There  has been a lot of talk over the past few years about an organisation called the Body Electric School. The title of their introductory course, ‘Celebrating the Body Erotic’ says many things to many people.

Some people think of it as an excuse for a group of men to take their clothes off and have a circle jerk. Others read a description of the course containing the words ‘Taoism’ and ‘Tantra’ and consider it as some sort of religious order or religious pathway.

I personally saw the workshop as a means of self-healing. I found myself acting out my bottled up feelings through an addiction, in this case, sex addiction. Where one man was too many and one hundred wasn’t enough.

I had a feeling that there had to be something more to sex than just getting my rocks off. And celibacy wasn’t an option either. The discovery of Body Electric School, for me was fortuitous.

It was the power of seeing men in the group in wholesome erotic exploration that got to me. Coming into a space with these men, having all their defences drop, including my own, I was able to see the pure man.

That was the empowering part of it.

I have come to realise that many men besides myself long for deeper connection with their bodies. It is obvious that most of our education has taken us out of our bodies, away from the simple pleasures of touching and being touched, breathing deeply, and feeling joyously alive.

For those who are ready (which is by no means everyone) it is time to put the erotic back into our lives.

I have found it very interesting that eastern traditions make a positive connection with erotic energy, which the Chinese call Ching Chi and the Hindu and Buddhist masters call Kundalini.

Social conditioning has taught us to disconnect from out bodies, rather than celebrate our birthright to feel pleasure.

Many men experience this disconnection as a split between their heart and genitals, where armoring and distance are identified as strength, shame is associated with sexual desire, and it is difficult to honor all of who we are.

In Body Electric's two-day workshop, an experienced leader introduces complete strangers to each other and to themselves. By gradual stages participants move towards being comfortable in touching each other and being touched, and being naked together. There is a lot of play in the process, lots of music, lots a joy.

Through stretching, breathing, and touching, the men learn to become more fully present to their body wisdom, their emotions, and their power.

Each participant learns to give and receive a complete Taoist erotic massage, awakening the healing potential of erotic energy. Participants explore a full-body orgasm without ejaculation. The multi-dimensional effects of this work also offer opportunities for exploring the spiritual dimensions of erotic energy, greater self-acceptance as an erotic being, and ways to become more conscious in erotic relations with others.

A myriad of exercises based on Taoist and Tantric, traditions allow men to experience their erotic energy as playful, sacred, energising, and transformative.