Energy

Margot Anand, the developer of SkyDancing Tantra writes:

“Tantra, once the cherished practice of Asian nobility, has often been called “The Yoga of Love”. Like other forms of yoga, the practice of Tantra offers peace of mind while it both relaxes and energizes the body. Tantra enables one to overcome feelings of separation and create a sense of union. Tantra relaxes the body, opens the heart and brings the mind into clear focus.  When this integration has taken place, you are ready for a new sexual experience in which physical pleasure becomes a delight of the heart and an ecstasy of the spirit. When practiced with a partner, Tantra contributes to healthy, loving relationships.

SkyDancing is the ancient metaphor for the ability to achieve ecstatic states. SkyDancing Tantra is the ability to integrate these ecstatic states into your sexuality, so that love can be experienced as a flow, a joyful celebration, a healing meditation. SkyDancing Tantra presents the Tantric paradigm through methods accessible to the Western culture and lifestyle. Margot Anand has integrated the ancient spirit of Tantra with the most recent discoveries in clinical sexology, as well as the therapeutic methods of humanistic and transpersonal psychology. Her teachings are powerful, healing and effective.

SkyDancing methods are inspired by ancient traditions of holistic sexuality: Tantric, Taoist, American Indian, among others. Margot’s teaching style distills these traditions into workshops and training more accessible to today’s generation. It is a blending of modern techniques of Bioenergetics, NLP, visualization and effective communication skills with sacred ritual, sexual magic, massage, meditation and other unique ways of working from the heart.

The path of High Sex, developed by Margot Anand, helps your body to be free of tensions, your heart to be trusting and open and your mind to develop such psychic skills as visualization, imagination and meditation which can enhance sexual loving.”

You can explore more about Margot Anand at: http://www.margotanand.com/

Imagine walking down the street and hearing laughter and hollering coming from around the corner.  You assume it is a group of kids playing.  When you turn the corner you see adults, some of whom are blindfolded and being led around by other adults.  Balls are flying through the air as the blindfolded people are trying to tag other blindfolded people.  In the midst of it all you see that these people are clearly having fun.

For years parents have been told about the importance of play for their children, but what about the importance of play for grown-ups? The National Institute for Play believes that play can dramatically transform our personal health, our relationships, the education we provide our children and the capacity of our corporations to innovate.

Perhaps you have heard the saying, ‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.’  There is probably more truth to the saying than most realize.  Research indicates that without play it is hard to give your best at work or at home.

What do you do on a regular basis for fun?  When was the last time you went down a slide, played hide and go seek or a good game of waffle ball?  Many adults have the mindset that they are too old to play.  There is actually strong evidence that this could not be further from the truth.  Play may be the very thing that keeps you young and healthier. In fact, studies show that a life lived without play is at increased risk for stress related diseases, mental health issues, addiction and interpersonal violence.

According to the National Institute, play is the gateway to vitality.  By its nature it is uniquely and intrinsically rewarding. It generates optimism, seeks out novelty, makes perseverance fun, leads to mastery, gives the immune system a bounce, fosters empathy and promotes a sense of belonging and community. Each of these play by-products are indices of personal health, and their shortage predicts impending health problems and personal fragility.

Play also enhances relationships.  The National Institute for Play cites studies that indicate that play refreshes a long-term adult-adult relationship.  Some of the hallmarks of its refreshing, oxygenating action are: humor, the enjoyment of novelty, the capacity to share a lighthearted sense of the world’s ironies, the enjoyment of mutual storytelling, and the capacity to openly divulge imagination and fantasies.

Playful communications and interactions, when nourished, produce a climate for easy connection and deepening, more rewarding relationship – true intimacy.  Who wouldn’t want this in a relationship?

Believe it or not, the adults who were seen playing blindfolded were actually working.  This playfulness was part of a work activity.  When finished, almost without exception, each person commented on how good it felt to play and how energized they felt.  When they sat down to actually work on a project, many commented that they could feel the high level of energy in the room.

Just as children need play to help them de-stress, adults need play to help them be at their best when it comes to career, parenting, and marriage.  Instead of looking at play as a waste of precious time, consider it a great investment in your wellbeing.

Article originally posted at: http://firstthings.org/the-importance-of-play-for-adults

I often like what Gil writes and this time, what he says about sexual energy really resonated with me. I’m not sure if he’s studied Tantra or not but he’s definitely got the Tantric perspective!

“What is sexual energy? One idea: It is simply the energy and movement of life, expressing through us at a certain frequency. It can be felt anywhere in the body, the same way you can feel rage or joy throughout your whole body. It is not about the “sexual organs” necessarily, because we can feel completely “unsexy” there at times as well, and you can be completely naked without expressing, feeling, or entering into the movement of sexual “charge.” Further, permitting that frequency to express within yourself can simply indicate a willingness to feel your life energy in its dynamic range at any given moment, without it simultaneously constituting an invitation to anyone else for whom it simultaneously triggers those feelings. The meanings that we ascribe to sexual charge in ourselves and others are exactly that: assignments of meaning, as opposed to truths in stone. If we allow ourselves to lighten up a bit around the meanings, and be a little less sure of them, we may expand our dynamic range of sensation within ourselves, and enjoy more of life’s movement as a result.”

by Gil Hedley