Body Text: Reflections on Mixing Kundalini Yoga and Writing

Our team just got back from AWP 2024, a huge conference for writers and writing programs. On Thursday morning, we sponsored a yoga and writing session with poet and instructor Nadia Colburn. It made a large impression on me, which I’d like to share.

The style of yoga Nadia led us in is called kundalini yoga. We spent more time seated than with other forms of yoga. I generally find yoga mostly enjoyable, but also unpleasantly strenuous; in this case, it was just enjoyable. Nadia told me that for writers, she favors teaching kundalini yoga, because it’s “more energetic” than other styles, as well as easier to practice without worrying too much about nailing the poses.

Nadia told us she’d discovered yoga and meditation after completing her PhD in English. She says that academic writing was quite heady, and that it didn’t address her full being, including the trauma and other emotional blocks she was carrying in her body. She says that “Yoga gave me the tools to unblock what my body was carrying,” and she encourages writers to “Let it flow.” She says that “Writing is a form of listening; what wants to emerge?” rather than being a process of controlling or forcing creation.

The session was a combination of (mostly seated) poses, which we could interrupt at any time if something to write came up. She also gave us two writing prompts, again prioritizing listening to our bodies, for short writing sessions.

I found the session extremely cathartic. I was able to physically notice, in my body, the blocks to writing I usually carry with me: the feeling of having nothing of value to say, of wanting to live up to a standard set by other writers I admire, and others. I found myself writing out what these blocks themselves had to say, in a tall jagged handwriting that seemed to take over my writing hand. Each time I would feel and write out a new one, I would feel a great sense of relief, like finally being able to breathe out fully.

The overall experience felt quite different than I’m used to in my writing. It was very:

• Embodied. I could feel emotional blocks in my body much more clearly than usual. I could write into these blocks, which would help them move; and as they moved, I could also write much more freely. Nadia mentions exactly this dynamic: stuck places being a magnet for writing, and writing helping process them.
• Organic. I wasn’t writing something planned-out with the hope that it would eventually be good. Instead, words were coming out organically, and the writing itself felt good.
• Communal. Two participants wrote lovely poems during the session, which they shared with us, and we all shared experiences and takeaways. Overall, the experience felt quite warm and close.

After the practice, I felt unaccountably good all day, in a way I haven’t felt before. I found myself feeling an immediate fondness for the strangers I’d pass in the convention center halls. It took me until midafternoon to put the pieces together that it was likely due to the yoga practice, or the combined effect of the practice and the writing.

Again, I’m still reflecting on this experience. The immediate effect was for me to want to find kundalini yoga where I live. But I also think we can do so much more to encourage holistic writing in the style Nadia was offering, and to build community in doing so. I’m looking for opportunities for Writers.com to help that.

If you have any similar experience or suggestions around embodied and holistic writing practices, I’d love to hear them. Nadia does offer writing instruction in a similar vein through her website if you’re interested in learning more about her specific approach.

Lastly, thank you so much to Nadia and to all our instructors we sat with at AWP 2024 (below, next to staff member Elle LaMarca, is instructor Joy Sawyer selling her beautiful literature-themed earrings), and everyone who came to talk to us. It was great to see you!