Embodied Tantra for Psychologists, Therapists, Sex Therapists and Relationship Counselors

full-body-orgasms

Embodied Tantra for Psychologists, Therapists, Sex Therapists and Relationship Counselors

February 15-16, 2020
Seattle, WA
Early Bird & CIIP cost $350
First 15 students to sign up before Jan 1 (with valid ID): $200
After Jan 1: $490

Register HERE

As a tradition of embodied sprituality, tantra includes teachings to improve health, connection, and intimacy of individuals and relationships. It also includesa wealth of sensual and sexual practices with both the practical benefit of deeper connection between partners and the potential of spiritual awakening, also known as liberation.

This program is designed to give psychologists, therapists, sex therapists, and relationship counselors sufficient grounding in the fundamentals of tantric philosophy and practice. These tools will be accessible for individuals, couples and those in other relationship models, and include a broad spectrum of physical, sexual, energetic, emotional, mental and spiritually inclined practices. This course is not a preparation for teaching tantra as a full spiritual practice.

This course is intended for therapists, counselors and healers, offering both conceptual understanding and embodied practices that professionals can teach their clients and patients. You will leave this workshop with at least a handful of tools that can immediately be offered to support the health of your individual and relational clients. This course assumes you already have the professional understanding of power dynamics, consent and healthy communication skills.

Sex on the Chakras

sex on the chakras

Ever noticed how you’re completely compatible with some people in bed?

But not at all with others?

Ever wondered why??

Sex on the Chakras offers insight as to why and how this is, and how to connect better with yourself and your partner’s sexual preferences. Using the wisdom and science of Sacred Sexuality, you’ll leave this workshop a more empowered lover with new skills to tap into and channel your innate desires and sexual energy.

All are welcome in this 3.5 hour workshop, which will include theory and practice around:

– Experiencing the full range of human sexuality – from the animalistic wild side, to the sensualist, to the pure cosmic lover
– Understanding and awakening your partner’s sexual style
– Knowing what you want and how to ask for it
– Strategies for how to last longer in bed
– Awakening new, exciting parts of yourself and your sexuality
– Bringing spirituality into the bedroom
– Empowering your life through awakened sex and lovemaking

After this engaging and playful workshop, you’ll leave with a deeper understanding of yourself, what you desire and how to expand your sexual comfort zone. Please note: There is NO genital or explicit sexual touch in this workshop.

Cost: $40 in advance, $50 at the door

Please, register at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4094656

Scholarships and Assistantships welcome. Please inquire at [email protected].

Cultivating Presence in Relationships

cultivating presence in relationship

Ever wished you could be more attentive, present and focused in your relationship? Tantra teaches us not just why this is important, but how to do it. Come to this 3-hour experiential workshop and learn how to cultivate presence in your relationships.

Cultivating presence can radically shift everything in our lives. It creates a fundamental gap between the stories our mind is constantly feeding us and what’s unfolding in front of us in the moment.

While this is beneficial throughout our lives, it is paramount in relationships. When we show up present with our partner, it allows us to be in the moment and to free ourselves from expectations, comparisons and fears.

We develop the skills to tune in with more sensitivity to what our partner is saying, feeling and subtly expressing. It also empowers us to honestly communicate with compassion and love and to discover and share our hidden desires.

In this 3-hour workshop we’ll explore the following topics both in theory and practice:

– quieting the mind & cultivating a witnessing attitude
– being open & available to your partner
– picking up on subtle cues, body language, energy and unspoken desires
– uncovering sacredness in every intimate connection
– opening your heart to the moment as it is
– transforming desire into reverence
– experiencing how presence leads to surrender

Open to everyone! Your diversity is welcome. Please note there is no nudity or sexual touch in this workshop. Contact Grace if you’re not sure if this workshop is for you. Come with an open heart and a willingness to become a more present, conscious partner and lover.

Cost:
$39 per individual, $69 per couple

REGISTER HERE!

Sacred Sexuality for Liberated Lovers

Ready to be liberated in your sexuality?

If you are intrigued and excited to ask some compelling questions, uncover your potential as a lover, and tap into the depth of an integrated, whole-life spiritual journey, then come join us!

Sacred Sexuality for Liberated Lovers with Seattle Tantra teacher Grace Bryant is a full-day workshop to develop the union of sex + spirit, or sacred sexuality. The workshop will offer tools for more sacredness and presence in your sexuality and a more liberated sexuality in your spirituality. We’ll address questions like:

What does liberated sexuality feel like?

  • How does my spiritual practice lead to a better relationship with my sexuality?
  • How can I be more present, available and surrendered with my intimate partner(s)?
  • How can I ask for want I want?
  • How do I find more sacredness in my sexuality and in my intimate relationships?

Complete with rituals, theory, practical + playful exercises, and a bunch of fun ways to connect deeply with others, this full-day workshop will give you a whole new vantage point for the union of sex + spirit or sacred sexuality.

We’ll also explore the following topics both in theory and practice:

  • Embracing your own sexuality with more freedom, adventure and acceptance
  • How to crack open and be more available to your partner
  • How Tantra helps build trust in intimate relationships
  • Expanding every intimate connection beyond just the body
  • Transforming desire into reverence
  • Deepening your connection with yourself and others
  • Creating a much, much bigger capacity for love – both giving and receiving
  • Tools to become a better lover
  • Playful and connecting exercises for exploring sensuality, relationships and energy
  • Tantric Rituals & Meditation

Open to individuals and couples of all gender identity and sexual orientation. Please note there is NO nudity or sexual touch in this workshop. Come with an open heart and a willingness to explore yourself and connect with others.

FAQ’s
I’ve been practicing Sacred Sexuality for years. Is this just for beginners?
Nope. This is a foundation that can apply to anyone, wherever you are on the path. The beauty of Tantra is that it encompasses all of life and we can always learn how to bring more intimacy to places we aren’t yet aware of. Experienced practitioners are welcome and encouraged to join! If you’re curious to know more, please contact Grace.

I’m a beginner to Tantra. Will this be accessible for me?
Absolutely. This workshop will lay a foundation that can apply to anyone, wherever you are on the path. For beginners, you’ll get a set of language to start delving into sacred sexuality as well as the experience of playing (in a safe, non-genital touching space) with some like-minded and like-hearted humans. If you’re curious to know more, please contact Grace.

I’m LGBTQ+. Will the practices be relevant for me?
Oh, yes. Grace identifies as Queer and Gender Queer. She offers non-gendered work that plays with how we sit in the masculine/feminine balance at any given moment and how that changes with our different partners, life experiences and moods. We’d love to have more of our LGBTQ+ family at this workshop and at Moksha Tantra Center.

What is Moksha Tantra Center?
Moksha (sanskrit: mokṣa): liberation, emancipation, release from bondage, freedom.
Tantra: a system for awakening understanding beyond the limitations of normal cognitive thinking.
Moksha Tantra reconciles classical tantric spiritual practice with neo-tantra celebration of sacred sexuality. We are a Seattle-based community exploring the practice of freedom.

I’d love to come, but it’s a big financial stretch. Are there scholarships?
Yes. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. And, we are a non-profit organization running on your donations and event fees. Please consider how much you’re able to contribute and contact Grace to see how you can energetically support our community as well.

Cost:
Individual – $95
Couple or Bring-A-Friend – $170 for both
Polycules + Moresomes – $85 per person
Register by September 1st for a 10% discount
*Snacks and tea are included. Please bring a lunch or be prepared to grab something nearby.
No One Turned Away for Lack of Funds – please contact Grace to talk about other financial options

Kirtan: A Night of Community Music

 

 

Join in the magical ritual of kirtan, or devotional singing.
All voices, songs and traditions are welcome.
Grace will lead this monthly night of chanting (bhajans) to different names and forms of the Divine.

Please bring your voices, any instruments you’d like to play, and an open heart.
No religious or spiritual belief is necessary to enjoy the vibration of Mantra, sacred sound, and the harmony and joy that making music from the Heart brings.

Cost: Donation Only

What is a Kirtan?
By Grace

Kirtan is a beautiful meeting of community to sing, dance and rejoice in the Divine vibration. I will lead a number of songs that you can join in or sing call-and-response style. The words and melodies are simple and there’s no need to “be a singer” to join us. All voices and bodies are welcome. The intention is to create vibration from the Heart, to join in Love and offer our spirit to the Great Spirit.

I have always found Kirtan to be so uplifting, so rejuvenate my body and attitude, to remind me of my connection to the everything.

There will also be a time of open expression where you can sing, lead a song, poem or something else that inspires you in the spirit of Bhakti, devotion to Love.

Come sing with us! I hope to see you there!

Surrender is Harder for Men

men meditating

by Jenny Jnani Hale

In spiritual circles, it’s fashionable to exhort women to “surrender.” The neo-Tantrics will explain that expanded orgasms lie just the other side of surrender, and that resisting surrender makes a woman “unfeminine.” Fundamentalist Christians and Muslims will point to verses requiring women to “submit” to their husbands (in exchange for protection and being guided to God, of course).

What about men? Do men get a pass in this “surrender” business?

Obviously, to reach transcendent states in which the ego is dissolved, everyone, whether male, female or gender-fluid, will need to make the ultimate surrender – relinquishing the separate self.

The oft-forgotten secret?

This ultimate surrender is waaaay easier for someone in a female body than someone in a male body, at least on average. There are always individuals who buck the trend of their biological gender.

There are spiritual traditions which make it clear that this gender difference was well-known to the ancients.

In Kabbalah, women have only two observances –  a morning consecration, and a weekly ritual of lighting the menorah on shabbat evening. These two small rituals are enough to keep a woman on track, because she is naturally much more connected to the Divine, and less likely to stray from the path. Men, on the other hand, have a dazzling array of practices designed to remind them at every turn that they are here for a Divine purpose, not for personal accomplishments.

In traditional Tantra, every woman, no matter how uneducated, is to be treated as a manifestation of the goddess of instantaneous enlightenment. In some cases, the texts go so far as to say that without the assistance of a woman, a man practicing alone can never reach the highest states of liberation.

In modern times, we can make hypotheses about why this gender difference might occur. We now have some understanding of the effects of hormones on perception and motivation, and the personal testimonials of transgender people who have experienced both versions of reality in the one body.

At the base of the gender difference are the effects of the male hormone, testosterone. Women also have some testosterone, but at much lower levels than men. Testosterone mutes the proprioceptive feedback which forms the basis of interpersonal visceral empathy. In more simple language, testosterone makes us less aware of what is happening both within our body, and within the bodies of the people around us.

Adrenaline also has this effect, which is why stressed women feel so much more isolated than women who have a lot of social support and control of their time. Studies have shown that even spiritual seekers, such as students studying to be ministers, can be made to ignore a person needing medical help if they believe they are late for an exam. Adrenaline is a gender-neutral empathy-suppressant, though. Both men and women suffer from a reduction in empathy and compassion when stressed, regardless of their baseline levels.

One of the major ways to offset the effects of testosterone is to generate more of the “bonding hormones,” such as oxytocin and vasopressin. These hormones are stimulated by physical touch, affection, emotional closeness, trust, and spending a lot of time together.

Given this hormonal recipe, it is easy to see why people in male bodies could get deep spiritual benefits from the loving presence of another person (generally assumed to be of the opposite gender, but unless that person is a highly advanced practitioner with good detachment, personal preferences, cultural taboos and sexual orientation would still play a part).

Neural entrainment is another valuable tool which has been used since time immemorial to help bridge the spiritual gap.

When two individuals consciously “connect,” with or without sustained eye contact, their brain waves synchronize. This process allows someone who is very familiar with a particular state to induce that state in another person, even if that person has never previously experienced that state. In spiritual circles, this is referred to as “initiation”, and is often supported by rituals, which subconsciously encourage the person to be open to receive the new state.

When men are initiated into deeply connected states of consciousness by women, they can attain the same effects as monks who have meditated alone in caves for years on end, within a very short span of time.

In our Western culture, however, we glorify the ruggedly individualistic state in which the average man finds himself. Mainstream media encourages women to “lean in,” to adopt more individualistic traits, to be less receptive and empathetic, and put their own interests first, in order to “make it” in an economy organised around individual men. We lack language to express the ways in which people rise together to accomplish things beyond what can be accomplished as isolated individuals, and we attribute successes to individual leaders, not to well-interconnected teams.

Even in spirituality, the vast majority of publicly visible spiritual leaders are in male bodies. There are more books by male spiritual teachers than females. The work of female spiritual leaders and teachers is often misattributed to their male teachers or disciples. Looking at the available corpus of works and biographies from spiritual leaders, one could be forgiven for thinking that spirituality is generally a masculine pursuit, with women only contributing via fundraising, housekeeping/secretarial services for the Great Leaders (being their consorts in non-celibate traditions), and cleaning the houses of worship.

It is almost impossible for someone raised in such a culture to spontaneously realize that the average woman starts her spiritual journey several stations down the track from where the average man starts, simply by virtue of her biology.

So, if you find yourself in a female body, in a spiritual tradition or community run by men, this is your get-out-of-jail-free card. Your inherent connection with the people around you, and your inner wisdom, will be of more use to you than following instructions that are designed by men for men.

Does a particular practice feel rigid, constraining, or limiting? Allow yourself to explore what happens when you gradually release arbitrary constraints. Do you find yourself sinking deeper into communion, or does the laxity allow you to get distracted?

This is not carte blanche to declare yourself to be your own guru, and not in need of teachers any more. Everyone needs guidance, as the pitfalls on the spiritual path are many and varied.

This is simply a reminder that if you are in a female body, you might not need to do so much, or such highly structured practice, in order to reach the same results as someone in a male body might require. Sinking in may benefit you more than pushing through. Connecting with the Universe may work faster than seeking to transcend it. Honoring your inner wisdom may be more effective than painting by numbers.

And if you are in a male body, you just might be able to save yourself a few years of pushing through and practicing hard, if you can find a woman who is willing to initiate you to the level of consciousness she has already attained!

By Jenny Jnani Hale

Sex on the Chakras

Ever noticed how you’re completely compatible with some people in bed?

But not at all with others?

Ever wondered why?

Sex on the Chakras offers insight as to why and how this is, and how to connect better with yourself and your partner’s sexual preferences. Using the wisdom and science of Tantra, you’ll leave this workshop a more empowered lover with new skills to tap into and channel your innate desires and sexual energy.

All are welcome in this 3.5 hour workshop, which will include theory and practice around:

– Experiencing the full range of human sexuality – from the animalistic wild side, to the sensualist, to the pure cosmic lover
– Understanding and awakening your partner’s sexual style
– Knowing what you want and how to ask for it
– Strategies for how to last longer in bed
– Awakening new, exciting parts of yourself and your sexuality
– Bringing spirituality into the bedroom
– Empowering your life through awakened sex and lovemaking

After this engaging and playful workshop, you’ll leave with a deeper understanding of yourself, what you desire and how to expand your sexual comfort zone. Please note: There is NO genital or explicit sexual touch in this workshop.

Your Host: For the past decade, Grace Bryant has led Yoga, Tantra and Spiritual growth and helped to create communities steeped in truthful connection and conscious living wherever she lived around the world. Her favorite offerings focus on personal empowerment, finding our authentic voices and living with intentional and fearless connection, especially through the lens of conscious sexuality and relationships. Through this lifelong path of awakening, Grace has found a deep sense of peace and trust, and hopes to share this in her teachings.

Cost: $40 in advance, $50 at the door!
Get your ticket here: https://squareup.com/store/moksha-center/item/sex-on-the-chakras