Sun Salutation And Kundalini go hand-in-hand. Practicing sun salutation every day with a focus on moving energy through the chakras can really power up your yoga practice.
Opening The Energy Body
Kundalini yoga students are focused on spiritual growth but, in order to get a kundalini awakening the important first step is to open up the energy body.
Daily practice of Sun Salutation improves energy flow in your body, exercises all the major muscles and makes the spine more flexible. It oxygenates the blood and prepares the body for meditation and kundalini kriyas. Synchronizing breath with body movements in an smooth unbroken rhythm activates the chakras.
Pranayama and sun salute each morning lays the foundation for activating Kundalini energy in your body. There are also many documented health benefits.
Sun Salutation on a Deeper Level
Tantric Kundalini yoga is not just about chakra meditations. Meditation is important but, there is a need to release physical, emotional and energy blocks from the body. Sun Salutation, or Surya Namaskara, is often viewed as a warm-up for yoga. However, when practiced in a flowing meditation with chakra focus (i.e. as a Kundalini Kriya) you can find benefits far deeper than you might imagine.
Sun Salutate combines physical movement, asana, mudra, mantra and breath awareness. The controlled practice of these elements is what makes it a Kriya.
Kriyas are actions performed in sequence to achieve a specific outcome and include yoga poses, breath-work and sound. For each kriya, there are precise instructions on how long to hold the poses, where the gaze should be directed, and how to breathe.
Practicing Surya Namaskara as a kriya helps increase mindfulness in your yoga practice. As a teacher I have founde Sun Salutate plays an important role for students seeking Kundalini awakening.
What Is Kundalini Yoga?
Kundalini Yoga has its troots in from the tradition of Tantra. Kundalini is said to be an untapped energy residing at the base of your spine. It can be awakened and raised up through the body via the seven chakras from Mooladhara to Saharshara. Full enlightenment (Samadhi) occurs when kundalini reaches the crown chakra at the top of your head (Saharshara). When this happens your consciousness reaches the highest level.
This method of Kundalini awakening works strongly for your personal transformation. By gradually and safely activating your Shakti power, you benefit from improved physical well-being and an expansion of awareness. Practicing Kundalini Kriyas helps you live a harmonious and balanced life full of compassion.
Kundalini yoga can change your life
Kundalini yoga has the potential to change your personality and make you a better version of yourself. If you practice Kundalini Yoga every day you will experience Kundalini awakening in your chakras, which will alter your personality by moving you away from your fears. As an effect, you will become a more loving, compassionate and heart-centered person.
When your Kundalini energy awakens you will begin to think creatively out of the box and develop your intuitive mind. Good health, willpower, concentration, youth, vigor, vitality, and peace are all-natural outcomes of Kundalini awakening as you go deeper into your daily Kundalini practice over a period of time. You are likely to lose your ego and start living your life guided by your heart and intuitive wisdom without prejudices.
How to practice kundalini yoga
Clasical Kundalini Yoga from India involves a series of meditation techniques (kriyas) that aims at cleansing your chakras and raising your kundalini energy. Unlike a popular physical variant practiced in the West in India (taught by Yogi Bhajan) the traditional form of Kundalini Yoga is about drawing your awareness inward to your center (Atman).
What Are Chakras?
Awakening the chakras can have a powerful impact on your life. Nany students impatiently first try to awaken the higher chakras. However, it is vital to first deal with trauma present in the lower chakras. You need to overcome your fears and meet the world with beauty, creativity and compassion.
Most importantly you need to lay the physical foundation for Kundalini awakening first and find your balance of body and mind before this can happen. Sun salutation should therefore be on top of your list of daily practice.
Chakras are energy vortexes. They need to be activated through movement, concentration and meditation. Many have beautiful experiences of chakra awakening when they start practicing Kundalini yoga.
Chakra Activation
When your Manipura chakra, at the belly button, is open you will gain superpowers. You will need less sleep and experience a high-energy mode. When your heart chakra is open you meet the world from the heart, and it may seem as if you are sitting under a wish granting tree because your wishes will come true. So be careful what you wish for!
When your Vishuddhi chakra is active you may expand your physical and mental youth. As you achieve enlightenment in the Ajna chakra you will lose your ego and understand everything from an altruistic viewpoint.
Full Kundalini awakening happens in the Crown chakra. To get there you need to find that space of balance between body and mind (when Ida and Pingala energy channels are in balance). Once the energy unites in the Sushumna channel the Kundalini energy can rise.
Sun Salutation And Kundalini Kriyas
Evolving your sun salutation into a Kundalini Kriya involves three phases:
1. Correct practice
In the first phase, you need to learn the right way to practice sun salutation in flow with full mastery of each movement. You don’t need to be perfect, but it is important that you know the correct positions as you move through them. Only when you have mastered inhaling and exhaling through the full sequence of movements are you ready to internalize the energy of the su.
2. Dynamic meditation
In the second phase you are ready to immerse yourself in a dynamic meditation mode. You initiate by centering yourself and finding that space of inner stillness between your body and mind. Close your eyes and imagine the heat of the sun entering into your body. Then perform the movements as a meditation moving slowly with deep awarenss of the breath.
3. Chakra energy
In the last phase, you focus on how the energy is moving through your chakras, shifting from one chakra to another. You may chant mantras that acknowledge the power and the greatness of the sun. If you feel uncomfortable with reciting mantras as you move, you can also recite these prior to your movement or you can play these mantras while you are moving.
Where To Practice
You can practice in any place where you feel cozy and secure. Practicing in nature can intensify the experience. I have personally experienced the sensation of floating while practicing in nature. You can completely lose yourself in a deep meditation mode when you practice nearby the waves of the sea, the wind moving in leaves or where apples are falling from a tree.
Summary
Sun salutation is a dynamic yoga practice where the yogi moves through 12 asanas in rotation. Movements are closely synchronized with the breath.
Take a minute to imagine how this practice can help your body open up kundalini energy. The sun is the planets energy source and sustains all life. With Surya Namaskar you can use the power of the sun for your life. The result is boundless energy, balance, and vitality. It stabilizes the mind-body connection and lays a foundation for activating Kundalini.
May 17, 2024 
