Tantra has less to do with sex, than the main stream understanding of the word. The original meaning of the word is simply “Essence (of the cosmos)” and it is a philosophy of living a happy, meaningful and free life. In order to achieve this we let go of all dogmatic, sociological ‘crap’ that was gathered throughout our life. And don’t we adore and envy those “[…] crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently”? -Yes because all they do is to be really free on all levels, of mind and body - we love freedom.
Ancient depiction of the Goddess Kali, the destructive-creative goddess of the vedas and name patron for the Ashram where this series is taught.
The beginning of this lifelong journey to freedom starts with releasing all the limitations of the body, of allowing it to be the self it wants to be. That is what the physical Tantra Yoga practice is about! To be ok with not reaching your toes, being a total beginner or to get your head out of your bum when you have dogmatically practiced for a decade. Tantra cares little about all these ideas of competition either with yourself, an image of yourself or your neighbour - its all vanity after all. All we care about is that you yourself are completely comfortable with yourself, nobody is as good as you at this, isn’t it so?
Traditional Tantra yoga is therefore a very gentle and meditative class that teaches your whole body to meditate, to relax. Being very distinct from other styles like Vinyasa or Ashtanga, it guides you to slowly drift into a dreamlike state. We do not ask of you to focus on anything, not on your breath, not on your posture, not on your third eye. During the practice your eyes are closed and your body relaxes while the mind becomes calm and blissful. It is as if you are falling asleep doing your asana practice and allow the inherent body intelligence to take over.
Another name for this series is Tri-Dosha-Balancing Series and its origins lie in the Shri Kali Ashram and the lineage of Bhagavan Shanmukha Anantha Natha.
November 2019 through January 2020 you have the opportunity to experience these classes at Bay Yoga every Friday (5:45 pm) and Sunday(6:45pm) and deepen your knowledge and understanding of what Tantra means. Because, truly, Tantra is about the whole world, so it is also about you.
For any questions contact Ilya our resident teacher for the season.
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