Our Vision

Art as Yoga

In the West, we mostly know Yoga through the posture-based Hatha Yoga system. Pranava Arts Collective seeks to expand our understanding of Yogic practice by bringing Indian performing and visual arts to the American public, as Indian arts offer keen insights into the mind, particularly how to situate it in a state of equanimity through sound, movement, and storytelling. 

Indian civilization is rooted in the idea that the individual soul is born in the world to fulfil the desire to experience love, connection, prosperity, or status. Each individual may carry a unique set of desires and capabilities into the world, yet these desires also bring with them ignorance of ego and I-ness, leading to suffering. The soul forgets that it is merely experiencing, not different from the Other, and gets caught up in temporary cravings and emotions. To remove this ignorance of separative consciousness, Indian civilization developed many diverse forms of Yogic practice so that each soul may experience their true Self and thereby become free from ignorance.

The powerful insight of Indian arts is that the rasika (artist) can bring their audience into Yoga (union) through direct experience of rasās, or aesthetic moods, through their art—carefully rendered through ornamented sound, a skillfully composed painting depicting interconnected village life, a graceful hand gesture, a facial expression, or energetic rhythmic movement of the feet. It's not just the rasika who is engaged in Yoga; through skill, dedication, and presence, the rasika has the power to bring the audience into connected experience and, hence, opens up the space for shared contemplation.

Each Indian art tradition is transmitted from Guru to Shishya (student) from time immemorial. Rooted in the classical system of dramaturgy and emerging from the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Tantric traditions, these arts are continually reinterpreted for the present while preserving Yoga’s foundational insights. They unite movement, sound, and storytelling to refine perception and elevate consciousness; this is art as Yoga. The same vision extends to Indian painting, sculpture, and literature, moving with nature’s rhythms and reminding us that human flourishing is relational, rooted in our bond with the living world beyond the human.

Pranava Arts Collective advances this vision of the arts as a means of spiritual development, and though we are situated in the arts that emerged in India and were brought to the West by the diaspora, we recognize the profound capacity for connection in the art traditions stewarded by diverse cultures around the world.

Pranava Arts Collective’s goals are threefold:

1. Education: Host conferences, performances, workshops, community gatherings, and classes, inviting people from all backgrounds to experience Yogic arts as tools for well-being, rather than solely as entertainment.

2. Ecosystem Generation: We connect artists, teachers, scholars, and culture bearers, facilitating collaboration and mutual learning by encouraging genuine, mutually beneficial exchanges across global art traditions. 

3. Upliftment of Emerging Artists: We provide mentorship, platforms for sharing work, small grants, and documentation assistance. We particularly support artists who carry lineage knowledge into contemporary contexts.

Guided by the sound of pranava, Om ॐ, we believe art can unlock self-knowledge and harmony. Pranava Arts Collective strives to make Yogic arts visible, teachable, and sustainable, enabling artists and audiences to practice together and discover the truth within themselves and each other.