I’m going to say something that is not said enough: all of this stuff is made up. All of it. Someone moved around a bit and “found” these movements. These are not handed down to us from some god or found in some ancient manuscript. (And why are older things equated with “better” anyway?) So when we find out some random man (always a man) was actually a total dork (to put it kindly) that doesn’t mean the movements aren’t still effective. (I’m speaking here to some annoying crap that came out about the people who brought kundalini to the west.)
So here we are: my love of kundalini goes way back and I think it was the door that led to me returning to dance. (And a side note for those who might know what this means: I have never been a student of “kundalini yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan.” I am not someone who likes prescribed sets that are treated as if they are magical or medical. I like to play. And I was lucky enough to find some teachers who were the same.)
My yoga journey told super fast
I started studying yoga for the same reason a lot of people did in the late 1990s: I was stressed and anxious and depressed and thought it might help. I saw it as a physical practice as most did at that time. (Eventually I dove into the spiritual and philosophical aspects and those have been more influential to my current work than any of the physical stuff.)
My very first yoga VHS (yes, I said that… VHS TAPE) was with Erich Schiffman. The one with Ali McGraw that I believe set the aesthetic for yoga videos for a long time to come. You can actually see it here.
I was in my late 20s when I started and ended up studying a wide variety of lineages, starting with Iyengar and then Integral, Kripalu, and Vinyasa, until I somehow, in my early 30s, found Kundalini yoga.
And that changed everything.
I would finish up a practice and actually feel like my mind was not the enemy. I would feel… elated. It didn’t last more than a few hours but that taste was enough to keep me going back for more.
The breathwork is so important in this practice that I tell new students, you can always stop the movement if you envision it and continue the breath practice. (Again, this is foundational to Peony Somatic Dance and shows up in every single class to this day.)
Kundalini has a dancerly feel to it and it gave me a sense of the possible joy of my body after decades of living detached from my body. It was enough that I was open to dancing when the moment finally presented itself.
These moments that save us? They can easily be missed if the ground has not been prepared.
Kundalini is a gateway or so I hope
I love kundalini for itself, but I have also always held this hope that people would do kundalini and then want more… more freedom, more self expression, more movement unique to their unique bodies.
It doesn’t always work that way and that’s okay. It’s okay to just love your kundalini practice (even though, if you take classes with me, I’ll sneak in a bunch of other stuff).
And for that reason, I’ve finally decided to offer more of this practice I love to the wider world and not just the students in my classes.
I’m starting a section on my YouTube channel that will be focused on this.
To begin, I’m sharing shorts that demonstrate the most essential kundalini movements — the ones that I think you could do every day for just a few minutes and you’d get a lot out of them.
Keep in mind, that an “advanced” kundalini practice is more about length spent practicing than some contortionist or gymnastics level postures. Though there aren’t really “postures” in this practice because it’s almost always moving.
I’m sharing one video right here but you can go to my YouTube channel and get more (and maybe subscribe so you get an alert when I post new things).
In the coming months, I’ll share breath practices and a series for each chakra. I’ll also be adding videos of chair based versions.
Volume up to hear the breath. This movement has made my core and back so strong. Just a minute of this a day will create changes.