My daily Kundalini Yoga practice - Lynn Roulo

I’ve Practiced Kundalini Yoga Daily For The Last 12 Years. Here’s What I’ve Learned…

Updated: April 16, 2021

People sometimes ask about my personal yoga practice, and they are often surprised to hear that I‘ve been maintaining a daily Kundalini Yoga practice for 12 years. It’s surprising to me too when I do the math, but in 2009 when I finished Kundalini Yoga teacher training, my teachers were clear that if we planned to teach, it was important to have a daily practice. I took this advice seriously and with the exception of maybe 2 days in the last 12 years (roughly 4,380 days), I’ve done Kundalini Yoga every day. In this post, I share the reasons why and some easy and free ways for you to get started with a daily practice too.

 

What’s a daily yoga practice?

A daily practice is different things for different people. For me, it means I tune in, I do a Kundalini Yoga kriya or meditation, and I close the practice. My daily practice time ranges from 3 minutes of Sat Kriya (a single exercise) to 9 hours (White Tantric Days at the Kundalini Yoga festival). Most days I spend around 40 minutes doing my practice which includes an 11-minute deep relaxation. For the last 5 years I’ve been doing Nabhi Kriya for Prana-Apana so most days, this is the kriya I do.

 

The benefits of a daily practice

Here is what I have learned over the last 12 years of doing Kundalini Yoga and how can it apply to you:

It’s like a daily reboot

The same way you reboot your computer when it starts to get overloaded, my daily yoga practice acts like a daily reboot for my mind. No matter what’s happening, how overwhelmed I feel or how busy I imagine I am, my daily practice always makes me feel better. I don’t always enjoy doing it, but usually within a couple of minutes of starting, the magic begins, I regain my perspective and suddenly, life doesn’t seem so stressful. I literally feel like it reboots my mind and my emotional state.

It’s a tremendously stabilizing habit

I’m a generally stable person, but as I’ve changed jobs, countries, and had people come in and out of my life, there have been plenty of moments when I’ve started to feel overwhelmed. But it’s never felt unmanageable because every day I go back to my breath, reconnect with my body, and process some of the energy of my emotions. Someone once asked me where “home” is for me. I thought for a minute and then answered “it’s my daily practice.” This is where I go to feel relaxed and secure. It stabilizes me.

It has had huge physical benefits, particularly in the area of breath control.

I grew up with severe asthma so breathing was not always my strong point. That has changed completely in the last ten years. The more I do my Kundalini Yoga practice, the more I understand everything starts and ends with the breath. The ability to breathe long and deeply has tons of benefits which I’ve outlined here. With greater control over my breathing, I feel very little anxiety these days, and my physical endurance is greater than it was when I was in my 20s. In my beach volleyball and TRX classes, I have no problem keeping up with people 20 years younger than me. I am 100% certain this is due to my Kundalini Yoga practice.

It makes me more “me.”

When I look at my life now and my life ten years ago, I feel like the accountant sitting in an office in San Francisco was like a shadow of my true self. It wasn’t fake, but it wasn’t the full me. These days, I feel like the full me. When people ask about my story, I credit my decision to move from San Francisco to Athens to my Kundalini Yoga practice. Same thing for my career change from a CFO to a Kundalini Yoga/Enneagram instructor and writer. I’m grateful for this more radiant version of my life.

Don’t just take my word for it

In an Amazon review of my first book “HeadStart for Happiness” which maps Kundalini Yoga kriyas to the nine personality types in the Enneagram personality system, reader Derek Mogensen outlines in a way in a clear and personal way how a daily practice has helped him.

Reader testimonial on a daily Kundalini Yoga Practice - Lynn Roulo

 

How to kickstart a daily Kundalini Yoga practice

Should you start a regular Kundalini Yoga practice? You know what I’m going to say… 😉

I tried to make it easy for you with free videos… On my YouTube channel you can access over 100 Kundalini Yoga classes ranging from 3 minutes to 1.5 hours. There’s something for everyone and I upload a new video each week. Visit my channel here.

If reading is more your learning style I’ve written two books (Headstart for Happiness and The Nine Keys) that incorporate many Kundalini Yoga kriyas and meditations along with full instructions. These books are a great reference tool to help you get started. Both books are all-levels and are appropriate for absolute beginners.

The best way to experience the benefits are to do a 40-day consecutive practice.   You don’t have to commit forever but consider committing for 40 days. For as little as three minutes per day, you too can start a regular practice and enjoy the benefits of a regular reboot, increased stability, breath control, and a deeper connection to yourself. Yes, you. ☺

 

Get started for free by following this Kriya for Elevation video for 40-days.

Try this Kriya for Elevation to kick start your daily yoga practice.

 

 

Want help getting started?

For those of you who want a more personalized approach, I created an online “at home” Kundalini Yoga offering so you can practice an individually selected kriya and meditation in the comfort of your own home with oversight from me. Work with me to get a personally selected kriya and meditation for your 40-day practice – all the details are here.

 

Download Your Free Ebook “3-Minute Meditations for Each Enneagram Type"

Get your guide to the 9 Enneagram types with a different Kundalini Yoga meditation for each type. These meditations are designed to relax your habit of attention and build self awareness - starting in as little as 3 minutes a day.