sartho

How does nudity and appreciation for our bodies fit into spirituality? Our recent trip to Europe reminded us of the historical impact.

Most of us learned about the origin of man and sensuality from Adam and Eve, how they covered themselves with fig leaves from shame and were cast out of the Garden of Eden. That is not a body-positive initiation. 

The Greeks and Romans revered the human form and depicted sexuality and sensuality in their artwork. 

As Christianity reigned strong through the 1400s, religious influence dominated, hiding the human body. The artwork showed Virgin Mary, Jesus, and biblical themes veiled in cloaks and surrounded by gold. 

Then, the Renaissance welcomed the human form as a representation of spirit from above or in nature. Most artists still depicted the separateness of spirituality from the body. It wasn’t until Michelangelo focused on the naked body as real beauty, as divine. 

I had the great pleasure of experiencing Michelangelo’s spectacular sculptures in Florence. I see how his artistry captures the magnificence of how we are meant to feel about all bodies. 

While we may not have the physique of Michelangelo’s David, we all have sensuous curves, sleekness, soft and supple skin, and unique beauty and presence. Through love, divinity is alive within our individual form, life, vitality, and existence. As everything is spirit, we are ultimately perfect.

” The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.”
~ Michelangelo Buonarotti

At the David exhibit, if it were not for the barriers, there would be no holding people back from the urge to caress and enjoy the sensuousness of David. Sculpted in his casual and confident gesture, we can relate to his achievement of taking down Goliath. Don’t we all wish to overcome enormous oppressive difficulties?

Beauty radiates through alignment with intention. 

I wonder if part of David’s magnificence was that Michelangelo was no longer under the rule of the powerful Medici and was free to sculpt what he desired. 

When we taste freedom, our creative force is limitless. 

What is the Goliath in your life that you need to slay? 

What would support you in feeling empowered and free?

How are you embracing your body?

I may not have all the historical facts correct, but I allow my creative expression as I feel inspired. 

Freedom waits not for perfection; it allows inspiration as the ever-evolving act of creation. 

May you celebrate the beautiful creation of you and your divine body. 

PS 

The best part of the trip was that my son, Jared, got to join me in Florence and Venice, Italy, while Thomas was in a workshop in Berlin. Sharing what I love, art and travel, with him was very special. Our favorite times were sunsets on the tops of the bell towers and gelato. 

By Sara

I have a very competitive spirit, coming from an athletic family, and especially trying to keep up with my three brothers. But this weekend, when my dad said I was “the best,” I had mixed feelings. First, I felt a gentle acknowledgment, followed by a wish that we were all better.

How have you told your loved ones that you love them?

My dad, Geno, has been going to a lot of funerals, and to his surprise, he often hears the positive impact he has had on the family’s lives as their neighbor, teacher, coach, or community activist.

Funerals are often the time when we acknowledge those that have passed. Why do we wait until they are gone to tell them what they mean to us?

Last week during one of my restless nights, I started thinking about what I love about my dad.

He has been a leader in his community, not a follower. Especially in the last ten years, he’s boldly taken a stand, been regularly published writing to the editor, and marched for months protesting for “Black Lives Matter.” He demonstrates that any discomfort he feels is worth getting his message out for the greater good.

His tall, thin stature, deep voice, and flair for fashion commands notice and respect. With the help of his daily exercises and stretches, you’d never guess he’s 88.

My dad’s desire to be attractive and manage his image was difficult for me when he wasn’t always kind about my weight or scraggly hair.

A redeeming factor is that I can tell him what upsets me. I appreciate that he is open to hearing from me. He listens, asks questions, apologizes (if appropriate), and is accountable. As a couples therapist, I know we all make mistakes and do things that hurt our loved ones. It’s how they make corrections and respond to confrontations that speaks to their character.

If actions speak louder than words, my dad has supported the underprivileged, racial diversity, fought for equality and humanitarianism.

My dad also tried to provide athletic opportunities for me and the girls in my school when they were limited. During my woodworking shop class, I made a laminated cutting board. It was his dad, my Grandpa, who said, “I didn’t know girls could do that.”

It’s one thing to say girls should have equal rights. It’s another thing to participate in historically traditional “women’s chores,” cooking, cleaning the house, laundry, and parenting. In so many ways, I can see that my dad has been such a support and inspiration.

Thomas woke up hearing my sniffles. “Are you okay?” he asked. “I love my dad so much,” I softly said.

I was excited to tell my dad and was glad we were together over the weekend. When I told him, he was touched. Exclaiming it was almost too much to take in.

When we reflected that we’re not that good at telling each other what we love, he said, “you’re the best.”

I wish we were all better. With Tantra, I have felt more connected to love and more comfortable speaking my feelings.

And lastly, another thing I love about my dad is his humor, but don’t tell him. He is a very punny guy.

 

By Sara Biewen Stout

Thomas and I were a bit giddy with anticipation for what we were calling our 10th Honeymoon, a getaway in the Czech Republic and the beautiful city of Prague.

Our tantalizing excitement died quickly when on the first day, Thomas got food poisoning and became more intimate with the porcelain bowl than with me. I ventured to art museums and toured the historical sites on my own. That is when I was awake and upright instead of horizontal and goofy-headed from jet lag.

After the food poisoning and sleepiness subsided, we individually began wrestling with old personal demons. We felt more like we were in service as emotional support animals than intimates. There is an art to standing beside our loved one when they are in pain and trying not to fix it. “I love you, and can you get over this so we can get on with getting it on?

Just as our desire for each other began to sync, our health sunk. Lots of aches, fatigue, congestion, coughing, and sweats. The diagnosis came as “Covid.” We had no interest in touch even though we were close together 24/7.

We isolated ourselves in a farmhouse outside of Prague. The symptoms were similar to mild flu, so we tried to get outside for fresh air when we had the energy. The colorful spring blossoms brightened our day.

We laughed about trying to maintain some minimal level of attraction and not get tired of too much of each other. It’s funny that when we’re camping, grisly facial hair growth and manly smells from an active day can be a turn-on for me. Reduced hygiene during sickness, not so much. I’m sure I was no Goddess of Delight.

My business coach told me this week that the time that you need positive thinking the most is running a business. I would argue that it is a long-term relationship. Focusing on the positive, what you love about your partner, is tested over and over.

Even if we were hot for each other, what is it about European beds that even when you’re given a luxurious king-sized bed, they give you two single duvet/comforters? Are they trying to maintain some degree of separation?

We can’t dive underneath the sheets together. First of all, there is no top sheet. And second, we have to manage our movements to not create a gap and have our knee, ass, or some other body part poke out and get cold.


At least we aren’t accusing each other of hogging all the covers. It becomes a game of cooperation with both of us trying to maintain enough overlap to stay warm and not too much to have two thick layers on us and overheat.

The silver lining that shone through during this non-erotic getaway was moments of emotional vulnerability. We so appreciated how each of us listened when the other was hurting. We paused to excavate our conversations during points of tension. I’m not sure that we cleared any deep abscess, but the attention we shared during the exploration was healing.

Ironically, even though we didn’t have our typical romantic time away, something was attractive and bonding about getting through this together.

Thank you beloved, for a not-so-sexy, loving time together!

From Sara

When I was 12 years old, I was innocently hanging out with my friends at school when I was told my Grandpa had suddenly died. I was devastated.

His was the first death I remember experiencing. Since I am the same age as he was when he died, I can’t help but consider how we are similar and yet different.

This wasn’t his first heart attack; he struggled with his weight had high blood pressure, and I remember my Grandmother getting mad with him for cheating on his low-sodium diet. Her frequent meals of fried chicken, potatoes and gravy, and her famous and mysteriously emptying cookie jar probably didn’t help.

I spent at least a week with Grandma and Grandpa every summer. It was a highlight to have time alone with them.

During the day when Grandpa was at work, I would help Grandma garden, pulling weeds, shucking peas, picking raspberries, and spitting watermelon seeds.

Every evening, I’d kiss my grandpa g-night, and grandma tucked me into bed in the extra room above the living room. I could hear the TV below play Lawrence Welk, and I’d receive my nightly torture from the smell of fresh popcorn wafting up through the vent.

The differences between Grandpa and me likely began very early in life. Grandpa was four when his father died. As the only male in the house, he started providing for his household early with his mom and grandma. He didn’t earn a high school education and never settled into a career, contributing to lifelong financial instability.

I was blessed to have both of my parents, who continue to be a big part of my life. They achieved Master’s degrees that pulled them out of family poverty over time.

My Grandpa’s greatest dream was to own a home, but he never did. Thomas and I happily paid off our mortgage last spring.

I didn’t understand why Grandpa would get so upset with me when I didn’t care for my shoes. He always wanted me to use a shoehorn for my nice Sunday shoes. It wasn’t until years later that I realized that even buying shoes for him was extravagant. He wore size 13, and I’m sure the few pairs of brown shoes he owned were costly.

If you knew my Grandpa, you’d know he loved to fish. Not once-in-a-while kinda fish but every vacation and spare moment kinda fish.

Many hours we’d sit in the boat, on the dock, or by the dam, and I was convinced his fishing magic would rub off on me. More often, it resulted in me just drowning worms. 🎣 I don’t know if he was a good fisherman, a lucky fisherman, or it was only in my eyes that I imagined him that way.

Maybe we were alike by the quietness of our day together.

There were more ways we were different.

My Grandpa didn’t go to yoga class, meditate, or do a loving Tantra practice with Grandma. “Exercise” was a word that didn’t cross his lips. And I never saw him join Grandma as she tried to keep up with Jack LaLanne.

He’d sit drinking his morning coffee, smoking his cigarettes, reading the newspaper, and complain about the news.

My mom and her sisters would say complaining was one of his pastimes. Maybe, that’s where my mom got her mantra, “Life is hard.” I still struggle with falling into that oppressive mindset instead of seeing the amazing life I’ve been given. More than ever, I can now see the magnificence of this world. I wonder if he ever noticed?

On March 10th, 1972, he joined his buddies on a Minnesota lake ice fishing, and he was happy. With the cold fresh air and the anticipation of what he could catch, he fell to the ice with his last words, “heart attack.” Grandpa died doing what he loved. I hope I am like him in that way.

For both of us, family is important. We love to laugh, be outdoors, and have big feet.

Grandpa brought me a lot of joy. I can still see his big smile, feel his comforting embrace, and I eat popcorn 🍿 most nights.

By Sara B

Live in a state of curiosity and courageousness, be open to inquiring.

These are inspirations from one of our favorite books, The Way of Liberation by Adyashanti. 

If we open our awareness to what IS, instead of what we wish it was or what we want to make it, we live in a state of completeness. There is no need, no longing for something different. A sense of fullness satisfies our hunger in each moment.  

Through opening to inquiry, we expand our sensory input and allow the richness of life to flow in. 

Recall the innocence and curiosity of childhood. You may have been mesmerized by a bug or playing in a mud puddle. The rest of the world disappears. Nothing else matters. There is no right and wrong, no success or failure.

Free yourself to find comfort in not knowing. “I don’t know.”

Our expectations confine us on a path of fulfillment or disappointment. And do we ever reach complete satisfaction?

Live in a state of curiosity without judgment, without qualifying bad or good.

If your mind hijacks your experiences, invite inquiry within oneself. Come back to listening through expansiveness instead of hyper-focusing on details. 

Expand your field of awareness as if you are listening for the origin of the most precious sounds. But beyond hearing, include all of your senses – and being. Here you will find openness. And fullness in your expansiveness.

Take in awe of the whole night sky.

To be happy is to live as the unknown. Adyashanti

 

Photo by Fermin Rodriguez Penelas

My life, as I have known it, is unravelling, is shifting and transforming at lightning speed. This past month a confluence of circumstances has collided and had me spinning in a new direction. To where?

For 21 years, I felt stuck in a job that, while it fulfilled my obsessive need for security, it stifled my full expression and passion. For years I couldn’t figure out how to let go of the corporate trap of income and medical insurance.

This job has also limited my travel and Tantra studies. Even though I was a magician, arranging chunks of time away, it became increasingly harder to meet the ridiculous productivity and performance standards, and I cared too much. It sucked the creativity and ability to thrive from my bones.

September was a whirlwind. First, an expansive trip studying and teaching SkyDancing Tantra in France and Belgium. It was such an honor to teach alongside Margot Anand, the founder of SkyDancing Tantra.

Thomas and I celebrated our 30th anniversary and 10 years since we started studying Tantra.

We were home for four days before we jumped back on the plane to achieve my dream of teaching, what I consider, one of the most life-changing experiences available. Cycle 1 of the Love and Ecstasy Training cracked me open ten years ago. And since then, an excitement awoke within me that is hard to contain.

Teaching this course was delayed 1 1/2 years due to Covid, so we were more than ready to gather in this magnificent energy and community of people who wished to evolve through this healing journey.

At the end of the week, during the final sharing circle, Thomas was in tears listening to all the beautiful stories of openings people experienced. Mika, my co-leader, and I were thrilled teaching in a forum that nurtured face-to-face, heart-to-heart, loving connection.

I knew my life was about to shift again.

After great consternation about how to put the time, money, and energy into promoting our Love Passionately online Coaching business three days before the LET course started, I made a brave choice to invest significantly in this dream. I wasn’t sure how it would fit together, but I knew I was more worried it would not ever happen.

The next day, I unexpectedly received notice that because of Covid, I would no longer be working for that organization that had provided comfort with security and had also held me back. My security was unravelling.

I felt both relieved and in shock. I had been asking for the Universe to help me decide about this job and manifest my dreams, so here it was, I received a kick in the ass and an open door simultaneously.

My friend, Vicki, said, “Sara, You’re letting go of the side of the pool, aren’t you?” Yes, I am! Although it feels more like I let go of a pier as I set sail, freely out to sea.

I still have my private practice and had to decide not to load up that schedule. It would be too easy to continue the same pattern by leaving one job and exchanging for a similar over-commitment, holding on to security in exchange for fulfillment.

My life has revolved around this intense schedule for so many years; what will it be like to no longer have to say, I can’t because I have to go to work? My schedule is unravelling.

I had dreamed of this freedom for years, and it’s truly hard to believe it’s here. I feel excited and nervous, wondering how it will play out?

Can I trust the universe and all the signs that this is my true path?

During my manifestation meditation practice this week, instead of guiding the process with my scripted steps, I let my chakras and body lead. It was astonishing to witness my body unravelling and unwinding as it twisted and contorted, stretching and releasing years of tension. I was in awe, watching how my body knows how to heal itself when I give it space. 

My life is unravelling from the ties that bind it. As I handed my boss my computer and badge, I was surprised that the anxiety that I had imagined would be there all these years was completely absent. I feel so high with the excitement of what is possible; I am buzzing!

Unravelling must occur before we can shape the bow we desire.

Thomas and I launched our first couples coaching program and love seeing the smiles and yumminess as these couples discover new ways of being together.

What will come from this long-overdue freedom?

~ By Sara

Have you celebrated love lately?

Maybe the love in your life is a pet, friend, or family member. That’s awesome you feel that connection with someone in your life. If you are blessed to have a romantic partner, millions of people long for what you have, and this blog is especially for you. We all want someone special to talk to, touch, give love, and receive love. When have you taken a moment to pause and acknowledge the preciousness of this gift?

You are blessed to experience this rare and glorious feeling. You hold the most sought after jewel,💎 the holy grail, and the fountain of youth.

People in relationships most often live longer, feel more satisfied, and are happier.

In what ways do you celebrate or take your love for granted?

Do you remember what you felt like before you found your love?

What was it like for you to seek love? Did you enjoy the chase? Was dating titillating? Did you find your time alone as easy, or did you struggle with loneliness? Some people love playing the field, get excited by the new relationship energy, and become quickly bored with routine.

For me, the dating scene was excruciatingly painful, and I felt totally inadequate. I cringe, recalling many desperate moments. What a relief I felt when I found who I thought was my perfect partner. Then, a month before the wedding, our engagement blew up. I found myself single again. Ugh!

After some time of grief and fighting off thoughts of giving up this relationship shit, I remember thinking, I don’t want to start all over dating with social niceties and sorting through people that were not a good fit. Maybe that’s why the universe brought Thomas back into my life, and the friendship that had begun 5 years earlier was quickly reestablished without that awkward dating phase. It took a while to move out of the friend-zone and appreciate how he meets me.

I can’t imagine not having someone to talk to every night or planning my weekends and vacations alone. I hold great respect for singles looking for their love partner and sadness for those in a loveless marriage.

Alone time is sweeter, with the taste of love still on one’s lips.

Disliking being single has been a motivator to work on our long-term commitment. Margot Anand, the Grandmother of Tantra, acknowledged that Thomas and I know a depth in our relationship that she has not experienced. There are many sexual adventures that Margot has indulged in that are foreign to us. And yet, we wouldn’t trade it.

What does deep love feel like?

Love is the womb that nurtures your heart ❤️

Love is the greatest treasure and the greatest mystery. We write the most songs about love, and it’s the primary subject for movies, poetry, and books. Wars are fought for love. Families are established or torn apart for love. About $20 billion is spent each Valentine’s Day in the USA.

Love is the greatest desire and drive. Yet, when you have it, how much time do you spend feeling love. If you felt a hint that the one you loved didn’t return your affections, you’d likely feel devastated and do anything you can to win back their love.

I’ve seen countless times a spouse decides to make heroic changes that were otherwise immovable until the threat of losing their love. How many times they’d say, “I’ll do anything for you,” but they wouldn’t take out the garbage, change their money habits or stop the affair until their relationship is at risk.

There is a rich quality and fullness of love that is readily available by BEING in love. Allow your body to absorb the fullness and sweetness of love. BE with and savor the feeling as you touch, see the twinkle in the eye, smell the pleasantness of love. And remarkably, speak of the deliciousness of your love! We would have fewer unhappy relationships if we spent more time nurturing our loved one.

Even if your love is for a friend, a special place, or something you love to do, cultivate appreciation and gratitude. With Tantra, even a sip can be savored for its preciousness. Or we may choose to drive into love and immerse ourselves completely.

I’ve been trying to acknowledge my beloved more often. And when Thomas is loving me up, I try to respond in kind even when it’s not always the most convenient time or my love language. The more we celebrate love, the more love there is to enjoy.

It’s an ongoing exploration. As our mentor, Steve Carter, would say, “How much more can you love?”

I was surprised; I didn’t expect a gift so early and so big.

My motivation for Christmas shopping has been low. In the last couple of years, we have opted for experiences rather than a lot of gifts, stuff we don’t need.

It’s been some of our favorite times as a family – in a cabin on the north shore, games, puzzles, making ornaments, ice skating, an escape room, X-C skiing, theatre, and dance performance, and family movies.

Since we cannot get together this year, we won’t be sharing a family experience.

This year has been eye-opening regarding how little we need to get by—food, toiletries, essential household items, including, of course, toilet paper. Even my wardrobe is simple since working from home. Nothing new and stylish, I prioritize comfort. Instead of “dress to impress,” it’s dress for coziness.

What more do I want and need?

It was a warm December night, I had been working at the computer all day, so I stepped outside. The freshness of the air made everything more vivid. Remnants of the summer garden were silhouetted in the moonlight. I love my yard and our house that we have crafted to make our own.
Our eldest son was in utero when we moved in. He just bought his own home 🏠 at the same time we are paying off ours. It’s exciting to see our boys exploring life, healthy, and seemingly less burdened by growing up than I did.

Taking stock of my life, I surprisingly thought, I have everything I want.

Wow, that’s a bold statement! I have everything I want! Besides our home, health, my family and husband is easy to love; I have been gifted with incredible career opportunities, especially lately with the SkyDancing Tantra Institute Directorship. We get to live our values of spreading love and choose many ways to care for the environment.

Really, I have everything I want? That can’t be true! I could feel my mind beginning to search for exceptions to “everything.” I spend a lot of time WANTING. Wanting a more organized house, wanting more time to do my writing, art, hang with my kids and friends, wanting the weeds out of my garden, wanting to travel, wanting the dog stains out of the carpet, and wanting a stress-free life.

But the clarity and completeness I felt didn’t account for those. There can always be MORE, BIGGER, NEWER, and BETTER. This moment was free from forward-thinking, to-do lists, incompleteness, and instead, I felt a lightness and satisfaction that I have actualized my dreams. My sense of fulfillment and recognition felt pure.

Such a gift to receive – realizing I have everything I want! And every time I try to recapture that moment, I laugh at myself; here I am, WANTING to feel it again, and wanting to share it with everyone! Even though we won’t be together for the holidays in the traditional way, nothing will ever take away what we have.

Wishing you peace these Holidays!
Love, Sara ~ and Thomas

 

(photo by Tim Mossholder, unsplash)

SkyDancing Tantra

Margot Anand awoke many lovers in Minnesota over St Patrick’s Weekend, 2017 with her SkyDancing Tantra teaching. It was fabulous to see the passion in Minnesota come alive.
Over 70 people were regaled with tales of her adventures, gifted with decades of worldly wisdom, gained an appreciation for the miracle of their bodies capacity for pleasure, learned how to create sacred space in our lives so we can enjoy the richness of our sacred sexuality and most importantly received loving guidance to eradicate sexual shame by developing their own inner lover.
This video was taken before Margot Anand’s weekend in Minneapolis.

Margot Anand in Minneapolis

Love Passionately Tantra

Got this from a colleague of mine and it’s so apropos of what I work with in my sessions with people that I thought it would be good to repost here.

Many boundary classes that we take in this new world of consent operate from top down (mind down to the body).

I am a “yes” for this and a “no” for that… we are negotiating with ideas of what would eventually feel good or bad as we imagine it in the future. This is awesome. It’s an important step forward from where we have been.

Yet, usually what ends up coming in is that those ideas are based upon a traumatic projection on the future that we want to avoid, and keep avoiding.

It ends up becoming a way to control the potential future from my terrible past. Here, there isn’t much room for spontaneity, especially when we feel controlled. 


What we are working with in Embodied Intimacy are Embodied Boundaries — boundaries from the bottom up (from the body up to the mind).

Boundaries are dynamic, they represent waves coming and going, sometimes I have a yes for this, then a hell yes for that and a hell no there.

We are alive, and that aliveness is the path to intimacy.

We are in a constant relationship with everything. Relating is everything. Wherever you are you are relating.

So what we really want to emphasize then is that when you are grounded, when you have a spine, you are centered, you can apply defensive boundaries or somatic resources, then this animal is like… ok, I got you, I have in-tell-igence, I can tell inside and begin to listen and trust my yes and my no. 


When we add this dimension of dynamic boundaries to relating, it becomes really fun. Then we make mistakes but they are not violations to be punished for, it’s me trying to figure out how to best love you.

We are constantly trying to figure out how best to love one another by updating the old programs of the past with the more alive raw intelligence of the present moment.

Because the truth is that I don’t know how to love you. And this “I” that I’m talking about is the program that was created in the past.

Would you actually like me to know how to love you? Would you like me to treat you like an object? Would you like to be objectified by my traumatic history and be treated accordingly? How fun is that?

We start in truth. 


When we are scared and hooked on the story, we keep projecting it… it has our teeth in its flesh. In some cases we cannot do anything but to just feel ourselves back into our bodies to create room for our vulnerabilities.

We can create an environment that has the power to heal through love — because when I take off my mask, I’m taking the mask off you too. Its instant, your human heart responds.

Just like when you see a wounded animal on the side of the street –– how can I hold you and help you heal that wing? I really want to see you fly, because when you fly its like heaven, happiness comes when with generous giving, giving everything you got, its not taking its just the abundance of the human heart.

Come, take off your mask with us.

Love,
Buster (https://www.embodiedintimacy.com/)