(The following article, though written with tongue in cheek for
the Portland, Oregon Monthly Magazine's readership, describes the
Tantra workshop led by David and Sandi at the 2005 AASECT
national conference in Portland.)
Sexual Healing
by Louise Lague
We all know that tantric sex is wildly chic -- even as it
celebrates its 4,000th birthday -- so we dashed over to the
Downtown Marriott to check out a workshop taught by Dr. David
Yarian, a Nashville sex therapist. Part of the annual conference
of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and
Therapists -- chaired by the aptly named social workers Ginger
Bush and Bill Finger and held in town this past May -- the
workshop was filled with sexperts.
Tantric sex, according to Dr. Yarian, is more a form of
meditation than a sexual practice. "It's about moving energy
arising in the genitals up through the body, which moves into
contact energy, ending in an energy exchange with a partner -- or
not, as it turns out -- and then finally a connection with all
there is." Dr. Yarian started us out with a "melting hug,"
adding that after he teaches this technique in his office, "I see
couples go make out in the parking lot."
Wow! Let's do it! Grab your lover and start with full body
contact -- vertical, horizontal, whatever -- then place one hand
between your partner's shoulder blades and the other on the small
of his/her back, to make contact with the correct chakras. Then
squeeze while harmonizing your respective breathing: in together,
out together. Stick with it for a while. That'll be $250. Keep
breathing.
Arizona sex therapist Michele Clarkson, a West Linn native,
opined that Portland is itself a tantric city, in that people are
very connective and are often engaged in positive energy
exchanges -- therapist-speak for "Everybody's so NICE!" Really
nice. Nobody else at the conference had seen any of Portland
yet, because they were all cruising around the exhibition hall,
looking at sex toys, lubricants, videos, books, videos and more
videos.
But the conference was not all whips and chains -- er, fun and
games. Besides sex, issues tackled by atendees included "sex-
negative" laws, meaning those that prohibit gay marriage or fund
abstinence-only sex education. Yeah, OK, but can we get back to
the sex?
"I belong to a lot of associations," said association president
Dr. Barnaby Barratt, "but this one is always the most fun. When
you become a sex therapist, your parents raise their eyebrows,
your friends giggle. We're a special group. These people are
here because they're committed." Indeed. As one therapist said
upon leaving the tantric workshop, "Gosh, that made me want to
have sex."
Article in Portland Monthly Magazine, August 2005
(Cuteness aside, the article captures an important aspect of
tantric workshops: the stirring of and connection with internal
sexual energies in a conscious way. These energies when
activated can be expressed in creativity, sexual connection and
vibrant living.)
