Learn Tantra Breathing For Complete Wellbeing

The manner in which we breathe plays a huge role in how healthy and emotionally grounded we are. As a tantra teacher, I place great emphasis on correct breathing and the tantra breathing techniques prescribes by the tantra scriptures. Apart from overall physical, mental and spiritual wellness, tantra breathing is an excellent method of detoxification.

The commonly accepted misconception that breathing should take place through the chest is just that – a misconception. It is a myth propagated by physical fitness advocates who simply do not know any better. In fact, chest breathing can lead to a lot of complications, since the lungs cannot expand to their fullest capacity and are therefore unable to absorb oxygen properly. One of the first things that your tantra teacher will inform you of is that chest breathing is shallow, unhealthy breathing.

Furthermore, expanding the chest is one of the ways in which men behave when they want to display aggression or dominance. It is a primitive response to danger, and its purpose is for the male to take up more space and make himself look bigger and more powerful. For this reason, making it a habit to expand the chest releases all sorts of stress hormones.

For any serious student of tantra, it is important to unlearn this unhealthy manner of breathing and to be instructed in the prescribed tantra breathing methods. This is not always easy.

The correct way of breathing as per tantra yoga guidelines involves drawing breath in slowly through the nose and allowing the abdomen (rather than the chest) to expand. In this way, the diaphragm is distended downwards and creates more space for the lungs to be filled. It is helpful to imagine that the air is being drawn through the lungs and into the belly.

This kind of breathing can be practiced in day-to-day life until it becomes second nature. While practicing tantra breathing during a tantra yoga session, one can take the technique further. After drawing in the breath as outlined above, hold it for a brief moment and then begin expelling it, allowing your belly and chest to deflate. However, the period of exhalation should be longer than that of inhalation, even if by just a few seconds. Then begin the cycle again.

Be warned that dizziness may occur, since the blood is absorbing much more oxygen than the body is used to. Avoid the use of any kind of burned incense while practicing this kind of tantra breathing, as the process of burning smoke will compromise the oxygen content in their air and also introduce harmful residues of combustion into it.

By practicing this tantric technique of inhalation and exhalation, you are ensuring that your lungs are completely voided of used-up air and filled to capacity with fresh oxygenated air. Practicing this kind of breathing for ten minutes each morning and night will have a profound and lasting effect on your body and mind.

Acharya Subhojit Dasgupta is a Tantra Teacher with deep knowledge of traditional Indian sciences. Visit his tantra online guide for Tantra Lessons from this young Tantra Master.

The Role Of Detoxification In Learning Tantra

It is surprising how few people realize what a significant role the state of the body plays in the state of the mind. As a tantra teacher, I often have to underscore this fact repeatedly with new students. You cannot learn and benefit from ancient tantra if your body is contaminated by the toxins and excesses of modern living.

I will not go into the technicalities here, since there is enough material available on the inalienable body-mind connection. Suffice it to say that the clarity of mind that tantra meditation and techniques require can only happen if the body is cleansed of impurities – only then can pure thoughts and therefore an unhampered spirit follow.

That said, it is understandable that most new students of the tantric arts do not come from backgrounds that allow them to live completely contaminant-free lifestyles. In fact, there are very few exceptions. This is why a tantra teacher must highlight the importance of occasional detoxification learning tantra – not to speak of healthy living in general.

There are severe limits set on spiritual growth if the student of tantra has allowed toxins to build up within his or her body. But it is also important to realize that toxic buildup within the body causes it to age faster, and to expose it to increasing health problems as well as decreased energy levels and overall well-being.

As a result, spiritual seekers have realized the importance of cleansing the body of its contaminants. While traditional systems like fasting do help to a certain extent, they fail to address the entire issue. They usually focus on a single factor (in the case of fasting, the digestive system) without considering the fact that poisons accumulate in the blood, lungs and various other organs as well. Moreover, mere fasting can actually release an overload of poisons into the body, which will make the person even sicker. Without the benefits of nutrition, the body is likely to rebel in no uncertain way to such an onslaught.

In the practice of tantra, the student learns of ways in which to detoxify the body in a manner based on ancient precepts that ensure overall physical health. This includes proper nutrition as well as significant changes in lifestyle. This aspect cannot be over-emphasized.

There are various detoxification therapies in use today, but the only valid ones involve significant lifestyle changes. It is not possible to eliminate toxins from the body if these toxins continue to be assimilated. This means that the person learning tantra will have to contribute to the process in various ways. Some are passive, such as abstinence from fatty foods, nicotine, caffeine, alcohol, recreational drugs and non-essential medication. Others are more proactive, such as tantra yoga exercise.

In order to gain optimal spiritual progress, the beneficial effects of such a lifestyle must be maintained on a long-term basis. Fortunately, most of my students have little difficulty in doing so since the profound well-being they experience after adopting a detoxified lifestyle are so great that they are naturally motivated to maintain such changes.

Acharya Subhojit Dasgupta is a Tantra Teacher with deep knowledge of traditional Indian sciences. Visit his tantra online guide for Tantra Lessons from this young Tantra Master.

Understanding The Principles Of Tantra Yoga

Most of my students express surprise when I explain to them for the first time what the word ‘yoga’ really means. Patanjali, the great Indian saint who developed the art and science of yoga, in fact describes it as the suspension of all functions of the mind. It is definitely a task for a tantra teacher to explain this profound concept to his students, since all human activity seems to be focused on thinking. It is a hard concept to grasp, and even harder to follow.

Tantra yoga requires the aspiring student to first understand the concept of thought suspension, then to accept them and then to practice them. It does not require the curbing of mental functions until the vital importance of this is clearly understood. Once it is understood, it must be practiced – and to suspend mental activity always requires a major leap of faith.

In the modern world, there is a lot of importance given to mental acuity and prowess – being able to dispute, hold one’s own in an argument and to use one’s intelligence to overcome obstacles. However, in tantra yoga, the student must renounce all illusions of intellectual mastery and become unquestioning, accepting and driven by faith alone. None of the powers we associate with tantra yoga come from mental activity – they come from acceptance and faith.

The mind engrossed in its constant thought processes is a wild, uncaged animal. It permits no peace to its owner and in fact becomes the owner’s master. Since the mind drives the body, the body is also in a constant state of stress and readiness for battle. It is not possible for such a mind/body to experience the peace and harmony that tantra yoga brings. However, in meditative repose, the mind becomes peaceful and teachable.

It is axiomatic that the human mind, being what it is, cannot bring itself into such a harmonious state without outside help. Throughout the centuries, people have attempted to do so by means of drugs and other intoxicants. The deleterious results of such efforts to bring the mind into a peaceful state are well known. In fact, the natural means to rein in the mind, consequently attaining control over the body and achieving blissful harmony have always been available. They do not involve intoxicants, but spiritual guidance.

The tantra teacher is more than an instructor – he is a spiritual guide. He is the person in whom we must repose a great deal of faith. This is because in the course of tantra yoga instructions, the student must learn to accept profound spiritual truths and to suspend the mental barriers that normally prevent the assimilation of such truths. By learning to suspend our mind’s intellectual turmoil under his instructions, we make ourselves vulnerable. But only through this vulnerability can we attain the great powers of tantra yoga.

If you have set your sights on mental peace, ultimate physical health and spiritual progress, you are ready to be instructed in the powerful secrets of tantra yoga. If you have found a genuine tantra master, you can be assured that you will attain your goals. Practice great faith while listening to his instructions, and don’t be afraid of ‘losing’ your mind. You will not lose it, but in fact confront it for the very first time. Do not be scared of losing control. By practicing tantra yoga under the guidance of a true tantra teacher, you will gain a degree of control over your mind and body that you never imagined possible.

Acharya Subhojit Dasgupta is a Tantra Teacher with deep knowledge of traditional Indian sciences. Visit his tantra online guide for Tantra Lessons from this young Tantra Master.