Why I am dropping the Kundalini and AYAMA™ labels from my classes.

In the yoga world, what I call my classes creates certain expectations. I get it. If one goes to a steakhouse for dinner, one expects steak. If there is no steak, the mind has a mini meltdown.

I realize that labeling my classes with a specific “school” of yoga would work fine if what I called my classes fit the norm for that type of class. Or if I was trying to implement a targeted marketing strategy that would make me super well known for one particular style.

The issue is that I am not doing either of these things, not anymore anyway.

In addition, I would much rather my students focus on the RESULT of class rather than get attached to a particular style of yoga. And I feel like some of the most important elements that constitute yoga (mantra, pranayama, meditation) are left out of classes because they just aren’t part of the expected program or sadly, people still think adding these items makes yoga “religious” so they avoid it. Don’t even get me started on that!

=> Let’s start with Kundalini.

I teach Kundalini, but I really don’t. I never really did from the beginning. At least not the “Kundalini as taught by Yogi Bhajan” (KATBYB) kind.

KATBYB is the style of Kundalini that most Westerners think of when they hear “Kundalini” – people wearing all white, many in turbans or scarves covering the head, sitting on a sheepskin, following a strict sequence of movements that are said to heal certain ailments or produce enlightening results, and holding a posture for exactly 3 or 11 or 33 minutes.

I am not going to go into depth here on the whole Yogi Bhajan scandal because you can Google it and get all the details. But if you are unfamiliar, he was a self-proclaimed guru that arrived at Canada in the late 60’s and then came to the US. Yogi Bhajan ended up sexually abusing his students under the guise of “spiritual growth” and created a cult following of people who at the time, were desperate for a leader and would follow his every instruction.

The Kundalini yoga he brought to the West was a mixture of what he learned from his teachers, what he incorporated from the Sikh culture and religion, and then other stuffs he made up on his own. He created a BRAND, a style of Kundalini that reflected himself for marketing purposes, but that was not necessarily true to the classical Kundalini taught in India.

(Btw… this misuse of power shows up within many of the big “brands” of yoga. Just do a Google search and you will find names such as Pattabhi Jois in Ashtanga, Bikram Choudhury, and B.K.S. Iyengar on the list of abusers. The truth is you can find unscrupulous leaders in ANY industry.)

Back to the whole “I really don’t teach Kundalini” thing… I was Kundalini trained at school in India that had no association with Yogi Bhajan. My teachers wore all orange or simple sarees. And the class material was more rooted in Hatha yoga (which is the foundation of ALL yoga) and focused on moving prana / Shakti / Kundalini energy up the spine, through the chakras, for overall health and wellbeing.

Do I incorporate some of the movements and kriyas that one can find in a KATBYB class? Yes, because remember, some of the Kundalini taught within the Yogi Bhajan brand was indeed passed on by his teachers who were the real deal, thus passed on by my teachers. But I would say that is only about 30% of what one would find in a KATBYB class.

KATBYB also has A LOT of rules. Hand or thumb placement (left over right), for how long, movements in an exact order, following a scripted sequence, with a specific mantra, listing to a specific song sung by a specific person, positioning your body in an exact way, eating a vegetarian diet, and only drinking liquids throughout the day when required by a kriya.

Sorry, I just don’t buy that doing Sat Kriya for 8.5 minutes instead of 11 is going to make or break my overall spiritual growth. Or that if I do a certain meditation for 22 minutes a day I can heal myself from sciatica pain and totally change my personality. Why would I want to do that?? There is a lot of doctrine in the KATBYB world, much like the long list of “rules” you can find in many religious organizations to maintain a sense of power and control. For me, it’s a big turn off.

There are also certain movements that seem a bit fishy to me. I have a hard time understanding how wiggling my arms in the air while chanting “Har, Har” is going to bring me prosperity, or how lying on the floor calling out any person’s name is going to relieve me of anger. I mean, maybe if I am yelling at the person who I feel angry at, but is that yoga?

It also felt weird and inauthentic to show up to class dressed in all white, wrapping a scarf around my head, and letting my armpit hairs grow just to fit into the KATBYB world. (I did none of these, btw.)  A lot of what Yogi Bhajan taught was taken from Sikh culture and religion of which I have no experience or personal history with, or fundamental understanding of what it is even about.  There is a difference between appreciating the knowledge, wisdom, and practices from another culture and falling into the trap of cultural appropriation.

And finally, there is a lot of passive stretching in Kundalini (both in KATBYB classes and in the format as I was taught), using gravity and momentum to propel the body in a certain direction. My own journey to ridding myself of sciatica, knee pain, and overall muscle weakness taught me that passive stretching – no matter the school of yoga – is a big no, no. So half the yoga postures out there, regardless if it’s Kundalini, Iyengar, Hatha, or a Vinyasa class, I don’t practice or teach anymore anyway.

=> Let’s talk AYAMA™ (Applied Yoga Anatomy and Muscle Activation) now.

I will be honest, 85% of what I teach these days in a yoga class is AYAMA™. And I love the principles of AYAMA™ because it rid me of my physical pain and helped me to be extremely well versed in anatomy – which most yoga teachers are not.

But AYAMA™ is also a brand, and is taught in a specific way, for good reason of course. But I am not 100% true to this style because I like to incorporate some of the Kundalini elements and philosophy around sequencing.

I also started taking what I learned about muscle activation in my AYAMA™ yoga training and added some Pilates-style movements with resistance bands and mini-balls to my personal practice.  I found that I feel so much stronger and stable, and I am pain-free even if I’m sitting on a long car or plane ride, or I miss a day of practice. It’s been a perfect marriage of both worlds for me.

This mix, however, is not really yoga. It’s movement and muscle activation exercises with some yoga postures and breathwork thrown in. I don’t want to misrepresent my yoga classes by saying that we are doing yoga. I therefore named this class Move, Activate & Tone, and it’s a great option for those seeking lasting pain-relief, those who want to mix up their “exercise” routines, or for those who don’t really love classical yoga. (And just FYI, there are many Pilates movements that also involve passive stretching so no, I am not going to become a Pilates instructor or teach traditional mat Pilates classes.)

I realize that at this point in my teaching career, I need to create my own class style that incorporates my professional experience as a licensed mental health clinician, what I know to be true, and what supports my physical needs and the needs of my students.

I will still have the Kundalini and AYAMA™ identifiers in my bio as I was legitimately trained in these forms and that is what my official-looking certificates say.

But I am now simply Yoga & Move with Lore.