The Morning Muse

The Kriya to Open the Heart is the first kundalini yoga kriya that I did daily over 40 days, my first sadhana. I followed this version from YogiGems, and while it is the same as the one posted on the 3HO website, the warmups are discretionary and so a little different for each teacher, I suppose.

When I did the Kriya to Open the Heart, I felt a lot of almost psychedelic experiences, in particular in one of the exercises. By the time I would do the modified Kirtan Kriya exercise within the sequence, I would have these experiences of deep peace, and very often, of a sense of bilocation. That means a feeling of being present in two spaces at once (I know, it’s a little crazy, but read on).

For several sessions, it felt as if I was in the middle of a forest with lots of fallen leaves around me (and of some people, looking on), sitting in the serenity of it, doing my exercise. But then the sense of location changed. I felt I was on the rocks in front of a waterfall; I could actually feel the spray of the water and could breathe in the damper air. It was incredible, and it was psychedelia. It felt amazing, liberating somehow–and exciting. Not every kriya is like this.

And so when I began my Sat Kriya (it’s day 20 now), I expected more of the same, or even more intense experiences, since Sat Kriya has a reputation for being “harder” to do.

So you can imagine my disappointment when no such experiences occurred. I would sweat bucketfuls, I would eventually get into this rhytmic space where I would get a huge smile on my face. There was definitely a sense of peace after, and eventually, after a couple of weeks, even during my 11-minute Sat Kriya practice. But there were never any “spiritual” experiences.

It just wasn’t like that!

I referred back to Yogigems’ blog posts on her Sat Kriya practice multiple times! If you’re looking for more blog posts like this, where someone details their experiences, please look to my own inspiration to writing these posts, Yogigems and her blog (linked earlier).

But I have to say, while there haven’t been a lot of spiritual, psychedelic-like experiences with Sat Kriya, there has nonetheless been a lot of healing. Sat Kriya works on the three lower chakras; my understanding is that it heals them and works on them in creating a natural flow through the body up to the third eye (and beyond).

For me during this short time, there has been an instance of major past trauma which I have made peace with. When this first came up, and my focus was brought to it, it felt overwhelming. The guilt I felt was so great that I wish I had had a guru (though I am glad I didn’t have one because I got to go through the rawness of it and to learn). It was a big psychological undertaking. But incredibly, I have been able to work through it. When this specific trauma initially came up, my first impulse was (trigger warning) suicidal. I feel a little ashamed sharing that, but it’s the truth, and I also feel it’s important to share that a strong yogic practice can release and bring into focus very, very strong feelings.

Now over just a week later, I have found a mental framework to work with around my trauma. And that is beyond belief in itself, but you almost start to discount the miracles… When you begin to feel so much peace and wellbeing from doing yoga every day, it’s easy to overlook one more thing. It almost starts to feel like your expectations aren’t met if you’re not in blissful clarity at all times. I have to remind myself of how much progress I have made.

So on day 20 now, a lot of gunk has come up, and I’ve worked through just a little bit of it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve worked through everything I have consciously become aware of, but I can feel the wordless heaviness, like molasses, in my chakra spaces. I wasn’t aware of all that before Sat Kriya.

It’s been very humbling because there’s this sense of how much more there is to go through. I have come to realize that Sadhana is just what’s necessary to get through the world each day, especially the way that it is. That is not to point to superficial elements of our high-stress, technological society. That’s not what makes the world painful. The world is painful because most of the people in it are hurt and so hurt others.

But, there is a big “but” (maybe it’s an “and”), I have so much more to work through than what each day gives me. I have accumulated 34 years of life, of joy, beauty, and pain, and trauma and heartbreak, without a sadhana of any kind.

When you start working through that, only some of your effort goes to the past. A lot of it goes to clearing what’s happening on a daily basis. It’s been humbling because I have realized that life doesn’t stop with the sadhana. You do not stop dealing with a world that hurts the moment you choose a beautiful, effective spiritual practice.

Ultimately, the two sadhanas, the kriya to open the heart and sat kriya, are starkly different. I am glad that I did the lighter one, the one that didn’t bring up too much, in the beginning. It immediately bonded me to yoga. In that time of absolute chaos and despair, the kriya to open the heart brought me peace.

At that time, I would not have been ready for Sat Kriya.

But after 40 days of the kriya to open the heart, and some 10 or so more days prior to that of other kriyas from Yogigems’ channel, I was ready for whatever yoga may bring. I was a believer. I had experienced a peace no other thought, belief, or practice had allowed me to feel. My despair had melted into joy and clarity with just a 30-minute practice. Whatever else would come, I knew it was good, so I was ready for Sat Kriya.

In some way, I feel at this point, that Sat Kriya is both foundational and more advanced than some other kriyas, including the Kriya to Open the Heart. We need to work through the sludge hiding in those first few chakras. The pain, the trauma, it’s not beneath us; these are the stories that make us human. And I know that sounds a little like ChatGPT spitting bullshit, but it’s me. This is an AI-free blog. I actually believe that! What’s in your root chakra isn’t somehow of a lower order; it’s what makes you human, what connects you to all life. It’s so special and beautiful.

I am aware that on Day 20 of my Sat Kriya sadhana, I may be speaking a little out of turn writing all of this because, yes, I am just starting, but I truly have experienced so much through the grace that has come as a result of this practice. I hope I have the courage to continue far beyond 40 days, and I look forward to writing more posts on this. In my next post, I want to cover a lighter side of the kriya which began manifesting on about day 17 for me, and that is one Yogigems also mentions, which is more energy–more kinetic energy, that is.

Have you tried this kriya or any others? Please comment. I write these posts on yoga because I have experienced the miracle. The least I can do is to share. I hope you will, too.