Kundalini with Gurmukh on the Ganges
Perhaps the best yoga class ever.
Kundalini at Karma is already fantastic. But picture it amped up like this:
The waters of the holy Ganges River rush by in a fast current under a white-cloud sky. Fresh air swirls around you, carrying the scent of the forested Himalayan foothills all around the peaceful city of Rishikesh.
On the stage sits the majestic Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, the revered Kundalini teacher from Los Angeles who learned the tradition directly from Yogi Bhajan. Her head is wrapped in an ornate cascading white turban, and her tanned face looks positively angelic.
Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa
We started with 24 minutes of shaking. Sounds strange, right? It was a fantastic release. Simply fantastic. For nearly a half-hour we literally danced around the open-air yoga room, hundreds of people in ecstatic bliss, shaking off their worries, their neuroses, their concerns, their travel fatigue, their ill-at-ease with the Indian way.
And we came to peace.
That’s the transformational effect of yoga. Take it to India, with Gurmukh, and it’s 100 times more transformational, penetrating right to the soul.
“Shake like when you were 3 and your mother told you to sit still,” said Gurmukh. “Shake it all off. When you lose your way, lay down on the grass and look up at the sky. It has all the answers. When was the last time you did that?”
When indeed.
We went through a variety of kriyas in the two-hour class, working every chakra, every part of the body and soul, and there was a midpoint where it went from being just an energetic yoga class to being the most fun I have ever had.
I am not exaggerating.
The. Most. Fun.
The River Ganges, where we are this week at the International Yoga Festival
“Self-love has no conditions,” she said. “And it’s right now. Listen to your voice and then to everyone’s as one.”
If you thought yoga was just an exercise class, you’d be shocked by what you experience here. India, the birthplace of yoga, it changes you for the better. It changes you forever. It shows you the truth of life, and it’s not what you thought.
“Listen to your voice and then to everyone’s as one.” A level of fun I haven’t been in touch with for such a long time. A part of myself I never knew I had.
Thank God for yoga.
