My First Experience with Niguma Yogas

by Marcia North

In June 2023 Kalu Rinpoche gave introductory teachings and demonstrated 24 Niguma exercises. These teachings and exercises are typically taught only in a 3-year retreat. This makes them mysterious to the lay practitioner and motivates one to investigate and, hopefully, practice the Niguma yoga.

The yoga exercises involve a breathing technique done with the physical movement. Kalu Rinpoche was careful to put these teachings in the context of traditional Mahayana and Mahamudra views to secure our understanding of the nature of mind for the benefit of all beings. He further invited us to integrate the Niguma Yogas with our own daily meditation practices and include refuge, bodhicitta and dedication. He also taught a meditation to be done prior to starting the physical yoga as well. 

The physical Niguma exercises were demonstrated over a weekend of teachings. To begin practicing these exercises, a skilled teacher is needed to demonstrate the physical movements as they are very different from what one typically thinks of as yoga in our culture. They involve both sitting and standing with movement of arms or legs or both. We were provided with a video of Kalu Rinpoche demonstrating the yogas so we can revisit the weekend teaching.

How I accommodated the practice to my needs
Before actually trying to take on this practice, I found myself overwhelmed and skeptical that this was a practice I could do at my age of almost 73. Luckily, Kalu Rinpoche gave very practical suggestions on how to start. So, I started with 8 of the 24 exercises he taught. Even 8 yogas ended up being too much of a challenge. So I broke it down even further. I eventually began with 3 of the exercises and did them daily for a week with the breath work. Then I added 1 new exercise weekly until I was doing all 8 suggested exercises. At that point I was ready to keep going, so I added 1 exercise a week until I was doing all 24! I made adjustments along the way as needed to safely accommodate for my age and ability.

In my experience of learning the practice, I found my mind and body energetically moved and even shocked into a place beyond thought as well as relaxation and calmness. This was a surprise! It felt like an opening. Since these yogas were an addition to my daily meditation practices, it became apparent that I could integrate a simple single Niguma exercise into my daily meditation practices when I felt a blockage such as a loss of focus. Doing this helped me return to the meditation practice with renewed open focus. I also found at night, when my mind was overactive, that I could do the same single exercise and a brief meditation before lying back down and drifting into sleep. 

That being said, I am still very much in the inquisitive stage of discovery with this practice and will need further guidance and teachings to continue to progress on this path of awakening for the benefit of all beings. 

There is also hope and discussion of maybe the Lamas starting a practice group that does Niguma yoga. I am looking forward to knowing others who are exploring this practice. 

(Editor’s note: KSC is offering a Niguma Yogas refresher on January 27th for those who have attended the retreat. More information here. )