The Way is an advocate for including kundalini yoga in one’s recovery journey based off of our personal experience through trauma, recovery and awakening. So what is kundalini yoga and how does it relate to recovery?
Kundalini Yoga is a technology. It is the technology of human consciousness. It is a scientific combination of various yogic practices (movement, breath, sound, visualization, mantra, etc.) aimed at increasing enlightenment or God consciousness. We see it as a technology to transcend the thinking mind, materially dissolve the ego structure and open the practitioner to a much wider spectrum of information and knowledge.
12-step programs are top down, as they work through the intellect to shift the mind. The primary purpose of the most popular 12-step recovery program is to free the participant from the bondage of self-will and foster a conscious connection with a Higher Power. In this modality, substance abuse is seen only as a symptom of a much deeper psychological problem of needing to control an external environment that is, by its very nature, uncontrollable. It is a disease of overthinking, irrational reliance on self-will and destructive coping mechanisms. The solution, provided by the 12-steps, is to: a) Surrender and accept that the identity you created will no longer serve you AND you will be ok without it, b) Understand what that identity is, and work to dissolve parts of it, c) Develop a new design for living that center around selfless service and humility. That is, transcend the thinking mind, materially dissolve the ego and be open to a new way of life or knowledge.
Kundalini yoga, as well as many other spiritual systems, are bottom up as the work through the body to get past the intellect to shift the mind. The repetitive movements, sound vibrations and breathing techniques have been perfected over thousands of years to break the mind's hold and disrupt patterns of thinking. These tools facilitate emotional release and break through blockages. It can create an opening or a softening for the top-down work.
Combining these two technologies heightens one’s ability to regulate their nervous system, connect with body and mind and build their connection with a higher power. The transformations we have witnessed have been beyond belief in very short periods of time. Spiritual awakenings are real events and we have witnessed many of them. We all have the innate ability to experience an awakening and once we do, it spreads to those around us.
Please reach out if you want to know more. We are here to be in service.
With Love,
The Way
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