Physical Change and Spiritual Elevation
Kundalini Yoga has a unique blend of both physical and spiritual excercise. I believe this accounts for it’s limited appeal in some parts of the world where people have a difficult time connecting body and spirit. It seems much of the world is caught in the idea that the physical body is ugly, or to be hidden away, least it somehow spoil the spiritual aspects of our beings.
In response, this poor image of the body/spirit relegates yoga to health clubs and sporting activities, where people who lean toward the physical spectrum of the dichotomy already are comfortable spending lots of time working out so they feel better about how they look. Most of these environments either remove the spiritual aspects of yoga completely or do their best to hide it behind a curtain. Walk into many yoga classes and mostly you’ll see young pysically attractive people who already appear to be pretty fit.
Kundalini Yoga is different. Not only do we need to apply self discipline to do physical excersize, we need to learn to love ourselves, love life, and even love funny looking toes, chubby tummies and receding hairlines. As a result Kundalini Yoga classes are sometimes a little different. It’s not that unusual to see a wider range of ages and body types. Kundalini Yoga teachers talk about becoming one with God and raising conciousness to higher levels.
Kundalini Yoga deserves it’s reputation as “the Spiritual Yoga” though all yoga has spirit in it’s deep roots. I feel in some ways it’s being marketed out in the search for popularity. Let’s not make the same mistake and hide our spirituality behind curtains and euphemisisms until it’s only a dusty picture in the corner or a subect for mere historical curiousity.
One of the first things you’ll notice in a Kundalini Yoga space is often an altar or table with pictures of various saints, gurus, gods and other images made sacred by their placement. This is what first attracted me to Kundalini Yoga and led me to the conclusion that I’d found a yoga that wasn’t afraid to embrace the union of body and spirit.
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