Tantra Yoga: The Dragon & Tiger Practice
DO THE GROUNDING VERSION – TIGER – IN THE SPRING & THE DRAGON in fall. Excerpted from Para Yoga Master Training – Rod Stryker
The practice – Dragon and the Tiger – a kriya practice that combines evolution and involution. The Dragon breathing fire, is the upward movement. The spine is the governing vessel. Channel moves upward. The tiger is the controlling vessel, it moves downward. The tiger prowls the earth. Before energy starts to move we need to balance involution and evolution. From Chinese medicine, the two meridians meet at the roof of the mouth and the root chakra. AWORHAN – THE CHANNEL THAT MOVES UPWARD AHAROWAN – THE CHANNEL THAT MOVES DOWNWARD In this kriya, we direct consciousness upward through one channel and down through another. The two channels are the spine and the meridian that flows in front of the spine. Prana can be directed up or down through either channel. For a more grounding effect, the spine is the downward channel and the front body meridian is the upward channel. Moving the opposite way is integrative , but more expansive. By activating the downward flow we become a spiritual tiger, strengthening our capacities in the word by channeling our life force into the lower chakras. The chakras in the spine spiral upward. The chakras in the front meridian spiral outward. Moodlahara and Bindu chakras are purely spinal. Swadhistana, Manipura, Anahata, Vissudhi and Anja are both involution and evolution. (front & back). To begin, Center and begin ujjai breathing, deeping the breath as you draw your awareness inward. Depending on which direction you have chosen, the Dragon breath moves up the spine to Bindu, then loops toward the Anja chakra and downward. The Tiger begins at the root on the inhale moves forward to the front chakra meridian passing through all the chakras to cross at vissudhi at the throat to loop at the Bindu forward to Anja where it loops back downward at the throat to the spinal column on the exhale. Practice with an erect and upright spine, or lying down similarily. Add an OM on the exhale of the tiger practice when you reach the bindu as you move toward Anja – 3rd eye. Mary-Jo Fetterly TRINITY YOGA