This article is a synthesis of the Yoga Anatman session of October 6, 2026, a morning when laughter swept through our bodies like a sacred wave, and every repressed part of us was finally given permission to exist.
There are mornings when you arrive still wearing armor warm from sleep, and leave without knowing where it fell. 🌅 On this October 6, in the village of love — the brand-new name that replaces the old one — something happened that no one had planned. A laugh burst out, then another, then a cascade. And in that laughter, everyone heard the question life has been asking us for so long: are you finally ready to be what you already are? ✨
There was Valérie, Isabelle, Lilit, Prema, Marie-Dominique, Morgane, François, Alexis, Kévin, Anaïs, Shakti-Blue, Baptiste, Margot. There were the Belgians outdoors, at sixteen degrees, which for them was almost warm. And there was, inside as well as outside, the same breath, the same dawn, the same deep OM rising from the ground to pass through every chest. 🕊️
You will see that on that morning, the teaching slipped in through the narrow door of permission. Permission to laugh, to cry, to burp, to yawn, to express ourselves. Permission, above all, to stop holding back that part of us which has been waiting since childhood to finally be told: you have the right to exist. 💞
When Every Part Receives the Key
In everyone’s life there is an inner door, discreet, sometimes forgotten. Behind it wait the parts of us we learned to silence. The child who was too sensitive, the laugher who was too loud, the artist who was too intense, the being who was too beautiful, too strong, too alive. 🦋
This morning Alexandre spoke of a national educastration — the expression is Isabelle’s, and it will soon become a filmed sketch. Behind the humor lies a serious realization: what we call education is often a silencing of who we are. And yoga, each morning, gently comes to undo those bonds.
That morning, the guiding mantra was simple and deeply moving: I release in love everything that keeps me from letting each of my parts express itself. 🙏
The Morning’s Teaching
The theme that ran through the whole session fits in a single sentence: “I release in love everything that keeps me from letting each of my parts express itself.” 🙏 It is the new title of the yoga, as Alexandre announced himself. A title, a door, an invitation.
The morning’s elixir was especially rich. Alexandre channeled a series of mantra-releases that together form a true ceremony of permission. Each one was built on the same template: “I release in love everything that would have me believe that…” and each time, a part of us finally received the key.
That I cannot be accepted as I am. That I will be judged and criticized. That I have to be a certain way to be loved. That my sensitivity is a problem. That what I am might be too strong, too intense, too beautiful. 💫
Then came the initiations, received in gratitude: love, kindness, benevolence, surrender, nonviolent communication, caring communication. Each word is a seed. 🌱
And at the heart of the teaching, this seismic sentence: “My body is my territory. The first territory is the body.” Before inhabiting a house, a village, a relationship, we must first inhabit this flesh that has been entrusted to us.
The other major realization sprang up during the conscious walk: the question is not where you are going, since there is nowhere to go. The question is: how does this feel to me? 🦋 A radical shift. From the goal to the path. From arriving to feeling. From conquest to presence.
Alexandre also shared a personal realization, both serious and luminous: through the education he received, he had learned to deny many parts of himself. “It’s not an education, it’s a castration,” said Isabelle. National educastration — a phrase both funny and cutting that will become a sketch.
Behind the laughter, the teaching is crystal clear: every repressed part is waiting to exist. The burp, the yawn, the laugh, the tear, the Kundalini that jolts, the unexpected hug — all of this is the natural expression of life when we stop smothering it. 💞
And the last mantra, the one that brought the room to tears: “To each of my parts, I love you. You have the right to express yourself now. You have the right to exist now. You have the right to be what you want to be.” ✨
Finally, Alexandre offered a practice to carry through the day: associate the sound of the bell or the singing bowl with peace. One sound at breakfast, one at lunch, one at dinner. A sound to stop everything, suspend everything, disappear, realign and live from presence. 🕊️
Realizations During Yoga Anatman
🎁 This 10-minute excerpt of the session’s realizations (in French) is offered to you by ANATMAN TV.
The morning began with an individual sound, the contracted breath, in which the whole body becomes rigid so as to better feel what it does when we tighten the calves, thighs, buttocks, abs. The arms rise, rise, rise, the heels lift, and in this deliberate tension, by contrast, the immense softness of letting go reveals itself. ✨
Alexandre then invites us to welcome all emotions, welcome all bodily sensations. The repetition becomes a prayer. I welcome, I welcome, I welcome. And already, in the room, Wahiri is giggling. Valérie and Isabelle, the explosive cocktail we had been warned about, slip into laughter yoga without even trying. 🤍
Next comes the backward stretch, thumbs hooked, then the slow descent toward the mat, chest on the thighs, hands sliding toward the floor. The standing forward fold reveals everything the backs of the thighs have to say when we finally listen.
“I welcome all my emotions, say it with me: I welcome all my bodily sensations, I welcome.”
Then the side stretch, right arm raised, ear against the arm, and these precious words: the delight of the stretch. 💫 Alexandre suggests we pair delight with stretching. Not putting up with it, not enduring it: delighting in it. The heel lifts, the elbow rises, and what he calls the inner masseur arrives — that intelligence of the body that knows where to go once we stop dictating to it.
The right hand massages the back of the head, the neck. I surrender to the inner masseur, I surrender. The same movement on the other side, and already the body feels different, more inhabited, more porous. 🌿
Then the deep OM resonates in the feet. The legs become roots, the inner tree rises up. And on this foundation, Alexandre guides wide neck circles that engage the whole body — one side, then the other, slowly, to surrender to the inner yogi.
Then comes the moment of vertical gratitude, arms raised, blindfold over the eyes. To life, I love you. To the delight of life. To my magnificent body, I love you. Words become a wave, the body becomes a temple. 💖
“Gratitude for having a magnificent body, gratitude to my physical body, I love you.”
Then the surrender posture, chest leaning back, hands on the lower back. Alexandre speaks of an energy healing, with the heart chakras in each palm. We imagine the warmth, we send love into the lower back. The spine opens like an offering. 🌟
Wide pelvic circles follow, slow at first, then broader. And there, in the rotation, one of the purest realizations of the morning emerges: “My body is my territory. The first territory is the body.” 💫 A sentence that puts everything back in place — before the land, before the house, before even the village of love, there is this flesh to inhabit.
Alexandre then introduces the frog, a dynamic breathing exercise, followed by squats for those outdoors who want to warm up, and a few push-ups for volunteers. Valérie does fifty — “yes 50 push-ups 👍”. The body wakes up, laughs, vibrates.
Then we lie down on our backs, strap in hand, to stretch the right leg. Lower back pressed to the floor, forearms pulling, neck free. And that’s when the epidemic begins. Kundalini for Lilit, uncontrollable laughter for Valérie, singing for Chang. 🦋 Alexandre lets it out: “I surrender to the Kundalini rising. And if it jolts, it jolts.”
“It’s a clown convention today. I love you, clowns.”
The laughter becomes contagious. Valérie writes in the chat: “gratitude for the laughter it’s contagious 🤣🤣”. And in this laughter a beautiful truth reveals itself: the nose is unblocked, both nostrils, Ida and Pingala, are open, and that is what makes us laugh. 🌱 Laughter as an energetic sign, not a distraction.
The same stretch with the left leg, the same risings, the same surrender. Then stretching the little toes, one by one, with awareness of the acupuncture meridians. Second toe, third, fourth, big toe. The body becomes a complete map.
Then comes the chai ceremony. Seated, in half lotus, back straight as if suspended from the crown of the head. Alexandre channels the mantras, and this is the high point of the morning. 🙏
“I release in love everything that would have me believe that I have to be a certain way to be loved and welcomed.”
Tears flow. “I am welcomed as I am, I am. I am already perfect, I am.” ✨ Then the initiation: love, kindness, benevolence, surrender, nonviolent communication, caring communication. Each initiation is received in gratitude.
And always this deeply moving sentence: “To each of my parts, I love you. You have the right to exist now. You have the right to be what you want to be.” 💞 This is where the morning tips over completely.
The session continues with the conscious walk, eyes closed behind the blindfold. Bodies cross paths, touch, and hugs spring up — “Conscious hugs,” says Alexandre, surprised himself by the wave of love. “It’s better than at a distance, Valérie.” 🤍
Walking backward becomes a lower-back massage. Walking forward becomes has-been. And in this reversal, a final realization: what matters is not the goal, it’s the path, and above all: how does this feel to me? 🌅
The Postures of the Session
🧘 Individual sound with arms raised, on tiptoe — Urdhva Hastasana (variation)
The posture: standing, feet parallel, arms rising slowly toward the sky with thumbs hooked, then rising onto tiptoe while contracting the calves, thighs, buttocks and abs, gaze forward, long inhalation through the nose.
Benefits for the body: strengthens the calves and the stabilizing muscles of the ankles, stretches the lower back and rib cage, improves balance.
🧘 Backbend with thumbs hooked — Anuvittasana
The posture: standing, hands behind the back with thumbs hooked, chest opening slightly toward the sky, gentle backward tilt of the torso, full breathing.
Benefits for the body: opens the solar plexus and shoulders, makes the thoracic vertebrae more supple, frees the upper breath.
🧘 Standing forward fold — Uttanasana
The posture: standing, slow descent vertebra by vertebra, chest toward the thighs, hands toward the floor, knees bent if needed, then pressing into the hands to straighten the legs.
Benefits for the body: deeply stretches the backs of the thighs and hamstrings, decompresses the lumbar spine, calms the nervous system.
🧘 Right-angle posture with hands on knees — Ardha Uttanasana
The posture: torso parallel to the floor, hands resting on the knees, long back, gaze forward, slow breathing.
Benefits for the body: lengthens the spine, strengthens the back, stretches the hamstrings.
🧘 Side stretch with inner masseur — Parsva Urdhva Hastasana
The posture: right arm raised, ear toward the arm, lateral bend, opposite heel lifting, free hand massaging the back of the neck.
Benefits for the body: stretches the ribs and obliques, releases neck tension, opens the space between the hips.
🧘 Wide neck circles — Anatman movement
The posture: slowly drawing large circles with the chin, engaging the whole body, with the lower back joining the movement.
Benefits for the body: loosens the nape of the neck, mobilizes the cervical spine, relaxes the shoulder girdle.
🧘 Backward surrender posture, hands behind the back — Ardha Anuvittasana (variation)
The posture: arms out to the sides then back, hands on the lower back, slight arch, sending love through the palms.
Benefits for the body: opens the rib cage, mobilizes the lower back, stimulates circulation.
🧘 Pelvic circles — Anatman movement
The posture: standing, knees slightly bent, wide circles of the pelvis in one direction then the other, breathing freely.
Benefits for the body: loosens the hips and lower back, tones the obliques and lower back, improves pelvic fluidity.
🧘 Breathing frog — Anatman movement
The posture: squatting with a straight back, gaze forward, exhaling through the nose and inhaling fully, at your own pace.
Benefits for the body: opens the hips and adductors, stimulates digestion, tones the thighs.
🧘 Squat — Malasana (standing variation)
The posture: bending the knees with a straight back, lowering and rising while staying upright.
Benefits for the body: strengthens the quadriceps and glutes, warms up the whole body, mobilizes the knees.
🧘 Push-ups — Chaturanga Dandasana (variation)
The posture: plank with arms straight, then controlled bending of the elbows, chest toward the floor and back up.
Benefits for the body: strengthens the arms, chest and abdominals, builds strength in the shoulder girdle.
🧘 Reclining leg stretch with a strap — Supta Padangusthasana
The posture: lying on the back, strap around the foot, straight leg rising, neck relaxed, lower back pressed down, pushing through the opposite heel.
Benefits for the body: stretches the hamstrings and calf, decompresses the lower back, promotes circulation in the legs.
🧘 Knees to chest with rounded back — Apanasana
The posture: lying down, knees drawn toward the chest, back rounded, neck free.
Benefits for the body: massages the digestive organs, stretches the lower back, eases lumbar tension.
🧘 Toe stretch — Anatman movement
The posture: lying down, stretching the little toes one by one, then the big toes, with awareness of the meridians.
Benefits for the body: activates the reflex points of the feet, stimulates the flow of energy, refines proprioception.
🧘 Seated half lotus — Ardha Padmasana
The posture: legs crossed in half lotus, back straight as if suspended from the crown of the head, hands on the thighs, eyes closed.
Benefits for the body: aligns the spine, calms the mind, opens the hips.
🧘 Conscious walk — Anatman movement
The posture: slow walking with eyes closed, then open, forward then backward, fully present to the feet and sensations.
Benefits for the body: strengthens proprioception, mobilizes the lower back (walking backward), anchors you in the moment.
My body is my territory. The first territory is the body.
I release in love everything that keeps me from letting each of my parts express itself.
The question is not where you are going, since there is nowhere to go. The question is: how does this feel to me?
Voices from the We
Laughter as a Shared Offering
On a morning woven with contagious laughter, the words in the chat carry on the vibration of the room.
“gratitude for the laughter it’s contagious 🤣🤣” — Valérie
The Joy of a Body Fully Engaged
The session called on the body in all its strength, and Valérie turned it into a joyful playground.
- “yes 50 push-ups 👍” — Valérie
The Gentleness of Arrivals
Each hello is a hand held out in the morning light.
- “Ola, hi there, good morning!” — Rafaël
- “Hi 💜🙏” — Sandrine
- “good morning everyone” — Valérie
- “good morning everyone” — Francis
The Final Gratitude
At the end of the yoga, the words grow shorter, denser, like candles being blown out.
- “have a good day, hugs and kisses…” — Rafaël
- “have a good day everyone” — Valérie
- “Gratitude 🙏” — MaHA
Themes: permission · expression · release · body-territory · laughter · conscious hugs · education · presence
This article was originally written in French: Yoga Anatman : S’autoriser à exister pleinement
