Earth, Water, Fire and Air: the four elements that make up not only the natural world but every human being, body and mind.
According to yoga, these elements are at play in all of the manifestation. The stability of the Earth, the fluidity of Water, the transformative power of Fire and the expansiveness of Air… They are constantly dancing in all of us. We all have all of them, but your own balance of the four elements is uniquely your own.
There may be as many answers to this question as there are tantrikas! Sacred sexuality doesn’t have to look or even feel a certain way for it to be meaningful and authentic. But in our experience as teachers and practitioners, we’ve found that sexual tantra–if it’s going to be a real spiritual path and not just a game of pleasure–rests on three pillars: consecration, sublimation, transfiguration…
The “thousand-petaled lotus” blossoming from the crown of the head represents the pinnacle of the journey through the chakra system, yet sahasrara itself is not a chakra.
If we look at the chakras in the traditional yogic system, each one represents a level of consciousness and a world in itself, each one a very particular flavor of reality.
The mysterious third eye, blinking open in the forehead of Shiva or Buddha. The unforeseen intuition and deeper understanding that seems to arise out of nowhere like a flash of lightning. What is the reality of the ajna chakra, the sixth and highest chakra, that gateway to mystical experience reflected in the middle of the forehead?
Welcome to the world of vishuddha chakra!
Located at the throat, the fifth chakra is the point in the chakra system where things start to get a little trippy. It is the first of the upper chakras, representing a level of consciousness beyond the ordinary reality of personal limitations. This can make it a little more difficult to understand and relate with than the lower chakras, but an absolutely fascinating domain to explore.
Anahata holds the middle point in the chakra system, between the three lower chakras governing ordinary human life and the three upper chakras going into transcendence.
Related to the air element, it represents the beginning of true spiritual life and also the ending point, the place from which you live once you’ve already gone to the top of the mountain and seen the complete view, so to speak.
Behind any great accomplishment in this world, you’ll find the power of manipura. It’s the spark that gets you moving to embark on new plans and visions, and the courage to carry forward despite difficulties. “Where there’s a will there’s a way,” and manipura is the very manifestation of willpower.
This is true for spiritual accomplishments just as much as for success in business or whatever else.
Svadhisthana: that mysterious energetic center of sex and sensuality, emotions and creativity, known sometimes as the “black sheep of the chakra family” or even just the “secret chakra.”
What’s really the deal with the second chakra?
Svadhisthana is a portal to the infinite, to the sacred dimension of your being, just like all the other chakras. However, it has its own particularities and often requires a special approach.
Svadhisthana is the home of the Water element and everything associated with it. Sexuality, yes, but also emotionality, artistic expression, social connectivity and much more. It’s an intense energy, not always the easiest to deal with, and one that we’re all living closely with on a daily basis…
Stability. Vitality. Connection to nature, to the essential life force that enables our existence in this physical form.
That slowness and steadiness that wins the race.
These are the key qualities of the Earth element, and in a human being such as yourself, they’re expressed through the energy of muladhara chakra, the first chakra or “root chakra” located at the base of the spine.
Muladhara may be the “lowest” chakra but it’s extremely important, both in your daily life and yoga practice. Think of it as your base of support, or like your battery that powers your whole system…
You are a woman and for this you are powerful! Nature created you to be powerful.
This is why you are so connected to mother earth.
For this you have a cycle of 28 days like the moon, which rises and falls like the tides.
You can create life, you can give birth.
Happy New Year! As 2020 (finally?) rolls behind us, we’re all looking to start 2021 on the best footing. January 1st might be just another day in the year, but in the collective consciousness of humanity, it marks a fresh start, an opportunity to plant seeds and strong intentions that set the frequency for months to come.
Here are a few yogi-tested ideas to be your best self in the new year…
In the time of outer darkness, nearly every culture in the world has chosen to celebrate light.
Last week the Jewish people of the world lit the last Hanukah candles. Scandinavian girls adorned themselves with crowns of candles. Iranian families gathered to spend the solstice night eating, burning fires and reading poetry. Now we celebrate the birth of Christ, the light of Oneness Consciousness blossoming within a world of darkness.
The system of chakras and their related elements has in some way become iconic of yoga itself.
In fact, the system of five elements – Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether – isn’t unique to yoga. You can find the same five elements or something similar in Tibetan Buddhism, Daoism, Native American shamanic traditions, European alchemy and many other cultures.
Imagine having a potent all-purpose tool to use in life as needed, a kind of magical power. Imagine being able to focus your energy as needed, at various times of the day and life in general.
Welcome to the world of yoga!
The effect of the practice can reach incredible depths, far beyond the physical body…
Svadhisthana is often referred to as the “black sheep” or “problem child” of the chakra family. So many of the challenges of everyday human life find their root in an inharmonious svadhisthana chakra. We all have to address it in some way, either to move energy (and therefore our consciousness) out of it, or to purify it until it becomes transparent to its divine nature—or both!
If there’s anything that the modern world of yoga has in abundance, it’s Yoga Teacher Training Courses. These days it seems like everyone is busy either taking a TTC or offering one.
When you hear about yoga TTC’s, maybe your first thought is, “Eh, this isn’t for me. I don’t want to be a yoga teacher.”
Actually, there are many reasons to complete a yoga teacher training course even if you have little or no interest in teaching yoga! …
Do you often feel tired, dull or weak? Do you often get sick? Do you have enough energy for long lovemaking or tend to lose your drive early on?
These are all signs that your vitality, your basic life energy, is low.
Since tantra is a path of energy, it’s extremely important to run on full power. Vitality is important to feel good and stay healthy, but also so you can practice tantric lovemaking and powerful sublimation.
The yogic tradition provides a clear understanding of where this raw vital force comes from and how we can amplify it. Keep reading to learn cultivate your vitality and enjoy more energy, health and spiritual power.
Sex is wonderful and you are absolutely right for loving it! However, so many women even now feel shame around loving, enjoying and seeking sex, or fear that they might love it too much.
If this is the case for you, I recommend let’s take a look at the roots of this shame and how to overcome it to enjoy the glorious, powerful, divine sexuality that is the birthright of every woman.
What are you practicing when you practice yoga? The yoga that we mostly see in the West is primarily physical. Of course, there are benefits for the mind and emotions, as any conscious movement will benefit the mind and the emotions – many people find long-distance running, for example, to be very meditative. It’s wonderful that so many people now…
“Yoni” is the Sanskrit word for the vagina. Also meaning “source” or “origin,” the warm syllables carry with them an overtone of reverence. In English, by contrast, all the words we have for female genitalia are either derogatory or coldly clinical. It’s hard to even speak about our own intimate parts without shame, feeling like we are talking about something…
What does it mean to be a spiritual seeker in modern times, in the Internet age? Before the world became so technological, if you wanted to receive the teachings of a master you had to travel across the world, by land, to go and knock at the doors of a guru who likely would test your determination by letting you…
The tantric relationship: being together to evolve 16 years together, it seems like an eternity! In the times in which marriages often end in the third year of living together, our relationship seems like an ancient Egyptian pyramid that resists time and atmospheric phenomena, unwavering and stable. The storm passes, sometimes real cyclones, yet Marco and Amita still come out…
Resonance Start or amplification of a vibrational phenomenon in a system under the influence of similar vibrations produced by another system. The phenomenon of resonance takes place when the frequency of a vibration is close, or coincides with one of the frequencies with which the system that comes into resonance is able to vibrate. During the resonance process there is…
In recent years we have witnessed a “boom” of Yoga around the world. If once it was necessary to go to India on the banks of the river Ganges to find a teacher and learn the discipline, nowadays intensive yoga and training courses for teachers are found in almost all latitudes of the planet. But has the quality of the…