Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Below are the answers to some questions we are commonly asked. Please get in touch if you would like an answer to a question of your own.
Tantra is an ancient spiritual path that predates many of the world's established religions.
Although Tantric strands have emerged within various religions, Tantra itself is not a religion. It requires no prior belief system, only a willingness to explore our inner worlds.
Tantra is an outlook, a method and a way of life that helps us to open our hearts, embrace our sexuality, celebrate the whole of life, and recognise the Divine essence within all beings. Red tantra engages directly with sexuality and sexual energy.
Tantra teaches you how to experience relaxed aliveness in your body and greater intimacy in all your relationships.
It helps to clear blocks that you may have to pleasure and intimacy and encourages the exploration of bliss as a way towards spiritual freedom.
Yes! The session will consist of a mixture of sharing / counselling, some Tantric meditation, movement or other energy work, and some time to integrate and share the experiences. For ongoing clients, homeplay will be offered, to consolidate the work of the session.
Please wear loose, comfortable clothing for comfort in movement work. Ladies - trousers are generally better than a skirt.
Private sessions last 1.5 hours and cost £180. You can pay with a credit / debit card.
The first session is payable in advance, thereafter you are welcome to pay on the day.
7 full days' notice is required for cancellations. Cancellations within this period are charged at 50% of the session fee. Cancellations within 24 hours of the session incur full session charge.
Leora will send you full confirmation details on booking.
If you're interested in booking an individual or couples' session with Leora Lightwoman or would like to find out more, please get in touch.
Introductory evenings are an excellent way to sample the flavour of Tantra. These evenings are for complete beginners to Tantra, as well as for those who would like a gentle "refresher", and for those who have experienced Tantra with other teachers and would like to see what's special about Diamond Light Tantra. Both couples and individuals are welcome.
If you are in a couple, you will share the experiential exercises together. If you come as an individual, you will meet several other people, generally of the other sex. The groups are more-or-less evenly balanced in terms of men and women, although for these evenings we do not guarantee an exact match. In all the mixed weekend workshops, the numbers of men and women will be equal. Participants in Tantra workshops are of all ages, from 20s to 60s, and from all backgrounds and professions, from students to merchant bankers. What we all share is a willingness to journey within, to expand our horizons, and to live with more joyful aliveness.
What happens in an Introductory Evening?
An introductory evening of beginners Tantra consists of several short meditations and exercises to convey the spirit of Diamond Light Tantra. These are interspersed with explanations of Tantric Techniques and verbal sharing of experiences, as well as questions and answers. The experiential elements may include movement and breathing meditations, verbal sharing, dance, eye contact, and some gentle physical contact. The spirit of the evening is one of gentleness, playfulness, respect and inner observation. Participants are fully clothed, and as in all Diamond Light Tantra workshops, you always have choice as to whether, and to what degree, you engage in a particular structure.
Should you wish to continue on the Tantric path, information and guidance will be given on where to go from here.
What should I wear?
Please wear loose comfortable clothing appropriate for sitting on the floor and for gentle movement.
People with physical disabilities
People with physical disabilities are welcome. Please inform us beforehand so that we can do our best to accommodate your specific requirements.
Introductory evenings are an excellent way to sample the flavour of Tantra. These evenings are for complete beginners to Tantra, as well as for those who would like a gentle "refresher", and for those who have experienced Tantra with other teachers and would like to see what's special about Diamond Light Tantra. Both couples and individuals are welcome.
If you are in a couple, you will share the experiential exercises together. If you come as an individual, you will meet several other people, generally of the other sex. The groups are more-or-less evenly balanced in terms of men and women, although for these evenings we do not guarantee an exact match. In all the mixed weekend workshops, the numbers of men and women will be equal. Participants in Tantra workshops are of all ages, from 20s to 60s, and from all backgrounds and professions, from students to merchant bankers. What we all share is a willingness to journey within, to expand our horizons, and to live with more joyful aliveness.
What happens in an Introductory Evening?
An introductory evening of beginners Tantra consists of several short meditations and exercises to convey the spirit of Diamond Light Tantra. These are interspersed with explanations of Tantric Techniques and verbal sharing of experiences, as well as questions and answers. The experiential elements may include movement and breathing meditations, verbal sharing, dance, eye contact, and some gentle physical contact. The spirit of the evening is one of gentleness, playfulness, respect and inner observation. Participants are fully clothed, and as in all Diamond Light Tantra workshops, you always have choice as to whether, and to what degree, you engage in a particular structure.
Should you wish to continue on the Tantric path, information and guidance will be given on where to go from here.
What should I wear?
Please wear loose comfortable clothing appropriate for sitting on the floor and for gentle movement.
People with physical disabilities
People with physical disabilities are welcome. Please inform us beforehand so that we can do our best to accommodate your specific requirements.
Diamond Light Tantra workshops can support couples of all ages and in all walks of life to reawaken and deepen the magical spark of pleasure, meaning, fulfilment and bliss in their sexual-loving connection.
Individuals find that it can enable them to become more complete, compassionate, joyful and ecstatic in themselves, and that their connections with others are correspondingly enriched.
Diamond Light Tantra is for lovers and would-be lovers of all ages and walks of life who have a genuine desire to look deeply into themselves. It is for those who have the willingness to let go of trodden paths, in order to make way for perceiving a magical new world that the soul already knows.
The Tantric massage for women including yoni massage is a beautiful ritual to share between lovers, and practitioners offer this opportunity to those who are not in a couple, or whose partners are not Tantrically inclined, to receive a delicious, sacred sexual and emotional experience. This is good. Tantric massage can be profound.
I am, however, concerned about the reputation of whole field of Tantric massage, as it is clearly not regulated (and how could it be? Except from within the field by way of clients taking the time to educate themselves and research their practitioner). Anyone can call themselves a Tantric masseur.
What's the difference between a tantric massage and an erotic massage?
The difference between a Tantric massage and an erotic massage can be nebulous, even to those in the field, and I would see it more as a continuum. Some factors to bear in mind in terms of the distinction are:
1. That the practitioner truly enjoys what they are doing, and cares about the client.
2. Whereas the client may be attracted to the practitioner, the client's focus is on their own real experience in their body, rather than on the practitioner as a sex object.
3. The practitioner is empowering the client, guiding them to receive, open up and grow in new ways.
4. The client is allowing sexual energy to travel through the whole of their body, in a relaxed way. The focus is on aliveness and presence rather than release.
5. The practitioner can receive and contain the client's emotional expressions, in a context that is in service of the client.
6. The energy of arousal is in service of bringing more keenly to the surface the client's inner world, and directing them to new places beyond their previous experience. It does not override sensitivity, emotions or interpersonal intimacy. It is not compulsive, tense, disconnected or shameful.
7. There is a quality of innocence.
As someone who practiced Tantric massage in the past, I often question the motivations of those who choose this line of work. People's overt reasonings - such as wanting to celebrate Sacred Sexuality, to love and honour the other sex, often have a deeper layer of significance too. Offering a sexual service - be it a sacred or mundane one - can be a re-enactment of past events - it can also be an unconscious attempt to heal or resolve them. It may also be a means of receiving love and approval and sexual attention from the other sex.
If the practitioner is not conscious of these hidden motivations (which may be hidden from the practitioner themselves) then this will affect the client. The client will often feel and want to feed these desires, and the client can become attached to the practitioner, investing their sexual energy and fantasies in that person, in such a way that diminishes their availability for intimacy with a love partner in their lives. In this way the client is empowered to a degree, but trapped in another. On the other hand, if the practitioner is self-aware, highly trained and skilled in working with these erotic feelings, in service of the client, then magnificent opportunities exist. The only way I believe to work effectively in these circumstances is if the practitioner has some therapeutic and training and ongoing supervision. In addition, this level of clarity and integrity is exceptionally difficult to achieve unless the practitioner themselves are in a fulfilling intimate relationship.
What I offer differs from Tantric massage in that I'm a teacher, rather than a practitioner. I offer facilitation - transformational guidance in the realm of the deep inner work of awakening intimacy in relationship, integrating sex, love and meditation, and embodying the principles of Tantra in one's life. Tantric massage can open the door. It can take you to previously unknown realms of expansion, love and aliveness. In order to step through that doorway and claim this experience as yours, to celebrate Tantra as a way of life, and integrate it into your relationship, then deep transformational work is required. So there's no competition, just synergy.
Diamond Light Tantra workshops are constructed in Levels, from 1 to 8 or 9. Participants learn stepwise principles of becoming orgasmic in the whole of their body and being, becoming more still, sensitive, present and connected with their partner, experiencing their energy body by means of the chakra system, giving and receiving honouring touch. Touch is one element in a whole cocktail of what Tantra can be. Exercises and meditations are interspersed with space for participants to share their experiences and to ask questions, and to receive guidance in terms of their own unique relationship to the material.
The proliferation of companies providing Tantric massage does not undermine the work that is taught in bona fide Tantra schools, as there are clearly so many differences, as described above. However, it does confuse people's association of the word Tantra with sexual services. Economically there is no competition as a) people who are genuinely on the personal growth path and who want to be empowered, if they encounter and enjoy Tantric massage, will be drawn to its source and will seek out Tantra tuition in order to be able to live the bliss and ecstasy that Tantric massage can provide for themselves, in their own love relationship and in their lives. Also b) those who do not seek expansion, growth or empowerment would not have been drawn to tantra courses anyway!
I recommend approaching an established teacher and school. Look for: How long have they been practising? What training have they had? With whom? Do they have any written / spoken materials - books, CDs, DVDs, to give you a flavour or their approach? Search the web for testimonials and dialogues. Attend an introductory course.
between tantric massage and the tantra courses Diamond Light Tantra runs?
In the groups that I run, the yoni and vajra / lingam (Tantric words for penis) healing massage is offered in Level 6 of an ongoing training, in a closed group of participants. This means that the same participants commit to working together for the period of approximately 7 months, and get to know each other very well, developing understanding, trust and respect. These people have already worked with me for the preliminary levels, and met pre-requisites, and been vetted on several parameters. The workshop is facilitated by highly trained facilitators (I have been teaching for 15 years, and my co-teacher, Mark is a Psychotherapy trainer and supervisor with over 14 years' Tantra experience). The group are prepared in such a way that the psycho-emotional context for touching a woman's yoni is deeply embedded in them. It is a profound act to massage a woman's yoni with healing intent. It is a sacred act of devotion, and there has been nearly a year's preparation for this. Yoni and vajra / lingam healing and it may bring to the surface past trauma, from more everyday concerns such as insensitive pelvic examinations or unpleasant sexual experiences from the past to traumatic childbirth and sexual abuse. Participants have been prepared for this to occur, and are ongoingly supervised by the facilitators and assistants. The outcome is usually deeply transformational and often blissful.
In the Diamond Light Tantra trainings, the massage is only offered 1:1 by couples, to their beloved. Individuals work in 3s, where one person is the 'guardian of yoni' and the other the 'guardian of the heart' and the two of these people are purely in service of the one receiving the massage. This diminishes the intensity of the relationship element of this intimate exchange, and yet even in this situation powerful feelings, often attraction and deep love, will emerge both ways between the givers and receivers of such a massage. The training that I offer is constructed in such a way that those feelings are talked about and contextually explored within the group. This group, incidentally, have signed a training contract that no individual participant in the group will have sexual intercourse with any other individual course participant for the duration of the training. This is in service of containing and understanding the deep erotic forces that come into play when sexual energy is awakened, especially where this involves direct genital contact. These attractions and feelings can be harnessed in service of the intention of Tantra - directly experiencing Love, Truth and Oneness - by means of specific Tantric meditations.
Tantra acknowledges the differences between men and women, physically and energetically, and sees them as complementary polarities, like a lock in a key. It is the next step on from the early feminist refrain that 'women are equal to men'.
It supports equality and true honouring, whilst allowing both men and women to celebrate their differences and surrender to their innate gifts. For example, it is often seen as a problem that men are more ready for sex, whilst women crave intimacy. Tantra acknowledges the naturalness of these primary impulses, and offers meditations to capitalise on this and take attraction and sexual fulfilment to new dimensions, based on this complementary difference of polarities.
