A Brief Overview of Kundalini Yoga

Yoga Photo by Jared Rice on Unsplash

A seasoned organizational leader, Giuseppina “Penny" Mancuso has successfully led the growth of several nonprofits in Montreal, Canada. She is also the founder and president of GoddessMe, a life coaching company primarily centered on empowering women. Penny Mancuso’s diverse interests include practicing Kundalini yoga.

One of the most enduring forms of yoga, Kundalini combines elements of yoga traditions that emphasize physical workouts, and other forms of yoga that emphasize meditation. Kundalini also emphasizes consciousness of energy points throughout the body. It contains both physical exercise and spiritual awareness.

An ancient Sanskrit word, Kundalini roughly translates to “coiled snake,” which refers to the divine energy each individual possesses. We must strive to release this coiled snake to unleash the full capacity of human awareness. We can then properly discern and reach our full potential, and excel in our endeavors. Kundalini’s actual origin is unknown. It is believed to have been a spiritual concept and science involving energy before the introduction of a physical practice occurred.

Drishti in Kundalini Yoga

Eye focus

Photo by Patrick Brinksma on Unsplash

A longtime resident of Montreal, Canada, Giuseppina “Penny” Mancuso has served as president of Goddess Me since founding this life-coaching organization in 2017. Outside of the professional arena, Penny Mancuso is an avid practitioner of kundalini yoga.

One of the ways in which kundalini differs from other yoga forms is its use of elements that tap into the power of one’s natural consciousness-expanding kundalini energy. One of these elements is known as “drishti.”

Loosely translated as "focused gaze," drishti operates under the principle that the mental concentration/attention of individuals tends to follow their physical gaze. In order to develop and control that concentration, drishti dictates exactly where practitioners should fix their eyesight during kundalini yoga sessions.

Every kundalini yoga position has its own specific drishti technique. In the downward-facing dog pose, for example, practitioners should gaze directly at the navel (nabi chakra drishti). Conversely, when engaged in the upward-facing dog pose, practitioners should direct their eyes to the tip of the nose (nasagrai drishti).

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