The Shivoham Institute
Since humans developed self-awareness, there has only been one question that we have sought to discover, even with the complexities of modern life this singular question remains, Who am I? We have developed many perspectives to try and answer this question; religious, psychological, biological, anthropological, etc. but the problems with all intellectualization is that they
create their own pitfalls which leave the questioner ultimately unsatisfied. The Shivoham Institute was created to help guide people to answer this ethereal question for themselves. Relying on a combination of ancient tantric and yogic knowledge, alongside modern scientific discoveries, we help prepare our students for experiences of the true self. This is not something that can be directly taught, as that too would fall into the trap of inventing words to describe experiences which often leads to confusion - something very apparent even in the yogic world. From this new foundation of understanding of the self, we guide our students on how to move back into the world. This is the importance of tantra, we do not preach asceticism or hiding away from the world. The world needs good people but if you do not understand who you are, how do you know what you want then how should you direct yourself? Simply striving to create more clarity, harmony and unlocking energy pathways is useful but can be rendered redundant if directed to the wrong place. You may wonder why we should rely on ancient teachings as logically understanding should improve with time. Originally, all was simply one and even in times of early man life moved through us and there was no need for questions as we all lived according to our life’s journey. Now we have infinite labels to describe things in which we all define differently. Take the word love for example, such an important part of our lives yet you would struggle to find a definition everyone can agree on. The first tantrics and yogis, only being later categorised as such, were born into the perfect point in history where the balance of self-awareness and simplicity enabled deep discoveries into the nature of our existence. This is not to say that we discount science, in fact we happily employ the scientific method as we only ask you to experiment to discover the answers for yourself and never force what is right or wrong. Ultimately, what we are trying to achieve with the Shivoham Institute is a continuation of the ripple effect that life has brought into our lives. We can see the compounding effect of helping people re-discover themselves and enter into the world as they go on to help others. Eventually, we see a revolution of ideals that has already begun as life rebalances itself to allow us to enjoy the best of both modern and ancient forms of living. The Meaning of Shivoham Shivoham is a mantra which means "I am Shiva". Shiva is often thought of as a Hindu deity, but this position is only symbolic as the underlying meaning of Shiva is consciousness, bliss, oneness and the absolute. As such this mantra is a reminder of our true reality that we are oneness. We thought this would be a fitting name given our goal of teaching our students the true self. What is Tantra? Originally, tantra and yoga were not divided and before this there was not even a name for such practitioners, but it has come to be something distinct. The key difference is that instead of ideals of many yogis who remove themselves from the world only to remain in ashrams or high up the Himalayas, where understanding is sought through abstinence; tantrics seek to understand through experience life. Desires are a part of life and not something we need to hide away from. However, there is a difference between experiencing it with full awareness and mindless intoxicating oneself and thus we need to learn to liberate ourselves from the mind and body and return as pure consciousness. This does require periods of withdrawal as it is much easier to be fully aware when life is simple - which is why yogis choose this life but there's no need to remain here. This falls back to our aims of helping people re-enter the world through a new understanding of themselves and life around it. Tantra is not only about being fully present but also about understanding the underlying energy structures at play so you can create and adjust them to your needs. There are degrees of depth to these practices, but you only need go as far as you need at this particular place in your life journey. What is Yoga? Yoga is a great example of a word that had an original meaning but has taken on many others in people's minds. If it kept its original meaning, we would not need to complicate things further than simply using this word which means to unite. That is to unite the two aspects of life: shiva and shakti, consciousness and energy, static and dynamic, feminine and masculine. This two-sided reality displays itself in many ways through all dimensions of life, particularly the three dimensions (physical, mental and spiritual) and the five koshas (layers of self). The reality is that the further you go from the material world, the more the lines get blurred and you come to understand that yogic teachings are just perspectives to help you understand things are your current place. Systemisation is useful though so many have tried to break down yoga into various forms (hatha, raja, karma, etc) but this can also lead to confusion. Particularly in the west where the majority of people think of it as a fitness practice.As with all things, the solution falls in the middle and thus whilst we do teach a very systematic form of yoga, we also actively encourage self-discovery and guide you based on your specific circumstances. For many, total renunciation is not needed in this lifetime but finding methods of understanding oneself and overlooking obstacles (physical, mental and spiritual) are the tools they need. We have offerings for every level starting at online classes and retreats, followed by workshops (online, in the UK and Gran Canaria) to start out before jumping into the two-hundred hours yoga teacher qualification. We also offer an advanced ten-day silent retreat for teachers and experienced yogis, but this is by no means the end as Anand’s knowledge stretches far beyond this. To put it into context, the Sanjeevani Kriya (life rejuvenating action) is an important meditation sequence that we teach. In the teacher training, you’ll learn level one, in the advanced retreat, level two but there are seven total levels. For the moment this can be obtained through one-to-one with Anand but we will be offering increasingly advanced teachings in groups as students are attracted to it.
