TantraNova Man Show Withstands Major Blackout

You may have heard the Northeast just had its 1^st major snowstorm this past weekend coinciding with Elsbeth's and my trip to Kripalu in Western Massachusetts to teach our annual couples workshop and perform the TantraNova Man show.

The night of my show on Saturday the snow had come down in droves. As the people began to file into the performance hall and all the seats were filled to capacity at about 250 people the show proceeded as it usually does. The primordial music starts to play and I appear wrapped in a bag symbolic of the single celled amoeba as life began.  In the show I sing and tell stories for an hour or so. I also have multimedia running in the background to create a certain atmosphere and to dramatize the story. While I do use an acoustic drum most of my stage support is electronic – a drum synthesizer, a head mike, sound and lights.  

And now - it happened: A half hour into the show a flickering of the lights occurred and then..... the power went out all together. Some rustling of the crowd…however, I kept in character and continued with my lines as if nothing had changed - though now without a mike, spot lights, sound or any amplification. Fortunately the emergency lights over the exit doors next to the stage had come on and shone a mild light onto the scene. I returned to my beginnings years ago when I did the whole show acoustically.

A major blackout for millions in the North East as we later found out!

I continued my performance with a new sense of freedom in the face of what might have seemed a disaster. What showed up for me was profound -- no distraction from electronics, visual gadgetry, multi-media or a failing head mike to worry about.  It was like singing and telling stories with acoustic drum and voice by candlelight with about 250 people for moments of connection and stillness that will always be with me. And what I was reminded of was to be open to the unexpected -- it's in this mindlessness that magic can happen.   

Upon completion of the show, people came up to me in awe about holding the performance space and energy with such command of the stage, without blinking an eye and keeping the audience even more captivated. "Masterful" one exclaimed. They shared that they initially thought that the lights going out were part of the show ... yet quickly noticed that it was not so.

For myself I noticed that I had hit another level of performance and presence ... no matter what!!!

www.tantranovaman.com

TantraNova through the Eyes of a College Student

The date:         September 7th, 2011

The place:        TantraNova Institute in Chicago, Illinois

The reason:      An Introductory Workshop to TantraNova

Now you may be wondering who I am. My name is Magie Fotovatian and I am currently a college student doing her undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago.  I have known Elsbeth and Freddy for a couple of years because I attended their first youth program. Elsbeth kindly invited me to attend this Introduction and I gladly accepted the invitation as I wanted to be refreshed on what I had learned or forgotten at the youth program. I arrived with my friend at the appointed time and we were greeted immediately by that workshop’s assistant, Bob. We were graciously ushered in and directed upstairs where Elsbeth and Freddy were waiting to greet all of the workshop’s attendees.

I have to admit, I was a bit nervous. My nervousness arose from not knowing the people who were coming and how much I would be asked to share or what we would be doing. My friend and I are teenaged college students, so we felt we might feel a bit out of place. However, there was a wide-range of people who attended from married couples to singles as well as people of varying ages. So while I may be young, I did not feel out of place at all.

Enough of the preliminary stuff, let’s get into what we actually did and what we, or at least I, experiences.  Like I said, I was a bit nervous but my mind was soon put at ease when we began our first meditation of the night: the Guided Light Meditation led by Freddy Zental. We were asked to focus our minds on our breathing, the expanding of our belly, in order to relax our minds and to forget the random dialogues in our head. Freddy told us to follow a light, slowly, from the bottom of our feet to the top of our head. He asked to focus on how each area felt as he told us to follow this ball of light we were envisioning throughout our bodies. As we did this exercise, I felt a pounding headache as we reached the “third eye”, but this soon passed as we continued to the crown of our heads. I was confused and told my friend about it once we had finished the meditation and were asked to share our experience with a neighbor. I did not think much of it until we got to the next exercise.

The next meditation called "Chakra Listening Practice" was to help us become attuned to our chakras as well as to connect them and to guide our breathing.  We started by sitting on our right hand and breathing deeply, focusing our breath and imagining it going out of our base center (or chakra) into the pillow we were sitting on. We went up through the next six chakras, focusing on our breathing constantly and taking a moment to notice how we felt and what we might sense in the various energy centers. I was perfectly relaxed and at ease until we got to our “third eye”. My head felt cloudy and was beating with my heart. Then it hit me, why I had felt the headache in the previous mediation. My third eye had been constricted; it had felt disconnected from the rest of my body and specifically my heart chakra, hence the beating.  Once I recognized this and allowed myself to continue breathing and opening up this channel for connection, my headache disappeared.  I was once again relaxed and at peace. For me, this was the most eye-opening exercise of the workshop.  It seemed to me to be exactly what I needed, what I had been looking for out of this experience. 

I found myself more relaxed and open during the course of the two-hour introduction.  I had forgotten my previous fears of not knowing people or being asked to share too much. However, the evening was easy-going and we were never forced to share anything we did not want to. The night for me was a perfect refresher course and really revitalized me. I wish to continue learning all I can and to keep on meditating and improving myself through what Elsbeth and Freddy taught me years ago. I know, however, that not everyone who attends the Introduction is as lucky as I was to have attended the youth program or have any knowledge about Tantra.  My friend’s primary concern was his total dearth of knowledge on the subject. He told me afterwards that he had never felt lost during the workshop and there was nothing that had confused him.  In fact, he took away so much from the evening that he wished to come back and learn whatever else he could learn at TantraNova.

To conclude (I’m a college student, how else am I supposed to end this blog?), the Introduction was an amazing experience that ignited in me a passion to learn more about tantric practices as a way to get closer to myself. The workshop went by easily, enjoyably, and freely. What I gathered from the workshop experience was that anybody of any age, profession or religion can attend and truly enjoy themselves. What is required though is an open mind that is free to enjoy whatever experience might come up during the workshop. This is not hard though as Elsbeth and Freddy are incredibly engaging, humorous and helpful, so the night ends up just being a breeze and you actually end up learning something about yourself.

At the end of the Introduction, practice materials were readily available for sale such as TantraNova’s Foundational Practices CD (which I myself have a partial copy due to the youth program, so this comes highly recommended) as well as some DVDs that reflect what is taught during their seminars.

I definitely feel that if you want to experience something interesting or get closer to yourself, that you attend the Introduction to do just that and carry home with you some materials to continue the magic once the night is done. If you want to learn more, then you could always just come back to the TantraNova Institute and attend one of their workshops or have a private session with Elsbeth and Freddy Zental (trust me, they don’t bite).

The results: An awesome, self-informative, educational, intriguing and fun night.

Sexual Intelligence Part II

Continuing the conversation on "Sexual Intelligence"...This is an interesting time in history when science and spirituality are saying the same thing...We are one!  It's all energy...Energy manifests in many different ways the unique thing about sexual energy in its physical manifestation is that its creative and pleasurable.

Creativity and pleasure show up everywhere in life where we live, the people that we surround ourselves with, or the work we do. Learning practices of sex consciousness and focus working with sexual energy, creativity and pleasure start showing up as a default way of being in the simple process of living itself.

Intention: The intention of bringing something new into your life i.e., love, money, happiness, requires a lot of areas of conscious focus and awareness.  In the practice of sex consciousness in the TantraNova  approach we become more intimately familiar with feelings, emotions and energy as it manifests in its creative life force form or "Sexual Intelligence", thus creating more possibility in manifesting one's intentions in this physical reality.

Continuing to develop your observer or witness state of mind  is the first critical step in accessing Sexual Intelligence.   A meditation practice that resonates with you is  important. There are many meditation practices - active, passive,  social and sexual. Sexual meditation is probably the most difficult one to master because we are so automated  to become completely lost and swept up in the pleasure and drama.  Nothing wrong with pleasure however being conscious requires practice. One of the aspects that makes sexual meditation practice so powerful  is that physically, chemically, emotionally and spiritually we become more intimately connected, loving and vulnerable.  This allows a magnified accessibility to the unconsciousness that we bring as a backdrop to creating our intentions in this physics.

To learn more about sexual-spiritual connection and a greater  intimate access to your dreams, intentions, love, intimacy  and creativity,  please contact TantraNova Institute.

Finding Intimacy: Master Your Breathing and Calm the Unending Chatter in Your Mind

Breath is the essence of life. From our first moments fresh from the womb until the last sigh of death we are breathing. Most of the time we breathe reflexive without thinking; inhaling and exhaling  our way through morning routines, work, train rides, exercise, and sleep. Using the breath consciously as a tool is the first step to entering the mindful world of intimacy and love. When we are present with our breath we can reach a place of focus, stillness, and inner peace that allows us to go deeper into ourselves and our experiences. Using conscious breathing practices enables us to calm the incessant chatter of the mind and become a witness to our thoughts, feelings, and sensations. When we are in this place of observing ourselves, we stop being our feelings and instead are aware of and not run by them. 

For example, when feeling angry, a common response is to “see red” or “lose your head” and become so angry that it takes over every part of your consciousness. By using conscious breathing in moments like these, you can retain your sense of self and clarity of mind and be aware that you feel angry giving space and distance to the state of feeling instead of being swept away by the feeling. It is the difference between: “I AM ANGRY!” and “I feel anger.” In one way the anger is so apart of your state of being that it becomes who you are just as you might say, “Hi, I’m George.” Mindfully, through focus and breath, you can separate yourself and become the observer of your feelings so that “I’M ANGRY” is changed to “I am George and I feel angry.”  Breath is the key to unlocking the inner worlds of yourself in order to live from a place of peace. It is only from this place of calm and peace that we can sit with ourselves, know ourselves, and then begin to know another.

Lauren is a fresh faced 25-year-old woman just getting her feet wet in the grownup world. She is independent, responsible, and motivated. Since high school she has always had a boyfriend and referred to herself as a “serial monogamist.” She described that having a boyfriend gave her the chance to express her loving, nurturing, caring side that was very much a part of her joy. When one relationship fell apart for some reason or another, Lauren was often quick to find someone else to fill that need for feeling love and being loved.

She had left her past relationship feeling disappointed, annoyed, confused, and jaded about love. She described always putting so much into a relationship and the other person but never getting enough back from her partner. She would take the initiative setting up dates, romantic outings, and always gave the best and most thoughtful gifts. She thought of herself as good at relationships and a great partner, and probably was for many of the men that she dated, but yet Lauren always felt unfulfilled by her partners. She often found their faults and very rarely recognized her own feelings, expectations, and behaviors that contributed to the relationship losing its spark or coming to an end. Not one of her partners was able to give her what she gave them and satisfy her need for feeling loved.

Upon moving to Chicago during one of her rare single stretches, Lauren was introduced to TantraNova and started working with conscious breath, energy awareness and the “observer”.   She learned to be present to what is in the moment and develop that non-judgmental observer to her thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.  Lauren started to see that although her partners weren’t perfect, they weren’t all to blame either. She started sharing that she might be looking to others to love and be loved because there was something within herself that felt empty and craved love and attention. In one realization, she made the connection that perhaps it wasn’t her partners who didn’t love her enough, but that she didn’t love, nurture and care for herself enough. She came to notice that she had often lost herself in her love relationships and was so busy showering her partners with love as an avoidance of feeling empty, loneliness and discomfort within herself.  

In the TantraNova approach we use the breath as a guide to come to the present moment. This allows for the inner “observer”, “watcher” or “witness” of one’s feeling states, emotions, physical sensations and the conversations in the mind to arise. Unlike animals, we as humans are able to self-reflect. Through linguistic capacity the human mind can interpret and give meaning to  life and circumstances. It’s designed that way. Yet, without focus and intention the mind goes on automatic chatter making up stories and meaning incessantly.

  

Here is what we mean by the “Observer”:

There was a moose walking through the forest moving along in its merry way. Then, suddenly a big tree fell right in front of her. The moose looked at the tree, lifted her nose and started smelling and nibbling on the twigs and leaves. Then the rain started to fall. The moose raised her head enjoying the rain drops falling on her face and tasting them. And with this she found her way around the fallen tree and continued on her journey.

Now, the human was walking through the forest. Then, suddenly a big tree fell right in front of him. The human looked angrily at the tree cursing and huffing: “Now I am going to be late for my meeting. And what about my wife and children and my retirement fund? I have to make a bridge to get where I need to go! What – and it is raining too?” Throwing up his hands in despair and disgust he exclaims: “Why me, God, why me?”

As Eckhart Tolle says "The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it. Be aware of the thoughts you are thinking. Separate them from the situation, which is always neutral, which always is as it is.”

Becoming the “moose” allows us to be in the present moment, witness what is, notice how one feels and watch the chatter, thoughts and interpretations in one’s mind. In the “moose” or witness state one gets to be connected with oneself, tap into stillness and peace – and that’s the space where we find intimacy.

We invite you to connect with your “moose” by offering the following practice:

Belly Breath Meditation

·         Sit comfortably in a chair or on a cushion on the floor

·         Close your eyes

·         Place your right hand on your belly right below the navel

·         Exhale all the air emptying yourself out

·         Take in a deep breath down into your belly expanding your belly like a big balloon

·         On the exhalation notice the belly flattening

·         Take in a deep breath again into the belly extending your belly into your hand

·         On the exhalation again notice the belly flattening

·         Continue breathing in this pattern for a total of 10 breaths

·         Inhaling witness the rising of your belly – exhaling witness the falling of your belly

Upon completion notice how you are feeling right now and how your body is feeling. Become aware of any sensations and your state of mind at the present moment. 

© 2011 TantraNova – Copyright Worldwide

The Discovery of Sexual-Spiritual Connection - DVD II REVIEW

This DVD offers intimate instruction to take your Tantra skills to the next level. In it, you are invited inside Freddy Zental’s and Elsbeth’s sacred space as they lead you through the women’s and men’s healing rituals. With their shared smiles and sighs, these two partners use massage, eye gazing, communication, acupressure, and breathing to awaken the goddess and sustain masculine energy together. So often in today’s culture spirituality and sexuality are separated, yet when they are combined and connected, infinite potentials can be reached for the individual and the couple.

The Discovery of the Sexual Spiritual Connection is a gateway into uniting the second and sixth chakras (and everything in between) in order to experience the sexual spiritual connection. This video illustrates what is possible for the individual and the couple as they bring their sacred and sexual beings together. 

In this “take home Tantra” approach, the DVD offers his and hers healings that enable each partner to connect with their own spiritual being while opening to their sexual life force energy. It builds on TantraNova’s Creating Intimacy and Love DVD putting TantraNova’s foundational practices of breathing, energy awareness and movement, communication and self-expression into action. 

Energetic blocks, memories or unpleasant feelings that are held physically in the yoni and may no longer serve are being released or healed. The healing allows the woman to work with and process anything that comes up with a compassionate partner. During her “healing ritual”, the woman is connecting to herself, in the present moment, supported by her partner who holds space for whatever comes up during the ritual. The man’s healing offers techniques for sustaining sexual energy and moving the energy up to the heart chakra and beyond by using the breath. This practice can create awareness and empowerment for the man as he is connected with his sexual-spiritual energy throughout his day and not just in a sexual encounter. 

These healing practices offer a model for creating a sexy-zen state of being for both partners as they give and receive. Freddy Zental and Elsbeth’s intimate moments caught on tape illustrate the bonding, connecting, and enlightening power of tantric healing and practices.

Review of TantraNova’s “Creating Intimacy and Love" DVD

By Lauren Zerbst

When the word Tantra comes to mind, one may think of ancient Eastern practices, intricate sex or images of naked gods and goddesses bursting with light and twisted into most difficult Kama Sutra positions. When you break it down, however, the word Tantra means “weaving” in Sanskrit. Tantra is a wonderful spiritual / sexual practice to weave the creativity and vitality of our own life force energy into our lives and relationships. 

The DVD Creating Intimacy and Love  by TantraNova is an outstanding resource for breaking down the mystical, abstract ideas of tantra and illustrating practices that are accessible to the Western worldview. The DVD is the bridge between the two worlds. It takes the ancient practice of tantra and combines it with the typical Western phrase, “Keep It Simple Stupid,” or K.I.S.S. In this context, it may be more appropriate to change the phrase to use the Sanskrit term Shakti that describes the divine feminine - so, integrating the East and West, we form the new phrase, “Keep It Simple, Shakti!” 

Integrating the Eastern and Western worldviews is what TantraNova does best and the DVD is no exception. The straightforwardness of the material does not take away from the critical sacredness of the tantric experience, but does break down the concepts into tangible ideas and practices.

The first K.I.S.S. approach of the DVD was wonderful in explaining the nature of life force energy, that is sexual in nature, and how to access it and use it in our daily lives to break down barriers, heal sexual wounds, increase awareness and presence, have more balance and satisfaction, harness sexual sustainment and empowerment, and an overall wholeness within ourselves. That may seem like an awful lot to get out of one DVD, but it really is possible if you remember to K.I.S.S.!

The DVD contains real couples and singles that are beginning their own tantric journey and the camera tags along to record their experiences. Dr. Elsbeth Meuth and Freddy Zental Weaver lead the group in breathing, meditation and movement exercises to get warmed up and connected with the present moment. Then, the participants are taught practices that can be used to increase the flow and longevity of life force or sexual energy that can be done alone or with a partner. There is space to grow emotionally, intimately and sexually when working with the practices on your own or with a partner, and does not involve doing “The Indian Headstand” (look it up) on the first try. Those looking for a way to have a deeper and more meaningful connection with ourselves, our bodies, and/or a lover can start here and take the first step on what is sure to be an enlightening journey.

This DVD is a great place to start! 
http://www.tantranova.com/intimacy-tantra-products/intimacy-dvds.html

Lauren Zerbst, MSW, is a freelance writer living in Chicago, IL. She holds a Master’s degree in Social Work.

Review of TantraNova Man Show by Lauren Zerbst

Everyone needs a hero. For ages boys and girls have looked up to Superman, Wonder Woman, firefighters, sports figures, and celebrities for inspiration. Heroes give us strength and courage to get through the day-to-day sufferings of life. They are role models for who we want to become when we grow up. When we do grow older, the action figures and posters of our heroes are often left in attics collecting dust. We may or may have grown into something like what our childhood heroes portrayed.

This weekend I was introduced to a new idea of a hero. The hero within. I discovered that we don’t need to look outside ourselves for a hero, but that each of us is a hero in ourselves that is on a personal quest. This idea was born out of a one-man show entitled TantraNova Man starring Freddy Zental Weaver. The show takes the audience on a journey through Freddy Zental’s own heroic journey to find creativity, joy, and pleasure in his life.

As the play opens, the audience sees the birth of intelligence, of the human form from the star dust of the universe. It is a beautiful and interpretive piece that leaves the audience eagerly anticipating what is to come. Through the show we look into defining moments of  Freddy Zental’s life as his own heroic quest is played out for our entertainment and learning. We are first introduced to a curious young boy who hears his parents making love and are taken along as he strives to attain the loving, sexually charged energy of his first experience with sex. The quest includes a very comic recreation of his first orgasm, a vulnerable scene in which the audience sits with his aloneness during his parent’s divorce, his love of basketball, falling in and out of love, and the rejection of the corporate world to create something more meaningful in his life.

Through Freddy Zental’s own musical creations and well-timed jokes, the audience is brought together and feels a sense of “oneness” and togetherness. The story on stage is left to be interpretive and synthesized into the audience members’ own heroic journey. It is the opportunity to break out and transcend our “Samsara” or cycle of suffering and be in the adventure, be in the moment, be in the collective energy.

At the end of the performance, the energy in the room is fulfilling and peaceful, yet buzzing with inspiration and arousal. You can see the difference on the faces of everyone in the audience, each getting something unique for him/herself out of Freddy Zental’s story.

TantraNova Man is more than a show, it is an experience. It opens the earholes and hearts of everyone in the room and encourages them to find their creative energy. It gives birth to the hero in all of us so each member leaves with courage, strength, and connection to his/her own superpowers that will enable their own individual quests. Individually audience members are inspired, and together, through the message of oneness, the whole audience is enlightened. I highly recommend!!

Lauren is a writer in Chicago and is in the process of completing her Master’s Degree in Social Work at Loyola University

Sexual Intelligence: The Key to Fulfillment and Joy

We usually speak about all kinds of intelligences such as I.Q., kinesthetic intelligence, emotional intelligence, etc. However, the term Sexual Intelligence isn’t very well known, nor is it something that is traditionally practiced and developed.  When we refer to Sexual Intelligence, we are speaking of an awareness and cultivation of life force energy, or sexual energy (also known in Sanskrit as Kundalini energy). Let’s look at the concept of energy further in order to bring greater awareness to Sexual Intelligence.

Energy is an elusive phenomenon, as it relates to human energy. We are all quite familiar with electrical energy, and how it runs through the wires to light up the light bulb. We are also aware of frequencies and that cell phones utilize frequencies to operate, and without these frequencies we wouldn’t be able to talk to and hear each other. The same is true of our vocal cords; if our vocal cords couldn’t produce vibrations or frequencies then we wouldn’t receive the frequencies in our ear drums, which would then translate into the perception of sound in the brain.  Just as electrical energy is essential in lighting the light, and frequencies are vital in communication, human energy is very essential—again, it is not something that we traditionally learn in high-school and college—because without it we would not be alive.  At the source of all human energy is sexual energy which is the most powerful energy given that it brings forth life.

We are familiar with this kind of energy in a more subtle way. Within the Western world we become aware of this energy when it shows up in procreation, or when we are having sex. Sexual energy, however, can be much bigger, vaster, and more potent beyond the mere experience during sex. It is the creative energy that can be used to acquire whatever we want to create in our lives such as our health, well-being, relationship or relationships, endeavors, and/or careers.

How can you experience and move your sexual or life force energy throughout your body? To answer this, let’s explore it through an exercise:

• Lie on your back on the floor or on a matt.
• Exhale all the air, emptying yourself totally out until you are out of breath.
• Take in a deep breath and feel the rise of your belly, followed by the chest.
• Visualize your breath moving all the way up, to the top of your head.
• On the exhalation send the breath from the top of the head all the way down, through your torso out of the base of your being into the floor.
• Then again, take in a deep breath, from the bottom of your being all the way up to the top of your head. You may want to visualize filling yourself up and on the exhalation emptying yourself out all the way down through your torso and out of the base into the floor.
• Then again take in a deep breath, filling yourself up all the way to the top of your head and then exhaling the breath all the way down and out of the base of your being.
• Continue with this kind of breathing for another 5 to 6 times and once you are completed with the last deep breath continue in your own rhythm of breathing and notice how you feel right now, notice any sensations in your body, any energy movement, any tingling, just be present to yourself.

This exercise is one example of how to start moving energetic breath (or Prana as it’s called in Sanskrit) up and down the body or the spine. In a more advanced state a student who cultivates his or her sexual intelligence can move this aroused energy through the body from the bottom all the way up to the top, and from the top all the way down to the bottom. With that capability the experience of moving the sexual energy alters. The aroused energy no longer resides just in the sexual center, or the second charka, it actually emanates throughout the body which allows for greater sustainability of pleasure and joy as well as an involvement of the whole body. Frequently this kind of experience is referred to as whole body orgasms, which opens up the possibility for multiple orgasms. At another time, we will discuss how Sexual Intelligence plays itself out between two people. 

Feel free to contact at us, either Dr. Elsbeth Meuth or Freddy Zental, at tantranova@tantranova.com with any questions or inquiries. www.tantranova.com