Kundalini Yoga in LA
Golden Bridge Yoga

Reviewed on April 14, 2007 by YogaVicki

Kundalini Yoga
Kundalini Yoga concentrates on chakras or energy centers in the body in order to generate a spiritual power, which is known as kundalini energy. The way it differs from other yoga is its direct focus on moving energy through the chakra system, stimulating the energy in the lower chakras and moving it to the higher chakras. Kundalini techniques include cross-legged positions, the positioning of the spine (usually straight), different methods to control the breath, the use of mantras, closed eyes, and mental focus. Kundalini Yoga is relatively new to the United States, having been introduced to the West Coast in 1969 by Yogi Bhajan, an extremely influential religious and spiritual leader originally from India. The co-founder of Golden Bridge Yoga, Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa was trained by Yogi Bhajan.

Setting
I first heard about Golden Bridge Yoga when I read an article in Yoga Journal magazine about newly sprouting "mega studios," places that extend their offerings beyond just yoga practice to include, among many things, massage, acupuncture, vegan cafes and tea bars. Golden Bridge Yoga is a spiritual community center with an aim to bring yoga philosophy into everyday life. The physical presence of Golden Bridge Yoga is enormous. When you first walk in, there's a vegan cafe to your left, a boutique, reception area and tea bar to your right, and in the middle of it all, a large main hall, with a stage and plenty of space for a guest lecture or extra large yoga practice. Off of the main room are multiple corridors that will lead you to additional studios. There are people busily milling about, having lunch at the cafe, shopping for yoga books and apparel or going to and from their various appointments. The studio where my class was held was in a loft area. An open loft area is an unusual space for a yoga studio. Throughout the entire practice I could hear voices, and at one point, someone was vacuuming! This space was clearly not conducive to deep concentration. I was surprised at this oversight. My class was an afternoon kundalini class and consisted of 3 other people, an older woman, and a young man and woman.

Instruction
My instructor was young, probably in her early to mid twenties. I could tell this would be a different kind of class, given that she was dressed in a loose cotton tunic and jeans. It struck me that this was not going to be a very physical practice. She was a very sweet teacher, but there were a few things that were difficult for me to digest during the practice. Mainly, since the room was very loud, she played music at an ear-splitting volume to cover it up. There were times I couldn't hear her at all. I don't know if it was the practice, the sequencing, or the length of each pose, but I never could develop any rhythm in this class. It seemed like some poses were held for a much longer time than other poses.

Practice
The practice began with chanting. As a newbie, I wasn't familiar with the chants, but at first could follow along as the instructor said the chant first, and then we repeated. After a few verses, the chants became progressively longer and harder. There was no explanation to what we were chanting, so I really couldn't be very mindful of the chanting. We also did some pranayama, breathing deeply through one nostril as we held the other shut. For most of the class we either sat cross legged or laid down flat on the mat. In one exercise, we sat crossed legged and held our hands above our head and repeated the words "Sat Nam," roughly meaning "truth is my identity." When we chanted the word "Sat" we flexed our stomach anus and sex muscles, on the word "Nam" we would release. We did this for what seemed like an eternity, and to me, it was extremely uncomfortable. I don't like flexing my sex muscles unless I'm actually having sex! Yuck. Then 3 quarters through the class, we came into rest pose laying flat on our mat with our eyes closed. Here, the instructor turned the volume of the music up a few decibels. It was deafening, and to add insult to injury I didn't care much for the style of music. It was full of ambient gongs and bells with whistling wind in the background. I felt like I was trapped in a bad horror movie. I wanted to get up and leave. It was so loud, it was literally giving me a headache. The music in this class was difficult for me to digest. The ambient instrumental music was dissonant, the chanting music acceptable, but loud. At the end, there was music with English lyrics that seemed very contrived and far too religious for me. All in all, I don't think I could fully understand kundalini yoga given this one practice.

Summary
I can't stress enough how impressed I am with a huge endeavor such as Golden Bridge Yoga. It takes an enormous amount of energy to keep the community involved and spiritually educated. That said, this one disappointing experience won't prevent me from going back. It took me months to become accustomed to my asana practice and I am not one to write something off only after trying it once. I am really curious to try this type of yoga again, perhaps in a quieter part of the complex.