The Kundalini Yoga Alliance Cuba — known as ACIKY — is one of the newest national associations to join the NKYTA network, officially recognized by IKYTA in June 2025. In this Spotlight, teachers from across Havana, Matanzas, and Cienfuegos share how they turned a scattered group of independent instructors into a unified alliance. It’s a story of teachers choosing unity over isolation, even when the path to formal recognition wasn’t easy.
How and Why the Alliance Was Born
ACIKY grew out of necessity. For years, Cuban Kundalini Yoga instructors were already organizing retreats, workshops, and classes on their own, each pursuing the same goal from a different corner of the community.
What was missing was a shared structure. Instructors wanted a way to unify their efforts, avoid duplicating work, and speak with one voice about the teachings they were all committed to transmitting faithfully.
The Road to Official Recognition
Cuba’s path to recognition unfolded over roughly a year, through a series of connections that built on each other — an outside nudge, an invitation to be heard, and finally a structural choice that fit Cuba’s legal reality.
An Encouragement to Pursue ATA Certification
In 2024, encouragement from Gurusansar Singh — a teacher from Chile closely connected to the Cuban Sangat, who had personally led Level 1 and 2 trainings there — prompted several instructors to begin the process of applying to the ATA Academy. The goal was to deepen their ability to transmit the teachings with fidelity to the tradition.
Sharing Cuba’s Story with the Global Community
That same December, the Cuban Sangat was invited to join an online gathering with the global community. Representative Narayan Nam Kaur spoke on behalf of the group, sharing their experiences, their work, and their hopes.
A community member also prepared a short audiovisual piece documenting Sangat events, shown during the same gathering. Afterward, Cuba’s teachers received a clear recommendation: form a national association to give proper visibility to the work already underway.
Choosing “Alliance” Over Legal Roadblocks, and IKYTA’s Recognition
Forming a legal association in Cuba is a lengthy process that can take years. So instructors chose a different structure — an Alliance — built to unite anyone who wanted to share, from one common vision, the legacy and lineage of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan.
ACIKY set its founding date on June 26, 2025, when it established a leadership structure and presented its guidelines and values to the community — building on the recognition IKYTA had formally granted the association the month before, in May 2026.
What Makes This Community Unique
ACIKY got to work immediately. One of its first acts was to fold an existing annual gathering — already a year old — into the new organization: the International Kundalini Yoga Festival in Cuba, “Faro de Luz” (“Lighthouse”). The festival continues every year, built around a global outlook and a commitment to the pure teaching.
What stands out most, however, is how the Alliance keeps growing through adversity. Teachers trained in different international schools bring their own influences, and that mix adds diversity, authenticity, and energy rather than friction.
The most important thing is a vision of unity beyond forms and time. Ego separates us from each other and from our main goal — teaching Kundalini Yoga. Stay innocent, and keep doing seva.
ACIKY by the Numbers
ACIKY’s community today counts 43 active members, part of a wider group of roughly 84 certified instructors trained across three cohorts since 2016. Together, they’ve built a presence across three Cuban provinces — with room to keep growing.
Coming up: a new cohort with the Basanti School began April 2026, with around 15 students across 6 online modules and 10 in-person days in August
Active members: 43
Instructors trained across all cohorts: approximately 84
Training cohorts:
- 2016 — School of Mexico: 28 graduates
- 2020 — Argentina’s ANAND School: 16 graduates
- 2021–2025 — Chile’s Basanti School: 40 graduates
Instructors by province: Havana (78), Matanzas (3), Cienfuegos (3)
What They’re Building Now
ACIKY has ranked its priorities by what the community needs most right now — with sustainable growth sitting at the top of the list.
- The International Kundalini Yoga Festival in Cuba, “Faro de Luz”
- In-person classes, workshops, Gong baths, and rebirthings
- Online Sadhana
- “Golden Routes” — bringing Kundalini Yoga to every Cuban province
- Collaborations with other local organizations
Today, certified instructors teach regular classes from a neutral space provided through a partnership with Casa de Asia in Havana. Monthly workshops go deeper into specific themes, and the community gathers once a month to build motivation and cohesion.
A Level 1 Instructor Training is currently active in partnership with Basanti School, with four instructors mentoring as part of their own path toward ATA certification. Alliance members also open their own yoga centers to host festivals and retreats, expanding the spaces available to the wider community.
Since 2016, ACIKY has partnered with the Casa Museo de Asia, now its official headquarters, along with Cuba’s Office of the City Historian’s Heritage division, the Embassy of India for special celebrations, the Cuban Yoga Association, and Om Meditación — an organization with 13 uninterrupted years running international meditation festivals. The Alliance also works with community projects for children, public health centers, and special-needs schools.
A Message to the Global Community
— ACIKY, to NKYTAs around the world
ACIKY’s story is a reminder that a national association doesn’t have to wait for perfect conditions to start serving its community. Visit ACIKY to learn more about their work and follow their journey.
- Website: aciky.org
- Instagram: @acikycuba
- Facebook: Alianza Cubana de Instructores en Kundalini Yoga – ACIKY
- YouTube: ACIKY | Kundalini Yoga
- Email: [email protected]
- WhatsApp: +1 858 733 5033 (Ved Chander Singh, Vice President, based in the USA)
Is your national association ready to share its own story? Tell us in the comments, or reach out to be featured in the next NKYTA Spotlight.
