My parents met in an esoteric spiritual community led by my grandmother, while also working as lawyers advocating for the rights of women and children. I grew up at the intersection of inner inquiry and community responsibility.
After working at the Federal Reserve Bank, managing at an international wine company, and living a successful modern life—I found myself deeply unfulfilled. Following the divorce from my wife at 26, I left America to play semi-professional football (soccer) in Germany, and eventually continued on to Asia in search of answers to my questions about life.
In 2006, a Tantra Yoga class in Thailand changed the course of my life. I began a one-month immersion which evolved into a decade of study, practice, and sharing the Kaula Trika Tantra tradition.
My life is now focused on authentic, honest, and playful celebration of life.
About SKaSTA Tantra Yoga Ashram
In 2006, Whitney joined Shri Kali Ashram and in 2017 he founded Sva-Tantra Ashram. In 2023, Shri Ma Kristina Baird and Whitney reunited and official merged Shri Kali Ashram and Sva-Tantra Ashram, SKaSTA Tantra Yoga Ashram was born.
At SKaSTA Tantra Yoga Ashram, our mission is to empower individuals to embrace life as sacred play. Rooted in the teachings of Kaula/Trika Tantra, which celebrate this world as the blissful Play of Devī, the Divine Feminine, we aim to create a sincere and inclusive community (Kula) where members can explore their divine nature and celebrate their infinite potentials (Svatantra). By integrating traditional and modern wisdom, we guide students on a transformative journey of self-discovery, connection, and celebration of the divine expressing Herself as You.
At SKaSTA we share tantric, ayurvedic and modern perspectives and practices which allow us to dis-cover our ānanda: ever-present innate bliss. We share through āsana practice, active dialogues on traditional tantric topics, modern communication/relating modalities, introspection practices and more to dis-cover our ānanda.
Traditional systems understand that consistent, repetitive practice quickly integrates new habits and perspective. This ancient knowledge has recently been confirmed by studies on neuroplasticity which show new neural habits can be formed within a few weeks/months by consistent and repetitive activity in a relaxed environment (see the work of Profs. Richard Davidson, Wisconsin University and Gerald Hüther, Göttingen University). Through the practices at SKaSTA you will optimize your prāņic (vital life force), hormonal, and neuralogical processes to support a life of expansion and celebration.
Tantra understands that you are the creator of your reality, more accurately, you are the blissful absolute celebrating life AS YOU. She/you chose to celebrate life here and now as this human being. Through prāņa optimising practices like āsana (physical postures), prāņāyāma (breathing practices), bandhas (internal contractions/holds), dhyānam (meditation), nyāsa (infusing the body with divine self-identity), etc. traditional tantra allows us to unveil ourselves and celebrate our innate bliss/ānanda/kāma.
At SKaSTA we share that all aspects of life—joyful or scary, mundane or exotic—are expressions of the Divine’s blissful play. This perspective empowers us to celebrate life as the microcosmic version of the universal play
Through Kaula Tantra tools and teachings, SKaSTA enables us to consciously re-condition and re-cognize our divine agency and infinite potential.
We explore the art of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) to foster PLAY i.e. self-responsibility, honesty, and compassionate connection. Through tools like ecstatic dance, body work, and Play, we cultivate awareness beyond intellectual understanding, encouraging a direct experience of prana, joy, and nonduality.
We celebrate life as Kula - a vibrant global community sharing traditional as well as contemporary practical knowledge, both in residence and online. Our Traditional Tantra Yoga Immersions are founded on decades of experience and certified by Yoga Alliance.
At SKaSTA, we offer a space for sincere, playful self-exploration and community connection, rooted in the wisdom of Śaiva-Śakta Tantra. Here Kula members engage in deep self-inquiry and embodied experience. Our teachings integrate tantric philosophy, mantra, puja, and āsana, emphasizing self-awarness as a lived reality. This is a journey of self-discovery, where all aspects of life: pleasure, pain, challenge, ease, dynamism and stillness are embraced as expressions of the Divine.
SKaSTA is home to a thriving residential community, where over half our members are returning alumni. We are also a global collective of affiliate schools and 1,000+ certified teachers worldwide.
What is Kaula Tantra?
Kaula Tantra is a Traditional Tantric philosophy from the monist perspective of Śaiva Tantra. Kaula Tantra holds that this entire experience of life is the projection of one blissful, playful, Divine consciousness.
Kaula Tantra integrates ritual, spiritual science, and direct experience to celebrate the Divine. This approach allows practitioners to use every aspect of life—including the body, senses, emotions, and environment—to recognize all experience as Divine
The information held in the Kaula Tantra system is meant to be lived, to be experienced in every moment of life. Kaula Tantra is a system of on action versus intellectualization. Eventually the worldview shared becomes intuitive, a superconscious flow rather than intellectual exercise or effort. Kaula Tantra sees every moment as sacred play; life as the dance of Shiva (foundational consciousness) and Shakti (playful dynamism) metamorphosing as each of us.
Through the view, that all is the play of one blissful consciousness embodied as everything, Kaula Tantra reminds practitioners of their divine potency (Svatantra) and how to recognise that potency in every moment.
Tantra Yoga in India: Finding Authentic Practice in the Land of Tradition
In a world where yoga has been commercialized and tantra often misrepresented, many seekers find themselves longing for something deeper—a connection to the authentic roots of these profound traditions. The journey toward becoming a tantra yoga teacher begins with finding genuine tantra yoga teacher training that honor the depth and transformative potential of traditional teachings. For serious practitioners looking to expand their understanding beyond modern interpretations, India remains the spiritual homeland where the essence of tantra yoga continues to thrive in sacred spaces preserved by living traditions.
Many yoga teachers and practitioners experience a spiritual thirst that standard studio classes and weekend workshops can't quench. They sense there's something more profound beneath the surface of familiar postures and breath work. This intuition is correct—traditional tantra yoga offers a comprehensive system for self-realization that integrates physical practices (āsana) with philosophy, ritual, and community (kula) living in ways that transform not just how we move on the mat but how we move about in life.
The Challenge of Finding Authentic Tantra Yoga
Today's spiritual marketplace presents a paradox for sincere seekers. While "tantra" has become a buzzword appearing in countless retreats and workshops worldwide, authentic traditional tantra has become increasingly hard to find. Those searching for depth often encounter:
- Surface-level Tantra teachings that ignore lineage and depth
- Misunderstandings around sacred sexuality, identity, and spiritual practices
- Lack of integrated practice that includes ritual, mantra, and community
- Isolation in individual spiritual pursuits
This fragmented approach leaves many practitioners feeling confused about what true tantra yoga encompasses. Without immersion in a complete system guided by an experienced teacher, it's challenging to integrate these profound teachings into daily life and nearly impossible to share them authentically with others.
Understanding Traditional Tantra Yoga: A Celebration of Bliss
At its core, traditional tantra yoga—particularly in the Kaula Trika tradition—offers a revolutionary perspective: this world is not an illusion to transcend or a trap to escape but the blissful play (līlā) of divine consciousness. This fundamental principle sets Kaula Tantra apart from spiritual paths that emphasize renunciation or denial of worldly experience. As one of the foundational texts reminds us:
“Everything is enjoined, and everything forbidden here! In fact, there is but one commandment: steady awareness on reality.” —
Mālinīvijayottara Tantra
In traditional tantra, everything—absolutely everything—is embraced as a sacred expression of the Devī, divine feminine. There is nothing to reject, nothing to avoid, nothing to transcend, nothing to heal. Instead, practitioners learn to recognize that everything—movement, stillness, sensation, emotion—is a sacred unfolding of Devi, the Divine Feminine.
This celebration of life is expressed through the Sanskrit concept of ānanda (divine bliss), which isn't dependent on external circumstances but recognized as our fundamental nature. The tantric path doesn't ask practitioners to deny any aspect of human experience but rather to recognize the sacred presence within all experiences—pleasure and pain, success and failure, excitement and boredom.
Key elements of traditional tantra yoga include:
- Āsana practice guided by prāṇic awareness rather than physical alignment alone
- Mantra recitation that connects practitioners to specific aspects of consciousness
- Ritual practices (pūjā) that honor the divine within and all around
- Nyāsa techniques that consecrate the body as a divine vehicle
- Community living (kula) that provides support for personal transformation
These practices aren't separate techniques but integrated aspects of a holistic system designed to awaken practitioners to their true nature as expressions of divine consciousness, celebrating the extraordinary within the ordinary moments of life.
Transforming the Teacher First
For those specifically interested in teaching tantra yoga, the most authentic training programs recognize an essential truth: the teacher must be transformed before attempting to transform others. This principle stands in stark contrast to many modern teacher trainings focused primarily on technique and marketability.
Traditional tantra yoga teacher training involves:
- Deep self-inquiry (ātma-vichāra) to recognize and release limiting beliefs
- Embodied practice that moves beyond conceptual understanding into direct experience
- Sacred study of traditional texts and their practical applications
- Ritualized transmission of teaching methods rooted in tradition
This approach ensures that future teachers speak from lived experience rather than borrowed knowledge. When sharing with students, such teachers naturally transmit not just techniques but the underlying consciousness that gives those techniques their power—the recognition that everything is a blissful expression of the divine.
The Radical Inclusion of All Experience
What makes traditional tantra truly revolutionary is its refusal to divide experience into spiritual versus mundane, pure versus impure, or desirable versus undesirable. Unlike spiritual paths that advocate transcending the world or religious systems that categorize experiences as sinful or virtuous, tantra teaches what is called "radical recognition of Bliss."
In the words of the ancient tantric texts, "sarvam śivamayam jagat"—the entire universe is permeated by divine consciousness. This perspective transforms spiritual practice from a quest to escape reality into a journey of recognizing the sacred nature of everyday experience:
- Physical pleasure becomes a doorway to recognizing divine bliss
- Challenges and difficulties reveal themselves as opportunities for deepening awareness
- Relationships become mirrors reflecting our own divine nature
- Work and daily activities transform into sacred service and ritual
This celebration of all existence doesn't mean practitioners indulge every desire without discernment. Rather, it invites them to approach all experiences with awareness, recognizing the divine consciousness expressing itself through every aspect of life.
Living Tantra as a Path of Bliss
Perhaps the most revolutionary aspect of traditional tantra yoga is its celebration of life itself as sacred. Unlike other spiritual paths that emphasize renunciation or “reward / punishment” based approach to reality, authentic tantra teaches that ultimate happiness and bliss is found through fully embracing experience while recognizing its divine nature.
This perspective transforms the spiritual journey from one of striving and self-improvement to one of recognition and celebration. Rather than trying to become something different or better, practitioners discover the divine consciousness already expressing itself as their own nature and the nature of everything they experience.
As practitioners deepen their understanding through immersive training, this perspective naturally infuses their teaching. Students learn not just how to perform āsanas or pranayama but how to perceive the divine play manifesting through every breath, every sensation, every interaction.
This shift—from seeing spirituality as something separate from ordinary life to recognizing the extraordinary within the ordinary—represents tantra's greatest gift to contemporary seekers. It offers a path of joy and celebration rather than denial, making spiritual practice sustainable and deeply nourishing.
Nonviolent Communication: Language Of Tantra
Have you ever felt completely misunderstood in conversation? Like you're speaking the same language, but somehow, your words don't land the way you mean them? In our Tantra ashram, we've discovered that "Nonviolent Communication: Language of Tantra" offers a transformative approach to human connection. This practice recognizes that communication lies at the heart of relationship—not just with others, but with life itself. Tantra teaches that everything is interconnected—our words, emotions, and energy—making conscious communication a crucial part of spiritual practice.
One of the powerful tools we use is Nonviolent Communication (NVC), developed by Marshall Rosenberg, which shifts focus from conflict to connection. At its core, NVC isn't about being "right" but about being heard. True connection doesn't mean we must agree on everything; it means creating space where people feel seen, understood, and valued. Tantra is about dissolving the illusion of separation, and NVC helps us do exactly that—through listening, presence, and open-hearted expression.
The Sacred Dance of Communication
In traditional Tantra philosophy, consciousness expresses itself through vibration (spanda), manifesting as sound, speech, and language. When we communicate with awareness, we participate directly in divine expression. Our words become more than information exchange—they become energy transmission that can awaken both speaker and listener to deeper truths.
The Kashmiri Śaiva tradition teaches that meaningful dialogue (samvāda) creates a pathway to recognizing our fundamental unity. Unlike ordinary conversation that often reinforces separation, tantric communication reveals the underlying connection between beings, transforming every interaction into an opportunity for spiritual awakening.
Four Elements of Tantric Communication
The practice of NVC as a tantric approach involves four key elements that transform ordinary conversation into sacred connection:
1. Observation Without Judgment
The practice begins with clear seeing—separating what we observe from our interpretations. When we say, "You're inconsiderate" instead of "When you arrived 30 minutes late, I felt concerned," we create barriers. Learning to articulate observations without judgment opens space for authentic connection.
2. Feeling Identification
Tantra invites us to fully experience our emotional landscape as an aspect of divine consciousness. The practice of feeling awareness involves recognizing and naming our emotions without blaming others for causing them. Saying "I feel disappointed" rather than "I feel that you let me down" takes responsibility for our emotions while making it easier for others to hear us.
3. Needs Recognition
At the heart of tantric communication is recognition the core needs—understanding that all humans share the same fundamental needs despite expressing them differently. Shifting from "I need you to listen to me" to "I need understanding and connection" acknowledges that our needs exist independently of specific people or actions.
4. Requests as Offerings
The concept of sacred asking transforms demanding into offering. When making requests, we express our desires clearly while remaining unattached to specific outcomes—a practice of non-grasping that honors everyone's autonomy. A request becomes an invitation: "Would you be willing to share what you heard me say?" rather than a demand: "You need to listen better."
Practicing in Daily Life
The beauty of communication as a tantric practice lies in its everyday applicability:
Mindful Listening as Meditation
When we listen without planning our response, we practice a form of meditation. The complete awareness and attention is a quality of presence that allows us to hear beyond words to the feelings and needs being expressed. This deep listening becomes a powerful form of honoring the divine in another.
In your next conversation, notice when your mind begins formulating a response before the other person has finished speaking. Gently return your attention to their words, tone, and body language, receiving their communication as a gift rather than a challenge to be answered.
Expressing Truth with Compassion
The tantric principle of truthfulness balanced with ahiṃsā (non-harming) guides how we express ourselves. Before sharing difficult truths, take a sacred pause to connect with your intention. Are you speaking to punish, prove a point, or protect yourself? Or are you speaking to create greater understanding and connection?
Embracing Silence
In tantric communication, silence (maunam) is not the absence of expression but a powerful form of it. Conscious pauses create space for integration, allowing words to land and feelings to be fully experienced. Practice incorporating moments of silence in your conversations, especially after sharing something meaningful or hearing something that touches you deeply.
Inner and Outer Dialogue
Our conversations with others mirror our internal dialogue. The way we speak to ourselves—with criticism or compassion, judgment or curiosity—shapes how we communicate with everyone around us. The practice of self-empathy invites us to witness our internal communication patterns with the same awareness we bring to external conversations.
As we develop greater kindness in our self-communication, we naturally extend that same quality to our interactions. The boundaries between "self" and "other" begin to dissolve, revealing the underlying unity that tantra teaches is our true nature.
Beyond Technique to Transformation
In the Kaula Trika tradition, every aspect of human experience offers a pathway to Bliss when approached with awareness. When we communicate consciously, we participate in what the tantric texts call śakti-saṃcāra, the free flow of divine energy. Words spoken with presence and compassion become vehicles for the transmission of consciousness itself.
Imagine if, in every interaction, we asked one simple question: "What would make life more wonderful right now?" This is the heart of NVC and the essence of Tantra—an ongoing dance of presence, honesty, and connection. When we embrace this way of communicating, we don't just improve our relationships—we transform the way we experience life itself.
Nonviolent communication: Language of Tantra invites us into a radical reimagining of what it means to speak and listen. Beyond techniques or strategies, it offers a way of being that honors the divine nature of all expression. The next time you find yourself in conversation, remember that you're engaged in something far more significant than exchanging information—you're participating in the ancient and ongoing dance of consciousness expressing itself through relationship.
WORKSHOPS
1. Blind Bliss /Tantric Field
“Where one sees nothing else, hears nothing else,
knows nothing else—there itself one enjoys bliss.”
What happens when the mind stops knowing and the senses are allowed to merge into pure feeling? In Blind Bliss, we explore a playful Tantric field of connection where sight is removed and awareness moves through touch and subtle sensation. Beginning with communication and consent practices, followed by a gentle tantra-yoga āsana sequence to relax and regulate the body, we create a space where participants can settle deeply into themselves.
With blindfolds on and the body exposed, we enter a flowing field of shared prāṇa, where touch becomes meditation and the mind cannot track the flood of sensation. The invitation is not to chase sensation but to rest in the collective current of bliss that emerges when we stop knowing and fully feel.
Please bring a blindfold or scarf.
Requirements:
- Previous consent awareness
- Comfort with nudity, sensual/sexual touch, same gender touch (You choose your level of engagement in all of aspects)
2. Kaula Tantra / Culture and Worship the Goddess
Rooted in Kaula Tantra, this ritual honors the source (yoni) as the living presence of the Goddess. We will explore vulnerability, devotion, and the recognition of Śakti expressing as the human form. Women (as Shakti) lead the experience, choosing who will worship them and the details of their experience during and after the ceremony. This workshop includes ritualistic disrobing (if you choose), full body gazing, traditional pūja (ceremony) and spacious integration time. You are invited into a sacred celebration of embodiment, trust, and play.
“In the Yoni resides
all the gods, all the mantras.
He who worships the Yoni worships everything.”
Kularnava Tantra
Requirements:
- Must come as a couple, space limited to 15 couples (30 people)
- Previous consent awareness
- Comfort with nudity, sensual/sexual touch, same gender touch (You choose your level of engagement in all of aspects)
3. Tantra: Lucid DAY DREAMS!
“Just as in a dream, the entire universe appears WITHIN one’s own consciousness,”
— Abhinavagupta,
Īśvarapratyabhijñā-Vimarśinī
The great Tantric Abhinavagupta understood this entire universe is a pratibhā: the Absolute dreaming itself AS YOU in this moment. What would make this life a “dream come true,” today, right now? Together we will explore the tantric understanding of life as a dream and what it feels like to wake up inside this dream. Let’s explore our desires and let them move, express and PLAY together! Bring something to journal with and something to sit/lay on.
4. Facing Fear/ Tantra style!
“For the one who knows the entire universe as his own Self, what could be feared?”
— Abhinavagupta, Tantrāloka
Tantra teaches that everything is You, and You are everything—so what is there to fear? In this experiential workshop, we slow down and explore what happens in the body when we explore our karmic stories. Through guided partner and group practices inspired by Tantric awareness, we’ll learn to communicate our desires authentically, play with rejection, and learn to follow our full body YES’s. By bringing curiosity and presence to intense and stimulating moments, we rediscover a deeper honesty, connection, and celebration that comes from remembering what Tantra tells us: WE ARE THE UNIVERSE PLAYING!
Bring something to be comfortable sitting or laying on.
Evening Event
Matrika Nyasa /Infusing the Goddesses
“When the mantra is placed in the limbs and contemplated as one’s own nature, the body becomes filled with the nectar of bliss.”
-Tantrāloka
Tantric traditions teach that the universe itself is mantra. Just as the Bible says, “In the beginning was the Word… and the Word was God,” Tantra recognizes that this divine Word unfolds through the letters (mātṛkā)—the Goddesses of expression.
In this practice of Mātṛkā Nyāsa, partners ceremonially place mantra into the body through repetition and gentle touch, honoring the body as a living temple of the divine. Moving from head to heart to toe, we invoke the presence of the Goddesses and awaken the felt sense of sacred embodiment.
Participants are encouraged to arrive with a partner if possible. Singles will be thoughtfully paired, or the practice may be done as a beautiful self-ritual of remembering your own divine embodiment.
Requirements:
- Previous consent awareness
- Comfort with nudity, sensual/sexual touch, same gender touch (You choose your level of engagement in all of aspects)
MORNING EVENTS
Morning Āsana Practice
This āsana practice comes directly from practitioners within the Kaula Tantra tradition. The system focuses on opening the energetic channels of the body and balancing the flow of prāṇa by deep relaxation and dropping the conscious mind.
Stress is a major contributor to many health imbalances. When we cultivate the capacity to truly relax, the mind, body, and spirit naturally come into alignment, allowing vitality and clarity to emerge.
This is a gentle, meditative style of yoga that supports the natural regulation of the prāṇa system.
