Kiranjot’s a women’s yoga specialist – a doula and kundalini yoga teacher rolled into one. And she can cook your placenta if you want. A born and bred Londoner, she studied photography and then freelanced for the ‘filthy tabloid press’ (Kiranjot’s words!) before having a baby and starting to teach yoga 8/9 years ago. And that’s when it all changed – from headlines and deadlines to working intimately with women and their families, providing time-honoured common sense wisdom alongside practical and emotional support through pregnancy and childbirth. Meet Kiranjot…
When and how did you get into kundalini yoga, Kiranjot?
For most of my twenties, I was depressed, verging on suicidal. I was exhausted and in a heavy relationship with weed. My healing journey started when I was about 28 – Saturn return – with a shaman. But it was his girlfriend and her kundalini class that started to sort me out.
How has it changed your life?
Kundalini yoga saved my life. I knew the jolly person inside me was ready to come out but it was kundalini yoga that showed me the safe path. Back then I couldn’t believe it was possible to wake up happy, or even neutral. Now I look forward to life and wake up feeling sexy and vital.
I’ve got a small but perfectly formed dedicated space for kundalini yoga at home in South East London and teach regular classes and interesting workshops there as well as in town. I have really embraced my feminine power since becoming a mother. I love the feminine aspects of kundalini yoga and I teach these in specialised women’s classes and retreats in Ibiza. We have so much fun and the whole vibe is so loving and nourishing.
What does your yoga practice look like now?
It changes with the seasons. At the moment I’m really into an Ayurvedic practice called abhyanga, which soothes my vata. I have a natural tendency towards scatteredness and the winds of autumn have aggravated it. So I do that first thing. I will read something by Yogi Bhajan at the same time – at the mo it’s all about prosperity. Then I play my gong to clear my energy before doing a series of quick exercises followed by two short mediations. I practise kriyas in the afternoon when I have time. I pray on going to bed.
What’s your favourite meditation?
I’m really into bowing at the mo. Currently I am doing it while chanting the Adi Shakti mantra. Bowing to the Goddess, I feel the weight falling off my shoulders and an enormous feeling of trust.
What’s been the most powerful practice you’ve ever done?
Any time I do a mono diet, it shifts a lot for me. The green diet this year was pretty profound. I had tried to do it several times before without much success. This year I created a Facebook group for support – that really helped me keep up. I released so much ‘stuff’, including healing a chronic condition I’d been suffering with. I will do it again next spring – join me on the Facebook group.
Has adopting your spiritual name Kiranjot changed you?
It is still quite new, so I still use my birth name, which I also have a strong spiritual connection to. Laura relates to victory and the arc line, and my kundalini name means ‘one who radiates diamond light’ so I keep both in mind and practise staying shiny.
Fave quote? Life is not a problem to solve but a mystery to live
Book? At the moment I am reading The Way of The Wyrd
Place? Ibiza of course
Teacher? Because I wanted to learn about being a woman, I made a conscious decision years back to learn from stellar females. My faves are Guru Rattana, Sobonfu Some, Gurmukh, Carolyn Cowan, Satya Kaur and my closest girlfriends and students – they are the very best teachers!!
What’s on your altar? A pile of earth.
Song? Whatever I am currently listening to. Today it’s been the new Earth album – it’s gorgeous.
Breakfast? Something oat-based.
You in a tweet? supercalifragilisticexpialidocious [Haha, you totally are Kiranjot!]
Visit Laura’s website wisemother.co.uk, like her FB page and follow her on Instagram. Keep an eye out for her 2017 Ibiza retreats on 21-27 May and 1-7 October