What is Kundalini Yoga?
Kundalini Yoga is known as the “Yoga of Awareness.” Kundalini is described as the uncoiling of individual inherent energy to reach true manifestation of self. Before Master Kundalini Teacher Yogi Bhajan brought Kundalini Yoga to the United States in 1969, it had never been taught publicly. Many yogis thought that this knowledge should be guarded and only to be learned by highly select Brahmins (priests) of the upper class. Kundalini is known as the nerve of the soul. If this is awakened, your soul is awakened. Kundalini classes included asanas (postures), pranayama (breath patterns), mudras (specific hand positions), and mantra, (creative projection of the mind through sound).
Specific sequences of asanas are taught to bring about a particular outcome or change of the body and mind. These sequences are called kriyas. Kriyas are taught exactly as they were passed down throughout the ages. This adherence to the legacy of Kundalini Yoga is what keeps it pure and elevating.
Pranayama is energy management. The Kundalini Yogi employs a wide range of prananyama techniques, using the rhythm and depth of breath to effect and manage different energy states of health, consciousness and emotion.
Who is Ellyn?
Ellyn Stanek Hutton (Mukta Kaur) is one of the few certified kundalini yoga teachers in Delaware. In 2003, Ellyn completed a 520-hour teachers’ training course in Yardley, Pennsylvania under the direction of the respected Mahan Rishi Singh Khalsa. She is nationally certified, passing a rigorous written and oral certification exam sponsored by the International Kundalini Research Institute and the Meditation Institute.
Ellyn has written a thesis on the Effects of Yoga and Stress in hospital-based nurses, demonstrating, via a pilot study, a statistically significant decline in stress in nurses who participated in a one-hour/weekly Kundalini Yoga session.
Ellyn is a registered nurse, Licensed Massage Therapist, and Infant Massage instructor. In addition to teaching yoga to adults, she also specializes in Pregnancy Yoga and Yoga for Moms and Babies. www.angelofpregnancy.com
Wellness Within Publications has released Ellyn's heartwarming and soul-searching compilation of stories, The Colors of Birth. Buy it now as a unique gift for a mother or mother-to-be or as a special keepsake for yourself!
In the last three years Ellyn has dedicated herself to improving the capacity of the mind through yoga, meditation and vibrational healing through sound and mantra. A pilgrimage to India through Right Sharing of World Resources in February of 2005 broadened her knowledge of different cultures and forms of spiritual practice and meditation. It is Ellyn’s belief that even though yoga is not a religion, it can expand our minds and bodies to our infinite potential, spiritual capacity and inner consciousness.
Ellyn is formerly Coordinator of Delaware’s Chapter of the American Holistic Nurses’ Association, and founder of Wellness Within by Ellyn, formerly Massage & Yoga by Ellyn.
