As a beginning Kundalini Yoga student, you should go at a pace that suits your flexibility and endurance. Practice at home - a one-hour morning practice will prepare you for your day. If you can practice at the same time each day, you will find that you improve rapidly. Take one to three yoga classes a week and one workshop a month to establish a firm foundation for an effective program that fits your needs, goals, capacity and lifestyle.

Wear loose comfortable clothes to class, preferably of cotton or other natural fiber. Bring an exercise mat or towel to sit on if you desire.

It is very important to make sure you go to the bathroom before class, and not during. Getting up in the middle of class is very disrupting to the group energy. Remember to turn off your cell phone. It is also important to try to stay still and not fidget during class, i.e., drink water, roll neck, etc., especially during meditation and when the teacher is speaking. This helps you to stay present and have a deeper experience. It also demonstrates respect for the teacher.

The format of most Kundalini classes is as follows:

Class starts on time.
The class "tunes in" by chanting this mantra 3 times: ONG, NAMO, GURU, DEV, NAMO.

Mantra is vibration. Energy vibrates. There’s a particular vibratory frequency corresponding to every sound in the universe. By vibrating a particular combination of sounds (syllables), you tune-in to various levels of intelligence or consciousness.

The mantra translated above can be read as: "I open myself to the experience beyond my limited self. Let my unlimited spirit and consciousness guide me. I call on the subtle knowledge of my own highest mind to uplift me with what I learn" or "I bow to the Creator, to the Divine Teacher within."

More About Mantra
The Ashtang mantra is for this time.

THE MEDITATION
EK ONG KAR SAT NAAM SIRI WAHE GURU

"This mantra has eight vibrations (Ashtang), and describes the glory of God. Thus said the Master, “In the time period two-and-a-half hours before the rising of the Sun, when the channels are most clear, if the Mantra is sung in sweet harmony, you will be one with the Lord.” This will open the solar plexus, which in turn will charge the solar centers. The person will get connected with the Cosmic Energy, and thus will be liberated from the cycle of time and karma. Those who meditate on this mantra in silence will charge their solar centers and be one with the Divine. That is why I speak to you of why we should meditate and recite this mantra.

All mantras are good, and are for the awakening of the Divine. But this Mantra is effective, and it is the mantra for this time. So my lovely student, at the will of my Master I teach you the greatest Divine key. It has eight levers, and can open the lock of the time, which is also of the vibration of eight. Therefore, when this Mantra is sung with the Neck Lock, at the point where prana and apana meet sushmuna, this vibration opens the lock, and thus one becomes one with the Divine." Yogi Bhajan

The Class Format Continues

A theme or topic is introduced. Yoga has collected many practical guidelines to keep your life vital. Nutrition, exercise, proper sleep, meditation, breathing, body awareness, and the relationship you have with your emotions are the basis of some of these teachings.

Warm-up exercises for 5 to 20 minutes usually follow.

The main "kriya", or exercise series, begins.

A kriya is a specially designed sequence of yoga exercises, each lasting from one to three minutes. This series will "work out" a certain component of your mind and body system - be it your glandular system, your nervous system, your organs or your muscular system. At the end of the series, you will be consolidated in a new physical and mental state.

Now, we do a meditation. Your body will be transformed as a result of the kriya; your mind and emotions will now be made calm and clear by directing the attention. You will sense and develop your quiet mind, your ability to concentrate and project.

The meditation is either silent or chanted, sometimes accompanied with music. It can last from five to eleven minutes in a beginners' class; eleven to thirty-one minutes in an advanced class.

Deep relaxation follows. It is just as important to relax as to exercise vigorously. The exercises and meditation will allow you to attain a deeper healing relaxation than usual. It is an antidote for stress. Let your body become light and beautiful. Let your mind become open and imaginative. Feel free and joyous!

Class ends with a group projection. After raising our energy and spirits, we project that feeling to the whole world and to all those we love and care for. To do this we sing a song:

"May the long time sun shine upon you ... all love surround you ... and the pure light within you ... guide your way on."

BREATH OF FIRE

This is a commonly used breath done in Kundalini Yoga. It is done by pumping the navel point in and out while breathing rapidly through the nose. On the exhale, the navel is pulled in. At first it is easier to focus on the exhale and start at a slow rhythm. Eventually you want to have a rapid, equal and consistant breath. This breath (Pranayama) strengthens the nervous system, purifies the blood and energizes the body. See video.

MUL (MOOL) BANDH
Root Lock

This frequently used practice closes off the lower 3 chakras and allows the kundalini energy to rise. See video. You do this by contracting the muscles of the rectum, the sex organs and the navel point - pulling in and up on the navel. More Kundalini Basics.

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Videos of Kundalini Yoga Basics

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