Essential Kundalini Yoga for Beginners: Poses and Practices Explained

Kundalini Yoga may seem like Hatha Yoga’s wacky cousin but if you keep an open mind you’ll be able to experience the energetic benefits of this unique practice that incorporates all eight limbs of yoga.

What Is Kundalini Yoga?

Ask the majority of people in the yoga world what Kundalini Yoga is and you’ll probably hear that it’s the yoga of awareness and descriptions of life force energy coiled like a snake at the base of your spine (Muladhara). The Sanskrit word Kundalini even translates to the feminine form of “coiled one.”

Kundalini Yoga is a spiritual practice that works with the energetic body through kriyas (yoga sequences) that activate the coiled energy by means of pressure, tension, stress and friction and send it upwards through your body. As the energy elevates through your chakra system you may experience what is called a Kundalini Awakening. I share more about this view of Kundalini Yoga in my post, “How is Kundalini different from Hatha/Vinyasa?”

Through my own research and experience, I’ve formulated my own definition of Kundalini Yoga that I think you’ll find more modern and relatable.

“A practice of removing any physical or energetic blockages so our energetic orbit is easeful, free-flowing and serene. A return to sacred balance in which our highest-self is our primary operating system.” Brett Larkin

I believe Kundalini is an energetic orbit that exists within you. It loops vertically and horizontally. Kundalini is about circulation. More than raising energy, it’s about the unobstructed, balanced flow of energy in these loops. In this state, you’re able to function as your most authentic self.

You were born with these energetic orbits intact and free flowing. It’s your natural state. But, life happens. Blocks happen. You have lots of opportunities to pick up tendencies from your parents and from society, such as shame, guilt, emotional, or physical trauma. 

Kundalini Yoga reopens your body to allow this flow to return through the use of practices to remove facial blocks, chakra energetic blocks, and thought-pattern blocks. 

This definition of Kundalini also changes the interpretation of a Kundalini Awakening. Instead, it’s a reawakening. Kundalini Yoga restores you to the homeostasis that is your birthright, physically and energetically. You still connect with a higher power, but it isn’t something that was ever out of your reach. It was just muddied by life. You always have the ability to reconnect.

The Core Concepts of Kundalini Yoga

Many people say that Kundalini Yoga works with the energetic body, while all other forms of yoga (Hatha, Vinyasa, Yin, Ashtanga, etc) work more with the physical body. To me, this seems like an oversimplification. All forms of yoga do both. They all share the common goals of balance, homeostasis, ease, liberation, and Samadhi.

What I’ve found is that Kundalini Yoga has a unique approach compared to other forms of yoga. Let’s explore the core concepts of Kundalini Yoga that make it so distinctive.

Polarity

Kundalini Yoga talks a lot about the positive, neutral, and negative mind. Essentially, a discussion of the mind on a spectrum. Positive and negative are the extremes of polarity, with the neutral mind in the middle. The polarity of the positive mind and the negative mind is what enables movement and growth. Without polarity, we have inertia.

Neutral mind is your Goldilocks Zone. Your positive and negative minds are in balance. You harness the best qualities of both, neither end of the polarity overwhelms you.

You might think that in order to get to neutral, you just need to be still. In reality, in order to navigate to neutral, you have to move back and forth between the positive, negative, positive, negative, and so on. This movement enables you to come into your center point. You embody this in physical form in all Kundalini postures and breathwork that you practice.

Your chakras (energy centers) also operate in polarity spectrums. They can be in one of three energetic states: deficiency, balance or excess. If a chakra is deficient, energy is not able to flow through effectively. It’s like a cavernous hole that energy gets lost in. If balanced, energy flows through efficiently and you’re in a nice state of homeostasis. If excessive, the chakra acts like a clogged pipe and energy gets trapped.

Kundalini Yoga helps you master this concept of polarity. It’s what makes Kundalini really unique in its approach. It’s the practical ability to navigate polarity with grace and ease, see the whole spectrum, and find the middle way.

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Chaos

What happens when you move back and forth on a polarity? Chaos.

Chaos is an effective change agent. Think about it. Maybe you randomly get fired, someone close to you dies, or you break a leg. All of a sudden, the way you think about things, or the way you do things, shifts.

In the Kundalini Yoga tradition you’ll often hear the words poke, provoke, and elevate. This is essentially the chaos that the Kundalini practice and kriyas are designed to do to you. 

Kriyas help you become more comfortable with discomfort. It’s an opportunity to pay attention to how you respond to these feelings. While you’re in some discomfort and chaos, what do you notice is drawn out of yourself? What habitual patterns emerge when you’re stressed? See how you react when you’re being asked to change or asked to move out of your comfort zone. 

Remember, your natural state is homeostasis. If you can confuse a disrupted pattern enough, then let the chips fall where they may, a lot of times, things open up and release in a really good way. This is how Kundalini Yoga works with chaos to move energy and open blockages.

It’s through this process of poke, provoke and elevate that you can bust through blocks and get your Kundalini energy circulating optimally. 

Keep in mind, kriyas do this in different ways for different people. It’s important to find kriyas that work for you and don’t overstimulate you. What provokes you, might be completely different than what provokes me, or what I find challenging. 

Always find stillness between poses. Pause for a few breaths to give your system time to come down from the chaos you’ve stimulated. Even though your physical body has stopped moving, you may feel that your energy body is still moving.

Pranayama

Pranayama is a Sanskrit word that translated loosely means “to control life force.” Prana, means “life force” and ‘yama’, means “to restraint or control.” Pranayama practices direct your breath control to influence prana in your body to behave in a desired way. It’s a piece of the yoga puzzle that is often overlooked by Western practitioners. Which is unfortunate, because Pranayama is so powerful.

Pranayama in Kundalini Yoga differs from what you may be used to in Hatha and Vinyasa Yoga, where breath is often used to comfort and soothe. In Kundalini Yoga, breath is often used to nudge or trigger you, to awaken polarity, and to stimulate circulation and generate movement (chaos). 

For example, in Kundalini Torso Twist you’re instructed to inhale left, exhale right as you twist. This rhythm of movement and breath provoke polarity and stimulate a little chaos in the body. Kundalini invites this percussive, rhythmic element into many asana.

Kundalini also uses complex breathing techniques to anchor your attention. This is the practice of Pratyahara, a single point of focus. For example, some breath techniques require eight sniffs in and four sniffs out, then have you pump your belly four times in between each round. Not something you typically see in Vinyasa! 

Not to scare you off, Kundalini does also have some calming pranayama techniques. The key is that your breath is used as a focal point to tame your crazy monkey mind in order to change the frequency of your thoughts and your energetic frequency.

What I love about Kundalini Yoga is that whether you realize it or not, when you practice Kundalini breathing techniques, along with the asana, you cannot stay stuck in your life. The breathwork creates some chaos that helps you change frequency. It really forces you to focus and change the patterning of your brain. This change impacts you in a way that you just can’t stay stuck. Maybe you’re at a dead-end job or in a dead-end relationship. I bet you’ll find that if you start doing Kundalini practices and the pranayama, your life will change. 

Mantra

Mantra helps you create a breath rhythm/pattern. It’s a tool to help you regulate your breath, plus, mantras are way more fun than counting! 

It’s recently been discovered that 5.5 breaths per minute is the magic ratio for you to tap into your parasympathetic nervous system, the rest and digest system. When you chant the mantra Om, it takes around six seconds, and then you need to inhale for about six seconds in order to chant it effectively again. Om forces you to space out your breaths so that you actually breathe in a very specific and healing rhythm. How cool is that!? 

The more you chant mantra, the more your body becomes familiar with this golden ratio.

Mechanics of Kundalini Mantra:

Chaos

Mantra is another tool in your Kundalini tool belt that can help to stimulate chaos. How, you might ask? Imagine a singing bowl. 

Unfamiliar with singing bowls? They’re typically metal or stone bowls that water is placed into. You run a mallet around the rim of the singing bowl to create sound. The sound is caused by the friction from the mallet vibrating the water in the bowl. The droplets gain momentum and create vibrational sound. 

Your body is made up of approximately 60% water. Imagine that within yourself as you chant mantra, the water is being impacted in a similar way as what you witness in a singing bowl. Mantra is the equivalent of that mallet going around the rim of the bowl. The ocean of cells in your body are vibrated by mantra. Your unique voice and vocal structure and the way you chant is uniquely healing for your internal ocean, for your internal energy body. 

Frequency Change

Mantra helps you change your energetic frequency. This is a side effect of chaos. The space created by chaos lets you step into a frequency change. 

You may have heard that each of the chakras have a Bija Mantra. The Bija Mantras are a sound that epitomizes the frequency of that chakra. 

Mantra, in many ways, can be like the key that helps you access an elevator that helps you shift up or down the chakra system, or just helps you access different energetic states. 

If you can’t figure out your way through a situation with your head, or you feel caught in a very low vibration, or you’re feeling an emotion like jealousy (which we might associate with the first chakra) you could use mantra instead of your linear thinking mind to shift out of that vibration. 

Whole Body Intelligence

Mantra activates your whole body intelligence. Guru Singh explains that you have three brains: your head brain, heart brain, and gut brain.

It doesn’t matter what the mantra means, so much as what it does. A simple way to understand any mantra is to ask yourself, when I chant this, where do I feel it? Is the word coming from my gut, my heart, or my head? When you try to dissect why a certain mantra makes you feel a certain way, this is how I’d suggest you investigate it. What part of the body is the mantra stimulating? What’s getting massaged as you chant?

You’re unique and not every mantra is going to be appropriate for everyone. You’ll fall in love with different mantras at different times in your life. What serves you in one season of your life might not be the mantra that serves you in a different season of life. 

Mudra

Have you ever been in the process of learning a new activity and felt awkward because you weren’t sure what to do with your hands? Worry not, Kundalini Yoga is the most hand-inclusive style of yoga out there. Almost all Kundalini practices incorporate mudras. 

Mudra is a Sanskrit word that translates to “seal,” “mark,” or “gesture.” Mudras are most often hand positions formed with your fingers but they can also incorporate specific positions of your arms or your entire body. 

There are many Kundalini mudras. One of my favorites to incorporate in practices is Gyan Mudra.

How exactly do mudras work? While there is no concrete evidence, Kundalini Yoga teaches that the hands contain multiple nerve endings and engagment with them in specific ways allows you to work with particular areas of your body and/or mind.

Mudras can also be symbolic. The power of your mind and imagination are worth consideration. When you work with mudras that represent certain states or processes of consciousness, it’s thought that this can lead to those states manifesting in your life. For example, if you decide to work frequently with a mudra of fearlessness, like Abhaya Mudra, you may begin to feel more fearless in your day-to-day life.

As you practice mudra, the pressure of your fingers should be light and your hands relaxed. You might notice that some positions are really hard to get into, your fingers aren’t flexible in the way they need to be. That’s normal. You can choose to do the mudra with one hand which allows you to use your other hand to gently hold your fingers in place.

Dhristi

Kundalini yoga is often particular about where you focus your eyes. This conscious focal point for your eyes is called drishti.

It’s underestimated how much your drishti can affect your practice. Don’t worry if the drishti instructed doesn’t work for you, it’s ok to modify. The drishti is chosen for a particular effect but no one expects you to maintain it in your practice if it causes you discomfort.

Common Kundalini Drishti:

Gaze at your Third Eye Center 

Roll your eyes up towards the space above your nose and between your eyebrows. Your pituitary gland is located in this brow point area. The idea behind this drishti is that your optic nerve puts some pressure on the area of your pituitary gland and stimulates Sushumna Nadi. This helps develop your intuition. If you want to learn more about the science behind this drishti, Guru Singh goes into detail about this in Kundalini University.

Gaze at the tip of your nose

This drishti is said to balance the Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna Nadis as well as stimulate the pineal gland. You’ll probably come across this drishti with instructions to have your eyes 1/10 open or 9/10 closed (this means the same thing). In those cases just try to have your eyelids mostly closed, light and relaxed. The goal is to stimulate the optic nerve. If this doesn’t work well for you, just close your eyes and visualize staring at the tip of your nose. This will still energetically lock your mind in a triangle shape, which is what this drishti is said to do.

Gaze at the tip of your chin

This drishti is said to cool and calm you. Close your eyes and gently roll them down to look at your chin. The chin is associated with emotions. When you focus on this area of your body it is said to help you see yourself more clearly.

Gaze at your Crown Chakra (Sahasrara) 

Eyes closed and rolled upward as if you could see through the top of the head. This drishti is said to stimulate the pineal gland and your crown chakra. It has a focus on energy ascension and receptiveness. It’s not uncommon for this practice to evoke a sense of awareness and interconnectivity with the universe around you.

Bandhas

The bandhas are an integral piece of Kundalini Yoga because they serve as levers to calibrate your energy. Bandhas are known as body locks. To activate a lock, you physically constrict certain areas of your body to block and direct the flow of energy.

Bandhas can be used throughout your Kundalini practice. You’ll often be invited to activate Mula Bandha at the end of a posture to maximize your energetic effort. When you work with your bandhas, pay attention to the amount of force you use. Aim to be fluid in your movements, don’t be forceful or squeeze excessively. 

Three Main Kundalini Bandhas:

Mula Bandha (Root Lock)

When you practice with me, you’ll notice that Mula Bandha is the lock I almost always que at the end of a posture. It’s an excellent practice to strengthen your Root Chakra (Muladhara) and pelvic floor.

Uddiyana Bandha (Upward Abdominal Lock)

Uddiyana Bandha is a tricky abdominal practice. I’ve found that it works best if you don’t have tension in your diaphragm. Relax your core to achieve the best results.

Jalandhara Bandha (Neck Lock)

Jalandhara Bandha is like an energetic bridge that connects your heart to your brain. This is ideally where you want your energy to go: to the pituitary, pineal gland, and Ajna Chakra (Third Eye). I’ve noticed that most of the time Jalandhara Bandha is instructed as a fairly simple dip of the chin. When you look at ancient yogis in books you’ll notice that their chest is also spread open a bit like a peacock. Their chin is dipped, but their chest is also spread. Aim to incorporate an open chest in your practice of this bandha.

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Top Kundalini Practices For Beginners

Kundalini Yoga may seem strange at first glance because there are many practices that don’t exist in other types of yoga. Here are a few Kundalini practices and Kundalini Yoga poses that are a great beginners guide.

I also recommend that you become familiar with these common Kundalini mudras.

1. Adi Mantra

Every Kundalini Yoga class begins with the Adi Mantra. You’ll often hear it referred to as the Tune In.

The Adi Mantra, “Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo,” translates to “I bow to the Creative Wisdom, I bow to the Divine Teacher within.” 

To Tune In:

• Sit in Easy Pose, spine straight.
• Hands in prayer at heart center.
• Chant the Adi Mantra three times.
• To complete, inhale deeply, gently lift your pelvic floor, pull your navel point in and suspend your breath. Roll your eyes up to your Third Eye briefly, exhale and relax. Rest your hands in your lap.

Variations:

Choose between two mudra variations that both stimulate your vagus nerve. 

• Hands in prayer, fingers pointing up, at your heart center, elbows flared away from your body and raised parallel to the floor. Knuckles of your thumbs press lightly into your sternum. 
• Hands in prayer at your heart center, elbows lowered at your sides. Upper arms gently squeeze your ribcage. 

Benefits:

• Stimulates your vagus nerve, calming you.
• Activates nerve endings in your hands which is said to stimulate your micro-orbit (orbit across your arms and heart center).
• Serves as a meditation and a moment to center yourself, to focus inward. 
• Connects you to your Golden Chain.

Pro Tips for Yoga Teachers:

• When you chant Ong, press your tongue on the roof (upper palate) of your mouth to stimulate your hypothalamus, pineal and pituitary glands. Visualize energy at your Third Eye. 
• When you chant Namo, bring your attention to your Heart Chakra. Visualize light emanating from this area of your body.
• When you chant Guru, as you pronounce “R”, direct your tongue to the roof of your mouth to gently stimulate this area. 

Learn even more about the Adi Mantra in my free workshop, Refine Your Tune In.

2. Sufi Grind

Sufi Grind, is one of my favorite Kundalini asanas. It’s a great way to feel into and release tension in your hips, QL, and low back.

To perform Sufi Grind:

• Sit in Easy Pose, hands rest on your knees. 
• Eyes closed.
• Inhale, roll your torso forward to the left, chest over your left knee. Continue to rotate your torso in a clockwise direction towards your right knee.
• Exhale as your torso passes over your right knee and you begin to roll back. Your belly will scoop and your shoulders naturally round forward. Continue to rotate right to your left.
• Inhale as you come over your left knee and move forward again.
• Continue in this circular motion for as long as feels appropriate. Many kriyas designate a specific amount of time but if you are doing this on your own, feel into what your body needs.
• When you’re ready, reverse the direction of your circles.
• To complete, bring your torso to the center. Deep inhale and suspend your breath. Gently lift your pelvic floor, shoulders relaxed, jaw relaxed. Exhale and release.

Variations:

• Explore large circular motions and smaller circles. When you practice smaller circles, slightly engage your Root Lock and abs to stabilize. Move slowly and press your hands into your thighs for a little extra stretch.
• I recommend you play with really big circles first. Stretch everything out, notice how your body feels in the current moment. Then transition to smaller circles to focus more on the energy body via the work focused on refinement and engagement of your Root Lock.

Benefits:

• Stimulates the lower chakras. When you stir up the energy in these areas of your body it’s then able to move up your chakra system. 
• Beneficial for spinal flexibility. Circular motion reduces stiffness and tension in the lower back and hips.
• Massages abdominal organs and supports healthy digestion. 

Pro Tips for Yoga Teachers:

• Experiment with sitting on a cushion or on the floor. I find that when I go backwards, a cushion impinges a bit on my pelvic freedom. You could also do this in a chair.
• To encourage a grounded and focused mind, internally chant “Sat” as your roll forward and “Nam” as you roll back.
• Throughout Sufi Grind, keep your head level and your heart open.

3. Torso Twist

Torso Twist is guaranteed to perk up your energy.

To practice Torso Twist:

• Sit in a comfortable seat. 
• Place your hands on your shoulders, fingers in front, thumbs behind. Keep your bicep/tricep/elbow parallel to the floor. Once you begin to twist, it can be a challenge to keep this stabilized. 
• Close your eyes.
• Gently engage Mula Bandha.
• Inhale through your nose as you twist to your left. 
• Exhale through your nose as you twist right. 
• Repeat for as long you like or until the timing indicated by a kriya has been completed.
• To complete, bring your torso back to center and inhale. Hold your breath, lift your pelvic floor, lift your navel, lift your gaze to the Third Eye. Exhale. Release your arms and rest your hands on your knees.

Variations:

• Any seated position works well for this asana. Easy pose, rock pose, or seated in a chair are available to you. Just make sure you have enough space to turn your arms and not hit anything.
• Torso Twist can also be performed standing. When you finish this variation of the posture, lower your hands to your sides and stand in Mountain Pose for a few breaths. 

Benefits:

• Active energy boost. In Torso Twist, your Solar Plexus is simulated by the polarity play of left, right, left, right. As you complete the posture, your energy gets to rest and settle where it’s most needed.
• Supports your immune system via stimulation of the lymphatic system. When you hold your arms in this raised position, you stimulate your lymphatic system because you have a lot of lymph nodes in the underarm area. 

Pro Tips for Yoga Teachers:

• Adjust the speed of your twists to suit your needs. Feel empowered to slow it down.
• To encourage a grounded and focused mind, internally chant “Sat” as you inhale to your left and “Nam” as you exhale to your right. 
• It’s important that as you twist, you move your head with your body to protect your cervical vertebra.

4. Shoulder Shrugs

Shoulder Shrugs may look aggressive at first glance, but you’ll love how relaxed you feel when you finish. 

To practice Shoulder Shrugs:

• Sit comfortably in Easy Pose, Rock Pose. or in a chair.
• Rest your hands on your knees.
• Close your eyes.
• Inhale through your nose, raise your shoulders up towards your ears. Give your ears a squeeze with your shoulders to create some tension.
• Exhale through your nose, drop your shoulders back down. This drop should feel a little forceful.
• Continue to repeat this up/down motion of the shoulders. Your breath is percussive, keep it in tune with the motion of your shoulders. 
• To complete, inhale and raise your shoulders. Really squeeze and hold your shoulders up. Tense your face. When you’re ready, exhale and relax.

Variations:

• A common variation you’ll encounter with Shoulder Shrugs is to alternate left and right. Lift one shoulder as you inhale, exhale and drop the shoulder. On your next inhale, lift the opposite shoulder and drop it on your exhale. It’s trickier and it may take you a few moments to figure out. 

Benefits:

• Relieves shoulder and neck tension. 
• Opens the flow of energy between the Heart and Throat chakras via stimulation of the shoulders and neck.

Pro Tips for Yoga Teachers:

• I like to instruct you to create tension in your face to complete this posture but it’s not technically instructed in the Kundalini manuals. I find that the more tension you engage with in this manner, the more you’re then able to relax. Feel free to practice both ways. Notice if one gives you more of a release at the end.
• As you squeeze tightly to complete this posture, focus on the idea of polarity. Intense pressure balanced with release. Play into that idea.
• A great posture to perform after Shoulder Shrugs are Half Moons: Head to right shoulder, exhale as you bring your head forward and slowly roll it over to your left shoulder. Repeat left to right. Anytime you’re dealing with the cervical vertebra, try to keep your movements gentle. 

5. Aura Painting

I like to think of Aura Painting as a rhythmic forward fold. 

To practice Aura Painting:

• Begin standing, feet hip width apart.
• Keep your knees microbent and stabilize your lower body. 
• Inhale, raise your arms up in front of your body until they come above and slightly behind your head. Hips press forward slightly. Keep your lumbar spine and pelvis neutral. Lengthen your tailbone. Lift up out of the side of your waist.
• Exhale, straight arms come down in front of your body. Fold forward with bent knees, hands down to the floor. Your arms swing back behind your body and your fingertips reach their end position pointed up to the area behind you.
• Repeat. Inhale and come back up.
• To complete, lower your hands to your sides on an exhale and stand in Mountain Pose.

Variations:

• Can be performed seated in a chair. Fold forward from your waist and bring your arms down and behind you. Make sure your chair allows for this range of motion.
• Unable to raise your arms above your head? Just raise to your end-range of motion. Envision your arms fully extended.

Benefits:

• Opens up the front body, including the torso and chest, which frees up space to breathe deeper and organs to decompress.
• Stretches the backside of your body: heels, calves, hamstrings, hips, back muscles, and the spine all benefit.
• Soothes the nervous system.

Pro Tips for Yoga Teachers:

• Aura Painting allows you to explore control and stability in the lower body. Light engagement of Mula Bandha is available for you to experiment with in this posture.
• You set the pace for how quickly you move through this asana. Find the rhythm that works for you.
• When standing and extended, try to keep the back bend in the upper back.

6. Kundalini Windmills

Kundalini Windmills are a dynamic forward bend with twists. As you alternate sides, you resemble a windmill.

To practice Kundalini Windmills:

• Stand, feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Heels a little wider than toes for more stability. 
• Raise your arms straight out to your sides, parallel to the ground. Palms face down. 
• Bend forward from your hips. Bring your right hand to touch your left ankle. Your left arm is held straight up and back. 
• Come back up to stand, arms extended and parallel to the floor.
• Alternate sides. Bring your left hand to touch your right ankle. Your right arm is held straight up in back. 
• Come back up to stand, arms extended.
• Continue the windmill posture, alternate sides.
• To complete, come back up to stand, arms extended. Take a deep breath in, hold, engage the pelvic floor. Exhale and relax, hands come down to rest at your sides.

Variations:

• Modify how far apart your feet are placed. Experiment with your feet placed closer together and farther apart.
• If you can’t reach your ankle in the twist, try to reach your knee or shin. Find the range that is possible for you. The goal is to hinge from your hips and invite a twist into your body. How far you reach isn’t as important.
• You will see this posture in kriyas where you may be invited to move quickly. Feel comfortable deciding what speed feels appropriate to you. If a very slow Windmill feels best, practice there. Some kriyas, like Healthy Bowel Kriya, even instruct much longer pauses in the fold.

Benefits:

• Improves flexibility and mobility of the spine.
• Puts gentle pressure on the digestive system and aids bowel function. 

Pro Tips for Yoga Teachers:

• Focus on moving from the hip joint. Students tend to let their head and arms lead in this posture. Allow your heart to be what’s bringing you forward.
• Use your legs to stabilize you. Press down through your feet.
• Press down on your big toe side of the foot to activate your inner thighs to help bring your torso back up to standing.

7. Rolling on the Spine

When you roll on your spine, the gentle pressure stimulates your cerebral spinal fluid and encourages it to move and flow.

To practice Rolling on the Spine:

• Make sure you pad the surface you choose to practice on with a mat to create a soft, gentle space to roll.
• Lay on the floor. Hug your legs into your chest, hands on your shins.
• Raise your head, tuck it in towards your knees. 
• Roll back and forth and massage your back gently from your neck to the base of your spine. Your feet shouldn’t touch the floor. Create a rhythmic motion.
• To complete, roll up to a seated position.

Variations:

• Inhale as you roll back and exhale as you roll forward. This will feel natural because this exhale would occur as you pull your abs down. It feels like the exhale helps to bring you up as you pull your core in.
• According to traditional Kundalini Yoga, the breath pattern for this asana is actually the inverse: inhale as you roll forward and exhale as you roll back. When you inhale on the forward roll, the asana feels more uplifting or elevating. Which makes sense for Kundalini and the focus on raising energy.

Benefits:

• Circulates the energy in your system and relaxes your spine.
• Strengthens your core. Your abdominal muscles turn on to keep you balanced in this movement. While you roll, you work your back body in a relaxing way and your front body in a heating way.

Pro Tips for Yoga Teachers:

• If you find that your core can’t support this movement, place your arms (elbow to hand) flat on the floor on each side of your body. Roll with your arms in this position to support you. 
• Pay attention to your legs and use them for leverage. Straightened legs make it easier to roll towards the lower end of your spine. Legs tighter to your chest will focus the roll towards the upper end of your spine and you may notice that the movement feels less fluid. 
• To encourage a grounded and focused mind, internally chant “Sat” and “Nam” as you roll forwards and back. 

Common Questions About Kundalini Yoga

Still have questions about Kundalini Yoga? Here are answers to the most common questions I get from students.

What does Kundalini mean?

Kundalini is a Sanskrit word. “Kundal” translates to the feminine form of “coiled” and “ini” to “power.” In yoga and spiritual traditions, it refers to a powerful, coiled, dormant energy that resides at the base of your spine. You’ll often see or hear it depicted as a serpent that can be awakened through specific practices. An awakened Kundalini is believed to promote a balanced nervous system, enhanced glandular secretions, enhanced creativity, and a deeper connection to yourself and the universe.

Through my own research and experience, I’ve also come to understand Kundalini in a more relatable and modern way. I conceptualize Kundalini as subtle energy in your body that circulates on two orbits. It loops vertically up Sushumna Nadi and back down your vagus nerve and Ida and Pingala. There is also a horizontal loop, in which Kundalini moves down the right underside of the arm and up the left underside of the arm, crossing at the heart center. 

Is Kundalini Yoga ok for beginners?

I’m a big fan of Kundalini Yoga for beginners. In fact, I have many beginner focused kriyas available for you in Uplifted and on my YouTube channel. 

Always keep your safety in mind. Be aware of any injuries or health issues that you have and make modifications as necessary.

How do I start practicing Kundalini Yoga?

There are so many Kundalini practices available for you to choose from. Pick a few to explore. Remember, I have many beginner focused Kundalini kriyas on both Uplifted and on my YouTube channel.

I often recommend Kirtan Kriya to beginners. While technically a kriya, this practice is more meditative and gentle. Guru Singh, my co-teacher in Kundalini University, offers a lovely version of this practice on YouTube.

Two practices I find beginners often enjoy are this seated beginner kriya and this beginner morning kriya.

Which Kundalini practices should beginners avoid?

I don’t believe there are Kundalini practices for beginners to avoid but I do believe that you should never be forceful with your body or your subtle energy. Always practice Kundalini Yoga playfully. 

Be inquisitive. Take it slow, know that you have authority over what modifications you need to make. This includes the amount of time suggested for each practice. If you feel that your body needs to reduce the time for a particular asana, do so.

I recommend you warm-up your body before you begin a Kundalini practice. Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskar) are great pre-kriya.

Why do practitioners of Kundalini Yoga wear white?

There are many reasons why white is the common color of Kundalini clothing.

The main idea taught within Kundalini University is that in a spectrum of white light, all colors are combined. White creates a neutral canvas. Visually and energetically, the white clothing does not influence your mood or energy.

Guru Singh and I invite you to experiment. You can choose to wear white or not. Just pay attention to how you feel in the different colors that you practice in. Do you notice feeling a certain way when you practice a kriya in white versus when you practice the same one wearing blue?

What does Sat Nam mean?

Sat Nam is a Sanskrit phrase that often translates to “I am the truth,” or “My essence is truth.” 

The phrase has also been translated to mean “I bow to my truth.” In this case, Sat is translated to mean “the truth that you are alive, inhaling, existing” and Nam is translated to “I bow to that.”

You’ll encounter this phrase a lot in the course of your Kundalini Yoga practices. It’s considered a default mantra that can be used any time you are not instructed to chant something else. It’s used in order to center yourself and quiet your mind. The phrase is also commonly chanted to close your practice.

What is a 40 Day Kriya?

A 40 Day Kriya is a dedicated practice. Over the course of 40 days you’ll practice the same Kundalini kriya each and every day. In this practice container you can experiment and ultimately learn a bit more about yourself. It’s a great way to kick-start or re-instill consistency in your personal yoga practice.

Closing Thoughts

How I’ve come to view and teach Kundalini Yoga has little to do with a Kundalini serpent, coiled snake, awakening, or energy bursting up your body. 

When it comes to Kundalini, my interpretation is that when your two orbits are in balance and flowing optimally, you’re more easily able to operate at your highest potential. You’re able to be who you really are, who you are meant to be. 

Doesn’t this seem so much more relatable in today’s modern world?

If you’d like to learn more about Kundalini Yoga, I think you’ll love my course, Kundalini Demystified.

Ready to go even farther with your studies? Guru Singh and I offer a 200 HR Kundalini YTT, Kundalini University. We hope to see you there!