02 Mar What is Tantra?
I get asked this question a lot. It is complex and individual, so I will share my lived experience of it.
Tantra is a spiritual technology of yoga. In the view of Tantra, according to Christopher Wallis, the two main goals of life are worldy success (bhoga) and spiritual liberation (moksa). One of the things that distinguishes it from previous iterations of yoga is that it truly offers methods for connecting to the pleasure of life while also achieving spiritual liberation at the same time. For the Tantrikas, these goals aren’t mutually exclusive.
It’s a set of teaching and practices that help someone understand the divine nature of their wholeness. Because of this, Tantra has allowed me to feel like my body and my life have inherent value. Through Tantra, I have come to understand the importance of pleasure and delighting in the world, as these are all aspects of the divine. And through this, I have come to realize that life is meant to be enjoyed rather than survived. The richness of life comes in receiving it.
Part of the technology, for me, has been through the practices of somatics as the language of embodiment. The somatic work has added so much richness into what I am able to take in and receive. This is one of the most important steps of development as a preverbal infant. It can sometimes be skipped over, and can manifest in adulthood as a perpetual need to stay busy, or a cycling between burnout and overworking. In order to be supported; physically, mentally or energetically; support must be really deeply taken in by the body.
This is also one of the most important processes in a relationship. In order to really be in relationship to someone, we have to really receive them in while we simultaneously let ourselves be received. In order to feel the support in our bodies, we have to be deeply in touch with the somatic process of that for it to have an impact on our tissues.
Somatics and Tantra are technologies that touch into our humanness. For me, they have been a deep reminder of what it means to come alive and see life as something more than just a thing to be survived. I am excited to share these tools in the upcoming Tantra of Relationships Immersion on the weekend of the 26. of March, 2020. Click here to LEARN MORE