"Tantric Body De-armouring operates on the premise that emotional stress is not merely a mental experience, but also manifests in the body as somatic sensations and energy".
The Origins of Tantric Body De-armouring
Andrew Barnes began creating Tantric Body De-armouring in 1998, which he named in honour of the work of Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957). Reich was a pioneer in the field of psychology and bodywork, and he was the first to introduce the concept of 'armouring’. According to Reich, individuals create various types of 'armour'—be it physical, emotional, sexual, or energetic—as a defence mechanism against the world around them. However, this 'armour' paradoxically starts to maintain fears and prevent people from fully expressing themselves, often leading to unhealthy behaviours, relationships, and dysfunctions in daily life.
What is Tantric Body De-armouring: A Journey to Authentic Self-Expression
Tantric Body De-armouring is a lesser-known yet deeply transformative psychosomatic-based, participant-centred modality. This term 'psychosomatic' refers to the interconnection between the mind ('psycho') and body ('somatic'). In this context, it means that the approach addresses not just physical but also mental, emotional, sexual, physiological, energetic, and spiritual elements. In a participant-centred modality, the focus is on catering to the unique needs, preferences, and experiences of the individual undergoing the session, ensuring that they are an active participant in their own experience and transformation process.
The Mechanisms of De-armouring
Utilising trauma-informed touch practices, this approach supports participants in creating a safe, nurturing space for themselves to be able to dissolve physical and emotional armour stored in the body's fascia and muscles. These defences can be observed through distinct patterns of breath, movement, speech, behaviours, fears, sexual dysfunctions, and areas of tension and stress.
The Benefits of Tantric Body De-armouring
As a result of this armouring, the body may experience reduced sensitivity to both pleasure and pain, lowered sexual energy levels, and distorted cognitive functions, making daily life more challenging. Tantric Body De-armouring can serve as a gateway to release these defence mechanisms and fosters a harmonious union between mind, body, sexuality, and energy. This facilitation not only enhances the potential for developing tantric sexual energy but also makes achieving full-body energy orgasms more easily attainable, especially as armouring tends to lower our sexual energy. Through techniques such as trigger points, breath and energy enhancement, and dynamic processes, the practice aims to promote autonomy, agency, well-being, and authentic self-expression.
Key Components of Tantric Body De-armouring Often Include
Trigger Point Release: Various forms of touch and pressure may be applied to release muscle tension and dissolve physical armouring, particularly in the body's fascia and musculature.
Breath Enhancement: The role of breath can’t be overemphasised in dispersing armouring. Deep, diaphragmatic breathing helps to open up the body's energy flow.
Emotional Harmonising: Emotional awareness, healthy expression, and participants creating safety and agency for themselves are prioritised.
Body Awareness: The importance of becoming more aware of one's bodily and erotic sensations as a way to identify areas of tension and blockage.
Talking and Insight: Parallel to the physical practices, conversations are also integral in supporting participants to gain insights into their emotional, relational, and sexual patterns, aiding the de-armouring process.
Personal and Spiritual Growth: Tantric Body De-armouring offers more than just physical relief; it serves as a journey toward agency. As participants become more attuned to their bodies and emotional and erotic landscapes, they also gain the opportunity for deepening into their spirituality. This deep inner work can facilitate a greater connection to oneself and the universe, nourishing both personal and spiritual growth.
Enhanced Sexual Energy: Another possible outcome of Tantric Body De-armouring is the rejuvenation and elevation of sexual energy. By releasing armouring and enhancing the flow of energy throughout the body, participants may find an increase in libido, greater sexual responsiveness, expanded extended full body energy orgasmic states, and a deeper sense of intimacy in their relationships. This renewed sexual energy not only enriches one's sex life but also serves as a vital force for creativity and zest in daily life.
Addressing Sexual Dysfunctions: An often-underemphasised benefit of Tantric Body De-armouring is its potential to address and alleviate sexual dysfunctions. Whether its issues related to performance anxiety, difficulties with arousal and orgasm or pain during sex, erectile dysfunction, or premature ejaculation. Through a deepened understanding of one's own body and the dissolution of emotional and physical armouring, participants may find lasting solutions to sexual challenges, enhancing not just their sexual experience but also their overall quality of life.
By employing these techniques, Tantric Body De-armouring aims to facilitate a free flow of sexual energy throughout the body, thereby improving both physical and mental health, and fostering a sense of autonomy and agency and increased sexual self-esteem.
What to Expect in a Session
During a Tantric Body De-armouring session, participants can become aware of the relationship between muscular tension, repressed emotions, and sexual dysfunctions. They can also learn to recognise the stress held within their nervous systems and identify belief systems that no longer serve them, all of which can contribute to unsupportive behavioural, sexual, and relational patterns.
Choosing the Right Retreat or Session
When exploring your options for either attending a Tantric Body De-armouring retreat or booking a private session, you may come across a range of practices that capture your interest—or raise some concerns. For instance, certain practices focus specifically on the yoni (vulva & vagina), lingam (penis & testicles), anal, or prostate areas, for solving sexual problems oe promising enhanced pleasure, prolonged orgasms, and states of bliss.
While these outcomes are indeed possible, such advanced practices might be too intense for beginners or may not even be necessary. Therefore, level 1 retreats focus exclusively on body de-armouring techniques, saving more advanced methods as options for level 2 retreats. Similarly, initial private sessions often concentrate on talking, planning, and body de-armouring before considering more advanced options.
Tantric Body De-armouring is best described as a 'bodywork-art,' blending the art of facilitation with bodywork. This dual nature can either transform or activate unresolved traumas. Therefore, three overriding key principles include:
The practitioner refrains from pressuring the participant and supports them in guiding what does and does not happen within the boundaries of the Tantric Body De-armouring session.
The practitioner remains alert to any pressuring by the participant and supports them in re-evaluating their capacities, needs, boundaries, and limits, supporting them to align with their body's natural wisdom.
In Tantric Body De-armouring sessions, the touch is unidirectional, flowing only from the practitioner to the participant. This one-way touch protocol serves multiple purposes.
Firstly, it establishes a clear boundary that safeguards the integrity of the therapeutic process. By removing the possibility of reciprocal touch, the participant can focus solely on their own sensations, emotions, and experiences without the distraction or responsibility of touching back.
Secondly, it helps to maintain a professional separation between practitioner and participant, reinforcing the practitioner's role as a guide rather than a partner.
Lastly, this setup allows for a more targeted approach to de-armouring, as the practitioner can more precisely focus their attention and skill on supporting participant agency and releasing the physical and emotional blocks within the participant's body.
Integration with Trauma-Informed Touch Practices
While Tantric Body De-armouring employs trauma-informed touch practices to support participants to create a safe and nurturing environment for themselves, it's crucial to clarify that this modality is not designed to heal complex trauma.
If you are grappling with unresolved severe psychological or sexual trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder.
You have other serious psychological or physical health conditions.
Addressing and treating complex trauma necessitates specialised training and expertise in trauma healing. Tantric Body De-armouring aims to educate about sexuality and facilitate the release of physical and emotional 'armour' and enhance one's overall well-being, but it is not a substitute for medical advice or dedicated trauma therapy. Participants with a history of complex trauma are strongly advised to consult with healthcare professionals who specialise in trauma recovery for a more targeted approach to healing. Click here to see the Tantric Body De-armouring retreat calendar.