In today’s self-development and spiritual communities, the word “shamanism” often evokes images of drumming, plant medicine, or indigenous healers communing with spirits, while the popular image of yoga often centers on physical postures, breathwork, and meditation techniques. But beneath the surface expressions of these traditions lie sacred sciences of inner transformation. In fact, renowned medical anthropologist and shaman Alberto Villoldo refers to Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtras as a shamanic text—a statement that invites us to look deeper into what shamanism really is, and how yoga may have always been part of its lineage.
This article explores the roots of shamanism as a tradition and reveals how its essence aligns with that of yoga: both are paths to awaken the Seer within and walk in conscious relationship with the unseen forces of life. Though their external expressions may differ, the true power of both lies in the inward journey of radical self-transformation, energetic mastery, and direct communion with Spirit.
What Is Shamanism, Really?
Let’s begin by honoring the origins of the word “shaman.” The term itself comes from the Tungusic-speaking peoples of Siberia, specifically the Evenki language, where it refers to one who "knows"—a person who has undergone deep initiation and can journey between worlds: the physical and the spiritual, the seen and the unseen.
While the word “shaman” is specific to Siberian and Central Asian cultures, shamanic practices are found globally—in Indigenous traditions across the Americas, Australia, Africa, and Asia. These cultures may not use the word "shaman," but they share a common set of core principles:
- Direct experience with the sacred, often through altered states of consciousness
- Working with nature and spirit allies for guidance and healing
- Mastery of the energy body and the spiritual dimensions of illness and wellness
- The ability to see (or “track”) what is hidden and facilitate deep transformation
In this context, shamanism is a spiritual technology, a way of knowing and being that predates institutionalized faith. It is about direct, experiential relationship with Spirit, and the art of transforming consciousness for the healing of self, community, and the Earth.
Yoga as Shamanism
Patañjali, the ancient Indian sage who codified the Yoga Sūtras—the foundational text of classical yoga—laid out a path rooted in ethical grounding. This wasn’t simply moral advice, but a systematic process for purifying the heart, calming the nervous system, and stabilizing the mind. Such a foundation prepares the practitioner for deeper practices, refined perception, and ultimately, spiritual liberation.
Viewed through the lens of shamanic practice, the Sūtras become a manual for soul-work—guiding the awakening of the Seer within and ensuring that any inner power that arises is met with clarity, compassion, and right intention. While shamanic experiences can open the door to profound transformation, they can also lead to confusion or disintegration when approached without proper preparation. In contrast, yoga offers a gradual, grounded path—one that cultivates the inner stability needed to safely hold expanded states of consciousness.
Let’s explore how.
1. The Inner Journey and Direct Revelation
Shamanism begins with the premise that truth is revealed from within—through vision quests, trance states, or altered perception. The same is true in yoga.
“Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind.” — Yoga Sūtra 1.2
When the mind becomes still, the Seer (Dṛṣṭā) can rest in its true nature (Sūtra 1.3). In both yoga and shamanism, the core aim is the same: to move beyond the ordinary thinking mind and access non-ordinary reality. While some shamanic paths may use substances or external catalysts to enter altered states, yoga relies entirely on disciplined inner practice—ethics, breathwork, concentration, and meditation—to reach expanded states of awareness in a grounded, sustainable way.
Just as a shaman journeys inward to receive messages from Spirit, the yogi journeys inward to experience Samādhi—a direct, unmediated union with pure consciousness.
2. Mastery of the Invisible World
Shamans are known for working with invisible forces—energies, spirits, or soul fragments that affect the seen world. In later chapters of the Yoga Sūtras (the Vibhūti Pāda), Patañjali speaks of siddhis—spiritual abilities that emerge through advanced practice. These include:
- Telepathy
- Clairvoyance
- Knowledge of past lives
- Subtle body awareness etc.
To a Western mind, these may sound mystical or supernatural, but to a shaman, they are natural faculties developed through devotion and alignment. Therefore, in The Yoga Sutras Patañjali describes the shamanic path—a system for developing the inner senses needed to navigate both seen and unseen realms.
3. The Energy Body: Yogis and Shamans in Agreement
Shamans speak of the luminous energy field—a blueprint of the soul that holds memory, trauma, and potential. Likewise, yogic texts describe the prāṇamaya kośa—the energy sheath of the subtle body.
Both traditions work with:
- Prāṇa / life force
- Nāḍīs / energy channels
- Chakras / energy centers
Villoldo’s own Illumination Process draws heavily from both Andean shamanism and yoga, using breath, intention, and awareness to clear imprints from the energy field. In this way, yoga is not just a path to spiritual liberation—it is a path to energetic transformation, much like shamanic healing.
4. Liberation: Freedom from Suffering and Fate
Both shamanic and yogic paths aim toward liberation—freedom from the patterns that keep us trapped in suffering.
In yoga, this is Kaivalya—complete spiritual freedom, the ending of karmic cycles.
In shamanism, it’s liberation from ancestral wounds, energetic imprints, and unconscious fate.
Patañjali lays out an eight-limbed path (Ashtanga Yoga):
- Yama – ethical principles
- Niyama – personal discipline
- Āsana – posture
- Prāṇāyāma – breath control
- Pratyāhāra – withdrawal of the senses
- Dhāraṇā – concentration
- Dhyāna – meditation
- Samādhi – spiritual absorption
Though structured differently, shamans too undergo initiatory rites and disciplined training, leading to:
- Ego dissolution
- Expanded perception
- Soul retrieval
- Union with Spirit
Thus, the Yoga Sūtras can be seen as a codified form of ancient shamanism—a map for navigating the soul’s embodiment of it's spirituality, its whole spectrum.
5. The Seer and the Shaman: One Who Knows
One of the earliest lines in the Yoga Sūtras speaks of the Seer abiding in their own nature. This mirrors the shaman, who is known not just for healing, but for seeing—beyond illusion, beyond ego, into truth.
In this sense, the yogi is a kind of shaman, and the shaman a kind of yogi—both walking the path of perception, healing, and union.
The goal is not blinded faith, but direct knowing. Not escaping the world, but learning to see clearly within it.
A Spiritual Technology for the Modern Age
Alberto Villoldo’s recognition of the Yoga Sūtras as a shamanic text is an invitation for all to revisit the forgotten shared wisdom of the ancient spiritual scriptures. Whether one enters through the breath or the drum, through meditation or other altered states, the goal is the same: awakening to our deepest nature and learning to live in harmony with the universe.
In a world hungry for meaning, many seekers turn to altered states or external substances to expand consciousness. But both yoga and shamanism remind us that what we are seeking is already within us. The practices are ancient, but the calling is current—and urgent.
So, yoga, when practiced in its fullest form, is a spiritual initiation, a technology of transformation, a form of shamanism. It is a journey into the unseen, the subtle, the sacred—a journey that leads us home.
Here's the map:
Go within. See clearly. Transform fully. Then return— integrated, embodied, and luminous.
With love and gratitude,
