Ḍākinī Maṇḍala Immersion:
Transformational Elemental Alchemy
Energetic Practices. Kaula Hatha Yoga. Tāntrik Science of Mind.
Applications now open!
A 500+ hour immersion for yoga and meditation practitioners and teachers, therapists, and healing professionals, with optional authorization to guide the Ḍākinī Maṇḍala.
Please note: this program is primarily a personal immersion.
Authorization (if sought) applies only to the Ḍākinī Maṇḍala—not for A Forest Path teacher certification in core Sri Vidya Practices.
The Ḍākinī Maṇḍala of Emotions:
A Portal to Embodied Freedom
The Ḍākinīs ~ often described as “sky dancers” ~ are luminous, liberating forces of awakened energy. As intermediaries between the relative and the absolute, they guide us in transmuting emotional reactivity into wisdom, helping us return to the natural clarity of our being.
This maṇḍala forms the foundation of Tāntrik psychology and sādhanā. Through it, we enter a sacred exploration of the emotions ~ not as disturbances to be suppressed, but as pathways of intelligence and transformation. We learn to recognize their essence and aim, uncovering how to move beyond conditioned patterns into a space of peace, equanimity, and freedom.
Rooted in the deep view of mind and reality, this work supports the stabilization of refined states of consciousness ~ not for escape, but for integration and embodiment. It is a return to joy, coherence, and the unshakable ground of awareness.
At its heart, the maṇḍala is a multidimensional map ~ a living representation of the interconnection between the five elements, the physical and subtle body-mind continuum, and the field of Absolute Consciousness. It reveals where blockages reside, and how the wisdom within each emotional current can be unlocked and lived.
Mā Umā-Pārvatī has not only granted her blessing for this program, but will offer her luminous presence for a few spontaneous guest teaching sessions.
This is the sacred art of emotional alchemy: a Tāntrik path of returning to one’s true nature, through intimacy with the very energies that once felt obstructive. The Ḍākinīs show us the way.
Program Structure
Each Ḍākinī and Her element offers a unique transmission, an opportunity to align inner energetic currents, deepen the wisdom of the body, expand your emotional agility and resilience and learn ways of relation with deep presence and connection. Through seasonal immersion, you’ll enter the mandala not as an abstract system, but as a lived, felt, and practiced reality.
For each element and its correspondent Ḍākinī, we will explore:
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Āsana, mantra, and meditation specific to that aspect of the mandala;
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Kaula Haṭha Yoga sequences that reveal and transmute key blockages for each element;
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Elemental restorative yoga, Yoga Nidrā and other integrative practice;
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Principles for adapting and making these practices accessible to self and others;
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Somatic, energetic, and ritual tools for deepening relationships with the subtle elemental body.
Program Content Pillars
Energetic Practices
Alchemical tools for transformation, purification and empowerment.
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Elemental sādhana of the five great bhūtas and Ḍākinīs.
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Mantra, nyāsa, prāṇic attunement, and subtle-body sequencing.
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Devotional rhythm and ritual as foundation: practices with Gaṇeśa, Durga, and from the Chandi Pāṭh.
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Energy reclamation, capacity building, and containment practices.
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Expanding the energetic body to hold complexity, multiplicity, and the non-dual.
Kaula Haṭha Yoga
Embodied presence and elemental alignment through the living and subtle body.
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Rooted movement practices honoring the śakti of each element.
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Integration of āsana, prāṇāyāma, and mudrā within the wisdom flow of each element.
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Restorative sequences for nervous system repair and spiritual integration.
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Yoga Nidrā grounded in Tāntrik and subtle-body principles.
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Adaptability and inclusivity for all bodies, identities, and lived experience.
Tāntrik Science of Mind
Mental clarity, emotional transmutation, and deepening awareness.
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Working with root fears and emotional obscurations through elemental alchemy.
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Self-inquiry and mapping the inner terrain within the Śrī Vidyā and Tāntrik worldview.
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Cultivating discernment, equanimity, wisdom, skillful action and refined perception.
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Trauma-conscious approaches to expansion, resistance, and refinement in sādhana. (Please note that we are not mental health professionals.)
Sacred Relationality
Practice as conscious connection, courageous presence, and collective care.
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Honoring the relational field as part of the mandala, not separate from it.
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Deepening trust, intimacy, and autonomy in community and relationship.
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Creating and maintaining sacred containers for self and others.
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Holding space with clarity, compassion, and discernment.
A Note For Those Who Want to Teach
For those of you who feel called to eventually guide others in this work, whether in yoga classes, integrating into a therapeutic practice or other healing modality, this immersion offers essential ground. The path to teaching begins not with technique, but with transformation. Before transmission is possible, one must become the vessel—rooted, refined, and in deep relationship with what is being shared.
You’ll be introduced to frameworks and methodologies for offering this work skillfully and ethically: seasonal sequencing, accessibility, and adaptive design. But more importantly, you’ll be invited into the long, quiet work of integration ~ where embodied understanding becomes the source of what you carry forward.
Teaching is not a role we assume. It is something that emerges when the ground within is steady and true.
An optional pathway to authorization will be available. More information will be shared in June.
This program is primarily a personal immersion. Authorization (if sought) applies only to the Ḍākinī Maṇḍala, not for A Forest Path teacher certification or teaching core Sri Vidya practices under Ma Uma-Parvathi.
Melanie Shank
Melanie has been a yoga practitioner since 2000. Since 2009, Melanie has been studying Kaula Hatha Yoga, Sri Vidya and other tantric practices directly with Uma Parvathi Nanda Nath. As a dedicated and devoted practitioner and an authorized teacher in Kaula Hatha Yoga and Sri Vidya, Melanie gives classes, workshops, trainings and retreats in an accessible and authentic way, for all levels and for everyone. Her intention in sharing Yoga and Meditation is to offer a sacred and contained space for self-exploration of the subtle layers of the body, mind and Heart, to create a space for the true recognition and experience of unity here in the body, and to transmit the beautiful and powerful practices and techniques that have profoundly transformed Melanie’s life.
Tara Mahady
Tara has been a dedicated meditation practitioner for over 25 years. Since 2012, she has studied Sri Vidya and Tantra under Ma Uma-Parvathi and is an authorized A Forest Path teacher. Rooted in these traditions along with Vajrayana Buddhism, she shares her knowledge through courses, workshops, small group studies, and mentorship.
Living in the forests of New Hampshire with her beloved dog, Callie, Tara finds inspiration in the rhythms of nature, weaving the wisdom of the land into her teachings. She creates spaces where practice is not separate from daily life but integrated into the way we move, breathe, and connect. Tara offers teachings that are both practical and profound, bringing the depth of tradition into a modern, embodied path of transformation.
Updates
We would love to dance this path with you!
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