Philosophy · reviewed by a teacher
Kundalini and Kundalini yoga
Kundalini is a Sanskrit word meaning "the coiled one". In medieval tantric and hatha texts it names a force pictured as a serpent coiled at the base of the spine. Kundalini yoga, a modern style of breath work, chanting and set kriyas, takes its name from it and was taught in the United States from 1969.
What is kundalini?
Kundalini comes from the Sanskrit kundala, meaning a coil, a ring or an earring.
Kundalini is “the coiled one”. In the texts where the word appears, it names a force imagined as a serpent lying coiled at the base of the spine.
This page describes what those texts and the modern style say. It does not make claims about energy in the body; it sets out the history so you know what the name refers to.
If a slower, quieter practice is what draws you, Yin yoga is a close alternative that many studios offer.
Kundalini in the older texts
The idea of kundalini belongs to tantra, a broad family of Hindu and Buddhist traditions whose texts were composed from roughly the middle of the first millennium CE onward.
Tantric works describe a subtle body of channels (nadis) and centres (chakras), with kundalini resting at the lowest centre.
Hatha yoga took the idea up. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, written by Svatmarama in the fifteenth century, describes rousing kundalini through breath retention, bandhas (locks) and mudras (seals), and presents this as a step toward meditative absorption. What the tradition says about that rise, which ends at the crown chakra, is set out on the page about kundalini awakening.
In these texts kundalini is part of a whole practice, not a separate style of yoga.
Kundalini Yoga as a modern style
The style known today as Kundalini Yoga was shaped by Harbhajan Singh Khalsa, called Yogi Bhajan by his students. He moved from India to North America in the late 1960s, began teaching in Los Angeles in 1969, and founded an organisation called 3HO (the Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization) the same year.
His teaching drew on Sikh practice as well as yoga, which is why many practitioners wear white clothing and head coverings and chant mantras in Gurmukhi.
A typical class is built around a kriya: a set series of breathing exercises, repeated movements and held postures, followed by relaxation and meditation. Many of its meditations rest the hands in gyan mudra, with the thumb and index finger touching.
Breath of fire, a quick rhythmic breath through the nose, is one of its best known techniques.
How it shows up in a modern practice
Outside dedicated Kundalini classes, you will meet pieces of this history in many places: breathing exercises (pranayama), chanting Om at the start or end of a class, and the language of chakras in studio descriptions. The types of yoga page shows where Kundalini sits among the other styles.
Kundalini and other classes
Not every studio or teacher offers Kundalini Yoga, and many teach Yin, Vinyasa, Restorative, prenatal and postpartum yoga instead. If what draws you to Kundalini is a slower practice with room for breath and stillness, that can be part of almost any class. The style quiz can help you compare options.
Many Kundalini meditations rest the gaze at the point between the eyebrows, the centre known as ajna, or the third eye, and the Sanskrit yoga glossary explains the other terms on this page.
Questions
Why is kundalini shown as a serpent?
Because kundala means a coil, and the texts picture the force as a snake lying in three and a half coils at the base of the spine, asleep until roused. The serpent is a traditional image, not a description of anything you can see or measure.
Is kundalini a religious idea?
It comes from religious traditions, first tantric Hindu and Buddhist texts, and Sikh practice later shaped the modern Kundalini Yoga style. Many people come to classes for the breathing and meditation without taking up those beliefs.
What does kundalini mean?
Kundalini comes from the Sanskrit kundala, a coil or ring, and is usually translated as "the coiled one". In the old texts it names a force pictured as a serpent coiled at the base of the spine.
What happens in a Kundalini yoga class?
Usually a short opening chant, a kriya (a set series of breath, movement and posture), relaxation, and a meditation that may include a mantra. Many practitioners wear white.
Is Kundalini yoga different from other yoga?
Yes. It spends far more time on breathing techniques, repeated movement, chanting and meditation than most posture-focused styles, and its classes follow set kriyas rather than a flow of poses.