Winter 2026 Sādhana School: Mātṛkā Śakti

SS offers a rigorous yet practical container for making sense of profound—and sometimes disorienting—spiritual experiences, situating them within a coherent philosophical framework.
Through close engagement with Tantrik meditative traditions, somatic and ritual practice, and inquiry, SS helps you develop a more intimate relationship with language, perception, and the subtle forces that influence your life.
SS supports a way of living — and, for some, teaching — from greater groundedness, creativity, responsiveness, and clarity, where the fruits of practice are not hoarded away but rather expressed in householder life.

Learn the Sanskrit alphabet through an ancient Tantrik technique, through visualization, bodily 'placements,' and recitation practice
Cultivate a transferrable knowledge of Sanskrit pronunciation and sonic sensitivity that will benefit your Sanskrit recitation practices and any future Sanskrit study you pursue
Experience language as a somatic tuning device, not merely as a system of representation
Discover how an esoteric practice of 'mantric encoding' can reorganize perception, attention, and emotion
Approach the linguistic mysticism of non-dual Śaiva Tantra not as an obscure archeaological artefact, but as a coherent and effective contemplative technology

Mātṛkā means "mothers" (or “little mothers”) and refers to the phonemic powers of the Sanskrit alphabet. In Tantric cosmology, these are not merely sounds but creative matrices through which consciousness differentiates itself into experience.

Each phoneme is understood as (1) a specific vibratory gesture, (2) a mode of knowing, and (3) a device for accessing distinct cognitive and affective states. One Sanskrit text, the Mātṛkā-cakra-viveka, presents the alphabet as a complete map of consciousness, correlating sound, bodily articulation, and experiential states into a unifying structure.

Nyāsa literally means “placing” or “installing.” In practice, nyāsa involves placing mantras or phonemes into the body through touch and visualization — transforming the body into a ritual field and a living text.

Mātṛkā-Nyāsa is the contemplative practice of (1) installing the Sanskrit phonemes into the body, (2) experiencing language as embodied cognition, and (3) allowing sound to reorganize perception, identity, and modes of awareness. Rather than thinking about language, you become intimate with how language thinks in, as, and through you.

"It was wonderful to dive deep into the theory and practice that many of us get a taste for when we first practice asana and attend teacher training school. I learned so very much during the program and I am immensely grateful to have been part of it... what I feel now is an immense joy, a sense of wonder, that I can be a part of this awesome sadhana group from my home in a small African country called Malawi... Thank you, Jacob, for your huge work and for bringing the teachings of yoga alive for me, and for so many of us around the globe."

"There are endless thoughts and feelings that I could be describing. Apart from the huge learning, that I can be in a relationship with this life and its source in a profound intimate way… All of this has been made possible through your work, and I want to thank you again for that. You have created an incredible space, filled with so much authenticity - a word much overused, but absolutely necessary in this context. I loved the mixture between the intense practices and the rich theoretical knowledge! I soaked up every word and am excited for more."

Throughout the term, we will weave between intellectual study and the cultivation of devotional awareness. Jacob Kyle will guide students through the theoretical architecture of non-dual Tantra's linguistic mysticism, drawing on classical sources such as the Mātṛkā-cakra-viveka, selections from Abhinavagupta’s Tantrāloka and Parātriṃśikā-Vivaraṇa, as well as mapping important Śaiva-Śākta philosophical concepts.

Together, we will explore how the Sanskrit phonemes correspond to the states of waking, dreaming, deep sleep, and "the fourth state" (turya); how the very act of linguistic articulation mirrors the contraction and expansion of consciousness; and how language itself functions as a direct mode of realization, rather than merely a system of representing objects in the world. This material is presented with clarity and coherence, without flattening its philosophical depth — especially for deep practitioners who value rigor, but not an abstraction that is divorced from practice or lived experience.

Alongside this structural clarity, Nataraj Chaitanya will highlight the teachings in their devotional and everyday dimension. Mantra will be approached as a living orientation to be enacted and performed. Through heart-centered reflection and embodied application, students will explore how inner mātṛkā reorganizes emotion, intention, and attention, and how mantra naturally extends into daily life: relationships, difficulty, play, and service. Held together, these two approaches — conceptual precision and devotional warmth — create a balanced container in which esoteric teachings are not merely understood, but become more accessibly imbibed and embodied.

Jacob Kyle is a meditation teacher, writer, philosophy educator, and the Founding Director of Embodied Philosophy. His guiding mission is to re-imagine the modern function of the yoga teacher in alignment with the teachings, texts, and traditions of yoga's profound history. He believes that by building a network of teachers who share a commitment to disseminating the deeper teachings and practices of yoga, we can build a world based on wisdom rather than ideology and divisiveness.

Jacob is a doctoral student at the University of Oxford, researching Abhinavagupta's Philosophy of Language and Meditation with advisor Diwakar Acharya. He holds an MPhil in Classical Indian Religions from Oxford (2023), an MA in Philosophy from the New School for Social Research (2017), and an MSc in Political Theory from the London School of Economics (2007). Jacob is a passionate advocate of Kashmir Śaivism and a devoted practitioner of the Śaiva-Śākta Darśana.

Nataraj Chaitanya has led retreats, workshops, kirtans, and has directed yoga and meditation teacher training programs throughout the world for 20 years. After beginning a daily meditation and yoga practice at the age of 13, Nataraj immersed himself in the teachings of yoga and tantra and at the age of 16, began to share these nectarean teachings with his students. He has inspired countless seekers to take up a spiritual practice and has dedicated his life to bringing the wisdom of yoga to everyday life.

His love of teaching is evident in the enthusiastic and devotional manner in which he leads his classes. He strives to create environments and experiences where people from all walks of life can directly contact the fullness of their own Being.

Winter 2026 Sādhana School

Mātṛkā Śakti

Linguistic Mysticism, Esoteric Sanskrit, and the Embodied Language of the Goddess

Sādhana School (SS) is a laboratory of contemplative study and embodied practice devoted to cultivating discernment, depth, and intimacy with reality itself.

What This Sādhana Is (and Is Not)

What Is
Mātṛkā-Nyāsa?

Overview of the Winter 2026 Curriculum

Who This Sādhana Is For

How the Journey
Unfolds in Sādhana School

Methodological Approach

Integrating Head & Heart