What is Tantra Yoga?
Jack UtermoehlTantra yoga is an ancient, multidimensional system of yogic practice that seeks to awaken consciousness by embracing both the material and the spiritual realms.
Unlike modern misconceptions that reduce tantra to sensuality alone, authentic Tantra yoga is a profound spiritual science that integrates ritual, energy work, mantra, meditation, breathwork, and asana to unite the practitioner with the infinite divine consciousness within and around them.
What sets Tantra yoga apart is its inclusive view of reality: rather than seeking to transcend the body or world, tantra sees all experience as sacred.
It honors the physical world—including sensation, emotion, and form—as a valid and powerful gateway to spiritual realization.
Through practices that balance Shakti (divine feminine energy) and Shiva (pure consciousness), tantra guides the yogi toward a direct experience of non-duality and wholeness.
Origins of Tantra Yoga
Tantra yoga evolved from the esoteric traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism between the 5th and 9th centuries CE. Rooted in the Agamas and Tantras, it introduced a revolutionary view of spirituality: rather than renouncing life, tantra embraced it as divine play (Lila).
The word tantra comes from the Sanskrit root "tan" (to expand) and "tra" (tool or instrument), meaning "a tool for expansion."
Tantric philosophy is grounded in the understanding that everything is divine and that liberation (moksha) can be attained through the full experience of life—not in opposition to it.
It is a path of energy refinement, ritual, sacred geometry, mantra, and profound yogic technologies aimed at awakening Kundalini—the latent spiritual energy housed at the base of the spine.
Jewelry Designed for Your Practice
We created this collection to honor the wisdom and beauty of yoga. Each piece is crafted with intention to support your journey, on and off the mat.
Tantra Yoga Practice
Tantra yoga integrates a broad array of practices, weaving together the inner and outer limbs of yoga into a tapestry of transformation. A typical tantra practice may include:
- Asana: Embodied movement to circulate prana and prepare the subtle body.
- Pranayama: Breath techniques that regulate energy flow and nervous system balance.
- Mudras: Sacred hand gestures to redirect prana, such as Yoni Mudra and Khechari Mudra.
- Mantras: Vibrational sound formulas like “Om” or “So Hum”, chanted to invoke sacred energies.
- Yantras: Sacred geometric patterns, such as the Sri Yantra, used for visualization and focusing the mind.
- Rituals: Devotional and ceremonial practices that infuse daily life with sacred presence, often using flowers, incense, water, and sacred space.
Common Poses: Lotus Pose (Padmasana), Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhasana), Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana), Goddess Pose (Utkata Konasana)
Tantra Yoga Suitability
Experience Level: Mixed Level (Suitable for All with proper guidance)
Physical Demand: Balanced Activity
Mind-Body Engagement: Deep Mind-Body-Spirit Integration
Adaptability: Highly Adaptable
Focus Area: Energetic Awakening & Spiritual Integration
Notes on Tantra Yoga
Tantra yoga offers a path of liberation through embodiment. It enhances vitality, refines awareness, and helps awaken dormant spiritual capacities.
It is especially effective for those interested in chakra balancing, Kundalini awakening, and direct spiritual experience.
Unlike linear, dogmatic paths, tantra allows for a deeply personal, intuitive exploration of consciousness. It teaches that every moment—if met with awareness—can be a gateway to the divine.
Similar Styles
Kundalini Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, Kriya Yoga
Equipment
Required: Yoga Mat
Nice to Have: Meditation Cushion
Optional: Yoga Blocks, Yoga Blanket, Eye Pillow
References
Tantra: The Path of Ecstasy by Georg Feuerstein
Tantra Illuminated: The Philosophy, History, and Practice of a Timeless Tradition by Christopher D. Wallis
Tantric Yoga and the Wisdom Goddesses by David Frawley
Kundalini Tantra by Swami Satyananda Saraswati
Tantra Yoga Definition: The View
All that exists, throughout all time and beyond, is one infinite divine Consciousness, free and blissful, which projects within the field of its awareness a vast multiplicity of apparently differentiated subjects and objects: each object an actualization of a timeless potentiality inherent in the Light of Consciousness, and each subject, you and I, the same plus a contracted locus of self-awareness.
This creation, a divine play, is the result of the natural impulse within Consciousness to express the totality of its self-knowledge in action, an impulse arising from love.
The unbounded Light of Consciousness contracts into finite embodied loci of awareness out of its own free will.
When those finite subjects then identify with the limited and circumscribed cognitions and circumstances that make up this phase of their existence, instead of identifying with the trans-individual overarching pulsation of pure Awareness that is their true nature, they experience what they call 'suffering'.
To rectify this, some feel an inner urge to take up the path of spiritual wisdom and yogic practice, the purpose of which is to undermine their misidentification and directly reveal within the immediacy of awareness the fact that the divine powers of Consciousness, Bliss, Willing, Knowing, and Acting comprise the totality of individual experience as well-thereby triggering a recognition that one's real identity is that of the highest Divinity, the Whole in every part.
This experiential insight is repeated and reinforced through various means until it becomes the non-conceptual ground of every moment of experience, and one's contracted sense of self and separation from the Whole is finally annihilated in the incandescent radiance of the complete expansion into perfect wholeness.
Then one's perception fully encompasses the reality of a universe dancing ecstatically in the animation of its completely perfect divinity.
