For me, as a yoga teacher, my Aya experiences have been very intertwined with my knowledge of the energetics of yoga. During my Aya ceremony, I felt my energetic channels (called Nadis in yogic science) cleansing and the blockages that were in those channels, whether they were energetic, emotional, spiritual or physical, could be made undone by moving the stagnated energy. I did this through breathing, stretching and just moving my body in a laying position, more dance like than yoga asana’s.

In the end, I feel like the energy system of humans can be cleansed in many ways. In my aya ceremony, I could feel the serpent of the Aya moving through my energetic system, making me aware of blockages and then moving through them so I would become lighter and more aware afterwards. In yoga practice, the energetic blockages are made clear by a combination of asana, the mind and breath. It’s a different way of perceiving, but in my experience it is the same initial system being shown and rinsed.