What Is Prana Vinyasa?

every culture has their yoga - the way to unify within oneself, one’s family, community and within conflict. through movement -
sound - mantra, song, voice
contemplation/prayer - namaskaram
body mudras- yantras of inner states
ritual - puja tap into the natural healing potential of the body.

articles by shiva

Shiva Rea on Yoga After Forty
Five Steps to a Water-Conserving, Ojas-Building Lifestyle
Shiva Rea: Health Tips, Love and Loss
Body Mudra: Awakening Our Instinctual Body
Doing Nothing to do Something
Poem: All of Me is Alive

prana vinyasa integrates the tantric view of the universe, body and breath as the flow of consciousess and the translates the practices of namakaram, pranam, asana, havana, mantra, mudras, yantras of inner states and puja into accessible ways to trace the deeper practices of transformation that are a gift to humanity. 

Shiva’s voice

My first initiation into tantra was by the great mother herself. I did not understand this until I met Amma and went on pilgrimage to the living spaces of Anandamayi Ma and the 64 yogini did I understand what had happened to me as an direct initiation

My father giving me my name Siva was a seed that began an intense life-long journey into tantra specifically shaiva tantra bhakti within the krama lineage from which vinyasa flourished in the early tantras. I am grateful for my teachers of tantra sacdhvi vijaya, who gave me my first initiation into tantra, shankar narayana of mysore, ammachi, daniel odier, lalita devi, andrew harvey, lama tsultrim, sri devi bringi, swami shakardev, kamakhya yogini & pujari, pujari shiva kumar, maya tiwari, pandit tigunait, paul muller-ortega, sally kempton, lama willa, demetri velisarius and dear collaborator christopher tompkins. My teachers of bhakti are everywhere and in all forms

Prana Vinyasa honor the roots of vinyasa as the sequence of consciousness within nature, our bodies and the cosmos first seeded in the shamanic traditions of the world, carried forth in knowledge of the vedas, tantras and then later revived under colonialism and a suppressed attitude to yoga and tantra in the great lineage of T. Krishnmacharya - grandfather of Ashtanga, Iyengar yoga, Krama Vinyasa and the yoga taught by his son Desikachar.

Kalarippayatu is an embodied art form that is considered to be one of the oldest “martial art” forms in the world as warrior training is part of this profound and beautiful fluid form. Practiced in a Kalari - a temple created on the raw earth - this form complements the sacred relationship to the body in yoga while giving expression to the embodied power of shakti that is received from the earth and liberated through movement flow, meditation and marma massage. Shiva’s roots are part of CVN Kalari in Thiruvanathapuram with her teachers Sathya Narayan and Rajashekaran Nayar.

“Life is an interplay between inner and outer. The inner is what you are. It is pure awareness. The outer is the projection of your accumulated experiences. Life is a never-ending relationship between inner and outer.” - Dr. Vasant Lad

prana vinyasa integrates the practical and healing system of ayurveda as a universal system for balance and well-being rooted in nature and yogic culture of embodiment in harmony with the flow of life. All of our teacher training modules integrate different aspects of living ayurveda from the maps of embodiment to understanding how to balance your constitution through daily/seasonal ayurvedic practices.

Ayurveda is the ancient healing science of India and practiced without interruption for over 5,000 years. Learn how to integrate and apply the practical aspects of Ayurveda that support the wholistic living of yoga in a way that is accessible and applicable to your individual life rhythm and teaching path.

Living Ayurveda programs:
• Yoga and Ayurveda Rejuvenation Retreat Kerala, India Retreat. Experience first-hand the healing and rejuvenating treatments of Ayurveda at our partner Ayurvedic Resort.
• Connect with Ayurvedic Practitioners for one-on-one consultations. Available in Venice, CA and Kripalu and also through our Pulse Practitioner Network.
• Yogini Shakti: offering practices for radiant inner and outer beauty during women’s retreats.
• Pranafication and Sacred Training: Ayurveda for rejuvenation and reaching your greatest embodied potential.
• Living Yoga Sadhana: adopting practices for vital living and honoring the various rhythms of life.

The Sanskrit word bhakti originates from the word bhaj, meaning to “belong to” or “share in” as well as “to worship.” Its meaning is often interpreted as “devotion,” but the full meaning is beyond definition, as it is the igniting of a natural feeling of devotion, an inner realization of the fire of love that has been core to yoga from the beginning.

It was first described as a path of realization through love of God in all forms and all ways, or bhaktimarga, in the Bhagavad Gita (500 BCE).19 Central to bhakti is an emphasis on a mystic and loving experience with the Source, a relationship that is often seen as beloved-lover, friend-friend, parent-child, or God-servant.

The Heart Fire in the form of bhakti ignited a revolutionary change in yoga when bold ones on the path were transformed by their direct experience of the Source. The transforming fire of bhakti lit a flame across India. It is characterized by the dissolution of all caste and wealth restrictions; equality of men and women as the true visionof Oneness and love; and the writings of its poet-saints, male and female - from the Tantric Siddhas, Sri Chaitanya, Basavanna, Kabir, Mirabai, and others. Their writing extolled passionate devotional love for the Divine that released barriers of caste, religion, and gender so that all beings could be seen and respected as manifestations of the One.