When people hear the word Tantra, they usually think of kinky
sex, the Kama Sutra, something they saw on HBO or on Sex & the
City. That?s if they?ve heard of it at all.
I have found many unexpected benefits from practicing this
ancient form of Yoga that I?ll attempt to share with you here.
I began Tantra like anybody else thinking it would enhance sex
making it hotter and maybe even wilder. I had no idea back then
how powerful Tantra was to become in every aspect of my life.
Very soon, I became aware of the quieting down in the mind,
something I had been trying to accomplish for years to no avail.
Now, after 8 years of practicing Tantra, I am aware that I am
not suffering anymore about anything. Did I know this would
happen to me? No way.
Tantra translated means weaving body, mind and spirit. What this
literally means is that your whole being is expanded, increased
through awareness of your senses, feelings and energy. This
includes awareness of your breath ? the basis of all forms of
meditation ? with the addition of your sexual energy increasing
your ability to feel- specifically feel pleasure ? different
from other forms of meditation.
So, what is the big deal about it? Why is Tantra, this ancient
science surfacing on shows like Oprah or being talked about by
Sting?
Well, people feel little if anything. They are mostly living
their lives inside of their thoughts, judgments, evaluation and
assessments: living in their heads. In terms of pleasure they
don?t feel very good. When people do feel, it seems like they
feel bad, sick, complaining, hurt, victimized. As a matter of
fact they feel little to no pleasure at all. Pleasure shows up
as anticipation rather than a sensual experience, one that can
be felt.
Remember really wanting something like a new car? Then when you
got it, the pleasure didn?t last very long, maybe until the
first scratch. It wasn?t the feeling you expected from acquiring
a new car was it?
The mind can imagine something or other will bring us a feeling
of pleasure, but it actually takes the body to feel it. For many
women, feeling strongly, passionately was discouraged. We were
told we were too emotional. Things were said to us like, ?Why do
you feel like that? That?s not rational.? Or ?What? Are you
having your period or something??
So, we learned to bury our feelings and experience life in our
heads. Our bodies became useful for wearing decorative
adornments (attraction) and for getting us somewhere like from
meeting to meeting (movement). In essence our bodies have become
something we do to or use in certain ways, but not a source of
inner knowledge. Not bad, just not pleasurable; not healthy
either.
Many women have become automatons rushing to work, caring for
children and older family members, trying to be loving to our
partners - lovers, husbands, boyfriends. But when it comes time
to relax, take a breath, we cannot seem to do it. It?s a little
frightening to stop and focus on breathing.
We?re supposed to be focused on other people?s pleasure. When we
look to find our own pleasure, even erotic pleasure, there seems
not ever to be enough time. Or maybe, just maybe, all those
feelings we?ve been holding down are likely to come rushing up.
That?s right, feelings, emotions, senses, intuition, memories
will come up. And then what do we do? Who has time for that
anyway? What if we get out of control? Who wants to experience
that?
You do!
Why is this so important?
You want to feel all of those feelings so you can increase your
capacity for pleasure. It?s your birthright to feel pleasure and
it?s also the feminine aspect of life to feel. In essence, it?s
honoring yourself as a woman (in a world that really doesn?t do
so much of that).
When you start this way of breathing and sensing, you will
naturally feel better, happier, passionate, more alive. The
operative word here is ?naturally.? It is our nature to feel.
Okay, how? Why does this have anything to do with Tantra?
In Tantra we learn to breathe along with doing Kegel exercises
and making sounds. So, we learn how to properly breathe. Then we
add sphincter muscle and PC muscle contractions to build a
charge in our own body using the vital life force ? sexual
energy. This enables us to feel all our feelings.
Once we feel them, we learn to release stored feelings and
memories from the past. We also learn to transmute the sexual
energy into spiritual connection with our ?higher selves.?
The result is eradication of feelings of shame and guilt as well
as any other trauma we may have experienced earlier in our lives
that?s has been stored in our cellular memory.
The outcome = pleasure, permission for unabashed life at it?s
fullest ? body, mind and spirit connected working in union.
Remember I began Tantra thinking it would enhance sex. I had no
idea how my life would change. Had I known I would have become
interested in it earlier in life. Is sex hotter? Yes. Is that
all? No. It?s so much more.
The Benefits of Practicing Tantra*:
1. Feel great about yourself - more attractive, self-confident,
increase your capacity for more pleasure, experience joy and
fulfillment as a way of life.
2. Empower your well-being - eliminate toxins, eliminate stress
- accept yourself for who you are & release deep painful
cellular memories; feel safe and whole.
3. Focus - set your intentions, do the practices and watch the
laws of attraction bring what you want i.e. life partner, more
$, career change
4. Uplift your relationships - see others for who they really
are, relate to their deep divine nature and trust your intuition
5. Experience the expression of your deepest emotions. Know
rapture, love, passion and beyond! Become your own beloved!
*taken from a random sample of 500 Tantra students who have
participated in Butterfly Workshops? programs.
About the author:
Laurie Handlers, MA is the President of Butterfly Workshops,
Inc., a Washington, DC based company currently offering 3 levels
of Tantra, Tantra instructor training, and Leadership courses
for corporations and individuals.
You can find out more at www.butterflyworkshops.c
om.
? Butterfly Workshops, Inc. 2005
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