Teaching Yoga

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In composing the Teacher Training program, I came across a series of personal reflections … “Who is the Yoga teacher?”, “What does it mean to teach Yoga?”

Fundamental questions for those who decide to start a training course, which often go into the background, focused on finding a suitable course for hours .. for the subjects studied .. for costs.

But they are also fundamental questions for those who already teach, reflections that sometimes do well to face ..   And then I rediscover and remind myself that teaching Yoga does not consist in simple information that the teacher transmits and disseminates, keeping them detached from oneself and leaving them at the end of the day in a Yoga Shala.

What one theaches should be one’s own state of being, a way of life that is necessarily part of the teacher himself. In learning Yoga, the teacher can accompany and support the student only to where he has come himself, he can point a light only to those places in which he was willing to cross. It can empathize with the student’s research and with the problems that may emerge in the course of this research, just because he personally embarked on the same journey.

Here then teach Yoga is continuous research, a continuous discovery of themselves, those sides that every time we find new, fragments of us that from time to time, experience after experience, we bring to light to find that balance so difficult to reach .

And then I remind myself that the foundations of the Yoga tradition are closely linked to the conduct of a life in which our actions are congruent and consistent with our values ​​and with what we transmit to others.   If we present ourselves as

“Yoga Teachers”, which is science and the art of living, then we must put ourselves into practice that way of life. If, on the contrary, we only want to teach positions and postures, then it is better to give to what we do a name different from Yoga.

A long journey … towards the Heart of Yoga ..

Article by Amrita Ceravolo Yoga Alliance (Italia/International) Master Yoga Teacher, Vice president of “Sathya Yoga – International School of Yoga Studies”, in Milano (Italy) affiliated with Paramanand Institute (India). Honorary Director of “Paramanand Institute of Yoga Sciencese & Research” (India), Honorary Director of “International Association of Indian Yoga” to find more about Amrita’s events and Yoga Teacher Training Courses visit her website :www.sathyayoga.academy  www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100006514069373

Amrita Ceravolo Master Yoga Teacher

Amrita Ceravolo Utthita Astha Padangusthasana

  

 

Amrita Ceravolo Ustrasana Variation

 

Therapeutic application of Yoga on stress and the power of self expression

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Luana Marini Bellisari

Yoga arrived in a fundamental moment of my life. Between the 39ies and the 40ies, during a time of luck of trust to what I could have done as a woman
With Yoga we break the puzzle of each doubt and troubled thinking and we arrive at the pure source.
and as a Human being.
During my first step in to the yoga practice I have had often the feeling in losing my strength, that’s because yoga got in to my sensitivity and in to my emotions so deeply that after each practice, special those I made alone with my master, I was always crying.
An unbalanced step of what I was plus what I was living, emotions that sere driving me not under my control, were bringing me close to a feeling of a depression mood. After that time, and during the days I could switch on and off my faith and my original love and passion inside of me.
In my memories the action of the movement of a single muscle could giving me a new perception and development of conscious that I have lost in my body memory, and each of that were really connected with my personal movements (passages) of my single life in that moment. I was starting to live in and with me, muscular connection, breathing drive consciously, were just a few of the many things and situations were happens and I was slowly discovering.
Yoga becomes, when arrives to catch the personal world of a human being, cardinal and it transforms and turn on a source of light and a strategy of art of living at the same time.
There are thousand of interconnections between the physical body and the mindful body like with the sympathetic (SNS) and the parasympathetic (PNS). The experience of yoga itself shows the practitioner how he/she lives it’s on life. During an Asana, establishing the forces, bringing the right, creative a beauty and focusing on a gaze, while breathing is the only sound that vibrating in and outsider, in a unique experience that’s to be in that moment.
What leaves yoga after a session, is a sense of grounding and full perception in who we are, a deep calm and a clarity; it gives to the practitioner or the yoga student the way to realize something more about him self. Yoga surprise us and suddenly we recognize the message coming from inside , that’s we couldn ́t hear before. Slowly and deeply we became aware to steps at decisions or transformations wherever they where sleeping inside of us.
In different moment of our life we live the conditions of stress or depression, or under pressing. Here below summarizes the ways stress can undermine health.
1- Unbalanced function of the Immune System; 2- Increased Cholesterol;
3- Increased Inflammation;
4- Increased Triglycerides;
5- Decreases bone density;
6- Increased Blood Clotting;
7- Problems with memory;
8- Impaired wound healing;
9- Unbalanced sense of Appetite;
10- Poorer Sleep;
11- Unbalanced weight gains;
12- Increased sensation of Pain,
13- Fat deposited in Abdomen;
14- More Fatigue;
15- Increased resistance to Insulin;
16- Worsening of Mood;
17- Increased Blood sugar;
18- Adoption of less healthy habits.
Yoga as medicine: a treatment against stress and consequent diseases
When we think about what illness caused by stress in our modern life, first coming on our mind heatheache or neuralgic, stomach-aches, and intestine aches, we use to know that are kept as symptoms that can be cured with antypain medicaments, and the pharmaceutic system has developed a various and numerous pills called pain killer, that while reducing the pain suffered from the patience, stimulate and increase dependence, and don ́t help the incidence that the acute or chronic symptom could become a serious illness.

What is stress?
Stress is a natural response or reaction of our body to troubles or ultimatum. The response is a balance between an impetus and the reaction that appear. This physiologic pathway, the stress, can be also positive, when is an incentive to reach some goals, but often is more negative, through the aspect of its chronicity, that not allow the body to maintain It under the level ́s alert. The responsible molecule is the glucocorticoid that govern the stress response, and not regularized and unbalanced provoke harmful, suffocation, depression and paralysis. The connection between the glucocorticoids, that works through the cortisol, secreted from the hypothalamus affect the metabolism like the mind. That ́s why for ex, under an high level of stress we can loose or gain weight. So depending of the subject response, cortisol can be a potent ant- inflammatory agent or over increased without balance the
create a disease. Cortisol’s ability to prevent the promulgation of the immune
first actor to
response , through the lack of its regulation and perception which determines
the proliferation of lymphocyte;
the individuals suffering from chronic stress is
highly vulnerable to infection.
Stress is unavoidable. Our bodies are designed to react to our environment in
an effort to preserve homeostasis or to stable a balance. Arming ourselves
with an understanding of the mechanisms, agonists and antagonists of the
stress response, however, positions us to minimize stress and its impact on
our minds and bodies.
The good news is that stress levels rest largely on our own behaviour and
decisions and that we can optimize our bodies responses to stress based on
how we live our daily life.
“Yoga slows down the fluctuations of the mind” Patanjali
What happen after the first yoga class experience, is a special turning down of mental loops, but also a deep relaxation of all the body. Joints and muscle, bones and tendons it seemed to be so relaxed that in Shavasana they wont move anymore connected deeply with the ground, and after we stand, instead a increasing energy flows in to our body, we are
The author of the Yoga Sutras (Patanjali) is teaching us here has to do with a
method of quieting the mind, which is a system of practices that leads us to
mental peace.

simply connected with all and our mind and our eyes are so open that we have another looking appeal. The facial expression change showing a deep joy and radiance. We have calm and deep power energy, not excitation just our vital energy that spread through the entire body. If we maintain our yoga practice, these feeling they awakening a constant calm place inside our heart and in different situation, extreme and stressful, we are more aware of a distant calm space that let us deal our busy routinely not that chaotic as it seems, so as it is, our modern life. Realizing it have a different look on it, helps to make it easy, with many things .
Experiences
Since I started to teach Yoga I noticed that behind a choice of doing yoga there is fundamentally two important motivations; one is about the healthy/beauty body, one about the personal mental process that connected with the emotion let the person feel an outsider or uncomfortable and these feeling are one linked with the other ones.
Both of the motivations are supported each other in most of the cases where comes from practitioner into the same gender, often women. I guess our society still make women the focal point of what is consider to have a smart life or to be smart in general. So commercial advertising, push us to believe, that more we have a beautiful body, and a smart look, better we benefit, and of course, men believe that this is the icon of a woman to look for. This obvious snake that bit itself, provoke, an higher consume of products in the industry of cosmetic and fashion-women side, and conditions an other high consume, in the automotive industry and technology- men side
This mechanism brings people to generate a sense of frustration, that slowly bring to develop another series of dissatisfactions and often chronicizes a kind and disparate symptoms.
When a person decide to participate to a yoga class has for sure something that he/she tried to find out from him/herself without success, or already knows something is wrong, but is tired to try to resolve with the usual way and look for something alternative.

When we come out from a meditation or after a full, deep and intense yoga practice, we have a kind of awakening that is completely different from other situations we live in. That’s a pure and instinctive wakefulness; we resolve and arrive at our true nature.
We create involuntarily a kind of deconstruction of the mind, we break the puzzle of each doubt and troubled thinking and we arrive at the pure source: a state of calmness close to the consciousness of our inner peace and awareness and we reach instinctively the awaking of our vibrations and perceptions that align with the vibrations and soul of the earth.
My experiences in the last 7 years are that half of the person, find out the solution and start to change something or more of its proper life, a 30% found out what it ́s the problem and realize that yoga helps to support or encourage the process of changement, the 15 % has no idea of what happen inside since it starts to practice yoga, but for sure at the end of the class feels better, light and a sort of deep freedom, that any alcohol, food or drugs gave before; a 5% sees that the process is long, and often traumatic and decide to interrupt then course.

Appendix
Sources – Books
The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali
The heart of Yoga: Developing a personal practice by T.K.V. Desikachar
Yoga as a medicine: The Yogic prescription for health and Healing, by T. McCall, MD
https://www.yogapedia.com
http://dujs.dartmouth.edu/2011/02/the-physiology-of-stress-cortisol-and-the- hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-axis/#.WmdzNq7nEW5.mailto
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2017.00670/full

     info@yalpyogaberlin www.yalpyogaberlin.com

The Light of Chakras

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The Light of Chakras by Paolo Proietti Yoga Alliance Italia/International Master Yoga Teacher https://www.yogaalliance.it/registro/lista/paolo-proietti/   

Paolo Proietti Master Yoga Teacher For the ancient Indians the celestial sphere was divided into 27 sectors or ‘Houses of the Moon’, called naksatra, literally stars or pearls.  Thirteen rays2 originate from each ‘House of the Moon’ and reach the earth. Four of these, perceivable as ‘light-sound’ are distinguished by the syllables A, I, U, E, O, BA, BI,  BU, BE, BO etc.

In total  there are 27×4=108 light-sounds corresponding to 108 building blocks of Matter. 108, like the grains of Mala, or like the elements indicated by the chemist Dmitrij Ivanovic Mendeleev in the Periodic Table of the Elements3, or by rsi Kasyapa4 at least 3,000 years before (or so they say).

  • See ‘Hatha Yoga, la lingua perduta dei Veggenti-simbologia e pratica della Serie Rishikesh’Aldenia Edizioni, Firenze 201
  • Precisely 13,3333… for a total of 27×13(3)=360 a ray for each degree of

THE CELESTIAL SPHERE

  • Dmitrij Ivanovic Mendeleev (Tobol’sk, 8 February 1834-San Petersberg, 2 February 1907). A Russian chemist, was the inventor of the Periodic Table of the Element Unlike previous contributors to the Table, Mendeleev furnished a system of classification that provided for the characteristics of elements yet to be discovered.
  • Kasyapa, author of Kashyapa Samhita, one of the most important books on traditional Indian medicine. He was an astronomer, doctor and Yogin. He is considered one of the seven rsi, literally prophets, the patriarchs of the Veda religion. Atharvaveda ‘Shaunakiya recension’ Hymn 19.7

To these 108 perceivable rays another 252 must be added, for a total of 360 rays, one for each degree of the celestial sphere. The theory of the Indian poets5 is fascinating: the radiance of the stars, in Sanskrit, marici, not only brings life to earth and to all the undefined parallel worlds that form the Universe of Veda, but has the power in certain, specific conditions to increase the frequency of the vibrations in our cells favoring those levels of consciousness which are defined as Realization, Illumination, Liberation…

In human beings all these 360 rays are present: those which illuminate the cosmos, those which give life to matter and those from which thoughts, desires and emotions arise.

These rays are to be found ready to respond to the ‘Song of the Stars’, in the six fundamental Cakra of Yoga (perineum, genitalia, navel, heart, throat, the center of the eyebrows):

56 resonate to Muladhara Cakra, the perineum plexus;

62 to the Svadhisthana Cakra, navel plexus;

54 to the Anahata Cakra, heart plexus;

72 to the Visuddha Cakra, throat plexus; 64 to the ajna Cakra, forehead plexus.

At the moment of creation, the ‘Goddess of Dawn,, called ‘Marici’ by the Buddists, or ‘The One Who Radiates’, lets fall the ‘Seeds of Light’ (or of sound or light-sound) into the depth of our soul. After having practiced Yoga, through a particularly emotional state or by fluke, we become sensitive to the ‘Song of the Stars’. The ‘Seeds of Light’ germinate and ‘the Cosmos alights inside us’.

Like harp strings, caressed by the wind, they create unexpected melodies so that our internal organs, bones and our cells harmonize with the voice of the Cosmos, sharing the Harmony of the Spheres. It is from the Seeds of Light that the Interior Universe blossoms.

For the ancient Vedas, inside each human being there sleeps an entire Universe with planets, stars and galaxies. See, eg, “Uttara Gita – or The Initiation of Arjuna by Sri Krishna into Yoga and Jnana” English Translation and Notes by B.K. Laheri, F.T.S. –

T.P.H. Oriental Series No. 9 – Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar,

Madras, India 1933 – Cap. II,15-16:  “15. Susumnã is a fine nerve that passes between the Idã and Pingalã. From this Susumnã all the JnãnaNãdis (sensory nerves) take their birth: hence it is called the Jnãna- Nãdi. 16. The Sun, the Moon, and the other Devatas, the fourteen Lokas of Bhur, Bhuvar, etc., the ten directions, East, West, etc., the sacred places, the seven oceans, the Himãlaya and other mountains, the seven Islands of Jambu, etc., the seven sacred rivers, Gangã, etc., the four Vedas, all the sacred philosophies, the sixteen vowels and twenty-four consonants, the Gãyatri and other sacred Mantras, the eighteen Purãnas and all the Upa- Purãnas included, the three Gunas, Mahat itself, the root of the Jîvas, the Jîvas and their Atman, the ten breaths, the whole world, in fact, consisting of all these, exists in the Susumnã.”

The Song of the Stars awakes this universe, changing each gesture into a cosmic dance and each thought into an astral voyage.

A poetic metaphor? Maybe not. Recently it has been discovered that ‘astrocytes’, star shaped cells (hence their name) that form from 20-50% of the cerebral mass, and the microtubules, the supporting structure of the cells, communicate between each other, and create specific processes.

The neuronal microtubules, when stimulated by certain vibrational frequencies (sounds), produce energy in the form of light and heat. Energy that would be able to modify DNA.

In their turn, the astrocytes, which don’t communicate by electric impulses but through light, activated by the energy of the microtubules, start to regenerate nerve tissue by creating new neurons and therefore new synapses.

With this in mind, Yoga is the ‘Art of Vibration’. The aim of Asana, Mudra and Mantra is to make the energy of the stars vibrate in the body.

If this vibration stimulates the production of light energy in the microtubules, and energy that enables the astrocytes to generate new neurons, then the so-called illumination  would be none other than the contemporary activation of all the neuronal microtubules and consequently the stimulation of all the astrocytes that Yoga leads to cell regeneration and to the modification of DNA as suggested by some, is a fascinating hypothesis, but like all hypotheses it must be verified.

If you think of the disproportion between the number of people who practice Yoga (30 million in the USA alone) and the number of known cases of physical transformation or unexplained healing linked to the practice of Yoga, it leads us to think that it is just a hypothesis, fascinating but farfetched.

Moreover, the stars light everyone in the same way: in which way or for what reason are some people able to use this light whilst the majority of human beings cannot?

THE STARS INSIDE US

In forty-five years of practice and research I am convinced that in Yoga one has to go beyond the metaphor.

One must in many cases, if not in all, take the ancient teachings literally.

Speaking of illumination for example, many of us automatically think of the poetic description of a particular condition of the mind or a particular state of consciousness. But what if it is really a phenomenal explosion of light? If in fact it is the perception of stars that dwell in us? I have discovered that the asana are constellations, asterisms that are purely casual.

A few years ago whilst making a teaching video I was consulting Google to find images for Yoga positions that are named after birds.

I typed in ‘Peacock, Crow, Swan, Crane, Dove…’ and images of the Milky Way came up. This intrigued me and I looked for the names of the basic positions in the Indian texts on astronomy. And indeed, all the asana that I know, from Trikonasana (the triangle position), to Mandukasana (the frog position), from Garudasana (the eagle position) to the position of Natarajasana, all correspond to stars, constellations or asterisms.

Shiva, King of the Dance, (this means Nataraja) is none other than Orion the Hunter. To understand this one must just compare the images of the King of the Dance with those of the Hunter in love with the Pleiadi.

The asana are celestial bodies and phenomena and the traditional pathways are maps of the sky, maybe routes of ancient mariners. Apart from the eventual practical aspects it is however beautiful! Each time we assume a series of positions we are recounting the story of a voyage.

With its astral links Yoga reveals itself as a sacred dance that lets us live physically, that link between person (Microcosm) and Universe (Macrocosm). We often use this as a metaphor, this state of consciousness or poetic attempts to overcome our anxiety of incompleteness. Marvelous!

The identicalness between asana and the stars is the key to understanding the real sense of Yoga: the discovery of our celestial origin and the transformation of body and mind together. I said cellular regeneration, and DNA modification. Science fiction?

The Tamil’s Nath and Siddha, the creators of Hathayoga, have always spoken of this. Tirumular (known as Cuntaranatar) in the Tirumantiram7  (a book of 3,000 verses which narrates the deeds of the first siddha, Nandi, Patanjali, Vyaghrapada etc.) affirms to be at least 3,000 years old and Babaji di Hairakhan, who died in 1984, was Babaji Nagaraji, recorded in the annals of thousands of years ago.

Legends? Based on my experience with the Rishikesh series, on my research and on the documents furnished by Rupchand, one of Babaji Hairakhan’s well-known pupils, I am of the opinion that Hatha Yoga is something different from what is generally believed. Behind the accounts of paranormal phenomena there is more than just the desire to astound which animates many of its devoted disciples. ‘Tirumantiram’ – ITES Publications, Madras 1979.

THE DANCE OF THE GODS

Let’s imagine that there are really stars inside us and that millions of years ago our forefathers discovered a way to make them play by the ‘Music of the Celestial Spheres’.

Let’s also imagine that these stars inside us are those astrocytes that are currently being studied by Prof. Fred H. Gage’s team in California. (Salk Institute for Biological Studies). Astrocytes are sensitive to light and today we know that stimulating the neuronal microtubules with  sound vibrations the brain illuminates with its own light. (see: Stuart Hameroff, Roger Penrose. Consciousness in the Universe, Physics of Life Reviews, 2013).

Is it so absurd to think that it is possible to stimulate the neuronal microtubules and therefore the astrocytes, with sounds and vibrations produced by the Yogin? Not according to me, and I believe that there is a way of proving it.

First of all with the asana and the sequence of movements one must soften and in a sense expand the body.The voice must travel, between muscles, skin and bone, without obstacles, like the breeze on the ocean, slipping through the dozens of fissures, cavities and channels that are found in our cranium, to make the bones vibrate and to finally arrive at the cerebral mass.

With practice, every single part of the head can vibrate producing high frequency sounds called Overtones based on the theory of Overtone Singing.

In the production of the harmonics the role of the soft palate is fundamental (called in tantra ‘the dwelling of Rudra, the Roaring God’). One can say that the soft palate is the entrance to the superior levels of consciousness. The production of overtones is accompanied by a tactile sensation, a sort of caress or massage in diverse areas of the cranium.

Paying attention to this sensation, after a short time, an interior sound begins, a sort of pleasant insect’s chirrup that is neither linked to the heartbeat nor to the flow of breathing.

It is as if the brain starts to sing by itself. Often, light phenomena are linked to this chirruping, with flowers of light that form and disappear, following this rhythm.  Once one has become confident with this internal sound, the quality of work on the asana changes radically. The movement is softer, lighter and beneath the skin one is aware of a sort of effervescence (perhaps the divine caress that the tantric refer to, see the ‘Paratrisikavivarana’ by

Abhinavagupta). This condition, finding the alignment with the constellations and thinking that each articulation corresponds to a celestial body, is an experience that is well worth trying. The song of the stars sounds in each single cell, and the body cannot do anything other than dance. This is Yoga: a dance, ‘the Dance of the Gods’.(translated by Christine Elizabeth Hogan)

Paolo Proietti Master Yoga Teacher

 

The divine union of Shiva and Shakti in traditional Indian Tantrism.

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Ardhanarishvara: 

The divine union of Shiva and Shakti in traditional Indian Tantrism.

Article by Maya Swati Devi

 www.devitantrayoga.com

“Devi, the same body is the temple; 

Jiva is the same Sadhashiva. 

Get rid of the withered flowers and loves ignorance with knowledge. 

So Ham, “I am he” 

Kularnava Tantra, Ullasa 9

The translation of the term Tantra is: “duality in unity “. Tantrism can also manifest in the physical body of a man and a woman, only if  the person  has been transformed into the androgyne manifestation. In this understanding resides the deepest mystery of Tantrism.
In India there is a symbol or figure that represents Shiva and Shakti in the form of half-man, half-woman, named  Ardhanarishvara. 

Ardhanariswara is ‘the symbol of Tantrism and means “half Shiva and half Shakti”.
This androgynous symbol is not hermaphrodite, and does not reflect ethnic decline as in the modern world.

In Tantra there is no mention of sexual preference but energies Prana (Positive pole) and Apana (Negative pole) which alternate within our subtle body.Labels are a separation that society creates  to control our lives with stereotypes and programs.A real tantrika refuse every label, every definition, and often are considered outcasts.
The Tantra aims to union and non-duality in every aspect of life and sexuality is exalted to transcend sex itself reaching mystical union. 

In every human being , if Shiva and Shakti dance together and are in balance , there is no difference between men and women as the principles come together and melt naturally.

One of the most important tantra sacred text ,  representing the union of Shiva and Shakti, is the Kularnava tantra, literally “ocean – the kaula bliss” ,Kaula means clan or family, is one of the most important texts of the tantric tradition Kaula Nath, and was written between the 10th and 15th century AD, which describes a dialogue between Shiva, the lord of yoga, and Shakti, the mother of the universe, and sets out the principles and practices of tantric path,  with the hermetic language  that characterizes most of the sacred tantric texts.

The Immutable Masculine and the Eternal Feminine

The mystic ndrogyny of  Ardhanarishvara is the symbol of a cosmic balance, where the masculine pole prevails sometimes the feminine pole and viceversa. On the metaphysical level this polarity game imparts the constant changes over the destinies of the world. In the universe  there would  be periods of absence or male concentration, followed by periods of presence or female expansion. The cosmic  male concentration  and absence of  fertilization , coincide with the decline of the dominant civilization.
Shiva, the divine seed, fertilized the entire planet in the golden era, during which reigned peace and unity, protected what is spiritually alive, respecting his function of destroyer. It is the diamond-thunderbolt (Vajra) coming  down from the cosmo.

Shiva is Bhairava that creates, protects, destroys, conceals, and his nature is revealed through the cycle of the world. The Lord Shiva, completely free (Svatantra), owns the diversity of forms of creation and destruction, by its very nature. 

The whole universe is Shakti, the energy that has the ultimate aim to recognize the nature of Shiva. 

Shakti is the personification of the universe, and her activity is to love, while Shiva shares the state of supreme consciousness. Shakti is fully and eternally complete. 

Shakti, the feminine, raises new sources of inspiration and Shiva materializes his seed through her.
Her radiance does not fade in light or in darkness, because all the light and the darkness is illuminated by the Supreme Consciousness.Shiva and Shakti are not aware of being separate , they are linked to each other as fire and heat.

Shiva and Shakti in Yoga

Yoga is the unity of all the dualities and opposites that creates lifeforce , it teaches us to understand and transcend duality, it is based on the harmonization of duality within us in a state of transformative equilibrium.

Shakti and Shiva, as the cosmic dual principles , are an intrinsic part of  Yoga, which is a natural process of integration and transformation. The recognition of the cosmic duality leads us to the practice of Yoga, which is theunion. The whole Yoga is a development of awareness of the two  opposites: Shiva, the seer of the state,  and Shakti,  its power to see, transforming the two forces from their lower manifestations to their higher reality in pure union.

Shiva is Pure Being and Shakti is the power to Become.

Each world has the nature of Shiva, higher Self or Spirit, and the  power or dynamic energy of Shakti.

Each creature has the nature of Shiva and Shakti.

Shiva is the intrinsic reality ,Shakti is the power of action. 

Shiva is beyond every action, while Shakti is the power of action at all levels. 

The divine presence has a tremendous power to act when the time is appropriate, which is the expression of his Shakti. Shiva is the underlying reality which is not manifested and Shakti creates its external appearance.

This duality of Shiva and Shakti, or being and action, also happens in the manifest realm. Shiva is reality or durability , while Shakti is the relativity, what is always fluctuating. 

All yoga practices aim to cultivate a calm awareness of Shiva and a corresponding dynamic force of Shakti. Shiva is reflected in asana’s calmness, Shakti is the power of flowing into it . Shiva is the nature of Prana in the state of  balance, Shakti is the power to develop  it. Pranayama is a inner energizing  Shakti practice. 

Shiva is the beginning of the pratyahara or withdrawal of the senses, the action of Shakti internalize our energies. Shiva is reflected in the concentrated mind and Shakti is the direct power of concentration. 

Shiva is the meditative mind and Shakti is the power of meditation. 

Shiva is the state of absorbption or Samadhi , the highest stage in meditation, in which a person experiences oneness with the universe, and Shakti is the power of bliss. 

The alignment is the balance of the union of Shiva and Shakti energies within. 

Shiva is the state of equilibrium; and Shakti is the energy of transformation that arises spontaneously from it. 

In our inner nature, we are Shiva and Shakti without limits, with an unlimited understanding and an unlimited capacity of creative actions.

While the energy of Shakti unfolds, it will bring to the state of total transformation which is the quietness of Shiva. Shiva is the Lord of Yoga and Shakti is the power in the practice of Yoga.. The whole yoga is Shiva-Shakti Yoga as the ultimate union.

Shiva and Shakti are present together reflecting each other in our lives at every level. Once you recognize this, all life becomes yoga.

The mystical union of Siva and Sakti in the traditional Tantric

Tantra is the practical application of the whole yogic wisdom, life, space and energy. If you approach it with the right intention, it can offer much more than the fulfillment of your desires, it can help you to achieve the ultimate goal of embracing the life of the whole universe into your own consciousness!

“From the meaning of Tantra (TAN) ” text or exposure “is derived the meaning of “which has proceeded “or “what has come down”.  Tantra is an extension or further development of the traditional teachings originally contained in the Vedas, the brahmanas, the Upanishads and the Puranas, claiming the dignity of a “fifth Veda.” The tantric sacred texts also state that only the techniques based on Shakti sâdhana are suitable and effective during  the actual time known as Iron age or Kali yuga , all others scriptures would act as a snake’s venom. ”

The duality, which originates in the divine couple of Shiva and Shakti, is  imprinted in Tantrism,  and it imanifest in the human expression of couple , where the man and the woman will live the myth of Shiva and Shakti on earth

The man who embraces the  tantric path (sadhaka) sees  Shakti in every woman as incarnation of Devi, whose fertile energies can play the role of the absolute experimentation.

Tantric intercourse leads to the reunion of the metaphysical dyad, the union of Shiva and Shakti , distroying  duality and revealing the fullness  as One. 

The male and the female are two opposite and complementary polarity. The “positive” pole (Prana) And the “negative” pole (Apana). During the mystical union of the Maithuna these two forces converge and create the experience of Samadhi,  in the expression of the thousand-petalled lotus (Sahasrara). 

In  Tantric union it is  important to direct the energy towards the point on the top of the head named Bindu ; which literally means “point” or  “drop” and is the nucleus from which the creation becomes manifest.

The Maithuna , Sacred ritual of the mystical tantric union,  might be the easiest way for the awakening  of Kundalini Devi or the Serpent Goddess, but few are adeguately prepared for this journey as the ordinary sex is not a mystical union. The body  must be first purified, both internally and externally, and  the mind must be free from emotions and needs. 

According to tradition, the practice of Dakshina marg , The way of the devotee, must be followed for many years, before reaching the Vama Marg,  In order to prepare the sadhaka to acquire Bhakti (Devotional attitude) toward the woman, and thus to Shakti.

Vama, in sanskrit means: “which is at the left hand side” and it refers to Ida Nadi  (subtle female channel),  located at  the left hand side of Sushumna Nadi (center channel) , and has the “lunar”, “female”, “aqueous” (kapha) character. During tantric rituals  the woman is seated “to the left” of the man, so is the woman who is “Vama” and she takes the leading role of the “Initiator”. 

Panchamakara , The ritual of the five M, practiced in the sacred ceremony  of Maithuna unfortunately has been missunderstood , reinterpreted and applied to the letter by Western Tantra, but the real secret of this ritual can only be understood by the initiated Sadhaka who perceive its symbolic value:
• Madya – drink wine: is the divine inebriation
• mamsa – eat Meat: is the physicality, the asanas (positions that they take with the body during the practice of yoga)
• Matsya – eat fish: is pranayama (breath control)
• Mudra – eating roasted cereal: is the mudra (symbolic gesture  or seal that allows the practitioner of yoga to develop
awareness of the currents of life energy within the body).
• Maithuna – sexual union: is the mystical union (which has nothing to do with an ordinary intercourse).

In this expansion of consciousness a female humanbeing is transfigured into a living symbol and an earthly manifestation of the Divine Mother of the Universe (Adhi Shakti), while the man embodies the Masculine Principle or Shiva. 

This vision can be understood by knowing the  traditional tantric path:
Tantrism speaks about  the essence of the cosmo, the centers that radiate the divine realm, the astrology, the genesis and apocalypse , the spirit, the soul and the body, the  magic and the alchemy. The aim to embrace the yoga path depends on the circumstances, on the Dharma (vocation) and on the qualifications of one’s unconscious mind.

The tantric tradition considers Shakti a lifeforce that is dynamism and power, pure manifestation of the absolute action. The sexual expansion techniques aim to  liberation or Moksha, and to learn to move Shakti inside and outside of us, in order to escape from the limited experience  embracing the infinity. The Tantric path considers the woman a metaphysical center of the erotic relationship. The sexual act triggers a power that goes far beyond the physical pleasure, amplifying and expanding the sphere of desire, taking full advantage of the sexual power of love. Sexuality is the only way  to capture, magnify and interact with the process of the Cosmo. 

Tantra as INNER REVOLUTION

Tantra is,  and will remain,  a dominant force, not only in Indian spirituality but worldwide. While we recognize the popular New Age forms of Tantra as a point of entry into these teachings, it is important to recognize the wider vision and spiritual knowledge of the  authentic  and traditional Tantra.

Tantra is an inner revolution, it is to drop all the religious beliefs, morality, constraints, prejudices and create the space  within that to conceive the infinite and timeless truth. 

The moment where the mind is empty and adapts to what really happens in the present  , everything becomes union. The texture, the principle of life,  magically takes many different forms of infinite creativity. 

lTantra breaks taboos, beliefs and dogmas imposed by any religion.

If for Shiva grace , through Sadhana or the vibration of the Guru,  someone realizes the true knowledge of reality, which is the permanent state of Lord Shiva, final liberation is attained . 

This fulfillment is given to noble souls and is called liberation in life (Jivanmukti).

***Author’s notes: Some terms in Sanskrit have been rewritten to the ease of the reader’s  reading. The terms Shiva and Shakti are written in Sanskrit Siva and Sakti but for this article are written with the “H”. 

Maya Swati Devi 2018, All rights reserved.

It is forbidden any duplication or copy of this article without the permission of the author.

 

MAYA DEVI SWATI

Italian Teacher of Traditional Tantrism, Yogini, dancer and author of  the book “The  tantric dancer”, published in italian by MIR 2016, founder of the first italian school of traditional Tantrism and Tantric yoga in Milan (IT) in 2007.

Maya’s  teachings  follows the principles of the Tantric ancient traditions: Kaula and Sakta ,  according to the sacred text “Mahanirvana Tantra” and the union of “Shiva and Shakti” of the Kaula ligneage, the inner shakti yoga, the worship of the Dasha Mahavidya (the Ten tantric wisdom goddesses) and the great Mother of  the  Sakta path and the principles of Truth , Simplicity and Love, the message  that Babaji Shiva Mahavatar left to the world.
Maya was initiated in 2000 to the Kaula tantrism by Swami Shri Anand Guptananda during her long stay in the Himalayan mountains in India. In 2007 she was recognized Tantra teacher and  student by her second  Master  Swami Shri Param Eswaran who initiated her to the Sakta  tradition. In 2014 she became a TANTRIC YOGA Certified teacher by Yoga Alliance.
She is been teaching  for many years to women about  DIVINE FEMININE, helping them to understand their femininity through the secret practices of  tantric yogini, Indian and mystical Sufi dances.
Maya is committed to spread  the tradition of TRADITIONAL  HINDU’ TANTRISM i  in Italy and abroad, through courses and annual training courses. She organizes spiritual retreats and tours in India and Indonesia and she is one of the few Western Tantra teachers invited to give seminars in India. Maya is  vegan since 1996  and  she uses natural  remedies and practices  to keep body and mind in good health, following the principles of nature and ayurveda.

LANGUAGES: ENGLISH, FRENCH, SPANISH, SANSKRIT (yoga knowledge), Hindi (speaking knowledge).

 To know more about  Maya Swati Devi and her school DEVI TANTRA YOGA please visit www.devitantrayoga.com


 

Happiness is a journey not a destination Part 1

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Happiness is a journey not a destination…..

(by Francesca Cassia & Roberto Milletti Odaka Yoga www.odakayoga.com, https://www.facebook.com/odakayoga/, https://www.instagram.com/odakayoga/)

Yoga is a means to an end and not the end

There is something that we all have in common; it is something that we all desire, no matter our story, our journey, our place in the world and our religion. This something is happiness. A feeling that for some may seem impossible to reach and for others it is so sporadic it is not able to define their life. There are not many words that are able to clearly define happiness, and yet, even if so elusive, it remains the number one objective for most people. Almost a distant mirage in an age where money, success and daily stress seem to have erased every possibility to reach this much coveted way of being.

Very often one thinks that to obtain happiness one must reach certain aspirations and crown dreams on a personal or a professional level. In reality, what often happens once one attains certain goals instead of happiness increasing, it decreases or actually disappears. At every conquest we realise that we are racing after another objective. One cannot reach real and long lasting happiness in this way, if not for a fleeting moment.

Happiness is a commonly used word and difficult to define because to describe it would be to limit it. It is such a generic and vague word that it has many interpretations. “To Be Happy” represents for most of us a key ambition in our life.But, if this is our goal, what do we need to do to reach it?

The first step is to recognise happiness as a state of mind, a condition of the soul that varies according to the person and not defined candidly

“For a long time I had the impression that life was about to begin – real life. But, there was always an obstacle in the way, something that needed to be resolved, a situation hanging that needed more time, or a debt to pay off. Once this was over, life would begin. In the end, I realised that these obstacles were my life. This way of understanding things helped me to understand that there is no road that leads to happiness. Happiness is the way.” – Alfred D. Souza

Every trip begins with a single step….and continues, step by step. Happiness is to savour the moment…and the next….until eternity.

If we do not lead a full and happy life now, in this moment, are we really certain that we will be able to do so in the future?

There is no better moment to be happy: now! To be exactly in this moment, doing exactly what we are doing without worrying about the result. [We must] hold dearly every single instant, knowing that this second will never return. This moment is life. And when it passes, it dies. There is no way to reach happiness. Happiness is the way to experience life, fully exploring everything that this moment has to offer.

To act in the present moment allows us take on any role. Always keeping in mind that happiness is in the journey. The requirement is to be grateful in the present – in the here and now – only in this way are we to enjoy every occasion with the purest and sincerest joy. To be, to listen, to love, to laugh, to share, to dream, to have joy, to act, to taste, to touch, constantly exploring consciously and present in the moment that we are living because it is unique and we chose it. Let’s defend out time! Let’s not allow the dream stealers that we encounter daily to steal our present. Time is the most precious thing we have. We can’t buy it and we cannot receive it as a gift. But, we can use it in the best way possible.