WHAT I’M LEARNING ABOUT TANTRA

Last year, I embarked on a new adventure: I started a deep dive course about Tantra with Inner Camp. Little did I know about how this would influence my life.

A LOT.

In the first place, I was interested in Tantra to heal my sexual energy, as the word ‘Tantra’ of course rings mostly one bell: that it’s great to improve your sexuality. Well. It does. BUT! It’s so so so much more. It’s about healing your trauma, looking into the past, conscious relating with your partner, raising your life energy, getting to know your feminine and masculine sides, starting to thrive in life.. (this list is endless.)

Part of my Tantric studies is to start sharing about it. So from a place of humbleness, knowing my place as a relative Tantric Newby, I would like to start sharing what I’ve learned so far. In posts, but also in fee workshops that will start in November. So, are you a curious little bird like me, interested in getting to know yourself. Willing to look behind the veil? And longing for expansion and raising your energy? Sign up through the link in bio. I will start sharing with you what I’ve learned so far of this life-changing spiritual path 🤍❤️‍🔥🖤

Here we go.

TANTRA IS AN UMBRELLA

Tantra is a cross-religious spiritual movement as you can find it in Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, and Taoism and has its origins in India in the 2nd century.

There are many forms and classifications in tantra, such as Neo Tantra, Right- and Left hand Tantra, Kriya Tantra, Yoga Tantra, Charya Tantra, White, Red, Pink and Black Tantra and so forth.

The style of Tantra that you practice decides mostly on how much emphasis there is on practices, performing rituals, meditation, mysticism, and how much focus there is on practicing sacred sexuality for example. You can also choose to not follow one style but explore Tantric practices, regardless of lineage.

10% OF TANTRA IS ABOUT SEX

Mostly due to the popularity of Neo Tantra (Osho’s translation of Tantra) that became popular in the 60’s, the top-1 thing that people relate to when thinking about Tantra is sex.

What most people (including me, some time ago) don’t know is that Tantra and her profound philosophy and practices entail much much more than having (group) sex ;)

It is, however, true that an important goal of Tantra is to awaken the feminine energy of the goddess Shakti. This awakening will rise our life force energy and will make us thrive in life. This life force energy is the same as sexual energy. It’s the creative force within us and is key to a happy and fulfilling life.

MORE ABOUT THE DIVINE SHAKTI & SHIVA

One of the goals of Tantra is unification. Unification of mind and body, but also in particular the unification of the masculine and feminine (importante note: this has nothing do to with gender. All people hold both energies inside them).

The feminine is represented by the dancing goddess Shakti, while the masculine’s embodiment is Shiva, who sits in meditation.

See a beautiful image of these two cool gods below.

Feminine Shakti stands for rising energy, expansion and creation (and much more), while masculine Shiva is responsible for stability, meditation and being a safe container for Shakti’s energy.

Shakti cannot dance without Shiva, as he holds her and gives her stability. While Shiva cannot live without Shakti, as she is the creator of everything.

SO, WHAT THEN CAN TANTRA DO FOR YOU?

So, in Tantra, we practice to find these feminine (Shakti) and masculine (Shiva) qualities inside us and to make best use of them. Whilst Tantra is more about awakening Shakti energy (that incredible creative life force that we know well from when make love, when we flow through life and walk on clouds, times when we are overflowing with energy and when everything is in the up), the ultimate goal is to bring Shiva and Shakti into union. We must honour both masculine and feminine inside us and bring them into balance.

To illustrate: feeling very alive and going out in Berlin until late (love it), shining your Shakti Energy into the night, will only serve you if there is enough stable Shiva Energy to tell you to go home and nourish yourself when it’s time (also loving that).

WHAT DOES THIS LOOK LIKE IN REAL LIFE?

So, how then do we bring these two life forces of the feminine and masculine energy into balance..?

Which practices you use within Tantra differs among all Tantric lineages. But here are a few of my favourite Tantric practices to give you an idea:

Breathwork, Sacred Sexuality, Tantric Massage, Kundalini Yoga, Tantric Meditation, Eyegazing, Shadow Work, Sound Healing, Sacred Rituals, Dancing, Conscious Relating

And much more..

CURIOUS?

Although I’m just starting on this Tantric path, it has already brought me a lot more than I can share about in one article.  

So. In November ‘23, I will start sharing more about the profound, funky, wise, beautiful and life-changing practices of Tantra through free online group sessions:

💛 Tantra for Beginners 💛

Sign up in here if you’re interested!

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