Heart Opening with Kundalini Yoga
I wrote this piece 10 years ago; originally entitled The Boomerang Effect. I was so taken with my experience during Kundalini yoga that I was compelled to write about it. I did nothing with this at the time, aside from send it to my instructor. Having recently come back to a practice of Yoga and realizing the tremendous benefits to mind body and soul, I recalled that I wrote this about kundalini yoga and wanted to share it here in my blog.
Last night my heart was opened. Not on a surgical table with medical tools, but by yoga, by breath and by the sound of the gong. This occurred during a kundalini gong meditation. In its simplest terms, Kundalini is an ancient form of yoga that incorporates kriya: a series of asana (postures), breath, mantra (sound) and mudra (hand movement). At the end of this practice you lay in stillness and meditate as the sound of a gong vibrates through your entire body, to be described as nothing short of magical.
The focus of the practice was that of the heart center, and upon leaving I felt something happen inside of me and all around me. I can’t say that it was any particular or tangible sort of sensation, but more of a vibration that reverberated throughout my body, originating from my soul and the spirit within. It was clear, air-like, simple and as unremarkable as our breathing when we are not mindful of it. This flowing entity created a sense of calm, bliss, contentment, elation, stillness and heightened consciousness. I felt this flow ever so slightly exiting my body and then returning with a RUSH of exultation and I couldn’t stop smiling and breathing it in. It was then that I realized what this was; I call it the boomerang effect of LOVE.
We all have the capacity to experience love, and not just minimally, but in abundance. We love our family, friends, children, pets, community and of course we love romantically. Some of us give love to objects, material possessions and money. However we cannot just project this love out to these entities without it returning full circle the way a boomerang does. When we feel it, the love leaves us and extends outward to project unto others. But then where does it go?
In this piece, I will focus mainly on when it travels to that which our soul recognizes as its romantic counterpart; i.e. when we fall in love. We meet someone, and it creates this stir within us; passion, lust, affection, adoration and obsession all seem to cultivate from just the very idea of this person. Most often, this can be a very beautiful and gratifying experience. However, if the heart center is not open, this love cannot return. It clings to our beloved and stays with them when they receive it, as well as when they reject it. When the love clings to a person or object without boomeranging back, it leaves within us a feeling of loneliness, sorrow, depletion, depression, resentment, anxiety and fear. Sound familiar? The same love that leaves us must also return to us, so that we may harbor it in our heart center and cultivate it at any given time, both for ourselves and to bestow upon others.
Think about any romantic relationship you may have had. Have you felt as though you loved so hard yet wondered why you also felt depleted or empty? Have you loved and been loved in return but never truly been content or fulfilled? This is because the boomerang effect has not been activated. The love we project from our heart center must be able to flow through its destination and return back to us, return to our heart center. Here it is replenished and here it resides, filling us with this joyful bliss of eternal love. It can even help us get through the pain and ache that occurs when the object rejects it, because once it is externalized and then returned to its originator (you) it continues to manifest and rebuild upon itself, producing a continual path and flow of love. It is therefore OK to love someone who may not be able to love us back in the way we need them to. As long as the heart center is open, our love comes back to us and we are not empty.
You may be asking yourself, how do I magically open this heart center? Well everyone has the ability to do this. It may not happen immediately. There may be resistance to get through and emotional trash to be removed. And that is ok. Even if you feel some opposition to this idea of natural bliss, and the boomerang of love, try it. I dare you. Go to a kundalini yoga class, experience a gong meditation. Focus on your heart center and let the love out and back in through each breath, mantra and mudra. Experience the boomerang effect and realize that no love is ever truly lost. It may be clinging for dear life to someone or something, but open your heart center and it will return to flood you with a replenished sense of everything you give to others. It is mine and it is yours and it is always within. I feel like I am overflowing with this surge of love and gratitude that is literally rippling through me even as I write this. And the beauty of it? It comes from me; and has been here all along, just waiting to be acknowledged.
I invite you to do the same.
Sat Nam.