TALK ABOUT TIBETAN YOGA AND HEALTH WITH ALEJANDRO CHAOUL

TIBETAN YOGA, TSA-LUNG Y TRUL-KHOR “Magical movements” of Tibetan yoga

Alejandro Chaoul talks to us about Tibetan yoga and the benefits it brings to the practice of meditation and our health. He also shares a simple exercise that we can practice at home.. It is not easy to calm the mind. That is why for many people including movement in their meditative practice is very helpful.. Although yoga from Indian traditions is more commonly known, Tibetan traditions also have yoga practices called trul khor or magical movements, o simply referred to as Tibetan Yoga. Tibetan Yoga has an ancient oral tradition, as well as a written tradition with several texts about these practices that date back to the 10th century.. Trulkhor, “magic movement”, is a distinctive Tibetan physical yoga practice in which breathing and mental concentration are integrated with particular body movements. In contrast to Indian styles of yoga in which the practitioner attempts to maintain a posture with the body still and the breath flowing naturally, In trulkhor the practitioner keeps the breath still while the body moves in a way that guides the breath, which in turn is guided by the mind.
Tibetan religious traditions (Buddhism and Bön) have employed trulkhor as part of their spiritual training since at least the 10th century. Although trulkhor is found in all five Tibetan spiritual traditions, It is more common in Kagyu schools, Ninking. While trulkhor may have been practiced long before and preserved only as an oral tradition, written texts point to the practice of trulkhor by famous yogis from the 11th to 13th centuries, like Marpa, It's raining, inter alia.

My personal path
in 1993, in the Norbuthy Tritany monastery in Katmandú, Nepal, I was lucky enough to learn Tibetan Yoga from the Bon tradition of Zhang Zhung Nyen Gyu., or the Oral Lineage of Zhang Zhung. It was there that a young monk, from the Tibetan area of ​​Amdo taught this practice to a group of four Western practitioners from France, Italia, Hong Kong, and I from Argentina.
How difficult it was for me to sit down and meditate, since my mind wandered like a monkey, These moves really were magical for me.. In other words, Incorporating these movements made me a little tired, not only my body, but also the mind, and that helped me relax more easily. She further , holding your breath and exhaling strongly after the final stage of each movement, provoke sensory experiences, visuals, of temperature, etc, which helped me exalt my meditative state.
Since then I started practicing them daily.. My interest in Tibetan yoga began with the physical part and meditation.; my interest in academics came later. Possibly, I did my master's and doctorate in Tibetan religions, with a dissertation on Tibetan yoga and applications in contemporary health centers. in 1998, my father and Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche were diagnosed with different types of cancer, and that led me to focus on the application of these practices to people with cancer and their caregivers, at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The experience of bringing these practices to hospitals like MD Anderson, made me look for what practices could be simple enough, secular, and at the same time deep, with the possibility of having positive changes for people with cancer and their caregivers. I discussed it with the Tibetan teachers Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, and Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and began teaching Tibetan meditation for people with cancer and their caregivers, and the following year we began to create research protocols with Dr.. Lorenzo Cohen, one of the main researchers of integrative medicine in people with cancer.

TALK ON TIBETAN YOGA AND HEALTH:

When: Friday 14 November 2025 18:30h

Where: House of Tibet Foundation. c/ rossello 181, 08036 Barcelona

LUNG WORKS:

When: Saturday 15 November and Sunday 16 November.

Where: House of Spirituality St. Philip Neri. C/ Nena Casas 37-47, 08017 Barcelona.

Information and reservations:

Organiza: Ligmincha Spain: ligminchaspain@gmail.com

https://ligmincha.org/ligmincha-espana/?lang=es