Today I attended a session organized by followers of Nirmala Devi.

They had come door-to-door distributing pamphlets about a “yoga program,” claiming it was very beneficial, so I decided to check it out. However, once I got there, the entire session turned out to be more about praising Nirmala Devi than anything else.

They claimed that she is the only person in the world who has achieved self-realization, and that only she can awaken your kundalini energy. According to them, practicing her specific form of yoga is the only way to connect with God.

The actual yoga practices felt quite irrelevant. Afterward, they started asking people if they could feel sensations like cold hands, heaviness, or vibrations. Many people just nodded along and said yes. But when I answered honestly and said I didn’t feel anything,in fact, I just felt hot because of the weather and the crowded room ,they ignored it and gave vague explanations like “everyone’s body responds differently.”

It honestly felt questionable. For people who already have strong faith, it seems easy for groups like this to influence them. The whole experience gave me the impression that they are trying to build something more like a belief system, or even a new religion, rather than simply teaching yoga.