Westerners often mistakenly believe that tantric yoga is essentially a sexual practice. The essence of tantra is a focus on life energy or kundalini associated with the nervous system and the environment. The goal of tantra, as with other spiritual practices, is the achievement of unity consciousness. However, tantric yoga is considered a rapid path to that goal and contains some implicit dangers.

Swami Chetanananda is founder of the Nityananda Institute in Portland, Oregon. He is author of Dynamic Stillness, The Breath of God and The Logic of Love.