Taryn Harvey

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What is Tantra, and How can it Heal your Life?

Tantra is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘to weave’

Aligned within polarity of masculine / feminine forces - and natural elemental forces represented by Shakti (Earth; Venus, Goddess; Mother) &

Shivai (Universe; Mars, God; Father)

What Tantra isn’t

Tantra is not the Kama Sutra (sorry! Although feel free to explore and adapt)

Tantric sex is not doing the wild thing like a rock star (or a Porn Queen)

What Tantra is

Ok, get comfy, sit back and allow yourself to absorb this delicious history of sexuality that is the creation of Tantra today.

The concept of tantric practices is that we as human male and female beings are a reflection of the Universe (cosmos). All aspects of our mind/body/emotions are potential that can be cultivated to align; hence in becoming ‘whole’ we ascend as divine beings.

Tantra is an art, science and a spiritual awakening which often initiates transformation so great that one’s views of the world can be challenged. It’s good to note here that this is also a platform upon which yoga established its roots. Yoga enhances body flexibility, mindfulness (if you’ve ever been in a crow pose you will relate to how in this position your mind can only focus on the length of time you can possibly remain balanced – no thinking ‘did I make the kids lunches this morning’ or ‘have I done my tax, sent of that email, got back to mum about dinner next week’ – I love it!) and opening meridian energy portals through posture.

What happens once we are open to expansion is that we become more accepting of our self as a spiritual being.  Most of what we contemplate in our daily lives as important becomes less so as we experience the value of releasing stress and expectations; often misguided and usually ones we place upon ourselves.

Mindfulness and energy shifts tap into a higher consciousness – so with Tantra we can go that one step further by embracing sexual energy as a direct route to this path.

Cosmic Consciousness is a sense based ideal, therefore Tantra supports the awakening in our key energy centres’ known as Chakras. There’s such amazing potential for our overall health as individuals throughout our lifetime, which is why we are becoming more open to learning about Chakras and how they hold the key to this higher consciousness – or spiritual awakening. [i]

Originally Tantra was borne through the scriptures of Shiva, A Tantric Master who lived in India nearly 7,000 years ago. He derived over 112 methods of meditation and these were considered a way for the human experience to become a portal to spiritual awakening. He embraced sensual love between men and women as being integral as we ascend on the spiritual path, and also recognized that both men and women needed to be of equal balance in their principle and coupling.

Temples in India showed the genitals as objects of worship, further symbolizing the value of balancing feminine and masculine principles; their names Lingam meaning ‘wand of light’ and yoni meaning ‘sacred place.’

Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

Mahamudra is known as Orgasm with the Universe, which is also a spiritual awakening considered more likely to be activated through the experience of orgasm.

Sounding even nicer?

Yes of course! So here’s the thing. These Masters transcribed teachings based upon their experiential practice and passed it down to those who were able to create and appropriate higher learning. It’s within us all to implement such practice yet it takes a teacher to support us in accessing this within our own human body.

As we begin to once again evolve (yes our society did devolve for many years), we can ignite the essence of our hidden (or repressed) energy centres and step back into alignment with our higher self. The transformational process is experienced as a memory of one’s essential nature. We’ve focused for far too long on the sexual interpretations of Tantra most clearly due to lifetimes of sexual repression. It’s not just a precursor to bliss (although when we hear the word ‘orgasm’ our brains scramble to that which we’ve come to know and learn so we can, and do relate more easily to this state), it’s a practice derived for the purpose of overcoming life’s complexity – overcoming obstacles in general.

Tantra is a path for each individual to honour their uniqueness. This also explains why there are so many streams of Tantra, and why each teacher can bring something fresh to the path. I love my Shiva Shakti path from India as it resonates with my ‘yes’ to love, life and sex – and there’s a higher vibrational pull that I’ve acknowledged as I surrender, ascend and accept higher learning as a rite of passage.

I feel that within this practice, every aspect of the human being is honoured.

In Tibetan teachings Buddhism is combined with Shamanism; meditations having grown exponentially from this, and I’m grateful to have studied this arm to enhance my own experience of Tantra.

The Taoist approach from China is more subjective in relation to health and longevity, developing Tantric methods that utilize the vital energy source contained within the sex act to regenerate the body; a part of their teaching which is widely known is the conservation of semen. This too can find its way into my practice depending on the session (not usually Tantric teachings).

I was first taught the Shiva Shakti mystic teachings and have since studied Osho & Tao plus Chinese and Indian Ayurveda.

When I’ve experienced wholeness, my capacity to experience raised kundalini occurs. It’s a state even I’ve only been able to achieve three times in my life so far. It’s incredibly rich yet powerful to embody such ecstatic peace, and not something that I believe can be taught – it’s a transcendence that is invoked by sheer surrender to the connection of sexual energy as it makes its way up along our spine.

What does it feel like? Well, for me, I felt weightless, free from thought, an incredible peace, orgasmic; I saw silvery hues shooting through my third eye then up through my crown; my body was no longer. I was the light. It was surreal yet delicate and amazingly nurturing for the soul!

No wonder many try to repeat the experience, but often it eludes us because ego gets in the way.

Kundalini is not body orgasm – but it’s close!

Tantra cannot be picked up like a gym membership where we fit in one session then expect to be firm within weeks. We need to lift weights in a regular routine before we see and feel results. The Tantric discipline is a lot nicer I must say (and I still go to the gym).

Sexual energy connecting to ‘source’ (The Universe) is our gift whilst remaining in our earthly body. This is why it is imperative one seeks an appropriate facilitator who is able to ground the energy in a safe way – because a kundalini awakening can sometimes be a little awkward if not correctly contained.

Tantra can be learned, yes. We can all read, understand and move on ahead with what we know. But what about what we don’t know?

This, gorgeous ones, comes about from sitting quietly and tuning in to our higher self because I believe we all have the capacity to know what really serves us, and by adapting this into our daily lives, we can heal all humanity.

We all deserve to live a Tantric way of life – feeling orgasmic, centred and stress free every day!

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