upward and downward and notice where (and how easily) habitual tensions reassert themselves, and
relax! Make scanning and consciously relaxing tense parts an ongoing process. Notice how every “let
go” is usually followed by a sense of inner cellular expansion. Men report that consciously relaxing
the anus and buttocks repeatedly while making love reduces the pressure to ejaculate. More “space”
is created internally, and the life force is able to circulate and expand through the rest of the body.
Position for Rest and Relaxation
Aligning Your Spine for Presence, Awareness, and Sensitivity
The ideal horizontal position for relaxation is with the head, neck, and spine aligned in one straight
line, not even a few millimeters out of alignment, and with the head centered and not rolled to one
side. Your legs should be straight and slightly apart, and the ankles should not be crossed. Place a
narrow, soft pillow (or rolled blanket) directly under the crease behind the knees to create a slight
curving and softening of the knee joint. Place a flat, firm, small pillow (or folded towel) under your
head. Tuck your chin to your chest and straighten your neck before placing the pillow in position. The
pillow should support the lengthening stretch of your spine so there is not too much of a curve in the
neck. If the chin is pointing almost directly upward and not tilted toward the chest, use a slightly
deeper pillow (or give the towel another fold) to lift the head an additional few inches and create
length, which reduces the curve in the neck and brings the level of the chin down. Place your open
hands palm down on the groin area, on either side of your pubic bone. Allow your breathing to
become deep and slow. Scan the body and relax tensions. Rest quietly with your eyes softly closed
for at least twenty minutes, holding awareness in your body generally, or in the home in your body as
discovered in the first exercise.
Tantric Meditation
Peace Pervading Armpits
Lie in a relaxed position, as suggested in the alignment exercise above, for twenty minutes or more.
Close your eyes, taking your awareness into your body. Start just between the two armpits and with
your total attention “pervade an area between the armpits into great peace.” Forget your whole body;
remember the heart area between the two armpits and your chest, and feel it filled with great peace.
When the body is more relaxed, peace automatically happens in your heart; it becomes more silent
and harmonious. Done frequently, this practice will establish peace within you and make you feel
more independent, and love will be more of a giving; you’ll have so much peace, you’ll want to share
it. You will be returning to a source in yourself that is always there.
Extending Awareness of the Physical and Energetic Bodies
Tantric Meditation for Growing in Consciousness
As you lie in the aligned position already described, you can deepen your experience by closing your
eyes and imagining yourself looking backward into your body. Imagine that vision is reversed and
your eyes can look inward and downward into yourself, even as far as your genitals. Breathe deeply
and slowly into your belly, as if the breath is massaging your insides and touching your genitals.
Continually pull your attention back into your body and use the subtle sensations in it as an anchor.
Deliberately disconnect from distracting thoughts when they pop into your mind. Let them float away,
and instead return home and immerse yourself in the body so that you feel a sense of resting deep
within. The sensation of being submerged in yourself. Travel with your awareness to any places in the
body that are tingling, pleasant, alive, or warm, or where fine vibrations are present, and be with
them, dissolve into them. Notice how inner sensations expand when you take the time to feel and
acknowledge them.
At a certain point, once the practice of immersing into and merging with your senses takes root, the
feeling of your having physical boundaries will disappear; you will feel as if you dissolve and
become as light as a feather, bathed in golden light, floating suspended in the universe. You are, but
you are not. In this way you can grow in consciousness until every cell is penetrated with light. The
moment consciousness touches the cells, they are different. The very quality of the cells changes.
Sensuality is gradually awakened as consciousness filters through the body.
You can set a clock alarm for the amount of time you wish to devote to the experience, or you may
leave it up to your inner clock to spontaneously return you to normal consciousness, with the sense of
having lost all track of time. You are likely to notice that afterward you feel refreshed and
rejuvenated, as though you have had a drink directly from the source of life. It is also beneficial to
practice this meditation before sleeping at night and at any time during the day when you need to
recharge your energy.
Awakening the Rod of Magnetism
Bringing Attention from the Head to the Perineum
This visualization will help you shift attention away from the head of the penis, where it goes
automatically because it is there that intense pleasure is experienced. Envision your penis as a
channel or conduit, and refocus your attention on the base of your penis, in the area of the perineum.
The perineum, a small, coin-sized area of knotty muscle lying directly in front of the anus, is virtually
the root of the penis and is its energetic source. It is where the muscles and tissues that form the penis
initially emerge from your body. Begin to visualize your penis as a channel for potency, warmth, and
love. Imagine it to be a wand or fountain of light and liquid gold that emanates from the perinium and
streams along its length.
When you begin to make love and feel the heat rising, bring your attention to the perineum.
Consciously relax the entire area, including the anus. When you notice your attention start to drift—
there are, after all, abundant distractions—you may notice that the pelvic floor area once again
contracts and tightens. Repeatedly relaxing the anus and maintaining awareness of the base, the
perinium, will give you an inner feeling of your penis as a complete unit, rather than a disembodied
tool for thrusting. It instead becomes a divine instrument capable of channeling subtle energies that
flow or stream from the root upward to the radiant head and beyond into your receptive partner. Be
aware of your breath and of the subtle sensations deep within your physical core as your inner rod of
magnetism awakens. Notice how the life force rises to caress your heart into vibrant aliveness.
When you make love with your partner, take this awareness of the inner rod of magnetism with you
and relax into the receptive containment of your partner’s vagina, knowing that there is nothing to be
done but relax and notice how energies awaken, flow, expand, simply because you put your attention
there.
PERSONAL SHARING BY MAN
It is like a new beginning—a tentative and vulnerable new beginning. Getting to know both in theory and in experience
that by placing awareness and presence inside my body, energies begin to flow, all by themselves, and that then can
mingle with those of my partner. A very important shift was seeing my penis and my role as a male as being noble and that
my “task” is to be fully present in my penis and ultimately deep in the vagina. Nothing more, and this is my deepest
longing.
I feel, more than ever before, that I can direct my attention into my body, my home, my perineum. Especially honoring
and focusing on my perineum gave me great joy when it responded by radiating beautiful energies. Overall this attention
to my body, and the fact of doing more exercise, has allowed me to relax more deeply, calming my mind, releasing
chronic restlessness.
I truly see this approach to the body and sex as the deepest form of peace work for the planet. Personally and
collectively I see it absolutely necessary for healing.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS AND RESOURCES
BOOKS AND RESOURCES BY OSHO
The Book of Secrets. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998.
My Way: The Way of the White Clouds. Pune, India: Rebel Publishing House, 1995.
Sex Matters: From Sex to Superconsciousness. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2003.
The Tantra Experience. Pune, India: Rebel Publishing House, 1998.
Tantra: The Supreme Understanding. Pune, India: Rebel Publishing House, 1998.
Tantric Transformation. Pune, India: Rebel Publishing House, 1998.
For more information about Osho and to purchase books and CDs, visit www.osho.com.
BOOKS AND RESOURCES BY BARRY LONG
Love Brings All to Life. Audio CD
Making Love 1 & 2. Audio CD (Sexual Love the Divine Way)
Raising Children in Love, Justice, and Truth. London: Barry Long Books, 1998.
Stillness Is the Way. London: Barry Long Books, 1989. To purchase these products from Barry Long,
visit www.barrylong.org.
BOOKS AND RESOURCES BY DIANA AND MICHAEL RICHARDSON
Richardson, Diana. The Heart of Tantric Sex: A Unique Guide to Love and Sexual Fulfillment.
Alresford, Hant, U.K.: O Books, 2003. [Originally published by Thorsons/Element in 1999 as The
Love Keys: The Art of Ecstatic Sex.]
——— . MaLua: Light Meditation for Women. Guided breast meditation CD with music
(English/German language). Cologne, Germany: Innenwelt Verlag, 2009.
———. Tantric Love Letters. Alresford, Hant, U.K.: O Books, 2011.
———. Tantric Orgasm for Women. Rochester, Vt.: Destiny Books, 2004.
——— . Slow Sex: Making Love a Meditation. Rochester, Vt.: Destiny Books, 2011.
Richardson, Diana, and Michael Richardson. Tantric Love: Feeling versus Emotion—Golden Rules
to Make Love Easy. Alresford, Hant, U.K.: O Books, 2009. [First published in German in 2006.]
To purchase books or CDs, visit www.livingloveshop.com. For further book information, visit
www.love4couples.com or www.livinglove.com.
Translations of some books are available in German, Spanish, Swedish, French, Italian, and
Chinese.
FURTHER RECOMMENDED READING
Robinson, Marnia. Cupid’s Poisoned Arrow: From Habit to Harmony in Sexual Relationships. New
York: Random House, 2009.
Rosenberg,
Marshall. Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life. Encinitas, Calif.:
PuddleDancer, 2003.
Tolle, Eckhart. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose. New York: Penguin Books, 2006.
Zurhorst, Eva-Maria. Love Yourself and It Doesn’t Matter Who You Marry! Carlsbad, Calif.: Hay
House, 2007.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Diana Richardson was born in KwaZulu, South Africa. She holds a law degree (B.A.LL.B) from the University of Natal, Durban, South Africa, and has taught therapeutic massage since 1978. In 1979
she became a disciple of Indian mystic Osho and began a personal inquiry into tantra—the union of
sex and meditation—inspired by Osho and tantric master Barry Long.
Through the integration of these different sources in her own experience, a unique body of work on
“generative sex,” or “cool sex,” has emerged, which represents an evolutionary step for the human
being. The essence of the teaching is encapsulated in the simple, practical, and highly effective “Love
Keys.” Since 1993 Diana has led “Making Love” seminars for couples with her partner, Michael
Richardson.
Michael Richardson was born in Germany and attended the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart. He teaches tantra and t’ai chi—yang style as taught by Master Chu—as well as the
Gurdjieff sacred dances, practices shiatsu, and is a musician. In 1985 he became a disciple of Indian
mystic Osho. His thirty years experience of meditation in movement through the practice of t’ai chi
planted the roots of his perception of energy within the tantric dimension.
Couples travel from different parts of the world to participate in Diana and Michael’s informative
and life-changing workshops in Switzerland. They are pioneers in the sphere of human sexuality and
among today’s leading authorities on the subject. They have published several books about the
essence of tantra—the union of sex and meditation—and the practical ways a person can experience a
more fulfilling love and life.
“MAKING LOVE”—A TANTRA MEDITATION RETREAT FOR COUPLES
The authors facilitate weeklong retreats in Switzerland and guide couples in the art of tantra. For
more information on these retreats, please visit their websites listed below.
www.livinglove.com
www.love4couples.com
You may contact Diana and Michael by e-mail at the following address.
[email protected]
ABOUT INNER TRADITIONS • BEAR & COMPANY
Founded in 1975, Inner Traditions is a leading publisher of books on indigenous cultures, perennial
philosophy, visionary art, spiritual traditions of the East and West, sexuality, holistic health and