From Me to You – Honoring Women

Sat Naam from The Netherlands!

March 8^th is International Women’s Day, and we at KRI are going to be focusing the whole month of March on honoring women.

The world is in the midst of many massive shifts, one of the most important of which is the global rise of respecting women and the feminine.  There is still a long way to go to have the sacred feminine truly honored, and to have women be treated, and paid, as men’s equals worldwide.  Kundalini Yogis have a lot to contribute to this conversation, with a wealth of teachings that empower women as well as an honest dialogue about the strongly patriarchal history of most yoga practices.

For example, we know that a strong and steady, disciplined personal practice is important in our spiritual journey.  But in what ways have we been talking about discipline, pushing ourselves and our fellow yogis, and maybe judging ourselves and others when we don’t measure up to the practice standards we’ve set, that are more masculine energetically than feminine?  In what ways could a more feminine approach to discipline support even greater personal practice without the potential downsides of too much “pushing?” 

Additionally, the traditional student-teacher relationship has always been a strongly hierarchical one.  In what ways does this serve the student’s spiritual progress, and in what ways can it go awry?  As the Harvard Business Review said, “Our love affair with… hierarchy plays right into the hands of our ancestral primate instincts for contest, dominance, and pecking orders — that is, the traditional obsessions and addictions of men in a patriarchal order.”[1] It is exciting to be part of the evolution of yogic practices in these times of tearing down toxic patriarchal structures.  What universal truths from the past will remain, and what elements will rightly evolve to be even more effective? 

As all of us within the Kundalini Yoga community play our parts in living into our answers to these big questions, we do know for sure that it all begins with the empowerment of women and the full acceptance of the feminine polarity within each person.  The fantastic yoga manual, “I Am A Woman” is full of great physical and meditative kriyas to support you in this important inner work, and we are putting it on sale this month! 

If you’ve been reading my notes in prior months’ newsletters, you see that I like to ask questions more than try to proclaim answers.  I truly trust the power of group consciousness that can emerge when people with different world-views practice conscious communication and dialogue with one another.  I hope you will join these conversations with us.  We at KRI are trying to stay up with technology, so please join us in virtual conscious communication on Instagram or our Facebook page!  Let us explore together this month how we can honor, respect, and empower women.

Amrit Khalsa

KRI CEO

[1] https://hbr.org/2010/06/gender-and-the-future-of-the-o