Before I answer your question…

Dr Joe is great at demystifying meditation; explaining what happens during practice from a scientific perspective; and making meditation more accessible to everyone as it is not associate with any particular tradition.

It was actually Vipassana that led me to Dr. Joe as I had changed so much after 2 years of daily practice and several retreats (especially after serving). Dr. Joe initially talks about rewiring the brain or as Goenka says ‘breaking the old habit pattern of the mind.’ Here was someone that could feed my intellect and give me a satisfactory explanation about the changes I had experienced and continue to experiencing with Vipassana. 

However, Dr Joe then moves into a more yogic influenced teaching with a major focus on kundalini. Pulling the breath from the base of the spine to the top of the head or crown rather forcefully. In the advanced workshop (now called the week-long retreat) this breath is practiced a lot! At the workshop I experienced kundalini rising from my root to solar plexus stopping there. The experience was orgasmic and it really felt like a serpent moving with incredible force upwards. I was fascinated by this experience and wanted to know more…

I enrolled myself (and Anthony) in a kundalini yoga teacher training and booked flights to India. We didn’t learn kundalini yoga in the Yogi Bajhan tradition and I feel we would have gained a much better understanding of kundalini if we had. The teacher training we attended lacked in may ways but it did introduce me to the publications from the Bihar School of Yoga. I bought every Bihar book that would fit in my suitcase and buried my nose in them. The most comprehensive book I’ve found on kundalini yoga so far is Kundalini Tantra.

The more I learned about kundalini, I knew Dr Joe’s approach was not for me. I firmly believe forcefully raising kundalini in the way Dr. Joe teaches is not the way to go. The body needs to be adequately prepared to be able to withstand that energy. Think of the body as a wire being able to hold say 240Volts and Kundalini energy being at least 100 times that. The wire (or body) would get fried and even the few people that manage to raise that energy will not be able to hold it/ sustain the energy for any length of time.

Another thing that Dr. Joe Dispenza misses is having a solid foundation. In yoga this is what’s known as the Yamas and Niyamas or for Vipassana the 5/8 precepts. Diet and lifestyle is also overlooked. In engaging with any yogic practice caution should be exercised and the correct preparation is so very important. However, this is so often overlooked. It can be dangerous and cause serious harm if that solid foundation is not there.

Don’t get me wrong, Im really glad I went to Dr. Joe’s advanced workshop and had a wonderful time. I met people that were healing themselves from serious illnesses which was incredible to witness. It fed my analytical mind and having my brain mapped before during and after mediation was a really cool experience. I learned a lot from Dispenza and his work sparked my curiosity to explore yoga in its true form. But, at the end of the day Vipassana is in a league of its own. It is a complete practice, slow but complete.

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Much Love, Sharol xx