ARTICLES
Refining Sexual Energy with the Cobra Breath
By Dr. Lexi Fisher
In the practice of Tantra Yoga, sexual energy is seen as a divine form of Spiritual energy in the body. This Sexual energy, so powerful it creates new life, is a super charged fuel that can be used consciously for transformation, healing and rejuvenation.
As a path of awakening to our Divine potential as Spiritual beings in human bodies, Tantra Yoga differs from many other spiritual paths. The focus of Tantra is the EMBODIMENT of the divine with practices that lead to the experience and celebration of Love and Cosmic Consciousness; here, now, within and without ourselves.
Tantra Yoga is said to be a fast path to enlightenment, but also dangerous because Tantra works in areas of the lower 3 Chakras where our unconscious dwells. The unconscious areas are where we have not yet brought the “light” of our awareness. By delving into these depths a seeker may stir up more than they bargained for and get side tracked. For this reason it is helpful to have friends, teachers and techniques, to assist you along the way.
Ipsalu Tantra Kriya Yoga’s Cobra Breath is a safe and powerful way to awaken sexual energy (Kundalini) and direct it through the subtle energy channels of the body. These channels are analogous to small streams that have not had much water flowing through them. Because of the limited energy flow, these channels accumulate debris and sediment. As sexual energy is cultivated and consciously directed into these channels the old unconscious debris begins to get worked loose and moves up into our awareness.
Level 1 Cobra Breath specifically activates the 6th Chakra, the 3rd eye center, developing witness consciousness. Witness consciousness is the ability to maintain our center in the midst of emotional upheaval and chaos. Having a developed witness is imperative in the practice of Tantra yoga. One of our goals is to realize all of who we are as aspects of the Divine, the parts we like and the parts we do not like. We must be able to see beyond the unconscious beliefs, judgments & hurts, to the Divine in all things. In the dance of creation, the weaving of opposites, all things are within the heart of God when perceived from the witness consciousness. This awareness is like having a powerful light shine on the old sediments of unconscious beliefs and trauma, thus a seeker can move quickly along the Tantric path of awakening.
By Dr. Lexi Fisher
Sacred Sexuality
By Lexi Fisher
Have you ever had sex and wondered, “Is this all there is?” Just asking this question takes courage and the nerve to begin to explore other possibilities in an area that has so many taboos. If you have asked, your answer may be found in Tantra Yoga, the Yoga of Sacred Sexuality. This is the practice of bringing your full awareness into your body- breath, movement and voice. Tantra yoga is a practice of reawakening your authentic spontaneity and celebrating the divine within yourself and your partner. It is a practice that connects sex with spirit.
Tantra is often translated as “weaving”- weaving the opposites of spirit and matter, light and shadow, male and female, expansion and contraction into the tapestry of our lives. This is first a path of self-discovery. As we practice accepting all parts of ourselves, healing the shame and self-criticism, we become more whole and can then accept the shadow in ourselves and others. This acceptance, this “Yes” to life, is the attitude that allows us to dive into the realms of sacred sexuality.
Our body is a temple of the Divine and our senses are a wonderful way to practice staying fully in the present moment, in the Now. Tantra has 64 arts that bring ritual into our lives to bridge the gap between ordinary life and the sacred. These include: preparing and serving food, flower arranging, making incense and perfume, dancing, singing, playing music, writing poetry, massage, the use of herbs, and adornment.As we practice these arts the magic is in the presence we bring into the activity so it becomes a gateway into the sacred. Japanese Tea Ceremony is an example this. Each detail is performed with complete awareness creating the doorway for us to experience presence, deep peace in a simple action such as pouring hot water into the tea bowl. Just this is an opportunity to wake up and remember who we are. Anything we do with full awareness becomes sacred. Our whole life can become a meditation, an opportunity to remember who we are and bring our presence into every area of our life.
Tantra is also called the “Yoga of Relationship”. There are many spiritual paths that are solitary and celibate. Tantra Yoga is a spiritual path that is in the world, in the nitty gritty of our daily lives. Our partner is our “beloved” and at times, as my partner, says, our “beloved button pusher”! Musical instruments need to be tuned to play together and so do we. One of our favorite Tantric exercises to deepen intimacy is the “melting hug”. Looking into your partner’s eyes, move toward each other with full awareness and be mindful of any thoughts or feelings as you approach. As you embrace allow all parts to touch, there are no nasty bits, all of you is sacred. Synchronize your breath and let your bodies melt, again witnessing any thoughts and feelings. Continue to breathe together 3-5 full minutes. Let this be a meditation for you both as you feel yourselves come into resonance. When we take time to synchronize our breath, slow down and come into harmony, we can make Divine music.
Beyond great sex our sexual energy can be employed for our transformation and healing. After all, our sexual energy creates new life. This is a very powerful force! With Tantra techniques sexual energy is redirected from our genitals up, rather than out, bathing our entire body, energizing and rejuvenating us. Rather than a genital sneeze we experience orgasm in our whole body. As we practice non-attachment at the height of desire we move from having an orgasm to being orgasmic.
Many of us have had experiences of “spiritual sex” when we felt our soul connected with our partner’s soul. Some people have even said they were sure they had conceived during this lovemaking and in fact they had! These are times when all the elements were right and they spontaneously felt a deep spiritual connection with their partner. Tantra Yoga techniques enable us to cultivate this spiritual sexual connection so these experiences aren’t just a matter of chance.
Using the Tantric arts we can create a sacred space with flowers, candles and incense. By committing to see the divine in your partner (which at times isn’t easy!) you see what it is that you really love about them. Now invite God, however you understand God, to be present in your sexual loving. This sets the stage to practice the Tantric techniques that enable you to move from repression to expression of your full ecstatic potential.
Lexi has been practicing Tantra Yoga for 18 years. She studied with the great Tantra Yoga teachers: Charles and Caroline Muir, Margot Anand, Bodhi Avinasha, and David Deida. Currently she teaches: Vajra Yogini practice, Women’s Circles, one day couple events such as “Romancing the Heart,” Ipsalu Tantra level 1,2,3, and 4. As well as Sexual Wholeness 1, 2, and 3.
Tantric Relationship: Divine Dance of the Masculine and Feminine
By Lexi Fisher
Tantra yoga is often called the “Yoga of Relationship.” Tantrikas (those who practice Tantra yoga) celebrate embodying the Divine while seeing this same
Divine Essence in their friends and partners. With this basic premise, Tantra yoga acknowledges that our relationships are a powerful tool for spiritual
awakening.
Have you ever experienced or heard of someone experiencing a love affair
that was very passionate and then after a while conflict began to seep in? What happened to the Love... to the merging in blissful union? The attributes of
our partner that attracted us to them now repels us; they now push all our buttons, and we do not like it one bit! This is the yoga of relationship: how to navigate these rocky parts while remembering who we are and who our partner is. This is the practice of Tantra Yoga.
Love has the tendency to bring up within each individual anything unlike itself for the purpose of healing-- becoming whole. Wholeness results as we embrace those parts of ourselves we most dislike. As we practice Tantric exercises to increase our capacity to contain heightened states of arousal we also find places where we resist feeling ecstatic energy moving in our bodies...where we resist receiving support or love. Our edges of resistance are the boundaries of where we have limited ourselves based on old experiences and beliefs of who we think we are supposed to be. Here is where relationships become the crucible for personal transformation. By developing the ability to witness (just being present to) what we are feeling physically and emotionally, we can begin to become free of our old beliefs and old conditioning that have kept us limited in our experience of Love... limited in our experience of our ecstatic potential.
Tantra Yoga offers very powerful and unique practices to help integrate
parts of ourselves that are being activated as more love, more energy, moves through us. Specific exercises using breath, sound and movement enhance our life energy. As we experience ecstatic energy moving within us we grow to trust it. With practice, our ecstatic energy becomes palatable; we feel it between our hands and in and around our bodies. While maintaining witness consciousness, we learn to relax as more and more energy moves through us. Becoming familiar with our ecstatic energy we begin to identify with this as who we are, and share this with others. The Divine dancing within our bodies expresses through us as giving and receiving, leading and following, expansion and contraction, the masculine and feminine expressions of LOVE flowing through us to others. Our hearts open, leading the way as we play in the Ocean of Bliss.
Kuan Yin, the goddess of compassion, teaches that the greatest illusion
is that our outside is different from our inside, or more simply, that our outside
reflects our inside. Our bodies and our relationships are just a reflection of our inner experience. Tantric practice begins with finding our own inner lover, finding our own most precious one. By honoring this in ourselves we can then honor this same one in others.
A simple Tantric practice called “Soul Gaze” allows us to harmonize with a partner when issues come up, or with ourselves when we feel swamped by what we are experiencing. Choose a piece of relaxing music, the length of which is how much time you wish to practice (or you can set a timer). Unplug the phone giving yourself this uninterrupted time. Commit to not stopping the exercise no matter what you see, feel, hear, or think. Sit in a comfortable position: in a chair with feet flat, or on a cushion, back as straight as possible. Gaze into your partner’s left eye (or your own left eye, if you are doing this by yourself with the mirror). Be aware of your breath, witnessing what ever you are feeling, seeing, hearing, thinking, practicing non-attachment. What you see will change; the face may seem to fade, change color, distort, even disappear. Witness your feelings and thoughts as you move through these veils of illusion, the old beliefs and patterns that have kept us separate from ourselves and others. Your awareness will burn through the veils, revealing the truth beyond the illusion of separation. Keep practicing until the music completes, or timer sounds. Complete the Soul Gaze with a “Namaste”: hands in prayer position at the heart look into your partners eyes, bowing, acknowledging the light, and the dark within that connects us all. Take a few minutes to share with your partner or journal if this was a solo practice. What was your favorite part, and what was the most difficult or scary part?
A Tantric Puja is a wonderful opportunity to explore Tantric practices
and play in the “Heart Space” that is created as we experience the Divine Dance of the Masculine and Feminine. Participants are invited to awaken their bodies with stretching and breathing exercises, still their mind with meditation
techniques, and then begin to cultivate our innocent sexual energy using breath, movement and sound. As we relax, increasing our capacity to hold more energy, we direct it through our bodies enlivening ourselves and celebrating the bliss of being spiritual beings in sensual, sexual, beautiful bodies.
Vajrayogini Practice
Vajrayogini is a female Buddha. She recognized and taught that within each of us lies a powerful wellspring of sexual energy. We can learn to restore, replenish and rejuvenate ourselves by circulating this energy through out our body.
The early English translations of the Tantras, the Tantric texts, were done by anthropologists and linguists from the west. These men came from a patriarchal background. They did not recognize that many of the Tantras were accredited to Female Tantric masters or written about female teachers.
Vajrayogini is a Dakini, a female Tantric teacher. She taught esoteric practices that apply our sexual energy to awakening us to the confines of our limited realities and the illusion of separateness. This is a feminine path, a path of connection, attraction, fusion, drawing together and experiencing the relatedness and interconnectedness of all things.
In one story Vajrayogini cuts off her own head, which represents her ego or mind. Three streams of life energy (Ida, Pingala and Shushumna), spout from her severed neck into the mouths of her 2 students and her own dismembered head. This symbolizes how our inner feminine intuitive wisdom sustains us, even our own ego/mind. Our ego and mind are necessary to exist in our culture, especially patriarchal cultures. When our ego or mind takes over, judging and degrading input from our intuition and our deep feminine wisdom we get out of balance, and our society gets out of balance.
Tibetan Nuns preserved the Vajrayogini practice in their monasteries. As they would do the practice they sent the healing energy they were cultivating in their bodies out around our planet, blessing Mother Earth. Many of the monasteries have been destroyed, forcing the nuns to leave Tibet. From this exodus the Vajrayogini practice has now become available to women in the West. We now have the opportunity to continue the tradition of this practice, cultivating our deep feminine energy, our connection to the earth, and sending this healing energy out into our communities and the world.
The Vajrayogini Practice uses breath, movement and sound to cultivate our rich, juicy, sensuality and creativity. The movements are gentle, flowing, almost dance like. The practice could be described as a merging of Hatha Yoga and Qigong. Each inhale, with Mulhabanda, we visualize drawing earth energy up into our belly. Exhaling, the energy spreads through out our body and back into the earth, tuning ourselves to the subtle flows of energy. Each breath is an opportunity to connect to the earth, grounding ourselves in our emerging feminine essence.
For CD or DVD call Lexi Fisher (760) 327-4041 or TantraT.com