Kundalini yoga practitioners strive to unleash the flow of a primal life energy or prana that in most people lies dormant at the base of the spine. While experts support the use of kundalini yoga for depression, some argue that depressive episodes are a transitional part of kundalini awakening, so expect highs and lows if you pursue this yoga practice. If you suffer from serious or chronic depression, do not substitute kundalini yoga for professional medical care. See your doctor.
Theory
Kundalini theory states that kundalini energy must flow freely in order to maintain a healthy mental and emotional balance. "Depression is caused by a lack in the kundalini flow," says Alan Seale, director of the Center for Transformational Presence in Rochester, New York, author of "Intuitive Living." The absence of feeling many people experience in depression is, on an energetic level, the failure of vital energies to flow through the body. Activating kundalini is one strategy to reconnect with your feeling self, according to Seale.
Features
Kundalini yoga entails a set of physical and spiritual practices that aim to stir kundalini and circulate it throughout the body. Mantras, breathing exercises, hand postures and song are all part of kundalini yoga teachings, and serve to complement the asanas or stretching postures that you probably associate with yoga. Although not a cure for serious illness, many people do experience some positive physical and emotional effects even as beginners, according to the website of the Toronto Kundalini Yoga Teachers Association.
Effects
Kundalini yoga practitioners argue that it is uniquely suited to easing depression because it works to stimulate the glandular system of the body. By stimulating the release of key hormones, kundalini yoga nourishes what Dharma Singh Khalsa, an anaesthesiologist specializing in anti-aging medicine, calls the "master glands of the brain." Quoted by Amy Weitraub, founder of the LifeForce Yoga Healing Institute in Tuscon Arizona, in her book "Yoga for Depression," Khalsa notes that the mantras of kundalini yoga practice offer light, natural stimulation for both mind and body that work to oppose the internal conditions of depression.
Core Practice
While practices like hatha yoga offer breathing exercises and postures that might stimulate kundalini energy and help ease depression, what makes kundalini practice different is its combination of specialized protocols for specific problems and profound meditation, says Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, director of research for the Kundalini Research Institute and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Writing on kundalini yoga as therapy in Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa's book "Kundalini Rising," Singh Khalsa notes that kundalini yoga emphasizes psychological and spiritual development over physical health, making it a better tool for tackling issues like depression.
Considerations
It is possible for the kundalini awakening process to send you into depressive states, says Genevieve Lewis Paulson, director of Dimensions of Evolvement spiritual development center in the Ozark Mountains and author of "Kundalini and the Chakras." Because kundalini energy is deep seated and intimately connected with the subconscious --- what Paulson calls "first consciousness ---" any suppressed or repressed truths tend to emerge as kundalini rises. Confronting these deeper truths is part of the training process, but can be troubling. While Paulson encourages kundalini practitioners to accept the lows that accompany kundalini yoga practice, she differentiates between these and chemical or clinical depression. Train with a knowledgeable instructor who can help you distinguish between normal lows and clinical depression.
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