Tantra & Taoism
I offer intimacy coaching sessions for women and couples, in which I share tools to expand your experience of sexuality and pleasure, and connect sexuality to spirituality. In these sessions, I draw from two ancient traditions which both not only acknowledge but revere sexuality energy: Tantra, and Taoism.
What is Tantra?
Tantra is an ancient spiritual tradition, a way of living and thinking, with the purpose of attaining spiritual awakening, much like yoga or meditation. "Spiritual awakening" means awakening to who you truly are, beyond your name, age, profession etc, and underneath the layers of social and cultural conditioning. You may call your true nature your soul, your essence, or anything you like. The essence of who you are is beautiful, peaceful, joyful and loving.
What makes Tantra different from other spiritual paths is that it embraces all of life as sacred, including sexuality. There is no concept of sin in Tantra. Tantra is the path of Love - love of life, of self, of others, and of physical love. It is sometimes said that if Tantra could be summarised in one word it would be the word YES - a big yes to the whole experience of being human.
In practical terms it means embracing every single part of your life as an opportunity to EXPAND. “Tan” means expansion, and “Tra” means liberation - so together it means the path of expanding into liberation. Every experience, no matter how beautiful or how challenging it is, every feeling, and every person, represents an opportunity to grow, to peel back those layers, and become more loving, more peaceful, more joyful. So when you go through something difficult, as we all do, instead of resisting it, contracting and complaining, you embrace it, and through not resisting you allow the experience to expand you.
So what has that got to do with sex?
Embracing, cultivating, and harnessing sexual energy is one of the most powerful ways to expand, and to get in touch with your deepest truest nature. Tantra offers us many practices to learn to work with sexual energy, whether it be alone or with a partner. In our culture we usually contract around sexual energy, we push it down to the genitals and out through orgasm as quickly as possible. In Tantra we breath and relax into the energy, we allow it to rise, and we delay or avoid exploding and letting all that energy out. With time and practice we can move into orgasmic states, known as energy orgasm or tantric orgasm, which can go on for a lot longer than an explosive orgasm which only last for a few seconds. Energy orgasms are an incredibly expansive state, that it totally blissful yet totally relaxed.
Tantra is an ancient spiritual tradition, a way of living and thinking, with the purpose of attaining spiritual awakening, much like yoga or meditation. "Spiritual awakening" means awakening to who you truly are, beyond your name, age, profession etc, and underneath the layers of social and cultural conditioning. You may call your true nature your soul, your essence, or anything you like. The essence of who you are is beautiful, peaceful, joyful and loving.
What makes Tantra different from other spiritual paths is that it embraces all of life as sacred, including sexuality. There is no concept of sin in Tantra. Tantra is the path of Love - love of life, of self, of others, and of physical love. It is sometimes said that if Tantra could be summarised in one word it would be the word YES - a big yes to the whole experience of being human.
In practical terms it means embracing every single part of your life as an opportunity to EXPAND. “Tan” means expansion, and “Tra” means liberation - so together it means the path of expanding into liberation. Every experience, no matter how beautiful or how challenging it is, every feeling, and every person, represents an opportunity to grow, to peel back those layers, and become more loving, more peaceful, more joyful. So when you go through something difficult, as we all do, instead of resisting it, contracting and complaining, you embrace it, and through not resisting you allow the experience to expand you.
So what has that got to do with sex?
Embracing, cultivating, and harnessing sexual energy is one of the most powerful ways to expand, and to get in touch with your deepest truest nature. Tantra offers us many practices to learn to work with sexual energy, whether it be alone or with a partner. In our culture we usually contract around sexual energy, we push it down to the genitals and out through orgasm as quickly as possible. In Tantra we breath and relax into the energy, we allow it to rise, and we delay or avoid exploding and letting all that energy out. With time and practice we can move into orgasmic states, known as energy orgasm or tantric orgasm, which can go on for a lot longer than an explosive orgasm which only last for a few seconds. Energy orgasms are an incredibly expansive state, that it totally blissful yet totally relaxed.
What is the difference between Taoism and Tantra?
Taoism (from China), and Tantra (from India) both work with life force energy, and both use sexual practices to cultivate and harness sexual energy. In fact, the sexual teachings of Taoism and Tantra are so similar that they are often embraced as one.
However the two traditions do have a different approach and emphasis, and they complement each other beautifully:
Taoism (from China), and Tantra (from India) both work with life force energy, and both use sexual practices to cultivate and harness sexual energy. In fact, the sexual teachings of Taoism and Tantra are so similar that they are often embraced as one.
However the two traditions do have a different approach and emphasis, and they complement each other beautifully:
- Taoism is grounded in the body. Tantra starts with the body as a gateway to go beyond the body, into the realm of Spirit, of Union with all things. Taoist practices teach us to harness life force energy in order to maintain optimal levels of health, vitality, and longevity. In Tantra learning to cultivate and circulate life force energy is viewed as a path to superconsciousness, or Enlightenment. While Taoism is predominantly interested in health, Tantra is interested in consciousness.
- Tantric practices can help us unlock stuck or dormant life force energy, and allow us to open to the full range of human experience and emotion. Tantra allows us to live life more fully, feeling it all. Taoism on the other hand, focuses on finding a state of balance or equilibrium within this whirlwind of experience. For instance, Taoist practices help us deal with our emotions in a healthy way, without repressing them, denying them, nor clinging to them, but rather acknowledging them and allowing them to move through the body so that they may be released. While Tantra gives us range, Tao brings us into harmony.
Check out this fun interview I did with Alex Lamber from Unlockt, discussing all things Tantra & Conscious Sexuality