Tantra Man Tantra Woman. Great name, great workshop.

And my third foray into Tantra with the School of Awakening since January. When I discover something that makes me zing I throw myself right into it. I couldn’t wait to get back to the impeccable surroundings of Croydon Hall for another dose of cosmic love.

This was the second time the School of Awakening has run this group. It was extended by a day, but even so it was jam packed with meditations and challenging, loving exercises, punctuated by more showers and tooth brushing than I usually manage in a month. That’s the thing about Tantra, you’ve got to be fresh, fresh, fresh; you never know when you might have to breathe on someone, or lovingly caress them.

I was both excited about and dreading the idea of intimate massage with men I had yet to meet. Please let George Clooney be there, I prayed. George wasn’t, but 26 luscious other people were.

If you’d been on my first workshop, you might have noticed I was constantly on the verge of tears. In my second, Sacred Sexuality, I was laughing like a hyena for much of it, but when it came to being comfy with being sexy, forget it. I was so uptight that when it came to a certain exercise involving a little bit of clothing removal, I managed to get through the whole thing without removing more than my cardy and one shoulder strap.

Suta and Sarita honouring the male and female

This time though I was far more at ease. Maybe because now I trusted Sarita and Suta (left). Maybe because they’d lined up a great team of assistants, some already familiar to me: Roxana, Shanti and Santoshi for the women, and Vince and Richard for the men. Maybe also because we women had an extra, gorgeous, gentle-voiced teacher, Verica. Lucky us.

I was back in the zone as soon as we’d introduced ourselves. Day one we spent doing exercises with the men, sharing about ourselves and some touch, and a sound meditation that took me to the other side of the universe and back.

For the next two and a half days we were with the women. I love being with women, discovering ourselves, each other and what being a sexual woman is all about. I can’t go into detail because that would spoil it for you, but if you’ve never spent time with your own sex doing Tantra then I highly recommend it.

The men and women came back together on day four in a ceremonial performance, which was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done. I was too old, too fat, too not beautiful enough compared to all those luscious Tantrikas that surrounded me and seemed so at ease with themselves. In fact right up til the last moment I wasn’t sure I was going to do it, but I knew that if I didn’t I would regret it forever. So I did it. By the end of the night I had come a very long way from the cardy/shoulder strap scenario of my previous workshop, shedding shame and inhibition like an old skin to find a new glorious me underneath; that I liked much better.

Then the culmination of the workshop. Two intimate massages, each done with two men I barely knew. This was massage, not sex, but in a country where a normal massage leaves your knickers on and ignores your breasts, it was a challenge. It was a good job that by this stage in my Tantra journey I knew for sure that my yoni was pretty normal and maybe even pretty. The first massage was an incredibly powerful experience.  A feeling like I’ve never had before went up into my head and transported me somewhere that left me feeling like a 14 year old, innocent and very vulnerable; a feeling I never experienced as a teenager.

The impeccable surroundings of Croydon Hall

I went into a big crisis about massage two, hardly slept all night, needed help from my group of women to find me a man who I could feel safe with, and they rallied. I think up until then part of me, the bit that got trampled on as a kid in a dysfunctional family, didn’t believe that I would be supported, but as soon as I asked, I received. Thank you, women. And thank you to the man whom I did it with, a great big ride of healing and pleasure and then zonking out so completely that when I came to I felt like I’d been thousands of miles away for years and couldn’t believe I was still at Croydon Hall.

I floated home on a cloud of love for all the world, and am now plotting my next course.

Watch out for Catharine’s article on Tantra in the autumn issue of The Source magazine, the south-west’s magazine for all things eco and sustainable. Catharine is also a well-known Bristol columnist, and writes a regular blog on life, the universe and everything at http://catharinestott.wordpress.com/

As Sarita shared from the depth of her experiences, I rejoiced in the knowledge that these discourses would be widely available all over the planet for many, many years. We live in a speedy age of information where little attention is given to wisdom. We can gather all the information we desire at the mere click of a mouse. Despite this I often hear people wonder why, if they know and agree with a spiritual truth they still struggle to live by it. They find that they struggle to relate to others, the world and indeed their own selves through the truths they aspire to. To be informed is clearly not enough to live by these truths. Being informed is simply the beginning of a process of knowing. To actually live these truths may require a lifetime of dedication and practice, whereby these teachings are woven through inner and outer experience into bodily knowing, wisdom.

Our deeds then quite naturally arise from these embodied truths.  As a teacher in the Rudolf Steiner schooling tradition, I organized the lessons for my class always bearing in mind the oft quoted Steiner education maxim “from the hands through the heart to the head”. This served as a reminder to me that for deep learning to occur, the children firstly need to experience with their bodies, (the hands aspect). Next the material needs to be internalized into their feeling lives and be met with creativity (the heart aspect). Only when absorbed and digested in this manner can healthy full concepts rise to the head as knowing. Sarita’s webinar reminded me of this integrating direction to follow when seeking to gain knowledge.

The meditations offered by the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra are invitations to experience with our bodies, to do. Regular practise then deepens this doing to a heart felt relationship with the meditations we are drawn to. Then by engaging with the community of meditators that gather through the webinar series and Sarita’s question and answer sessions, we can raise our doing and feeling connection into deeper understanding. Hence the energy of our experience penetrates our spirit and wisdom is born!

Additionally something quite unique is available for us in this webinar series. In having a guide such as Sarita we benefit from the subtle and potent transmission of a master who is committed to this path of learning, having lived and digested it over the last 37 years, many of them spent at Osho’s side. We receive the fruits of her long practice. I encourage all of you to taste this fruit. Whether we are single or in a couple, able or not to accompany her on the retreats in Croydon Hall, India and elsewhere, we can dedicate time for our own practice and participate from our own homes in this precious work of awakening.

With love,

Roxana

You can register for the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra series with our hosts, the University of Integrated Science at www.uisca.org - not sure if it’s for you? Watch the introductory video on the UISCA site, or see the trailer here

Roxana teaches levels 1-3 of the School of Awakening Soulmate Training for couples, and also her own Tantra groups in London. Click here for her website.

Picture of Roxana copyright Amano Samarpan – www.amanosamarpan.com

Being on a raw diet has given me many different and surprising benefits. For example, it has increased quite drastically my sensitivity on all levels, including a deeper respect for all living beings on earth.

Walking in nature has become a profound experience that one could describe as spiritual. Not that the yellow of the lemons hanging on the tree was not there before, but it would suddenly turn into a glowing, surreal fruit, as if to reveal its glory, its eternal joy to be alive! Its fragrance would be almost intoxicating,  and I could still smell it even from far away… Eating “Living Foods” meant, for me, re-connecting to the spirit of the earth….In a very tangible way……A direct experience of what can be described in books as esoteric or mystical.

In fact, at some stage, I realized that raw foods not only helped me to deepen my meditation but it brought a totally new perspective:  you don’t  meditate any more, you  simply ARE in a state of meditation: a peaceful, contented and insightful Being, allowing yourself to be carried away by Life… So in this way, Living Raw Foods are tremendously supportive for meditation because it harmonizes body, mind and spirit.

I’ve become less prone to physical sickness, emotional turmoils and mood swings, and there seems to be a subtle harmony that has settled within, just like the perfect equilibrium found in nature. It brings a new joy in your life, an enchanting process…Becoming a totally new person…Eating raw means: reclaiming  our natural state of being. In other words, a new birth. Your eyes see more, your ears hear more, your hands touch more, your body feels more, your heart loves more. Everything becomes “more”, not in the sense of quantity but in the sense of quality.

You can have a communion with Existence now, entering a very intimate conversation.

Life becomes colourful and you become a rainbow. Embracing the whole spectrum of Life.

Life becomes richer, multidimensional.

It has depth, heights, beautiful valleys and beautiful sunlit peaks.

You start expanding as you reclaim your Self.

This is the miracle of combining a Living Raw diet and meditation!

Love Niten x

If you’d like to experience some of what Niten is talking about, then join him, Sarita and Ekant on the Silent Meditation and Live Food Detox Retreat from 19-23 May. Eat delicious raw food, go deeply into silent meditation and Mantra chanting and detox your body, mind and soul, all in the beautiful surrounds of Exmoor, at Croydon Hall – a perfect way to Spring clean! See: www.schoolofawakening.com/detox-meditation.php

I have heard that it is important to unwind and dissolve karma. Please tell me how karma gets created in the first place? I would like to know how to avoid creating new karma.

Thank you,

Feri

Answer

Ahhh, this is a red hot subject as it points the finger into every aspect of our lives. In essence, karma is any action or expression which is not completed. In a sense it is like constipation. The digestive process was started and got stuck somewhere before it could come to its full conclusion. This leaves the person feeling bunged up, stagnant and sluggish. In order to illustrate the subject of karma in relation to past lives I like to use the following as an example:

Mr X has a house. He is an avid consumer and within several years he has filled his house to the top with things of all kinds. Because there are so many things, it is hard to clean the house and so eventually it becomes very dirty. He is not willing to throw anything away, but rather hoards everything. Finally the situation becomes unbearable, so he moves out of that house, and moves into a brand new house. He simply walks away, leaving the old house as it is. As he has not transformed his outlook, he then begins filling up his new house, up, up to the brim it goes, and he then moves out into yet another new house. And so it goes. Finally, when he has filled up many houses and walked away from them, he realizes this cannot go on. He makes a promise to himself that he is going to devote himself to cleaning each and every house from top to bottom. Of course, this is not a very pleasant task, and he must apply himself rigorously in order to get the job done.

The above story illustrates how karma accumulates from life to life. When someone steps onto the path of personal development, meditation and healing, usually they have made a pact with themselves in the space in between lives that the next life will be devoted to cleaning up all the karma. There is a certain reluctance for the task at hand, and yet an inner knowing that there is nothing more important than this. Because there is a willingness to clean the karma, existence will often support this by putting techniques and people on our path which will support us in this endeavour. We just need to be open to this and ready and willing to ‘go for it!’ It is my understanding that if you really go for it you can clean up even very stubborn karma within the space of about 7 years. Some excellent ways to achieve this are:  Colour Light Therapy, the Transmitter Relays series, Hypnosis Regression, a Family Constellation, Aisho Retreats, Vipassana and Satori Retreats.

I am going to give a very simple story of how karma gets created and how this remains in the body as a ‘body memory.’ I had a Japanese woman for treatment who had pain in her back. There was a knot in a particular place related to the kidneys. I worked on the knot and while doing so asked her to enter inside the area with her awareness and let me know if there was a memory being held there. She remembered driving in the car with her boyfriend. It was raining very hard and he was driving too fast. She was afraid. I asked her to speak, and to say what she couldn’t express at that time. Being Japanese, she was very polite, and said the equivalent of: “Kind sir, it is raining very hard and I beg of you to please slow down. Sorry to impose my thoughts on you.” The hard knot in her back remained solid and painful. I asked her to keep going, finding out what she truly wanted to say then but didn’t. She tried many times to come up with her true thoughts and feelings from that time without success. Finally, the dam burst and she simply blurted out: “It’s raining very hard! Slow down, you asshole!” The moment she said, “you asshole!” the hard knot in her back dissolved and the pain vanished. You see, this was what she really wanted to say, but didn’t. It had remained as an incomplete issue retained in her physical body as a hard ‘karmic’ knot.

Of course, it is possible to express our truth in the moment without needing to say unkind words. But it is essential, if we are angry, to find a way to release it rather than repressing it. The same goes for any of our emotions. Unexpressed emotions, whether they be positive or negative, is one of the most common ways to create karma. Basically, not going for our truth, no matter what that is, will be karma creating. Personal truth is connected to our deep soul calling. We all came in with a purpose. If you don’t live what you came to live, it creates stagnation in the flow of your life force energy. The more we meditate, the more conscious we will become of our soul calling. We learn to dissolve old karmic patterns and to live in such a transparent way that we don’t create new patterns.

If you want to see your karma, usually you have to go no further than your own house. Our houses are mirrors of our body and mind. They way you keep your house indicates a great deal about your inner world. For this reason, a good way of beginning karma clearing is to bring in someone who does de-cluttering, who will help you become clear physically and emotionally in regards to your inner and outer space. For this work, I highly recommend Prasthano. As you go through the de-cluttering process, you will become aware of how attached you are to being stuffed up with things. A clear and empty space may create nervous tension. This is because you are stuffed up inside with emotional baggage and incomplete life issues. When you begin karma clearing from the house angle, it will make you very aware of how much you are carrying and how difficult it is to let go. But as you finally do let go, you will realize the great relief this brings, both inner and outer. Feng Shui was developed as science for creating a new pristine inner state through the outer organization of your home or office. This is simply to illustrate that you can approach the subject of karma from a very basic physical angle, or from a more esoteric angle. Both approaches will lead to the same result, a sense of cleanliness, purity and flow, as well as being in tune with your own soul.  Buddha has spoken about a non-karma creating lifestyle as having the following attributes:

1) Right thought

2) Right speech

3) Right action

4) Right livelihood

In essence, all of this is to say, if you can live your life in such a way that you are in surrender to your soul and your soul is in tune with your spirit, then all will be well. The state of wholeness is when body, mind, soul and spirit are all in tune, dancing to the same cosmic rhythm.

Love and Blessings,

Sarita

We set off for Croydon Hall early on a crisp Tuesday morning, full of excitement for our day of filming. Myself, Sidika and Merlina; our wonderful camera woman and producer, made the 2 hour drive through the Bristol rush hour, out into the splendid Somerset scenery and finally to our studio for the day, the Zen Room at Croydon Hall.

This was a step into the unknown for all of us, another exciting adventure to embark on! We were joined by beautiful audience members throughout the day in the form of Trenna, Chaitanya and Sampurno, who also doubled up as extras for demos, helping find poems, taking pictures and generally being a wonderful help –  and what a great job they did.

Trenna - our scribe

Merlina, our fabulous camerawoman - Lights! Camera! Action!

As well as being part of the production/audience team, I was also lucky enough to be in one of the demos, eating chocolate (ah, its a hard life!) and entering into the bliss of the senses (“When eating or drinking, become the taste of food or drink, and be filled…..” – a sutra from the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra)

As I was sitting there, worrying about the lighting, the sound, wondering whether Sarita’s luminance and playfulness would come across on film, it suddenly struck me how lucky I was to be getting a full day’s transmission from Sarita as part of my job! I allowed myself to really drink it in, and something deep inside me relaxed, and slipped into the flow,  knowing that whatever is, is. This experience certainly had a very deep and beautiful effect on me, something I feel profoundly grateful for. It is transforming the way I feel and am with work, so it is no longer separate from everything else I do, but one big beautiful whole life!

Sidika (left) and Malika (right) getting ready for their close up!

As we progressed throughout the day, this being a Tantric webinar, we had to change clothes, do our hair and add make-up to look our goddess best! (Check out me and Sidika doing our make-up above).

It was one long but wonderful day – we made it back to Bristol at 1.30am!! Though we were buzzing all the way home with what we’d captured on film. I feel so blessed to be part of this expansion of the School’s work. Soon, anyone in the world will be able to benefit from Sarita’s transmission of love and incomparable wisdom, and the joy that is Tantra.

With love,

Malika xxxx

……..and now some words (and lots of pics) from Sidika:

Despite our marathon filming spree above, we didn’t finish our 6 part series in one day (how ambitious was that?!), so the following week  Malika, Merlina and I found ourselves driving back to Croydon Hall to catch Sarita on her ‘day off’ between groups.

It was another glorious sunny day but freezing cold. We pulled up into the forecourt of Croydon Hall, barely registering a large van parked outside, and made our way over to Rinzai Hall (the main group room) for the day’s shooting.  I went to find Sarita – “Hello”, I said, “You look familiar!”  ”Aha!” she laughed. “You’ve been watching all the video footage from last week!”.

Technical support!

We set ourselves up for the day. We’d grown in professionalism since the previous week. This time we had a DIY computer autocue rather than a flipchart to remind Sarita of the sutras and poems.  See our tech wizard, Malika, keeping it all under control!

I was feeling quite smug – we were well away from the main house – no noises from vacuum cleaners or people delivering the vegetables this time to get picked up by the sensitive camera mic and cause us to stop and start again. The camera rolled and Sarita started presenting a beautiful meditation involving darkness and the void…silence…loosing yourself….then suddenly ZZZZZZZZZ! A dreadful noise from outside! On further investigation, this was found to be a chain saw!

Sarita checking out the chainsaw!

The van outside belonged to a tree surgeon and his assistant who had been booked several weeks before to coincide with a gap between groups. Not only that, the neighbouring property also had a tree surgeon in for the day!

There was a bit of a lull so we thought we’d try again. Sarita was presenting beautifully when once again ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. “Cut!” went the tree surgeon. “Cut!” went our camera woman. OK change of tactics. We decided to make some noise ourselves. Malika kindly volunteered to do the anger meditation. That’s her going for it down below. “OK, Malika. You can stop now!”

Malika beating a cushion

Next we thought we’d do some shots where we wouldn’t need the sound.  Out in the grounds of Croydon Hall the sun was shining brilliantly, but there was still frost on the grass in the shade. We all dressed up warmly (see below)

Preparing the shot

– all except Malika who bravely endured the cold in her flimsy silver dress. At least she had her co-star, Sampurno to cuddle up to! The Croydon Hall cat decided this looked like an interesting place to be and wandered onto the set and rolled around on the grass for the camera.

Malika & Sampurno - love's young dream!! (for the camera only....)

After a delicious lunch in the restaurant, we went back to Rinzai Hall, the tree surgeons having finally departed. We were joined by Chintan who had arrived in readiness for the following day when he would be co-facilitating the Sacred Sexuality singles group with Sarita. Now it was my turn to be in front of the camera, this time with Chintan – to illustrate a meditation on sex. All I’m going to say, is that it was all done ‘in the best possible taste’ but I couldn’t help wondering what my mother would think if she could see me now! This time it was Malika’s turn to say – “Hey Sidika, you can stop now!”  I had almost forgotten we were being filmed!

(Oops, sorry  no photo! You’ll have to subscribe to the series to see what went on!)

Clothes back on, and out into the garden again for some Zen meditation in the last rays of the setting sun.  At last we were finished. What a day! We bade a fond farewell to Sarita, but not before having arranged our next filming assignment with her at the beginning of next month! Back in Bristol the next day, we began the editing process. I was relieved to see my ‘sensual scene’ was actually very tasteful and beautifull!

Over the next week, our video project began to take shape.  Merlina assembled everything into order and we all debated the cutaways, fades, transitions, added some gorgeous music by Surahbhi…and …lo…the finished product emerged….. and looks fabulous! I cried when I watched it! We’re so excited – as I write this now, the Free Introductory video is just being uploaded in California all ready for you to watch, and we’ve just done a practice run with Sarita in the chat room so you can join us whenever you are ready.  See you soon……!!!

Love from

Sidika

Check out the trailer for the series on You Tube at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a-nxQ1je_Q

**Thanks to Chaitanya for the photo of Sidika and Malika**

Other photos by Sidika

Malika and Sidika (the marketing team) tell the story of our first media weekend

Malika

Inviting the media to observe and experience what you do can be a gamble – it can be a quick way to reach thousands of people, but there’s always a chance they could misinterpret or misrepresent what you do. We decided to take that gamble and invited nine members of the media to Croydon Hall in January to observe and participate in Tantra singles and couples meditations, and experience the holistic healing we offer. Croydon Hall on the edge of Exmoor National Park in Somerset have been graciously hosting our residential groups for the last 10 years, so we were very happy when they joined us in our invitation to the media.

The snow did its best to scupper us and with just a few days to go and Croydon Hall completely snowed in, it looked like we might have to cancel. Sarita, however, was adamant that we shouldn’t cancel because of the weather! Perhaps she whispered in the ear of the weather elementals – for amazingly two days before we were due to start, the temperature began to rise, and everyone finally made it in one piece. The Friday night started with a press conference, with Sarita and Suta answering questions.

The beautiful view from Croydon Hall once the snow had melted!

Saturday was Singles Tantra day – what would the media make of it?!! Much to my surprise, they all wanted to participate, which I thought was very brave of them, and I was also really happy that the journalists would get to taste for themselves the Tantra experience. It’s one thing reading (or writing) about Tantra or even photographing or asking someone how they experience it – it’s another thing entirely to actually experience it yourself. You could say it’s a bit like the difference between reading the ingredients on the wrapper of a bar of chocolate as opposed to unwrapping it, breaking off a piece, putting it on your mouth and letting it melt all over your tongue – savouring every subtle nuance of flavour….Mmmm! Only one of the journalists had done a Tantra group before, 10 years ago, so it was all pretty much new territory. Sarita and Suta planned a really beautiful group, including a meditation from the Vigyan Bhirav Tantra and the Meditation of Liberation – the stunning human yantra was captured on film at last! Well done Sidika for clambering up the ladder for the aerial shots!

Roxana, feeling herself as beauty, lying in the arms of godliness - her beloved Vincent!

We were all kept on our toes with a packed schedule of interviewing and session giving, which included our wonderful therapists giving 36 sessions in two days!!

The Croydon Hall chefs surpassed themselves on Saturday evening and presented us with a spectacular and absolutely delicious sushi banquet. The Q&A and sharing which followed gave our fantastic team of Tantra teachers the chance to share their wisdom and answer questions from journalists and the audience (including me!!), which they handled with grace and humour. An evening of spa and bar was most welcome at the end of a very busy day!

On Sunday, we experienced Couples Tantra. I took part in this day, and the presence of love and intimacy was so beautiful and so strong, I was blown away. We did such gorgeous meditations as the tea ceremony and Satyam Shivam Sundaram – with the women feeling themselves to be beauty, the men feeling themselves to be godliness, and the two meeting as Truth.

We ended the day with an extremely touching and beautiful candlelit ceremony, where we passed the flame of Tantra round our circle. All the journalists were without exception extremely touched by what they had experienced and all ready to go away and write movingly about their time at Croydon Hall.

Vibha lights the flame of Tantra

It was so wonderful to experience what an amazing team of therapists, teachers and organisers we have at the School of Awakening. This weekend was a complete unknown for us, but we all pulled together so well and gave the journalists a taste of the beauty and power of Tantra, which will really raise its profile in such a positive way. We felt we went some way to redress the stereotype of Tantra that is commonly portrayed in the media.

The weekend was filmed for the Holistic Channel and for Ambient Productions, and we will let you know when the documentaries and promo pieces are available and also when the articles come out.

With love,

Malika xxxxxxx

And a bit from Sidika too….

Wow…what a weekend! I was particularly touched on our first evening just before the press conference when we invited the film makers and journalists to introduce themselves. Robert shared that he and his colleague Nicola from the Holistic Channel were making a documentary about how Love transforms Consciousness – he gave a very moving and impassioned talk as to the necessity for this in our war-torn world. (I think Sarita wanted to adopt him as part of the Tantra team!) Then Merlina from Ambient Media shared about the documentary she would be making – a piece featuring original artwork and visual poetry based around her personal journey of discovery, exploring what Tantra is and how it relate to her own experiences. Finally the journalists introduced themselves, the publications they were writing for and a bit about their particular interest in Tantra and their writing angle. Although everyone who had been invited to participate in this media event had agreed in advance that they were very happy to be photographed, filmed and interviewed, it was good to hear that these journalists and film makers were here to support us in spreading this amazing work.

Verica receives the Chakra massage from Feri

As I wasn’t participating in most of the meditations, I was able to feast my eyes on the beauty around me as seasoned Tantric participants mixed with journalists and underwent the alchemy of Tantra. For much of the time during the Couples Day, I was happily behind the camera lens as Merlina had entrusted me with her camera so that I could film her participating. Years ago, I’d dreamed of making a beautiful, inspiring and transformative film and now I was getting a piece of the action. Some of the couples meditations had me misty-eyed – they were so beautiful and intimate. I really hope that the tenderness and love I saw between couples is conveyed on the video and allows viewers to get a real feeling of how powerful and beautiful this work is.

In between filming the group meditations, our valiant film-makers, packed up their gear and headed off for the Zen Room where we had set up a sessions clinic to allow the journalists to experience the various healing arts that the School teaches. A few choice shots with some willing models and then off to the Study (or should I say, Studio?) for filming interviews with teachers and practitioners.

Sarita and Supragya at the team meeting

We’ll be putting some video profiles on our website for the teachers and organisers so that people can get a better sense of who we are and what we are offering – and generally what a lovely bunch of people we are! There were some butterflies beforehand as for most of us this was our first time on camera. Lots of last minute coaching going on and questions such as ‘Is my hair OK?’ and ‘Do I look alright in this dress?’! You’ll be able to judge for yourself very soon as the clips will be appearing on our ‘About Us’ page.

On Sunday night, after we waved goodbye to the last of the media and some of the other participants, most of us retired to the spa to enjoy the saunas, steam room and flotation tank before flopping into bed.

Top row from left: Sidika, Malika, Islam, Suta, Tanja. Second row from left: Supragya, Sarita, Chintan, Roxana. And those on the floor from left: Verica, Vibha, Qiming

On Monday, as most of the School’s team were uncharacteristically assembled in one location, we had planned a team meeting. We tackled a very ambitious agenda including a review of the weekend, future plans for the School, marketing and business ideas brainstorming and a spontaneous photo shoot (see left)! Lots of ideas came bubbling up including other media events and all kinds of weird and wonderful offerings which we’ll be revealing to you in our newsletter, blog and website over the coming months…Watch this space!

Love to you,

Sidika

These days there is such a sense of rapid change – sometimes unsettling, often inspiring, that calls for us to pay attention to the balance of activity and rest.

September brought an ‘Indian summer’ of some great beauty. I had a beautiful time on a six day silent retreat. It was so wonderful to slooow down, spend time without noise and be immersed in meditation – simply being with the breath, the senses.

After that I was at a Chateau in France for a week with Sarita and the Tantra team from the School of Awakening. We were held among the wooded hills with an impressive vista. It was exciting, hard work and fun to get together. The time was focused on learning and developing a little known method of Tantric massage from Kashmir, and also crafting a transformational new group process Tantra Man-Tantra Woman, which will be unveiled at Croydon Hall this week.

After many years as a massage professional with experience in dozens of methods, it was a very pleasant surprise to experience something new and really quite wonderful. The massage techniques were a joy to share and practice – they are very sensual and powerful – I will certainly be adding them to my menu of individual sessions and look forward to teaching them to others.

I also particularly enjoyed working with Shiva and Sangeet to create the part of the group where the men will all be together away from the women. After choosing Tantric precepts that we felt are essential, we developed the key practices and some dynamic rituals that will really help foster key qualities in a ‘Tantric Man’.

Working with these themes has really fired me up for the upcoming series of Tantra evenings for men in Bristol. I feel that this kind of gathering – where men can offer each other support and inspiration, move and express themselves in an authentic, conscious way and learn with and from each other – is what many men (and the women in their lives!) are really hungry for. I am really looking forward to stepping into a ‘space’ with men and the distinct flavour, the particular atmosphere that emerges there.

Recently I have noticed a subtle change in some of the men’s events – a greater ease and willingness in connecting with other men. It will be interesting to see how widespread these shifts become through the wider society (and not just those who have been ‘working on themselves’). It could be that the times are calling for such an evolution. Who will be a part of the wave?

Namaste,

Suta

www.chooseblissnow.co.uk