Rishi Yoga

In this detailed guide, yoga and meditation teacher Pierre Bonnasse reveals the simple movement, breathing, and awareness techniques of the Rishi Yoga tradition, passed down through generations of yogis in the Himalayas. He shows how to integrate Rishi Yoga into daily life for discovering and recognizing the Universal Self, or Pure Awareness, and unveiling the peace and joy inherent in each of us.

The author begins by detailing the foundational practices of Rishi Yoga: easy physical movements, done slowly and with full awareness, combined with breathing exercises, sensory perception, and concentration. These moving-meditation exercises are physically simple enough to be performed seated, standing, or lying down and work progressively to allow you to tune in to your energetic body centres and cultivate a natural and effortless sense of self-awareness, which is the hallmark of Rishi Yoga, in every situation and at every moment.

The author explores how Rishi Yoga trains us to become receptive to all levels of being—the physical body, emotional body, and subtle body—and enables access to tissue-level awareness and cellular memory. He also looks at this dynamic meditation’s rapport with traditional forms of yoga, such as Raja Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Hatha Yoga, and Yoga Nidra, and with the philosophy of nonduality, Advaita Vedanta, and modern methods of mindfulness.

The author explains how, as Rishi Yoga advances you from personal awareness to a state of universal consciousness, it also becomes more and more integrated into the ordinary activities of daily life, making every moment—from the time you wake up to the time you fall asleep—an act of meditation, active perception, undivided attention, and expanded awareness. And once the practice of Rishi Yoga has permeated all facets of your waking life, it brings the realisation that true happiness or Enlightenment is neither a state nor an experience to attain or acquire; it is an ever-present reality to be recognised behind every thought, emotion, speech, and action—the “ultimate Bliss” described by the ancient Indian scriptures.