Introduction to Kundalini Yoga. Yoga is a centuries-old science, originating in India. Yoga provides practitioners with tools and techniques to explore the creative and spiritual potential that is inside every individual. Yoga comes with different names, such as Astanga, Hatha, Iyengar, Kundalini, etc. Although often associated with exercising and physical fitness, and although each style of yoga may stress specific aspects: posture and/or exercising, breathing, mantra, meditation,…, all yogas have the same roots and are all based on the same holistic principles. They have the same primary aim namely to relax the body and calm the mind so they become free from confusion and distress. Yoga is not a religion. The different aspects of yoga are tools with which the practitioner can increase the awareness of the reality of being. This reality is impermanent, at the same time it is infinite and part of the Infinite Energy, of the Supreme Consciousness, that which is called God, Buddha, Allah, … The word Yoga, comes from the Sanskrit word “Jugit”, which means “to join together”, or “to untie”. Yoga is the practice to untie the individual conciousness, the individual ego, our dualistic thinking, and to join it with the Supreme Conciousness. A yogi is a person whose individual consciousness has merged with the Supreme Consciousness, who has become enlightened. Kundalini Yoga is a Raja (Royal)Yoga, and includes the use of postures (asanas), breathing (pranayama), hand and finger positions (mudras), sound (mantras and gong), locks (bandhas), and meditations. It offers a wide range of possibilities and exercise sets (Kriyas) for the practitioner to work on increasing awareness through group sessions and individual practice. Very practically, it will help to be able to deal with the ever-changing conditions of day-to-day life, and to live life in a healthier and more balanced manner. Kundalini Yoga is not designed as a curative system. Nevertheless exercises and meditations can be chosen for a particular purpose, for example to strengthen specific glands, organs or body parts, to clean the energy channels (nadis), so energy can move freely through the body and energy fields, or to release stress and old pain from the psyche. Practising these techniques develops good health and balances body, mind and soul.  One feels connected with and nourished by one’s inner creative energy (the Kundalini energy) and the outer, infinite energy, which enables living a creative, happy and fulfilling life.

Kundalini Yoga and Yogi Bhajan Yogi Bhajan was born in India on 26 August 1929. He studied and practised Kundalini Yoga from a very young age. He mastered Kundalini Yoga by the age of 16. After finalising his formal education he worked in the government service, but continued to meet and learn from any yoga master he could meet. Late 1968, he moved to the United States and started to teach the formerly secret knowledge of Kundalini Yoga publicly. Since then, he has taught and inspired many Kundalini Yoga teachers and teacher-trainers. Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan can now be learned in local classes in many countries around the world. In his teachings Yogi Bhajan emphasises the importance of practising yoga regularly to be able to handle the stress and emotions caused by the rapid changes in our modern society. The fast pace of modern living is, according to Yogi Bhajan, caused and reinforced by the present transition from the Piscean Age to the Aquarian Age.

Yogi Bhajan

To share the teachings of Kundalini Yoga and to promote a healthy lifestyle, Yogi Bhajan initiated the development of a number of organisations. The Kundalini Research Institute (KRI) develops and provides access to the teachings of Yogi Bhajan through International Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training certification programs, product development and the library of teachings. The 3HO Foundation, an international non-profit organisation, focuses on sharing the teachings of Yogi Bhajan on Kundalini Yoga and a meaningful lifestyle through education, service and the sponsoring and organisation of yoga based camps and festivals. Yogi Bhajan passed away on 06 October 2004. References: Shakti Parwha Kaur Khalsa, 2003. Kundalini Postures and Poetry. An illustrated handbook of classic yoga poses as taught by the Master, Yogi Bhajan, Ph.D. A Perigee book, The Berkeley Publishing Group, New York.B.K.S. Iyengar, 2001. Yoga. The path to holistic health. Dorling Kindersley, London.