Interview about Venus Yoga in Japan for the international community.
Interview about Venus Yoga in Japan for the international community.
(Recorded October 2009, Tokyo Japan ).
Juicier Japan: Exploring our feminine nature through yoga.
Interview with Dylan Robertson from the `Hello Yoga` Community in Japan.
This is an interview with Sara-Shivani, a bilingual teacher of Hatha and Tantra Yoga, Qigong and her fusion style of yoga called Venus Yoga. I was fascinated to learn more about the ground-breaking work she has been doing with women in recent years, and her Lifeshop program that is starting to get a lot of attention. ===================================================
Dylan: I’m very interested in what you are teaching women in your Lifeshops. I can really sense from reading the testimonials from your students that there’s a huge need for somebody to be teaching about sexuality, understanding our bodies, and the nature of relationships. I understand that most of your students are Japanese. How do you see the modern Japanese woman and what is driving you to do this work?
Shivani: My Lifeshop is open to expats too but probably 90% of my students are Japanese. A large number of the women lack self esteem, are negative about their body image and feel uninspired about their lives. Many confide that they suffer from loneliness, depression and various health problems like breast cancer and ovarian cysts. A lot of women are caught up in the competitive corporate world, working extremely long hours. They are starting to burn out. After living in Japan for nearly a decade, and teaching yoga for over five years I saw a need for a style of yoga that honors the feminine qualities of life so that we can all slow down, be more loving and compassionate. My goal is to create a space to bring women together to share their stories and practice rituals that allow them to remember their goddess nature.
Dylan: Tell me about the “Lifeshop“ program you created?
Shivani: My Lifeshops are broader in scope than normal yoga workshops. They are sessions where you learn not only how to make yoga work for you in your daily life, but also a chance to discover your feelings about what it means to be a woman. We talk heart to heart about the physical, psychological, and emotional issues that affect us, then work through exercises designed to create inner awareness and learn ancient qigong techniques that specifically nurture the female reproductive system. The first 30-60 minutes we return to our tribal roots. We move the body, we dance, we yoga, we sing, we let go of physical tension and any feelings of nervousness or shyness. Then, it is time for the `Sharing Circle`. We reflect, write, role-play and express our thoughts, desires and dreams. I focus on integrating asana with the exploration of feminine sensuality through ‘feeling.’ We feel our breath as we feel our skin. We visualize our organs while practicing Qigong massage sequences. I guide them through meditations. I teach them to connect with their breath and body and show them the tools to practice all this at home so they can respond to real life situations with confidence and calmness.
Dylan: I understand you teach about sexual anatomy and reflexology too.
Shivani: Yes. The number women in Japan diagnosed with problems related to their reproductive organs is rising. According to Ayurveda and Chinese Traditional Medicine (the yoga and qigong sister sciences) diseases develop because of physical, mental and emotional blockages or disturbances that affect the flow of life force energy. Of course, we have environmental and dietary factors to consider, but I feel the mind-body connection is still the most defining factor. I am a big fan of Dr. Emoto Masaru, who is internationally known for his research on water. I show the women some of his scientific findings that illustrate a core principle of yoga and eastern thought~ that our thoughts influence our body and visa versa. We realize that if we are negative about our bodies, ignore our sexual health, or are ignorant about our anatomy, we cause harm and create sickness. I teach the ancient Qigong “Jade Egg” meditation. It teaches women to strengthen the PC muscles, move energy in the womb and become aware of their ovaries.
Dylan: How do the women respond to their Lifeshop experiences? 
Shivani: I have had fantastic feedback from my students about how they now feel empowered as a woman. For most of them it is their first time to contemplate anything specifically related to their femininity. The women engage in deep dialogue, experience support from the Sharing Circle and pleasure that comes when they care for themselves as “goddesses.” The women leave the Lifeshop blissful, self-assured and inspired about their futures.
Dylan: Almost every media image we see of yoga is of a pretty, young woman striking a pose. Yoga seems to be a female-dominated field so why the need to focus on women?
Shivani: The core practices emerged from, and were passed down through the ages, by men to men. In India and China most practioners are men but in the west and Japan women are definitely in the majority. Before the worldwide yoga boom most yogateachers were either men, or women trained by men. My first yoga teachers were also men. I got a good workout and felt refreshed but there was an absence of “Shakti“ (free-flowing feminine energy) in the room or dialogue about how I could apply yoga to nurture my female body and mind. There was something lacking. In years that followed, I was privileged to study with many wise women, like Leza Lowitz, Daisy Lee and Shashi Solluna, and they inspired the feminine approach of my Lifeshop.
Dylan: The central theme of your Lifeshops are `shizen`. What does that mean? Shizen means `nature` and `as you are` in Japanese. `Living shizen~living yoga` became my lifework because understanding the concept of `shizen` allowed me to achieve wellness and I wish to share with others that they can too. Our greatest source of feminine inspiration is nature and yoga teaches us the importance of connecting with the earth in order to increase our awareness, understanding and appreciation of what it means to be alive. Dylan: Tell me more about these home-stay programs you are running. 
Shivani: I also have a more intimately styled Lifeshop which I run from my home sanctuary. I live in Kamakura~ a beach side town and an oasis of Japanese culture. It is only an hour from Tokyo. Nature is a sexual goddess, juicy, and thriving with healing vibrations. When we practice outside we can tap into our inner energy flow in a powerful way because this is where life force energy (`prana`) is the strongest. One minute the sea is calm. And the next minute a storm or typhoon hits like the one that is coming tonight. Typhoons, like challenges in our lives, stir up energy and garbage so we have the chance to clean up the old and start anew. Practicing yoga in nature allows us to really understand and appreciate the rhythms of life. The women stay at my home so they can experience an example of how they maybe able to incorporate yoga into their daily lives.
Dylan: After women take your lifeshop are they able to find a guy who they can connect with now that they have theses new ideas and rediscovered wisdom?
Shivani: Ha! It is an issue and I am searching for an experienced male teacher, who can share tantra and tao practices with the men in Japan. One of my teachers, Andrew Fretwell, sometimes runs workshops here but we need a teacher based in Japan for sure. Eventually, I hope to teach unisex sessions with such a teacher too. Relationships and sex and are like any other topic, disciple or activity. Just reading about it or talking about is not enough. We need a willingness to learn, guidance, training and practice.
PART TWO*
Dylan: I sense that there are a lot of problems between the genders here in Japan. Women refer to the men as being `soushyokudanshi` (“herbivores”)~ meaning that they’re not interested in competing with other men in the hunt for women. At the same time, women are becoming stronger, more aggressive and independent. But, I sense that they’re not happy. 
Shivani: In Tokyo and other big cities, a large percentage of 20-40year old women here are single, live alone and are financially independent. I fall into this category and while I feel happy in this situation, I know that if I’m not careful I tend to ignore my feminine qualities that favor inter-connectedness, softness and intuitiveness. The business culture here is male dominated. In my `Lifeshops` women talk about how exhausted they are working in environments where they cannot show their emotional intuition, ask for help, nor adjust their schedules when their energy levels are fluctuating with their menstrual or menopausal cycles. Yoga means union and connection. I realized many years ago that making rigid shapes on a mat is not the best way to experienceyoga or our goddess nature. The feminine within us (men included) gushes juicy when it is stimulated through conversation, touch, free movement, sound and simple things like relaxing in nature and spending time together cooking and in communion. In Japan, people tend to hold things inside and talk little about their feelings so the body becomes a storehouse of built up emotions manifesting as tightness, pain, lethargy, etc. This is why the Sharing Circle is so healing. A beautiful magic occurs- a union of kindred sisters is formed. Expressing our deepest selves and learning to listen without judgment releases the feel-good hormone, Oxytocin, allowing us to let go of tension, `feel in` our bodies and bond. One of the most common things women tell me after class is `I realized I am not alone. I am uplifted`.
Dylan: Where does Tantra yoga fit into your Lifeshops? 
Shivani: Tantra means expansion or weaving. The ancient tantra texts are vast in scope but I focus on the sensual and sexual aspects of Tantra. Some yoga traditions advocate celibacy but tantra encourages an exploration of sexuality.Sexual energy is our core source of life energy and the ancient yogis knew that by cultivating it, lifting repressions and suppressions not only do we become more sensuous and alive we tap into an amazing reservoir of energy and a higher state of expanded consciousness.
Dylan: Talking about sexuality, where do you feel the average Japanese woman stands?
Shivani: Underground there seem to be many juicy Japanese women expressing themselves but in mainstream society talking openly about sex and sexuality is still taboo. The educational system centers around wrote learning and memorization so compared to westerners Japanese find it difficult to express their feelings in general let alone about sex. I talk with many women and men about their sexual health and it seems few are exploring the healing benefits of sex at its deepest energetic level. During regular yoga classes, teachers often talk about energy centers (bandhas) in the body but few highlight the main reason they are important. We cultivate energy not just so we can jump high, show our strength and do the more advanced asanas. We cultivate the bandhas so we can create body-mind wellness at the most fundamental level (sexual and reproductive level) and also as my most influential teacher, Osho, says “super-consciousness”.
Dylan: Unlike the men here, women seem socially and emotionally intelligent, and having a lot of opportunity to talk about relationships and emotions.
Shivani: I agree but many of my students tell me they were ostracized for talking about sex or their health challenges. Many have deep seated fears and suppressed emotions. In the Lifeshop we talk intimately about the dynamics of relationships and sexuality. We explore parental and peer influences, and experience yoga exercises that allow us to become free of our limitations and even traumas surrounding sexuality, sex and relationships. We experience the process of transformation~ we learn to accept the past and create conditions in the present that will allow us to achieve a holistically nutritious future. Tantra is like holding a mirror up to your face. It can feel uncomfortable because it is unfamiliar but if you open up to the exercises a new way of being bursts open and then you understand why yoga is called a practice of freedom and bliss.
Dylan: I see you filling a deep need in the yoga marketplace.
Shivani: Yoga is about balancing the masculine with the feminine in all areas of our life and realizing our interconnectedness. A level of commitment is needed to see results and yoga challenges us physical and mentally. But if we use the techniques correctly with awareness and guidance and share our journeys together we can live as nature intended~ we can live with health, energy and purpose. We can live our `shizen ` and become better contributors within our communities and in the world.
