Walking with Light

Tantric massage is about connection, vitality, pleasure, slowing down, being in deep intimacy with your self and an other. Too often, sexual and sensual experience and interaction is something rushed and/or goal driven. Introducing mindfulness practices into our every day life can impact the more intimate and relational side of our lives.

I live in the Forest of Dean and I am literally a couple of steps away from magical woodland and the River Wye, albeit a currently suffering river. Every morning I go for a walk and one of the personal mindfulness I would like to share is the practice of walking with light. This is about holding a single-pointed focus, an intention that is the anchor for the walk. I set out and look for the sunlight on leaves and bark, or the sun itself through the trees, I notice the different qualities of light such as brilliant sparkles or soft glows. The first thing that happens of course is that in order to find the light, I have to slow down, surrender to the moment and walk very gently and consciously in order to find the light. So I slow right down. The second thing that happens is that I see so many things I would normally pass by. By holding this specific intention, by narrowing my focus, I see so much more. It seems like a paradox. The third thing that happens is that everything becomes incredibly alive and unique. Everything is thrumming with vitality, beauty, life and light. And the fourth thing that happens, for me, will usually be some kind of insight to a problem or an issue I have been mulling over in my life.

For those wanting to explore tantra, these kinds of simple practices are invaluable. They are where attention, surrender and the sensory experience meet. They make us more sensitive, more delicate and alive and it is in the cultivation of these beautiful qualities that are part of making a tantric experience so special.