Colleen Dawson/Raj Bhagti Kaur has been teaching Kundalini yoga since 2013 and practicing Kundalini yoga since 2004. Playing guitar in the Dharma Sisters kirtan band with other yogis is a wonderful integration of her love of yoga with her long love of sharing music. Colleen is at heart a teacher and has been teaching in many situations for nearly 40 years. Meditative practices like tai chi, meditation and yoga have been integral in her life since she was 18. Teaching and practicing Kundalini yoga brings compassionate understanding into her life in a more real way every day. She and other yoga teachers in her neighbourhood offer donation based classes in the local park every Saturday. She has completed the Conscious Communication course to start the Level 2 teacher training journey.

Courtney Ward heals through melodic sound and silence; her powerful expression is in the silence of swimming and playing with dolphins. Dolphins are highly attuned mammals who respond energetically. Well known and loved for the past 25 years through her dolphin journeys which include massage, dance, drumming and talking circles towards self discovery.

What is a Sound Journey?
Our daily lives are a constant state of over-stimulation. We have come to see this as the norm and manage to filter or numb much of this stimulus to maintain our daily activities. When If we are stressed or emotionally strung our whole body, mind and spirit system suffers. A Sound Journey creates a space for the outside world of too many worries to slip away and creates the possibility of finding deep peace and relaxation.

The participants lie down, cover up for warmth and close the eyes. You need do nothing more but breathe and let the sounds guide you to connection and rest. A journey is a story told in song: Ethnic and indigenous instruments from all over the world, along with vocal melodies and percussive rhythms take you onto a meandering musical journey with the feeling of being close to the earth through the sounds of nature that evoke landscapes, oceans, animals and indigenous cultures. Experience a moment where time dissolves into the simplicity of stillness

Denise Sohandev Kaur first trained as a Sivananda yoga teacher and she later deepened this commitment with her Kundalini teacher training. She lives in White River with her husband and son and regularly conducts yoga retreats and workshops in nature whilst also teaching from her studio. Her special passion is to introduce people to the passion and benefits of yoga in their everyday lives.

My name is Fulufhelo Ramango I'm 27 years old from Alexandra. I was introduced to yoga in 2014 by the Yoga4Alex organization in 2016 I did my level 1 teachers training and graduate in early 2017 and now I'm in the process of writing my level 2 Teacher's Training.

Since from 2016 I have been part of the Yoga4Alex organization in teaching yoga at the high schools and primary of Alexandra. And not only giving back to my community but also teaching outside of Alexandra. From 2017 I have been part of the volunteers in the home of home orphanage in Kensington and also being part of AKYTTSA teaching kiddies yoga in Hillbrow.

Har Bhajan is the founding father of the art of Kundalini Yoga in South Africa. During Apartheid, in his concern over the regime, he left the country with the intent never to return. He immersed himself in travels and work. When he had the good fortune to meet Yogi Bhajan, the master sent him back to his country of birth to teach Kundalini Yoga here. At heart a pioneer, Har Bhajan has worked with great zest and passion in the arenas of natural foods and Aquarian consciousness. He is a courageous, forthright communicator, an engineer and an artist with his crafty hands. He lives with his family at Long Valley, an eco farm in the Western Cape, where they conduct teacher trainings.

Jacqui Siri Chand Meyers did her Kundalini Yoga training when she was still deeply immersed in the corporate timber industry. A decade later, now married and with two boys, she promotes yogic wellness and runs womens' and mothers' circles. Siri Chand is part of a group of yoga teachers who hold regular healing educational events in the Natal Midlands - yoga is well served through their consistent inspiration and work.

Karin Ritchie is a lover of life, a gentle warrior woman, passionate about growth and well-being. Drawing on her journey of transformation from a traumatic life to one of grace, she seeks to create a conscious authentic life for herself and her clients. She embraces freedom from past patterns that no longer serve. Through gratitude, presence, curiosity and compassion, she witnesses and celebrates the miracles of healing.

Karin is an Indian trained practicing Kundalini yoga teacher and a Trauma Healing Practitioner (SEP) traumahealing.org a subtle healing modality that focuses on the science of the nervous system and the unlocking and releasing of trauma held in the body, mind and spirit.

As a life-long student, her studies include sexual trauma, global high, eye of the needle 1 & 2, Authentic Relationships, Conscious Communication, Mind and Meditaion and Beyond Addiction.

Her extensive travels include assisting in training somatic experiencing practitioners in Hong Kong, assisting a Somatic Experiencing Workshop at Omega Institute in New York with Dr Peter Levine and designing and leading a 7 day retreat in the Canary Islands entitled ‘freedom & the nervous system’.

She is equally at home engaging with clients one-on-one in person, in a class, on Skype or with groups.

In 2014, after graduating with a Bachelor of Social Science from UCT, majoring in Psychology and Sociology- I/Kyla moved to Joburg to pursue my passions and career.

I attended the 2014 Skyfest and felt a strong calling from Kundalini Yoga (KY). The universe then aligned me with Ravi Kaur- as I was looking to learn about mystical and therapeutic sciences and she was looking for a student passionate about social transformation and self healing.

Together we organised the first Open Kundalini Yoga Classes (OKYC)- donation based classes aimed at making KY more accessible, and finding and creating a space for students who would like to become teachers. I still organise, promote and teach at OKYC. There are currently 2 OKYC classes a week in Observatory, and 2 class a week at Joziburg including 1 adult and 1 kids class.

In 2016, together with other yogis passionate about social transformation- we formed the Non-profit organisation (NPO), African Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training of Southern Africa (Akyttsa)- a teacher training and social development movement aimed at spreading the powerful and healing technology of Kundalini Yoga. From there Kundalini Africa Rising (KAR) was formed as an umbrella organisation for donation based classes associated with Ravi’s community based teacher training.

I am a qualified level 1 KY teacher and have completed my level 2 Mind and Meditation module, and will be completing my next module in December.

Lakhbir Singh Khalsa hails from Amritsar. Brought up near the most beautiful of sanctuaries of Sikhism, the Golden Temple, Lakhbir was steeped in the Naad and Gurmukhi through school and the blessing of his elders. He trained as an engineer. When he relocated to South Africa, he held the position of Granthi (priest) at the Johannesburg Gurdwara for more than a decade with all accompanying ceremonies, weddings, baptisms, counselling and burial rites. A man who heals through food, Lakhbir has blessed us with beautiful North Indian vegetarian cuisine and the nurturing tradition of donation-based Langar free food since the early days of Skyfest.

Leslie Phillips started practising Bikram yoga in 1984 at the age of 25. Her journey with Kundalini Yoga began in 1989 in Los Angeles, California with Pritpal Kaur Khalsa and Yogi Bhajan. She certified as a Kundalini Yoga teacher and began taking classes near her home in Italy in 1992. Her spiritual name, Gian Kaur, was given to her in person by Yogi Bhajan. It means “Princess of Divine Wisdom”. She teaches both Bikram Yoga and Kundalini Yoga from her farm in Broederstroom near Haartebeespoort Dam and continues to study yoga from various masters in many parts of the world. She is a mother of three. Her passions include yoga, plant-based nutrition, vegan cooking, pottery and psychology.

Though I grew up in a fundamental Christian setting, I’ve always had the longing to heal as the masters did. I read eclectically and studied meditation and Tai Chi in the mountains of Vietnam, complemented by Chi-Gong with Mantak Chia and the Aquarian metaphysics such as Dr Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Yandla van Zand and DeMartini. As a therapist, I love the benefit of Kundalini Yoga, Cranio-Sacral, Pulse and Lymphatic Massage, as well as Reiki. In the counselling environment, skill and intuition are in service of the client's wellbeing and holistic healing.

Marianne Pavan Kamal Felix graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand Medical School in 1984 as a medical doctor and specialized in Occupational Health. Her focus has always been preventive medicine. Marianne's Phd was on asbestos related diseases and as a result of her work the government spent millions to rehabilitate asbestos waste dumps in what is today the Limpopo Province.

During President Mbeki’s denialist years she worked for Aurum Health to educate communities on HIV. It was through Marianne’s HIV work with Grade 12 learners that she realized these youngsters needed to learn how to deal with anxiety, anger, grief and depression. Kundalini yoga had helped Marianne resolve personal traumas so she knew it was a valuable technique for dealing with the stresses and emotions experienced by young people. As a result Marianne became a yoga teacher and has formed Yoga4Alex, an NGO that offers yoga classes to Grade 11 and 12 learners in Alexandra.

Five yoga4Alex youngsters have become yoga teachers and currently 1,500 learners in Alexandra participate in weekly yoga classes at the five high schools of Alexandra. Connect with Yoga4Alex on facebook and at yoga4alex.co.za.

Mitzvah students participate in the yoga classes and workshops offered at 4Living Guesthouse.

She teaches yoga on a Wednesday at the ISHTA Centre in Illovo and at the 4Living Guesthouse in Waverley.

My name is Mawethu Gwiba. I was blessed with a spiritual name Teg Chand Singh. I am based in the township of Soweto where yoga is not widely known nor totally understood with a couple of misconceptions about it. I have always been open-minded and even though there was a time when I knew less about it myself, I took some time to understand what it is. Through that information gathered I saw the numerous benefits it imparts and felt it was something I needed.

I started doing it on my own until one day I saw a poster on a fence that read “Kundalini yoga" thought I try it out and little did I know that trying it was going to get me hooked. This is one addiction I don't want to go to rehab for. It has changed me for the better and it is one of those things that you feel you were born to do as cliché as it may sound.

My style of teaching is nothing short of a fair light-hearted approach with a bit of humour to get your feel-good hormones kicking but serious enough to get the job done in making the class participants get the best out of an even underrated kriya if any. Sat Nam.

Yoga set chosen is Whole Body Kriya (kriya for Creativity) and the meditation is Seven Wave “Sat Nam” Meditation.

Bruce van Dongen is an engineer and the founder of The Waterfall Retreat & Environmental Centre. He uses the practices of Kundalini Yoga and his love of nature to balance the pressures of the corporate world. He lived in the Unites States for 10 years and is grateful for the time spent with his teachers Yogi Bhajan and Dr Manjit Singh and Yogi Bhajan. He has been practicing Kundalini Yoga for 22 years.

Pathway to Suniai in our Practice. “We are born human to experience our infinity, so that we can be neutrality towards totality, the word is infinite and the word is the ultimate silence” Suniai means true listening, going deeply within your heart to listen to the vibration of the Universe. The workshop will focus on developing the tools in our practice to come into neutrality, into the present, free of the mind's fluctuations, resting in the single point of the instant, we listen to the unstruck sound and experience the truth of the universe.

Nina Shantjot Gough loves the power of excellence and the exponential factor yoga gifts us with. Trail running, scuba diving and free diving are her sports of choice. She teaches Ashtanga and Kundalini Yoga. Working in a health shop, she understands nutrition and supplemental health to compliment a life lived well in pursuit of spirit and freedom. Shantjot has teenage children, Conor and Coral, and lives with her partner Peter in the serene Natal Midlands. Her discipline, commitment and character shine through illuminating the path for others. Get into your expanded energy field with her class on connecting Heaven and Earth.

I've always felt the God connection. My relationship with Spirit translated into practice when a friend gave me a book on Hatha yoga in '96. But it wasn't until 3 years ago when I started Kundalini yoga that life really kicked in. I had fallen out with my partner and needed to start life anew. All I knew was I wanted to be of service to humanity and be more complete as an authentic being. Kundalini Yoga was love at first sight. So much so that I decided to do the teacher training – with no clear sense of teaching! And yet, the path unfolded the moment I began, peeling away the layers and making me see inner beauty and strength. The veils fell and my path showed itself. I have been teaching for a year now, at Yoga Republic and Living Yoga. I simply love the opportunity to share the magic of this magnificent ancient technology.

Kundalini Yoga was gifted to us by Yogi Bhajan who understood how we all need this practice to heal, grow, expand and move through blocks to reach our true essence. Here I am, just like you - a student of life, wishing for more, grasping onto the threads of Infinity, exposing myself, living my life better than yesterday for a more fulfilling future. We are the people we have been waiting for, step up with me, we are one. We are the light of our souls, may we fly together, let’s be beauty manifest, let us be real, true and Divine. More accepting, more accommodating and authentic.

Rodney Vedya Gopal Ntlemo was drawn towards spirituality. The study of Buddhism opened inner doors for him. When he encountered Kundalini Yoga at his gym in 2008, he deeply resonated with the feeling and spiritual experience. Vedya is an IT business development consultant. He became inspired to the Sikh practice through Lakhbir's example. His name means Protecting the Sacred Knowledge of the Infinite and this is the angle through which he adores and immerses in sacred teachings. He graduated as a yoga teacher this year and will be sharing the set called the 4U Kriya to adjust Flow.

Dalmeet Kaur Roseline Nyman is a human rights lawyer of nearly three decades. When she encountered Kundalini Yoga, after her training as an Vinyasa Yogateacher, her activist's dedication and the capacity to awaken human capital through yoga wove together into a committed and exhilarating lifestyle of nurturing yoga in underprivileged areas in Cape Town, through her NPO Revolutionary Yoga. Dalmeet works with a team of teachers in her regular classes, stimulating yogic consciousness in whichever way she can in her spare time, including retreats in her Langebaan holiday home. She recently won the coveted 3HO Live to Give Grant and has begun her internship as a KRI Kundalini Yoga teacher trainer.

As part of Yoga4Soweto, Sanele Ram Bhajan Msezane teaches open classes in Dobsonville, Kopaneng, Snake Park and Orlando, hoping for much more outreach. He is studying to be an IT Engineer. 'Yoga is the discovery of eternal learning. The practice gives me self awareness: I learn about life, the world, my body and myself and I love taking this sacred art to many more people.'

Siri Dharma started and leads the Beyond Addiction program in South Africa. Beyond Addiction is a course on addiction, habits and wellness based mainly on the teachings of Yogi Bhajan and Dr. Gabor Maté. She has been teaching kundalini yoga since 1996 and was one of the first trainers of Kundalini Yoga teachers in South Africa. She taught yoga and meditation to addicts in drug rehab facilities for 18 years before focussing on delivering the Beyond Addiction program in South Africa. Siri Dharma is also a qualified lawyer. She has practiced as both a human rights lawyer and a corporate lawyer and now trains and mentors young lawyers in one of Johannesburg’s biggest law firms. She is also an accredited mediator. Siri Dharma is currently training to be a Compassionate Inquiry facilitator. In this role, she will guide and train participants in the online Compassionate Inquiry courses.

Compassionate Inquiry is a psychotherapeutic method developed by Dr. Gabor Maté that reveals what lies beneath the appearance we present to the world. Using Compassionate Inquiry, the therapist unveils the level of consciousness, mental climate, hidden assumptions, implicit memories and body states that form the real message that words both express and conceal. Through Compassionate Inquiry, the client can recognize the unconscious dynamics that run their lives and how to liberate themselves from them.

Sumir Mirchandani was born in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. He has been living in South Africa for the past ten years. Sumir trained in tablas since he was young with his music teacher, Professor Dabi. He practices for two hours every day. Tablas are a set of very melodic drums, comprising a fired clay and a metal drum which accompany all classical and contemporary Indian music, especially the sacred music of the Sikhs. We are grateful to Sumir to share with us in an evening of tabla.

Tejinder is from Austria: I came to South Africa in 2010, I fell in love here and built my family, this became my home. I have always been on a quest of self-improvement and understanding essence and truth of life, myself and others. My Kundalini Yoga teacher training in 2012 set me onto that deep journey. Since then I have taken several Level Twos, studied Byron Katie and Demartini's work and currently Compassionate Inquiry. I am a physio-therapist by trade. These days, aside from my Kundalini Yoga classes in Broadacres, I teach communication skills for parents towards their children. I find this a rich field for expressing love and clarity and not shutting down children's innate sensitivity.

What I like most about Kundalini Yoga is that with gross motor movement, we move our energy and with that we create precise insights and so it pulls us masterfully from the coarse and unrefined to more subtle and sublime experiences.

Tejbir Kaur did some architectural training and has an inimitable interior and hosting style. As a free spirit, she did a lot of travelling and moulded her life more and more into a natural, organic, simple and yet sophisticated style. After completion of her Kundalini Yoga teacher training she was inspired to convert her family home into the well-known and beloved Melody Hill Retreat Centre which is a landmark in Magaliesberg and serves numerous Gauteng-based events. She gives Kahuna massage treatments and is an intern trainer in the teacher training. Steeped in the love of yoga, she embarks on Yogi Bhajan's renewing Green Cleanse every year in her birthday month!