Posted on October 3rd, 2023.

In our previous blog post, we delved into the remarkable synergy between Kundalini Yoga and neurodivergence. 

Today, we continue this exploration by opening a window into the inspiring stories of individuals who have embarked on transformative journeys through the practice of Kundalini Yoga. These stories are a testament to the power of holistic approaches, specifically yoga, to help people with autism (among other neurodivergent cases).

The Journey Begins

At Kundalini With Katrina, we firmly believe that yoga is for everyone, regardless of their unique life experiences and challenges. Our journey towards understanding the profound impact of Kundalini Yoga on neurodivergent individuals started with a simple but powerful question: How can this ancient practice empower those who navigate the world with a different perspective?

Kundalini Yoga and 5 Inspiring Stories of Neurodivergence

 1. Meditation for Autism: Finding Inner Calm

Being on the Autism spectrum for some often means that their minds focus on a specific problem, memory, trauma, negative thought; over and over again. This spiral of thought can push a person into a very bad mental and emotional state, so much so that they disconnect from reality and end up in a cycle of negativity that feels so overwhelming.

I had a client called Jane, who is on the autism spectrum. Jane struggled with negative thoughts that spiralled out of her control. These thoughts were so consuming that she truly believed they were real, even though they were only in her head. The thoughts would vary from realistic events such as ‘did I lock the door?’ To childhood memories of embarrassment. Jane has obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) due to these consuming thoughts.

Jane came to me because she felt that her brain was going on a wild ride of a trip, on it’s own. She truly could not control the thoughts and therefore the emotions that arose. She felt so stuck in her head that she was simply over obsessing and worrying over every little thought that came up. Even if a thought was positive, she would be looking for the negative side of it, simply because she felt, she did not deserve having any good emotions.

We did a lot of Kundalini yoga chakra clearing. As Jane was a 1:1 client, I was able to incorporate meditations that were tailored specifically to her struggles. Jane began with movement meditations because she needed the physical distractions to help her centre herself. We have now moved on to seated, passive meditations, where Jane can actually listen to her breath. Jane still finds this challenging. There are days, she finds it amazing, and feels renewed as a person. There are also times that she can’t get into it. However, Jane makes a point to practice meditation in stillness for at least 10 minutes every morning. Even if she can’t quieten the voices in her brain, she finds at least listening to her own breath brings her a sense of inner calm. This experience of inner calm has been quite foreign to Jane.

2. Yoga and Autism: Overcoming an overstimulating world

The way that Kundalini yoga works is through accessing the chakras, our energetic system. We all have access to this. It is the part of us that processes emotions from outside, into the body. This is why when we feel scared or anxious, we may experience butterflies in the stomach. This sensation means that the solar plexus chakra, within our gut is being aroused. Sometimes an arousal of the chakras are positive, such as nervous energy - like when you are looking forward to an event. The same emotions also arise when we are anxious about something. Both experiences can bring up an unsettled stomach feeling. This indicates that your solar plexus chakra is working.

People on the autism spectrum have an ability to access their energetic system in a way that neurotypicals (non autism individuals) can’t. For instance, U Saramiento (2022), points out in Spiritual guide to our health, how many on the autism spectrum are tuned into higher frequencies. This indicates that they have the power to unlock communication with their inner guidance system, with more ease. The connections that people with autism have to other frequencies regularly causes them to feel over stimulated, most of the time. People on the spectrum are also over sensitive to other people’s vibrations. They can pick up on how others feel with such intensity too. This also makes them feel so exhausted that they need so much time to recover.

The intensity the overstimulating world is for someone on the spectrum can be very painful. They need to be able to find calm within and recalibrate, somehow. Forcing people on the spectrum to socialise when they need to recover is one of the worst things you could do. It could cause them to retract even further into themselves.

Kundalini yoga chakra clearing has helped many of my autism clients. One of my clients’ Daisy, struggled with the overwhelming sensory world around her. She kept wearing noise cancelling headphones and could not be around people for too long. Daisy told me, it’s not what they said to her that was so difficult to deal with, it was the chaotic energy that she would feel in busy spaces. Daisy told me, it was like being haunted by many ghosts.

Daisy and I worked on clearing her chakras. The first 2 sessions, Daisy released so much fear and anxieties from her first three chakras. She spent a lot of time with me crying. Daisy could not explain why she was crying, but felt so much emotion shift.

Every day that I saw Daisy, she was coming out of herself more and more. Daisy enjoyed the kriyas (repetitive movement, breath and vocal work) that got her unstuck. She told me, she would spend 3 minutes every day working on the ‘Sat Nam’ kriya. She felt it brought her closer to her own truth. In doing so, she was less disturbed by others around her.

Although Daisy doesn’t enjoy the overstimulating world around her, she finds the Sat Nam kriya has given her the strength to feel grounded in her own energies, therefore not taking on others’ around her. Daisy also no longer uses noise cancelling headphones when walking in the city.

3. Kundalini Yoga for Sensory Processing Disorder: Shaking myself into emotional freedom

People own the spectrum have been renowned to stim, shake and move in ways that seems unnatural to neurotypicals (NTs). When left to their own accord, people on the spectrum naturally know what they need to do to release trapped emotions themselves, without the help of others.

It is this social constructed world that we live in, that teaches us, it is wrong to shake, make noises and look silly in public. The truth is, if we all were allowed to stim when we wanted to, there would be a lot less stressful people in this world.

Lara came to me, to join group classes as someone who had recently been diagnosed with autism. Lara had suffered a burnout from overworking. She had several jobs going on at the same time, and was willing to take on more. Lara did this until she became totally ill from the burnout.

When Lara joined my Kundalini yoga group class, she had no idea how it was going to help her. Lara particularly enjoyed the 15minutes of intense shaking and vocalising. It was for her permission to stim and get vocal. Lara’s first session was an awakening of most of her chakras. She felt emotions and physical issues release themselves. One of the things Lara tells me was how her face opened up and she was able to really open her eyes properly.

Lara had so much stuck trauma not just from the burnout, but also from her childhood. Lara continued attending classes, and every class she was shaking herself into emotional freedom.

 4. How Kundalini yoga helped me take charge of my own sobriety - As an Autism individual who is also an addict

There are so many challenges when it comes to being on the autism spectrum. Many have comorbidity issues, such as ADHD, ADD, PTSD, depression, OCD and addiction to name a few.

When working with neurodivergent people, it is important to understand that in accordance to U Saramiento (2022), that our frequency blueprints differ. The frequency blueprints affect the vibrations we emit and also how we process vibrations from outside. So, when someone comes to me with comorbidity issues that relate to autism, how they respond to Kundalini yoga chakra clearing will be very different.

The first three chakras affect our physical, human emotions, such as fear, sex, desires, needs, insecurities etc. The higher the chakras go, they affect a higher vibrations such as love, understanding, ability to speak one’s truth and acceptance.

I had a client called John, who came to me who has autism, but who is also an addict. His addiction was recreational drugs, particularly amphetamines. His first experience of amphetamines made his feel so secure, strong and bliss. Like others with addictions, John was constantly chasing this high. His life was all about getting amphetamines and finding a creative way to do so.

This lifestyle got John into trouble, and it was also making him ill. The downside of taking amphetamines is the come down. John suffered so much depression and would become very angry if he could not get his fix.

Deep down inside, John knew there was more to life, so he wanted to change his energies within, so he wouldn’t feel so dependent. John had done Kundalini yoga before, and simply wanted a 1:1 teacher guide him through his own practice, so that he could take control of his own sobriety.

Working through each chakra brought a sense of calm to John, that he had not felt for a long time. John wanted to clear his scattered emotions brought on by so much guilt and shame from using amphetamines. These emotions were tied with his childhood trauma as someone on the autism spectrum, and how he had been bullied at school too.

John and I did some intense clearing around fear, insecurities and finding inner strength. When John worked on the spinal series daily, he found so much more negativity was leaving him. He felt secure in himself. John now no longer uses amphetamines but has developed a need to meditate daily instead, which is far more healthier. John believes that Kundalini yoga helped him take charge of his own sobriety.

5. Kundalini yoga helped me find my own voice - No longer masking

Many women on the autism spectrum don’t get diagnosed easily simply because they have spent their lifetime learning how to be social. Many girls study social etiquette from others or like my client, from their favourite TV program.

Recently, I worked with Alice, 1:1. She was diagnosed with Autism and ADHD at the age of 37.

Alice is a scientist. As a scientist, Alice put into practice her science skills into learning, as she would put it, ‘How to be human’. Alice felt she wasn’t from planet earth, but was put here to study humans and their behaviours.

Alice was in her teens, in the 90’s, which is when she felt she needed to be social. Fortunately at that time, the TV series Friends was very popular. Alice watched every episode and studied it, like as if she was studying a course.

Alice would mimic the characters to convey her emotions to others around her. Alice was never friends with anyone for a long time, so copying facial expressions of her favourite character, Monica was very useful.

Alice knew deep down inside that she wasn’t herself anymore. He had adopted the character, ‘Monica’. This was not who she really is, but what scared her the most as she doesn’t know her true emotions and how she is supposed to be amongst others.

Alice and I worked on using Kundalini yoga chakra clearing, to release fear in the first 3 chakras, but we did so much work on the throat chakra and third eye chakra. Alice did some journaling to supplement the work we did, to get more clarity. She felt that she was hiding her true emotions behind characters, as it meant she wouldn’t have to face her reality - which she didn’t like.

As we did more work, Alice became more vocal, in her own tone, which was not in an American accent. Alice didn’t really have an accent. The more work we did, and the more shaking we did, Alice found her voice within. Alice practices the daily Kirtan kriya, which keeps her true to herself and in tune with her inner wisdom and therefore no longer masks herself.

Conclusion

These stories of transformation are just the beginning of our exploration into the world of Kundalini Yoga and neurodivergent people. At Kundalini With Katrina, we are passionate about sharing these inspiring narratives and helping individuals on their unique journeys.

If you or someone you know is interested in experiencing the benefits of Kundalini Yoga, we invite you to explore our offerings at Kundalini With Katrina. Our classes provide a welcoming and inclusive environment for all, where the transformative power of yoga can be harnessed.

Reach out to us today at 773-575-7238 or via email at [email protected] to start your own transformative journey with Kundalini Yoga.