Kundalini Yoga is also known as the Yoga of Awareness. In the ancient tradition of yoga, Kundalini Yoga is considered to be the householder’s yoga. As such, it has always been practiced by those who are balancing families and jobs. It is a yoga for busy people. This differs from the renunciate’s path where an individual was celibate and removed oneself from society to achieve spiritual enlightenment.
What is “Sat Nam”
Kundalini mantras use an Indian language called Gurmukhi. We greet one another with the phrase “Sat Naam” [commonly seen as Sat Nam]. Here’s a pronunciation tip! The single “a” sound in Sat sounds like a “u” as in “but”; the double “aa” sound in Naam creates a vowel sound that rhymes with “mom”.
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The meaning of this greeting and mantra is “truth is my identity”. When used as a greeting, we are saying to the other, “the highest self in me honors the highest self in you”. When used as a mantra, we are breaking down our self limiting thoughts of the recorded mind and evoking alignment and connection with the Universal Consciousness.
What is class like
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In Kundalini Yoga we practice meditation, movements (asanas), breathwork (pranayama), and repetitive sounds (mantra). These areas are collectively referred to as a kriya. Kriyas combine meditation, asanas, pranayama, and mantra in a designated pattern to achieve a desired result through continuous practice. You might say a kriya in Kundalini functions the same way a recipe does for cooking. After the kriya, the gong is played for deep relaxation (shavasana).
Why wear white
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White or aatvarang means the eighth color. There are seven colors; white is the eighth color. This eighth color or aatvarang means that dimension of life which is beyond. White reflects all colors and is made of all colors. It is a reminder that we are we; we are one.
Wearing white is an invitation to go within, connecting to our inner light as we deflect the chaos of the outer world around us. Wearing loose, natural fibers helps to increase our physical vibration which helps to shift our mood and attitude and strengthen our electromagnetic field. It also serves as a reminder of our ability to transform.
The word “kundalini” generally refers to that dimension of energy that is yet to realize its potential. There is a huge volume of energy within you that is yet to find its potential. It is just there waiting, because what you call a human being is still in the making. You are not yet a human being, you are a “human becoming.” You are not an absolute entity of being human. There is constant scope to make yourself into a better human being. -Sadhguru