A daily practice means different things for different people ranging from a few sun salutations to several hours of a particular sequence or class. For me, it means I do a Kundalini Yoga kriya or meditation every day.

How did a gal who grew up in a small town with a Jewish mom and Catholic dad find herself to be living this rich life? Quite simply, I paid attention to myself and have gotten to know myself really well over the years, with the help and guidance of Kundalini Yoga.

If ever there was a time to test our abilities to cope with and manage fear and anxiety, this is it. Personally, I’m feeling a lot of blessings and gifts with the recent state of the world and its shift. I have more time to go inwards, to work on creative endeavors, and to see first-hand how many spiritual practices, in particular Kundalini Yoga, can help us through these trying times.

This article will take us through each of the eight chakras, offering a brief explanation with a Kundalini Yoga kriya and meditation to help bring each of these energy centers back into balance.

I grew up with the Aquarian Sadhana, an early morning practice that includes doing Japji, yoga and chanting. My parents would bring me down to the sadhana room all bundled up in blankets. My mother said when I was little I would always pop up out of my blankets and sing along with the chants when they started.

Healing, from the perspective of Kundalini Yoga, is different from curing. Curing is removing the illness, problem, or issue. Healing means to make whole. A person who is healed may also have an illness or disease.

Judgment is the mind’s conviction that your life should be different, you should be different, others should be different, which can take the form of complaining, extreme negativity or gossiping. You can express this energy to others and/or keep it as an internal dialogue—both are damaging to the self.

When you feel bad, doing Kundalini Yoga makes you feel better. Stressed and upset? Do a strong set and you can become calm and peaceful. There are many kriyas and meditations specifically for emotional balance, to get rid of fear and anger, and to release negative thoughts. It is not unusual in class to cry spontaneously and then leave feeling good.

This is the time to embrace the paradox of you. It’s when you are at your most vulnerable—sobbing and filled with insecurity—that you have the potential to be your strongest. Why? Because life has pressured you so forcefully that you have no other choice but to surrender to the Divinity with you. The false image that you have of yourself must dissolve so that the real you can be born.

Those who have been blessed with the opportunity to practice yoga correctly can learn to reduce the unnecessary tension or ‘armor’ of the mind and body. To surrender this unnecessary tension, we must learn to relax. The exhale is the key to relaxation as well as the key to correct posture.