What is Kundalini Yoga?
"The Kundalini is untapped energy at the base of the spine that can be drawn up through the body awakening each of the seven charkas. Full enlightenment occurs when this energy reaches the crown chakra at the top of the head."
What is a Kundalini Yoga class like?
A Kundalini class begins with a short chant (warning; the chant started and at first I had a moment of panic, "I don't know this chant". As I looked frantically around the room, I noticed the words painted on the studio wall at Anchorage Yoga.) followed by a warm-up to stretch the spine and improve flexibility (we did a typical hot yoga flow for sun salutation). The main work of the class is called a kriya, which is a proscribed sequence of poses and breath that focuses on a precise area of the body. Basically, you do repeated movements until you think your body part such as an arm may fall off. Then, you move into the next poses (which feels good at first until you repeat the movement enough times to make you think that body part may fall off). The class ends with a meditation, which is accompanied by closing song.
The instructor was dressed differently then I have normally seen yoga instructors. A little research and I found that "Kundalini devotees often wear flowing white robes and head wraps (which my teacher was wearing).".
Should you try Kundalini Yoga?:
Kundalini is one of the more spiritual types of yoga." It goes beyond the physical performance of poses with its emphasis on breathing, meditation, chanting. However, the Kundalini sequences can be very physically intense." There was definitely times when I thought, why the heck am I doing this. But I loved the class. I think it was a great change of pace to the normal hot flow class I take, and I look forward to my next Kundalini class.
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