So once in class Guru Singh was saying that he’s seen a lot of people come and start doing Kundalini Yoga, and the growth and change happens too fast, and they can’t handle it, and then they stop.
I’ve been wondering about that claim. I talked with one friend who became a student, and she said she switched to hatha for just that reason.
But I had a feeling after a while that change wasn’t happening. I was going to sadhana daily, and was really stuck. The actions from yoga weren’t going to solve the problems I was facing in life, and I was expecting them to. Everyone else was shipping off to summer solstice, and I was stuck in LA. I looked at the damn pictures of Muniji and Yogi Bhajan, and I was pissed. I’d been had. Scammed.
So that intensified until I said, “to hell with this.” Quit – as much as I could. Although the yoga sort of has become integral to me being able to function. So I’d do a set here and there if I was uncomfortable.
I frequently run into people who say, “Oh yeah. I used to do Kundalini. But now I do… [insert various hatha forms here]” I never get a clear answer why they stopped or switched. Maybe there isn’t one – a conscious one, at least. So far no one’s told me the growth happened too fast. Several have told me they couldn’t stand the politics at the studio where they were practicing.
Dammit Singh claims the people who can’t stand yoga studio politics are amusing, because they’re so much more inconsequential than what you encounter anywhere else. But if it’s your world, (and it’s said that first you practice yoga to help your life, and then you practice life to help your yoga) then the politics DO matter, unfortunately.
Kirtan Singh told me that people who practice sadhana without Gurdwara tend to become very ego driven or self-centered, and the Gurdwara helps to counter and balance that. I thought that was interesting, and wonder why Golden Bridge and Karuna haven’t made an effort to offer that aspect to students.
Georg Feurstein: The Deeper Dimension of Yoga
Obstacles on the Path According to Patanjali
Illness
Apathy
Doubt
Heedlessness
Sloth
Dissipation
False Vision
Nonattainment of the Stages
Instability
Pain
Depression
Tremor of the Limbs
Faulty Inhalation and Exhalation
I’ll have to read that thoroughly and get back to you on it…
I’ve been doing kundalini for over 5 years and used to do hatha for 8 and qigong for about 6 and I think for me, kundalini has been the most powerful because it’s cleared the most emotional debris in the fastest amount of time. Yes it does hurt at times. I am going through a cleansing period right now as I started to do a new meditation but usually after a few days or a week, the dark ends and you feel lighter and happier. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like the darkness will ever end and it feels like you’ll never be happy because so much pain comes up but it is worth it in the long run because I feel happier and I feel my light inside me.
I tend to practice more on my own at home so I use books and dvds from Ravi and Ana Brett. I do go to an ashram but I tend to practice at home, for convenience and money. Also it’s easier for me to cry in my bedroom then during a class. So I avoid the ‘politics’ of kundalini.
I don’t know if I will be a life long practitioner but I am very committed to my regular doing kundalini and know that it has really helped me out emotionally.
The problem I think with 3H0 is that they don’t really talk about the emotional aspect of doing kundalini. Supposedly it makes you feel good but it’s not really brought up that you can feel depressed when things you have repressed over lifetimes surface. Experiencing emotional pain just isn’t discussed but certainly embracing the pain that comes up during practice, feeling the pain and letting it go is what makes kundalini so rewarding and in the end leads to happiness.
I’ve never done anything else other than Kundalini. Hatha I tried once and it was too mellow, I like the energy intensity of Kundalini, and the meditations etc, more than the pretzel ness of hatha. I have a pretty intense professional and therefore personal life, and Kundalini has helped with those and other resulting physical problems, off the mat. I think the organization could do a better job explaining the side effects of the yoga, particularly when many people come to it with an average of worse mental health, addictions, and abuse issues, not to mention PTSD issues. But I think thats up to us…rather than the organization.