Thursday, October 23, 2008

Tantric Balancing Through Massage

What is experienced on the physical plane will have far reaching effects on all aspects of a person's life.

This article is an overview, and not intended as a training session. Integrate these ideas with your own knowledge of anatomy and physiology, and decide for yourself if you feel comfortable with this form of bodywork. If you do, then seek out guides in both massage and yoga to balance yourself so that you can attempt to balance others. Remember, kundalini energy is incredibly powerful, and you could do more damage than good, to yourself and your clients, if you don't achieve a balance within yourself first. Read with interest, but practice with caution...

As a bodyworker, you are about to examine a unique form of therapeutic massage. It is not easy bodywork, for either the practitioner or for the recipient. Each Tantric balancing session requires a minimum of two hours of focused, concentrated effort. Some sessions have been known to last four or five hours, and frequently more than one session is required to complete the balancing and integration aspects of the work. After studying this information, you should have a clear understanding of the goal of Tantric balancing, and can decide for yourself if you are prepared integrate this form of bodywork into your practice.

Because of the deep massage techniques used during Tantric balancing to open, release, and channel the stored energy in the physical body, at times the work can be intense, penetrating, and emotional. The techniques used are based upon the solid principles of Tantra. These principles promote the integration and balancing of three "bodies" which make up each human being. This bodywork promotes the release and movement of powerful kundalini energy. What is experienced on the physical plane will have far reaching effects on all aspects of a person's life.

As a massage therapist, you need to understand that, before the kundalini energy can be released, the five regions of the vertebral axis must be relaxed. This is normally done through tactile manipulation of the adjoining spinal musculature. Starting upward from the lowest region, Tantric literature anatomically defines the vertebral axis regions as the coccygeal (which consists of the tailbone and first four incomplete vertebrae), lumbar (five vertebrae), dorsal or back (twelve vertebrae), and cervical or neck (seven vertebrae). These five regions correspond roughly with the lower five chakra centers.

Deviating further from allopathic anatomy, from a Tantric perspective, the spinal cord is understood to lie within the vertebral axis (spine) and extend downward from the fourth ventricle of the brain to the coccygeal region, where it narrows to a thin, hair-like ending called the filum terminale. The spinal cord itself is formed of two symmetrical halves joined together along a center line. The actual line of juncture is a minute conduit called the canalis centralis or central canal (sushumna). It is through this passage that the kundalini force, once released and guided upward, can vitalize the six chakra centers along an invisible course to the brain.

A Tantric Balancing session actually begins with a thorough massage of the back.

Particular attention must be given to relaxing the muscles adjoining the spine which will prepare the canalis centralis for the upward flow of kundalini energy. Once the back, shoulders, and neck are open, the lower back of the body should be vigorously massaged, including the legs, feet, and buttocks, to relieve tension in the lower extremities and to prepare the filum terminale to channel the kundalini upward.

With the back of the body relaxed, the lower pelvic area is prepared for chakra relaxation and opening through deep, penetrating massage strokes in the sacral and pelvic regions. This is done to cleanse the principal nadis or astral channels so that kundalini currents may later unite and flow between the subtle body and the physical body. The line of ascension is always from the lower upward to the higher and less dense. Because of this, the bodywork begins at the lowest level. Opening of the chakra centers and balancing of the physical, subtle, and casual bodies must be accomplished in sequential order, from the root, or muladhara chakra, upward through the other chakra centers into the sahasrara. This opening is in preparation for subsequent release and movement of kundalini energy.

As the lower pelvic cavity from the anus to mid-sacrum begins to open through deep massage, the higher chakra sites are prepared for opening with gentle touch in an upward direction along the spine to the neck. The highest chakra, the ajna, and the sahasrara area at the top of the head are prepared for opening through energy balancing without touching the body. Sequential opening of the chakras, which will come next, will provide a path for the kundalini force to radiate upward into all the chakra centers, laying the foundation for integration of the physical, subtle, and casual bodies. The portion of the process just completed, with the client lying face down, is preperatory to turning the client over on his or her back for the actual chakra opening process, covered in the next section.

Sequential opening of the chakras will provide a path for the kundalini force to radiate upward into all the chakra centers, laying the foundation for integration of the physical, subtle, and casual bodies.

Once the chakra centers are vibrant and glowing, the kundalini energy embedded in the muladhara chakra at the base of the spinal column is delicately released. The kundalini energy is often called "serpent power" because in its quiescent form, it lies coiled around the base of the vertebral axis. It is normally static and sealed off at the base of the spine just beyond the tip of the tailbone. Through release of this energy, the centripetal "Shakti" force can be directed upward to the higher chakra centers, there to complete a union with the centrifugal "Shiva" energy who's originating source is the sun. Harmony and balance, according to Tantric beliefs, comes from this union of these polar opposite energy forms.

At this point in the procedure, the massage therapist calls upon specialized training and experience to coax the serpentine like kundalini energy to emerge and rise through the spine. There is no set direction the bodywork might take from this point on, as energy channeling and chakra balancing are difficult to predict.

Often the mere experience of the first release of kundalini energy is so dramatic that the force never rises above the first or second chakra. After some practice, however, the complete yogic experience can be achieved. When full, mature kundalini release happens, the experience is unimaginable. Liquid fire races up the spine, through the head, and out through the top of the body with an incredible intensity. The human body is, for a brief moment, a lightening rod between the polar opposite forces of nature.

During this release process, and through the subsequent Tantric Balancing work to regain equilibrium, there exists a shared responsibility between the massage therapist and the person receiving the therapeutic treatment. There must be a commitment to work together within a close bond of trust, openness, and sharing.

Because the kundalini energy is so powerful, so fundamental, and so rooted in human sexuality, a clear element of professional intent and respect is paramount.

Because the kundalini energy is so powerful, so fundamental, and so rooted in human sexuality, a clear element of professional intent and respect is paramount. If the partners are lovers, than the sexual aspect of tantric yoga may be explored to accentuate the energy flow. If, however, this is not the case, the therapist must maintain intense focus to not deviate from professional treatment, even though the atmosphere is charged with the kundalini force. One method of maintaining focus for the therapist is to concentrate on opening his or her upper chakras, particularly the heart chakra.

Preparation for a Tantric Balancing Session

Tantric literature states emphatically that, "True liberation can come only through experience. States of consciousness cannot be controlled and transcended until and unless they are lived rapturously, freely, and in all the fullness of their power." As a recipient of Tantric Balancing, you are encouraged throughout the work to actively participate in the process and fully experience what is happening on all levels. Breathing, sounds and visualized colors play an important role in moving the powerful kundalini force, as does your emotional clarity. The resultant merging or union of the Shakti and Shiva energy forces within your body is called samarasa in the Tantric texts.

"On their union, nectar (amrita) flows. Refreshment, increased power and enjoyment follow upon each visit to the well of life."

Tantric literature also states, "It is very possible that the greatest power of transformation is more in the attitude than anywhere else." Accepting the possibility of change, the potential for growth, and the capacity for true integration, especially during the powerful release and movement of kundalini energy, will help guide this amazing force upward through the chakra centers. With an accepting and positive attitude, "Tantric Balancing can move an individual toward a more satisfying plane of existence; one in which there is more love and, in a final sense, more stability.

Tantric Balancing can move an individual toward a more satisfying plane of existence; one in which there is more love and, in a final sense, more stability.

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