What is it, at its core?
Tantric massage is perhaps, simply, a way of coming home. Not transforming the body, repairing it, or making it reach something, but giving it back the space it needs to be inhabited once more. In slowness, silence and presence, the body gradually ceases to be an object that one looks at, judges or uses, and becomes again a territory that one feels. And in that space, touch changes in nature: it no longer seeks to do, but to meet; it asks nothing, it listens. The masseur does not lead the other towards a destination: he simply creates a space safe enough for that person to find their own way back. Then the massage becomes more than a gesture placed on a body: it becomes the meeting of two presences, in which each can, for a moment, set down their defences and rediscover something deeply alive within themselves.
Two massages,
two approaches.
The question I am often asked is what the difference is between these two massages — the tao massage and the Kashmiri massage. The difference lies in the respective positions of the masseur and the person being massaged in each of them.
If you would like to know more about tantric massage, I can only recommend the book by Michèle Larue, L'art du massage tantrique et cachemirien (currently available in French only).
Discover the book →The tao massage
The setting of the tao massage
The tao massage takes place on a futon. The setting is prepared — soft lighting, a comfortable temperature, the colour and texture of the fabrics, candles… A hint of orange essential oil drifts in the air.
You are undressed if that is your choice, and I remain clothed on my part (shorts, leggings, t-shirt).
I establish the safety framework, through a ritual. We each commit — both of us — to no sexual act taking place during the massage, so that you are free to explore your energies in full liberty, whatever they may be, without the shadow of a sword of Damocles hanging over your head. And so that I may also massage you within my own sense of safety.
The time of the tao massage
You lie down on the futon, on your front. I position myself beside you on my zafu (cushion), which allows me to remain cross-legged throughout the massage.
Then I bring my hands very slowly towards your back, for a very first contact. From that moment on, the massage unfolds not according to a protocol, but according to what I perceive of your energy. The massage is a dialogue, not a monologue I would deliver independently of you.
Every part of your body will be massaged with extreme slowness, so as to bring you into dialogue with yourself. To connect you to your sensations. In total respect.
At a certain moment, I will invite you to turn over. The massage will then continue on your front, before ending with a massage of the face. Then, with my hands returned to your belly and your heart, I will lift them very gently, to bring the contact to a close.
The Kashmiri massage
The setting of the Kashmiri massage
The Kashmiri massage differs from the tao tantric massage in its position — closer in contact with you. It touches different areas of sensitivity and emotion than the tao massage. More intimate in the respective positions of the two bodies, it is rarely offered during the first session — because it calls for a certain maturity of perception, nourished by practice.
For my part, it is important that I first come to know your energy, so as to be entirely in tune with you. And for you, it is essential that you trust me — not as a choice, but as a feeling.
It is characterised by four positions: in the first two you lie on your side, curled in a foetal position, and I am positioned behind you, cross-legged. In the following two you are positioned on the cradle of my legs, first on your front, then on your back.
The time of the Kashmiri massage
It is not very different from the tao massage. I always bring my hands very slowly towards your back, for a very first contact. From that moment on, the massage unfolds according to what I perceive of your energy. The massage remains a dialogue.
The only difference from the tao massage is the sequence of positions. In the Kashmiri massage, the transition from one to another is more fluid — you are truly in a cocoon that cradles you, turns you, envelops you. There is clearly a placental dimension to the Kashmiri massage. A return to origins.
At the end of the massage, with my hands returned to your belly and your heart, I will lift them very gently, to bring the contact to a close. Remaining by your side, in connection, for as long as is needed to return fully to an awareness of where you are.
Come as you are.
There is no gender specificity in the massage. Whether it is a mixed tantric massage (I am a man and I welcome women — heterosexual, lesbian, or otherwise) or a male tantric massage (I am a man and I welcome men — heterosexual, gay, or otherwise). The question of Gender has no resonance here — everything comes down to the human being.
Who are you as a human being? And what do you come to find here, in this space of connection with yourself that the massage is — whether tao tantric massage or Kashmiri tantric massage?
I welcome you as you are, in the space of the heart. In the space of awareness.
A FRAMEWORK ABOVE ALL
All massages are governed by a code of good practice, shared before every session. Your safety and the respect of your integrity come before everything else.