It so happens that the Kundalini yoga emphasis on group practice was considered dangerously radical when Yogi Bhajan introduced it to the west in the 1969. Not long ago, all yoga was taught in a one-on-one environment with each student initiated into the lineage of a specific teacher. This method is still practiced widely today but with the spread of yoga throughout western culture, group classes have become more the norm.

The group approach remains invalid to some traditionalists, but the advantage of group practice in the Kundalini tradition is explained in The Aquarian Teacher Level One Instructor Textbook:

Doing sadhana (daily spiritual practice) in a group develops group consciousness. At the beginning of sadhana everyone has a different vibration... The more people there are, the more these individual differences balance out and create a harmony. The happiness of one person balances the sadness of another. Then the entire group finds its energy directed by the activity of the sadhana itself. The individual auras merge and form a group aura. If the group is well-tuned to the Infinite, a rainbow aura forms that reflects all colors... This auric transformation aids the practitioner in making the step beyond ego centeredness.

Yeah, baby!

But perhaps reading that inspired you to roll your eyes and write off the whole mess as a bunch of "new age hooey." Not to worry. I'm not asking you to take my word for it. It's likely you have had some sort of experience with group consciousness -- even if it's in the darker form of "mob mentality" at Wal-mart the day after Thanksgiving -- in which you felt an energy greater than your own. All I'm talking about is harnessing that very thing in a positive way.

You'll have a chance to benefit from group consciousness this Sunday, Feb. 19, in Pasadena at the Armory Center for the Arts. Please join me there for class from 10 to 11:30 a.m. or in North Hollywood for any of the other class times throughout the week.