Happy & Healthy

RARE YOGA THAT ACTUALLY WORKS

Every now and then, you need to step out of your comfort zone. I think that's good for you. I'm not saying you suddenly have to go to a swingers club or go bungee jumping off a skyscraper, but trying something completely new every now and then ignites the zest for life. A while ago, I unsuspectingly walked into a Kundalini yoga class at my yoga school. I had never heard of it before, but I read in the description that it was an ‘energetic’ form of yoga where you didn't have to be in downward facing dog all the time, which already seemed like a huge plus to me.

What followed was... quite strange. We did all sorts of crazy breathing exercises. We had to wave our arms above our heads for minutes while chanting ‘sat naam, sat naam’. We pounded our chests like alpha males. We sang mantras, including the famous Mama Appelsap: ‘I'm coming, put that whore on the street.’ (ek ong kar, etc). I dutifully participated while constantly looking around to see if I was the only one who found this at least a bit typical. But no, my fellow students were doing the lion's breath (tongue out of your mouth and just panting) with a dedication that one would say ‘sir’ to in many a swingers club (to bring that up again). The mantras were sung loudly. And seemingly effortlessly, they could hold their arms in a T-shape for at least seven minutes while the teacher said things like: ‘Breathe through your heart.’

I barely survived the class, suppressing a laugh here and there, interspersed with internal cursing. My overwhelming thought was not one of enlightenment and surrender, but one of: ‘Wtf am I doing here?’ I stepped outside, thought: ‘Never again.’ And then it happened. I FELT AMAZING.

‘Breathe through your heart.’

I had an energy, an inner strength, but also an overwhelming sense of inner peace and love (yes, you don't have to die in the swingers club for that. Peacock, stop with the swingers club. Please. This is about YOGA.). I smiled at aggressive taxi drivers, wrote for hours on end without once feeling the urge to check Facebook, and for once didn't overindulge in chocolate (and that was the most spectacular part). And this wasn't just on the day itself. Even during the days that followed, I felt absolutely amazing. You get it: I went back. Feel-good junkie that I am.

In the meantime, I have become quite a Kundalini fan. I also have a favorite teacher now, Gura Gian. By the way, you don't have to make a big deal out of that name. Just like we graduated people are called doctorandus, when you graduate in Kundalini, you also get a special name. And you can just call Guru Gian Jasper. Jasper is very funny, very down-to-earth, but also very wise. And in difficult moments, he encourages you to keep going.

I still don't quite understand how it works, but it's something with meridians, pressure points, and so on. Now I do know that emotions can get stuck in your body. And I can also understand that with certain exercises, you can release and clear those blockages. Singing mantras stimulates pressure points in your mouth, and the vibrations you create in your body with a sound like ‘oooooooooong’ also release all sorts of things. I don't need to fully understand it. That I feel it works is enough for me.