You probably have some ideas of what tantra yoga is…and what it isn’t.
If any of those ideas have the visage of Sting, you may have been blinded by what tantra yoga instructor Krista Novakowski says is “5% of the practice.”
What is the other 5%? Krista enlightens us:
Tantra yoga in a nutshell? Go:
Tantra yoga is like the other yogas. It’s a form of Hatha yoga and it draws on ancient teaching. What makes tantra yoga unique is that we are very much focused on the consciousness and
the energy of the yoga.
How else does it differ from other styles of yoga?
You typically practice with your eyes closed. You are really going into your internal world. You are working with this microcosmic/macrocosmic concept. You are tuning into yourself (the microcosm) as a part of the universe (the macrocosm). You become sensitized to the energies that are within you. The yoga becomes a deep meditation.
So, this is not a practice with a lot of planks, huh?
It’s not typically a
highly physical yoga. We hold the postures from 5-15 minutes. There’s not a lot of flow to it, but you are practicing standing postures, inverted postures and seated postures. The energy is following your thoughts, so wherever you put your focus is what is expanding.
Who is attracted to tantra yoga to begin with?
People who are attracted to tantric yoga get really into it. They have a piqued curiosity to know themselves and they can use the practice to go to a deeper level.
How did tantra become so closely associated with sex?
It works with moving all energy and this does include
sexual energy. Even within the yoga practice, you become more aware of the energy that we have and how to harness the masculine and feminine aspects of yourself. Your inner man and woman are making love through this practice.
That’s certainly different than how most people look at it.
This word tantra has taken on certain connotations in the West. It really means “loom” and refers to everything in the universe being connected. There is tantric yoga and tantric fire ceremonies and tantric mantra and sacred dance. People in the West focus on a man and woman being together sexually and that is a very small percent of the whole practice. Tantra yoga is about using those energies within you and starting to balance them. In tantra yoga, there’s no one else involved but you. It gets very distorted!
Well, sex sells! How did you become a tantric teacher?
It is my spiritual path. It is my way of being! It harmonizes with everything.
We wonder if Sting understands that. (It doesn’t really matter, we love him anyway.)
Keen to learn more about the practice of tantra yoga? Head to agamayoga.ca and Krista’s own personal site samavesha-yoga.com.
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