On my Awakening Shakti Online Group Programme, we spend 9 months re-birthing ourselves into a deeper embodiment of the Divine Feminine. Over these 9 months we focus on one theme per month, with a workbook, live zoom calls, video practices, weekly online yoga and more. In the first month, we lay the foundations for all that is to follow, by exploring meditation as woman and establishing ourselves in a daily stillness practice. In the tantric tradition, stillness, emptiness or

Have you ever wondered what tantra is all about? Well, 10 years ago I did too. And it totally transformed my life. There I was: a single mother who’d not had sex for four and a half years, feeling insecure, disempowered, guilty and ashamed. I felt trapped and frustrated. Of course, this didn’t define me entirely and to the outer world, I probably presented as relatively normal and happy, but the biggest thing I remember from that time is the nagging sense of loneliness and i

Last night I was reminded - again - of why I am so passionate about my work. It was really useful at a time when I'm doing all kinds of deep diving into my ideal client, branding and market niche with my coach. You see... my gorgeous 14 year-old daughter is a brilliant source of what's going on with young women and, I'm sorry to say, what she tells me often makes me sad. The young women she hangs out with at school and athletics are variously preoccupied with their looks and

This morning I turned on the radio and heard the news of yet another senior Catholic religious person (I'm sorry, but I really don't care if they're a priest, Bishop or the bloody Pope) being brought to trial for child sexual abuse. Dear God! Yes! Dear God! This has been happening now for DECADES! Why is nobody asking the question as to WHY this is happening and has been happening for so very long? It astounds and appalls me. Isn't is very very obvious to see, that the attemp

When you hear the word “Goddess”, what's your immediate response? Some women feel an instant resonance and calling. Others imagine reference to something airy fairy, primped up or so removed from their lived reality that they can’t relate. What if I let you into a secret? In my eyes, by the very fact that you are a woman, you ARE a Goddess. And, no, this doesn’t mean you have to go around wearing a tiara on your head, waving a magic wand and beaming love-heart

Art by Ines Honfe. Some time back at the beginning of the year, I attended a Kundalini Yoga Master Class with one of my teacher trainers' - Guru Dharam Khalsa. The focus of the Master Class was Self-Mastery. Synchronistically, I'd already decided that Self-Mastery was to be my personal focus for this year. And I've been doing a Kundalini Yoga meditation practice for Self-Mastery he introduced to us there ever since. As I turned on the radio this morning and heard news of the

Having just finished teaching my first class in this month's online series in Kundalini Yoga for Stress Release , I am feeling so buzzed up after practising the Pittra Kriya. This is a powerful 3-part meditation, that "eats up stress", by working on the glands, nervous system and energy body. You might not think it to look at the instructions, but this is a super-powerful practice that has to be tried to be understood. And it also gets physically very challenging. As I was t

What do you think of when I mention the word "tantra"? Go on... be honest. For many, the immediate association is with sex, perhaps even orgies or making out in all kinds of weird and wonderful positions. For others, it's a murky area, where you'd just rather not go and you're not exactly sure why. Maybe you feel some fear? Or a confusing blend of fear plus curiosity, desire and shame, because your curiosity is something you'd rather keep secret? There's so much my

OK, so here’s a confession you might not have heard too often: I left my first husband because we only had sex in 3 positions. Now I know that might sound a tad superficial, but in my defence, I was a young and sprightly 28 year-old, with a strong sex drive and expansive spirit. I loved having orgasms and having them was no problem – with myself. But I really can’t recall if I ever climaxed with my first husband and, if I’m honest, I found his 1, 2, 3 routine boring. Typical

Enjoy the audio version of Parts 1-4 of The Flow Artist; my tantric counter-narrative to Cat Person. Note: The Flow Artist is my tantric counter-narrative to the short story, Cat Person, that was recently published in the New Yorker. As someone passionate about love, conscious relating and sacred sexuality, I was deeply saddened to read Cat Person. To me, it represents pretty much the opposite of everything I teach and live by, and so much about what is wrong with gender rela

I’m excited. Just as much, I realise now, at the prospect of sleeping under canvas, as together with this beautiful man. The relief I feel at stepping outside into the cool night air enlivens me. I hadn’t realised, until this moment, how confined I’d been feeling in the crowded, fuggy dorm-room. But now my body revels in the stillness and expansive dark, and I breathe in the night with a grateful heart. Practically blind without my lenses, I walk carefully across the dewy

Whereas after our first dance, I thought nothing of it, now Peder was in my awareness. It’s not that I felt attachment or the need to make anything happen, but something in me was definitely stirred. So now I noticed whenever he passed me by and felt a rush of enjoyment and appreciation sweep through me one sunny afternoon, when I caught sight of him practising flow art on the lawn. I sat down on the steps of the café to watch. Taking him in this way – by the light of day –

Sharing a dorm with 20 other women doesn’t make for a very restful experience. Having been amongst the last dregs of arrivals, I’ve landed a top bunk right by a door that is constantly opening and slamming shut, and right above someone whose snores shake the rustic rafters. (This IS a converted Swedish barnhouse after all). I’m a light sleeper at the best of times, so what with the snores (my bunk-mate isn’t the only one) and alarming way the IKEA bed-frame creaks and wobble

She eyed me with a sense of familiarity and undisguised curiosity that I couldn’t help but notice. “Are you Shakti?” she asked. “Yes! How did you know?” An unnecessary question, really, because the truth was we both already knew on some level. And had known from the moment we caught sight of one another in the mirror. Perhaps it was the alternative dress-sense. Perhaps it was the vibe of unharried aliveness and excitement we both exuded. Though I suppose there weren’t too m

Art by Ines Hofe “You see, ecstasy is the natural human state, and the obstacles we create to ecstasy are part of a dictatorial state our thought makes us live in. Ecstasy is simpler than suffering. It smells good. It is present throughout. It is with us always. There is nothing to do and nothing to look for. It’s enough to stay totally open and let things occur without worrying about changing their nature. By our being really present, continuously present, all reality

So many people I meet express an interest in knowing more about tantra or comment upon my radiance and positive vital energy. “I want what YOU’ve got” they say. Or “how can I experience the same kind of ecstatic experiences (sexual or otherwise) you talk about?” At the same time, I’m aware that there are many of us out there, me included, who have all the best intentions of committing to a daily spiritual or connection practice, but find it challenging to sustain. We all