In Kundalini Yoga, Sat Nam has a special meaning.
The emphasis of Kundalini Yoga, as taught by Yogi Bhajan, is on one’s private experience and awareness via the practice of kriya and meditation, which includes mantra chanting.
The kundalini is awakened when it can call upon the total capacity of the neurological and glandular systems and balance the delicate structure of chakras inside the body to navigate on this page.
So, how do we go about doing it?
With the use of kriyas or practices.
“Kriya” is an organized series of gestures, pranayama, mudras, sound, and meditation in Kundalini Yoga that naturally leads the energies and vibrations of the body and mind to an inevitable outcome or shift of awareness.
That’s why you’ll see individuals twisting back and forth quickly in some Kundalini Yoga courses.
They can be simple brief sequences or intense, even strenuous exercises that challenge and develop the neurological and endocrine systems while also putting the practitioner’s will to the test. (For more energy, see my 60-minute Morning Sadhana practice with a Kundalini kriya.)
Mantra chanting is one component of these kriyas.
A Kundalini Kirtan, or chanting meditation, is Sat Nam Meditation. In fact, in Kundalini Yoga, Sat Nam is the most often utilized mantra.
So, where does it originate?
Sat Nam is the most important term in the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh sacred book. The terms Sat Nam are derived from the Sanskrit words Sat (truth/honesty/right) and Nam (name).
These two phrases together mean “I am the truth” or “My core is truth.”
Sat Nam – True Name – is one of the ways Sikhs define God. This is the grain syllable mantra, and it contains all of the wisdom of the fully developed tree.
Kundalini Kirtan Kriya is a Kund
For the meditation portion of the program, Kundalini Kirtan Kriya is used. The goal of this meditation is to achieve “mental equilibrium in the individual mind.” While chanting Sa Ta Na Ma, sit in an accessible position with eyes closed and focused inward on the center of the brow. With a straight spine and wrists resting comfortably on the knees, each finger is softly placed against the thumb. Kirtan Kriya uses the following mudra and mantra:
sa=Gyan mudra (index touching thumb); sa=Gyan mudra (index touching thumb); sa=Gyan mudra
ta=Shuni mudra (middle finger touching thumb); ta=Shuni mudra (middle finger touching thumb); ta=Shuni mudra
Surya Mudra (ring finger touching thumb) is Na.
In time with the chanting, Ma=Buddhi mudra (pinky contacting thumb).
The mantra or chant is believed to form an intense circuit with the mudras that represent each component’s cycle from a finite cell to a greater cosmic limitless level.
Each mudra depicts the entirety of life and its cycle.
This meditation aims to bring all parts of the self together in the most finite and limitless way possible. From enormous glands and organs to the most delicate energy aspects of the self, everything might be combined into one, a union, which is yoga.
