Introducing: Vintantra – Yoga for Balance

What does “Vintantra” mean and what does it stand for?

The inspiration for Vintantra came to me while completing my 300-hour Tantra yoga teacher training at Durga’s Tiger School in Quito, Ecuador.

After a few weeks of only practicing the 2-3 hours restorative Tantra yoga series, my body was craving more movement. I missed my Vinyasa practice! I completed my first 200-hour Yoga Alliance certified training at Bird Rock Yoga in San Diego, CA in 2016. Since then I was keeping up an almost daily Vinyasa yoga practice.

Many of the other yoga teacher trainees in my program were seeking a more energizing yoga style to complement the Tantra series. Many of them maintained a regular yoga practice through more rigorous styles such as Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Jivamukti, Bikram yoga and others.

The few Vinyasa classes we were able to squeeze into the packed training schedule were the perfect addition to the otherwise slow style we were experiencing. Together, the two were magically balanced.

Getting Comfortable With Slowing Down

The greatest lesson I learned from my Tantra yoga teacher training was how-to truly slow down and be comfortable in both practicing and teaching a more intuiting, restorative flow. There is usually no music in Tantra yoga, students move with a deep belly breath and it’s a set series that gently guides students through three portions: a standing or sitting warming; intermittent savasana; and makrasana (crocodile pose).

The slow steady movements truly make the practice like a moving meditation. This style is related to “white” Tantra (not the red, sexual aspect you may have heard of). The overall concept is to invite students to tap into their own intuition to find a personalized healing and meditative experience. You rely on the senses to stay grounded in the present moment.

Each day of the Durga’s training also began with a different meditation, which exposed me to a multitude of ways to guide students through powerful meditative experiences. Leading up to the training I also soaked up so much beautiful spiritual guidance in my weekly guided meditations with a dear friend.

While in Ecuador, I also delved into topics of shamanism through weekly ceremonies, cosmovision through numerous workshops with trained South American Shamans and plant medicine (San Pedro). The root of many of these ceremonies came back to honoring the beautiful oneness of humankind with nature. Finally, we did deep work clearing and balancing the chakras and practiced Kundalini kriyas (some that still make me ache they were so good!)

Combining Breath-to-Movement Vinyasa Flow to Restorative Tantra Yoga (Among Other Teachings)

It was there among the beautiful combination of new learnings, layered over my previous Vinyasa and Hatha yoga teacher trainings, that I realized I simply needed a balance between the two! I craved the yin (Tantra) and the yang (Vinyasa) of my two yoga teacher trainings.

That’s when the quirky blend of the two became in: Vintantra.

Now in the yoga classes I teach and experiences I create, I combine the various yoga lineages I’ve studied to for a one-of-a-kind approach to health and healing.

These are the best and most practical tools I’ve found to find balance in the ups and downs of everyday life.

We’re meant to eb and flow through different emotions, especially when life throws us unexpected and challenging curve balls. In the last decade and more of practicing, yoga has helped me heal from devastating losses (like the tragic passing of best friends), career changes (including numerous corporate and marketing roles), moving (across the U.S. and internationally), heart break (and finding the love of my life!) and just everyday stress and learning to find myself through the years.

This work isn’t easy, but I swear it’s worth it. I wake up each day with a fiery passion to help others and am grateful for the years I’ve spent experiencing every single thing I needed to in order to arrive to this moment.

I’d love to help you on your journey. Explore the tools here at Vintantra and never hesitate to reach out if you have something else in mind. I’m always open to suggestions and feedback. In fact that’s how I came up with most of what is offered here, requests from my beloved friends, family and community. 

And most importantly, thank you for being here!