576: The Ancient Yoga Practice To Raise Your Kundalini + Divine Feminine with Brett Larkin

The feminine is to descend, just like we birth children. So can you share a little bit about how we can use rather than necessarily always holding up and on the inhale, doing more of the exhales and releases.

This is how it was taught to me, literally, was that, like, I had this dormant energy. So if we actually want to be down and in the body, this is the biggest reframe I like to offer, folks. Is. Brett Larkin is a leading yoga teacher and founder of Uplifted Yoga, an online platform that has certified thousands of instructors worldwide. Known for her work in prenatal and kundalini yoga, she is empowering a global, global community to live more mindfully and integrate yoga into their daily lives. Usually, the yoga style that you're attracted to initially is not the one that you need totally to find balance.

In tantra, they say instead of what most of us do when we're going to orgasm, we tense, we hold our breath to have a tipping point. And it's like imagine you have a little teacup, and you filling that teacup up with water. Well, it doesn't take much water to overflow. And you have go trust, flow sooner. Let go. I'm the one I've been waiting for. Welcome back to the Highest Self podcast. My name is Sahar Rose, and on this podcast, I love to take spiritual concepts, but make them really grounded, fun, relatable, so they can actually serve your needs. And my path of spirituality has been the path of the body, the path of the feminine. Like I say in one of my songs, the feminine is rising. The body is the path, the feminine is rising. So I'm gonna throw it back. And that's what really. Well, we practice what we preach around here. And the beauty of taking this more feminine approach to spirituality is it's a lot more gentle, easeful, fluid. It allows us to really feel what is present within ourselves rather than trying to get to a goal. And I'm sure a lot of you guys have, like, gone to, you know, a yoga class or try to do a meditation, and then you're like, I'm not good at this. Like, I can't do these poses. I can't meditate. I must not be spiritual. You know, I'm. Or I have to work really, really hard on this and push myself. And we have that same mindset that we've been trained to have from our school system of there's a right or wrong way, and if I just push myself harder, then I'll reach the goal. The goal being enlightenment. And that's Missing the whole point of all of this to me even. What does spirituality mean? Spirituality means to be connected with all that is to be connected to your heart, to be connected to community, to be one with all of life. And that's actually what the word tantra, tantra a lot of you guys may call it, it means to weave with. And it was the spiritual path of that more feminine, they call it the left handed path because it wasn't about the separation and you know, the I need to be on top of the mountain by myself with no interaction with the outer world. That's a monk path. Some people may want to take that. But I'm assuming if you're here looking at my cute outfits, you don't. Because we want beauty, we want play, we want spontaneity, we want to be with friends, we want love. Like these are all things that if you can feel, feels true in your heart. You are on a more left handed Shakti, divine feminine path. And it's really important because most of spirituality that we know of has been taught by, by men, for men and really negates the feminine experience that we are very differently wired. You know, we are, we are much more emotional, we are really in our bodies. So we have to also look at these ancient spiritual practices and look at, you know, the ways that maybe the feminine has actually been removed from them. You know, a lot of you guys might know I started my career in Ayurveda. I was an Ayurvedic practitioner for seven years. And what I found was that a lot of, even what we learn in Ayurveda schools was still hyper masculine because the feminine was taken out of it because of patriarchy, because of religious programming. And we are now remembering that it's not so rigid of like I'm vata dosha, so I can only eat these foods and your pitta and your kapha and like these labels and identities and right and wrongs and lists that we put upon ourselves can, we're trained. That's how you're supposed to be. But it's rather like using these systems as base points but then letting your intuition guide you. So I'm going to be real with you guys. You know, I have been in the spiritual world now for over a decade. But Kundalini, Kundalini yoga was something that I had tried. I had a friend that was very into it. But every time I went to the class it felt really overwhelming for my nervous system. You know, I remember 10 plus years ago when I was living in India, I Went to a Kundalini class and the girl next to me was having like a full on, like, Kundalini awakening, I would say. But it wasn't properly held in her energy system that she was kind of like screaming and there was just a lot of energy moving through her and we were all like, holding hands and I was next to her. And after that, I felt like I got hit by a car. Like, I just took on a lot of that. And after that experience, I kind of stayed away from it and then, you know, dance more. So became my spiritual pathway. But a dear friend of mine who you're going to be learning from, Brett Larkin, is really bringing back the feminine approach to Kundalini. And she's going to be speaking about how actually the truth of Kundalini is not about this, this kind of like militaristic way that we have been trained. She'll share the history of why it has become this way today. But it's actually about coming down and moving into the body, which I think a lot of us have noticed too, in these, you know, meditations. We've been taught is like higher, higher pineal gland. But actually the feminine path is more of the exhale, the release, and going into the womb. So I'm really excited to dive into all these topics today with not just Kundalini, but like straight yoga extraordinaire. She's been one of my besties for like, eight years. Like, we go way, way back when we were both, like, starting our businesses and. And she's a mother of two and, you know, has been able to really allow more people to access Kundalini and bringing it in this. In this more palatable and feminine way. And before we drop into this episode, be sure to hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast. That is the best way to stay up to date on the latest episodes. We've got this in video format, so if you're just hearing my voice, be sure to also watch our fabulous outfits on video as well on Spotify, YouTube or the Apple Store. This is the best way to stay in the flow with future conversations and also allows the podcast to reach more people. So hit subscribe so I can keep vibing with you on all future episodes. Now let's get into this one. So welcoming Brett Larkin to the High Self podcast. Hi.

I'm so happy to be with you and be here. Got my snakeskin leotard on. Good. I'm ready.

As you should.

Yes.

Okay, so let's just dive right in into why so many of us, when we experience what we go to modern kundalini classes, kind of feel this jar in our nervous system and how we can do things differently.

Well, I relate to what you said about feeling jarred, because I had the same experience my first kundalini class. Everyone was wearing white, so there was like, everyone had this uniform appearance. There was a lot of chanting and there was a lot of rules. The Kundalini practice has a ton of structure. Right. We open with a specific chant. Everyone has to dress a certain way. In traditional Kundalini yoga, you're supposed to practice before the sun rises, so between 3 and 5am and then you're moving through what's called kriyas, these specific sets of exercises which are very prescriptive, like a recipe. It's like, do this pose for this amount of time with this mantra, with this drishti, and, you know, then rest for 45 seconds. So there's just so much. I'm almost feeling a little tense in my body as I describe, like, the structure and rigidity of the practice, which has so much value. But for so many of us, we come in and the way that this practice was designed is to raise energy. So if we want to just talk about the word snake is actually naga in Sanskrit. Kundalini is like the coil. Right. So the paradigm that all of this is working in is that there is this shakti, energy dormant. We'll go into that word at the base of our spine and it's supposed to move through the subtle body, so through the seven chakras up to meet Shiva, which would be consciousness or bliss, through the crown chakra. So we have this model of ascension, essentially, and that's what most of the kundalini we're experiencing is what working with. It's like, how can we apply pressure, tension, stress and friction to the system to cause this kundalini to move upwards? And if this happens in a way that's too fast and too furious, you're going to get migraines, you're going to get headaches. We can start there and start picking apart a little bit, like who this was originally designed for. Let's talk about this ascension model and then how we maybe want to do things differently.

Yeah, so let's go into. Because a friend of mine was a big Kundalini teacher and she studied it in India and she was sharing that it was actually used for, like, the warrior trainings there. So can you share? And that's really what Yogi Bhajan's pathway of kundalini and the Sikhs were the warriors of India. So can you share a little bit about the history of maybe why Kundalini has taken this more slant for this right now?

Well, we definitely see different types of yoga originating from different parts in India, so that's a great thing to talk about. Like, in the south, they weren't defending the borders the way they were in the north. So a lot of times when we see something like warrior pose, it's because those were actually used as training exercises. Or in Kundalini yoga, we have like this horse stance or this squat that actually, to me is very remnant of some work in, like, Tai Chi. Right. So there's so much beautiful value in this practice. And if you're training and if you need to be strong, yeah, absolutely. It makes sense to put physical demands on yourself. And what's interesting about Kundalini Yoga as compared to, like, Hatha Vinyasa Yoga, where Hatha Vinyasa is more concerned with the muscles. Right. We're potentially flowing through postures. But I always see Hatha and Vinyasa yoga as like a precursor to meditation. Right. Essentially, you're, like, doing these exercises, getting the wiggles out so you can then sit and meditate. Kundalini is like meditation in motion. It doesn't have this delineation the way Hatha Yoga, if we want to look at, like, Patanjali's eight limbs, for example, where it's like asana is like the first rung on the ladder, right. And then we move, we have the yamas, the niyamas, then we do breath work, then we meditate. It's kind of like step 1, 2, 3. Kundalini is kind of like we're going to throw all that out and we're just going to do everything all at once. We are going to have the mantra, we're going to have the sound, we're going to have the chanting, we're going to have rhythmic motions, we're going to have powerful, powerful breath work all in, like, one capsule followed by another capsule, and then you rest in between. So while a Hatha class is like 90% asana, and then if you have a good teacher, hopefully they're like, incorporating some meditation and breath work at the end for that last 10%, Kundalini is like equal parts. It's like 25% Pranayama, 25% Asana, 25%, you know, moving the body. And it's very much also incorporating sound and meditation as the other piece. So you're doing everything at once.

Self, love is everything. Queens. It is so needed on this journey. Relationships can come in and out of our lives, and even if we're in a relationship, it's like, no one's going to love you the way that you can. And that's why I wrote this song that you're listening to right now, the Self Love Anthem. And I'm so excited to share that my new music video for it is official, officially out. If you're watching this on YouTube Spotify video, you can see it on the screen. And this really is an ode to the feminine heart. We feel so freaking much. The heartbreak, the pain, the grief, but also the love, the joy, the possibility. And ultimately, we give away so much of our own power. And this really is a reclamation of that inner, not just power, but that inner sacredness that I feel. So many of us, we pedestal other.

People, but do we pedestal ourselves?

So this song really is all about that. So please be sure to check out the new music video for Self Love Anthem. It is available on YouTube. You can find the link in the show notes and I'm so excited to share it with you. What is your unique type of intuition? Are you someone that feels things in your body, sees a vision for something, hears a voice in your head, or just knows? This quiz is going to help you understand your unique intuitive type and how you can take action on it in creating a career that honors your intuitive gifts. All right, let's get into it. So trust your intuition, trust your inner wisdom, trust your inner guidance. Okay, got it. So now let's talk about this ascension model and where that came from and how we can bring a more descension. And the word descension, people, might sound negative, but it actually is. The feminine is to descend. Just like we birth children, we bleed, we squat, we, you know, twerk, for me, has been my spiritual practice. And it's like, these are all things that we're going lower to the earth, to the ground. And, you know, I remember, you know, years ago, I was speaking to this astrologer and he was talking about the path to ascension. I'm like, I feel like I'm on the path to descension. He was, like, shocked that I said that. And I'm like. Because that's the path of the feminine. So can you share a little bit about how we can use rather than necessarily always holding up and on the inhale, doing more of the exhales and releases?

Yes, absolutely. So we have this model where this is how it was taught to me, literally, was that, like, I had this Dormant energy. So basically like if I didn't play with this energy or wake it up, I was like a zombie or an asleep person that I had to awaken, move up my chakras to unite with universal consciousness, which as you said, if we don't want to be a monk, you know, that's probably not like so much of ancient yoga is about disassociating from the body in order to prepare for reincarnation. That's what a lot of these practices were designed to do. So if we actually want to be down and in the body, this is the biggest reframe I like to offer folks, is first of all, it's not a Kundalini awakening that we're all experiencing, it's a Kundalini reawakening, right? Because this energy is your birthright. It was free flowing at birth. And the Kundalini energy is actually an orbit. So it's been talked about as this thing that you need to wake up and move. But really when you were born, the kundalini was free flowing. Like if we look at children, they are creative, they are happy and playing and unfettered and free. And they don't have any of the conditioning that we have. And then what happens? They're told, you need to do your homework, you need to sit still, you need to come inside. As a kid, you learn, okay? Certain behaviors earn me love, certain behaviors don't. And that kundalini that was free flowing at birth, this beautiful orbit that's up, Shashumna, Nadi, through the chakras, down Ida, Pingala and the vagus nerve. So what we're looking for is to feed a healthy orbit, which means it's going down as much as it's going up, that somehow got abandoned. And what happens is, as I learn from my parents and society what's acceptable and not acceptable, or maybe I experience trauma. That free flowing orbit begins to shrink, get distorted or warble, right? Like because of different bracing patterns that I develop both in my fascia and maybe at the level of each chakra. And instead of being this big, healthy, beautiful orbit loop, that's. I also think of the Kundalini awakening as like your uniqueness. 10 out of 10, right? So it's like it's. You're a perfect example of someone who has been like in a Kundalini awakening, right? Because I loved you before. And like seeing what you've been doing the past couple years, it's like you're more Sahara now than you ever were before. Not that you weren't yourself before, but it's like the volume is up. You're so expressed, you're so free. And it's like that orbit is so big and powerful. And I think that's why so many people are drawn to you. Right. And they wanna listen to your music and wanna be around you. So for each of us, this Kundalini is our birthright. And it's not like it's this dormant, lazy thing. It's like life happened to us in this orbit that was full, is now a little bit off kilter. It almost reminds me of, like, how we have our Prakriti in Ayurveda and then we're trying to get back to it. It's the same idea here. And I think that's such an important reframe because.

And for people who don't know what Prakriti means.

Can you share that? Yes.

I mean, you're the expert in books at it, but sure, I'll make you share about it.

It's like you, when you were born, you at your perfect balance state, essentially. And then life happens and your vakriti comes into play, which is kind of how you're operating now with your constrictions and your bad habits and your coping mechanisms and all of the things. So when we think of it as an orbit, to me it's so much more exciting. And when we think of it as something that's our birthright and it's something like, my Kundalini awakening is gonna look different from yours. It's gonna look different from Jennifer, who's listening to this, because it's an unfurling of your essential you, Ness. That's the other thing that I think was missing. When this was presented to me, it was like, oh, this is a spiritual awakening. And then it's like this ecstasy state that's kind of the same for everyone. When really it's about, like, you moving and walking through the world as your highest, most embodied self, which is gonna be so unique to you.

Yeah. It's interesting because I definitely, after my divorce and the shock of was a death and a rebirth that was a Kundalini awakening without me doing a practice. It was like life gave me. It wasn't a practice. It threw me in the deep end of it. So I'm curious. How do people have these spontaneous Kundalini awakenings?

Yeah, well, that's something I get asked a lot about. And so basically, this energy wants to move. It's designed to orbit. And then you start doing yoga. Let's Say, and you're moving. All yoga is awakening Kundalini, even if it's not Kundalini Yoga in quotes, right? Because you're starting to twist the body. You're doing heart openers, right? Things are changing in a subtle body level. And maybe there was a blockage somewhere in the heart chakra or in your fascia and it opens. And all of a sudden that energy is able to flow through a little bit more smooth, smoothly. So there's kind of this baby step approach. But some people never even set foot on a yoga mat and have what's called a spontaneous kundalini awakening. Where it's like a car accident or a breakup or a divorce or a traumatic birth experience. And this energy starts to. It's like something changes at a subtle body level. And it's like a lot of water was dammed up. And then it's like, right. Like all of this energy surging. But they don't have the pranic capacity to orbit that energy yet. Right? Because remember, we want an orbit. We don't. Contrary to popular belief, we want an orbit. We don't want just up. So all of a sudden they're flooding. It's almost like their circuit board is overpowered. Right? And that's when you're getting the migraine. Some people have tingling headaches. It can be debilitating. I mean, I had a friend who, we co authored an article on my blog. Cause he had a kundalini awakening where he literally couldn't work. He had to quit his job and just lie on the floor. I'm not kidding. After a breakup caused by a breakup, because he was just experiencing so much energy in his low back and pelvis. So that's one way it can look. But that is somewhat traumatic. I mean, one of the definitions of trauma is like, too much, too soon, too fast, too overwhelming. Then I feel like there's this other camp of people who are saying, you know, I've been doing yoga, I've been doing meditation. I'm listening to Sahara's music. I'm, you know, practicing with me on YouTube. Like, I'm doing all the things and I'm not feeling anything. What's wrong with me? You know, like, they want the awakening or they want those big feelings, but it doesn't seem like anything is happening. And to those folks, I want to tell you, you know, yes, there are some people who have these, you know, spontaneous and huge energy releases. But then it's, it's a lot to deal with because you need to figure out like how to drive. It's like being put in a Maserati and not knowing how to drive. Right. It's going to be a nightmare as you, like, try to navigate the clutch and figure out like, how do I circulate and harness this energy? But for others of us, it's very slow. And I feel like I'm living like a 30 year Kundalini awakening. I have not had like a big, super powerful experience. I've had some really amazing meditations, but it hasn't been to the level of like Kundalini syndrome, right, where I'm feeling ill and experiencing tense migraines. Nor is that what we want, because we want to be able to play with this energy gradually and slowly. So every time you make a choice to cultivate the opposite, let's say, like, do something against your ingrained tendencies or behavior. Every time you choose to breathe into your heart instead of yell at your partner, every time you just wake up a little earlier and do a couple breaths to meditate. Like all of that is contributing to the Kundalini awakening. It doesn't have to be this big fancy thing. It's like what you're going to start to feel 1% more yourself shedding these past conditions and programming. Hence the snake. You know, the snake sheds its skin over a very long period of time and it will feel like nothing's happening. But that's why it's so important to be in community with a teacher or with other friends who can say, like, you are so different than five years ago. You know, maybe it's slow, but I see you are changing. You are doing things that you would not normally do. And I'm proud of you.

Yeah, like going back to that experience I had 10 years ago in India for that girl next to me, who was she having that experience? It was too much, too fast. And she had a lot going on in her life. She was from Egypt. And then she was kind of like, like trying to find an answer. So she was really forcing herself. And I think there was a lot of suppressed pains and, and traumas that were all coming out. And I'm very energy sensitive. So because I was next to her, I was just like picking up on all of it. And now I could see that probably for her doing that like, push, push, push. And especially when the group of people together probably wasn't the right practice for her, you know, and, and then for me now I also know I never do things in really big groups because I'm like, I naturally just become the healer. So it's almost like my soul, like, you know, I did a medicine ceremony and I was just like tuned into everyone else's experience. And so now I know a lot of my deepest work in practice is by myself, you know, because that's when I can just be in my own energy. Whereas even if there's like someone else, I'm like, I'm such an empath that I start tuning into what they're feeling.

And to go into that woman and potentially what her experience was, the way I would describe what was happening there is that she did a lot of intense kundalini practices that removed blockages in her system that just revealed the kundalini that was already there, that's been free flowing since birth. But again, it was kind of like that dam where it was like, whoa, too much too soon. And she didn't have the ability to properly channel that energy. It's kind of like being on a runaway horse, right? If you don't have horsemanship skills to harness and recirculate and ground, you know that energy, you're going to have that kind of overwhelming experience that she was having, which is ultimately, this is what yoga and meditation is about, right? So we can ride the wave of this like incredible frequency that we are, that's so unique to us, that's so delicious and sexy and good in our body and bring it up and bring it down and ground. So we have that current of liberation, mukti and that current of manifestation, bhukti, going down. And so much of the kundalini practice that was given to us by Yogi Bhajan was focused on this energy ascension, you know, bringing energy up to the pineal, to the pituitary gland. And the logic behind that, I mean, all of this has value because the pineal and pituitary gland, the pituitary is the master gland of the body, meaning that it's secreting the hormones and peptides that are resulting in your current mood. So how we're feeling right now is dictated by that. So it makes sense in some ways it's like, okay, we want to draw energy up to our third eye. But then when you look at some of these kundalini movements, if people aren't familiar, it's a lot of repetitive movements. Like a classic one is like the torso twist, where you're kind of poking and provoking polarity, you're moving fast, you're moving rhythmically, and then you stop at the end of the exercise, inhale and apply root lock, which is like Mulaband lifting the Pelvic floor in order to kind of like, siphon energy up the spine. And a way I've been using to help people picture this is like, do you remember going to those fairs as a kid where you, like, whack. You have like a big hammer and you whack the thing and the energy goes up. It's forceful. And what I have discovered is that, sure, you can force the kundalini to rise this way, but the more feminine approach would be to invite it to come out and play, to soften, to slow down, maybe to spiral. And we see, like, Sufi grind is one of my favorite, like, let's just do it right now. One of my favorite Sufi grind. It's one of my favorite, like, more feminine form kundalini moves. Because it's kind of inviting, this energy so we can receive it. Right. It's like, do I want to. It reminds me of, like, one of your music videos where you're like, with the snake, right? It's like, do we want to gently play with this energy or do we want to force it up like an ejaculation? Like, it has to happen like a volcano exploding from our head. That is the old model, right. The new model is like, how can I circulate this energy? And Breath of Fire. Do we want to talk about Breath of Fire?

Yes.

Okay, so Breath of Fire is a, you know, classic. It's like the. The Marquis Kundalini pranayama.

Can you share what it is?

Yes. Breath of Fire is a rapid exhale out the nose, and the inhale is passive. And you sn the navel back to the spine in a percussive. I mean, if we want to talk about, like, forcing energy up, it is the classic pranayama for that. Right. Because the belly is pumping. It's a core workout. Now, is Breath of Fire beautiful? Yes. I don't practice it that much anymore. I don't. Because it is really one of those forcing energy up practices. And a lot of women, at least in my community, are high vata. Right. And that doesn't mean we can never do Breath of Fire. But it's like, if you are, what are you doing after to really ground that energy? Like a really nice combo could be Breath of Fire and then doing Sitali Pranayama, which is inhaling through the mouth. I think most of the breaths where we inhale through the mouth tend to be more feminine. That water breath and out through the nose. So if we look at some of these kriya, a lot of them are, like, very intense. Breath of Fire. Very intense core work. The Kundalini practice. A lot of the poses are also kind of like acupuncture in motion. So you're doing things like holding your arms out for really long periods of time. And it's almost like your arms or your legs are these acupuncture needles. So you're kind of doing like a self adjust. But again, one of the classic Kundalini phrases is like, keep up. And it's almost like, grin and bear it as you keep your arms lifted for so long. And again, is there value in that? Yes. Just like an acupuncture needle would adjust the flow of energy because Kundalini is dealing with the subtle body and the meridians. Sure, holding my arms up like this is going to direct energy down into my heart. But if I start feeling exhausted or start talking, like in a negative shame spiral because it's too hard for me, or maybe I have a shoulder injury. That's where these prescriptive practices of, like, you have to do this for three minutes with Breath of Fire while thinking this specific mantra. It can become like the rigidity of the practice and all the rules, I think, can become a crutch for people who just want answers, who want to be told what to do. And a lot of women ask me about Breath of Fire on their period. And I love what you talked about earlier. You know, this feminine flow, the down and out with the menstrual cycle. That's the apana value. So the current. There's different ways that prana moves in our body, but apana value is the down, downward current. Think like birth, menstruation, pooping. Right? These are. This is a necessary current. And if you're doing Breath of Fire on your period, you're kind of going against the natural intelligence of your body. There's no physical reason why you can't do it. It's an energetic reason. Energetically during your cycle, your body saying your body's trying to shed the uterine lining, going down and out. So to be like, okay, we're going to do a ton of active breath work, that's like the reverse of that pattern. It's up to you. Everyone can make their own choice, but it, you know, like, from a chronic perspective, it's just. It's not congruent. It doesn't make the most sense.

Are you craving a more feminine approach to spirituality that honors the full you? I'm talking about your inner embodiment queen, your joy priestess, your wise woman, your intuitive oracle. Well, if you love the themes on this podcast in my sacred Sisterhood collective, Rose Gold Goddesses, we dive into even deeper every month with a zoom Goddess Circle. In these Goddess Circles taught by myself and some of your favorite high self podcast guests, we actually take the teachings here from this podcast, but bring them into practice such as mapping out your past lives, healing your ancestral lineage, connecting with your dark feminine, channeling from your highest self, manifesting greater abundance, womb healing, wisdom and clearing and working with many goddess archetypes such as Isis, Hathor, Saraswati, Lakshmi, Yemaya. The list goes on. This truly is a mystery school that I have been running for over six years now and is filled with hundreds of workshops, goddess circles and practices that support the sacred feminine within you. And we have our very own app so you can connect with other like hearted queens all around the world. So if you're interested in joining or learning learning more doors are open right now for Rose Gold Goddesses. Head over to rosegoldgoddesses.com that's rose gold Goddesses plural. You could also find that link in the show notes. As soon as you join, you walk through the five pillars of Rose Gold Goddesses, dive deep into your divine feminine embodiment and then have hundreds of workshops available for you. Plus you'll receive our calendar to join me live in our next monthly Goddess Circle. I'm so excited to have you there. Again, head over to rosegoldgoddesses.com and you can find that link in the show notes. Even doing headstands and handstands when you're on your period is not, it's not allowing that flow. But even doing core work. Yeah, you know, because we're not trying to tense up our core when we're bleeding, but we're trying to loosen and soften. So you know, Ayurveda, they say just walk, you know, and, and stretch, but not really upside down things. And I think it's important that we shift things with our menstrual cycle, which could be a whole other pod. And I also want to talk about, you know, I really love breath work and I've tried different breath works and you know, I know Dr. Joe Dispenza and a lot of people really resonate. But every time I've done the breath work it's very similar to, it's an in, it holds on the inhale and I try and it just, it never really, it's my body really rejects it actually. And my. For me that's why I like Wim Hof breath work, which is interesting because it's another man. So. Because before I was like, maybe men's energy systems, because they are, are, you know, more ascension oriented and the feminine path is like, maybe they just do better with the inhale holds. But Wim Hof is also a very like masculine, you know, teaching philosophy. Philosophy man. I don't even know what to call him. But it's on the exhale, so you're doing that powerful breath, but it's through the mouth. Wim Hof breath is through the mouth and so you're doing that, but it's, and it's quite slow so you're like. And, and most people end up moving like I'm kind of like, like waving my body forward and back almost like a Sufi grind, but in a forward and back rocking motion.

Yeah, it's an undulation.

It's an undulation and it really is coming from the, my core and the rest of my body's following. And then I, I inhale in. I hold the inhale for a bit but the long hold is on the exhale and that's. I feel myself melt, my shoulder tension melt myself soften and I can go, go for so long without breathing. It amazes me when I use the timer and I try not to use the timer because that could take me back into the like, how long does my breath hold? You know, let's compete, let's start exactly. But just letting myself, you know, just, just unwind. And it's the same with sexual energy. Like in Tantra, they say instead of what most of us do when we're going to orgasm, we tense, we hold our breath, we hold our shoulders to have a tipping point. And it's like imagine you have a little teacup and you filling that teacup up with water. Well, it doesn't take much water for the teacup to overflow and you have a little orgasm, a petit mort, as the French say, the little death. But let's say you want to expand, then you're going to have a little short clitoral peak orgasm that might last you three seconds tops. And that's what most people experience for their entire lives.

Well, let's talk about some more feminine form movements that we can put into Kundalini. And then there's a breath thing that I think we should try. So you know, right away the undulation, you know, if we think about how, you know, this is how snakes move, this is how sperm moves. DNA is a spiral. Like we just see spirals and undulations everywhere in nature. So it's really Funny, because I went to white tantric, which is like the. The ultimate kundalini thing you can do where you go and you're with like 140 other people and they put you in these grids and you have to wear a turban and you have to wear white. It's like, rules, rules, rules. And I had. We were working with a partner doing these very intense kriyas and looking into each other's eyes.

Guys were like, in the river, right? In the freezing cold river, doing them.

I heard I did it in a.

Church, but I'm sure you could do it in a river.

But it's very structured. Even the partners, the groups of partners were on a particular grid. And, you know, you're supposed to keep up and not let your partner down. And I had a lot of energy and I was able to do some very whole, like, hard things, like hard arm holds where my arms were up for, you know, like 30 minutes things. But the way I was able to do it is I was moving just a little bit the whole time, you know. And when there was a lunch break, I was talking to some other people at the event and I was saying, I'm so proud of myself. I did that 30 minute hold. I was able, you know, I was just doing this slight movement and this guy was like, that's cheating. I kid you not. He was like, that's cheating. You need to be completely still. That is a coping mechanism. Blah, blah, blah. And that stayed with me, Sahara, for years.

Lo and behold, I was actually a man. Who told you this?

Of course it was. Who was like, yeah, it was some man Kundalini teacher. So I took what he said seriously because he was a teacher as well. He was plural. And you know, lo and behold, like, six years later, I'm like, I was doing feminine form Kundalini. I wasn't doing the pressure, tension, stress and friction down to make something force up. I was playing with it. I was titrating with it. I was able to stay in this, like, really challenging posture through, you know, coaxing the kundalini to come out and play with me. So when I teach a more feminine form kundalini class, which is basically all the classes on YouTube at this point, I'm inviting in, you know, moving as nature. So undulations and spirals is something you want to invite in touch. Touch is something you want to invite in. Like do Sufi grind in a butterfly hug. Do Sufi grind with your hands, stroking your face. Get your hands in your hair, right? Like all of these things. Make it feel so sensual. And we have all these nerve endings in our hands, which of course we can use for structured mantra or mudra practice. Excuse me. Like, great idea. But also if we just. Just like add the element of touch to even something like a spinal flex, like the spinal flex I teach now I have a stroke our thighs as we inhale and come forward and stroke from knee to pelvis as you come back. There's so many different ways we can play with touch. You can touch with your whole hand. You can touch with one finger. You can touch with the fingernail. You can just trace your lips. You can do a tickly touch. I mean, some Kundalini Kriyas, have you actually pounded the body like this, but just inviting in touch, inviting in undulation, inviting in spirals, inviting in rocking. Rocking is so soothing. And I think that's what I was. I was kind of self soothing in a lot of these movements and still getting that energy, you know, flowing. And this is a big reframe that we haven't even talked about yet. But it's like the show. And the point of all of this isn't the explosion out the crown of the head unless we're preparing for the next life and wanting to disassociate and leave our bodies, which, like, we don't. If we're in this community. The thing we're trying to get to is the love story within us of this Shakti energy and the Shiva energy making love in our heart center. And if we look at the heart chakra, we know we see that yantra of the Star of David which is representing these two energies, the current of liberation and the current of manifestation in union in the heart. And when we think of the Kundalini awakening at the heart, it makes so much more sense. Sense that this is in orbit and that we need to focus on grounding practices. And, you know, you asked a little bit about the history of, like, why are these energy, like these practices so focused on ascending energy? And this is something I've heard. Again, I don't know, I wasn't there. But when Yogi Bhajan first came to the US a lot of the people he was working with were people coming off of drugs in the 60s and the 70s. And so if someone's coming off of heroin and I need to teach them yoga, I'm going to do something that's incredibly intense. Yeah, make them feel high and make them feel high. And it's interesting because again, this is just me. But as I look at his Kriyas moving forward. And I don't really teach Yogi Bhajan kriyas anymore after the whole show of what happened there. But back when I was studying his work more deeply, I noticed that even the kriyas he was teaching towards the end of his life, like if you in the 90s were more grounded because at that point he was teaching a more like general population. So I always say if you are working with the Kundalini Research Institute, which is his company, Kri Yogi Bhajan System, look at the date of the kriya that you're looking at in a book. Because not always, but a lot of times those ones that are more in like the late 80s 90s aren't as intensely energizing as the ones from the 60s and 70s.

Well, I noticed that, that most people who are very drawn to Kundalini that that traditional kundalini yoga had dealt with addictions. Yes. Whether they were friends of mine or influencers or people that I. So I noticed that trend. So that's interesting to now know that oh, he actually did create those kriyas for that because it, and that's what they kept talking about. It makes you feel high. And some people maybe are more biologically wired to have. You know, some people are much more into psychedelics and experiences that they want to feel high. Some people are a lot more kapha that they, they, they don't want to feel that. But what I find is we often go are gravitated to thing that we have too much of already, you know, so it's like that person who's already like hyper militaristic perfectionist pushing themselves, goes to all the intense exercise classes and hits and this and that. And then they want to feel high on the kundalini. It's like an, it's so much pitta. It's so much fire energy. It's a combustion. Maybe that person who's very kapha earthy, they take it slow at the yoga class, they opt out of everything. They go into Shavasana early. They could actually really benefit from this practice. Yes.

I talk about this in my book too, which quotes your book on Ayurveda because it's all about cultivate the opposite. Right. We learn that from Ayurveda and we see that in yoga as well. Usually the yoga style that you're attracted to initially is not the one that you need to find balance. Like I am the perfect example of this as someone with high pitta. Like I was attracted to hot yoga initially, of course it felt natural to push myself that hard, but it wasn't serving me, it wasn't bringing me into balance. And after those classes I would feel so depleted. It's like, yeah, I'd aced the hot yoga class and then I'd spend the rest of the day on the couch because I was exhausted. So I see the same thing like with the people coming into our Kundalini teacher training, it's like they're little junkies in a way, right? Who have high vata. That feeling familiar.

Oh, I was the biggest Ashtangi.

Yeah. So it's easy for them to get high, right? And it's a familiar feeling so that like attracts like, you crave what feels familiar and you're naturally good at. So a lot of this is, I mean here we're talking about self awareness, right? Knowing what your innate tendencies are, which Ayurveda is so great. And you know, cultivating the opposite of what we want so we can get what we truly need.

I was doing so much Ashtanga yoga which is, you know, three hour Mysore practice every day. I was a raw vegan, super vatan balance, like lost so much weight. All I did was read spiritual text like so deep in it. And I did not get my period for two years. And then I learned that Ashtanga was actually given to the prepubescent boys to calm them down down so they would sit down and focus. And was also using them as a military training. And it's interesting because just going back to what you said of bringing in more self touch, that is actually what healed me from my divorce. Like intuitively I would just like wake up in the morning and play a song and just like stroke my arms. Especially you know, being single for the first time and I was in a seven year relationship, a four year relationship like that. So I was really in relationship my whole life. So I was used to touch from another other. So giving that touch to myself, it would just soothe my nervous system. And then I would start to embody. And for me it was more through my embodiment practice of just moving my body, which is, you know, really the same thing of moving my body, touching my body, touching my face, the way that I would a lover stroking. And I would like give myself butterflies, you know, like I would give myself that feeling of like someone else. But it was coming from me and I didn't have to like just jump into a relationship so quickly because I wanted to feel that feeling which is what so many of us do.

And I would describe everything you're doing there as the Kundalini awakening unfurling within you. And I think this is a great point to maybe transition, to talk a little bit about, you know, if this. We don't want to villainize Kundalini yoga. I mean, it's like all yoga has so much more in common than it does different, right? And I love Kundalini yoga, obviously. But when. When we hear that word Kundalini, right? We think white, we think turban, we think man, we think rules, we think structure, we think, you know, all the things. But what the Kundalini awakening is really about is like that love story of your, you know, shakti, or divine feminine energy, and your masculine energy making love to each other. And when you talked about that kind of practice, that's what was coming to mind for me. Like, we want these energies in an orbit, dancing together, really united at the heart center, playing to each other's strengths. And this is very practical. So, I mean, just to use a silly example, but I often, if I'm not sure what to do, like, I'll actually ask, like, what would my Shakti energy have me do and what would my Shiva energy have me do? How can they complement and do each of their roles best to support me? So if we think of shakti as the creative feminine force that's experiencing life, that is all that is. Her role is to constantly want and desire more love, right? And to feel things fully and to emote and to have desires. And then the role of our Shiva energy, or that more masculine energy is to create structure for those desires, to create depth and containment. And. And I feel like the masculine energy is always seeking more freedom, right? So in a silly, practical example, let's say, because so many women in my community, and I'm sure yours as well, they tell me they're overwhelmed. And that is like an excess of the Shakti feminine energy, in my opinion, right? Where it's like we're feeling too much. We haven't asked our Shiva, our divine masculine energy, to come online for us and create structures and containers in the forms of setting boundaries, in the form of controlling our calendars so that the feminine shakti us, that is the river, can feel held by the river banks. And so often we project that onto someone else. We're like, oh, my partner should provide that for me or my parents or my sister or my mom or my job. And really, when we realize that, like, it's you and you, it can be so beautiful. So, like, if I have this pure desire just to make this like a silly example. If I have the pure desire for a massage, which I always do because I love being touched, that could be like a feminine, pure desire, that Shakti energy that I have. And then I could ask my inner masculine, right, My inner Shiva energy to make that happen. And it's almost like a Jekyll and Hyde, right? You can be like both and talk to each other and be like, like, okay, my love, you want a massage? I will be your hero. I'm gonna cancel all the rest of the meetings you have for today. I'm gonna write those hard emails, tell everyone you're unavailable. I'm gonna research like where you can have an opening and make some phone calls and get you scheduled in. And I'm gonna like, you know, pre order dinner for you to pick up on the way home. And then you can be like, thank you, my love. I feel so held by you. But you need to play both roles. And I think this is where we get mixed up, up. And then if we don't, we project the role that we're not fulfilling onto other people. And that's where it all goes haywire.

That's such a great example because even as you said that, I'm like, where can I find a man that does this? And it's like, you gotta be that. And it's like, you know, because if we are waiting for it, we're actually repelling of it because it's then that, you know, not. But that toxic feminine energy. Sometimes it's like, what are you gonna do for me? Are you gonna this, are you gonna that? And then like reprimanding and forcing, which then the ma feels that sense of pressure and a loss of the sense of freedom. And instead like the high, the highest of the feminine energy is to like inspire. Yes.

And this is what's so confusing when we start talking about these energies is because. Because they are so primal and because they defy gender. Right? Like they're. We all have these energies within us regardless of how you define yourself, right? Like there are toxic mimics of these energies in society everywhere. And I had so much fun like doing a write up on this. But you know, we have that like hot mess energy of the feminine who's like, she's emoting but. And experiencing, expressing. But it is, it's too much, right? It is not grounded. Same with the masculine, right? We have that like, you know, the man who's like overly aggressive. Right. But that's a toxic mimic of, you know, the hero or the warrior who Creates structure. Right. For his beloved. So it's so easy to get confused and twisted. And then like the classic, classic myth that we're all in, the lie we tell ourselves is that we shouldn't have to be both roles. And it's a really hard fantasy to wake up from. But when you can, it's like your relationship, the polarity in your, you know, relationship with someone else will improve. This changed my marriage when I was like, I need to come to this as a whole person and, you know, like, have this love story within me, and it can be very sexy. Like, that's why when you were describing that practice of you just working with yourself and working with your own energy and then setting boundaries and, I mean, I spend so much time with my calendar these days. You would make fun of me. But that's my inner divine, masculine protecting the creative goddess that is me, who needs time to restore, who needs time to work on my passions and musics and trainings and all the things. He's looking out for me and looking at that calendar. And it's like, my love, you're going to be depleted next Wednesday unless we move some stuff around. So that ability to be both is. Is really like, that, I think, like, our highest calling. And then we show up to a relationship with someone else whole.

Yes. It's so important. Like, even with music, which we both love making, and you were asking me, like, so, like, you're making music videos, like, tell me more about that. And I was actually thinking earlier today, I'm like, because I stepped into my dharma, I learned how to create a business. I really channeled my masculine energy. I'm able to fund my own music videos and create art and, like, make like, you're your own sugar daddy, baby. I am my own sugar daddy, thank you very much. A pretty cute one at that. And then that I'm able to make my wildest dreams happen. Like, literally, like, create Y2K worlds and dancing with 14 foot boas and, like, all of these things, because I got me. I don't. Whereas what most I see, especially women do, is we're waiting for someone else to pick up us, to choose us. So we feel like we have to prove ourselves to get selected. And then whenever we have it, then we're in this constant fear that it might be taken away from us. Yes.

And then the other common pattern that I see, and I'm sure you do too, is like, the woman who's disconnected from the feminine. Like, she is just all hustle. Like, I mean, and we Both were there.

We were there like building our girl. We were like, okay, let's talk about our funnels.

You know, like there's beauty in that. But if that's all you know how to do, then you come home at the end of the day and you know so much of, you know, the women's movement, which, you know, totally we're pro, but it asks women to do things that don't make sense for a feminine energy body. Like working at a legal firm, like 10 hours a day and reading briefs and having to be like structured and contained. And of course you're burnt out and you're, you know, controlling and you know, you're just. That's the only. That's an energy like that you're typecast or locked in. And then you come home and you have that same energy, right? You're, you're controlling, you're maybe anxious, you don't. You're not in touch with your body or. And this is like where doing like a more feminine form, Kundalini practice at the end of the day when you're transitioning to come back. Because if you want polarity in your relationship and you want to hold the feminine pole, you know, there's times where my husband's been a hot mess and it's like, okay, I'm holding the masculine pole for him, but for most of the time I prefer to be in the feminine and I prefer him to be in his masculine. You know, that can't happen unless I'm very aware of my own energy. So, you know, when I am in a work mode for a long time, I intentionally do a practice that has a lot of self touch, that has a lot of spirals. Like all the things we've been talking about, coaxing and playing with the kundalini, just like I'd play with my hair. As opposed to a more rigid, regimented practice, which actually could really serve me when I'm setting up for my workday, right? Like some breath of fire and a little more structure. So also just know why you're practicing at what time, for what purpose, even.

Creating that structure in our bodies through creating muscle mass. So when I was big into Ashtanga, which for people who don't know, it's really about pushing your flexibility. And I'm naturally a hyper flexible, hyper mobile person, right. So of course I liked doing it because I was great at it. You know, I'm like, oh, get into weird pose. I am great at doing that. However, from overextending my wrist, wrist to this Day, Brett. I, for 10 years have not been able to put any pressure on my wrist and no chiropractor or anyone has been able to solve it. I can't do like planks on my hands. I have to do everything on my fists from overextending it so much on that Ashtanga. And I would also constantly have my hips pop out of place that every morning when I would wake up, I would have to bring my knees to chest and pop my hips back into place and throughout the day continue to readjust them. Or they would literally be like out of the socket kind of and be this loud like. And I just thought that's just how my body is and that's how I'm going to live. When I started doing strength training, building muscle, building that structure, building that foundation, building that masculine energy within myself, that has never, for years, that has never happened. If anything, I, I used to have to get a massage like every week because my back would hurt all the time. And now maybe once a month I get one. Like, it's, it's obviously still nice to have, but I don't feel I, I need it because I have this structure within my body that now I have to remind myself, okay, now stretch, you know, and don't now only fall so much into that one. So it's really interesting how all exercise and movement that we're doing on our bodies is mimicking our energy.

Yeah, it's like the goal is balance. And I hate that word because I think balance is like an illusion. I think weave is like the better, you know? Cause it's like we're never like, oh, shivan chucked. You're perfectly balanced. And you know, like, maybe for a moment. Right. But usually I'm in my workday and I need to be more in that potentially masculine energy. And then I, you know, maybe I have a super emotional week. Like it's the week before my period or whatever and I'm. And I'm tired and I just want to cuddle and emote and express and journal. Right. Like we, we need to know the season and the time we're in and just have so much self compassion that like it's a pendulum. I mean, I keep going like this. Hence the snake, hence the snake skin. But it's like that's reality. Reality isn't like, oh, everything's in this perfect balanced state and then we're going to just keep it there. I mean, even in a yoga pose, like tree pose pose, you're not still. Even though it's a balancing pose. The muscles in your ankle are moving, the 26 bones in your feet, you know, those muscles, Everything is like calibrating, even to hold you in stillness. So I think if we can just, you know, balance is the goal, but let go, that it's something that we need to, like, hold or attain for a long period of time and just get more interested in, like, how can we be the weaver? And how can I call on a lot of different energy textures to help me move through what I need to move through right now? And Kundalini is going to expand the amount of textures available to you. Like, no doubt.

So good. So where can listeners try your incredible Kundalini classes that you have on YouTube and the library of content that you have on there and your trainings and everything else?

My YouTube channel is just my name, Brett Larkin. Yoga. You'll find me lots of Kundalini on there. Look for the ones that say, like, divine feminine, if you listen to this conversation, because those are the ones you're to going to want to do. And yeah, I offer yoga teacher training online in both the Vinyasa style and the Kundalini style. Sahara is in some of the trainings, baby. Sahara. But they're so good. Everyone loves it when you talk about the Ayurvedic clock. And I have a book as well, Yoga Life, that's available everywhere. Books are sold. Yeah, that's where people can find me.

And we'll have those things below. Well, yeah, I realized I was like, I've been friends with you for longer than I had this podcast. I think I.

No, I had you on my podcast, and you were like, you didn't have a podcast. And then you're like, I'm thinking of starting one. I was like, do it. I mean, I kind of want to take credit for this whole show, actually.

No. So that means I've known you for over eight years.

Yeah.

Which is crazy. We've grown so much. Look at us thriving, but looking better and shinier than ever before, thanks to the feminine embodiment and practices. All right, we'll have all of those links listed below. I'm so excited for you to dive in. I feel like a lot of us naturally, are going through this journey on our own. I feel like there's definitely, like, a higher consciousness that's allowing us to have these same realizations of, like, oh, nope. These old pathways are not serving us because this new paradigm of the feminine is. Is ready. It is coming through. It's already happening. So I hope this conversation Gives you some permission for things that you may have intuitively felt like, oh, it feels weird to, like, hold this thing for so long or be so rigid and this and that. And, you know, I'm always that person at the yoga class who's like, kind of like, does my own thing a little bit. And sometimes the yoga teachers come yell at me, and I'm just like, you know what? Like, this isn't school. Like, leave me alone. You know? So maybe it just gives you permission to just, like, move around a little bit, make things more your own own feel, your own energy body, you know, I remember last year I. I shared a video of myself of my yoga practice. Like, lots of undulations, and you were like, you've been channeling the same thing. So it's this movement that is waiting to come through. So I hope this gives you that permission slip. And I would definitely follow along with Brett's practices because it gives you a really good place to start. So I will have all those links listed below. Thank you guys so much for tuning in. If you love this conversation, please leave a review for it on the itunes store. And as a free gift, I will send you my wound womb meditation, which is really great after this conversation to connect to your sacred womb space and ask her answers and receive her wisdom. So all you gotta do is leave a review, tell us what you love, tell us what other topics you'd love for me to dive into. Take a screenshot of that review and email it over to me@saharaiam sahararrose.com you can find that email in the show notes, and I'm so excited to see you in the next one. Trust your intuition. Trust your inner wisdom. Trust your inner guidance. Cluster you guys and listen. So trust your intuition. Trust your inner wisdom. Trust your inner guidance.