Deanna Hirsch Health & Wellness

Recently I have begun to delve deeper into the practice of Kundalini yoga, also known as the “yoga of awareness.” Imagine if you will, all of your potential, your hopes, dreams and endless possibilities. Now visualize all of that prana coiled at the base of your spine like a snake, just waiting to stretch and expand. That is kundalini.

With its unusual (often uncomfortable) postures, breath of fire and intoxicating mantras, kundalini yoga is often thought of as an express train to enlightenment. Impatient westerner that I am I was drawn to the illusion of magic on the mat. It was during a class with the enchanting yogini, Tana Pittman, that I stopped sprinting toward serenity and rediscovered, Sat Nam.

Sat Nam is a bija or seed mantra, single syllable sounds that have several meanings depending on the intention and tones touched upon when chanting. Sat, means “the truth.” Nam means, “to call upon, name or identify with.” When linked together, Sat Nam declares that, “truth is my identity and I call upon the eternal truth that resides in all of us.”

By chanting this mantra we can awaken the soul and uncoil the serpent within. Through Sat Nam we realize that the truth and meaning we seek in the world resides simply in our spine, just a breath of fire away.

Namaste – Deanna Hirsch, RYT