Kundalini Yoga to heal and nourish the soul

In his early days, he dabbled in Bollywood doing some films. But Bijay Anand’s association with yoga began around 25 years ago. Later, being exposed to Kundalini Yoga turned out to be a life-altering experience for him. He’s been trained and certified by the Kundalini Research Institute, Los Angeles, and is also the founder of Anahata, a foundation that organises spiritual retreats across the globe. Read on to know more...

When and how did your association with Kundalini Yoga begin?
I was always interested in yoga and wanted to explore its different forms and methods around the world. The Bali Spirit Festival and European Yoga Festival to the Asian Yoga Festival, I did all of these and more. I also attended many retreats and wellness programmes, did a Vipassana course amongst other things. But it was in Rishikesh at the International Yoga Festival that I found what I had been looking for. The first five minutes that I spent in the presence of Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa teaching a Kundalini Yoga workshop gave me the warm feeling of having finally arrived home. I knew then that my search had come to an end.

How did it change your life?
It changed my life in more ways than one. I did the teachers training course with Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa purely for my own personal development and pursuit of knowledge. After completion of the course, I realised the power Kundalini Yoga has to heal and nourish the soul. I gave up my art business of 12 years and became a full time Kundalini Yoga teacher. On the subtle level, my levels of stress and anxiety have all but disappeared.

Describe Kundalini Yoga
Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan is an ancient practice that emanated out of India. It is a beautiful technology that works on all the three levels of a human being i.e. the body, the mind as well as the soul. The practice is designed to go deep into your core and take out years of anger, pain, grief and fear that has accumulated in your body,  in your joints and muscles, various organs like your liver and kidneys and your glandular system. The idea is to liberate yourself from the shackles of binding emotional chains and to open up your chakras to live a happy and joyous life.

Any myths you would like to dispel about Kundalini Yoga?
In the form of Kundalini Yoga that we practice, there are no snakes lying in your belly that are going to wake up and go shooting up your spine and come out of your head. People are wary and fearful of the term ‘Kundalini Yoga’ because of the myths and bizarre stories associated with it. None of these stories are true. This is a safe, well-defined and an ideal practice to nourish and heal everyone irrespective of their age, sex or physical conditions.

Tell us about your book, Mindlessness To Mindfulness
I started writing my first book called ‘I’ism,  based on my understanding and interpretation of an ideal life. As I was writing this book, I realised that unless people reading this book were healthy in mind and body they would never ever be able to be in the state of mind that would be conducive to living a life of joy and celebration. I knew then that to get people to graduate to a higher state of thinking, I had to ensure that they had a healthy body, which is why I put aside ‘I’ism and started writing Mindlessness To Mindfulness.

Share your experiences with Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa
Gurmukh is a beautiful, divine soul. We share a very deep and powerful connection because we both teach knowing that this is our destiny and karma. When I am with Gurmukh and her husband Gurushabd, we talk for hours on current affairs and the three of us have numerous discussions on how we perceive, visualise and manifest the changes that are taking place in the world on account of the Aquarian Age.

Your reason behind starting Anahata?
Life as we know it, is due for a paradigm shift in consciousness. We are on the verge of realising that our material pursuits have not yielded us to neither joy nor happiness (some of us have already realised it). So we need to look beyond our greed, beyond our insanity and reconnect. Reconnect with our souls, with nature and our compassionate, loving nature which is really our true state of being. We need to focus on opening up of our anahata chakra and to generate an outward flow of energy that is borne out of pure and unconditional love. I started Anahata to initiate this movement towards living our lives on a higher state of consciousness so that we may live our lives in the manner that we were meant to. Wisely, organically and compassionately.

How can people enrich their lives with Kundalini Yoga?
When you do Kundalini Yoga, you open up channels of energy that you never even knew existed. You clearly see and understand what it is that is creating the blockages in your chakras and what it is that you need to do to live the perfect life. Because you see for the first time in your life that a perfect life is possible and that you just have to reach out and embrace it.

Kundalini Yoga in Mumbai
Yoga 101, Aram Nagar 2, Andheri (W)
Mondays 7.30 pm and Wednesdays 8 am
Yogacara, New Kant Wadi Road, Bandra (W), Thurdays 7.30 pm
Yogacara, Bhulabhai Desai Road, Mahalaxmi, Tuesdays 7.30 am
Contact: Sonali +919324533333, +91 2265533333
Email: sonali@anahata.in