Imagine yourself suspended in space, wrapped in a cocoon of silence. A subtle vibration exhilarates every cell in your body – and everything around you also vibrates at that same exhilarating frequency. Your senses are sharp and expanded. You feel as though you are seeing with a thousand eyes. Hearing with a thousand ears. The air you breathe feels alive, almost fluid, most certainly intelligent, creating an acoustically perfect medium so that the even faintest of sounds are clear as crystal. You are alone and a part of everything at once. You are in ecstasy.
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By Dawn Cartwright
If we were to imagine how Tantra feels, this would be what we’d envision. We search for this feeling in everything we do. When we meet a lover. When we go on holiday. When we choose a home. It’s a feeling that is familiar to us, a feeling that tells us we’re in the right place, with the right person, at the right time. There is a pervasiveness to this feeling so that it fills every part of who we are, in fact, it’s much more than a feeling – it’s a state of being. The very core of who we are. The journey we take, each one of us, whether we choose to call it a spiritual one or not, is a journey toward this state of being. There are many paths and ways to find it; Tantra is one. The journey toward ecstasy often appears to have a beginning, yet rarely has an end – a prospect we may find inspiring, overwhelming, or both. Let’s look at the beginning of the journey, deep into the middle to discover how Tantra feels.
Euphoric – The First Feeling
There are many ways to explore Tantra, from complex yantras, mantras and rituals to breath work, massage and intimacy practices. You may undertake these explorations solo, with a partner, or a friend, yet no matter how, when, where or with whom you take the first step, you are likely to discover that Tantra feels euphoric, alive and confident, joyful. Tantra is, in its most fundamental form, an invitation to be completely free. The yantras, mantras and rituals will ask that you sit for hours with a single focus,
unlocking hidden places in your body and psyche, places where you’ve left parts of yourself behind. The intimacy practices, the breath work and massage will teach you how to be truly intimate with another so you can finally be truly intimate with yourself. When you sit for the first time, alone or with someone else and ease yourself beyond the limitations and criticisms you’ve held for so long, you’ll discover the freedom of being yourself. An experience that is truly euphoric.
Challenging – Overcoming Barriers
Soon after the euphoria, it’s not unusual to find that Tantra feels challenging. Just as the commitment to exercise and fitness quickly reminds us how much work there is to be done, the road to ecstasy is not without its challenges. You may find yourself distracted by endless random thoughts while practicing a Tantra meditation, or suddenly shy while eye-gazing with a partner during a Tantra workshop. If you remind yourself these very experiences are actually highlighting the progress you are making, they’ll come as welcome challenges, rather than barriers. To grow into a greater experience of ourselves it’s necessary to release what’s in the way. Challenge, when approached this way, begins to feel exciting.
Radiant – New Body, New Mind
As challenges are met and barriers dissolve, muscular tension you didn’t realise you were carrying begins to melt away. At this stage, Tantra feels radiant. Tension held in the body represents thoughts and beliefs that are not our own. These thoughts and beliefs are often very old, sometimes held over from childhood. As our body becomes more subtle and open, our thoughts change and vice versa. The energy and intimacy practices of Tantra support this opening, creating a new body and mind. When this occurs, life energy – Kundalini energy – begins to flow more freely. It is widely known that the yantra, mantra and ritual Tantra practices awaken Kundalini energy by removing obstacles that block the primordial energy flow in the body. The breath work, massage and intimacy practices amplify this same energy whenever we share intimate space with another. The energy present in our sexuality, when allowed to flow freely, is the source of our radiance.
Devotional – That Sense of Belonging
When our energy is embraced with integrity, respect and honour, it naturally expands to fill the body, opening the heart and Tantra feels devotional. The meaning of the word devotion is “to belong”. Here, in fact, in all the stages above, we have the opportunity, if we are willing, to feel that transcendent feeling of connection that is – ecstasy – the full acceptance and celebration of who we truly are.
Dawn Cartwright is a Tantric visionary, sacred writer, world traveler, and innovator in bioenergetic Tantra fusion. dawncartwright.com.
Dawn Cartwright
Dawn Cartwright is a Tantric visionary, sacred writer and innovator in bio-energetic Tantra fusion.