Growing into MySelf—New eBook by Thea Euryphaessa

In January 2011 writer, Thea Euryphaessa signed up ‘consciously/unconsciously’ for Shakti Tantra’s Women’s Invitation women’s workshop. Her plan was to write an article about it and leave it there. Little did she know, over the course of the next eighteen months, she’d go on to complete the entire women’s training programme which would transform her life from the bottom-up and forge a woman of substance out of her.

Growing into MySelf continues straight on from Thea’s debut memoir, Running into Myself: A Journey through the Soul of the Feat. This educational, down-to-earth, and often laugh-out-loud-funny book is essential reading for anyone interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the women’s training programme from someone versed in depth psychology, mythology, and spiritual alchemy, and/or for those who’d like to learn more about Shakti Tantra’s workshops from a participant’s perspective.

What Shakti Tantra’s originator, Hilly Spenceley says about Growing into MySelf:

‘Thea Euryphaessa’s book is an amazing journey of her soul and truly stands alone in her understanding of what Tantra is about from a deeper perspective. I would put her up there amongst other great writer such as Thomas Moore, Joseph Campbell, Marion Woodman and many others that can reach into the deeper parts of ourselves and find true meaning…. it’s a book to read from cover to cover and then dip into over and over again…. Wonderful.’

What Shakti Tantra’s co-founder, Sue Newsome says about Growing into MySelf:

‘A wonderful book that is an honest and intelligent description of Thea’s soul journey and her work with Shakti Tantra.  I encourage both men & women to read it; be touched, be informed and be inspired to take a further step towards your truth and authenticity. Thank you, Thea’.

Available to download as an eBook (only) from Troubador Publishing here: http://www.troubador.co.uk/book_info.asp?bookid=2367

Also available from Amazon, iBookstore, and all good eBook retailers.

Join the conversation at facebook.com/GrowingintoMySelf.

So, it’s finally here (a little earlier than expected) — Growing into MySelf, the follow-up to my debut memoir, Running into Myself: A Journey through the Soul of the Feat.

As with the first book, I’ve self-published. I enjoy bringing a book to fruition and retaining full control of the creative process from conception through publication. My next goal is to become a mind/body/soul publisher à la Louise Hay. That, however, depends on the success of this book. In 2006 I was a budding blogger who hadn’t written much, if anything, since secondary school. Never did I imagine that, seven years later, I’d be the author of two books. Who knows what the next several years will bring?

One of the advantages of eBooks is you get to catch any kinks and knots before it (fingers crossed) goes to print. Thanks to last minute ‘fettering,’ a few minor typos sneaked through (that’ll teach me for mucking about with the text after the sub-editor and proofreaders have looked it over). Still, considering the book is 127,285 words long, I guess I should go easy on myself. So, I’m well aware an ‘s’ is missing off the end of a word, that I change tense halfway through a paragraph, that there is an ‘is’ rather than an ‘as’ in a quote, an ‘of’ rather than an ‘or,’ and a ‘who’ rather than ‘how.’ Minor stuff, but still pins in my perfectionistic eyes!

All I ask is, if you enjoy it, (please) tell your friends. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend. And, wherever possible, please purchase the book direct from my publisher’s website:

Buy Growing into MySelf direct from Troubador Publishing

You have no idea how the likes of Amazon screw authors over — especially self-published ones. For those with Kindles, the book will be available on Amazon in the next couple of days and will gradually roll out across all eRetailers over the coming days and weeks.

Thanks for your support.

Thea

***

Growing into MySelf synopsis:

Do you have the courage to explore yourself with total honesty; to accept yourself, soul through bone; to ignore conventional expectations and be true to your inner Self, no matter what?

In her debut memoir, Running Into Myself: A Journey Through the Soul of the Feat, Thea Euryphaessa revealed how a seemingly random impulse to sign her unfit, overweight body onto three marathons helped her to overcome depression and abandon the well-worn road of the mundane 9-to-5 for the rockier path of the more meaningful unknown.

Now, Growing into MySelf follows her as she comes full circle in her transformational Hero’s Journey, submitting to the deeper, darker realm of soul, sex, and an uncertain relationship, framed by a series of five Tantra workshops that Thea undertakes over the course of eighteen months.

Continuing to explore myth, archetypes, dreams, and depth psychology, Thea learns to surrender to the body’s wisdom while also embracing intellect in her quest to become sexually confident and psychologically whole—in short, a woman of substance.

Night of the Senses is an annual fundraising event for the Outsiders Charity and the Erotic Awards form a major part of the event.

Hilly & Sue were delighted to receive Erotic Awards, Hilly was awarded the Lifetime Achievement award & Sue received the award for Sex Therapist.

Shakti Tantra assistant Jewel Inthelotus also received an award for her fabulous dancing.

Sue Newsome on CNN

Sue Newsome appearing recently on CNN in an item concerning sex surrogacy. To view the whole item – please click the image above and CNN will open in a new window.

Please download our FREE mp3 interview with Sue and Hilly from Shakti Tantra. You can enjoy it on any mobile device capable of playing mp3. It is just over 23 megs big and lasts about 25 minutes. Right-click to download.

http://www.shaktitantra.co.uk/remoteimg/ShaktiInterview.mp3

Alternatively you can listen to it right here on an embedded mp3 player:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Thea Euryphaessa concludes her thoughts on her recently completed Tantra Women’s Training Programme.

Written by Thea Euryphaessa.

Think You Know Good Sex? (Part Two)

I did this women’s training programme because I always believed there was more to sex than the personal intimate encounters I’d wearily grown accustomed to. Didn’t matter how in love I was with my partner, how much sex I was having, there was always something missing. I felt a vague dissatisfaction, a longing for something ‘more’. What that ‘more’ was, though, I couldn’t quite put my finger on (no pun intended).

The confidence I feel in my sexuality, the fullness I feel in my womanliness, ay, ay, ay, it’s delicious. I feel vital, centred, ‘juicy’.

But aside from talking with girlfriends, surfing female-friendly porn, reading books, magazines, who can we ask questions of regards sexually-oriented issues?

Questions, for example, such as:

‘My new partner wants to jump straight into genital sex ― is it too much to ask that we slow down and explore other ways of getting intimately acquainted first?”

‘Is orgasm-oriented, penetrative sex the be-all and end-all?‘

‘Is it insensitive of me to stop my partner mid-action and say, “There’s no pleasure in this for me now; I’d enjoy it much more if you [insert sexual preference] instead“?’

‘Are there really men out there who take the time to ask what women want, what our pleasure is, and then listen, stay present, and respond on a moment by moment basis and take great delight in that?’  (No, no, no, and fuck yeah!)

I’m also aware there are women who’ll be thinking, ‘Yeah, yeah Thea, this Tantric malarkey all sounds well and good, but just what is it you all do? How can I trust you? You’re not telling us anything.’

That’s right, I’m not. It is a mystery school, after all, in the tradition of the ancient Greek mystery schools, say. But consider this: do you insist on knowing exactly how a relationship will pan out before you embark on it? Do you demand a full run-down on how another will treat you sexually before you tumble into bed with them for the first time? Well, I’m sorry to break it to you but there are no guarantees in life. When all’s said and done all we ever take are ‘educated guesses’ (or not).

Do this programme, though, and all you’ll wonder is, what took you so long to do it.

So has my sex life improved? Never mind my sex life, it’s improved my whole life. The confidence I feel in my sexuality, the fullness I feel in my womanliness, ay, ay, ay, it’s delicious. I feel vital, centred, ‘juicy’. I was dead from the neck down before. No more.

I no longer look at my body through the lens of a culture hell-bent on distorting the image we see staring back from the mirror. Where I used to pick and criticise and never felt comfortable, never felt ‘good enough’, today I cherish my body, revel in the skin I’m in, enjoy my erotic self with or without a lover. To borrow a line from Madonna’s Justify My Love, ‘Poor is the man whose pleasures depend on the permission of another’.

If you have something critical or bitchy to say about my body or anyone else’s, as far as I’m concerned, that says more about you and your relationship (or lack of) with your own body. If you were happily rooted in the ground of your own being, you’d be happy to let everyone else just ‘be’, too. When you’re able to receive all the parts of yourself, especially the previously unloved parts, you’re able to receive and celebrate the ‘other’ in all their magnificent, flawed humanness, too. In fact, my appreciation of, and love for men has gone through the roof since I did this programme. I relish their ‘otherness’ in a way I didn’t before. Not consciously anyway.

The polarity, the difference between us (men and women), ups the sexual tension for me. Probably why I’m turned off by these primped, waxed to within an inch of their cracks, metrosexual types. Give me a Jon Hamm man any day. So no-one will think you’re ‘silly’ or ‘stupid’ for asking those sexual- or intimately-oriented questions you’ve long harboured but have been too afraid to voice. I doubt there’s anything that could shock or surprise my teachers ― they’ve been doing this work a long time and are bottomless wells of experience, patience, and compassion.

When you rock up at level one (Women’s Invitation), you’ll be with other women who are in the same boat as you (shy, nervous, a bit awkward perhaps) but who’ll fast blossom and bloom in ways that have blown the socks off me. In fact, I’ve never known a workshop spawn so many entrepreneurs. It seems sexually awakened/sexually empowered women make for more creatively inspired, financially independent women. After the first workshop alone, several of the women went straight out and took back control of their lives, leaving jobs, ending unsatisfying relationships. They were no longer willing to be rationed on the meagre sexual/emotional/financial handouts occasioned them by insecure/incompetent/power-wielding bosses and/or partners, as though they should be grateful somehow for whatever scraps they got because this might be as good as it gets and/or they may not get any more. They now knew there was more, that they could be more, and, most important, that they deserved more.

So consider this a clitoral clarion call, an appeal to the sexually underwhelmed masses to ‘get your freak on’ however you damn well please. Ladies and gentlemen, this is your permission to pleasure: from the down and dirty right through to the mystical, OM-infused end of the spectrum. To quote the late, great William Stafford in his poem A Message From the Wanderer:

Today outside your prison I stand and rattle my walking stick:

Prisoners, listen; you have relatives outside.

And there are thousands of ways to escape.

Because there’s nothing wrong, nothing shameful in wanting to explore the myriad aspects of your sexuality, the subtle nuances of your sensuality; to step into the fullness of your being; to demand more from your intimate interactions; to writhe and cry out in ecstasy. We’re here to enjoy our bodies, our intellect and to hell with anyone who tries to tarnish us with their frigidity, insecurity, or fear. Because we’re worth it. Because we deserve happiness, abundance, respect, fulfilment. Question is, do you believe you do?

For more details of the women’s training programme, visit shaktitantra.co.uk/women

To read Thea’s experience of each workshop, click on the following:

Women’s Invitation

Women’s Celebration

Women Behaving Badly

Women of Substance

Ecstasy

For more mind, body, and soul tips, follow Thea on Twitter @UrbanDeva

Visit the Urban Deva Facebook page facebook.com/urbandeva

or website at urbandeva.com/blog

You can read about Thea’s life in her book, Running into Myself, available from Amazon.

Original article at Body Confidential

“The body is an instrument which only gives off music when it is used as a body. Always an orchestra, and just as music traverses walls, so sensuality traverses the body and reaches up to ecstasy.” ― Anaïs Nin

This training makes a woman out of you.

W. O. M. A. N.

I’ll say it again.

Good job my follow-up book to Running into Myself (a memoir about my rite of passage from girl – to womanhood via three marathons) will cover these five workshops and all that’s happened in between ― I could write a book about level five alone.

Which is why, before I continue, I wish to make it clear that I speak only on behalf of myself and not the group. I came into this women’s training programme ‘consciously/unconsciously’ as a journalist with a view to just writing an article about level one (Women’s Invitation). Or so I thought. But once I was in, that was it. My intuition told me there was a truth to this training you’ll find in few other places in our modern Western culture. My intuition was right. Add to that my teacher telling me I was going to do all five levels, and I could do nothing but nod in agreement. But back to Ecstasy.

This is the level you realise you’ve been living a half-life, telling yourself half-truths, accepting half-realised, half-conscious relationships; the level where the wheat is absolutely, unapologetically separated from the chaff; the level where you’re introduced to your utmost potentiality, the fullness of your being; the level after which there is no going back ― which is why not everyone can go the distance. Some drop out after level one; others complete all the workshops up to level four. But Ecstasy is a level all to itself. You cannot begin to imagine the depth, beauty, and sacredness of what we experienced at this level. No wonder it felt like Last Woman Standing.

I was fortunate enough to be graced with several mind-shattering, ecstatic moments. However, as always, I can’t say anything about the structures, rituals, or ceremonies in which we participated. In the spirit of the ancient mystery religions, these aren’t experiences to be shared with the uninitiated. Even those who have gone as far as level four (Women of Substance) would be surprised at how much the ante is upped at Ecstasy. Which is what makes the group of women with whom I did this workshop all the more magnificent and formidable: these were women who had the courage to stand in the fire of their fears and finish what they started.

This was where ‘real’ Tantra took centre stage and we stepped into a timeless, sacred, ritual space of embodied wisdom steeped in numinosity and mystery; a space where the Other is consciously, lovingly honoured. Yes, this is the level where Shakti finally meets Shiva ― both without and within. And what a heartfelt, conscious meeting it was.

We descended into the depths, plumbed the bowels of our innermost being. You want to ride the lift to the topmost, transcendent floor of Ecstasy? Well, the only way in is at the ground floor. We’re talking base chakra, baby.

We revelled in love and acceptance, were honoured and honouring, were overwhelmed by blissful experiences that had us rolling about like sirens while wearing Cheshire cat grins. We travelled across space and time, through eastern and western cultures, sat with the ancestors, evoked the old time religions. We purged deep-rooted, unconscious hurts, worked through headaches, let go of heartache.

We laughed and cried, argued and made up; went stir crazy from sleep deprivation; filled up on porridge and prunes while analysing the previous night’s dreams; crammed a sauna in the middle of the night and sang our hearts out; took midnight walks by the ocean and drank in the Milky Way while wishing on shooting stars. At times we were nervous as hell, but got on with it anyway and did so with grace, dignity, maturity, and a single-minded determination.

I’m still processing the events of the week. In fact, my memories are so precious to me, I feel any attempt to share even a smidgeon of what I experienced somehow desacralises, dilutes, and dishonours them. I want to draw a protective arm around them (memories) and hold them close to my heart away from the prying eyes and ears of others. I don’t feel it’s an exaggeration to say I feel grateful to be alive and experience what I did at this level. I’m grateful from the bottom of my being.

But, I do want to say this: if you want to live your life as fully as possible, then do this work. If you do this work, then go all the way. Then you will know how it feels to shine from the inside out, to be animated from soul to bone. Then you will know the truth of your Being and you will experience, not just your own magnificence, but the magnificence of the sacred Other. And when you leave the workshop, you will walk out the door and know this is just the beginning of a life fully lived.

Then you will know Ecstasy.

Finally, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Shivas for their humility, generosity of spirit, gentle reverence, and heartfelt presence. Without them, there would have been no level five, no Ecstasy. And so, with grace, love, and the absolute, utmost respect, I thank and honour each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for being, and continuing to be, such magnificent Shivas.

I’d also like to thank and honour the ‘Dream Team’: Sue Newsome, Sarah Robinson, Annabel Newfield, and Julie and Pete Baillie for your guidance, love, encouragement, humour and for helping us feel safe, supported, and, most importantly, ‘held’. And, of course, I’d like to thank the indomitable Hilly Spenceley, originator of Shakti Tantra, for having the courage, strength, and humility to allow this work to flow so freely, so honestly, so inspiringly, and so beautifully through her (I’m running out of superlatives!):

Dearest Hilly, long may you continue to do this work and change countless lives for the better, as you have mine. Thank you. I love you.

And to my Shakti sisters, long may you sparkle, shimmer, and shine! Go forth and burn bright: the world needs your luminescence, now and always.

Namaste.

(For further information on Shakti Tantra’s Courses for women and couples, please click this link.)

Thea Euryphaessa, Founder, Urban Deva

To buy a copy of Running into Myself, visit Amazon UK, Amazon US or, better still, order a limited edition signed copy direct from her publisher here (also ships worldwide). Also available to download on Kindle.

“Thea’s personal journey is utterly compelling. I couldn’t put her book down. Thea manages to make Greek mythology not only understandable, interesting, and relevant to our lives today, but shows how it can be utilised as a tool for self development. She introduces ideas and ways of thinking that broaden your mind, and lights the way for others to follow.”

— Melinda Messenger (TV Presenter)

“This is a story that truly reveals its author. You’ll discover her beliefs, her flaws, her loves, her fears, her mistakes, her drive and her compassion. And you’ll like her.”

— Rowena Roberts (Writer)

Art of Sex

The original cave paintings, such as those at Lascaux in France, were about personal and tribal power. The power to hunt, to possess, to dominate.

Like the power to ‘name’ an object, to be able to represent an object of desire, such as the hunted animal, gave the artist / shaman a special role in the tribe. In capturing the essence of the desired animal on the cave wall, it’s very being was owned by the hunter, aiding its capture in the hunt. Art and ‘representation’ has come a long way since then. The power to represent still holds a curious fascination for many, a special status of the artist. Art is everywhere and in many ways is indefinable as to what it actually is.

Sex and erotica have always been subjects which artists like to explore. For example temples in India are adorned with friezes showing explicit physical sex, the like of which would be banned in Europe or the Western World with its notions of shame around this subject. During the Reformation in Europe imagery and sculpture even suggestive of sex, paganism and images of women particularly were defaced and / or removed from architecture. Erotic art, celebrating sex, the art of love, passion and beauty is to all intents and purposes inseparable from pornography in the West. One person’s ‘beauty’ is to another a detestable and disgusting exhibition of perversity.

There is much art made around the subject of sex. In this article I would like to gather and exhibit some of it for you to enjoy.

Due to copyright issues I have presented these examples as links which open a website in a new tab. Please be aware that these links contain adult material and are suitable for over 18′s only.

If you would like to add to this ‘art of sex’ portal please write into the comments box below this article. Please note that these comments are human moderated and entering spam links will prevent you from making future comments.

Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party: The Dinner Party is an installation artwork by feminist artist Judy Chicago depicting place settings for 39 mythical and historical famous women. It was produced from 1974 to 1979 as a collaboration and was first exhibited in 1979. Subsequently, despite art world resistance, it toured to 16 venues in 6 countries on 3 continents to a viewing audience of 15 million. Since 2007 it has been on permanent exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, New York City, United States of America. (Wikipedia) http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/home.php

Make your own penis sculpture: The original penis casting sculptor was Cynthia Plaster Caster; who developed a name for herself in the 1960’s by casting simple plaster copies of rock musician’s penises. These sculpted penis copies were merely show-pieces and not intended for actual use, but a fun idea. Since then, penis casting materials and penis sculpture technology have dramatically improved, leading to the finely detailed, flesh-like penis casting kits available today - like The Original Create-A-Mate Penis Sculpture and Penis Casting System. The first web site to have sold or mentioned an actual ‘Penis Molding Kit’ appeared in 1997. The first mention of such a penis sculpture kit in the press, as well as the first to publicly go on sale in a store, was in 1998, reflected in an issue of the San Francisco Bay Guardian followed by an article in Playgirl Magazine. http://www.createamate.plazadiscounts.com/

Georgia O’Keeffe: Born near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, O’Keeffe first came to the attention of the New York art community in 1916, several decades before women had gained access to art training in America’s colleges and universities.
She made large-format paintings of enlarged blossoms, presenting them close up as if seen through a magnifying lens, and New York buildings, most of which date from the same decade. Beginning in 1929, when she first began working part of the year in Northern New Mexico—which she made her permanent home in 1949—O’Keeffe depicted subjects specific to that area. O’Keeffe turned to working more representationally in the 1920s in an effort to move her critics away from Freudian interpretations. Her earlier work had been mostly abstract, but works such as Black Iris III (1926) evoke a veiled representation of female genitalia while also accurately depicting the center of an iris. O’Keeffe consistently denied the validity of Freudian interpretations of her art, but fifty years after it had first been interpreted in that way, many prominent feminist artists assessed her work similarly — in essential terms — such as Judy Chicago, who gave O’Keeffe a prominent place in her The Dinner Party. Although 1970s feminists celebrated O’Keeffe as the originator of “female iconography”, O’Keeffe rejected their celebration of her work and refused to cooperate with any of their projects. (Wikipedia) http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/natural-and-still-life-forms.html

Katie Sarra: Katie Sarra is a Fine artist, performance artist, playback Theatre performer, writer, Tantra teacher, Tantric/Shamanic/psychotherapy sex and relationship therapist and sex educator. She facilitates workshops and individual Tantric journeys with men and women. Through her playful and uniquely personal approach she invites you to explore body image, intimacy and conscious sexuality. Katie offers body painting experiences publicly and privately and exhibits her sea paintings and animal/dream paintings which can be seen currently in her Gallery Xplore in Devon. http://katiesarra.com/creating/yoni/ (link to United States of Yoni gallery)

Bodypainting example Craig Tracy: Considered a cornerstone in Bodypaintings progressive movement, today Craig Tracy Bodypaints exclusively as well he owns and operates the very first art gallery in the world dedicated to fine art Bodypainted images. The gallery allows even the most seasoned art collectors and novices alike to see and experience first hand what Bodypainting is ultimately capable of expressing. With a passionate and pioneering spirit Craig personally meets and educates hundreds of people each week in the gallery. The Craig Tracy Gallery is filled with spectacular photographic, paper and canvas prints as well there are numerous videos of the process and books that focus on this art form. http://www.craigtracy.com/gallery.html

Bodyprinting example Angela White: The concept of the many layers of our life experiences forming our physical, spiritual and emotional identity lends itself to creating and adding layers of visual depth and density in my art work. It is through this process of using layers of memory that I incorporate art materials- including encaustic, oil and mixed media-to record the journeys, turning points and return to a new beginning. http://www.angelawhiteart.com/pages/figurative/image01.htm

Bodycasting example Richard Neal: Richard Neal is one of Britain’s leading life-casters and his work is internationally recognized within this unique art form. It is held in various private collections in Great Britain, Europe, Canada and the USA and is also represented in the only two Lifecasting museums in America.
Richard’s three dimensional art is both figurative and representational. It can be produced in bronze, gypsum, ceramics and molten pewter with its amazing finish. His work has been described as original, exclusive, stylish, and unique. His alternative approach to lifecasting, opens up the opportunity to people, who in their eyes, may not be the perfect shape. Richard’s inventive methods, can if required, minutely, delicately, and of course, discreetly, enhance the piece to make them more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. http://www.lifesculptures.co.uk/galleries.asp

Mobile Female Monument 2007 – Mimosa Pale’s Pussy Wagon: An interactive performance sculpture on wheels. Was on show, may 2007, in Tennispalatsi Art Museum Helsinki, and was taken for a walk from there every second day. Passers by could enter the sculpture, there was enough space for an adult to lie down. The “pussy wagon” as people started to call it, was made of silicone and foam plastic, inside upholstery was made of satin. When lying inside one could play the strings that were tensioned from one wall to the other. Also people outside could rock the soft sculpture from outside, which made a special experience for the one lying inside. Facebook link to ‘Pussy Wagon’ photo here.

“And your body is the harp of your soul, and it is yours to bring forth sweet music from it or confused sounds.”

― Kahlil Gibran

Women of Substance is the fourth of five levels of the women-only workshops Tantra organisation, Shakti Tantra offers. For me, this level took a different turn ― inwards.

Up until now, each level has felt somewhat outward oriented. That’s not to say there haven’t been moments for reflection, introspection, and contemplation (there has); rather, this was the level where we began to explore ― within a beautiful, safely contained setting ― the deep-rooted mental, emotional, and psychological demons that deny our pleasure and constrict our relationships with ourselves and others.

As far as I’m concerned, just getting this far shows you’re a Woman of Substance. Everything we encountered and experienced during the three-day workshop took us deeper into the unexplored and energetically blocked recesses of our bodies and psyches.

You may wonder what we got up to. As always, my lips are sealed. This isn’t something you could understand from a cool, uninitiated distance. You have to breathe it, feel it, cry it, laugh it. You have to drop the shit, shake it off (which you do at each of the preceding levels). By the time you reach this level, you do wonder what else they could possibly throw at you, what stones are left unturned.

As per usual, they have plenty.

Don’t let me give the impression it was all hard work, though. There was one structure that made me so happy, so grateful to be alive, I cried smiles. Never has my body felt as nourished as it did after experiencing this particular exercise. Never. I sparkled and shimmered, undulated and laughed. Damn it felt good. I’ve long intuited the body harboured many delicious secrets; that it was capable of producing melodies and harmonies so sweet, so skin-tingingly exquisite… but only if you’re open and relaxed enough to consciously receive. And therein lies the challenge ― to believe yourself worthy and deserving of receiving the loving, undivided attention of another (which is what the work at each of the previous levels is all about ― preparation, preparation, preparation).

The other thing about being open to receive, is it spreads its tentacles and doesn’t remain contained in just one area of your life. As I always say to clients, transformation cannot be conveniently compartmentalised ― change changes everything. So, since level three where the nut was finally cracked and I finally understood, experientially, that it takes great strength and courage to be vulnerable and open enough to receive consciously, my mantra today, albeit quiet, is ‘I do deserve’. And in believing I deserve, my life has begun to blossom.

This workshop also further reinforced that the body isn’t something ‘bad’, something to be punished, flagellated. It’s a magnificent, beautiful, sacred manifestation of the divine. It’s worthy of being respected, celebrated, enjoyed.

Throughout this process I’ve gradually come to love my body. Little by little, step by step, I’ve fallen in love with her. And I don’t mean that in a trite, clichéd way ― I mean that from depths I never felt before I did this work. Where I once beasted her with arduous exercise regimes, hid her in shame, filled her with junk, I now revel in her beauty, marvel with a heart wide open at her sensuous nuances.

Bring on the fifth and final week-long level in September ― Ecstasy.

Thea Euryphaessa, Founder, Urban Deva.

To buy a copy of Running into Myself, visit Amazon UK, Amazon US or, better still, order a limited edition signed copy direct from her publisher here (also ships worldwide). Also available to download on Kindle.

“Thea’s personal journey is utterly compelling. I couldn’t put her book down. Thea manages to make Greek mythology not only understandable, interesting, and relevant to our lives today, but shows how it can be utilised as a tool for self development. She introduces ideas and ways of thinking that broaden your mind, and lights the way for others to follow.”

— Melinda Messenger (TV Presenter)

“This is a story that truly reveals its author. You’ll discover her beliefs, her flaws, her loves, her fears, her mistakes, her drive and her compassion.

And you’ll like her.”

— Rowena Roberts (Journalist)

Wicked Wanda

It was whilst researching key search words for Shakti Tantra’s search engine optimisation that I came across the ‘Mysterious Case of British Spanking’.

Now I am not a practitioner of bondage, sadomasochism, punishment, torture and the like, but I can understand more and more why people might enjoy such things, particularly now they are being popularized by the erotic novel ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ which has, as I write, sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. One aspect of S & M involves interacting with feelings of domination and subordination that are formed at a very early age. These feelings, which are ‘set in stone’ so young, before a person has rational capabilities, are central to our self-concept as individuals and should certainly be explored.

Other aspects of S & M help to build trust and increase awareness of the power between partners in a relationship and can even provide playful ways to adventure into these. Some of my more expert friends tell me that ‘deeper in’ these practices are harnessed to drive them to states of high energy and even ecstasy.

But this is miles from someone who wants a good spanking because they feel guilty and require punishment.

I found out that around a million times a month the search word ‘spanking’ seems to be entered into Google in the UK and that in many other parts of the world people are searching online for what is known as ‘British Spanking’.

Now as a British person I feel slightly at a loss to know what might differentiate an ordinary spanking from a British Spanking. I can only imagine that it might have something to do with the foreign perception that perhaps us Brits are somewhat repressed and repressive with our ‘stiff upper lips’, Nannies, Matrons and fascination with Margaret Thatcher.

Our public boarding schools and, as a result, public bodies, are a hotbed of bullying and power relationships based on discipline, reward and punishment. ‘Fagging’ in public school, where young children serve older children, is a virtual slave system based on power.

Our class system creates hierarchies and self-limiting concepts where people ‘know their place’ and are expected to stay there. It exists to perpetuate conformity and to stop people questioning authority through fear of punishment.

It’s hardly surprising then that this system of control so central to our culture has resulted in ‘repressions’ that might emerge in a need to feel punished and expiated of guilt. For some Brits, one suspects, a British Spanking might be a form of reward because at least the receiver is getting some attention from a ‘parent’ or authority figure.

It also seems a shame that some of the deeper ‘tantric’ effects of experimenting with S&M within a consensual and trusting relationship may be hidden through this ‘desire for punishment’ and its popularization through media.

What do you think? Perhaps if you have had a good British Spanking you could tell us about it in the comments box below? If you use S&M within your relationship to provoke a deeper understanding or find ecstatic union – perhaps you could share a comment below?

Image: Oh, Wicked Wanda! was a British full-color, satirical adult comic strip, written by Frederic Mullally, and drawn by Ron Embleton. The strip regularly appeared in Penthouse magazine from 1973 to 1980. In the 1960s, Ron Embleton, already a veteran comic book artist, had worked extensively for TV Century 21 comic, illustrating stories based on the television programmes Stingray, Thunderbirds, and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, amongst others. For Wicked Wanda Embleton painted the panels in watercolour.

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_Wanda