12 Oct Embodied Tantra Ireland, What is Tantra and How can it help?

Tantra is a spiritual path for integrating body, mind and soul. It differs from other paths in its honoring of the body, using the senses, sexuality, and feelings to help you evolve spiritually. Tantra assists you in realizing your full potential as a human being. If you choose to live from the Tantric perspective, you will transform your life. You will discover bliss. You may apply Tantric practices and principles to many areas of life – to relationship and sexual loving, spiritual practice and lifestyle, physical and emotional well-being. Red Tantra is the aspect of Tantra that relates to the mastery of sexual skills. White Tantra relates to the yogic or spiritual aspects of Tantric practice and consists of exercises or postures (asanas) combined with special breathing (pranayama), hand or finger gestures (mudras), internal muscular exercises (bhandas), chanting (mantra), and meditation. The skills and benefits of White Tantra practices increase ones ability to master Red (sexual) Tantra. Pink Tantra refers to a heart centered path of tantra that blends many of the elements of White Tantra with some aspects of Red Tantra. Within the path of Pink Tantra, all of the chakras are acknowledged. However, there seems to be an emphasis on the importance of the heart; opening the heart chakra and healing the heart. Compassion, acceptance and forgiveness for others and for our self are central themes to this practice. Pink Tantra teaches us to cultivate love without attachment, ownership or expectation. With Pink Tantra love is seen as the impetus for healing and transformation.

 
The benefits of Tantric practice include:
* Transcendent sexuality
* Deepened relationships with self and others
* Emotional freedom & literacy
* Expanded intuitive abilities
* Sustained health and vitality
* Boundless love & Life Force ( Energy)
* Playful, Ecstatic awareness
* Become more embodied and grounded
 

 
At the Heart of Tantra is Love.
The practices and rituals of Tantra, both spiritual and sexual, work to create the conditions necessary for love to flourish and endure. When we achieve states of presence, energy flow, relaxation, harmony, and connection, love emerges and opens the heart. To bring about the conditions that generate and sustain love, we can learn to rely upon Tantric practices to create more of these positive energy states. Tantra, therefore, is not just something to do in our bedrooms, but rather a complete way of life.
Cultivating states of presence, energy flow, relaxation, harmony, and connection is not always easy. A lifetime of hurts and other negative experiences have gradually limited our ability to be present and to express the essence of who we really are, fully and freely. We slowly become cut off from our feelings and the ability to experience our sexual creative energy in a connected, joyful, loving way.
In a subtle, gentle, yet powerful way, Tantric loving brings healing. It breaks up and washes away residues of our past that hold us back from limitless love and intimacy. Tantra teaches us not only how to be great lovers, but how to be great healers for one another as well. Tantra represents a unique paradigm for conscious living and loving. It offers a passionate and expansive way of life for those seeking to connect with their sexuality in a positive, heart-centered way, a way that celebrates freedom of spirit and body alike.
 

 
 
Origins of Tantra
Tantra is a set of spiritual teachings and a unique paradigm for relating to one’s self and the universe that originated in India well over 2000 years ago. It is still relevant today. It originated in ancient Vedic times, in matriarchal cultures such as that of the Indus Valley, and in practices revolving around the worship of the Goddess. The essence of Tantra has taken many forms of expression and appears in virtually every culture in history, e.g., Chinese Taoist Tantra, Native American Quodoshka. Tantra is a timeless phenomenon as well as a global one. Even today in the West it satisfies many of our most essential needs: love, connection, intimacy, play, harmony and balance, inspiration, relaxation, celebration, physical and emotional well-being, sexual and spiritual fulfillment. Much of the Tantra practise in the West has been highly influenced and infomed by the incredible work, insights and theories of Wilhelm Reich, who was the founder of Orgone therapy and coined the word Body armoring. You can Read More about Reich, Body armoring and Orgone Here.
 
The Word Tantra
Tantra comes from the ancient Sanskrit words tanoti which means “to expand” and trayati which means “liberation.” This implies that you can be liberated by expanding your consciousness. Another definition of the word Tantra is “web” or “to weave.” Tantra is an interweaving of the energies of many levels of consciousness from the mundane, to the most erotic, to the most profound and according to tantrik masters, the fabric of life can provide true and ever-lasting fulfillment only when all the threads are woven according to the pattern designated by nature. When we are born, life naturally forms itself around that pattern. But as we grow, our ignorance, desire, attachment, fear, and false images of others and ourselves tangle and tear the threads, disfiguring the fabric. Tantra “sadhana” or practice reweaves the fabric, and restores the original pattern. This path is systematic and comprehensive. The word “Tantra” is derived from the combination of two words “tattva” and “mantra”. “Tattva” means the science of cosmic principles, while “mantra” refers to the science of mystic sound and vibrations. Tantra therefore is the application of cosmic sciences with a view to attain spiritual ascendancy. In another sense, Tantra also means the scripture by which the light of knowledge is spread. For thousands of years in India, Tantra was a system of achieving yoga, essentially union with the divine Self. “Tantra” also signifies scripture that contains Tantric spiritual teachings.
 
 

 
 
Tantra Yoga
Like other Yogic traditions, Tantra Yoga uses the tools of meditation (dhyana), conscious breathing (pranayama), physical gestures (mudra), sacred sounds (mantra), sacred geometry (yantra), body positions (asana), muscular contractions (bandhas) to achieve self-transformation, conscious awakening, and spiritual evolution.Tantra is generally divided into two main streams: Red Tantra and White Tantra. White Tantra or Tantra of the Right Hand (Dakshina Marga) involves the meditative techniques of Tantra and is essentailly a celibate, ascetic path. Red Tantra or Tantra of the Left Hand (Vama Marga) involves the use of elements that were considered taboo, such as the ritual of sexual union (maithuna), as a means of attaining liberation. Here, sexual union is used as means for going beyond into transcendent states of consciousness. “Pink” Tantra strikes the middle ground between the two paths, harmoniously joining the practical and esoteric elements of both orientations.
The interrelated notions of the Goddess, Kundalini, the Subtle Body, and the Chakra System are central to Tantra and its aims.

 
 
The Goddess
The Goddess is revered in tantra. In ancient times, The Goddess was worshiped as the embodiment of eroticism and the source of all creation. Every woman was seen as Shakti – The Goddess incarnate. Each woman is a Shakti. Shakti is the Hindu Goddess, or archetype, of the divine feminine. Shakti also refers to a particular quality of energy that is feminine and rises upwards in the body, such as earth energy or sexual energy. It was worshipped in ancient India as the primal energy that created the cosmos. Shakti, or sexual energy, is creative life-force energy. Re-awakening the Goddess is central to modern Tantra. Although both the masculine and the feminine energies are equally important, the extra focus on the feminine is necessary in order to counterbalance the predominant masculine energy of our present culture. Daily life in this busy world does not encourage women or men to recognize or acknowledge the Goddess, but rekindling a woman’s sexual energy brings forth her Goddess nature. Tantric practices allow the Goddess in every woman to emerge. Both the woman and her partner benefit. The free flow of a woman’s sexual energy activates her shakti, creating an atmosphere for spiritual enlightenment. Her pleasure and desire for lovemaking will increase and may even surpass the pleasure potential and sexual desire of the man.
 

Kundalini
The main purpose of the tantric path is to activate Kundalini energy in the body which is also called life force energy, sexual energy, orgone or chi. Those who achieve this awakening live in an ongoing state of bliss.Kundalini is the most powerful and refined energetic force available to us as human beings. The term means “she who is coiled” and is traditionally depicted as a serpent, coiled and sleeping at the base of the spine. When awakened, it begins to uncoil as it climbs up through the chakras to the crown. For thousands of years, the serpent has been used in many cultures to symbolize rising consciousness. A minimal flow of Kundalini exists in everyone already. It is the energy that animates the body and the physical senses and provides a base level of consciousness. As the flow increases, we begin to access higher realms of consciousness into the spiritual dimensions. Kundalini is activated by the energy of Shakti, or sexual energy. Shakti is generated through conscious lovemaking or specific yogic techniques designed to activate this energy. The tantric path sees sexual energy as an important expression of Kundalini.
 
Healthy Sexuality ( Sacred sexuality )

 

Genital De-Armouring at Embodied Tantra Ireland 
Armoring is a process whereby past traumatic experiences are stored in the body’s muscle tissues. What happens is that the body’s tissues harden, creating tension and blocking energy flow to the area that was traumatized. In general your entire body is armored. This usually starts at an early age, even during infancy. To the degree that we as babies and later children feel safe, loved and cared for, is the degree in which we begin to develop armoring. Armoring can occur by guilt associated with masturbation, sexual abuse, forceful Stimulation, sexual intercourse without sufficient foreplay, making love when you don’t feel like it, failing to reach orgasm, having an abortion, or undergoing a caesarian birth or a hysterectomy.

 
The Desire and the Resistance of Deep Intimacy.
Emotional intimacy is a foundational aspect of all great relationships. The word “intimacy” refers to the experience of being fully seen and comes from the Latin “intimus” meaning innermost. When we share this experience with another, we feel whole, complete, and at one with the world. Yet we often fear that which we most desire, and in the case of emotional intimacy this is all too often the case. Intimacy requires an unmasking of our public image and a disarming of the defenses that we normally utilize to protect ourselves from the vulnerability that exposes us to the possibility of pain, rejection or hurt feelings. This desire to experience the feelings of deep connectedness is often the primary motivator for engagement in romantic relationships. Consequently it’s not surprising that so many of us find ourselves in the conundrum of both desiring and resisting deep connection in our lives. Fortunately, despite these ambivalent feelings and desires, it is possible to bring greater intimacy (both in terms of quantity and quality) into our lives. The experience of intimacy is not one that can be brought forth by demand, but can be invited to arise when certain conditions are in place in a relationship. These conditions include:
Feelings of emotional safety:  When we feel trust that our partner supports our well being and has no unspoken or unacknowledged agenda we are less likely to feel the need for the emotional protection that inhibits openness.
No incompletions:  Incompletions occur when “unfinished business” is neglected, causing both partners to feel uneasy or fearful of activating unresolved differences. This can promote feelings of anxiety or defensiveness, which inhibit vulnerability.
Responsibility:  When someone feels the need or the desire for more intimacy, it’s helpful if they can take responsibility for taking the initiative to make that desire known to their partner rather than believing that if the other doesn’t initiate contact that they are not open to it. Repeated failure to connect can result in feelings of resentment or frustration that could diminish the depth of appreciation and affection in the relationship. It’s always best to express one’s desire without blame or judgment.
Shared intention:  This refers to an understanding on the part of both partners to agree upon a time in which they can be together with a shared intention of experiencing a deeper connection and greater emotional closeness. This intention can be overt or implicit.
No distractions:  It’s important that both partners trust that there will be no interruptions to the time that they have set aside to experience closeness with each other. This means shutting off the phone, the TV, closing the bedroom door, and deactivating anything else that could distract them from the experience of being fully present with each other. Real intimacy means giving your full and undivided attention to each other during the time in which you have agreed to be together.
Honesty:  Contrary to what many people may think, intimate experiences aren’t limited to gushing expressions of love and devotion. They also include a willingness to express the full range of feelings that may be present with each partner at a given time. What promotes intimate connections is honesty, delivered with respect and sensitivity and without blame or judgment. The counterpart of this willingness to experience and speak one’s truth is the willingness to receive the truth non-reactively, without interrupting or being defensive. Easier said than done, but well worth the effort.
Physical contact: Intimate connection may also involve non-sexual forms of physical contact that convey feelings of affection, care, appreciation, or other positive emotions.
Presence: The quality of our connection with another has everything to do with how present we are in our own body, and how receptive we are to the input that comes into our experience through our senses, our mind, and our intuition. When we are not present in the moment with ourselves, we’re not able to deeply connect with another.
Gratitude: Nothing deepens and affirms an experience like gratitude. Even if some of our communications have been difficult to speak or hear, it is likely that there has been value in our shared willingness to engage in the dialogue. Thanking our partner for their willingness to take the time and give their attention to invest in our relationship makes the possibility of future intimate interactions much more likely.
Relationships and people require intimacy in order to thrive. When we make the effort to give attention to bringing the conditions into our relationship that encourage and promote intimacy, it’s not only our relationships that benefit but our lives in general. And as a result, so do the lives of all of the others with whom we engage. A good time to start could be today. There is, after all, no time like the present!

 
Tantra workshops  at Embodied Tantra Ireland 
Embodied Tantra Ireland, empowering you to thrive in love, sexuality and intimacy. Embodied Tantra is living with an awareness in the moment through the body in an intimate connection with self, others and all that is. This allows you to have more choice, and to access more of what you are capable of, including pleasure, love, Intimacy and healthy attachments. Embodied Tantra groups and workshops are very powerful , safe, empowering, informative, psychoeducational, psychotherapeutic and liberating. Embodied Tantra is suitable for people at all levels including complete beginners of Tantra practise. Embodied Tantra is a dive deeper, a tantra workshop with difference, where not only will you learn tools for living intimately but get an opportunity to work through any blocks you have to intimacy and is perfect for anybody looking to create a healthy relationship with strong boundaries, communication, intimacy, connection, love, happiness and passionate love making.
 

 
“Tantra is not technique but prayer. Is not head oriented but a relaxation into the heart. Please remember it. Many books have been written onTantra, they all talk about technique but the real Tantra has nothing to do with technique. The real Tantra cannot be written about, the real Tantra has to be imbibed(absorbed). How to imbibe real Tantra? You will have to transform your whole approach.” Osho
 

Healthy sex comparison chart Learning how to distinguish healthy sex from other forms of sex can empower you to bring healthy sex more into your own life. The chart below outlines how healthy sexuality differs from abusive and addictive sex.
Destructive / addictive Sex
Sex is uncontrollable energy
Sex is an obligation
Sex is addictive
Sex is hurtful
Sex is a condition of love or devoid of love
Sex is “doing to” someone
Sex is void of communication
Sex is secretive
Sex is exploitative
Sex is deceitful
Sex benefits one person
Sex is emotionally distant
Sex is irresponsible
Sex is unsafe
Sex has no limits
Sex is power over someone
Sex requires a double life
Sex compromises your value
Sex feels shameful
Healty Sex
Sex is a natural drive
Sex is nurturing, healing
Sex is an expression of love
Sex is sharing with someone
Sex requires communication
Sex is private
Sex is respectful
Sex is honest
Sex is mutual
Sex is intimate
Sex is responsible
Sex is safe
Sex has boundaries
Sex is empowering
Sex enhances who you really are
Sex reflects your values
Sex enhances self esteem
Sex is a choice
Sex is controllable
Sexual Trauma 
Sexual trauma can have a devastating and long lasting impact on our lives, relationships and bodies. Group Psychotherapy is a very safe and powerful way to give a voice to this often hidden trauma and make space for healing, bring an end to shame, allowing the possibility for a loving nurturing relationship with self and others.In an atmosphere of love, compassion, non-judgment, acceptance and awareness, we explore the interrelational dynamic in the here and now, exploring topics such as transference, countertransference and reenactments. Our therapeutic intervention is based on the latest research in attachment theory, neuroscience, Interpersonal Neurobiology, psychodynamic psychotherapy and Somatic experiencing.

Working through sexual trauma at Trauma Recovery Institute Dublin
Intense group psychotherapy sessions have yielded significant results for people with character disorders. As patients improve interpersonal skills, mood control and self-esteem, dysfunction levels in social and family situations, along with the severity of their disturbance can diminish, leading to an overall improvement in life satisfaction. Group psychotherapy also has helped reduce depression and suicidal tendencies in some instances of personality disorders. Improvement has been shown through working in a variety of different groups and situations, giving patients the opportunity to work with a large number of peers and staff. In such circumstances, patients show improvement solely from group therapy, without having individual treatment. Further, once patients are involved in therapy they may be more apt to experience a reduction in symptoms particular to their specific disorder.
 
Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy (DPP) at Trauma Recovery Institute Dublin
Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy (DPP) is a highly structured, once to twice weekly-modified psychodynamic treatment based on the psychoanalytic model of object relations. This approach is also informed by the latest in neuroscience, interpersonal neurobiology and attachment theory. As with traditional psychodynamic psychotherapy relationship takes a central role within the treatment and the exploration of internal relational dyads. Our approach differs in that also central to the treatment is the focus on the transference and countertransference, an awareness of shifting bodily states in the present moment and a focus on the client’s external relationships, emotional life and lifestyle.
Dynamic Psychosocialsomatic Psychotherapy (DPP) is an integrative treatment approach for working with complex trauma, borderline personality organization and dissociation. This treatment approach attempts to address the root causes of trauma-based presentations and fragmentation, seeking to help the client heal early experiences of abandonment, neglect, trauma, and attachment loss, that otherwise tend to play out repetitively and cyclically throughout the lifespan in relationship struggles, illness and addictions. Clients enter a highly structured treatment plan, which is created by client and therapist in the contract setting stage. The Treatment plan is contracted for a fixed period of time and at least one individual or group session weekly.
 

 

“Talk therapy alone is not enough to address deep rooted trauma that may be stuck in the body, we need also to engage the body in the therapeutic process and engage ourselves as therapists to a complex interrelational therapeutic dyad, right brain to right brain, limbic system to limbic system in order to address and explore trauma that persists in our bodies as adults and influences our adult relationships, thinking and behaviour.”

 

 

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