The Body – Temple of the Divine with Daniel Odier

THE BODY – TEMPLE OF THE DIVINE

The body considered as the temple of the divine and its relationship to space. How to invest it totally and restore its vibratory capacity so that it becomes one with the cosmos. We will approach the essential practices which will lead us to the absolute incarnation and the experience of Spanda, or vibration.

This residential seminar will be devoted to the four basic practices: Tandava, the Yoga of emotions, the visualizations of Matsyendranath, the practices of Vijnanabhairava tantra, as well as the Yoga of touch. 

Tandava is a four-step practice that connects meditative sitting with movement.
At first, the Yogin learns to meditate by letting the body occupy space through a free and unintentional movement linked to abdominal breathing in the form of an infinity sign.
In a second step, the Yogin lets his arms discover the spherical space that surrounds him. The very flexible body fully participates in this exploration.
Thirdly, the Yogin stands up and begins the sacred dance of Shiva known as Tandava. It is an extremely slow free dance where the movement is gradually freed from all muscular tension and volition. The Yogin thus discovers his original spatial freedom on which the whole tantric approach is based.
In a fourth step, the Yogin drops to the ground and becomes aware of a new organic sensitivity.
It is a discipline that is both simple to understand and difficult to master because it introduces spatiality at three levels: body, mind and emotions. It is described in the Vijnanabhairava Tantra, one of the oldest yoga texts. 

The Yoga of touch (Kashmiri massage) originated from the Shaivite tantric tradition. It is an integral part of Tantric yoga. The Yoga of touch has no direct therapeutic purpose. It tends to introduce subtle body awareness and a vibration, the Spanda, similar to that of a stringed instrument. The Spanda dissolves the perception of duality and leads to an ecstatic experience of the world. The Yoga of touch is one of the four pillars of our practice, along with Tandava, the Yoga of emotions and visualizations. It cannot be isolated or practiced without the other three.

This seminar is accessible to all.