Kundalini Yoga: Resistance is Futile
There was a time when I was new to Kundalini Yoga. I remember my first experiences in class. It was the only yoga class on campus that fit my schedule and so I went every week. I hated it. I had made a choice to do yoga no matter what, but this strange, challenging and uncomfortable yoga filled me with resentment. One day in class I found myself feeling great resentment for my teacher. I was in a one-armed plank with my leg in the air being asked to chant louder to get me through the pain. I vividly remember wishing I could roll up my mat and launch it across the classroom. When it hit teacher and caused her some discomfort, I would have shouted, “Chant louder, you’ll get through it.”
At that very moment, just as I was willing to give in to that malicious intention to cause pain to my yoga teacher, she walked right past me and spoke:
“I know many of you don’t like me right now. I know you’re wondering, “What am I doing here? Why on earth am I putting myself through this ridiculous ordeal? The truth is, only you know the answer. You are here because you were called to be here. You are putting yourself through this ordeal, not because I’m asking you to, but because you know it will give you exactly what you are seeking.
The call of Kundalini Yoga doesn’t always make sense but it is loud and clear. The path isn’t always gracious, but it will lead you to your grace.”
I was suddenly so aware that my resentment of my teacher was futile, and resistance to this magical little practice was futile also. I came to love that teacher very much and my practice of Kundalini Yoga has become a definitive part of who I am.
Kundalini Yoga is the yoga of awareness. It cultivates awareness on a very primal level. From it’s practice one becomes aware of what their interaction is with every moment. They are pulled out of the hum drum of everyday existence in which we often walk blindly and find they can see, taste, smell, hear and feel with a vibrancy that is new to them. The kriya’s and meditations of this practice bring about a complete body awareness that prepares the body, mind and most importantly the nervous system to handle the most powerful experience of the self: fully unleashed potential.
Sounds amazing, Right? So why, given this powerful technology, is it ever-so-common to feel an extraordinary experience of resistance?
Kundalini Yoga provokes the shadow in you to come forth. It treats the self like a sponge being wringed out so all of the unnecessary goop comes out. The goop can come forth in two different ways:
1. On the surface, as usual, is the most obvious experience of resistance. Perhaps you feel an extraordinary amount of shame when you sing out loud. Perhaps the strange postures make you feel self-conscious. Maybe the repetitive nature of some of the very challenging postures just feels downright annoying. The Kundalini answer to all of these very relevant challenges is… “Well, that’s great.”
Working out that shame, annoyance and self-consciousness on your mat will enable you to live a life of freedom from those paralyzing obstacles because you will have already developed the tools to cope and hopefully push right past them in the classroom. Imagine a life free of those obstacles! It’s so worth the effort.
2. The other experiences of resistance come from a deeper place. Kundalini Yoga takes you to a higher level of your self. It teaches you who you are in your truest sense and embarking on that journey can be down right terrifying. When we embark on a journey to a higher level, we will inevitably meet resistance. It’s scary becoming a higher version of your self. Things may change when you get there, and change is hard to face when you don’t know what it’s going to look like. Inevitably you will feel resistance, like the long climb up a weather stricken mountain, but the experience at the top is breath giving beautiful and its call is impossible to ignore.
Stop the resistance, grab your mat and let your teacher help you begin this journey with a powerful yoga technology that is known for it’s transformative effects. When you feel the push of resistance, chant back at it and move into a new experience of you. You won’t regret it.
~ Angela Dee
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