressively work towards completing a set without force – that is where the potential for injury occurs. Progressing slowly towards a yoga asana or meditation or pranayama goal is a healthy, well approach to the practice in any style of yoga.  Kundalini Yoga teaches us perseverance and patience in difficult life situations. The practice can serve as a mirror to look at our own psychology and see how we react to difficult situations in life.

If you want to know more about this ancient Tantric yoga practice then check out my podcast on this exact topic. I go over where this ancient technology originally came from, how chanting helps foster healing, what the different breathing techniques are, and why the Kundalini yoga poses are so important to becoming awakened.

I also talk a bit about how to take this ancient Tantric yoga practice off the yoga mat so that you can experience the benefits of Kundalini in your daily life.

Whether you’re ready to deepen your spiritual practice or you’re simply looking for a way to strengthen your current yoga practice, you’ll get all of your questions answered in this podcast.

And if not, then drop your questions in the comments section. I am more than happy to answer them and help you find the best yoga practice for you!

INTRIGUED…

Try a Kundalini yoga class with Elizabeth Perez on Thursday evenings at 7pm. You are welcome to try it out as our guest. Email us at info@atlasstudio.com

INTRIGUED…

Looking to deepen your personal practice or take your teaching to the next level, join us the spring for the 200hr Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training program.  Elizabeth and I will be team teaching this fun and is a personal growth and professional skills training course.

The Atlas 200hr Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training program lasts for nine months and is deep, intense and a lot of fun. It requires a serious commitment, which includes attending in-person (depending on restrictions) intensive modules and online modules, plus completing homework. We meet once a week to practice and discuss homework and personal practice.

We work with posture, breathing, movement, and patterns of attention and intention. There’s a balance between exploring our own embodiment for deep insight into our patterns, and learning practical tools we can use with others.

Kundalini work comes from different roots, including martial arts, body therapy, dance, mindfulness, spirituality, therapy and the arts. Our team has a wide variety of in our backgrounds. Alongside Atlas Yoga School director, Denise Davis-Gains, we’ve handpicked some top international core faculty and guest trainers. Our facilitators are senior, experienced teachers. We’re confident Atlas 220 hr Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training will put you at the forefront of this field.

The next intake for Kundalini YTT is April Spring 2022 - April 5, 2022 - January 5, 2023.

https://www.atlasstudio.com/kundalini-yoga-level-1-teacher-training

contact Kaylee at ays@atlasstudio.com for more information