If you've been looking for a yoga practice that might develop your spiritual awareness, improve your mood and awaken your life energy, you might give kundalini yoga a try. In "Open Your Heart with Kundalini Yoga," Siri Datta tells readers that kundalini yoga will help practitioners attain a healthy body, a balanced mind and enhanced vitality, creativity and radiance. More research is needed for conclusive evidence, but enthusiasts say they see benefits.
Increased Awareness
As part of the kundalini practice, meditation is thought to have the effect of increasing awareness. Some say a nice little side effect might be that you might experience an increased consciousness of the divine within, and also of the divine all around you and in other people. As you become a more kinder, gentler you, this is believed to promote trust in your intuition, giving you confidence in what you know in your heart. Unblocked spiritual energy is another possibility; this is thought to increase physical energy as well.
Physical Improvements
Teachers and practitioners of kundalini yoga believe that it affects the physical as well as spiritual and emotional conditions. If you practice kundalini regularly, you should see increased flexibility and possible improvements in functions of your digestive, cardiovascular and nervous systems. Through the poses, kundalini is also thought to tone and strengthen your body. If you have asthma or bronchitis, practicing kundalini yoga may be able to help you there, too. Kundalini breathing exercises are believed to expand your lung capacity, enhancing the Prana -- life force -- you draw in, and helping with respiratory issues as a bonus.
Health and Healing
When you opt to add kundalini practice to your fitness regimen, get ready for a dose of good health. In his book, Gururattan Kaur Khalsa writes that kundalini yoga strengthens the immune system. Kundalini practitioners believe that the ability to heal increases, too, making it possible to recover from illness more quickly and share healing with others. This healing power is supposed to extend to self-destructive behaviors, such as overindulgence in drugs, alcohol or food. With regular kundalini yoga, believers say, you might see those issues diminish and be replaced with self awareness.
Mental Clarity
If you've ever thought you could use more mental clarity and focus now and then, kudalini yoga might be the ticket. The practice is believed to improve these problems and get you connected to your intuition, helping you make better decisions that aren't based in emotion. Practitioners have also reported experiencing a cleansing of mental and emotional blocks and the release of old, detrimental beliefs. Kundalini devotees believe that the practice increases prayer power, making you aware of answers to prayers offered and nixing that nagging suspicion that your prayers are falling on deaf ears. After a few weeks of kundalini sessions, you might even notice enhanced creativity and the improved ability to express it.
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Writer Bio
Elle Di Jensen has been a writer and editor since 1990. She began working in the fitness industry in 1987, and her experience includes editing and publishing a workout manual. She has an extended family of pets, including special needs animals. Jensen attended Idaho and Boise State Universities. Her work has appeared in various print and online publications.