2023-09-08 15:45:33
Definition: what is tantric yoga?
Sometimes called “the yoga of love”, tantric yoga is a powerful ancestral spiritual practice, which in the West is sometimes wrongly reduced to its sexual and erotic aspect. While tantric yoga is much more: “It is a path of integral transformation of the human being who passes through the body in its multidimensionality: from the gross to the subtle, from the physical to the energetic” specifies the yogi teacher, Rachid Lekchine, by his Sanskrit first name Yoginanda.
It’s a bit like a whole that we experiment with your body : “The (incarnate) body and the receptacle which allows us to carry out this alchemical process in order to awaken our dormant potential called Kundalini” indicates Yoginanda. Or, our potential for evolution in order to reach a state that we call Samadhi or Nirvana depending on the culture. “This state allows us to increase consciousness beyond the limitations of the ego to arrive at the divine encounter of our soul: our true nature. A state of being, bliss, health and longevity” illustrates the yoga and tantrism teacher. He adds: “We find ourselves in a permanent yoga state.” Yoga also means union, we become one with the environment, we feel connected with every living being on this earth.
To achieve this, several tools are available, the major and most powerful ingredient that we all have within us is sexual energy. “This one has nothing to do with sexuality. Either we cultivate this energy alone in order to awaken all our potential for evolution or actually during the sexual act, we also have the possibility of activating this energy together, provided, of course, that we knowing how to raise it, transmute it and master it together” continues Yoginanda. To achieve this state, we can also practice breathing, movement or even sound (mantra chants, sound baths, etc.)
Tantric yoga, understanding its origin
To understand the origin of tantric yoga, we must understand the origin of tantrism itself. For indeed, tantric yoga designates tantrism and vice versa. Question of date, tantrism finds its origins in several places in India around the 6th century BC. In the West, esoteric writings arrived much later:
- Around the 19th century with le kriya yoga (yoga of meditation and breathing): “The people of this yoga are among the first to speak of tantrism as an esoteric mystical practice, a practice which was until then kept secret because of its transformative power and its power only physical” completes Yoginanda.
- “Then it exploded in the 70s with notably the Indian master Osho and his powerful meditations and the era of psychotropic drugs” explains Yoginanda, tantra teacher.
- At the same time, Yogi Bhajan, teacher of Kundalini yoga, revealed tantric practices (which were until then kept carefully secret). “He compiled, synthesized with his words to ensure that this knowledge was accessible to as many people as possible, repeating that men were ready to be able to access it in order to evolve because the lack of consciousness put the world in danger. Yogi Bhajan even went so far as to predict that this “knowledge” would allow as many people as possible to be able to withstand the extremely stressful changes in the world to come, and to avoid (through lack of consciousness) destroying the planet” reports Yoginanda, tantra teacher.
The evolution of tantric yoga in the West and its place today
“Here in the West, it’s still very pretentious to say, I sit down and go into meditation. We put a lot of steps into it to achieve awakening: sequences of postures (asanas), breathing work, need for specific equipment (leggings, yoga mats, etc.) While people who practice ancestral tantrism as in the Himalayan mountains , need nothing except to be present here and there” illustrates Yoginanda.
It is also important to emphasize that it is very difficult to follow the principles of traditional Vedantic yoga, here in the West: “The practice requires a lot of time to arrive at meditative states which open to inner peace. There, however, certain powerful practices of tantrism allow you to change state in the space of just a few minutes,” notes Yoginanda. And in an era where everything moves extremely quickly, where energies change rapidly and where humans must constantly readjust, learning to master tantric practices might not be too much…
Tantric yoga, what is the difference with so-called “vedanta” yoga (hatha, ashtanga, etc.)?
“There is three pillars fundamentals which unite these two paths: breathing, movement and sounds” recalls the tantrism practitioner, Yoginanda.
However, these two paths differ in certain aspects. Indeed, pis yoga vedanta, we go through several distinct stages of the body:
- Yama (code of conduct towards others or social discipline)
- Niyama: (self-conduct or personal discipline, physical and mental)
- Asana (postures)
- Pranayama (la respiration)
- Pratyahana (the discipline of sens)
- Dharana (the concentration)
- Dyana (meditation)
- Samadhi (Self-realization also known as awakening)
“This is a long stage given that it takes several years or even more than a lifetime to master each of these stages” recalls Yoginanda.
With tantric yoga, we get to the point :
We seek directly to activate our life force (Kundalini), it is this “which will do the work”. Yoginanda, tantra yoga teacher.
It will automatically activate all the spontaneous mechanisms that we have within us, and activate all the potential of our physical body as well as all the sidhis (such as intuition)” explains Yoginanda. This is to allow us to enter into the meditative state of Samadhi.
Different means
“Another major difference between Vedanta and Tantric yoga also lies in the fact that for Vedanta yoga, we will go first by the “gross” body. There, where with tantric yoga, we will immediately activate our energy body (Kundalini) so that it can take care of our physical body and the rest for that matter” explains Yoginanda. Which offers the possibility of no longer being limited since even if my physical body is damaged, I can repair it from my energy body since I will have awakened it thanks to powerful breathing, but also via the activation of my sexual energy that I would have sublimated, transmuted, elevated as well as by sound (the repetition of certain mantras in particular).
Yoga tantra, what are its physical and psychological benefits
Among the benefits of tantric yoga, the tantra teacher evokes the power of longevity: “The elixir of youth is precisely succeeding in cultivating one’s sexual energy so that it can be used to preserve our body, our consciousness and therefore preserve our health.” But we can also cite:
- Increase your self-presence;
- Overcome your fears;
- Need nothing, except his body;
- Treat neuroses;
- Soften the body;
- Relieve physical and psychological tensions;
- Strengthen your body and mind;
- Energize the physical body;
- Release emotions and transmute negative emotions into something beneficial;
- Experience a more fulfilled sexuality;
- Purify the energetic body and awaken your Kundalini (“the snake” located along the spine)
- …
What do the tantrics say?
“Let us take everything, the sexual energy, the postures (asanas), the sounds…and let us be alchemists of our body to transform ourselves” reports Yoginanda, himself a tantrika.
Who is the practice for?
To all those who want to make a change in themselves, to experience an evolution.
How to get started with tantric yoga? Its tools (postures, breathing exercises, outfit, accessories, etc.)
Tantric yoga is above all a energy approach where several tools can be used to evolve. This method uses, for example, postures (asanas) static and dynamic, rhythmic breathing (pranayama), an exploration of centers and energetic bodies/envelopes (chakras, koshas), specific mudras (hand position), concentration (dharana), meditation (dhyana) or even sounds: mantras (songs in Sanskrit), gong bath (sound bath). And also, methods from NLP, kinesiology, massages (Yoni…) and everything that can help the personal development of the human being, physical, psychological and spiritual (Zen, Tao, astrology…) . “There is no morality strictly speaking but an inner work of purification and energy development and particularly the energy of the heart, which spontaneously knows what is right” indicates Yoginanda, tantra teacher. He adds: “We can also usesacred sexuality since it is about entering into total union with Shakti (creative feminine energy and fertility) and Shiva (masculine energy linked to consciousness, immobility). The goal is not to deny one of the aspects but to unite them.”
The practice of Kundalini yoga, Natha yoga and Nidra yoga are forms of tantric yoga that help one evolve quickly. “Then, as we acquire a certain experience, we can move on to the deep meditations of Osho (editor’s note: Indian spiritual master) but always with precautions and control because the energy activity can bring us into states of powerful ecstasy” warns Rachid Lekchine of his Sanskrit first name, Yoginanda.
The best intuitive indicator to know if we are receptive to tantric yoga is when we say to ourselves: “Now, I am doing something really for me, which comes from within” continues Yoginanda.
What is a tantra course?
It involves carrying out, in a group, exercises to connect with your body and its energy: dance, massages, breathing exercises, meditation, postures (asanas)…
What are the contraindications to the practice of tantra yoga?
Tantric yoga involves good control of the body. Because poorly managed, certain tantric yoga exercises such as hyperventilated breathing (rebirth) can cause problems (dizziness, etc.). The tantra practitioner Yoginanda also recalls the importance of preserving a certain balance between “active” times (with postures) and relaxation and “meditative” times: “If I direct all this energy in the wrong direction or with the wrong intention, it risks more nourish my ego than my heart. It is therefore essential to learn to direct this energy towards the heart, to create love and only love” continues Yoginanda.
People at risk
Pregnant women will have to adapt their practice according to their state of health and the progress of their pregnancy. Women during their period will also have to refine their yoga, because they lose a lot of energy: “They may favor deep breathing and do more meditative chanting, for example, but once again this is on a case by case basis. case according to each individual” recalls the tantrika teacher, Yoginanda. For all people on anti-depressants or taking drugs (psychotropics, etc.), alcohol; On the other hand, it is strongly recommended not to practice tantra yoga, at the risk of losing control of their physical and psychological body.
A quick word on sectarian aberrations, how to choose the right training centers (certification, word of mouth, etc.)?
“Tantric yoga can be experienced like a shoot because we awaken the Kundalini (supreme energy) and the effects are deep, powerful” insists Yoginanda. He continues: “We can fall into excesses if the exercises are poorly carried out by the master (teacher). What is really important is therefore to have personal mastery and to be able to keep control of one’s practice during the sessions.” Basically: to listen to oneself first and not to that of the master. “And from the moment there are too many dogmas, rules or a sort of of religious “cope”, or worse that you are invited to make love together, to caress each other…: flee!” warns the practitioner Yoginanda.
Know what training followed by the teacher can also be a guarantee of quality. For example, we would prefer practitioners trained at the school of Tantra or affiliated with the Tantra Kundalini Yoga Federation.
What do you say to people who don’t know tantric yoga to convince them to try it?
“Tantrism is freedom! The goal is not to become a Buddhist monk or other but to touch one’s inner Self, while living in this modern and current world and to learn to use one’s body as a toolbox to allow this evolution” indicates Yoginanda , teacher of yoga and tantrism.
As the Tantra school website also reminds us (source 1): “The goal of Tantra is to bring together polarities, to unify opposites (“To make you One with the One”, Yogi Bhajan). This is why, unlike traditional paths of awakening, where the man must make his way, without the woman and vice versa (hence the flight from society, isolation, monasteries), Tantra says: ” Why not man and woman together? May Yin and Yang complement each other!”
To learn more about the practice, here are some references to texts and books on the subject such as “Autobiography of a Yogi” de Pramahansa Yogananda ou “Shiva’s Banquet” de Christian Tikhomiroff.
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