Closing The Bali Chapter: An Odd Brush With Tantric Yoga

Tantra or Evil Spirits? Yoga Barn in Ubud, Bali
On the second day in Ubud, we decided to go to Yoga again. Not paying much attention to the topic of the workshop, we just picked a time that was early enough and went.

The Yoga Barn, on a side note, is one of the hot spots for tourists to go believe it or not. The town itself is filled with Yogi's galore, sadly mostly pretentious ones, and this is where they go. To see more photos, take a look on my Facebook page. The place is beautiful! Placed in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city, there is a hidden entrance to this little sanctuary of rice fields and jungle in the middle of the city. There, you find the Yoga Barn. A tall building that resembles an over-sized tree house, as well as other open, natural looking buildings among the greenery. It's quiet, serene... and incredibly beautiful. We actually went there twice during our time there, it was pretty great... the first day.

So, we climbed up the long windy steps to the second floor where the class was being held. A big circular room, with a large thatched roof and warm breeze whipping throughout. We dropped our shoes and bags and walked into the room where people were waiting for the class to start. A big circle was formed around the room. Silence. Meditation.

The woman at the front, a tiny Indian woman dressed in in full white, sat at the front of the room. Silent. There were candles burning behind her among the Ivory while Hindu shrine of Ganesh. She sat in a meditative position, still. Her brow slightly furrowed. She was seemingly very disconnected from those who were sitting in the room before her.

As I walked to find a seat and roll out my yoga mat, I heard some grumbles from the start of the room. Grunts. I looked to her and they were coming from her. She was sitting in peace one moment, and then then next she'd twitch and let out a grunt and intense exhalation. Odd I thought. Very odd.

Class started... she spoke loudly... clearly... and suddenly, every few section, she would twitch... grunt... or moan. Her eyes remained closed as she continued to talk to use. Talk talk... twitch... twitch... grunt..talk..twitch... grunt.. moan. So odd. I was puzzled.. truly puzzled as to what was happening.

Then our "exercises" began. Vibrations?! We had to tap one leg against the floor as fast as we could... then when we stopped she'd go around the room asking people to describe the sensation.. the colour?! of their body with that sensation. Then we'd do the other leg, similar process. Then the stretching began... "Feeeeeeel the vibration in your vagina....!" she said as she got us to do different vibration exercises... one involving just sitting on the floor, legs extended straight in front and moving the kneese up and down while legs fully extended as fast as possible. Swinging the body in a circular motion around and around; each cycle you would try and touch your toes (or at least that's what I was doing). Everyone else seemed to be transplanted into some other altered state that made them appear possessed.

This continued for a while. I was getting more and more perplexed. The grunts didn't stop.. the shakes.. twitches.. ongoing. More and more. "Maybe she has turrets" I remember thinking.

But... she didn't have turrets... or at least I didn't think so. Why? Because other people started doing it? We'd be doing our exercises around the room and then you'd hear a loud moan... a loud grunt... people's eyes were closed.. they would shake almost as though something else occupied their body... and as they experienced an episode, their brows would furrow... and their heads would twitch to one side along with their shoulder.

It continued to get worse as more and more people starting getting "taken over." It was almost frightening.

At another point, one of the women having "the experience" asked "Should I feel the vibrations in my anus?" she said. And the instructor gladly reassured her she was doing the right thing.

Wow, I was definitely missing something.

It was at this point, that I'd honestly had enough. I looked around the room for an escape plan, it was half way at this point. Freaked out by the state of mind of some of these individuals... I just followed along to blend, but opened my eyes and watched while everyone elses were closed and they were mid-trance.

And it got worse!  More people were "infected"...grunts ...bodies shaking with head raised to the sky... one guy was even started screaming on exhalation. Ugh.

The end finally came, and I was relieved. That was probably the oddest yoga experience I've had to date. I've always fantasized about the idea of tantra... after this experience? The fantasy... not so dreamy.