Greetings One and All!

 

Here is your July 2007 Tantric Arts Institute Newsletter.

In this issue:

• Upcoming Events:
  • Aug 31 - Sept 4 Jack Painter's Heart in Sexuality in Atlanta
  • Sept 6 - Sept 10 Jack Painter's Heart in Sexuality in Cincinnati
  • Sept 21 - Sept 23 Baba Dez's Daka/Dakini conference East in Chicago
• New Offerings: Hot Tantra and Ecstatic Wave
• Tantric Terminology (Qi & Qigong)
• Solo Practice (Microcosmic Orbit)
• Partner Play (Eye Gazing)
• Dear Daka (Challenges of Polyamory)

Jack Painter, Ph.D. Comes to Atlanta and Cincinnati!

View the Sacred Space Institute announcement

After decades of offering his workshops on the West Coast, Jack Painter is coming to the East Coast. Jack Painter is something of a legend in the area of somatic body work, tantra and somatic psychology. He pioneered massage in and around the genitals and anus in the 70’s. His work is much more complex and sophisticated than simple Sacred Spot massage. Quite a bit of current offerings in the tantra community are based in large part on his profound work. He is will be offering his Heart In Sexuality 5-Day Intensive in Atlanta August 31st through September 4th and again in Cincinnati September 6th through 10th for $995.

 

I can't emphasize the importance, quality and depth of his work enough. The beauty of Jack's work is that it provides a very practical therapeutic approach for resolving the emotional and developmental issues which are often the source of difficulties people experience with their sexuality in love relationships. As a serious Tantrika I find it indispensable. I believe in it so strongly I require all my personal relationships to do this work.

 

You can download the Atlanta flyer or download the Cincinnati flyer in PDF format if you wish.  I interviewed him about why tantrikas are drawn to his work. Click here if you know you want to register.

 

Cost:  $995 (Accomodations/Meals NOT Included)

Email meadrose@tantricartsinstitute.com for more info or register at http://hisreg.tantricartsinstitute.com

 

Baba Dez's Daka/Dakini Conference East in Chicago Sept. 21 - 23

A Conference & Gathering for Sacred Sexuality Healers, Teachers & Practitioners

It promises to be the best one yet!   

We are limiting attendance to 200 people.

The Theme for the Fall 2007 Conference is:

Intimate Stories, Techniques, and Practices of Successful Educators, Dakas and Dakinis

Admission to the gathering is $350 ($250 if you have attended a previous conference)

First time attendees may save $50 if registered by August 15, 2007.

Lodging, meals and transportation are not included.

To register by check or credit card please visit www.sedonatemple.com/registration.html

To register by phone please call Sedona Temple Manager Kurtis Bliss at 928-204-1806

 

New Offerings: Hot Tantra and Ecstatic Wave Workshops

 

Carolena fleishman and I were getting ready for Egypt and launching a new braingasm of an idea called “Hot Tantra.” She and I have been looking for ways to serve the diverse needs of the public with a variety of Tantric offerings. At first we came up with Ecstatic Wave Workshops which are all about clearing the chakras to enhance one's capacity for pleasure...but we knew something was missing.

 

And then we asked ourselves: If the public thinks Tantra is all about sex, why not serve them dessert first? Are we willing to be the people who go where others shy away? We had to do a little soul searching to see whether or not we were willing to be known as tantra teachers who stretch the envelope. We chose in favor of fearlessness. We created the Hot Tantra website and the Hot Tantra discussion group to safely take people where they've wanted to go, but been afraid to.

 

 

It seems we have discovered something people want. We are receiving inquires from diverse groups such as swingers, gay men and people who want to bring us to their vacation venue.

 

Tantric Terminology: Qi and Qigong

 

Qi (Chi) Qi is the Chinese word for the flows of subtle energy in the body that move along pathways called meridians or channels. A clear flow of energy through the meridians is the key to radiant health, eroticism, and intimacy. Often misunderstood as a vague mystical concept, or debunked using insufficiently sensitive instruments for measurement, the study of Qi is every bit as developed in China as any Western graduate curriculum with 72,000 different distinctions.

Qigong (or Chi Kung) Literally means "breath work." It is a system of movement, meditation, and breathing that can unblock, align, and purify the body's energy so that the entire being - body, mind, and spirit - can function more harmoniously. In China, Qigong is considered a vital part of the healing process, as important as physical therapy, medication and good diet.

Solo Practice: Microcosmic Orbit

Stand in Wuji on a warm surface or with footwear. (Knees slightly bent, lower back lengthened, tailbone dropped, back of neck elongated). Rock back and forth slightly on the heels and balls of the feet to discover the midpoint where the sole of the foot "bubbles" with a somewhat ticklish energy up towards the genitals. Bring the tongue to the roof of the mouth. Try different pressure harder and softer until the tongue quivers. See if you can feel the tongue quiver and the feet bubbling into the genitals at the same time. 

 

Inhaling, drink the air into the belly. Exhaling, allow the quivering, ticklish energy to come up the spine, over the top of the skull and into the quivering tongue. Repeat the cycle, allowing the energy to build. Do you feel vibration and heat? Done correctly, this will make your palms hot and produce beads of sweat at the small of the back.

 

Partner Play: Eye Gazing

Sit at arm's length from your partner. Allow yourselves to enter a relaxed yet aware state. Gaze into one another's eyes. If you can, gaze into both eyes simultaneously. If you find this too distracting, gaze into your partner's left eye (the seat of the soul). Allow yourselves to move through any giggles and judgmental thoughts into simple being.

 

Notice if your partner's face seems to shift and melt as the social masks drop away. Who is this beautiful creature? Can you see other personalities? Past lives? Allow yourselves to come into full resonance. Eye gazing is a wonderful prelude to lovemaking. 

 

Dear Daka: The Challenges of Polyamory

For now my life has become extremely busy and I (and my partner) have added to that a polyamorous/tantra pursuit... I say pursuit but it feels more like it has pursued me. Coming to terms with what we are really doing and looking for has been difficult as this is new for me/ us, as what I think i want is a more meaningful emotional sexual
experience and wondered if what i have really achieved is a simple 'open sexual relationship' with people i call friends. I have had a friendship that I took to a sexual level where I  introduced tantric sex (as tantra philosophy/yoga was a common thread between us) and that was great until I noticed his sense of attachment that felt
suffocating and I have felt compelled to remove the sexual component of our relationship. We are still working through some personal issues together but I am having a hard time wanting to be intimate with him as I feel he has 'fallen in love' with me in his loneliness... deciphering between love and emotional attachment has been too consuming for me to want to deal with. This wasn't my idea of polyamory... or is it a version of it? I'm just struggling with when it is drama and when it is 2 people
dealing with their own issues together and growing from them. I get 'regret' and tragic 'why talk of sex when you have turned away from me?' comments that turn me off...

Poly Polly 

 

Dear Poly Polly:

Lately I have been sorting out similar things. I like looking at things more simply. Labels can be confusing especially when people misuse them.

My personal experience is that I gravitate towards yum...and I gravitate most towards the yummiest. It is a pull. In any room of people, I go towards the person I feel the most yum around.

Then there is oxytocin addiction. I am starting to get wise to that one. I feel that around the person or persons I am engaging in sex with. Then, when I separate myself from them, I feel a different sort of pull to get back together, but that feeling lets go after several days.

I suppose both of these could be categorized as attachment. By the same token, others are attached to their autonomy. I have found that I feel the most free when I have more than one involvement and one relationship constitutes "emotional ballast" for the other and vice versa. An interesting point of inquiry: If you are only seeing one
person, and they are seeing several, who is attached? The one who spends a lot of time alone, or the one who spends only a little time alone? Just something to look at. There is evidence on both sides.

This all gets intertwined with other stuff that I call the "business" of relationship.  Does a person return phone calls? Do they keep appointments on time? Or is it a situation where there is no business; an eternal courtship? Many of us enjoy the validation of being pursued even as we run from the pursuer.

Sometimes I think polyamory is just a new term used to describe in new terms what we did in the old days. We do what we want. Now we have a term to justify it. Sort of a way to speak that runs counter to the cultural assumptions of monogamous pairing. But basically we are just doing what we want to.

I remember having 3 girlfriends that called each other up to see who got me for the night. I didn't call it polyamory. I was completely responsible, though. What I did notice however is that the currents shifted. I think that is the ultimate lesson. Relationships change. Some of us attempt to impose structures. Some are even successful at imposing structures. Others avoid structures and are most at home in
the flow. I like to think of polyamorous relationships like schools of fish. We swim in parallel, sometimes nearer, sometimes farther.