Divine Touch – a beginner’s guide to Tantra

Tantra is about using everything that life gives us. The so-called ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ stuff, to help us grow and expand in consciousness. This includes sexuality but it isn’t limited to sexuality. In Tantra, nothing is left out. You and all that you are is welcome and included.

One of the definitions of Tantra is ‘the weaving together of all that is’. What that looks like in day-to-day life is welcoming present to our physical body, listening to our feelings and integrating our intuition. At a Tantra workshop we use meditation and awareness exercises to become aware of the hyper-activity of our mind as well as its helpful clarity.

We try to stop our old automatic patterns of response from the past. This means we practice moment-to-moment presence.
As a newcomer to a Tantra workshop you could expect to be guided into active meditations and to dance to encourage you to feel into your physical body. You are encouraged to explore your feelings in small groups, with self-expression encouraged through touch, being true to yourself and communication. This allows each person to reveal their messy human-ness and vulnerability.

Further rituals and meditations are designed to help you become aware of your mind, how it tells stories and chatters to itself, and to find the stillness that lies behind all this noise.

Once the workshop has begun to create an emotional connection between participants, it will introduce exercises that invite physical touch, again usually in small groups. No-one is ever made to touch or be touched, even if the group are doing a specific touch-based exercise.

Touch is very powerful for most people because it links to so much more than our skin. It’s important in a Tantra workshop to re-sensitize ourselves, to increase awareness of what we want from touch and connection. Then to develop the tools and skills to express that.

For some it is extremely healing and powerful to choose to not have anyone touch them. To give themselves the experience of saying NO without having to isolate themselves or disconnect. This allows self-love to grow and with it the ability to see and accept other people as well.

The benefits of exploring Tantra include increased self-love, confidence and ability to connect and relate to others, letting go of guilt and shame.

Jan will teach a 5-day introductory workshop to Tantra, called Passion, Power & Love, over the New Year (28 Dec – 2 Jan). This aims to help participants let go old patterns of the past and create their vision for the future. New ways of relating will explored to create more awareness and choice in relationships. The workshop is open to both singles and couples. For more information, go to: janday.com/