|
Thank you so much for finding your way here. I would like to welcome you to my new
website. Please check back often as I will be adding to the content. Click
here to let me know if you would like email updates when new
material is posted. To begin, my beloved friend Jaime started a
magazine for the south Since then I am regularly asked for reprints
of the old columns and if I am writing new ones. So the first
thing we'll be doing here is reprinting the original columns. Then as the
spirit moves me I will write new ones. I invite your questions,
interaction, suggestions, submissions, etc. Let me explain briefly
why I have changed my title from Yogic Parenting to Tantric Parenting. It is a common
western misconception that Tantra always has to do with sex and clearly that
is not what I mean when I combine it with Parenting. After Enlightened
Practice magazine folded and I was planning this
website, I learned that Yoga Journal had just begun to use “Yogic Parenting” on its website.
For only a moment, I was disappointed, and then I obtained the domains for Tantric Parenting, as well. |
|
|
In
Sanskrit the meanings are actually very similar. In the Hindu tradition, yoga
is just one part of Tantra, so the new title is actually more whole. Also, precisely because
of the western misconceptions about Tantra, I thought it might be clever
marketing to have a controversial name! Sex, or more specifically, the movement of sexual energy IS a very
significant area of Tantra. But, Tantra is by no means all about sex any more than Parenting is all
about cuddling. For
your further information, click here for definitions from the Oxford
American Dictionary and some summaries from the Wikpedia
(a free online encyclopedia) entry on Tantra. My
understanding of Tantra is that it is the practices by which we
channel our energy to connect with the shared energy of the universe or the
"Godhead" or collective conscious or whatever you want to call it.
Among these practices are yoga, meditation and many forms of ritual and
energy work including the sexual. It
is my strong belief that all of us are born with a deep knowledge and sense
of that connection. Unfortunately, our society and most of the way our
culture parents and educates our children systematically separate us from our
original, energetic connectedness. Then,
as a culture, we focus on external forces and the acquisition of material
objects. As individuals we become more and more distant from our true nature,
our true selves. This separateness often leads us to desperately seek
some "soulmate" whose presence in our
lives will miraculously make us whole again. This disconnectedness also
leads to excess in all forms. What
if we could change the paradigm? What
if we (as a culture) didn't separate our children and ourselves from our true
nature, but instead helped each other to maintain a sense of integration? What
if we could provide children, adolescents and young adults with the support
to stay in touch with their energetic core selves so that we would not have
this cultural trend of lost souls who first suffer all the pitfalls of excess
and then at a certain age become New Age seekers looking for a guru to help them
"Find Themselves?" All
any of us ever have to do to "Find Ourselves" is get still and
quiet often enough to recognize that self, separate from the noise of our
very loud society. Do yoga, meditate, spend time in nature, listen to soulful
music, etc. I will be adding articles on this subject as well as links
to other resources. I
look forward to sharing these explorations with you... Love
and light, bliss and blessings! Namaste, Suzy
Anand |
|
My family of
Goddesses!
Joelle (14) Suzy (46) Natalie (12) Claire (17)
Thanksgiving 2006