What is tantra?
Tantra is a spiritual tradition of many thousands of years old from India. The Buddhist version originated there in the 3rd century AD and from the 8th century tantra spread to Tibet and the Far East.
In tantra we work with the subtle energies within the body and the universe in order to achieve spiritual growth and physical health in this way. Yoga, meditation, breathing and concentration techniques are used within tantra to bring about such an evolution.
The word 'tantra' essentially refers to a scripture belonging to esoteric Hindu or Buddhist traditions. It comes from the Sanskrit word 'tantram' from which the meaning "network, matrix, web" can be derived.
In the Western world, tantra is given a personal interpretation in all kinds of ways, making it difficult to know what the authentic teaching actually means.
Tantra as massage
There was no mention of tantra massage in the old writings. The society and people of that time were in a much healthier state than the current (mainly Western) world population. In our society we are affected by much more 'pollution' (electromagnetic radiation, chemicals, heavy metals, ...), stress, ... and many other loads that often take a heavy toll from the body. A massage therefore has a beneficial effect without any doubt as it has a relaxing effect on body and mind in the first place.
In the Somananda Tantra School, Somananda, from his rich experience with tantra and ayurveda, put together an efficient treatment with which far-reaching results can be achieved. Ayurveda is a very holistic, natural and complete healing system with a history of more than 2000 years.
In summary, you can see this tantra massage as a combination of ayurvedic massage and a tantric approach to life.
The massage itself can be considered as a relaxation massage in basic form. However, there is a lot more to it. In a tantra massage you work with prana, the universal energy that is present in and around everything and everyone. Prana is the life force that everyone needs to function on a mental, emotional and physical level. The body consists of 7 main chakras (= energy centers) that are connected to each other via a system of energy channels, called nadis.
By pressing on the countless marmapoints (energy points) that the body contains, this energy can be generated and moved. The goal in tantra and therefore this massage is to 'sublimate' the energy, which means moving it from the 3 lowest to the 4 higher chakras. In this way a higher spiritual level is reached.
Practical
Read more at General info to see how a massage goes in more detail. For women a yoni massage can be offered at the end and for men a lingam massage.
