What is spirituality in the Shivaite Nidrā Yoga tradition? – André Riehl

Shaivaite tradition goes back to probably the very beginning of a kind of yoga that could be called today archaic shamanism.The oral tradition that went on for centuries, maybe millennia, is said to be still going on up to today. Nidra was understood and is still understood in the ascetic lineages as an exploration into the realities of life itself, where humans are one of its manifestations. Far from the modern practice of relaxation, Nidrâ yoga has to be taken as a deep investigation into the core of natural spirituality. The lecture will introduce the different levels of consciousness as they are still studied in the Nath and Uddasin lineages.

André Riehl travelled and studied in India in his 20s, meeting many teachers who marked him deeply (Kashmiri Babu, Krishnamurti and Chandra Swami for example). Once back in France, he studied the teachings of Swami Shivananda, Lucien Ferrer, Nil Haoutoff and Sri T.K.V. Desikachar before eventually becoming a Yoga teacher. He has since set up several training schools and became the President of the Fédération des Yoga Traditionnels in 1992. He is the author of numerous books and CDs and regularly teaches and leads retreats all over the world.