Debunking the Myths of Tantra

Tantra teachers Mark A. Michaels and Patricia Johnson are on a mission to squelch the myths about Tantra.

Perhaps you've heard of musician Sting's boast of his seven-hour love-making sessions with wife, Trudie Styler.

It was his practice of tantra and yoga that allowed him to keep going, he had said.

Or maybe you heard buzzing of tantra and many sexual positions, erotic massage or orgies.

Turns out, none of those are really true of the ancient Hindu tradition, which practices the idea that personal fulfillment, enlightenment and a connection to the divine come through life's energies, including sexual energy. It is a mystical experience its practitioners seek.

(Sting later amended his initial remarks, explaining that Trudie "is my connection to the sacred.")

While the masses have linked tantric sex to the more salacious, tantra is a discipline, a way of life. It employs meditation and uses the body as a tool, and the romantic relationship as a microcosm for reflection and awareness. In the tradition of tantra, sex is intrinsically sacred.

However, tantra is more spiritual as a practice and can be the secret of finding bliss in all areas of life, explain Mark A. Michaels and Patricia Johnson of Yorktown, N.Y. Read more

What Tantra Is and What It Isn't

In the minds of many people, Tantra means a style of prolonged lovemaking; however, it can and does mean so much more.

It's about sex and has nothing to do with sex. It's about how we approach life, Pamm

Tantra isn't memorizing and perfectly executing all the chronicled positions from the Kama Sutra. It is about being your body and following its impulses rather than some rote routine in sex.

Tantra looks like it's all about pretty and light. Which it is...but it's also about being with the Dark...which often shows up in the middle of playing in the light.

For instance- the biggest sort of cliche thing I hear about Tantra is that it's about lighting a few candles and gazing into each other's eyes (snicker, snicker). Many find this boring, silly, trite. And it can be. Sitting there looking into another's eyes while a Sting song plays in the background isn't what Tantra's all about. Read more