Tantra Tip of the Day- Be a Pleasure Artist

Experiencing pleasure on a daily basis is important to your health. Pleasure has many benefits. It helps you release tension, clear your mind and elevate your mood. When you experience pleasure, you brain releases hormones called endorphins that make you feel good. These hormones create a mild euphoria that has a positive effect on your entire body-mind. Pleasure does not mean over indulging. While eating one piece of chocolate cake may be pleasurable, eating three pieces could make you feel sick. When it stops feeling good then it is no longer pleasure.Integrating pleasure into your life will help you feel healthier and give you an over-all sense of well being.


4 Keys to Being a Pleasure Artist

1) Make pleasure a daily practice. Recognize its value and create space for it in your life.

2) Practice being present, rather than being lost in thoughts of past and future. Take presence breaks throughout the day, connect with your breath, and become aware of your body. Let go of thinking and be aware of the moment. Pleasure can only be experienced in the Now.

3) Heighten you sensory awareness. Pleasure is experienced through the senses. One way to discover more about how you perceive pleasure is by inviting some friends over and creating a sensory awareness ritual together. It s fun to do this blind folded as this heightens the other senses.

4) Pleasure is an art. Learn what gives you pleasure sexually. One of the best ways to do this is to self pleasure without a goal. Instead of being focused on achieving an orgasm, explore what gives you pleasure and see how much pleasure you can contain, allow your capacity for pleasure to grow. It is also fun to do this with your beloved watching, then he/she can learn new ways to make you feel good.

www.TantraForAwakening.com
www.TantraGal.blogspot.com
(c)Copyright by Crystal Dawn Morris 2009

Tantra Tip of the Day - "I AM THAT"

"I AM THAT" is a book recommended by Eckart Tolle and Adyashanti. This book is a collection of the timeless teachings of one of the great modern sages of India, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.

Nisargadatta Maharaj,a simple shopkeeper live in Bombay, and died there in 1981 at the age of 84. He was not formally educated, but came to be respected and loved for his insights into the causes of human suffering. Hundreds of seekers traveled to his humble home from all over the world to hear him speak. He gave them hope that "beyond the real experience is not the mind, but the self, the light in which everything appears...the awareness in which everything happens." His mission was to guide individuals to understand their true nature and as "timeless being."

Here are a few quotes from the book...

Nothing can trouble you but your own imagination. (I AM THAT p.113)

General knowledge develops the mind, no doubt. But if you are going to spend your life in amassing knowledge, you build a wall round yourself. To go beyond the mind, a well-furnished mind is not needed. (p50)

The window is the absence of the wall, and it gives air and light because it is empty. Be empty of al mental content, of all imagination and effort, and the very absence of obstacles will cause reality to rush in. (p260)

Leave it all behind you. Forget it. Go forth, unburdened with ideas and beliefs. Abandon all verbal structures, all relative truth, all tangible objectives. (p340)

All are mere words, of what use are they to you? You are entangled in the web of verbal definitions and formulations. Go beyond your concepts and ideas; in the silence of desire and thought the truth is found. (p295)

Too much analysis leads you nowhere. There is in you the core of being which is beyond analysis, beyond the mind. You can know it in action only. The legitimate function of the mind is to tell you what is not. But if you want possitive knowledge, you must go beyond the mind. (p341)

Before you can know anything directly, non-verbally, you must know the knower. So far, you took the mind for the knower, but it is not so. The mind clogs you up with images and ideas, which leave scars in memory. You take remembering to be knowledge. True knowledge is ever fresh, new, unexpected. It wells up from within. When you know what you are, you also are what you know. Between knowing and being there is no gap. (p520)

Consciousness, being a product of conditions and circumstances, depends on them and changes along with them. What is independent, uncreated, timeless and changeless and yet ever new and fresh is beyond the mind. When the mind thinks of it, the mind dissolves and only happiness remains. (p488)

[With self-awareness] you grow more intelligent. In awareness you learn, in self-awareness you learn about yourself. Of course, you can only learn what you are not. To know what you are, you must go beyond the mind. Awareness is the point at which the mind reaches out beyond itself into reality. In awareness you seek not what pleases, but what is true. (p346)

Stop making use of your mind and see what happens. Do this one thing thoroughly. That is all. (p197)

Here is a video about him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUyLIYVrd5U

Today see if you can feel the stillness that is always present beyond the mind's thoughts. Stop for moments throughout the day and be still. Allow "awareness" to become conscious. Know that you are this "Awareness," not the body/mind which you are occupying in this lifetime. Discover that which is never born and never dies. www.TantraGal.Blogspot.com
www.TantraForAwakening.com
(C) Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.

Tantra Tip of the Day - The Solstice and the Divine Masculine

Happy Summer Solstice! Happy Father’s Day!

Today, June 21, 2009 is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. The sunlight is associated with the masculine principle, making today the height of the masculine energy for the year. Each person has both masculine and feminine energies. Today is also Father’s Day the celebration of the male aspect of creation. Some of the qualities of the masculine are: being present, still, focused, directional, purposeful, confident and active, to name a few, the qualities that one often admires in a strong father figure.

Today take time to become aware of your relationship with your own inner masculine and your own inner father. Is this a part of yourself you are familiar with? Do you admire this part of yourself, deny it, love it or ignore it? Spend some time today celebrating the masculine principle of life. Also give you father a call if he is alive and if he has crossed over acknowledge him for the gifts you received from him.

www.TantraGal.Blogspot.com
www.TantraForAwakening.com
(C) Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.

Tantra Tip of the Day- You Do Not Have to Be Good

Wild Geese is a poem by Mary Oliver it begins with these lines-

You do not have to be good
You do not need to walk on your knees,
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only need to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.

I love this poem; it speaks to how much we all want to belong, to be connected with all the life around us. Today, "let the soft animal of your body love what it loves." What kind of animal are you? How does this animal body give and receive love? Feel into your relationship to loneliness and despair. Have compassion for your own suffering and the suffering of others. See if you can connect to the "family of things" that you are a part of, recognize you are never alone. You are life as well.

www.TantraGal.Blogspot.com
www.TantraForAwakening.com

OneTantra a New Tantra Vision and Community

A couple of weeks ago I told you about OneTantra, an amazing, new, online community that gives you to access to Tantra friends, groups and teachers. There were some technical problems that prevented people from being able to register. The have now been ironed out. They are offering some extra gifts as downloads to make up for any inconvenience you may have had.

I got involved because I believe OneTantra is about creating an ecstatic world. I will be facilitating several groups there, including a group about SkyDancing Tantra and a group about David Deida's Sexual Yoga.

OneTantra is an online community that's sort of a Learning Annex-meets-Facebook-in-TantraLand community. You can meet people there, both nearby or far away, who share your interest in Tantra. Looking for someone to practice with? This is a great place to find them, because it is a community of people who love Tantra and want to share it with others.

OneTantra is a place where you can study Tantra with a variety of great teachers. It is a place where you can ask questions, learn new practices and find like-minded others. I am on the faculty and will be teaching classes there next year.

Please come and explore this new Tantra Vision. Be a part of the Shift to higher consciousness. I'll see you there. When you join look for me and become my friend. I will be happy to help you get oriented to the site.

Because I'm one of the founding members, I was able to get you the first month free. Just go to my link here:

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=993586

Love and Light,
Crystal Dawn Morris
S.E.A.L. Team Member

You'll also get the OneTantra Manifesto for free as well. Check it out! http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=993586

If you decide to join, you will receive even more free gifts!

PS. Once again, go check it out here:
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=993586

The Tantra Tip of the Day- Pain, the Friend We Don't Appreciate

When pain arises, we just want it to stop. Why this? Why me? Why now? I don’t deserve this pain. Go away! If it is physical we often take drugs to make stop. If it is emotional we may stuff it away, deny it or numb out in a variety of ways. Rarely do we embrace it as a friend. Pain is just not appreciated.

When we are in great pain it may completely overwhelm us. There is nothing but the pain. It feels like it will never end. We become victims of our pain. Pain is this thing, outside of us, causing us harm.

Pain is not separate from who we are. Pain is a messenger we send to ourselves to communicate that something is not flowing, is out of alignment, and needs to shift so our energy can flow. Don’t shoot the messenger.

Pain is here to help; its purpose is to wake us up. What would happen if we saw pain as helpful friend? Instead of trying to get rid of it, we could greet it at the door and invite it in for tea. We could sit with it, listen to it and love it for showing up and sharing its truth with us.

My own experience with pain has been that when I push it away, it only gets more demanding. When I turn to face it and listen to what it as to say I can embrace it. Then I open, and then there is a shift that changes my whole perspective. I am not a victim anymore. Pain is my ally. We share a common desire, which is to be present, integrated and whole.

The next time you are in pain, instead of pushing it away. Face it and approach it as a friend. Ask questions. Listen deeply. Discover the gift hidden in the pain. Surrender, open, be present and love yourself.
www.TantraGal.Blogspot.com
www.TantraForAwakening.com
(C) Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.

Tantra Tip of the Day- Lucid Living

I read this great little book yesterday, called Lucid Living by Timothy Freke, http://www.timothyfreke.com/. It takes about one hour to read it, if you savory each word. I checked it out of the library. What I love about the book is that it is so simple and direct. The Good News, you can awaken today.

Here are 7 insights for waking up from the dream called life:

1-Life is a mystery.
2-Now is all you know.
3-You are not a person.
4-The world exists in you.
5-All is One.
6-You are a paradox.
7- Being one, is loving all.

Lucid living is whole heartedly engaging with ordinary life as an epic adventure of awakening. Enjoy! Here is the Amazon link to the book. http://www.amazon.com/Lucid-Living-book-world-inside/dp/0952632098

Today recognize that life is a dream and you are the dreamer. You are both in the dream and the dreamer of it. Everyone else is dreaming and the dreamer too. When you recognize that life is a dream, you shift your perspective. Then you see that you are not the story going on in your dream. You are the awareness that contains all dreams and is beyond form, space and time. You become aware of your true nature as conscious awareness.
www.TantraGal.Blogspot.com
www.TantraForAwakening.com
(C) Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.

The First Sedona Tweetup and Big O Day in Sedona

I went to the first Tweetup here in Sedona. It was well attended by about 25 people. We twittered about Twitter and made new friends. I saw a couple of my Tantra students. The Tweetups are about people in Sedona supporting each other and letting the world know about our little piece of heaven. Twitter is very Tantric, it is about being connected, in the flow and recognizing we are all one, beyond form.

Come to my next Tantra Meetup, Wed. June 17th. It is free to join and a great by to learn about Tantra and meet open-hearted people. http://www.meetup.com/Sedona-Tantra-for-Awakening-Meetup-Group/

Celebrate Big “O” Day - June 21, 2009
Women Exploring Pleasure in Sedona and WorldwideSunday, June 21, 2009
1:00 PM-6:00 PM
At a Retreat Center in Sedona
Offering $50

• Dance Ecstatically
• Embody the Goddess
• Celebrate Your Juiciness
• Relax by the Pool and Spa
• Explore Your Pleasure Body
• Honor the Feminine, Heal the Earth

"PLEASURE HEALS" says Dr. Christiane Northrup, M.D.
We must lovingly address ALL our chakras, including our foundational centers, the home of our security and passion in order to be integrated beings. Learn how to awaken more pleasure and love in your life. Mastery starts with enlightened education. Love is an art form and your body is an instrument of love.

As we explore our own pleasure and pamper ourselves we will unite with women worldwide and radiate this feminine energy all over the Earth. We will send joy and pleasure out to those who are suffering-- such as people in poverty, the homeless, the hungry, and the sick. All beings everywhere can benefit from the power of the Feminine. That is how the combined energy of all women can make a difference in this world.

Be a part of history. Help create a better world. Spread bliss.

This is being held at a relaxing retreat center in Sedona, AZ.
Over night lodging is available on site at an additional fee.
RSVP Crystal Dawn for location.

RSVP Crystal@TantraForAwakening.com or Call 928-282-5483
Love Offering $50

http://www.meetup.com/Sedona-Tantra-for-Awakening-Meetup-Group/

www.TantraForAwakening.com

The Tantra Tip of the Day - Be Inspired by Art and Beauty

Today, I was walking around in Uptown Sedona and as I passed by the Visions Gallery several paintings of Asian women opened my heart and made it sing. This artist truly understands the essence of Feminine Light. These paintings oozed with energy, passion and power. I want inside the gallery and found several more paintings by the same artist, that dazzled me to the point I spent $100 on a book of her work. I learned that her name is Jia Lu and she grew up in China during the Cultural Revolution. Please check out her website http://www.jialu.com/ and her You Tube Video.

Today allow yourself to be inspired by beauty. Visit an art gallery museum or some other beautiful place. Let is open your heart and inspire you to create more beauty in the world in your own unique way. Write a poem, draw a picture, sing a song. Beauty has the ability to open us to God. May each of us be inspired and opened up by beauty everyday.

www.TantraGal.Blogspot.com
www.TantraForAwakening.com
(C) Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved

Tantra Tip of the Day- Looking Beyond the Surface

I am reading a wonderful book on the practice of eye gazing as the primary practice that Rumi used with his teacher Shams to become enlightened. It is called The Spiritual Practices of Rumi, Radical Techniques for Beholding the Divine by Will Johnson. It contains Rumi’s poems and explores how the poems contain the secrets to his awakening process. It is beautiful and inspiring.

Eye gazing opens you to looking at life in a new way. The presence you develop in the practice begins to color your life. You begin to see beyond the surface of things.

Try this: As you move through your day take every opportunity to look beyond the surface of life. This requires being present and connecting to the world around you. Take a few moments every hour or so to connect with your breath and call yourself into the present moment. Breathe deeply into your belly and allow your shoulders to relax. Notice how it feels to be present. Look deeply into the eyes of the people you meet even if only for a moment. Become aware of the beauty hidden all around your. Feel gratitude for being alive.

www.TantraGal.Blogspot.com
www.TantraForAwakening.com
(C) Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.

Celebrate Big O Day- Women Exploring Pleasure

In Sedona and Worldwide

When
Sunday, June 21, 2009
1:00 PM-6:00 PM

• Dance Ecstatically
• Embody the Goddess
• Celebrate Your Juiciness
• Relax by the Pool and Spa
• Explore Your Pleasure Body
• Honor the Feminine, Heal the Earth

As we explore our own pleasure and pamper ourselves we will unite with women worldwide and radiate this feminine energy all over the Earth. We will send joy and pleasure out to those who are suffering-- such as people in poverty, the homeless, the hungry, and the sick. All beings everywhere can benefit from the power of the Feminine. That is how the combined energy of all women can make a difference in this world.

Be a part of history. Help create a better world. Spread bliss.

This is being held at a relaxing retreat center in Sedona, AZ. RSVP Crystal Dawn for location. Over night lodging is available on site at an additional fee.

RSVP Crystal@TantraForAwakening.com or Call 928-282-5483
Love Offering $50
http://www.meetup.com/Sedona-Tantra-for-Awakening-Meetup-Group/

www.TantraForAwakening.com

Eye Gazing and Communion - A Poem

Eye Gazing and Communion

Warmth shining on my face
My heart flowing into yours
Connection grows
You seeing me
Like honey, so sweet

Diving deeper into a dark pool
Still, calm and familiar
A homecoming
I see you
Like honey, so sweet

Energy grows and flows
Expands and melts all boundaries
Tears, smiles, tears and smiles
We know each other
Beyond form
Sisters of light and emptiness

Crystal Dawn Morris
June 6, 2009

www.TantraGal.Blogspot.com
www.TantraForAwakening.com
(C) Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.

Tantra Tip of the Day- The Power of Eye Gazing

I have been practicing eye gazing a lot lately. Yesterday I did a session for an hour. I have been practicing with both men and women. Each experience has been beautiful and profound. This simple practice cuts though all illusion and opens the doors to Truth. If this was the only Tantric practice you ever did I believe you could reach enlightenment. While it is usually done with a partner it can also be done solo in a mirror. I discovered the mirror gazing when I was 13. Give it a try and let me know what you discover.

Heart Salutation
Seated across from one another, begin with a heart salutation. Palms are together in prayer position, pointed to the earth. Bring them up to the heart as you inhale, looking into your partner’s eyes and acknowledging the divine in each other. Next, bow as you exhale, connecting Third Eyes in a “Tantric Kiss”. Straighten back into a sitting position as you inhale. Finally, allow your hands to move from your heart back towards the earth as you exhale.

Ground and Breathe
Close your eyes place your hands on your belly. Take slow deep breaths into your belly. Allow your body to relax. Feel your connection to the Earth. As you inhale breathe in life force. As you exhale let go of anything that no longer serves you. When you are ready open your eyes and begin the practice.

Eye Gazing Practice
Begin by gazing into the other person’s left eye. Use a soft gaze. This is not a staring contest. Don’t try to look into both eyes at once. It is ok to change eyes if you feel called too. Just relax, breathe and allow the experience to unfold. Notice what arises without judging it. Do this for as long as you want. (I often suggest beginning with five minutes and extending the time as you get more comfortable with the process.) This is a great way to discover how open you are and to see where resistance arises. See if you can move beyond resistance. How does it feel to be seen and to see deeply into another person? This is a great practice for deepening heart connections. End with a Heart Salutation.

www.TantraGal.Blogspot.com
www.TantraForAwakening.com
(C) Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.

A Special Invitation to Check out "OneTantra"

Have you heard about OneTantra.com? It's an exciting new online Tantra community that I am involved in. I will be facilitating several groups there, including a group about SkyDancing Tantra and a group about David Deida's work.

OneTantra is an online community that's part social learning community for people who are interested in Tantra, and part meet-and-greet social media community. A sort of a Learning Annex-meets-Facebook-in-Tantra Land community.

Are you longing for Tantra community? OneTantra is a place where you can both study Tantra with a variety of great teachers and find Tantra friends. It is a place where you can ask questions, learn new practices and meet like minded others.

Because I'm one of the founding members, I was able to get you the first month free. Just go to my link here:

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=993586

You'll get the One Tantra Manifesto for free as well. Check it out!

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=993586

If you decide to join, you will receive even more free gifts!

Love and Light,

Crstal Dawn Morris

PS. Once again, go check it out here: http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=993586

The Tantra Tip of the Day- Embody Masculine and Feminine

Physically we inhabit a masculine or feminine body and most people identify more strongly with one gender than the other. Sometimes it is the same as our body’s gender and sometimes not. Within every person there are both feminine and masculine energies. Yet often we are not conscious of our relationship to them.

Close your eyes and allow yourself to feel into the energy of the gender you feel more aligned with. Notice how that energy feels in your physical body, mind and heart. Next, allow yourself to embody the opposite gender. How is this energy different? How does it feel in your physical body, mind and heart? Take a piece of paper and draw a line length-wise down the middle, on one side write Feminine and on the other Masculine, below list the qualities of each that you noticed.

Now allow yourself to call both into your body at the same time. How does this feel in your physical body, mind and heart?
Try this: Practice embodying these energies with conscious awareness. Call on your inner masculine when that energy would support what you are doing. Call on your inner feminine when that energy supports what you are feeling. Call on both morning and evening and experience being whole.

Qualities of Feminine and Masculine Energy

Feminine

Surrender
Flow
Openness
Following
Beauty
Detail
Expansive
Devotion
Permeable
Receptive
Aliveness
Yin

Masculine

Purpose
Direction
Presence
Leadership
Confidence
Achievement
Structure
Initiative
Penetrative
Active
Container
Yang

www.TantraForAwakening.com

(C) Copyright Crystal Dawn Morris 2009