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Healing Into Sexual Wholeness - The Tantric Approach
by Michael Pooley
Americans'
attitude about sex represents the ultimate in contradiction. On one
hand, we think about sex all the time, we crave intimacy, are fascinated
by the erotic, and even equate a "healthy" sex life with
personal happiness and fulfillment. On the other hand, we live in
an "anti-ecstatic" culture, in which puritanical values
and patriarchal ideals repress and distort our perceptions of sexuality
and ecstasy.
As
a result, many of us experience frustration, pain, confusion, even
anger, in our sex lives. We armor ourselves against these intense
emotions and feelings. And we develop resistances and negative attitudes
or patterns that block our ability to experience pleasure and joy.
From
a Tantric perspective, when we get stuck in, numbed by, or avoid our
fears and wounds, we are missing out on the opportunity to open to
the aliveness and ecstasy of the moment. In fact, stress-related conditions,
depression, and dis-ease have their roots in being cut off from the
free flow of our ecstatic life-force. Tantra holds that life-force
energy, also experienced as sexual energy, is at the root of all life.
And all living things are a result of the coming together, union,
and transformation of this energy
Tantra
teaches us that when the body is relaxed, the heart is open to trust,
and the mind is peaceful, our awareness expands naturally and effortlessly
to ecstasy – the deepest state of intimacy with oneself. Reclaiming
our natural ecstasy – that steady stream of joyful aliveness
that connects us to our source – can heal sexual wounds, re-connect
sexual energy with heart energy, and ultimately transform carnal lust
into divine bliss.
In
Tantra, we celebrate the body as the temple of our spirit. Physical
pleasure is transformed into the delight of the heart and ecstasy
of spirit. When we approach sexuality as a form of meditation, we
practice reverence for life itself. In fact, the Sanskrit word for
sex is "maithuna" which is translated as "the state
where two become one, where duality dissolves into non-dual awareness."
Ultimately,
the Tantric approach is to embrace – not pathologize – all
life experiences, because every moment, whether pleasant or unpleasant,
is an opportunity to enhance self awareness and expand our ecstatic
potential. Tantra offers a powerful path for integrating every aspect
of ourselves, including those parts that are wounded, hidden, or repressed.
Through the practices of Tantra, all of our energies, subtle and powerful,
are harnessed to transform our ordinary, limited sense of self into
a fully awakened, conscious being of unlimited compassion and insight.
By
embracing and honoring our past wounds, and bringing awareness, compassion,
and healing into the present, we can transform stuck or repressed
energy into our integrated wholeness. We can then carry this awakened
state of being into the world to bring life and spirit into our work,
our creativity, our parenting, and the healing of our planet.
Namaste.
And be well!
