An Article on Yantra Yoga and Tibetan Medicine by Fabio Andrico and Dr. Phuntsog Wangmo

In June 2014, an article appeared in The Mirror on the importance Yantra Yoga and breathing for one’s health from the perspective of Yantra Yoga teacher Fabio Andrico and Tibetan Doctor,  Dr. Phuntsog Wangmo.

I would just like to say that Yantra Yoga could be a very important tool for many aspects of the practice and also for those who would like to apply a very powerful system of yoga, because only just the fact that when people do Yantra they have to understand and apply very precisely the aspect of breathing already changes the perception they have. I have been teaching recently some courses where there were also some Hatha Yoga teachers and they were really amazed about this focus on the breathing and how it is harmonized and applied in the practice of Yantra. Seriously, they were incredibly interested. And it was not invented yesterday. It is something with a long lineage of very important masters. The last master who has taught us is Chögyal Namkhai Norbu who received most of his teaching from his uncle, Tobden Urgyen Tenzin. It is also very important to understand that there is a lineage. There is a transmission. There is the substance for hundreds and hundreds of years. --Fabio Andrico

In Tibetan Medicine we say the five sense organs are like the windows of a house. The purpose of the windows is to let in light, and also to see outside from inside or inside from outside. So the sense organs are the place where we’re exchanging information. So now the purpose for which we are doing this is that we want to calm down the body, speech or energy and mind, so for that reason we are like shutting the windows. If we close the sense organs completely then that will make us sleepy, in Tibet they say a bad meditation is leading to sleep. So if we close the eyes then that makes us sleepy, if they’re too open then we become distracted. Then the sixth one is that the back is straight. So the back is straight and the chin is a little down, because in Tibetan Medicine we say is that the central channel is like a golden beam in the body. So it needs to be straight. And then the seventh one is that the body is not too tense and not too relaxed. In the story of the Buddha, one of the Buddha’s younger brothers asked Buddha what would be the best method of meditation to apply. Buddha asked him if he played guitar. He said yes I do, I am a very good guitar player. And then Buddha said, “When does the best sound come from the guitar? If the strings is too tight or too loose, which one?” then he replied, “If it’s too tight it’s not good sound, too loose also there is no sound. So not too tight and not too loose, at that point comes the best sound.” And then Buddha said that is also best to apply to meditation. So that is not too straight, not too loose. So those are the seven positions of the body.--Dr. Phuntsog Wangmo

Tsegyalgar East will present an opportunity to experience such benefits in the

Yantra Yoga Intensive

August 10-15, 2015

Khandroling
 with instructors, Paula Barry, Martina Kacurova and Naomi Zeitz

For further information visit the Tsegyalgar East Events page here.