Inner Path to Bliss: The Essence of Ipsalu Tantra
Pranic Magic – Discovery and Perception of the Pranic Body and Subtle Energies
SCRIPT
Bold = Activity approximate duration (suggested music)
Bold = Essential Teachings/Experiences
Italics = Things to say, pretty close to verbatim
. . . = leave a gap, enough time for an experience
Regular = Directions or concepts, in your own words.
(in parenthesis) = (Notes to facilitator. Not to be verbalized)
Staff - Meet to align energies, set intention, ground the space. Put on music to set mood. Warmly greet and welcome participants.
Checking in – Have participants pay any balance owed, check for correct contact information, make a nametag.
Entrance Music (Eye of the Tiger) (Friar Park)
Shakti Shake 5 minutes (Shake It) or Tai Ji Warm-Ups (Quiet 6)
AUM Mantra 5 minutes (Tamboura and Bells)
Stimulate chakra energies through sound vibration. We’ll center and harmonize the group energy with the AUM Mantra (spelled A-U-M). As you intone the mantra, feel the resonance of the AH in the heart, the buzz of OO in the pelvis, and the vibration of MM in the head. Devote a third of the breath to each sound. Go at your own pace, taking breaths in your own time as you need to. Close your eyes, take a deep breath in. . . (chant mantra. At 4 minutes, ring bell to stop. Wait,). Deep breath in, exhale and gently open your eyes. Notice the aliveness of these three areas in your body.
Greeting 10 minutes
Describe structure of the class, intentions/purpose
Agreements 5 minutes
To create and maintain a container of sacredness and safety, we have a few guidelines to agree upon:
· Take care of yourself. Be aware of your physical and emotional needs throughout the day and modify exercises if needed.
· Be on time after each break
· Keep confidential any personal sharing
· Set boundaries. Don’t assume bodies are more available to you than normally.
· If you have a problem with someone, go only to that person, not to others
· Don’t leave without consulting staff, for other than bathroom break
· Minimal caffeine and sugar
· No cell phones in the room
Introductions/Namaste 20 minutes
Activate heart energy using Anjali mudra. Welcome to “Prana Within” Let’s get to know one another. We’ll use the traditional Indian salutation, Namaste. This is commonly translated as “The God in me recognizes and honors the God within you.” In Tantra, we don’t go for separation. A more tantric interpretation, “We are one in the energy of the Divine.” Say your name, allow the rest of us to greet the Divinity within you and briefly share what inspires you to be here today. (Greeting is accompanied by the Namaste gesture (mudra): a slight bow made with the hands pressed together, palms touching, in front of the chest, knuckles of thumbs against breastbone to stimulate heart energy). Namaste mudra to stimulate heart chakra energy. Share intention: Name one energy/quality you would like to release; name and one energy/quality you would like to bring in. Share one at a time popcorn style. Pass/toss the chi ball
Tantra is working with Subtle Energies. 5 minutes
(Handout: “Subtle Energy”). Working with subtle energies is the core of tantric practice. This includes our sexual energy, emotional energies, and consciousness. Tantra is the interweaving of these different dimensions of our being and of shiva and shakti (masculine and feminine) energies. Whether a man or a woman, we call run both energies within. Men tend to run more shiva energy and women, more shakti energy, but not necessarily. Shiva energy is associated with the masculine, is solar, hot, electrical in quality. It is universal energy, the energy of pure consciousness, of total stillness and clarity (i.e. as in an image of the meditating Buddha). Shakti energy is associated with the feminine, is lunar, cool, magnetic in quality. It is earth energy, the raw, creative, dynamic energy of the universe. Within tantra we seek to harmonize those energies and bring them into balance.
Modalities for influencing pranic energies: 5 minutes.
In our tantric practice set, we’ll get to activate and experience these different energies and influence their movement through our bodies. Modalities we use to activate and influence the flow of energy include:
1. Intention
2. Visualization
3. Muscle tension/relaxation
4. Touching with awareness
5. Breathing with awareness
6. Moving with awareness
7. Sound (mantra)
Allow yourself now to enjoy and relax into the practices, paying attention all the while to the various subtle feelings and sensations within your body.
Ipsalu Formula
12-part Kriya Energization 7 minutes (This Stillness)
(Standing – fast 3x. no music, lying down – slow 1-2x with music) A powerful technique for energizing your body, sensitizing yourself to subtle energy, and directing its flow. Standing. Consider the body divided into 12 parts. Tense and relax each body part at a time. While tensing, breathe in (two fast and vigorous sniffs in through the nose), and while relaxing breathe out (two vigorous puffs of air out through the mouth – as if about to whistle). (3 times fast). Lie down on back in a comfortable position, palms up. While tensing, breathe in slow and sustained through the nose, while relaxing, breathe out through the mouth, picturing energy flowing to that body part from the base of the skull (medulla). (1 – 2 times). Feel for subtle energy sensations (tingling, streaming, pulsation, expansion) at end of fast version and at end of slow version.
Hong Sau Breath Mantra 5 minutes
-Watch the breath .
-Be aware of it entering and leaving your body . .
-Imagine the breath coming in through the third and out through the 3rd eye . .
-Breathing just through the nose . .
-Bring the tip of the tongue to the roof of the mouth – ketchari mudra, as you continue to watch the breath . . .
-Now begin to hear in the breath, the sound hong sau . .
-as you inhale hear the sound hong, as you exhale hear the sound sau . . . .
-Release the mantra
-Relax the tongue
Aswini Mudra 5 minutes
-Rest your hands on your knees comfortably . .
-Be aware of the breath, natural and relaxed . .
-Bring awareness to the anus. .
-Contract the anal sphincter without straining. Hold . . . and relax
-Continue . . .
-Make a distinction between the anal muscles and the other pelvic muscles . . .
-Contract and relax smoothly, slowly, rhythmically . . .
- Inhale as you contract – hold . . . Exhale as you relax . . .
-Be aware of the root chakra, Muladhara . . .
- Gradually make the contractions more rapid ......
- And relax
Pelvis Dance. 5 minutes. Arouse Shakti.
Explore various movements with your pelvis – circles, side to side, front to back, pelvic thrusts. Do a pelvis dance around the room, allowing your pelvis to lead and the rest of your body to follow. Dance with other pelvises in the room. Let your sound out.
Shakti-Shiva Mudra 3 minutes. Transmute sexual energy.
Come to standing, feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent, back straight.
- Inhale as you lift your hands up to your heart, elbows close in to the body. Feel you are drawing energy up from the earth.
- Exhale as you push the hands out fully in front of you. Giving the energy back to the world.
- Straighten the wrists, inhale as you raise your arms overhead, palms open to the heavens
- Exhale slowly as the arms come down in two large arcs, crossing at the third eye and at the sex. Feel the energy as it passes through the genitals.
Guide through twice more (using only key words this time to instruct), then have participants do twice more on their own...... Relax your arms to your sides. Notice how your body feels, sensing your alive presence.
Explore Layers 6 minutes Feeling partner’s energy body
Stand across from your partner at a distance that feels separate. Partner on outside of the circle shakes their body vigorously for about a minute to get their energy moving. Inside partner remains standing still. Outside partner walks very slowly towards inside partner, palms leading. Can you sense your partner’s aura as you walk up to them? Can they feel you? Notice when there is a shift in the density of the air around partner’s body. Discover several layers of the energy body. Partners switch roles.
Tantra Reiki 10 minutes (The Flow of Let Go)
Find a partner you are comfortable with. Decide who will give and who will receive first. Receiving partner, share what area of your body would like to receive an infusion of light and nurturing energy - a place that feels tight and would like to be expanded, a place where you would like to feel more at home in your body. Have your partner place their hand where it feels comfortable either directly on your body or in your auric field just above your physical body.
Givers: Appreciate your hands as an extension of your heart, capable of channeling love and light. Relax your hands, fingers, wrists, arms and shoulders. Using intention or visualization, inhale and pull energy from the earth up to your heart, exhale and project through your hand. Again, inhale/draw cool, feminine lunar energy up to your heart and exhale. Now, Inhale/pull energy from the heavens, exhale and project through hand. Again, inhale/pull warm, solar, masculine energy down to your heart and project it through your hand. On the next in breath, draw both lunar and solar energies into your heart, and send this combined energy out on the exhalation. Receivers, with your awareness, direct the energy of your breath into the area of your body you are nurturing. . . Take a deep breath in. Exhale. Givers, slowly and gently draw your hands up and away and back into your own space.
Enjoy. Sit in knee-to-knee circle, arms around partners, enjoy the energy. 3 minutes. (The Flow of Let Go)
Share 1-2 words to describe feeling state, others shares and questions.
Introduce Formula. 5 minutes
Each step of the tantric practice sequence we just experienced uniquely influences the energies of our subtle body. We activated the life force energy in our bodies through the 12-part tension/relaxation exercises. We stilled our minds and tuned into the shiva energy through the hongs au breath meditation. We aroused our shakti energy through Aswini Mudra and the pelvis dance. We transmuted that energy, drew it upwards into the heart and merged it with shiva energy, consciousness. We then played with the energy, practiced perceiving it through our hands, sharing it for nurturing and revitalization, and enjoyed the blissful vibration in oneness as a group.
The Ipsalu formula reorganizes the subtle energies in our body that determine our level of consciousness, health and well-being. Bliss happens at a particular vibration. Just as you can turn a radio dial to a different frequency, you can learn to attune your body to the frequency of Bliss.
BREAK – 15 minutes
In the etheric body are energy centers called chakras. In tantra we recognize seven, each representing a different aspect of the human personality and level of consciousness. Tantric practice provides means to stimulate and open the chakras, allowing us to experience and express ourselves as whole, fully-realized, conscious individuals.
Osho chakra sounds meditation
This meditation uses vocal sounds made by the meditator along with music to open and harmonize the chakras while bringing awareness to them.The meditation can bring you into deep, peaceful, inner silence either through making your own vocal sounds or by just listening to and feeling the sounds within you.
Stand, sit comfortably, or lie down if you prefer. Keep your back straight and your body loose. Breathe into your belly rather than your chest. The sounds should be made with your mouth open and your jaw loose, keeping your mouth open the whole time.
Close your eyes and listen to the music; if you wish, start making sounds in the first chakra. You can make a single tone or you can vary the tone. Let the music guide you; however, you can be creative with your own sounds. While listening to the sound of the music or the sounds that you make, feel the sounds pulsating in the very center of your chakra, even if it seems to be imagination at first.
Osho has suggested that we can use the imagination in "becoming attuned to something that is already there." So keep doing the meditation even if it feels like you may be imagining the chakras. With awareness your imagination can lead you to an experience of the inner vibrations of each center. After making sounds in the first chakra, you will hear the tones change to a higher pitch - this is the indication to listen and feel sounds in the second chakra. If you wish, you can continue making sounds also. This process is repeated all the way up to the seventh chakra.
As you move from chakra to chakra, let your sounds become higher in pitch. After listening to and making sounds in the seventh chakra, the tones will descend one at a time down through all the chakras. As you hear the tones go down, listen and make sounds in each chakra.
Feel the inside of your body becoming hollow like a bamboo flute, allowing the sounds to resonate from the top of your head down to the very base of your trunk. At the end of the sequence, you will hear a pause before the next sequence starts. This upward and downward movement of sound will be repeated three times for a total of approximately 45 minutes.
After you have become familiar with the meditation, you can add another dimension to it through visualization. Be open to allowing visual images to appear in your imagination as you focus on each chakra. There is no need to create images, just be receptive to any which may come. The images could be colors, patterns or scenes of nature. What comes to your awareness may be visual, or it may be more natural for you to have a thought rather than a visual image. For example, you may think "gold" or you may see color in your imagination.
after the last sound sequence, remain sitting or lying down in silence with closed eyes. Remain in silence and don't focus on anything in particular. Allow yourself to become aware of and watch whatever is happening within. Be relaxed and remain a witness, not judging it.