What is a Yang Spiral meditation?

This is a great opportunity to explore an amazing form of meditation. Known as the Yang Spiral meditation. This is a meditation which is based on the understanding of the power of the Spiral structure.


Yogis have observed from ancient times that the Universe is manifesting the structure of the Spiral on every level. Starting from the molecular level and until the shape of the galaxies. Also, it has been noticed that the spiral structure generates and propagates specific energies that can be channelled through it.


A yang spiral is a special group meditation using two principles as its basis:


A spiral structure, specifically in the yang direction (counterclockwise) in order to boost the solar, emissive power of its participants (as opposed to a yin, receptive energy that would be emphasized in the opposite formation, but of which most people already have too much; it is generally agreed that people much more frequently and profoundly lack this solar aspect within their beings)

And an astrological configuration in which pairs of each sign (male, female) are positioned in order through the Zodiac, beginning with Aries and the subsequent 11 pairs, then repeating over and over a line-up in this order until all participants have joined the spiral.

In this meditation, the participants are holding hands and are arranged according to the succession of the 12 astrological signs of the zodiac. As a result of this arrangement, complex phenomena of resonance take place both with the beneficial flow of the yang energy and with the beneficial aspects of each of the 12 zodiac signs and of the subtle flow of their respective ruling planets. As a result, the subtle aura of each participant is charged with beneficial energy that balances and heals at a very deep level, accelerating in the same time the spiritual evolution of consciousness.


Directly proportional with the size (area) of the spiral and the number of participants, each person can thus have the direct experience of an intense state of bliss. Each person represents then a miniature replica of the Perfect Cosmic Human Being. During this yang-spiral, each participant (regardless of his or her astrological sign) can experience the beneficial aspects of all the 12 zodiacal signs.


From a general point of view, the archetypal influence that comes during a yang-spiral through each of the astrological signs is the following: Aries channels the primordial impulse and endless enthusiasm; Taurus channels the sustained creative effort; Gemini channels the mysterious polarity of creation; Cancer channels the state of passivity and the power of the water element; Leo channels the energy of life and love in its most expansive form; Virgo channels the power of discernment and intuition; Libra channels the power of sociability and the just middle way (through which contraries are harmonized); Scorpio channels the mysteries of disintegration of matter and profound spiritual transformation; Sagittarius channels the duality between instincts and superior spiritual aspirations and the finding of the way to the source of creation; Capricorn channels the process of transcendence; Aquarius channels the superior spiritual states of consciousness; Pisces channels the power to explore the inner world and to reach the state of spiritual liberation.


Participants hold hands in a particular manner, and dynamic music accompanies the meditation. Usually an individual feels both the current of energy that circulates in a counterclockwise direction through all the participants, as well as a sublimation of the energy within his or her own being toward the higher chakras. The meditation will not only "charge" the area where it has been held for some time, but will also have a lingering, strengthening effect on the participant for up to three months.

Asana and Meditation in Yoga

When speaking about Asanas in Yoga, most people believe that Asanas are no more then body positions that the ancient Yogis came up with in order to relax and flex their bodies after long hours of meditation.

This is a totally wrong view of the amazing science of the Asanas. According to the traditional texts of Yoga (such as the hatha yoga pradipika, shiva samhita and gerandha samhita) the Asanas are meant to bring about in the Yogi specific kind of energies, states of mind and levels of consciousness. The Asanas are actually much more then just physical in their purpose and true meaning.

In this post I will reveal to you the true meaning of the Asanas as we teach in Agama Yoga school in Thailand. Where we teach that the Yoga Asanas are a practice that brings deep change and true internal transformation to the human being.

The first thing to understand when trying to study Asanas is that they are a path to gain a change and effects on the energy of the practitioner. This energy is the famous Prana from the Indian and Yogic tradition. The prana is the life force (same as "Chi" in China and "Ki" in Japan). This life force or prana is every where and we can find that all leaving creatures are consisting of prana and even vegetation and up to mineral formations are having prana in them. You can say that prana is one of the fundamental building blocks of the universe.

In the human being, according the the yogic knowledge exist channels of energy, which are like a grid of subtle energy channels, through which the prana flows. They are called the Nadis in Yoga. These Nadis are very similar to the Meridians from Acupuncture. Only that in Yoga the ancient texts say there are 72,000 Nadis in the human body.

When practicing Asanas the Yogi actually moves the prana in the Nadis. And the most interesting part is - that the Yogi collects prana from different external sources from the universe. The universe is infinite in it's energies and the Yogi can connect to different types of energies of his or her choosing. At this point, some of you will ask, how in heavens name can the Yogi first of all bring energies from different sources of the universe into his own Nadis structure and body and second, how does the Yogi choose which energies he or she wants to collect?

Well, it sounds like a good question doesn't it? amazingly enough the answer to both questions is the same. The Yogi uses his or her - MIND.
The mind is the source of all powers in Yoga and there is NO YOGA WITH OUT THE MIND. Actually to be more specific - THERE IS NO YOGA WITH OUT THE CONCENTRATION OF THE MIND.

And that is why, Asanas are so misunderstood today in almost all Yoga styles. Because they are most of the time done - without the mind being involved, just like gymnastics or some sports.
Lets be clear here: Yoga is not gymnastics or sports. Yoga is a spiritual path that penetrated much deeper and it does that thanks to the use of the MIND.

So by focusing his mind the Yogi can put himself/herself in resonance with any chosen energy of the universe. And the Asanas in Yoga are an amazing tool to facilitate exactly that resonance. When the Yogi focuses the mind in the Asana on the correct energy and chakra, the effects are efficient, powerful, constant and certain. And that is the secret of the Asanas in Yoga.

When it comes to meditation, things are even more deep. Meditation is an essential part of the Yoga system. Patanjali, the great Yogi and Rishi of yore, states in his famous Yoga sutras that Meditation (Dhyana in Sanskrit) is stage 7 in the 8 stages of Yoga.

When meditating the Yogi uses his mind alone as opposed to Asana practice where the body and especially the energy are used as well. In meditation we have a controlled expansion of the mind, according to Patanjali. Here the Yogi uses special techniques and sometimes mantras to reach ultimate expansion and development of the mind.

Meditation is a huge subject that I will address in much more details in future posts. But for now it is sufficient to say that anyone can meditate. Meditation is a practice that can bring peace, harmony, control, memory, clarity and lucidity to the human being and ultimately self realization can be obtained.

I have seen in Agama Yoga adults as well as children meditating with great success and with wonderful results. This is a practice that can change your life and create an inner peace you have never known you can reach. Instead of loosing ourselves in the outer world's noise, irritation, disturbances and madness we can look in turn inside ourselves and discover a place of pure beatitude, tranquility, true happiness and everlasting peace and bliss.

This was a look into the inner workings of Yoga. The concept of Asanas and some remarks on Prana, energy work and meditation.

For more info. and courses, please check out the Agama Yoga school website. May you all enjoy solid Yoga practice, pure and deep meditation and discover inner peace and happiness.

Yoga and Diet

In the Yoga and Tantra traditions you find that the issue of diet is very important. In the hatha yoga pradipika it is said clearly that a yogi must avoid certain types of food and keep to a sattvic diet. Also, in the bhagavad gita krishna gives some advice regarding diet to Arjuna, saying that correct diet is necessary for the success in Yoga.

The question is why do the yogis put so much emphases on diet? In Agama Yoga school in Thailand, we teach that diet is a the first step in human health or in the case of wrong diet in disease. By learning the effects food has on the body, the energy different food types carry, the yogi can actually control not only his level of health but also what energy will enter his system and consequently what will be his predominant type and level of energy (see the Yin Yang diet and Yoga), and most importantly how the food effect the mind.

This gives you control over many aspects of your life, it will start from control over the physical level, the energy level, the emotional and finally the mental. Most people are not familiar with how far reaching effects the diet has on our body. The adage: you are what you eat is understood literally by the yogis.

So where to start? well, I would say the best way to stat is by studying your body and realizing what fits best for it's structure. What is your body type? Since there are so many different types of diets and health systems out there, we need to decide which system to follow, which fits to our body type and will have the best effect.

Start by looking at your body (this must be an honest look at your body and without getting upset from the ego...) and answer the following questions:

1. Do I have a big body type? (that is am I a heavy person, big bones, big muscles, easy to accumulate fat, or small structure, thin bones etc.)

2. I am oily or dry? (that is my hair, scalp, skin etc.)

3. Am I constipated? and generally how are the bowel movements?

4. Do I feel tired most of the time or full of energy?

5. How is the quality of my sleep?

6. Do I feel happy?

In this way, we can get a very good picture of our current state of health and our body type. Next step is to look at the yogic dietary answers to your body structure and current state of health.

Yoga offers many solutions, modern yogis are using diet from the traditional ancient yogic texts and all the way to modern diets based on PH levels.

Now that you have an idea on your body type and state I would suggest to begin with the yogic first solution and that is to change your diet into a sattvic diet. What is a sattvic diet? well this is a diet which is based on the understanding of the tendencies (gunas) in Yoga. The three gunas are: Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. These are the basic 3 qualities or tendencies in the Universe. You can find them in any aspect of the universe and in the qualities of human beings:

• Sattva (originally "being, existence, entity") has been translated to mean balance, order, or purity. This typically implies that a person with more of Sattva has a positive or even orderly state of mind. Such a person is psychologically kind, calm, alert and thoughtful. Compare also the bodhisattvas in Buddhism.

• Rajas (originally "atmosphere, air, firmament") leads one to activity. Rajas is the force that creates desires for acquiring new things and fears for losing something that one has. These desires and fears lead one to activity. (Rajas is etymologically unrelated to the word raja.) Feuerstein translates rajas as "dynamism".

• Tamas (originally "darkness", "obscurity") has been translated to mean "too inactive", negative, lethargic, dull, or slow. Usually it is associated with darkness, delusion, or ignorance. A tamas quality also can imply that a person has a self-destructive or entropic state of mind. That person is constantly pursuing destructive activities. Feuerstein translates tamas as "inertia".

The Yogis studying the gunas realized they also manifest in the food and therefore teach us which food items are producing which guna in our body. The most important quality the yogi must pursue is Sattva guna. This must be cultivated in your system and become your predominant guna. Logic dictates that the more Sattvic food we'll eat the more we gain that guna in our structure. This will help achieve inner peace, lucidity, calmness, happiness and spirituality.

For a detailed list of Sattvic foods recommended, read the hatha yoga pradipika, by Yogi Swatmarama. (I recommend the translation by Bihar School of Yoga, Munger, India).

That is the first step. Next there are other teachings and system that can give great help in understanding diet and health. The most comprehensive and natural system I recommend is the Ayurvedic medicine of India. This is a vast subject in itself, therefore I will elaborate on it and on other systems of diet and health (like the Yin Yang famous healing Diet) in my next post.

For more info. on Yoga and Diet check out: Agama Yoga school.

Daily Yoga practice

Yoga can be done in various ways. You can be a hard core Yogi, and do Yoga practice for hours every day or you can just practice a few times a week. It off course depends on how much free time you have or how serious you are with your practice.

Most Yogis try to keep a regular practice to build up the energy and cultivate more their inner force to gain better effects.

My personal advice on this would be to try and get a daily practice that you enjoy doing and can easily manage to do and stick to it, this way whenever you find you have extra time - that day you can add more to your practice and enjoy deeper effects. If not, then you can always fall back to your basic practice which will keep you strong and focused.

Good luck with your practice!

What is Tantra?

When first hearing about tantra, most people usually react in the same way... that it's something to do with sex or smut. It is unfortunate that most people get the wrong impression about Tantra.

Tantra actually is something completely different. Tantra is an ancient system of spirituality which is based on a unique understanding of the Universe.

The word tantra translated from Sanskrit means "weave" or "web" denoting continuity, Tantra in its various forms has existed in India, China, Japan, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Korea, Cambodia, Burma, Indonesia and Mongolia.

Tantra actually is that Indian system of beliefs and practices which, working from the principle that the universe we experience is nothing other than the concrete manifestation of the divine energy of the Godhead, under the form of Shakti, that creates and maintains that universe. Tantra seeks to appropriate and channel that energy, through specific esoteric practices and techniques, to awaken within the human microcosm, the inner force to bring the human being to unite with The supreme principle, Shiva or pure consciousness.

Sounds like a mouth full, I know. But actually it is a beautiful idea and even more so, it's very practical and life transforming.

Tantra needs to be studied from a true teacher (or Guru), one that has already succeeded to awaken the energy in himself and reach true accomplishments. I found such a teacher 8 years ago in India. His name is: Swami Vivekananda Saraswati.

It is amazing to see though, how a teacher that dares to teach the true, esoteric and powerful teachings of Tantra and thus help thousands of people to better their lives and shake down ignorance will sometimes be misunderstood by others. It is not a surprise really that Swami Vivekananda Saraswati (Swami for short), had to face many times in his life the anger of those who try to fight against these powerful teachings.

Tantra is based on the 64 Agamas (The traditional Tantric texts). When you read those texts (not all available in English and not all accounted for) you will find that they deal with many of the aspects of the Universe, like: Astronomy, mathematics, aesthetics, alternative healing, the science of sounds and vibrations and much more. The interesting thing is, that the ancient Tantrics, understanding the close relationship between the human being and the Universe, also knew that it was essential to study sexuality, as it is an integral part of any living organism's life. And that is why some 5% of the Tantric texts also deal with the issue of sexuality.

Tantra is a very vast and fascinating subject, I will post much more information about it in the near future.

In the mean time - you are welcome to read more practical information on the Agama Yoga website: www.agamayoga.com