Three Types of Sex: Tamasic, Rajasic, Sattvic

Diana Daffner describes three kinds of sex: tamasic, rajasic, and sattivic. What type of sex are you having?

Ancient texts from India describe human activity as falling into one of three states, or qualities, called, in the Sanskrit language, tama, raja and sattva. Each characterizes a specific state of awareness and is reflected in all the ways we live our lives, including how we eat and how we make love. By understanding these qualities, we can transform our sexual activity into a sacred event. Instead of just grappling about, hoping for a positive outcome, we can envision physical connection as a soulful experience for the purpose of deep communion and intimacy. Read more

How Do I Circulate Sexual Energy?

If you've read anything about Tantra at all, you've probably come across the phrase "circulate the energy," but what does that mean and how do you do it? Marnia Robinson at Reuniting: Healing with Sexual Relationships gives simple instructions:

To circulate your sexual energy, simply tighten the muscles around the genitals and perineum as you inhale. raising energy up the spine

Visualize, or feel, your sexual energy flowing up your spine to the crown of your head...

Now, as you exhale, visualize the energy flowing down the front of your body to your navel. Store it there. This step is very important according to Mantak Chia, author of Taoist Secrets of Love: Cultivating Male Sexual Energy. Otherwise, the energy can build up in your head and cause headaches.

Repeat. Read more

A Simple Practice to Expand Pleasure

Suzie Heumann at Tantra and Kama Sutra Blog with Suzie explains a simple practice to turn any spot on your body into an erogenous zone.

The whole body, and every inch of skin, is the most complex erogenous zone there is. There are men and women who can orgasm just by touching a specific spot on their body without any genital touching. You can train yourself to activate your skin, or any other part of your body, to assist in orgasmic pleasure. Read more

How Can I Help My Wife to Understand the Benefits of Tantra?

A reader asks Al Link and Pala Copeland this question: "How can I help my wife to understand the benefits of Tantra and to approach it with an open mind and heart, and to sincerely try the techniques taught and from all this start an adventurous sexual and spiritual journey with me as this is what I need and want?"

Many women suffer from shame and guilt around sex, particularly from family and religious teachings. Because of past conditioning it can be difficult for them to even talk about sex, let alone embrace it. Read more

Al and Pala don't mention it in their answer, but I wonder if this reader's wife might also be suspicious of his motives for wanting to start "an adventurous sexual and spiritual journey" She make take his desire as an expression of dissatisfaction with her and their relationship.

How Can Tantra Help a Woman Enhance Her Inner Qualities?

Laura Amazzone at A Temple of Female Consciousness answers this reader's question: "How can tantra help a woman enhance her inner qualities?"

Tantra is about harnessing and amplifying our inner power, our Shakti. The word tantra means to weave and involves a process of weaving/blending opposite qualities or tensions and experiencing the unity of their common essence.

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To enhance my positive inner qualities, or my Shakti, I attempt to confront and embrace any negative thought or emotion. Sometimes I sit with it and let it run its course for days or weeks, but then eventually I do sadhana-spiritual practice to work with the energies that are inhibiting me from accessing and expressing my Shakti. As the remover of fear and difficulty, Durga teaches us not to run away from that which is difficult, but to face it with composure. Read more

A Ritual for "Letting Go"

Pamm at My Secret Spiritual Dance shares a ritual that helps release the connections of past partners whose energy you no longer want to keep in your body. The Huna say that all contact, whether in the physical or on another level, involves the exchange of threads of aka material or energy. According to Huna teachings, some of the cords we create can dissipate our energy, keep us locked into negative relationships, or become tangled and distorted.

... We were told that esoteric thought is that all women keep a cord or energetic connection to every man they have slept with and that until we cut the cords, our energy is drained.

[...]

For this meditiation/visualization I think it's important to not think about if it works or how it works, but that you are aiming to feel better. You don't have to figure out if it's "real." Many people don't "see" when they do visualizations, they just feel or sense. It's all OK, there is no right way to do this. Read more

Developing Your Tantra Practice From Basics to Advanced

Greenwoman has linked her series on Tantra energy exercises into one convenient-to-use post. An interested student could learn the essence of Tantra just from practicing the exercises in this series. Read more