The Foundational principle for Purest Potential Kundalini Yoga is to live as a Self Sensory being. That one who sets their own course and has the tools to attenuate to a life of brilliance. This practice is for all those who are ready to put their “assontheline”, to stop blaming others and the outside world, and who are ready to take 100% accountability for their life and the future they want to be part of.This Self Sensory life is created with:
Ways to experience yourself as a Self Sensory being:
In this article during the first month of the year we’ll explore the “grounding’’ practices of kundalini yoga: Asana, Kriya, Mudra and Bandha.
Asana: the posture you hold during asana practice is the posture with which you live your life. To align your posture in life to an infinite potential for growth and expansion we practice yoga to give a comfortable seat to the heart. We initiate the movement for each asana from the navel and then let the heart lead the movement.
Kriya: Sanskrit: क्रिया, ‘action, deed, effort’ is a “completed action”, technique or practice within a yoga discipline meant to achieve a specific result. A kriya is a specific series of asanas, or body postures, combined with pranayama, mantra and mental focus to create a specific effect. Training the mind and the body to be in synchronicity with the breath is a critical aspect of kriya. While doing the asanas: when inhaling, mentally vibrate the sound “Sat”, and when exhaling, mentally vibrate the sound “Nam.” “Sat” means “truth” and “Nam” means “identity of Truth,” or to identify with Truth. This mantra harmonizes the body, mind and breath. Kundalini Yoga follows precise combinations of asanas which when practiced delivers a dependable result. Kriya is a spiritual ‘recipe’ practiced for a specific outcome.
Mudra: Sanskrit: मुद्रा, “seal”, “mark”, or “gesture”; is a symbolic or ritual gesture or pose. While some mudras involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers.
Gyan Mudra. The tip of your thumb touches the tip of your index finger. This mudra gives mastery over the energy of Jupiter, the expression of expansion and knowledge. When you need more knowledge or you need expansion in your consciousness to deal with some event. Mastery of the mudra will give you control over the positive aspects of the planet Jupiter and it will eliminate the negative patterns that you may have picked up in this life or from past lives.
Shuni Mudra can give you mastery over the energy of the planet Saturn. Touch the tip of your thumb to the tip of your second finger, the middle finger. This mudra seals in the energy of Saturn and gives both wisdom and patience. Always imagine Saturn’s positive aspects of patience and wisdom before embarking on this journey of transforming old karmic tendencies. This alchemical process is the journey of our lifetime, our destiny work, our dharma.
Surya Mudra is made by holding the tip of your thumb to the tip of your ring finger. This mudra seals in the energy of the Sun, and brings about physical vitality. If you are weak and do not have the energy to show up for your life, mastering this mudra can connect you essentially with all the energy you need in order to handle the challenges and requirements of your life.
Surya Mudra is made by holding the tip of your thumb to the tip of your ring finger. This mudra seals in the energy of the Sun, and brings about physical vitality. If you are weak and do not have the energy to show up for your life, mastering this mudra can connect you essentially with all the energy you need in order to handle the challenges and requirements of your life.
Venus Lock masters the balance between the energies of Venus and Mars. Venus expresses the feminine energy of love and harmony and Mars expresses the masculine energies of passionate impulse and action. If you find there is too much or too little love or passion in your relationships, then conscious application of this mudra can transform these karmic patterns. It will create a balance between the two complimentary energies needed to achieve fulfillment. Mastery transforms the negative influence and allows the positive to be summoned forth as a new, permanent habit. For those who identify female, interlace the fingers with the right little finger on the bottom. Put your right thumb above the base of your left thumb on the webbing between your thumb and index finger. Press the tip of your left thumb on the fleshy mound at the base of your right thumb. Reverse this mudra for those who identify as masculine.
Bandhas बन्ध, a Sanskrit term for “binding, bond, arrest, capturing, putting together”. Bandhas protect and give the ability to project as they align the physical and energetic structures to allow the kundalini to rise up the central sushmana channel.
Mulbandh is the root lock. It is a process of contracting all 3 of the following muscle groups in a wavelike motion:
This is done in conjunction with:
Diaphragm Lock (Uddiyana Bandh) To master this bhanda, we recommend that you include it in your daily practice. Practice this with absolutely no food or liquid in your stomach and first thing in the morning. Place your hands above your knees at the tops of your thighs while bending forward slightly (30°). Exhale your breath out and do not allow any breath to come back into the lungs while applying the bhanda. With your breath held out, pull your abdominal muscles in and up. Make sure that the muscles of your diaphragm pull up and in, and then also pull up under the rib cage. The key to this is to apply pressure downward with your hands where you have placed them above your knees. Repeat holding and releasing the lock several times with your breath held out.
Neck Lock (Jalandhar Bandh) This bandha is applied during meditation, while chanting and during pranayama, the art of working with the energy of the subtle breath. It facilitates the kundalini energy to rise into the higher centers. Lift your heart as you stretch the back of your neck, keeping your head level and centered. You should feel a slight pressure at your throat.
Maha Bandh is a special lock that is applied in order to move the kundalini energy up through the sushmana channel, which creates a state of fearlessness. On an exhale, apply all three aforementioned bandhas: MB, neck lock and the diaphragm lock, and focus at your brow point.
We’ll let Patanjali Rishi offer the last words on the foundational practices of yoga from the Yoga Sutras:
Yoga sutra I,2
Yoga is experienced in that mind which has ceased to identify itself with its vacillating waves of perception.
Yoga Sutra I,3
When this happens then the Seer is revealed, rising in its own essential nature and one realizes the True Self (Sat Nam)
The Patanjali sutras offer guidance to those who seek to transform themselves using yoga as an evolutionary path. The yoga sutras are considered a Darshan, a mirror, one of 6 classical Indian philosophical systems and also a method of awakening to and directly experiencing Darshan through self realization.
Sat Nam
