Kundalini yoga is a very old form of yoga that has only been practiced in the Western world for about 40 years or so. In 1969, Yogi Bhajan founded the Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization (or 3HO), to help spread the word about Kundalini yoga to more people. Bhajan believed that everyone should be allowed to learn and enjoy the benefits of this style of yoga.
Kundalini yoga involves both physical exercises and meditation. It is associated with Hatha yoga, another form of yoga. Kundalini yoga also describes a group of yoga exercises and meditations that are also referred to at times as Kriya Yoga or just kriyas. It is sometimes called “the yoga of awareness” because it is thought to help stimulate and awaken the “kundalini”, the vast and infinite potential that each of us possesses. The term awakening also can refer to knowledge, awareness, and evolved consciousness.
According to Wikipedia, Kundalini yoga is a “pure spiritual science which relies upon a technique called ‘shaktipat’ that leads to enlightenment under the guidance of a spiritual master.”
Because of this, Kundalini yoga is thought to be one of the most spiritual types of yoga that is much more than learning a series of postures and poses. Because it also emphasizes proper breathing, chanting, and meditation, Kundalini yoga helps the people who practice it feel a connection with a higher or divine being. It may also help increase our energy to a higher frequency which helps to open our awareness and feel more peaceful.
Basically, Kundalini yoga is a form of unused energy that is hanging out at the base of our spines. Doing Kundalini yoga is supposed to help this energy rise up through our bodies, waking up each of the seven chakras during its journey. In case you are wondering, these seven chakras are the brow, sacral, crown, solar plexus, heart, throat, and root. The crown chakra, as the name suggests, is at the top of our bodies and having energy reach this chakra is supposed to lead to enlightenment and more energy too. Kundalini energy is usually shown as a snake coiled up at the base of a spine, and the word ‘Kundalini” in Sanskrit means “that which is coiled.”
Each one of the asanas or postures is performed along with a specific kind of breathing that helps make the poses’ effect even more intense, as well as encouraging the energy of the lower body to move upwards.
In the second part of this article, we’ll explore what a typical Kundalini yoga class is like, and how it may benefit our health.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kundalini_yoga
http://www.articledashboard.com/article.php?id=1216692&act=print
http://yoga.about.com/od/kundaliniyoga/a/kundalini.htm