Kundalini yoga: personal experience, consequences

“I love trying new types of nutrition, participating in marathons, intensives and taking ascesis to realize goals. It helps me broaden my horizons, see my body’s resources and pump up my willpower. I’ve tried a lot of things: dry fasting, giving up sugar and coffee, 20,000 steps a day. I found the sport shuttles this spring particularly interesting and useful”.

After doing a daily morning plank for three minutes a day for a month, I realized that I was capable of much more than I thought and that such practices strengthened my spirit. So I decided to go ahead and take the morning Kundalini Yoga challenge. However, things didn’t turn out so smoothly here.

I have a background in classical yoga with different types of asana difficulty. I go to pilates and stretching and at 42 I am more flexible than many 30 year olds in the gym. So anything with the word “yoga” in it sounds potentially safe yet interesting to me.

When I saw a 40-day Kundalini Yoga marathon that you have to practice every morning, focusing on your intention, I thought it was a cool opportunity to do yoga and get closer to your goal. It’s just a dream come true – training your body and mind at the same time. So, without learning the details and particulars of the actual process of doing it, I signed up for the marathon. The classes were online and could be watched in a recording.

I learned in the process that Kundalini Yoga is not about asanas, but about breathing, chanting mantras and monotonous, monotonous movements for endurance. By the way, the word “kundalini” itself comes from the Sanskrit “kundal”, that is “circular”. With the help of this type of yoga one can get rid of unnecessary worries, negative programs and release energy to achieve goals.

At the very beginning we were asked to take an intention: what we want to get rid of, what we want to strengthen or manifest. I decided to get rid of the habit of constantly buying courses and learning. Although the purchase of this marathon was also driven by that habit.

I watched the introductory meeting with all the participants where the instructor tells us that it won’t be easy, you just have to keep doing it. Over time, the body will get used to the new movements and it will get easier. The main thing is to do the practices every day at the same time. And write a report in the general chat and also ask questions if they arise. We did the general meditation and went away. I went to bed ready to get up at six in the morning and do Kundalini Yoga.

The first morning showed me what Kundalini Yoga really is and how weak I am in mind and body. Sitting for 20 minutes in one pose, sticking my tongue out, breathing intensely and holding my arms at a 65 degree angle at six in the morning proved to be a challenge. I was thirsty. My arms would cramp up and go down on their own. I courageously lifted them up, but they would go down again after five minutes. And when I started chanting mantras, I heard banging on the radiator. The neighbors obviously didn’t share my hobbies. I had to show respect and chant almost in a whisper.

The next morning I did yoga at a later time so as not to wake up the neighbors. My hands were drooping, my tongue was still dry, my body was cold and numb. After five days of practice, my shoulder started to hurt, I could hardly put on my coat, it hurt to brush my teeth and type on the computer. There was nothing left to do but go to the doctor and figure out what to do next. The surgeon diagnosed inflammation of an old shoulder injury. He recommended ointments and compresses, as well as refraining from exercises with arm raising.

In the marathon chat rooms, many participants also wrote that something hurts, they feel bad. The instructor answered that this is how blocks and resistance come out. And you just have to keep doing it. It will pass. “Just direct your attention to the point of pain and it will dissolve in the process,” we were told.

I decided to try to keep going, but all I felt was a hell of a lot of pain in my inflamed shoulder joint. Directing attention didn’t help. The pain wouldn’t go away. Tears were running down my cheeks, I felt helpless and that I couldn’t and didn’t want to continue doing these asanas.

Then I remembered the surgeon’s words and decided to write to the care service. Only 10 days out of 40 had passed, and according to the rules of consumer protection I had to get my money back. To my surprise, I received a quick response: “Thank you for your appeal! In rare cases, reactivation of old injuries does occur. This can only be determined with medical expertise, as you did. Mostly it goes away gently and calmly. And through the pain that appears in the process of practicing, only psychosomatic blocks come out, and then a person feels much better. We are sorry that this happened to you. We are ready to refund your money. Good health and recovery to you!”

I spent the refunded money on a therapeutic medical massage. Within a week, the pain in my shoulder was gone. And it seems that my intention, which I took at the beginning of the marathon – “to stop studying and spending money on courses” – also worked. After all, I came out of the marathon and now I look at all courses through the prism of my experience. I don’t want to get involved in another experiment anymore. The body really remembers everything.