Yoga as a roadmap to greater joy, courage & freedom in life

TRADITIONAL TANTRIC HATHA YOGA

If you look at Instagram, yoga is a trendy form of exercise that makes your muscles stronger and longer and your butt look nicer in those tight $150 polyester pants. If you are flexible enough, you can even gain a proper amount of followers and become an influencer on social media and start earning money for basically nothing! Okay, this was intentionally provocative, but for what I’ve seen, also kind of true. 

I think that the modern take on yoga has gone pretty far from what it was initially intended for. Times have changed and I get it, yoga too must adapt to our evolving needs. The main concern here is not only the loss of the beautiful tradition, but where is this new take on yoga taking us. We are already overly heated with our busy lifestyles, so do we really benefit from these fast paced vinyasa classes with heaters in the room? Does mastering a handstand really evolve us as humans? Yoga is supposed to make us grow in kindness, in compassion, in love. What happened to meditation, the core of yoga?

Yoga is an ancient system designed to guide us back to the source of who we are. And I can guarantee to you, we are much more than pretty bodies. The potential of yoga is way bigger than what it is widely used for in the west today. 

Samkhya, an ancient map to liberation

Tantra, yoga and ayurveda are all rooted in the age-old, originally Indian philosophy called Samkhya. The origins of Samkhya philosophy remain unknown. What we do know is that it was systemized by sage Kapila who lived long before the common era. 

Samkhya philosophy is like a map for understanding the universe and our purpose of existence. In a way, it is a dualistic system saying that everything in the universe is composed of two primal principles: purusha (pure consciousness) and prakriti (matter or energy). On the other hand it offers us a non-dualistic worldview saying that a discrimination between these two leads to liberation. You can read more about the baic principles behing Samkhya from this blog post.

Depending on who you ask, both yoga and tantra are based on spiritual scriptures that date older than 5000 years ago. Back then, it really had nothing to do with our external appearance or sex life (I know that’s the first thought to many when speaking of tantra) to say the least. As said, the intention was to guide us living our lives without causing pain and suffering for ourselves and each other. Living in perfect harmony with nature. 

What is hatha yoga?

Hatha yoga is the mother of all modern yoga practices. Iyengar, astanga, bikram, vinyasa, kundalini, anusara, even yin… all rooted in hatha. The base of hatha is commonly agreed to be in the Yoga Sutras, a textbook written by sage Patanjali somewhere between 200-400 CE. In this guidebook to classical yoga he defines the eight limbs of yoga. They are supposed to be practiced in order to guide us from the external world to our internal world; from the grosser towards the subtler planes of existence. Asana, yoga poses, is the 3rd step, Samadhi, the highest state of meditation, holding the last seat. I am pointing this out once again, to state that yoga practice without meditation is not complete.

Yoga Chitta Vrittii Nirodha, yoga is stilling the fluctuations of the mind, goes Patanjali’s famous definition of yoga. Quite literally hatha means force or forceful. Another commonly used translation is breaking the word into two: ha (sun/ prana/ energy) and tha (moon/ consciousness/ mind). Yoga on the other hand means to yoke; to unite. It’s both the journey and the destination. Simply put, hatha yoga is a set of practices aiming to create balance between the two opposites and this way find unity. To arrive at oneness.

What is tantra? What makes yoga tantric?

What makes yoga tantric, you might be asking. Do not believe what Google says, tantra is as much about sex as it’s about any other aspect of being a human. 

Literally tantra means “to weave” and “to expand”. It aims to help us to expand beyond our limitations; to see beyond the veil of illusion, which blocks us from experiencing the all encompassing reality of divinity. 

Tantra says that all is sacred, us and the world around us is an embodiment of Divine. So rather than escaping the worldly world to reach enlightenment, tantric take is that the world and everything in it is already sacred. No need to escape.

Roughly speaking there are three main schools in tantra: Kaula (external ritual), Samaya (internal ritual) and Mishra (mix of both external and internal rituals). The tantra I am referring to in any of my offerings, unless otherwise stated, falls under the last of the three and belongs to the living tradition called Sri Vidya.

Tantra can be seen as a science of energy management. By understanding our own energy, in yogic words prana, we can also understand the world outside of us and vice versa. The body is the microcosm of the entire Universe, and by learning to manage the powers within ourselves we also have  access to it on a universal level. 

Tantra is like an approach to yoga. Most likely, you’ve already practiced it. Technically any practice that uses the body and engages with the world of energy could be seen as tantric yoga.

The most obvious or practical difference between tantrikas and other old-school yogis is that tantra doesn’t believe we have to give up on worldly success to achieve spiritual success but quite the opposite. Not separating our daily lives from our practice but seeing our lives as our practice is tantra. As said, tantra teaches that everything is sacred. Doing ordinary things in an extraordinary way is tantra. Living life to its fullest is tantra. 

Knowledge transforms into wisdom through practice

I have been trained by Octavio Salvado and Karina Guhtrie (RYT-200 +). All of my teachers belong to the unbroken lineage of Sri Vidya. I humbly bow my head to all of them for the guidance and empowerment on my path. 

However, the knowledge only becomes wisdom through embodiment and practice. I see my commitment to daily self practice as my most profound teacher.