Holidays are a time to connect, reflect, and indulge.. a least a bit. Kundalini Yoga can help you detoxify, cleanse, and restore balance in the body.
We are all about being present and appreciating where we are at in the now. During the holidays, it’s easy to get caught up in the pace and lose your grounding. To us, it’s always important to connect with our energies and stay balanced and grounded and make sure we are cleansing, especially after all of the holiday meals!!
It’s such a fun time as the year comes to a close and set our intentions for the new year, so it’s important to feel our best and be especially grounded.
Enter, Kundalini Yoga.
Kundalini Yoga is our life force. It’s such a crucial tool in our sadhana (daily spiritual practice) and we simply can’t elevate to the connected, vibrant beings we greet every day with, without this practice.
What is Kundalini Yoga?
Kundalini Yoga is one of the most ancient yoga practices and is commonly known as the “Yoga of Awareness.” What separates Kundalini from Vinyasa Yoga is it precisely and consciously combines breath, mudra, eye-focus, mantra, body locks, and posture to balance your mental, physical, and nervous energies of the body.
What we love most about Kundalini Yoga is that it is for everyone—not for just for the athletic yogis. It is an experience about awakening and meeting your true elevated self. Everyone deserves it.
Yogi Bhajan says, “In Kundalini Yoga, the most important thing is your experience. It goes right to your heart. No words can replace your experience. Your mind may accept the words or it may not, but your consciousness will not accept just words.”
The holidays can be taxing and draining on both the physical and mental aspects of your body. Kundalini Yoga can be a deeply healing tool during the holidays to help detoxify and cleanse your body. Kundalini Meditations and Kriyas (sets of exercises) for holiday-feast recovery are our life-savor to get rid of those pesky toxins, especially if you happen to overeat!
In Kundalini, we are taught to consciously approach food and eating. It’s so important to remember that what we feed our body is fuel. In order to support a healthy system, we have to be conscious of what we eat and drink. The holiday season can be harmful on your system if you let it, but reminding yourself to live mindfully and coming back to your practice allows you to be present in the holidays and appreciate a guilt-free treat.
Yogi Bhajan says, “Your power is in your mind. Your body is just a vehicle. You are not eating food, you are eating for your health, your vitality, your energy, your prosperity, your strength, your “fateh”—your power to conquer. When you eat food, it is God’s own self.”
Here are two of our favorite meditations that promote healthy detoxification and cleansing.
Pranayam Cleansing Meditation
We love this breath work practice. It instantly cleanses the system and allows you to feel rejuvenated and refreshed.
- Sit in a comfortable meditative position or “easy pose” with a straight spine.
- For this mudra, interlock all the fingers except the ring fingers. Point the ring fingers up between the palms. Cross the ring fingers and press them together. Close the palms and squeeze. Place them in front of the Heart Center.
- For your breath, inhale in four equal parts, then exhale from the lungs for four equal parts. During your breath cycle, keep your eyes 1/10th open.
- As you inhale, mentally hum “So” for each breath in (“So So So So”), and as you exhale, mentally hum “Hang” (pronounces “Hung”) for each breath out (“Hang Hang Hang Hang”). All together this mantra is Sohang.
- Try this meditation for 3 minutes, at most 11 minutes.
Detoxification Kundalini Yoga Flow
Every day, we are constantly detoxifying our systems. We take in food, thoughts, and all forms of energy.
If your flow is balanced and clear, we are grounded and stable. Sometimes, though, we take in more than we can process (like those delicious, but unhealthy holiday treats). We become stuck. So it’s up to us to move the energy in our bodies and begin the process of healing, cleansing, and detoxifying.
For this flow, try the following sequence:
1. Lie down on your back with your legs straight. Your heels are together and your toes point upward. Keeping your heels together, spread your feet apart so they both point out to the sides, then close your feet so they once again point straight upward. Continue quickly opening and closing your feet, keeping your heels together, for 4 minutes.
2. Remain on your back and put your hands under your head. Raise your legs up about two feet and scissor the legs up and down without letting the descending heel touch the ground. Keep your legs straight, do not bend at the knees, and continue for 4 minutes.
3. Lie down on your stomach and stick out your tongue. Exhale through your mouth and push up into Cobra Pose. Inhale through your mouth as you lower yourself back to the ground. Continue, keeping your breath and movement strong. This exercise removes toxins from the body. Continue for 6 1/2 minutes.
4. Turn over onto your back and bring your knees up to your chest, hugging them tight. As the knees touch the chest, raise your arms up to 90 degrees (parallel to each other). Straighten your legs and lower your arms and legs back to the floor at the same time. Continue this movement vigorously for 3 minutes.
5. Sit in easy pose and revolve the torso around the base of the spine. This churning movement is done in a counter-clockwise direction. Continue for three minutes. Move as quickly as you can during the last minute.
6. Stand up. Bend over and grab your ankles. While holding onto your ankles, sit down in Crow Pose and come back up. Continue this movement for 2 minutes.
7. Sit comfortably in easy pose with your spine straight. Chant “Sat Nam, Sat Nam, Sat Nam, Sat Nam, Sat Nam, Sat Nam, Wahe Guru.” One full repetition of the mantra takes 7-8 seconds. Continue for 11 minutes.
8. Finally, inhale deeply and stretch your arms over your head with your palms touching. Hold your breath 20-40 seconds as you stretch your spine upward. Exhale.
Photos by Britt Deanda + Tara Schulenberg
About the Authors
photo by Ashley Streff
Elevate the Globe: Founder Britt Deanda and Tara Schulenberg created Elevate the Globe, a spiritual and wellness hub where you can find tools and guidance one needs to raise the vibration of their energy. High vibrations attract powerful thoughts, positive emotions, good health and strong spiritual awareness, and the ETG mission is to empower others to have a ridiculously healthy mind and body. With their easy to follow resources, one will feel so much peace, clarity, and happiness. The planet needs more people who are happy, healthy, and aware, who are living a high vibrational lifestyle. When a person decides to do the inner work, they will RISE UP and ELEVATE the GLOBE.
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