Yoga Mudras: An Illustrated Guide

A mudra is A gesture or position, usually of the hands, that locks and guides energy flow and reflexes to the brain. By curling, crossing, stretching and touching the fingers and hands, we can talk to the body and mind as each area of the hand reflexes to a certain part of the mind or body. Anmol Mehta presents a comprehensive guide to yoga mudras.

An important aspect of yoga is the subtle, but key practice of hand, body and eye postures, to invoke certain flows of energy and create certain states of consciousness, called yoga mudras. In last month’s newsletter I introduced you all to yoga mudras and provided 5 important mudras to start with. In the newsletter I also mentioned I would be creating a comprehensive guide to yoga mudras, and this is the first part of that guide.

In this part I will provide the 5 hand mudras I gave in the newsletter and in the next part of the series I will illustrate and detail many more important mudras to help you take your yoga and meditation practice to the next level. Read more

Breathing in Tantra

Umaa Tantra founder Tao Semko explains how to use breathing and relaxation to become more "Tantric" during lovemaking.

Dear Friend,
People often ask me how to become "tantric" when they make love. The answer is simple - attitude and awareness.

For the masculine partner - a centered attitude of eros, love and devotion. For the feminine partner - an awakened, kinetic attitude of eros, love, and devotion. More about that in the Tantra Tips issues later in the week.

As far as awareness goes, an old tantric saw says that there are three awarenesses in lovemaking: Read more

The Best 10-Minute Investment into Your Love Life

Are you willing to invest ten minutes into improving your love life? Tantra teachers Lokita and Steve Carter say that going back to the basics yield surprising rewards.

Going back to the basics can bear great gifts, especially in love and sex. Let’s remember some of the teachings mom gave us on our way. “Look into people’s eyes as you speak with them," she said. “Be respectful to others. Listen carefully when someone talks with you," she insisted. “And never interrupt.” This wisdom turns out to be quite useful, especially in our love relationships.

One of our first tantric practices as a couple was a deceptively simple communication experiment about how we like to be loved -- physically, emotionally and spiritually. It goes like this: Steve asks me the question, “How do you like to be loved?” I answer as Steve listens, without commentary. If I don’t answer, he will ask the same question again. After 10 minutes, we switch roles, asking and answering the same question.

Are you willing to invest 10 minutes into your love life? Read more

Can Meditation Be Sexy?

Ed and Deb Shapiro say that the Appreciation Meditation can help you connect with the beauty in both yourself and the world around you.

From Madonna to Christie Turlington, from Sting to Richard Gere, meditation is what's happening. We use the term 'sexy' because meditation is now the IN thing, with more and more people, both young and old, chilling out by doing it. At the same time, cross-legged yogis and monks can be seen in television and magazine ads selling everything from cars to herbal teas.

You do not have to be a hippie or on a spiritual quest to meditate. We have taught housewives, athletes, musicians and therapists in yoga centers and town halls, high school gymnasiums, on ski slopes and on television. We were invited to teach meditation in Thailand to corporate CEO's, as more businesses are incorporating stress-release and meditation techniques. Read more

Female Genital Massage

Jaiya gives some advice on giving a great female genital massage.

5 Tips for Making the Most out of Meditation

There are people who take up meditation and do it faithfully for several weeks before finally abandoning it. Some become frustrated that they are not getting the results that they expected when they first signed up for it. Below are five tips that can help you make the most out of your practice of meditation.

1) Practice meditation in a quiet place.

While you cannot completely shut yourself out of the distractions around you, it would help a lot if you can meditate in a quiet area, or at least a place which cuts down outside noise considerably.

2) Choose a room with comfortable temperature.

Whether the room’s too cold or too hot, both can destroy your mood for meditation. It would, therefor,e help to find a room with a temperature control so you can adjust it to a temperature where you’re most comfortable

3) Wear comfortable clothes.

Again, the bane of people practicing meditation is distraction. You should, therefore, wear comfortable clothes as they will help you be more at ease and relaxed.

4) Find a teacher.

Sometimes, it can be frustrating to practice meditation without the proper guidance. A teacher can guide you and will help a lot in giving you the most out of meditation.

5) Read books on meditation.

Whether you have a teacher or not, it would help to have reference materials which can help broaden your appreciation for this activity. Books do not only give you information but also insights on how to meditate better.

5 Tantra Tips for Improving Sex

Addison Prescott explains his five best Tantra tips for improving sex and getting the most out of doing it.

These are the five best tantra tips for improving sex and getting the most out of doing it! In any relationship improving your sex, sexaul performance, and how good it can get is always an important issue. Whether you discuss it or not everyone wants to get the most out of sex that they can. Tantra is one of the best ways of achieving this goal.

Tantra can be explained as the philosophy of getting the most out of any sensual experience from sex. Optimizing the pleasure of sex is the whole idea and a good one. Tantra teaches many things that are not necessarily sexual but better sex can become the end result. Tantra is more about spirituality and experiencing things to the fullest. It is a way to experience or enhance and develop yourself spiritually through sexual expression. Read more