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HBO’s Breath of Fire and the Shadowy Side of Kundalini Yoga
Kundalini Yoga has always occupied an interesting, slightly awkward space in the wellness world.
It’s that one yoga cousin at the party — dressed in flowing white robes, chanting loudly, and staring deeply into your soul. Over the years, it’s been lauded as a spiritual game-changer, promising to awaken the “serpent energy” within you and catapult you into a state of enlightenment. But for anyone who’s dipped a toe into a Kundalini class, you might have felt a little…off.
I certainly did.
As someone who’s tried a variety of wellness modalities, I’ve always been curious about what makes Kundalini so magnetic for some. The first time I attended a class, I walked in eager to explore something new. I left that class after it was finished, feeling confused, uncomfortable, and mildly secondhand embarrassed.
The chanting, the repetitive breathing techniques, and the oddly performative vibe left me uneasy. And then there were the instructors — mostly white women, wrapped in pristine turbans and exuding an air of untouchable self-importance.
Fast-forward to the release of HBO’s new documentary, Breath of Fire, which peels back the curated aesthetic of Kundalini Yoga to reveal a much darker…
