What is Tantra?
What is Tantra?
Tantra is an ancient Indian practice that dates back more than 5000 years. In Sanskrit the word tantra means ‘woven together’. People practice tantra as a way to ‘weave’ the physical with the spiritual. It’s as much a spiritual experience as it is a physical sexual one. The practice brings spirituality and sexuality together and emphasises the importance of intimacy during a sexual experience.
Tantra isn’t just about sexual pleasure. It’s about celebrating your body and feeling heightened sensuality. The practice combines spirituality, sexuality and mindfulness and it can be experienced solo, with a partner or with a professional tantra practitioner.
Goals of Tantra
While tantra is sexual in nature, the goal is not necessarily to achieve orgasm. The main goals are:
To achieve spiritual or energetic connection
To feel a sense of connection to your partner or yourself that’s intense and enlightened
To come to a more enlightened understanding of your sexual body and self
To achieve heightened sexual pleasure including multi and/or whole body orgasms
To recover from trauma and promote sexual healing
“The body can become a vehicle to that which is beyond body, and sex energy can become a spiritual force”
What does it involve?
There are many different types of tantric practices. Some you can do by yourself, some with your partner and some with a tantra professional as part of paid services. The practices themselves are as individual as each person who undertakes them, so there is no consistent definition of what tantric sex or a tantra massage ‘looks’ like. Some tantra professionals will provide non-sexual tantra which focuses on breathing, meditation, visualization and massage. Others will provide sexual tantra which focuses on sensual touch, intimacy, connection and orgasmic release.
All forms of tantra will activate sexual energy so the practitioner needs to be experienced in working with the human energy field. The key difference between an erotic massage and a tantric massage is experience working with sexual energy.
What makes a tantra practitioner?
Each tantra practitioner is unique. That makes comparing them and their services very difficult as there may be vast differences between different practitioners, including the breadth and type of service and whether a session will include orgasm or not.
Tantra practitioners help their clients increase their connection to their sexual energy and the divine aspects of their sexuality.
Some of the things that tantra practitioners tend to share are:
A fundamental belief that sex is sacred and empowering
A deep sense of spirituality
The ability to work with sexual energy within and around them
The understanding that sex is as much about energy as it is a physical act
An ability to promote sexual healing and wellness