Y:When did you start Kundalini Yoga ? Is there any special connection or reasons?
J:I started practicing Kundalini Yoga about 5 years ago. I was studying in my home country (the Netherlands) and I was looking for some kind of yoga or meditation course to enrich my life besides the academic life. Something more spiritual to balance with all the scientific, mental work I was doing. One day I tried one free trial Kundalini class and I immediately loved it! My teacher was so happy and joyful, the exercises were easy but powerful and the music so beautiful, I really felt so different already after one introduction class. Ever since that day I would go to class once a week.
Y: what make you bring Kundalini Yoga to China?
J: The beginning of 2006 was my first time in China. I stayed in Shanghai for 3 months for a research related to my major, International Development Studies. It was my first time in China, it was winter in Shanghai and I didn't know anyone here. I felt pretty lost in this big cold city. Than I asked myself what could be a way to make me feel warm, cozy and happy again, and where to meet lovely people so spend cold sundays with? Kundalini! I had no idea if there was any teacher, but I was blessed to find Rebecca's website and I made an appointment with her right away. My experience in Shanghai that time, and my experience with Kundalini with Rebecca and the community here was a very important transformational process for me.
I realised how important Kundalini was for me as a person, to keep me focussed, balanced and connected to my true self throughout the day.
After those 3 months I had to go back to Holland to finish my thesis.
After I graduated I had a chance to move to Guangzhou. Thanks to Rebecca's encouragements, and supported by another Kundalini student/ teacher, Angel, I started teaching. There were only a few students every time, and we just used an empty room in my friends house, but the classes were always very nice, the energy very strong and the impact on everyone very significant.
Then Rebecca announced the first Teacher Training in China! As soon as I told my students that I was leaving Guangzhou for Shanghai to join this training, Nicol decided that she wanted to join as well.
She was so brave to quit her job and leave her parents' home and move to Shanghai.
For a Kundalini teacher the greatest thing is to see your students become teachers themselves! And I wasn't even a certified teacher yet. This was the moment I realised how great an impact Kundalini can have, and how beautiful it is to be a teacher and to see your students grow. This was also the time that I realised that China and its people really need this kind of sacred technology right now, everything around us is changing at such a rapid pace, and there is so much input from so many directions, that people start feeling kind of lost. Through Kundalini we can get together to create a community where we can grow as human beings and grow in consciousness, so that people can feel successful, healthy and happy.
I once started studying Anthropology (人类学)
and International Development Studies because I wanted to make a positive contribution to peoples lifes, but I realised that the scientific approach is not my way, through Kundalini Yoga I found a very effective, powerful and easy way to contribute to peoples happiness, all over the world!
Y:People in China are still at a primary stage of knowing what Yoga really is. Some of them even get hurt because of practicing in a wrong way. What is your suggestion to this situation?
J: I think when people get hurt because they practice yoga in the wrong way, it is because they want to go too fast. Many people who live in cities like Shanghai are used to doing everything fast and only look for short term results. But yoga is about slowing down and allowing yourself to go at a more natural and healthy rhythm. Yoga is a process, it needs time.You may experience immediate changes, at the same time gradually you will see deeper progress. Your body, mind and soul need to adjust, and if we allow ourselves to go at a steady pace, the results will be more deeply integrated in our system, so they will be more valuable on the longer term.
Therefore, it is very important that when you start learning yoga, you learn from a qualified teacher. The teacher can guide you through the process and together you can see what is the right pace for you.
The teacher can also give you suggestions on how to practice at home, for us being a teacher doesn't mean that our job is done as soon as the class is over. We want to build a relationship with students, and between students so that we can learn from each other, support each other and enjoy and celebrate the fruits of our practice together.
Y: Kundalini Yoga is one of the Yoga types . What so special about Kundalini Yoga when compared with other Yoga types?
J: Originally all yoga was developed by sages and gurus for people to connect to their own core so they can bring out their highest potential as a human being. The thing is that a lot of yoga offered these days only focusses on some parts of yoga, mainly the physical aspects. But actually yoga means union, or connection of the body, the mind and the soul.To me Kundalini yoga is one kind of yoga which really combines different techniques to establish this connection. It was designed for householders, people with jobs and families. On the other hand, other kinds of yoga, like hatha yoga, were designed for monks, people who withdraw themselves from daily life in order to devote all their time to practicing yoga. But since most people in our society have jobs and families, we are blessed with these teachings which give us the opportinity to integrate yoga in the life we are living. It gives us a chance to do all the things we are used to do in a happier and more succesful way, because we learn to see and remove all the things that are blocking us (physically, mentally and emotionally) from having a healthy, happy and holy experience as human beings.
Y: What benefits both physicaly and spiritualy can be brought by Kundalini Yoga ?
J:Of course doing yoga exercises makes your body stronger and more flexible. And if your body is healthy, you are more likely to feel confident and happy and you will have more energy to focus on your daily activities, your friends etc. The physical exercises will prepare your body to do the meditations. With practice we get more control over our mind, so that our endless, impulsive thoughts no longer rule us. All together you will get to know yourself better and better, your strengths and your weaknesses, so that you become more aware of yourself and your relationship with the people and world around you.
On a spiritual level you may experience that we are part of a bigger thing, of the Universe or Infinity. I have realised that there is something inside me, which we call our soul, which is Infinite,
beyond time and space. If you are able to connect to this place in you, you can feel connected to everyone and everything, since we are all part of this Infinity. You will feel save and happy and you will see that everything happens for a reason. Of course to reach this stage takes a lot of practice and usually we are only able to get a glimpse every now and then. But for me even the experience of these glimpses make me want to keep on practicing and experiencing more and more, little by little, 慢慢来
Y: Our readers are very young. Is it suitable for them to practice Kundalini Yoga ?
J: Everybody can do Kundalini! And the younger you are when you start practicing, the better, because then you haven't developed too many (bad) habits yet, so through your practice it will be easier for
you to create good habits and to get used to the exercises and meditations. Many women practice while they are pregnant to create a safe and comfortable relationship with the unborn baby and to prepare
the baby's body, mind and soul for life. One of the things we talk about in Kundalini is vibration. Everything vibrates, and in Kundalini we create vibrations by using different techniques and
mantras. It is like foot reflexology (very popular in China!), all parts of our body are connected, so we can use these connections and influence different parts of us in a positive way, which make us feel connected and happy. If you learn how to use those vibrations from a young age, you are very blessed!
Y: Please ask the 3 Teachers share with our readers a Meaningful sentence/statement etc Anything at all.
J: I would like to share this quote from Yogi Bhajan:
Kundalini Yoga is the comfort of the
heart.
The smile of the lover.
The laughter of happiness.
The harmony of creation.
Bliss
- Yogi Bhajan
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