Tantric yoga is focused on expanding consciousness. The meaning of tantric is expansion. This form of yoga is centered on realizing what is called the Supreme Reality. Although this type of yoga is often associated with sex, this is actually a misnomer.
In order to achieve the goal of tuning into the spiritual energy to realize the supreme reality, the practitioner needs to bring the male and female aspects of the individual into harmony. This is where this form of yoga is often mistaken for meaning sex between men and women.
According to Sri Swami Sivananda, a pre-eminent guru, there are certain qualities which the Tantric student must possess. These include faith, purity, and devotion, dedication to their guru, humility, truthfulness, cosmic love, contentment and non covetousness. According to Sri Swami Sivananda, the absence of these qualities leads to abuse of tantric.
This form of yoga is complicated and requires understanding of the spiritual texts and the mystic language contained in the texts. For this reason, this is not a form of yoga that is practiced at home for true understanding and growth.
Students interested in exploring this form of yoga should learn from a guru to help the student understand the text and put the information contained in the scriptures into practice.
There are workshops, studios and one day meditation workshops that are devoted to Tantric yoga. These resources can be found in many major cities in countries around the world. In addition, some gurus provide traveling workshops in which they bring this information to students in cities far from the guru’s home.
Because Tantric yoga is so often misunderstood and confused with sexual pleasure only, it is important to evaluate the source of any information. The focus solely on sex can be found in articles, books and even some workshops claiming to teach this form of yoga.
If you are interested in exploring tantric yoga, choose your guru carefully to ensure they are teaching the true spiritual practice and not exploiting the practice only for the purpose of physical satisfaction. There is far more to it than that.