Part I: A Description of Classes at Kundalini Yoga in Detroit; a three part blog

Those wild and wonderful energy centers called Chakras with EK ONG KAR at the 7th chakra

Class:  Kundalini Yoga

Kundalini—What is that?

Kundalini refers to the potential energy which resides within all conscious beings, which, if you understand Consciousness, or Awareness (here used as a synonym) as the Ground of the Existence of Everything, then kundalini energy is in Everything.  But we Humans are a complicated species.  Or, the mind actually complicates our experience.

Ancient non-dual wisdom teaches that we are energy, contained temporarily in an illusory and impermanent vehicle, which is the form sometimes called the body/mind. The illusion that is so fascinating is not just the form that energy takes, but the forms surrounding the Self, sometimes called “the 10,000 things.” We become temporarily entranced by any number of the 10,000 things, and see them as all separate things, and ourselves as a separate being, alone, afraid, and unprotected.  

MAYA.

MAYA THE GODESS OF ILLUSION, WHO MAKES THE ONE APPEAR AS MANY

We are afraid, until we see through this illusion. And even then, liberation is a lived experience, not a state of body/mind. It’s our life’s purpose to find the way to live in love, rather than in fear. Jesus, Siddhartha, Ramana, and many many others found this way.   There are three main pathways to enlightenment.  But the way is available to us all.

There are three paths to freedom. One of them is called The Progressive Path. Kundalini Yoga is one method on the progressive path.  This path concedes. for a time. that we have a separate body/mind and a legitimate egoic structure.

Kundalini energy is within us from the beginning of life, and it is channeled through energy centers called chakras (CHAK-raz) as we mature in our awareness of reality.

So that’s what Kundalini is.

Monday (or another chosen day) private classes are different for each student or group. In the past, we have hosted a husband-wife duo, a wife-wife duo, a mother and her daughter, single men and women, with a variety of needs such as tailbone pain, tight hip flexors and hamstrings, and many single people with a variety of obstacles which are psychological in nature, but are treatable with this form of yoga.

Kundalini Yoga is unique in many ways.  There is a generic form, but we teach the form as taught by Yogi Bhajan, which is codified and written down to a large extent.

Harbhajan Singh Puri (1929-2004) founder of 3HO, Sikh Dharma International, Yogi Tea, Spirit Voyage Record Company, etc. etc. etc.

First of all, every class hits differently. The teacher picks a set based on the groups energy and the instructors own preferences, called a KRIYA. It can be a set with as few as three or four exercises to as many as 23 exercises, done over the course of 15 minutes to 60 minutes. Because the focus is the movement and directing of energy in the body/mind, and not a second by second flow of postures, the body/mind is experienced through the lens of where we are placing our attention, or focusing our awareness. When we direct our primal energy forces to a body/mind system, we can make enormous, lasting changes to our body/mind.

Secondly, we will usually be given a chance to use the throat chakra to move energy. Singing and/or chanting is a part of most classes, to some degree.

Third, we will experience what 1 minute, three minutes, seven minutes, or 11 minutes, feels like to the body/mind, when we sustain attention to singular practices. This can work wonders for patience, understanding of impermanence, and compassion for the body/mind.  

There is an opportunity for a both pranayama and/or a mediation practice, which asks the body-mind to focus its attention ( a misnomer) on one or two things, such as the breath, or a mantra, instead of the 10,000 things with which it is normally engaged with.  Focused attention during meditation is the progressive path.

Fourth, there is an opportunity for fellowship, and “breaking bread,” at the end of class. This is such an important part of Kundalini Yoga…drinking healing teas or fresh water, eating nuts, fruits, maybe some chocolate…with friends…it’s entirely wonderful.

We were hungry

Last, this is not the kind of yoga you come to, to get your work out in.  This is not heavy-duty exercise, although it is challenging.  

We are not here to wear ourselves out, lose weight, increase strength, or build muscle. We need to go to the gym or do a sport for that. We are here to shift our awareness from the outer world, which we cannot change much, to the inner world, where we feel we have some agency. And since Kundalini Yoga is based on the teaching of non-duality, these worlds are one and the same (and also independent of each other) we can’t help but effect real changes in our perspectives on our lives.

We learn compassion. We learn love. We learn forgiveness. We learn to be free of dogma. To be free of the weight of beliefs which are making us miserable. We learn to live, love and let go.

We begin the process of awakening to our true nature. Sat Nam becomes a way of life.

Peace to all, light to all, love to all,

Andrea and Mike

Next up:  Classes at KYD

—Teaching Ourselves to Awaken

— Gong Immersion