A wee story about kundalini's relationship to my somatic dance and some new videos

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.

Introducing quickie yoga for your neurospicy brain

Or rather, introducing a reframing of quickie yoga in a way that tells its story better. We’ve been doing this work all along but now I’ll be bringing it to the forefront. Go here to register for March.

As always, these classes can be done live or with the videos on your own. And this 30 minute quickie, focused format works, I think, really well on video.

As we focus on what I’m calling “STIM YOGA for your neurospicy brain”, we’ll be bringing in a lot of the usual suspects and then some: multiple lineages of yoga, basics from primal movement, basics from systems like tai chi, somatic movement, breath work to match it all, and anything else I happen to be learning and is floating my (brain) boat. ((ha))

This is for those of us who struggle with focus, inner balance, peace, and nervous systems that tend toward anxious. You know where to find me if you have any questions.

A bit of radiance

Today I started teaching a fresh online session of morning quickie kundalini, and as I was preparing, it hit me that I wanted to share a tiny reading at the beginning of class.

Then I realized… whoa, I haven’t even wanted to pick a reading for so long, much less read it aloud in class, thanks to the darkness of utter disbelief in anything but the material world that has been plaguing me for the last few years. (I wrote about my sudden release from depression related atheism in the previous post.)

This felt like a big deal… yet another layer of change or another layer of becoming myself again.

And when I was explaining this at the beginning of class, the glee with which long term students reacted to my little announcement confirmed my feeling that we’d all been missing this.

If you’ve been in classes with me, you know I select these randomly by letting the book fall open or having someone yell out a page number.

So here’s the one I read this morning. It’s from this book, which is one of my favorites ever.

Radiance Sutra #61

Adorable one,

Sit or lie down, completely immobile,
Beholding the cloudless sky —
Or if there are clouds, the sky beyond.

As vastness envelops you,
The body vanishes,
Thoughts forget to come.
In this moment,
You are the nature of the great sky.

Intro to Kundalini Workshop

This workshop will take place in 3D in Columbus, OH on Sunday, April 21, from 5 to 7 PM. But I’ll then be taking the material online so keep your eyes open for that. (And this workshop is great whether you’re just starting with Kundalini or want a refresher/deep dive into it.)

If you’re able to be in Columbus, go here to register.

I thought now would be a great time to re-tell the story of me and Kundalini and give you an idea of what a class with me can look like:

The Story of a Magpie Mind

My mind is a magpie, always collecting shiny bits wherever it comes across them, never settling, adding forever to its already full nest. My magpie mind never thinks, “Oh! that’s the perfect amount of shiny! I am done!” Nope. My magpie mind is always in flight, searching.

I used to think that was a bad thing and maybe some of you thought the same or were taught the same about your own magpie minds.

I used to think that was a bad thing, until I realized it’s simply… NOT.

My magpie mind is fucking delightful and my students are better off for it.

I never tire of learning. I never tire of experimenting. I never tire of pushing myself just that little bit more.

Because of this, I’ve always had a hard time describing the yoga I teach. It’s steeped in so many lineages and I pull in from so many teachers and sources that it would be impossible to list them all in one place.

But underneath it all, there is Kundalini yoga — just with a whole bunch of Christine sprinkles, which change from month to month and year to year.

Kundalini Saved My Life and Prepared Me to Return to Dance AND LIFE

That’s not an exaggeration. I was deep into a severe and life threatening and long term cycle of depression and anxiety. My willingness (and I have no idea where that came from!) to try yoga and then to try Kundalini did something magical to my brain.

The focus on breath work and the quick movements of Kundalini — rather than the stationary poses of more “mainstream” yoga — washed my brain in serious amounts of happy chemicals, and yes, that would go away mere hours after practice but it was enough that it stayed in my memory and made me go back again and again. The longer I practiced — over months and years — the longer the effects lasted after each session.

Eventually this all led to my healing experience on the dance floor at a friend’s wedding when I was 40. I would never ever have stepped onto that dance floor again if I hadn’t been prepared by my Kundalini practice.

So what the HECK is Kundalini with Christine?!

In my late 20s, I started where most people start with yoga or thereabouts: Iyengar yoga. From there, though, I quickly dove into many other lineages: Integral, Vinyasa, Kripalu, Ashtanga, Yin, Restorative…and more.

I’ve also taken time to really study breath (pranayama); I have resisted but finally gotten a handle on meditation practices; I am obsessed with mudras; I am equally as obsessed with chanting. (I’m really a natural Bhakti Yogi, if that means anything to you. If not, it means I’m naturally devotional.)

I’ve studied yoga philosophy with one of the most renowned teachers in the West.

And more recently, within the last few years, I’ve dived deeply into Tantra studies, the foundation of Kundalini Yoga.

I’m also certified from Kripalu in YogaDance and YogaDance for Special populations (people with Parkinson’s, etc., and those recovering from cancer). This form is very influential to all of my movement work.

To get a rounder sense of me: everything I have ever studied relative to movement informs my approach to Kundalini.

This includes but is not limited to: Japanese Butoh, modern dance, somatic therapies, trauma and body based psychotherapies, biomechanics, and I’m probably forgetting lots.

So WHAT Does a Class LOOK LIKE?!

That’s a great question because it’s always evolving, but you can bet on a few things happening every time:

First, there’s always a TON of circular movements because that’s what the body loves.

Second, there will be repetitive and very natural feeling movements blended into and with things you more easily recognize as “yoga,” BUT there will always be a way to find all of it in YOUR OWN BODY. I’m extra good at that. ((grin))

Third, there’s a major connection to the breath and a variety of breaths in a way that most of my students say they never experienced before. The breath is actually more important than the movements.

Fourth, you won’t feel like you’ve “exercised” like some yoga classes (though that’s not always bad); instead you’ll feel like you’ve participated in a ritual of healing and joy.

It's already October!

Which means we start a new 4 week session next week, Tuesday and Thursday, October 10th and 12th.

First, if you need these classes and find they are out of reach in terms of payment, please tell me. I am not owed any explanation; just let me know your need and we’ll get you in to class one way or another.

GO HERE TO REGSITER

As always, I want to remind you all that you don’t have to be live for any classes and that the videos remain available to you for the entire four weeks PLUS whatever time there is in between the end of that session and the start of the next. Usually that means you get at least an extra week to play with this material.

Quickies are based in Kundalini yoga but there’s all kinds of functional movement added in, and these (like all of my classes) can be done on any level. You could do everything I teach from a chair if need be.

Tuesday Peony is fundamentals and beyond. This is a great place to start if you’ve never taken a class with me.

Thursday Peony is based in Butoh and only recommended if you’ve taken at least one other class with me.

If you have any questions, just send me an email.

JoyBody: The Efficacy of Tummy Circles

I’ve had this post in mind for months, but every time I go to write it, I get totally overwhelmed because I think that this topic is rather huge. Like, I could write a short book about tummy circles. They’re that important and that effective.

So today as you read this, imagine I’m just getting started, that this is the tip of the iceberg. Part of the iceberg that’s underwater is all the stories I could tell you about how students’ bodies (and minds and spirits) have changed over time doing tummy circles fairly consistently.

Fairly consistently means many times a week, but it doesn’t necessarily mean a LOT of time. I tell people that even just one minute in each direction will create changes. And that’s the truth.

(Side note: I’m having a bit of anxiety about this even now… I KNOW after I release this out into the world, that I’ll think of tons of things that I missed. AND if you, as a practitioner, think of anything I missed, please let me know!)

I’ll be looking at this from the perspective of three of your main bodies or sheaths: physical, emotional/mental, and spiritual/woo.

The Physical Stuff

To start, tummy circles do all kinds of magic to your physical body.

• Because we do the circles in sync with the breath, they make us immediately aware of how we’ve been breathing and what we need to do to improve our breathing.

• In a more abstract way but still powerfully physical, tummy circles immediately drop us into our bodies. There are days when they actually remind us that we freaking have bodies.

• They’re great for warming up as they create some heat in the torso and get the muscles ready.

• If you have tight hips, over time tummy circles will start to naturally relax and elongate all the muscles creating the tightness. This includes and also goes for your psoas muscles.

• If you’ve never met any of the muscles in your torso (i.e., your “abs”), tummy circles plus focused breath will eventually introduce you.

• They also rock when it comes to helping with healthy digesting. If you’re feeling like you’re in a phase of hyper-digestion (to put it nicely), then simply do them much slower with much more shallow breath.

• And of course, these are great for your spinal health and mobility. In Chinese medicine, they say your true age is equal to your spinal flexibility and strength.

The Emotional/Mental Stuff

How the heck do tummy circles affect our mind and feelings? Well…

• Doing this repetitive movement with the breath quickly clears the mind. Or helps us to notice how messy it actually is up there.

• They always put us in touch with what we’re feeling. This part is extra powerful when we are first starting to do them and when we’re going through something extra challenging and have to do a bit of compartmentalizing to get through our days.

• Tummy circles are a great and gentle emotional release valve.

• They bring us right into the now. This is a big part of their magicks.

The Spiritual/Woo Stuff

Tummy circles are simultaneously working on three energy centers/chakras. Well, more like four or… all of them. ((ha))

• First chakra: of course, tummy circles ground us. Connecting us to the energy of earth and self (and when done with others, kinda plugging us into the circle, if you will).

• Second charka: the motion of the tummy circles and the breath are like water, connecting us to our inherent creativity and stirring it up. (I often get ideas during tummy circles.)

• Third chakra: when done correctly, they stoke our inner fire… the fire of will and the fire into which we can throw whatever we no longer need. (You can even imagine throwing crap into that fire as you do these.)

• Fourth chakra: they start to generate energy upward into the heart center.

• Fiftth chakra: audible breath and the motion continue to pull the energy up and into our throats.

• Sixth charka: doing tummy circles with the eyes closed, then allows the energy to be pulled up into our third eye area, stimulating the pituitary and pineal glads because…

• Seventh chakra: finally the energy reaches our crown, driving upward and connecting us to all that is before finally dipping back down into the ground and starting all over again.

The energy of the tummy circles, then, creates a multitude of differently planed spirals. You can visualize yourself sitting in the center of all of that as it emanates out from you in every direction and then gets fed back into you.

Like I said, powerful stuff.

And they are no less powerful if you do them in a chair. Over time, I would encourage you to slowly work your way toward the floor but in the meantime, the chair version is just as good.

The idea, as always, is to do old things in new ways… finding little bits of change to experiment with and to observe.

If you’re not seeing the videos in your email, here is the first and the second.

SPECIAL! Four week, 70 minute Kundalini Plus session!

It’s that time again!

Reminders:

• you can participate live or you can just use the videos which are available the following day

• you can participate live AND use the videos all you want because they stay up for all four weeks

• there is a music list that you can use or not

• it’s easier to have music on one device and your video on another

• you’ll all be muted and my music will be on earbuds

• times are Eastern United States

• we meet on zoom

If you’ve never experienced Kundalini Plus as taught by me, go read over here for more information.

I’m calling it Kundalini Plus, because one, as I’ve written about over here, I don’t want to say I’m teaching yoga any more. And two, if you know me, you know I never teach straight up any system. I mix stuff together and see what happens.

So this class will be lots of circular movements and natural movements and tons of breath work and just that deep sense of shared ritual that we’ve all come to love.

You’ll be guided the entire hour, so if you’re not into free movement, there isn’t any.

DAY and TIME: Sundays, 5:30 to 6:40 PM (class “opens” at 5:25)
DATES: October 2, 9, 23, and 30 (no class on the 16th because I’m traveling)
COST: $75 (if this is an issue, please never hesitate to say so and we’ll work something out)