Kundalini Yoga consists of simple yogic techniques that can be enjoyed by everyone, no matter your age or physical ability. It is a complete yoga practice that includes breathing exercises (pranayama), yoga postures (asanas), chanting (mantra), meditation, and relaxation. It is designed to provide you with the experience of your highest consciousness through the raising of your kundalini.
The word ‘kundalini’ literally means ‘the curl of the lock of hair of the beloved.’ It is a metaphor, a poetic way of describing the flow of energy and consciousness that already exists within each one of us. In yogic teachings, kundalini is a force that can lie dormant at the base of the spine. We ‘raise our kundalini’ by awakening the flow of energy within the body through breathing exercises, movements, and focused awareness. The result varies for different people – some may literally feel physical flows of energy within the body, and some may just feel a lifting of spirits and lightness of being after practice.
Alejandro Santiago is a Life Coach and yoga instructor.
He first experienced the benefits of kundalini yoga when he was a student at Parsons School of Design in New York City. To cope with the stress of university he cultivated a practice of pranayama, an ancient form of yogic breathwork.
Today, He teaches people how to get out of their heads and into their breath by merging the western practices of Mindfulness based in self-compassion and yogic pranayama meditations. He studied Compassionate Inquiry, a therapeutic approach to uncover and heal trauma in our bodies created by Dr. Gabor Maté.
When he’s not teaching and coaching he works as a portrait photographer in Toronto.
Anna Maria is a passionate practitioner and teacher of Kundalini Yoga who believes that all beings are deeply resourced with divine inner wisdom and self-healing energy. She became a certified teacher of Kundalini Yoga in 2021 through Yoga West Vancouver, where she studied with Guru Raj Kaur Khalsa, Hari Singh Khalsa and Nirmal Kaur Khalsa. She lives in Toronto and spends as much time as possible in Italy and in nature.
She is a lawyer by training and holds a doctorate in Medieval and Renaissance Italian culture. She is a leadership coach, mentor and guide to many, as well as a devoted mother to two beautiful young adults. She is delighted to be joining the Lotus Yoga teaching community.
Annie Keshishian (Arjan) is a Certified Sound Therapist, Reiki Master, Certified teacher & practitioner of Kundalini Yoga, Hatha/Vinyasa Yoga, Yin Yoga, therapeutic Yoga Nidra and Gong Yoga of Holistic Resonance by Great Gong Master Don Conreaux.
She strongly believes that the Divine frequency of Sacred Sound, combined with the potent energy of Kundalini Yoga, has the ability to transform the mind, body and soul into a deep receptive & therapeutic state of being. She feels a very strong connection to our vast universe, plants, planets, Pachamama (Mama Earth) & all the sentient beings residing within her & on her majestic existence. She considers herself to be a life long student of Sound medicine, Astrology, occult studies, Magick, Divination & Spirituality.
Bir Kaur Khalsa helps give people the courage to get unstuck in their lives physically and emotionally. She teaches people how to harmonize their mind, body and spirit through Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zero Balancing and Kundalini Yoga Therapy. She has over 20 years of experience and education in western and eastern healing modalities, and has been teaching kundalini yoga since 2013.
Daya has been practicing Kundalini Yoga since 1996, teaching, and living a yogic lifestyle since 2002. She has additional training in the Healthy Breast Program, Kundalini Yoga for Addiction Recovery, the Radiant Child, and Holistic Nutrition.
In her classes, Daya weaves the physical aspect and philosophy of yoga with a reverence for spiritual discipline, aware of the potency and relevance of these sacred teachings for us today. Daya Kaur thrives on sharing this knowledge and guiding others on their personal path
Dharm Kaur has been practicing Kundalini Yoga for over 30 years. Dharm is now a Kundalini Yoga teacher, a teacher trainer and the ‘Beyond Addiction Yogic Path to Recovery’ program trainer. Her calling always has always been to share the teachings with those needing them the most: under-privileged populations, homeless youth and people recovering from addictions.
Dharm loves traveling and learning from various traditions. She lived in Nova Scotia and studied with Buddhists; her travels to India turned into deep spiritual journeys. Experiencing the energy of old holy places, the pujas, rituals and blessings at monasteries and ashrams enriched her own spiritual path.
Dharm loves family time with her twins, Joseph and Zofia, and enjoys nature. In the summer, she recharges with Kundalini Yoga practice by the water; she loves winter walks or cuddling with her cat and reading.
In her warm classes, Dharm encourages students to trust their inner guidance, open their hearts, experience the vastness of their Spirit and the sweetness of connection with the Infinite within.
Hari Darshan (Nancy Zabaneh) is a Kundalini yoga teacher and trainer with the US-based Aquarian Teacher Academy (KRI), where she is a crucial element in founding yoga in the MENA region.
Based in Dubai for 22 years, she has helped train over 100 yoga instructors in the Arab world through darshan, an inclusive platform for the practice of Kundalini yoga as well as the organization of retreats, events, trainings and seminars. She was
also a trainer in one of the first ever yoga teacher trainings in Palestine and a lead facilitator in the first ever wellness festival in the history of Saudi Arabia.
Nancy draws on her own experience of healing and awakening as well as years of integrative study and teaching to support others in achieving their fullest potential. Her specialty lies in stress management, controlled breathwork, mindfulness, trauma, addiction, women’s health, relationships, conscious
communication and authentic leadership.
Elaine was born and raised in the Irish countryside. With a passion for environmentalism she went on to study sustainable architecture. In university she took up yoga to help cope with stress and anxiety. A couple of years later she tried a Kundalini Yoga workshop and it was life changing. It wasn’t until shortly after moving to Canada in 2014 that she decided to pursue teacher training at Lotus, under the guidance of Sat Dharam Kaur. Since then she has taken Sat Dharam Kaur’s Beyond Addiction program and the Healthy Breast program.
Elaine has also become a Mindfulness and Meditation Teacher, Reiki Master and Herbal Practitioner. Living on a farm in Grand Valley with her partner, Elaine gets to grow most of her own food and herbs, raise 2 almost-wild horses, 6 noisy ducks, 17 productive hens and 2 lazy cats.
Deeply connected to the land, Elaine wants to help others deepen their relationship to Mother Earth and to their true selves. “I want to guide people home to their truth so that they can discover their path to health, happiness and wholeness”.
Elaine dreams of one day living in an eco-village with a healing retreat centre where she can weave together her love of natural building, herbalism, Kundalini Yoga and self-sufficiency.
Eva is the founder and director of The Garden. She has been learning and teaching in the lineage of kundalini yoga, world religions, and the healing arts for a lifetime. Her vision is focused on bringing in the new age through movement, sound, meditation and
wisdom teachings. She is here to create spaces of access through ritual, ceremony, and all the modalities that serve the consciousness of the Aquarian Age.
Eva is a visual and performing artist, an activist, healer, and ceremony leader. She is a graduate of york university where she received a degree in psychology. Her offerings focus on soul alignment and embodiment, self-empowerment and expression, and initiations
of love in all forms. She also currently leads immersive programs to support transformational/transitional life experiences.
Each person is a place where heaven meets earth, and her wish is to see people empowered in their own divinity to live a life of fulfillment, integrity and wonder. She is currently living in spiritual community at the Guru Ram Das Ashram in downtown Toronto, Canada.
Jai Gopal has been practicing Kundalini Yoga since 1993 and became certified to teach in 2007. As a dedicated teacher who continues to study, Jai Gopal also uses techniques from her additional specialty trainings in Mind and Meditation, Stress and Vitality, and Beyond Addiction.
Jai Gopal’s classes encourage students to explore limits with respect and sensitivity while developing awareness and going inward. She is passionate in sharing her knowledge of Kundalini kriyas and mantras to help others use their gifts, continue to grow, and be the change they wish to see in the world.
When she is not teaching or practising yoga, Jai Gopal can be found bicycling around the city, nibbling something deliciously vegan, running the Toronto Vegetarian Association book club, dancing with friends, or snuggling up with her adorable kitties and partner.
Joanna Baron (Tej Atma Kaur) has been practising yoga since she was a child and found her spiritual home in the elevating technology of Kundalini Yoga. She is a devoted daily practitioner and avid student of Yogi Bhajan’s teachings.
Joanna completed the Immense Grace Women’s Teachings Intensive with Guru Jagat and Level One Teacher Training with Harijiwan, Tej, Gurujas and Guru Jagat at RA MA Institute for Applied Yogic Science and Technology.
Laura has been practicing yoga for over a decade and found her home in the Kundalini tradition as a teacher. She is dedicated to the work of the soul and faces life with a limitless trust for the knowing that comes from within the stillness of Self. She feels passionate that all people can connect with their most authentic Self and offers her light as a guide for others to meet their inner light, at their pace and on their terms.
Laura is a mother of three, a “truth seeker” and someone who stands for those ‘who stand outside the circle’. She has come from a world of spirit and ceremony and is a student of life and the slow journey of soul.
Purusha completed the KRI Certified Teacher Training in 2005 and has been teaching Kundalini Yoga ever since at multiple locations in Toronto. He is passionately applying and sharing these precious ancient yoga teachings of Kundalini Yoga to help balance, celebrate and exalt his own life and the life of anybody crossing his path.
Marlene has been on a journey of self-awareness, self-discovery, and self-healing for the past number of years. In Kundalini Yoga she found a home and became a certified KRI instructor in 2018. Marlene discovered that Kundalini Yoga benefitted and stimulated the body through energy and sound vibrations.
Experiencing those vibrations were pivotal in healing and awakening the emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual awareness within her whole body. Marlene’s Kundalini practice was and still is transformational. May your practice bring you as much joy, contentment, and presence as it brings to me.
Sat Nam ‘Truth Is My Essence’
Nirmal Singh is Lead Kundalini Yoga Teacher Trainer as well as teacher and trainer in Sat Dharam Kaur’s ‘Beyond Addiction: The Yogic Path to Recovery’ program. Nirmal has co-facilitated this training in Toronto, Owen Sound, Guelph and Peru, and teaches “Beyond Addiction” classes and workshops in Toronto and surrounding communities. Nirmal owns and operates The Wellness Path which produces Kundalini Yoga related programs including sacred chant concerts, the White Tantric Yoga meditation course, Level One and Two Kundalini Yoga teacher training, retreats and other programs by internationally renowned teachers. Nirmal is a Certified Coach Practitioner through the Certified Coaches Federation, and a Certified Compassionate Inquiry Practitioner, focusing on clients who wish to change difficult habitual patterns, or gain insight and strength in their recovery from addictions or trauma.
From her first encounter with Kundalini Yoga, Tara experienced a sense of spaciousness, peace and relief from pain and so they’ve been together ever since! She’s been a daily practitioner since 2018 and feels deep respect for how the practice offers a form that mirrors the unseen transformation occurring within. In 2019 she completed Level One Teacher Training under Sat Dharam Kaur.
Tara’s teaching style is informed by her daily spiritual practices, yoga training and other embodied practices including Sensory Awareness, 5Rhythms, Eden Energy Method and the Feldenkrais Method. Her teachings are also influenced by her 15+ years experience working in the western healthcare system as a Doctorate of Pharmacy. Blending western medicine with Kundalini Yoga offers powerful healing potential.
Tara invites participants to cultivate an ever-deepening presence and awareness of self through their sensory experience. Using breath, body and meditation to heal, renew, nurture and nourish in order to be more available for living fully with peace, joy, connection and fulfillment.
