TANTRA THERAPY

Most people are unclear about what Tantra Massage really is and what it can do for you. The most common view of Tantra massage is that it has some relationship with Eastern religion, with uninhibited sex, and with ‘happy endings’. To some, Tantra is a lifestyle; to others, it’s empowering our spiritual masculine and feminine energies. None of these views of Tantra are wrong, but none really explain what Tantra actually is.

 So what is Tantra? And, most important of all, what is its relevance to us today?

  The word Tantra is Sanskrit, the sacred language of Hinduism. It is derived from the root word TAN, which translates as ‘to expand, or to weave’1. Tantra’s essence is mainly about continually expanding, spreading, and manifesting oneself like a‘cosmic weave,’ utilising different energies.
As individuals, we are a part of the universal weave and every type of energy and matter encompassed within it, this
includes thoughts, actions, and all physical matter.

Jade Lotus Tantra Massage
Jade Lotus Tantra Massage, as taught at the National Institute of Tantra, is a newly formulated three level massage that is both instructional, experiential and thoroughly therapeutic. Through the Jade Lotus Method of Tantra Massage, we find a more‘real,’ more ‘complete’ approach to Tantra by recognising and stimulating our inherent sensual spirituality, we discover parts of ourselves that have remained asleep or have been repressed. With Jade Lotus Tantra, an energy is released that is evolutionary and ‘upwardly motivated’. We can learn to use this energy for pleasure, for achieving our worldly goals, and for aiding our spiritual evolution.

The taboo of tantra massage is that it is a ‘happy ending’ massage, a sexual service or a way of hiding behind a spiritual veil to make money from the Tantra bandwagon. There are, in fact, people who do that. However, the Jade Lotus Method
of Tantra Massage is one that does not involve any sort of genital touching, and in no way do we get involved in any sort
of sexual ‘happy ending’. Our three levels are based on learning, entering into a plane of education and sexual consciousness.

Performing Tantra Massage

The Jade Lotus Tantra Massage is a three step process. Step one, involves a full body massage, and while being massaged, clients will learn deeper, more thorough knowledge on the Chakra system of the body. In the ‘transphysiological’ language of Tantra, cosmic energy is said to flow into the microcosm through the chakras and thence to cycle through the subtle body and out again into the macrocosm.
It is said that this happens in all of us, whether we know it or not and whether or not we co-operate in the process. Our
degree of openness at the various chakras corresponds to our degree of consciousness; and our conscious participation in the macrocosm increases proportionately.

The chakras are the key to physical health, emotional stability and mental clarity. The chakras are vortexes of moving
energy, which then stimulate various endocrine organs in the body to secrete hormones into the blood system. The
effects of hormones control our body. They also affect our state of mind. When we begin the journey into our Chakras we open the way for healing, psychological development and spiritual growth.

As we progress upward through the energy centers, we learn more about who we are and the ideas and attitudes that
form our lives. The massage therapist, while massaging these areas, is talking through the chakras with the clients,
educating them in all the energy centres. This system of healing is ancient. It was mentioned in Vedic records, the Egyptians perfected it through aromatherapy and colour healing, the early Jews codified their understanding of these principles in the mystical Kabbalah and the Islamic Sufis embraced the energy as a connection with God.

Today in our highly charged world we are in urgent need of understanding this ancient knowledge. This is all encompassed in our Jade Lotus level one Tantra Massage.

The massage itself involves strong, deep tissue massage over the Chakra areas, and gliding the energy from one part of the body to the other, asking the client to visualise the energy moving. The relaxing and therapeutic effects of this massage involve attunements, building heat, and Indian head massage. Step two of the Jade Lotus Tantra Massage involves lengthy discussions in Pranyama.

Pranyama
The Sanskrit word ‘Prana’ means life-force. Pranyama (the act of taking in Prana) teaches that during the retention portion of the breath cycle, one should consciously retain the Prana, then release the carbon dioxide (and other gases) from the lungs during exhalation, storing the Prana in the third Chakra.

Pranyama techniques used in session two are the Circle Breath, Trapezoidal Breath, Kundalini Breath, Pranavayu Rasa,
Prana Sukha and the solar Luna Breath.

There is a convergence and synchronization of breath; life force merging into a vortex, physical and subtle energy exchange is taking place.

In the ‘Bhagavad Gita,’ Yogavasistha explained:
‘When through continued practice of pranayama the vibrations of breath are silenced, that causes the mind, too, to
become completely silent. That is the state of Nirvana.’

Clients walk away with fundamental knowledge of the different types of breaths which will allow the client to find the
central pathway between mind and body.

Tantric breath is also a purification breath and with every breath clients feel cleansed and more energised as this
purification meets with the heart.

The practice of Tantra is founded upon the mysteries of the male to female union of energies. Samadhi, or otherwise
knowledge and enlightenment, is the personal consciousness of the union between Shiva and Shakti. The movements
and techniques that come through Jade Lotus Tantra Massage provide the individual with an opportunity to experience this union, and this method reaches toward this awareness.

The Jade Lotus Tantra Massage step three acquires all the knowledge gained in the first two steps and puts all these
techniques into practice into the third. In this session, the practitioners at the National Institute of Tantra teach you how
to stimulate the life force (Shakti) and combine it with cosmic knowledge (Shiva) the Process of this awakening is accelerated through Tantra and is reflected in the image of the Kundalini.

Kundalini is depicted as a coiled serpent that lies dormant at the base of the spine.

Level three Jade Lotus Tantra helps awaken the energy which then rises along the spinal column, activating all the other

Chakras on the way up. More specifically, however, it can be said that each chakra, beginning at the base of the spine and proceeding upwards to the head, opens for us a separate and progressively higher ‘level of consciousness’.

This is done through putting both step one and step two together into the third step. Strong movements, body contact and deep breathing techniques assists in activating all the seven Chakra centres which allow the client and the practitioner to enter into Yab Yum position. The Tibetan Buddhist term ‘yab yum’ meaning father-mother union – symbolizing the uniting of wisdom and compassion.

Differences in methods

The difference between the methods taught in the Jade Lotus Tantra Massage and other tantra massages is that there is no involvement in any kind of sexual energy build up. The all too familiar relationship between tantra and sexual service and the taboo of cult style Tantra sex, is something that the National Institute of Tantra is attempting to re-educate the public about. Tantra Massage can be done without a ‘happy ending’ and the newly formulated Jade Lotus Method is just that.

Tantra sexual skills must be practiced and taught in licensed premises and with proper supervision by either a psychologist, a sex therapist or a professional in the field of sexual education.

Tantra teaches us to become familiar with our spiritual nature, and when we do so, our boundaries expand. We enter into
new domains of awareness. We become empowered, more fulfilled, and embrace our true nature as feminine and masculine. A great way to learn about Tantra is through the Jade Lotus Method of Tantra Massage, as it is nurturing, educational and therapeutic.