On a cold Wednesday night in January, when most people were rushing to go home or to meet their friends/lovers at a pub nearby, I stood in front of a normal looking house somewhere deep in West London. I was feeling a bit nervous but excited about what lay on the other side of the door. I was about to venture into the world of tantra.
For those who don’t know what tantra is (or only know that Sting is into it), Tantra denotes the esoteric traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism that co-developed most likely about the middle of the 1st millennium AD. The term tantra, in the Indian traditions, also means any systematic broadly applicable “text, theory, system, method, instrument, technique or practice” (thanks Wikipedia!)
So basically I was going to have an intimate, erotic massage. Not bad, if you ask me.
Tantric massage is something that I have been wanting to do for some time, but I never met anyone who I could trust enough to do it with. I am an introvert, and I struggle with physical contact at the best of times so I knew finding my match was going to be tricky. That is until my friend Alex, from The Curious Master told me he had redone his website, and upon inspection, I did not only see his BDSM services (which I already knew about) but also, to my delight, that he also offered tantric massage. So I asked for an appoitment without hesitation, and the rest, well is written below!
Alex and his partner have a wonderfully cosy home which instantly puts you at ease. I am a big believer in house energy, and theirs was warm and inviting. While having a herbal tea, Alex took his time to explain what the session would consist of, if I wanted a yoni massage or not (massaging of the genitals) and if there were any areas or things I was not comfortable with doing/receiving. Once all questions were answered, and I was satisfied to proceed, we sat in the bed facing each other and we set the intentions for night ahead.
The session was a wonderful experience, to say the least. It was a sensual, but soft and gentle affair. I could see how beneficial something like this would be for people who have been deprived of touch or have experienced past trauma. There is definitely a sensual flow to the session but it is not sexual at all, and I that found very comforting. You end up leaving the session feeling confident, relaxed and with a silly grin in your face.
Fast forward to our current pandemic times, tantra is still possible, thanks to the gift of the internet and Zoom. So last week I went to his Sensuoil Flow event which was run by the sex positive group Vermilion over at Facebook. This time it was more of a workshop, so ideally you would have to be with someone else in the room to make full use of the event. This time the tone of the session was much more playful, and it was more about building intimacy with your partner/s. My OH wasn’t keen on joining at first because he is fiercely private and not into this kind of things, but after 30min or so, he was loving it.
There is something really magical about ridiculous amount of oil combined with skin-on-skin contact that invites intimacy, closeness and sensuality. Without sounding like a Tantra spokesperson, I do believe that the practice of tantra should be more widely known/used. It is the perfect tool for building close, loving relationships and it can help ‘spice and revitalize’ things if the routine has settled in.
A definite yes for me!
A Sense of Clarity 