Several years ago, I enrolled in Kundalini Yoga teacher training with the intention of “deepening my practice.” I had no plans to teach—ever! In fact, I had a long history of shying away from teaching, though I had studied education in college and at my late father’s urging had procured a teaching certificate for English 7-12. After graduation, however, I never used the certification, deciding instead to pursue a career as a writer. In truth, the idea of teaching terrified me. During my college years, I was required to practice/teach English to a group of seventh graders. The experience (though…

How do we choose to change our lives? What part of us makes that choice that leads us closer to the center of our own heart? Who do we become when we become the best version of ourselves? This is the story of my journey through the Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training Program. As I glided past the closed door on my way from a Hot Yoga class to change out of my hot sweat-drenched clothes, I was stopped short by the strange yet somehow familiar sounds that were emanating from inside. Others pushed past me in their rush to the…

How Kundalini Yoga (Literally) Saved my Life in Graduate School It’s August 26, 2014 at 4:15am and I’m taking the old-fashioned elevator up to the 5th floor where my former yoga home is located. As the gate of the elevator closes and the man sitting inside presses a button, I feel like I’m in a time machine that’s taking me back to 2006.  Eight long years have passed since I stepped foot in this magical place, Kundalini Yoga in the Loop, situated between artist shops in the Fine Arts Building on South Michigan Avenue.  My last memories of practicing Kundalini…

The Kundalini Co-op is the first California worker owned yoga cooperative.  We designed the cooperative to create and support community through yoga classes and events in a sustainable manner for ALL individuals.  It is our hopes that more worker-owned yoga cooperatives follow across the world to make the TRUE art of yoga affordable and accessible to ALL individuals. In 2009 I moved from Los Angeles to San Francisco. The change of cities was welcome and what an incredible city to move to! Yet there was something most definitely lacking…… a thriving Kundalini community such as the one I had been a part of in Los Angeles….

By DukhNiwaran Kaur Khalsa Creativity and collaboration. These two Aquarian qualities guide Urban Yoga Chicago as we strive to make Kundalini Yoga a household name in Chicago. Founded by three yogis with different levels of experience and a shared passion for Kundalini Yoga, our roots are collaboration. Knowing that the model of a one-owner yoga studio would not work for us or for the coming Aquarian Age, we were looking outside the box to find a new way of bringing Kundalini Yoga out into the world. Our way of doing business needed to match our experience of Kundalini Yoga—empowering, life-changing,…

By Ravi Kaur Khalsa Prologue My mother met Yogi Bhajan when I was 4 years old. Kundalini Yoga transformed her life and she had to meet “the Yogi.” My brother and I tagged along as she met with him. Our lives were never the same. We moved into the 3HO ashram in Eugene, Oregon and we did yoga. I went to boarding school in India from ages 11 – 16, and we did yoga. I moved to Tucson to work at 3HO SuperHealth when I was 17 and started teaching yoga. I got married at 18 and started working for…

By Pritam Hari Kaur South Africa is a multi-layered society; it reveals itself by degrees if you are committed to finding it and living here for a while. The first interface is the sometimes lush, sometimes stark beauty—the impossibly rich textured mountains and outdoor experiences, the deep valleys, blue oceans, healthy sunshine, abundant fruit and vegetables, and the smiling faces. The next layer is the abject poverty of the 40% that scrape by with barely anything and how this tears your heart right open and you ask how you can live with that. The next layer might be a dance…

Sat Nam New Kundalini Yoga Teachers,  “I’m not a man, I’m not a woman, I’m not myself, I’m a teacher.” The Siri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan proclaimed this one Solstice. I don’t even remember how long ago it was because I have heard him say it so many times over the years. At first, when I thought about it, I came to the conclusion that he meant that a teacher must first consciously and honestly put aside his/her ego when acting in the capacity of a teacher. I liked it. It’s was a good rule. I now know that what…

Written by Bir Kaur and Guru Surya Kaur of the Portland Kundalini Yoga Community From our Hearts to your Home: What Makes Kundalini Yoga Portland Home We may have crossed paths at a Solstice Celebration, Sat Nam Fest, or another yoga gathering. Perhaps you were passing through town and decided to join us for sadhana or a Kundalini Yoga class. We are often blessed with the warmth and light that comes when others tell us how friendly the Kundalini Yoga Portland community is. Perhaps it is the breathtaking scenery of trees within a town that tries to be a city, a short…

 -Dharam Dev Kaur and Siri Marka Singh-  For several years my husband, Siri Marka Singh, and I have been part of the Teacher Training Team at Yoga West in West Los Angeles, where Yogi Bhajan taught for many years. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve teacher trainings there and host many study groups at the house, shepherding groups of teacher trainers through the program. We noticed a need to have support, continuity and community for students to grow in their new roles as teachers. This inspired us to set up an ongoing “Kundalini Yoga Teacher Team Building…