BOF + Hatha = smarmy

[Guest guest]

Satnam everyone,

I think I will get in this discussion because.. Kundalini yoga claims

a direct connection with God in terms of the way we structure our class. We

tune in. I have heard from some Hatha yogis with some disgust "oh you guys

are into religion with all those mantras an all '

I teach and have taught many classes that because of the space or

group of people I could not teach a specific kriya.On those occasions I did

what I was taught in terms of warm up exercises so a valid class was being

taught.On those occasions of having to come up with a sequence myself I have

felt the difference of energy in the class and myself and I have gotten

feedback from people who were regulars who would very discreetly ask " what

kriya was that?"They know the difference. I would reply that it was warmups

and a meditation. The kriyas are divine instructions given by divine beings

who connected with the Divine who gave them this wisdom that can change your

entire frequency in an hour. Those of us who have experienced this miracle

called kundalini yoga as taught by YB know that we can't mess with it.

We are the yogis of the Aquarian age.We are not in caves in the forest

anymore.. we are in the offices, the gettos and the skyscrapers teaching

purity of being to people who need it. Our jobs are the same as the Yogis of

ancient India just in a different setting.

I am usually very wary of Hatha yoga teachers coming to my classes

because they are usually saying that exercise you did today was so cool I

think I am going to try it in my class! One Hatha yoga teacher told me she

has started doing BOF in her poses when she teaches but one day one of her

students got sick and that had never happened before.She has every right to

teach the way she wants to but... BOF is a distinct exercise and the

kundalini yoga understands it in a very masterful way.When you are doing BOF

you are changing so much.I don't know if this has been added to hatha

recently or if it was always there and now being used by teachers by their

exposure to Kundalini or not . Most of the older Hatha yoga books I have read

I did not come across it.My only theory on this whole BOF thing in relation

to science is that we are taught in Kundalini were,how and when to use it and

we connect to the Golden chain which changes the whole vibration of the class.

We are protected by our commitment to give these teaching it's rightful place

with God and the lineage of teachers. We are special in this way for we are

people of God and we will unabashingly teach this way.It is a very powerful

statement to tune in with your students and say we are here to be in the

presence of the divine one and he will protect us.

The few times that I have felt really weird after teaching class is

when my intent was not focused and I only taught warmups and was not prepared

to teach properly.While I can't say you should not teach BOF in your hatha

class I am resistant because of intent of playing with one structure to the

next and the consciousness that it carries.It is a matter therefore of

intent,frequency,knowledge of the chemistry of the poses and the chakras, the

flow of the poses and the end result and therefore if you do not tune in how

do you know that you students are protected on all realms. BOF changes the

blood in three minutes.Use it wisely or pay the karma.Speaking as a teacher

the higher you go the harder you fall and I have been knocked down a couple

of times and as YB puts it if you mess the purity it will come back and bite

you back.

I love Hatha Yoga. I am presently learning a lot of poses and I am so

tempted to add BOF! I do know and understand the temptation! However I tune

in as Satsangeet kaur mentioned and I do my kundalini thing with BOF and then

do my poses without the BOF.Be strong and understand that we are not masters

yet and we have to humble ourselves even if we can't understand the need

to.Our master has told us to not mix so we don't mix.We don't have to

understand everything but we do have to be humble to the laws of these

teachings.Deva is right.. it is smarmy. We must have studied with the same

teacher Deva.. I applaud your efforts to at least stand up and say "hey be

careful out there."

Thanks for all teachers out there

Keep up and stay connected

Satnam kaur khalsa

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Sat Nam Ranjit,

 

"I learned both Breath of Fire and Kapalabhati pranayams in Hatha classes

before I took Kundalini."

 

--There may be other forms of yoga that use the term 'Breath of Fire', but if it

was coined by YB (should have copyrighted it) then they are borrowing from KY

and inserting into Hatha. Its understandable how this could be, since the

Kapalabhati and BOF are basically the same (BOF is faster in a nutshell). Its

also fair to say that KY is different yoga, we do kriyas, we don't sequence

asanas and put together a sadhana for a class. I could see a Hatha teacher not

thinking anything of 'borrowing' from another yoga, to them its just more

sequencing I think.

 

I respect the teachings and I believe others should too whether they agree or

not.

 

Blessings

 

Deva

[Guest guest]

Sat Nam Deva, Sat Sangeet, Ranjit and others

I think this is an interesting discussion developing here. I can totally

understand and relate to the need to do Hatha for flexibility and groundedness

as well as KY. However having also practised different forms of Hatha Yoga and

taught a Hatha Yoga class, I do think the main difference between KY ,as we are

taught it by Yogi Bhajan, and other forms of Hatha Yoga, is that ours is an

Aquarian teaching. For me that means this one, although based on ancient

principles is modern and tailored to this age. It is a perfectly endowed

teaching as it is.

It is confusing in the West as we tend to be saturated with spiritual paths and

teachers and the first thing is to be able to distinguish what is a true

teaching for the age? Buddhism cites a true teaching as one which causes total

transformation in the life of a human being.

My own experience is of having encountered two such "true" teachings in my life

and feeIing that I only need one.I am a KY teacher(in training) but have been a

practising Buddhist for many years and am active in my community and district.

feel that I do not want to give up my Buddhist practise, but I am also deeply

committed to KY and the teachings of Yogi Bhajan. I do not mix the practises but

I feel the keeping separate is conflicting. Does anyone have any similar

experiences, comments or suggestions?

 

 

Blessings to all

 

 

Guru Sahai Kaur

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Sat Nam dear friends:

 

I have seen a breath taught in hatha classes as Kapalabhati, similar to BOF

except the exhale is through the mouth, but I have the impression that this

might be a misnomer of sorts, as this doesn't match what I have been taught

in other places, which is that the inhalation should be considerably longer

(according to Swami Rama, about 4 times longer) than the exhale, and that

there is a split-second retention after the exhale.

 

I have a book by Kriyananda (Spiritual Science of Kriya Yoga), which has the

most detailed and useful descriptions of (38 different) pranayams I've ever

seen, including the LDB that we teach (he calls it Deep Abdominal

Breathing), and BOF, which he calls Fire Breath or Agni-prana, so I don't

think there is anything specific to KY about BOF. He describes kapalabhati

in pretty much the same way as I was first taught, and Swami Rama's book

Path of Light and Fire describes kapalabhati pretty much as Kriyananda does.

 

Perhaps there is some individual variation in hatha traditions as to what

kapalabhati means...? But what I described above doesn't match any of the

pranayams that Kriyananda describes. It seems more like a combination of

kapalabhati and BOF.

 

Blessings,

Sadhant