History and My Thoughts
Tantra Yoga is a mainly spiritual type of dance used to develop awareness in all states of consciousness. It developed in India as a way to rebel against the harsh moral standards of that time period’s Hindu religion. Tantra Yoga focuses on a divinity, called Shakti, which is centered on a pleasure principle that constitutes your body being the vehicle for all pleasurable experiences. This being said, it is considered negative and hampering to your spirit if you deny yourself of earthly pleasures such as sex. Therefore, because the stages look so overtly sensual, is mainly known for its sexual overtones, although it was created for spiritual enlightenment (Sagredo, Armand).
When we perform Tantra Yoga, it allows us to gain inner assurance, peace, and a connection with the mind and body. We find a spiritual calm through Tantra Yoga, which allows us to expand our different levels of consciousness ("Tantra Yoga : What Is Tantra Yoga - Reprogramming the Mind."). It may be confusing as to how a dance, being so active in and of itself, can help calm an individual so I will try to clarify.
Tantra Yoga is very therapeutic, because the long, slow, and breathing oriented stances/performances help you to release any negative energy or worries by letting you breathe it out, and meditate. The dance itself allows you to break the physical limits between the spirit and body (as long as you are in the right mind set). It is the rhythm and repetitious movements working in coordination that help to alleviate stress and help center your mind and body ("Tantra Yoga.").
I chose to expand on this subject mainly for its spiritual aspects. I find the subject of a person’s spirit fascinating although it so controversial. Tantra Yoga, focuses on connecting to your spirit through awakening all the levels of consciousness. That to me, makes the idea of someone’s spirit much more tangible, instead of perceiving it as some far away entity that you can’t see or feel. This appeals to me of course and made me very interested in Tantra Yoga. I was unaware of its prominent sexual nature until I did further research, but after reading more into it, I feel that it is manipulated in popular culture. The only reason it became so saturated with sex was to derail from the strict principles of the Hindu religion that was prominent at its time of creation, and also because of the spiritual beliefs of those people. It was not purely for eroticism. I feel that people now look past the spiritual element of Tantra Yoga and focus too much upon its sensual components, and that must stop so that it can be respected as a spiritual dance form.
After reading much into Tantra Yoga, I feel that I have a more in depth look at how culture and history, help shape dances, and how dance helps shape them in return. After all, Tantra Yoga would not have come into existence without the Hindu religion and its strict morals. The Hindu religion has also changed much to suit the growing needs and demands of its people since they expressed their beliefs through Tantra Yoga. They both helped to shape one another, and thus I now have an inside look at how people shape their surroundings through the invention of different dances. People can express themselves not only spiritually through dance, but they can also express their religious differences and demands, their upsets, and their political/economic status. It is clear through my research in this project that dance literally helps us a people to overcome and transform the world we live in.
When we perform Tantra Yoga, it allows us to gain inner assurance, peace, and a connection with the mind and body. We find a spiritual calm through Tantra Yoga, which allows us to expand our different levels of consciousness ("Tantra Yoga : What Is Tantra Yoga - Reprogramming the Mind."). It may be confusing as to how a dance, being so active in and of itself, can help calm an individual so I will try to clarify.
Tantra Yoga is very therapeutic, because the long, slow, and breathing oriented stances/performances help you to release any negative energy or worries by letting you breathe it out, and meditate. The dance itself allows you to break the physical limits between the spirit and body (as long as you are in the right mind set). It is the rhythm and repetitious movements working in coordination that help to alleviate stress and help center your mind and body ("Tantra Yoga.").
I chose to expand on this subject mainly for its spiritual aspects. I find the subject of a person’s spirit fascinating although it so controversial. Tantra Yoga, focuses on connecting to your spirit through awakening all the levels of consciousness. That to me, makes the idea of someone’s spirit much more tangible, instead of perceiving it as some far away entity that you can’t see or feel. This appeals to me of course and made me very interested in Tantra Yoga. I was unaware of its prominent sexual nature until I did further research, but after reading more into it, I feel that it is manipulated in popular culture. The only reason it became so saturated with sex was to derail from the strict principles of the Hindu religion that was prominent at its time of creation, and also because of the spiritual beliefs of those people. It was not purely for eroticism. I feel that people now look past the spiritual element of Tantra Yoga and focus too much upon its sensual components, and that must stop so that it can be respected as a spiritual dance form.
After reading much into Tantra Yoga, I feel that I have a more in depth look at how culture and history, help shape dances, and how dance helps shape them in return. After all, Tantra Yoga would not have come into existence without the Hindu religion and its strict morals. The Hindu religion has also changed much to suit the growing needs and demands of its people since they expressed their beliefs through Tantra Yoga. They both helped to shape one another, and thus I now have an inside look at how people shape their surroundings through the invention of different dances. People can express themselves not only spiritually through dance, but they can also express their religious differences and demands, their upsets, and their political/economic status. It is clear through my research in this project that dance literally helps us a people to overcome and transform the world we live in.
Shakti
http://heistfile.moneymaking-tek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/shiva-shakti.jpg
The divinity which is held dear in Tantra Yoga. It is very sexual in nature because the body is believed in Tantra Yoga to be the conduit of pleasure (mainly sex), and thus Shakti is normally represented with both male and female counterparts, exuding sensual properties.
The picture to the left is one representation of Shakti, where the male figure is the blue individual, and the women is the other. But they are both connected, they are half and half. This is due to the fact that in Tantra Yoga, feminine and masculine characteristics are said to lie in all of us, and we should indulge in them both, but understand where they differ and where they meet, to get the most pleasure out of our experiences and achieve balance and peace.
The picture to the left is one representation of Shakti, where the male figure is the blue individual, and the women is the other. But they are both connected, they are half and half. This is due to the fact that in Tantra Yoga, feminine and masculine characteristics are said to lie in all of us, and we should indulge in them both, but understand where they differ and where they meet, to get the most pleasure out of our experiences and achieve balance and peace.
Shakti and Pop Culture
http://ardhanarishvara.net/.
Shakti has been portrayed in many sculptures and paintings, as well as other art, and is commonly used interchangeably with the Hindu Goddess Shiva who is said to be made up of both Shakti (referred to as the masculine or male counterpart) and Shiva (the feminine or female aspect).
In the picture to the left, she is depicted in a sculpture, and is almost always portrayed with Hindu details. Also, it is common to see the deity with many limps, and a half/half gender.
In the picture to the left, she is depicted in a sculpture, and is almost always portrayed with Hindu details. Also, it is common to see the deity with many limps, and a half/half gender.
