When we talk about yoga as soul work, we are talking about a process of embodiment. There is no one system for doing this kind of work; we each have our own way and we find that way through personal inquiry, through our own experience.

Tony Briggs' Naga Yoga is a practice born from 27 years of devoted study in Yoga and Chi Kung Internal Arts that emphasizes the fact that our character, our personality, is both caused by and residing in our physical structure. And in order to evolve spiritually, we must work with the physical body to tap into the core of our being. By infusing a lifelong study and mastery of Iyengar Yoga with principles learned from a decade of study with Shandor Remete (Shadow Yoga) and Taoist Chi Kung, Tony offers an approach to the study of Yoga that draws on the wisdom of the ancient tradition while also providing a practical means for using it in the modern world.

Naga is an approach to the practice of yoga that is based on the Hindu concept of the Serpent, with its ability to transform matter while retaining essence, to show us how to shed the outer body and release the inner body. In doing so, we see that we need to shed our skin constantly in order to reclaim our authenticity; that we need to remove all layering to return to our essence in order to free us from ourselves. It is a process of taking away rather than building up, that enables us to find our true purpose here on earth.

Naga asks the student to wake up from deep inside and let the serpent move freely so that the inner body informs the outer body rather than the other way around. It asks students to use the practice of yoga as one of self-evaluation so as to climb out of those disguises, to free oneself from habits, to break down the rigidity that provides us with both our false sense of security and our self-importance. In short, to try to be the person we were meant to be rather than the person we think we are. In doing this, we act like the serpent shedding its skin as we attempt to shed ourselves of all the mental constructs that we cling to—whether they are cultural, familial, spiritual, etc.—to reveal our soul. It is climbing out of that skin and tapping into the potential that is inside (waking up the coiled serpent) that lets our soul's voice speak louder than the voice of our mind.