Tantra - How to Bring More Love and Intimacy into your Life

Today, more than ever, singles and couples wish to recapture the passion and intimacy they once experienced in their earlier years. By bringing together Tantra from the East, and sacred touch as we experience it in the West, people now have a vehicle that allows them to do more than just wonder about intimate experiences. We are able to awaken our own internal lover and combine spiritual, emotional and sexual energy.

Have you ever considered touch as a sacred way of knowing your Divine Essence? Aspects of Tantra embrace our bodies as sacred vessels. It helps us unlock the mysteries of drawing, containing and circulating ecstatic energy into our entire being. Through practicing sacred touch and Tantra, we are able to feel more vibrant and connected to the immensely loving universal energy that is available to us.

What is Tantra?
Tantra is an ancient spiritual and mystical science. It was practiced among Asian nobility and is also called the "Yoga of Love." Tantra contains the Sanskrit word tan, which means to weave and expand.

The practice of Tantra weaves together many physical, spiritual, emotional, and scientific disciplines, helping us to expand our appreciation of the beauty of the cosmic universe we inhabit. Through learning to cherish and honor ourselves and each other, we catapult our ordinary perceptions of existence into the realm of the extraordinary.

Sacred Touch
Conscious and reverent touch of yourself and another human being connects you with the beauty, love and power that is literally at your fingertips. As a form of communication, touch is emotionally powerful and instantly transforms your physiological state. Through clear intentions with your touch, you can bring acceptance, nurturing, relaxation, healing, love and energy to yourself and each other. It can help create long-lasting intimate bonds. It can even reduce the intensity of physical and emotional pain. During times of loss or fear, touch can be used spiritually to allow a person to feel vulnerable yet nurtured, making it easier to confront a trauma and allow the emotions to move through us, rather than being repressed. Touch can bring old emotional wounds to the surface allowing them to be examined, resolved, healed and released. Our bodies have cellular memories that may have been long forgotten in our minds. Touch can nurture those memories, whether painful or ecstatic.

Until recently, very little was understood about the effects of touch on the various systems of the body. Thanks to the rich body of research emerging around touch, we are just now beginning to understand the depth and breadth of the positive impact of touch.

Our bodies are covered with sensory receptors commonly called the peripheral nervous system. This system stimulates complex communication between the central nervous system and the brain via brain chemicals and neurohormones.

Physiologically, touch can quicken a heartbeat or slow it down. It can make us tremble in fear, secret expectation or deep-seated desire. Touch can be all consuming or something to be avoided at all costs. Touch can be the vehicle to spiritual planes of the heart and soul or into our darkest fears.

Unlike so many other things in our lives, we are left to learn as best we can how to maximize our experience of touch. Our ethnic background, religious belief and upbringing, even our physical, spiritual and emotional health play a role. Our current perception of touch is held captive to our past experiences, both positive and negative.

Since science clearly demonstrates that negative experiences are more powerful than positive ones for most of us, the experiences are internalized and become our reference point in all our intimate exchanges. Unfortunately, we may never come to truly appreciate the power of touch and all the wonderful gifts and benefits we can reap when we learn and embrace one of our most basic and intuitive needs. The good news is that today you can experience touch as healthy and life affirming, satisfying at a spiritual and deeply emotional level.

If we look at touch as a sacred gift, and Tantra as a way of helping us realize we are sacred beings, we are able to live more vibrantly. Divine Ecstatic Energy is available to each of us through simple and profound practices. Tantra and sacred touch are not spectator sports. They are meant to bring you into a greater appreciation of yourself and each other and the Divine Presence within and around us.

Overcoming Resistance
Tantra, the ancient art of combining (or weaving) spiritual and sexual energy, teaches that sex is a sacred act. But how does this apply in a modern world?

The principles behind Tantra are as valid today as they were centuries ago. Tantra teaches that there is an inherent connection between heart, soul and sex. We experience this in our lives because sex is most powerful when it combines the physical act with the emotional and spiritual elements of passion, love, and communion. Tantra uses the concept of ?sacred space? to support the combining of heart, soul, and sex.

What is Sacred Space?
Sacred space is a physical area and time set aside specifically for experiencing a connection to yourself, your partner, and divine presence. Sacred space can be easily created.

The first step is to pick an area of your home to dedicate to your sexuality and connection to spiritually. Then, fill this space with items that represent your sacred sexuality.

Some sacred spaces are filled with candles, incense, sensuous music, massage oils, furs, bells, flowers, scarves, pillows, artwork, fruit, wine, treats and a sensual library. As you create your space, ask yourself, "What items do I want in my sacred space? What objects will symbolize aspects of love as sacredness? Is everything here that I want?"

The next step is to set aside a time for you and your partner to engage in sacred sexuality. Find an hour or more when you will not be disturbed or distracted. Turn on the answering machine, turn off the telephone, find a babysitter for the kids. Do whatever is necessary to insure that you will not be distracted.

EIGHT METHODS OF HONORING
Honoring yourself and your partner is a powerful and profound way of beginning a time of sacred sexuality. The following are eight methods that can be used to honor yourself and each other. These methods will remind us that we are the source of our own love and ecstasy and we can invite a beloved partner to participate in creating our loving experience. This is a more powerful way of loving versus making another person responsible for our experience of love and pleasure.

All the instructions below are to be carried out by both partners simultaneously unless otherwise stated. However, if you are single, each process can be practiced by an individual in front of a mirror. In fact, it is also helpful for couples to practice some of these rituals individually. All honoring processes are done in a sitting position, facing your partner, either cross-legged on the floor or in a chair with both feet on the floor. Do each exercise in sequence. Take one to three minutes for each one.

Soulgazing
Sit facing your partner, cross-legged on the floor or in a chair with both feet on the floor. Rest your hands on your knees, palms up. Allow your breathing to synchronize with your partner, inhaling and exhaling simultaneously. Gaze into your partner's eyes in silence. Notice the divine presence in your partner's eyes.

Feeling Your Partner's Energy Field
From the sitting position practiced during Soulgazing, again allow your breathing to synchronize with your partner. Continue gazing into your partner's eyes in silence. Hold your hands at chest level in front of you, palms facing outward toward your partner. Move your palms so that they are palm-to-palm with your partner's palms. Leave a space of one inch or less between your palms and those of your partner, but do not touch. Feel the energy of your partner radiating from his or her palms for thirty seconds to one minute.

Circulating Energy
Using the position stated above, rotate your left palm to face up and your right palm to face down. Place your left palm below your partner's downward-facing right palm and place your right palm above their upward facing left palm. Again leave a space of one inch or less between your palms and your partners', but do not touch. Visualize taking in your partner's energy through your left palm, circulating it up your left arm, through your heart, and out your right arm and palm to your partner. Synchronize your visualization with your breathing so that you bring energy in with your inhalation and send it out with your exhalation. Continue this practice for one to three minutes.

Feeling the Heartbeat
From the position used to circulate energy with your partner, place your left open palm on your partner's heart. Allow your partner to guide your hand to a place that is comfortable for them and where you can feel their heartbeat. Once your partner's left hand is resting on your heart, place your right hand over their left hand. Continue to breathe deeply. As you feel your partner's heartbeat, notice their openness, tenderness and vulnerability.

Namaste
This is an ancient Indian salutation which means "I honor the divine within you as well as within me, and in this place of divinity we meet." From the sitting position, bring your own palms together in a prayer-like position, fingertips touching, at chest level. Gaze into your partner's eyes and inhale. Then lean forward, bringing your foreheads (third eyes) together as you exhale. Inhale and exhale once in this position. Return to an upright position as you exhale.

Words of Honoring
From the sitting position, gaze into your partner's eyes. First, one partner and then the other speaks these words: "I honor the divine within you, and recognize it as an aspect of myself. Namaste." You may further enhance this by acknowledging the beauty or qualities that you appreciate in them.

Advanced Methods
From the sitting position, place your left hand on your partner's genitals and your right hand on your partner's heart. Inhale and exhale together, feeling the connection between your heart and your sex.

Dedication of the Energy of Ecstasy
Choose an intention that you would like energized in your life. Possibilities include job, relationships, projects, etc. Then dedicate your energy using the statement, "I dedicate our ecstasy energy to ___," completing the sentence with the intention that you have chosen. An example might be, "I dedicate our ecstasy energy to the deepening of our love." When your partner has stated their dedication, repeat the words which they spoke.

Feel free to try any or all of these honoring processes. The intention is to create more relaxation between you and your partner, and a greater sense of safety and sacredness. These processes can be profoundly touching and healing. Explore and have fun with them. Remember, we are all sacred beings. Namaste.

Terry Anne Wohl has been facilitating healing and personal development workshops in Illinois and Colorado since 1990. She is an accomplished artist and certified Skydancing Tantra teacher, and has been teaching Tantra since 1996. She has produced and co-created the videos Love, Sexual Energy, and Spiritual Integration and The Art Of Touch. Her telephone number to receive information on upcoming workshops and products is 773/274-3729



	Tantra - How to Bring More Love and Intimacy Into Your Life by Terry Anne Wohl and Craig Quaglia
		Through clear intentions with your touch, you can bring acceptance, nurturing, relaxation, healing, love and energy to yourself and each other.
Today, more than ever, singles and couples wish to recapture the passion and intimacy they once experienced in their earlier years. By bringing together Tantra from the East, and sacred touch as we experience it in the West, people now have a vehicle that allows them to do more than just wonder about intimate experiences. We are able to awaken our own internal lover and combine spiritual, emotional and sexual energy. Have you ever considered touch as a sacred way of knowing your Divine Essence? Aspects of Tantra embrace our bodies as sacred vessels. It helps us unlock the mysteries of drawing, containing and circulating ecstatic energy into our entire being. Through practicing sacred touch and Tantra, we are able to feel more vibrant and connected to the immensely loving universal energy that is available to us. What is Tantra? Tantra is an ancient spiritual and mystical science. It was practiced among Asian nobility and is also called the "Yoga of Love." Tantra contains the Sanskrit word tan, which means to weave and expand. The practice of Tantra weaves together many physical, spiritual, emotional, and scientific disciplines, helping us to expand our appreciation of the beauty of the cosmic universe we inhabit. Through learning to cherish and honor ourselves and each other, we catapult our ordinary perceptions of existence into the realm of the extraordinary. Sacred Touch Conscious and reverent touch of yourself and another human being connects you with the beauty, love and power that is literally at your fingertips. As a form of communication, touch is emotionally powerful and instantly transforms your physiological state. Through clear intentions with your touch, you can bring acceptance, nurturing, relaxation, healing, love and energy to yourself and each other. It can help create long-lasting intimate bonds. It can even reduce the intensity of physical and emotional pain. During times of loss or fear, touch can be used spiritually to allow a person to feel vulnerable yet nurtured, making it easier to confront a trauma and allow the emotions to move through us, rather than being repressed. Touch can bring old emotional wounds to the surface allowing them to be examined, resolved, healed and released. Our bodies have cellular memories that may have been long forgotten in our minds. Touch can nurture those memories, whether painful or ecstatic. Until recently, very little was understood about the effects of touch on the various systems of the body. Thanks to the rich body of research emerging around touch, we are just now beginning to understand the depth and breadth of the positive impact of touch. Our bodies are covered with sensory receptors commonly called the peripheral nervous system. This system stimulates complex communication between the central nervous system and the brain via brain chemicals and neurohormones. Physiologically, touch can quicken a heartbeat or slow it down. It can make us tremble in fear, secret expectation or deep-seated desire. Touch can be all consuming or something to be avoided at all costs. Touch can be the vehicle to spiritual planes of the heart and soul or into our darkest fears. Unlike so many other things in our lives, we are left to learn as best we can how to maximize our experience of touch. Our ethnic background, religious belief and upbringing, even our physical, spiritual and emotional health play a role. Our current perception of touch is held captive to our past experiences, both positive and negative. Since science clearly demonstrates that negative experiences are more powerful than positive ones for most of us, the experiences are internalized and become our reference point in all our intimate exchanges. Unfortunately, we may never come to truly appreciate the power of touch and all the wonderful gifts and benefits we can reap when we learn and embrace one of our most basic and intuitive needs. The good news is that today you can experience touch as healthy and life affirming, satisfying at a spiritual and deeply emotional level. If we look at touch as a sacred gift, and Tantra as a way of helping us realize we are sacred beings, we are able to live more vibrantly. Divine Ecstatic Energy is available to each of us through simple and profound practices. Tantra and sacred touch are not spectator sports. They are meant to bring you into a greater appreciation of yourself and each other and the Divine Presence within and around us. Overcoming Resistance Tantra, the ancient art of combining (or weaving) spiritual and sexual energy, teaches that sex is a sacred act. But how does this apply in a modern world? The principles behind Tantra are as valid today as they were centuries ago. Tantra teaches that there is an inherent connection between heart, soul and sex. We experience this in our lives because sex is most powerful when it combines the physical act with the emotional and spiritual elements of passion, love, and communion. Tantra uses the concept of ?sacred space? to support the combining of heart, soul, and sex. What is Sacred Space? Sacred space is a physical area and time set aside specifically for experiencing a connection to yourself, your partner, and divine presence. Sacred space can be easily created. The first step is to pick an area of your home to dedicate to your sexuality and connection to spiritually. Then, fill this space with items that represent your sacred sexuality. Some sacred spaces are filled with candles, incense, sensuous music, massage oils, furs, bells, flowers, scarves, pillows, artwork, fruit, wine, treats and a sensual library. As you create your space, ask yourself, "What items do I want in my sacred space? What objects will symbolize aspects of love as sacredness? Is everything here that I want?" The next step is to set aside a time for you and your partner to engage in sacred sexuality. Find an hour or more when you will not be disturbed or distracted. Turn on the answering machine, turn off the telephone, find a babysitter for the kids. Do whatever is necessary to insure that you will not be distracted. EIGHT METHODS OF HONORING Honoring yourself and your partner is a powerful and profound way of beginning a time of sacred sexuality. The following are eight methods that can be used to honor yourself and each other. These methods will remind us that we are the source of our own love and ecstasy and we can invite a beloved partner to participate in creating our loving experience. This is a more powerful way of loving versus making another person responsible for our experience of love and pleasure. All the instructions below are to be carried out by both partners simultaneously unless otherwise stated. However, if you are single, each process can be practiced by an individual in front of a mirror. In fact, it is also helpful for couples to practice some of these rituals individually. All honoring processes are done in a sitting position, facing your partner, either cross-legged on the floor or in a chair with both feet on the floor. Do each exercise in sequence. Take one to three minutes for each one. Soulgazing Sit facing your partner, cross-legged on the floor or in a chair with both feet on the floor. Rest your hands on your knees, palms up. Allow your breathing to synchronize with your partner, inhaling and exhaling simultaneously. Gaze into your partner's eyes in silence. Notice the divine presence in your partner's eyes. Feeling Your Partner's Energy Field From the sitting position practiced during Soulgazing, again allow your breathing to synchronize with your partner. Continue gazing into your partner's eyes in silence. Hold your hands at chest level in front of you, palms facing outward toward your partner. Move your palms so that they are palm-to-palm with your partner's palms. Leave a space of one inch or less between your palms and those of your partner, but do not touch. Feel the energy of your partner radiating from his or her palms for thirty seconds to one minute. Circulating Energy Using the position stated above, rotate your left palm to face up and your right palm to face down. Place your left palm below your partner's downward-facing right palm and place your right palm above their upward facing left palm. Again leave a space of one inch or less between your palms and your partners', but do not touch. Visualize taking in your partner's energy through your left palm, circulating it up your left arm, through your heart, and out your right arm and palm to your partner. Synchronize your visualization with your breathing so that you bring energy in with your inhalation and send it out with your exhalation. Continue this practice for one to three minutes. Feeling the Heartbeat From the position used to circulate energy with your partner, place your left open palm on your partner's heart. Allow your partner to guide your hand to a place that is comfortable for them and where you can feel their heartbeat. Once your partner's left hand is resting on your heart, place your right hand over their left hand. Continue to breathe deeply. As you feel your partner's heartbeat, notice their openness, tenderness and vulnerability. Namaste This is an ancient Indian salutation which means "I honor the divine within you as well as within me, and in this place of divinity we meet." From the sitting position, bring your own palms together in a prayer-like position, fingertips touching, at chest level. Gaze into your partner's eyes and inhale. Then lean forward, bringing your foreheads (third eyes) together as you exhale. Inhale and exhale once in this position. Return to an upright position as you exhale. Words of Honoring From the sitting position, gaze into your partner's eyes. First, one partner and then the other speaks these words: "I honor the divine within you, and recognize it as an aspect of myself. Namaste." You may further enhance this by acknowledging the beauty or qualities that you appreciate in them. Advanced Methods From the sitting position, place your left hand on your partner's genitals and your right hand on your partner's heart. Inhale and exhale together, feeling the connection between your heart and your sex. Dedication of the Energy of Ecstasy Choose an intention that you would like energized in your life. Possibilities include job, relationships, projects, etc. Then dedicate your energy using the statement, "I dedicate our ecstasy energy to ___," completing the sentence with the intention that you have chosen. An example might be, "I dedicate our ecstasy energy to the deepening of our love." When your partner has stated their dedication, repeat the words which they spoke. Feel free to try any or all of these honoring processes. The intention is to create more relaxation between you and your partner, and a greater sense of safety and sacredness. These processes can be profoundly touching and healing. Explore and have fun with them. Remember, we are all sacred beings. Namaste. Terry Anne Wohl has been facilitating healing and personal development workshops in Illinois and Colorado since 1990. She is an accomplished artist and certified Skydancing Tantra teacher, and has been teaching Tantra since 1996. She has produced and co-created the videos Love, Sexual Energy, and Spiritual Integration and The Art Of Touch. Her telephone number to receive information on upcoming workshops and products is 773/274-3729