DARLINGHURST  |  SURRY HILLS  |  POTTS POINT

The chakras are the key to physical health, emotional stability and mental clarity. The chakras are vortexes of moving energy, which then stimulate various endocrine organs in the body to secrete hormones into the blood system. The effects of hormones control our body. They also affect our state of mind. When we begin the journey into our Chakras we open the way for healing, psychological development and spiritual growth.

As we progress upward through the energy centers, we learn more about who we are, and the ideas and attitudes that form our lives. The therapist, is talking through the chakras with the recipient, educating them in all the energy centers. This system of healing is ancient. It was mentioned in Vedic records, the Egyptians perfected it through aromatherapy and color healing, the early Jews codified their understanding of these principles in the mystical Kabbalah and the Islamic Sufi’s embraced the Energy as a connection with God. Today, in our highly charged world, we are in urgent need of understanding this ancient knowledge. The bodywork itself involves strong, deep tissue strokes over the chakra areas, and gliding the energy from one part of the body to the other, asking the recipient to visualize the energy moving.

Step two of the sessions involve lengthy discussions in Pranyama. The Sanskrit word for Prana means life force. Pranyama (the act of taking in Prana) teaches that during the retention portion of the breath cycle, one should consciously retain the Prana, and then release the carbon dioxide (and other gases) from the lungs during exhalation, storing the Prana in the third Chakra. Pranyama techniques used are the Circle Breath, Trapezoidal Breath, Kundalini Breath, Pranavayu Rasa, Prana Sukha and the solar Luna Breath. There is a convergence and synchronization of breath; life force merging into a vortex, physical and subtle energy exchange is taking place. The Bhagavad Gita, Yogavasistha (ii. 78.46.) has explained: “When through continued practice of Pranyama the vibrations of breath are silenced, that causes the mind, too, to become completely silent. That is the state of Nirvana.Recipients walk away with fundamental knowledge of the different types of breaths, which will allow them to find the central pathway between mind and body. Tantric breath is also a purification breath and with every breath, recipients feel cleansed and more energized as this purification meets with the heart.

The level 3 acquires all the knowledge gained in the first two levels and puts all these techniques into practice into the third level. In level 3, the recipients learn how to stimulate the life force (Shakti) and combine it with cosmic knowledge (Shiva); the process of this awakening is accelerated throughTantra and is reflected in the image of the Kundalini. Kundalini is depicted as a coiled serpent that lies dormant at the base of the spine. Step Three  helps awaken the energy, which then rises along the spinal column, activating all the other Chakras on the way up. More specifically, however, it can be said that each chakra, beginning at the base of the spine and proceeding upwards to the head, opens for us a separate and progressively higher “level of consciousness” (Sivananda Radha, 1990: 49).4 This is done through putting both level 1 and level 2 together into the level 3. Strong movements, body contact and deep breathing techniques assist in activating all the seven Chakra centers, which allows the client and the practitioner to enter into Yab Yum position.The Tibetan Buddhist term Yab Yum represents father-mother union - symbolizing the uniting of wisdom and compassion.

The practice of Tantra is founded upon the mysteries of the male to female union of energies. Samadhi, otherwise known as enlightenment, is the personal consciousness of the union between Shiva and Shakti. The movements and techniques that come through  Tantra  provides the individual an opportunity to experience this union and this method reaches toward this awareness. The all too familiar relationship between Tantra and sexual service and the taboo of cult-style Tantra sex, is something that the National Institute of Tantra is attempting to re-educate the public about.

Tantra  can be done without a “happy ending” and the newly formulated program is just that. Tantra teaches us to become familiar with our spiritual nature, and when we do so, our boundaries expand. We enter into new domains of awareness. We become empowered, more fulfilled, and embrace our true nature as feminine and masculine. A great way to learn about Tantra is through the institute of tantra, as it is nurturing, educational and therapeutic.