Tantra Workshop Primer
This Sunday, August 14th at 6pm the Traveling Tickle Trunk will be hosting a workshop on the basics of Tantra, facilitated by the fabulous Anastasia. There are still spots left and you can register online at our workshops page. To be honest, I know very little about Tantra and am pretty curious about the possibility of all these insanely intense orgasms I keep hearing about. I caught up with Anastasia earlier this week and asked her a few questions about Tantra to get ready for the workshop.
1. What is Tantra? Who can practice Tantra?
Tantra means literally - a tool to expand yourself. To me, it's a way to move and focus energy through your body. Its really simple, and can be used for healing, for connection, for amplifying your energy and bringing you closer to the divine. Anyone can do it, it's really easy and fun.
2. What benefits does Tantra offer as a practice, both in sex and life?
Well, in sex... Practicing tantra allows you to build your sexual energy as opposed to releasing it - leading to longer, stronger orgasms- Earth shattering, taking you into another stratosphere. You can practice this alone or with a partner. When with a partner, it leads to a very deep connection. And the really beautiful thing is, during this connection, this energy amplification that will blow your minds, and there is also healing involved for both of you. It's such a beautiful experience.
3. How did you come by your own knowledge of Tantra? Do you lean toward more Buddhist or Hindu traditions of Tantra? What other spiritual/meditation traditions influence your practice?
I first took a tantra course in a shop similar to the tickle trunk in Montreal back in 2003. That course was mostly about how to focus the energy in your body for healing purposes, but it really opened my eyes to how we are energetic beings. It's so interesting to become aware of this, and to realize that you can also learn to control it is amazing. Since then, I have taken many different energy courses - I am a reiki master, and a yuen method practitioner, and I have taken a wide variety of amazing workshops and courses. It's so fun. I would say I lean more towards the Hindu philosophy with shakti and shiva and their divine connection, but my focus is the energy not the religion.
4. I know that tantra, like yoga, is deeply rooted in Hindu traditions. Yoga as practiced by many people in North America has clearly evolved away from a religious expression and towards serving other purposes for practitioners, such as physical fitness. How does the Tantra you practice differ from its original religious purpose, if at all?
I am not a strongly religious person in a particular religion. But I am very spiritual. I believe in love being the strongest power of all. I give thanks to the universe for all that it's given me. I believe we all coexist in peace and love and in the spiritual realm and the closer we get to the divine - through practices such as tantra or yoga or praying or meditating - the closer we get to this here on earth too. This is just a tool to let you get closer to that light. A really fun tool :) but I focus mostly just on the energy and the spiritual stuff is kind of a side effect.
5. How does the concept of "sacred sexuality" fit into Tantra?
In tantra, sexuality is honored. I really love that about tantra. It's not something to be ashamed of, to hide, to use to control people - it's honored as being beautiful. In a partnership, By allowing the sacred male and female energy to meet so that it can be whole, it brings you both into connection with the divine.
6. Does practicing Tantra require a partner or is it something you can do as an individual?
Most people who practice tantra do it alone as part of daily practice. It can also be done with a partner - sexually or not. It's all just how you move, focus, and circulate the energy.
7. Can you give me an idea of what you will be covering in the workshop this Sunday?
This Sunday, I will talk about tantra historically, then i will give an overview of what energy is, and how you can move it through your body. I will be talking about sensuality, and how to transform that into energy. We will do some guided meditations and some breathwork and some fun non-sexual group exercises playing with energy. And of course we will talk about sex and how the sexual energy can be moved around one person or two for that divine connection. I am really looking forward to it!