This article is a summary of the Yoga Anatman session of August 18, 2026, an opening Tuesday that launched a week-long awakening retreat in Saint-Exan.
There are mornings when the dawn carries something special. A gentle vibration, a promise suspended in the air. 🌅 This Tuesday, from the very first breaths, something was set in motion — something that felt like a summer camp for grown-ups, where the inner child can finally play without being held back.
The smell of chocolate chip cookies floats through the room. Kevin has prepared the reward. And already laughter rises, the Kundalini stirs, the sacred women awaken. 🦋 This is no ordinary session. It is a day when the sacred slips into the everyday, when every posture becomes a prayer and every sound a mantra.
So let yourself be carried. Close your eyes for a moment. And follow the thread of this morning that changed everything for those who were there. 💫
When alignment becomes a sacred dance
To align. The word is simple, almost ordinary. And yet it holds the whole mystery of awakening. 🕊️ Because aligning yourself is not about straightening up mechanically. It is about letting the vertical line run through the body, from the heel to the crown of the head, as if an invisible cord were suspending us from the sky.
This Tuesday morning, Alexandre asked a question that still resonates: “Can I be in a relationship if I don’t exist as an individual myself?” A question that tears the veil of habit. A question that opens a door.
And behind that door lies a simple, overwhelming realization: the more I align, the more life lives itself through me. The more fluidity settles in. The more natural sovereignty becomes. 🌿
The morning’s teaching
This Tuesday’s elixir had a name: the alignment elixir. Green tea, fresh mint leaves, and this intention set from the very first sip: may everything within me find its rightful place. ✨
Alexandre said it with that precision that hits home: “The more I align, the more the relative identity — the I, the me, the ego — aligns with love, the heart, being, the soul, life, the universe.” And as this alignment unfolds, a fluidity appears. In relationships. In expression. In creativity. In embodiment. In manifestation itself.
“The more aligned and clear I am, the more I will radiate this frequency of alignment, and the people around me will have the opportunity to align as well.”
Here is the secret few dare to name: we are not islands. Our frequencies spread. An aligned being aligns everything around them. A misaligned being, without even knowing it, contaminates their surroundings. 💫
And Alexandre insisted on this beautiful paradox: the more aligned I am, the more I see the misalignments. Because from misalignment, everything seems normal. We see nothing. We believe suffering is the price to pay for existing. But from alignment, a new clarity reveals itself. We realize what we weren’t listening to before.
Then came the central question of the week, the one that made hearts tremble: “Can I live love without losing my sovereignty?” 🤍 And the other, more dizzying still: “Can I be sovereign without an identity, without an I, without a me?”
These questions are not looking for an immediate answer. They are laid down gently, like seeds. They sprout as the days go by. And they lead us toward this founding realization of Yoga Anatman: Non-Self is not an absence. It is the infinite presence that welcomes everything.
Alexandre also reminded us that awakening is not about fleeing the relative identity. It is about aligning it with the absolute. Moving from the mode of victim of life and of others to the mode of creator, sovereign. A slow, patient shift that becomes clearer over the years, through channelings and meditations. 🌟
And to recognize alignment, there is a sign: the posture changes. The back straightens. The head rises. We carry ourselves differently. After seven hundred and fifty shamanic ceremonies, Alexandre has noticed it: there is always this alignment that comes, this new uprightness. “Your whole body is actually speaking.” 💖
The last mantra of the elixir rang out like this: “I release in love everything that prevents me from feeling, finely, clearly, with discernment, all my sensations as signals of alignment.” Because that is exactly it: every shiver, every emotion, every contraction of the body is a signal. A sacred language. An inner compass that never lies.
Realizations during Yoga Anatman
The session opened in silence, with this founding mantra: “I surrender to my inner yogi.” 🙏 Then the hands came to massage the cheeks, to loosen the jaws — those small gestures we forget, which nevertheless hold so much accumulated tension.
Very quickly, Alexandre guided an intense vertical stretch. The arms rise, the calves contract, the buttocks, the thighs. And these words burst out: “I feel an incredible strength, all of life in this body.” ✨ The body then becomes a living temple, a vessel for the flowing Shakti.
The blindfold comes down over the eyes. Visual reality fades away. And the journey inward begins, toward that placeless place Alexandre speaks of. The body bends toward the floor, vertebra by vertebra, in total letting go. We welcome the weight of the head, the weight of the upper body, that gravity which calls us back to the earth.
Then comes the first great OM, deep, rooted in the feet. An OM that makes the sacrum vibrate, that awakens the roots. 🌱 This sound is not decorative — it embodies presence. It grounds. It unfolds.
The neck and trapezius massages follow, with this precious advice: press firmly but calmly, steadily, to dissolve the tension. Alexandre reminds us that in just a few moments, if the gesture is steady, the tension is gone. The body knows how to heal when we give it the right attention.
“I spend an hour, an hour and a half in the physical body every morning to align, to realign myself with my feelings, my sensations, so as not to start the day with the mind and the head alone.”
That is the key. Not starting the day from the mind. Starting from the body, from the sensations. It is a radical reversal of our modern habits.
Next comes the frog, with the breath of fire. Three minutes. Back straight, hands in Namaste, gaze straight ahead. This powerful posture opens the hips, awakens the digestive fire, activates circulation in the pelvis. 🔥
Then comes the most poignant moment of the morning: the liberation mantras. Alexandre offers them one by one with infinite tenderness. “I release in love everything that would make me believe I cannot be welcomed, listened to and heard.” And the room weeps. Tears flow, silent, liberating. 💧
Another: “I release in love everything that would make me believe I cannot be loved just for who I am.” And again: “I release in love all the systems of escape and self-sabotage that make me reject others so that I myself get rejected.” 💞
Each sentence is a gentle blade that cuts through old knots. Each sentence is a balm. And the word gratitude returns, again and again, like a sacred refrain: gratitude for being here, gratitude for being aligned with the values of kindness, benevolence, love, self-giving and sovereignty.
After the elixir comes the star posture of the morning: the Anatman antenna pose. One leg raised perpendicular, lower back pressed to the floor, neck relaxed. You pull only with the arms, as if riding a horse. And then something wild happens.
“The leg in the air is a cosmic posture. From the raised leg, connection to the universe.”
The Kundalini awakens. A Kundalini epidemic, Alexandre will say, laughing. 🦋 Laughter bursts out, uncontrollable. Anaïs laughs. Lilith laughs. Prema goes into ecstasy. A wave of wild joy sweeps through the room. Bodies jolt, tremble, set themselves free. This is the yoga of laughter, the yoga of cosmic orgasm, the yoga that reminds us there is no age limit for being crazy, for loving ourselves, for disappearing.
Alexandre then names a major realization: this week belongs to the sacred women. A goddess retreat. A concentration of sacred feminine awakening and spreading its frequency everywhere. 🌸 And he, a man in the middle of this circle, surrenders to this energy, recognizes it, honors it.
The session continues with reclining twists — first to the left, then to the right. The eyes turn, the neck stretches, the opposite shoulder stays pressed to the floor. These twists massage the internal organs, free the vertebrae, untie the solar plexus. And there again, laughter rises, like a spring. 💫
Then comes a sentence that stays with you: “The absolute welcomes everything; the relative resists everything.” In its simplicity, this sentence contains the whole teaching of Yoga Anatman. When I am identified with the relative, with the ego, I resist. When I rest in the absolute, in Non-Self, everything is welcomed without effort.
Another luminous realization: I am not where my senses are. I feel I exist in my head because the eyes, the mouth, the nose, the ears are geographically there. But if my eyes were in my feet, I would feel I was in my feet. The truth is that I am the consciousness that becomes aware of nerve impulses. Nothing more, nothing less. 🕊️
And there are more than five senses, Alexandre reminds us. There is the sending and receiving of thoughts. There is the sending and receiving of love. Seven senses at least. Perhaps more. Yoga widens the information highways, stretches the nervous system, opens up sensitivity.
The session closes with this invitation to find the balance between inside and outside. What percentage inside, what percentage outside? Am I the one who decides, the one who chooses — or do I let myself be tossed around by life? Can I define my territory, my sovereignty? 🌿
Finally, the closing OM of love, blindfold removed, eyes closed, hands in Namaste. An OM for everyone present. An OM for everyone joining from afar. A great OM of love that seals the morning and opens the retreat. 💖
The postures of the session
🧘 Cheek and jaw massage — preparatory self-massage
The posture: Seated in half-lotus, heel against the perineum, the hands gently massage the cheeks and loosen the jaws, with slow breathing through the nose.
Benefits for the body: Relaxes the often-clenched masseter muscles, releases tension in the temporomandibular joint, prepares the face for deep relaxation.
🧘 Vertical stretch with tension — Urdhva Hastasana (variation)
The posture: Standing, the arms rise above the head on the inhale, the calves contract, the buttocks and thighs too. You rise as high as possible, pulling upward, the lower back stretching for three breaths.
Benefits for the body: Strengthens the calves, thighs and glutes, stretches the spine along its full length, tones the overall posture.
🧘 Standing forward bend — Uttanasana
The posture: Standing, you roll down vertebra by vertebra toward the floor, arms and head hanging, knees slightly bent if needed. The hands reach for the floor, the weight of the head is welcomed.
Benefits for the body: Stretches the hamstrings and lower back, decompresses the lumbar vertebrae, improves blood flow to the brain.
🧘 Standing side stretch — Parsva Urdhva Hastasana
The posture: Standing, one arm rises, the body leans to the opposite side, the heel of the opposite foot lifts slightly. You stretch the whole side of the spine, then switch sides.
Benefits for the body: Stretches the intercostal muscles, opens the rib cage, makes the spine more supple laterally.
🧘 Neck rotations — Griva Chalana
The posture: Standing, the chin draws large, slow circles in one direction, then the other, without forcing, staying within a pain-free range.
Benefits for the body: Releases neck tension, makes the cervical vertebrae more supple, improves circulation to the head.
🧘 Arms in a cross with backbend — standing Ardha Chakrasana
The posture: Standing, feet well grounded, the arms rise into a cross, then move back with the head into a gentle extension of the torso. The hands come to the lower back to support the extension.
Benefits for the body: Opens the rib cage and solar plexus, stretches the hip flexors, strengthens the lower back muscles.
🧘 Pelvic rotations — Kati Chakrasana
The posture: Standing, you draw large circles with the pelvis, pushing left, forward, right, back, then in the other direction, gradually widening the movement.
Benefits for the body: Unlocks the hips and pelvis, improves lumbar mobility, stimulates digestion.
🧘 The frog with breath of fire — Mandukasana (Kapalabhati variation)
The posture: Squatting, hands in Namaste, back very straight, gaze forward. You practice the breath of fire (quick, rhythmic exhalations from the belly) for about three minutes.
Benefits for the body: Deeply opens the hips, activates the digestive fire, tones the abdominal muscles and the perineum.
🧘 Half-lotus seat with heel at the perineum — Ardha Padmasana
The posture: Seated, one leg folded with the heel against the perineum, the other leg crossed in front. Back very straight, hands on the knees or in a mudra.
Benefits for the body: Makes the hips and knees more supple, stimulates the first chakra, supports a stable meditative posture.
🧘 The Anatman antenna pose — Urdhva Prasarita Padasana (variation)
The posture: Lying on the back, lower back pressed firmly to the floor, one leg rises perpendicular while the heel of the leg on the floor presses down firmly. You pull only with the arms and hands, the neck stays relaxed. Five minutes on each side.
Benefits for the body: Intensely stretches the hamstrings, strengthens the deep abdominals, activates lymphatic circulation, awakens the energy channels.
🧘 Reclining stretch with arms overhead — Supta Tadasana
The posture: Lying on the back, the arms stretch above the head, the heels push forward. You stretch in both directions, as when waking up.
Benefits for the body: Stretches the entire back and front chains, decompresses the spine, opens the rib cage.
🧘 Reclining twist — Jathara Parivartanasana
The posture: Lying on the back, the bent knees drop to one side, the head turns the opposite way, the opposite shoulder stays pressed to the floor. The free hand presses gently on the knee to deepen the twist. Then switch sides.
Benefits for the body: Massages the abdominal organs, frees the lumbar and thoracic vertebrae, untangles the solar plexus.
🧘 Final meditative posture with mudra — Padmasana + Chin Mudra
The posture: Seated in half-lotus, back straight, head suspended from the sky, palms facing upward, thumb and index finger touching, the other three fingers extended. The inner gaze rests between the eyes.
Benefits for the body: Stabilizes the nervous system, supports concentration, anchors meditative energy in the body.
The more aligned and clear I am, the more I will radiate this frequency of alignment
The absolute welcomes everything; the relative resists everything
Can I live love without losing my sovereignty?
Voices from the We
Gratitude as prayer
Two voices rose after the session, brief but charged with a rare intensity. One word that says everything about what happened that morning: gratitude. 💖
- “gratitude 🙏” — EValerie
- “Gratitude 💖💖💖🙏” — Sandrine
“Gratitude 💖💖💖🙏” — Sandrine
There are mornings when words no longer need to be many. One is enough. And that word, when it is carried by the heart, becomes a mantra in itself. 🕊️
Themes: alignment · sovereignty · kundalini · sacred feminine · non-self · liberation · gratitude · awakening
This article was originally written in French: Yoga Anatman : L’art sacré de s’aligner avec soi
