Twelve years ago I was working with a therapist who was a Sikh and a kundalini yoga teacher, her name was Guru Ravi Kaur Khalsa. One day she mentioned about a kundalini yoga teacher coming to town to lead a workshop and in her detached usual way she said: ”you may like it.” As I was longing for deep personal transformation I went without hesitation.
When I arrived, I saw students seated on a sheepskin with their head covered. There was a wide diversity of people…old and young, male and female…I was taking it all in. After a couple of chants at the beginning of the class we started some series of exercises; some of them were odd and made me laugh. Our eyes were closed to stay within and be present to our own experience. Some of the exercises were physically challenging because of the repetition but very quickly I ended up experiencing my being as pure vibrant energy, invincible and free yet connected and present. As an energy healer working with energy patterns with my clients I was amazed of the sensation and the brilliance of this approach. At the end of the class I went to talk to the teacher and asked her for a daily kryia and meditation. I also mentioned that I wanted to become a teacher. She laughed and said: “ I created a bomb!”…Her name was Gurmuk Kaur Khalsa. I left the class with a sense of complete renewal… I was hooked.
Why Do I Practice Kundalini Yoga
At a very young age I was touched by anyone who committed to a spiritual practice. I explored many traditions and practiced essentially Vinyassa Yoga, Siddha Yoga, Bikram Yoga, Nichiren Buddhism and Qigong. One day I got introduced to Kundalini Yoga and at the end of my first class, I knew “I found home” and that I would become a teacher.
Every spiritual practice has unique gifts to offer. Kundalini Yoga has this no BS essence in it that fits my style. It has been called the Yoga of Awareness. This practice helps you break unnecessary patterns, take responsibility for one self, develop your intuition and support you to go through any layers of confusion, worries, anxiety or depression to connect to your true essence. In fact in the seventies, there were a lot of centers that used the technology of Kundalini Yoga to help people with drug addiction. It is a “cut the crap” practice …whatever the crap of the day maybe.
After ten years of teaching students and future teachers, I am always amazed of the efficiency of this practice. The transformation one goes through is a gift to witness. It brings simplicity clarity energy and inner stability in one’s life and from that place true happiness can emerge.
Now this practice touches me. I experience very quickly energetic shifts and a sense of expansion that I never came close to before. Often it will bring in me energy and pleasure and at time old emotions of anger or anxiety will come up to be cleared. One thing is sure; the practice of Kundalini Yoga has been my best teacher to love myself deeper than ever before.