A Topic Review Paper by Margaret Adetimehin
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Although bloggers and columnists prophesy to the benefits of tantric yoga massage, there has been little or no research done on this practice. The practice of tantric yoga massage has been found by its practitioners to be indeed helpful to women of all races, class, and experience. Due to newfound tactics of carrying out the ancient tantric yoga, focusing on the yoni, testimonies from recipients of this practice have elicited profit loving individuals to go into the business of organizing tantric yoga retreats (Plancke 2019). Newcombe (2009) states that the number of yoga practitioners practising different types of yoga (asana) has been as high as 2.5 million in Britain and 15 million in the United States. In this paper, I would be focusing on the origin of tantric yoga, how it has evolved to focusing on yoni massage for women, the benefits, acceptance, and further research that should be carried out on this topic.
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In times past, research has been focused on yoga, from where the tantric practice stems from. Yoga is an ancient Indian practice that has faced various discriminations and later acceptance from the western world (Newcombe, 2009). It comes from the Sanskrit verb yug, meaning to join or unite; Yoga is about (re)uniting mind and body in the ultimate pursuit of spiritual realization and peace (Shroff, 2007). Yoga covers all the important aspects of every individual’s life that makes them feel whole. Shroff (2007) says yoga entails the physical, social, moral, mental, and spiritual well being. Yoga has numerous branches, and the tantric yoga falls under the hatha yoga branch. Hatha yoga involves the use of asana (physical postures) and pranayama (special breathing techniques) to complete the journey of personal enlightenment.
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Tantra is a type of yoga that specially focuses on harnessing sexual power through the use of asana, pranayama, and touch. Tantric yoga is performed on both men and women. However, the yoni is the most important body part when it comes to tantric yoga. Yoni is the Sanskrit word for vagina, and translates to “a sacred space” (Plancke, 2019). In the ancient tantric yoga practice, the yoni is a well-respected area, as it is seen as a place of wisdom and healing. It helps heal individuals who have been sexually abused, never enjoyed sex, or those seeking freedom. The yoni is considered the gateway through which individuals may experience oneness with the universe (Shroff 2007). According to Kimberly (2019), orgasm is not the ultimate goal of tantric yoni massage but could lead to it. Tantric yoni massage can be practised alone or with a partner. Prause Nicole, in 2016 embarked on a research journey where she conducted the first IRB-approved clinical trials of partnered stimulation in the United States of America. Her goal was to demonstrate what happens in the brains and bodies of both partners during the orgasm state.
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For the modern woman who juggles several caps a day, who finds it hard to connect with her body, tantric yoni massage would be a game-changer if the proper scientific research is carried out on the study. Modern women would benefit immensely from tantric yoni massage as this would not only help relax their bodies but also open them up for the ever-elusive female orgasm. In 2016, Prause et al. reported that women who reported primarily stimulating their clitoris to reach orgasm reported higher trait sexual drive and higher sexual arousal to visual sexual stimulation and were better able to increase their sexual arousal to visual sexual stimulation when instructed than women who reported orgasms primarily from vaginal sources. Orgasm is sometimes achieved by stimulating other body parts and sometimes even through thought alone (Safron, 2016), which is what tantric yoga provides.
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From research carried by Janir et al. in 2015, it was reported that over the short term, tantric yoga practice led to the decrease of cortisol production, and those effects contributed to the physical and mental well-being of the participants. Janir et al. (2015) also stated that many clients do report that they have noticed improvements or feeling more empowered in areas such as mental health, emotional healing from past experiences, energy levels, libido, body image, stress levels, body connection, intimacy with a partner, awareness of pleasure, motivation for self-care and capacity to assert clear boundaries around their body and sexuality.
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Although acclaimed by many of the few sex scientists in the United States of America, tantric yoni massage is yet to be a licensed practice in the United States of America. This could be due to the dark shadows that have been cast around the practice by companies such as ONE TASTE (Huet, 2018). In addition to this, people think that to practice tantric yoni massage, one has to engage in the spiritual aspect of yoga (Plancke, 2019). This, however, is an added benefit but not compulsory as the ‘Western’ culture has found a way to elude the spiritual aspect (Plancke, 2019). Tantric yoni massage focuses on physical poses and breathing techniques. Some individuals also assume that if you never attain orgasm during a tantric yoni massage session, then something is wrong. Kimberly (2009), who is an ally of tantric yoni massage, expresses that this type of yoga is not a one-off experience but a continuous journey where one might even achieve multiple orgasms in the long run. Others believe that in the long run, one might become addicted to tantric yoni massage, and this might lead them to become slaves to pleasure. This is not far fetched as Huet (2018) went into details of various individuals that have been lured by selfish organizations into the act of a remodified tantric yoni massage.
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Notwithstanding, over time, women have become comfortable with the idea of being trained to sensually massaged themselves. Some women have embraced the idea that they feel comfortable enough for practitioners to carry out a tantric massage in their sacred place. Classes, sessions, and subscriptions for tantric yoni massage like therapies have been created, and women from all over the world are buying into it. Locations like Therapists like Bonnie Bliss, who created the Yoni Mapping Therapy, and Kristin Murray Alexi, who founded Yonilicious, are licensed by the International Institute for Complementary Therapists (IICT) in Australia. Bloggers, sex columnists have one way or the other written about their experiences or stories of others who have benefited from the tantric yoni massage experience. The Yoni Mapping Therapy by Bonnie Bliss made the tantric yoni massage open to women in various stages of their lives but with exclusion to; women in the first trimester of their pregnancy, those with the history of miscarriage or premature birth, those who just gave birth recently, those who have just had an operation in the abdominal or pelvic area, those in currently in a traumatic state and all clients under 18 years of age.
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Tantric massage focuses on stimulating the nerves located in one’s sex organs to create new pathways of sensation to the brain. “In a tantric session, many things can happen,” says Rachel. “Usually it’s about removing any blocks in the person’s body to open the way for more sexual energy to flow through. It frees people up to be more self-expressive in the world, more in the zone of genius, more alive and turned on, and happier.” (Hannah, 2016). This said, there are still a lot of questions that should be answered to give the public an idea of what tantric yoni massage involves, why it is important, and who should embark on such personal journeys of fulfilment? Scientific findings like; What are the clinical effects of this practice? Should this practice be licensed? The awareness rate of this topic? Should psychologists and therapists recommend tantric yoni massage? How do women react or respond when tantric yoni massage is recommended? How effective is tantric yoni massage? Should this practice be licensed just like yoga itself? What are the standard procedures for this practice? Much work remains to be done in order to adequately characterize this profound and fundamental experience (Safron, 2016). Knowing more about the benefits of tantric yoni massage therapy to the modern woman would debunk the myths and fears of the society at large (Newcombe, 2009; Shroff 2007).
