This informal CPD article, 'Body-Mind Connection in Tantra’, was provided by InnerCamp, who work within the holistic health sector offering expert-led solutions to help you rediscover your inner force and stand strong in your foundation on both personal and professional levels.
Body-Mind Connection in Tantra
The concept of the body-mind connection dates back to ancient intellectual traditions such as those found in India, Greece, and China. In these traditions, the body and mind were viewed as inextricably linked and inseparable, and techniques such as yoga, meditation, and acupuncture were developed to nurture and balance the body-mind system. Western scientists and practitioners in domains such as psychology, neurology, and mind-body medicine have recently examined and explored the body-mind relationship.
The belief that the body and mind are interrelated and interdependent and that they form a single, integrated system, is referred to as the body-mind concept. The body-mind connection is a basic principle in many spiritual and philosophical traditions, as well as in modern scientific studies. You may be asking how all of this relates to Tantra and tantric practice.
Many spiritual traditions, like Tantra, emphasize the body-mind connection. Tantra regards the body and mind as inseparable components of a wider spiritual system, and techniques such as yoga, meditation, and breathwork are employed to cultivate and balance the body-mind system. Tantric practices emphasize the importance of growing body awareness and presence, as well as a better knowledge of the link between the physical and spiritual elements of existence. In Tantric traditions, the body-mind connection is thus regarded as an important part of spiritual growth and transformation.
Five ways Tantric practices can help you link your body and mind
Tantra practices help increase awareness of the mind-body connection
People have become increasingly adept at delaying or completely ignoring messages from their own bodies. When we are fatigued, we are more inclined to drink another coffee or synergy drink rather than snooze, and when we are stressed or apprehensive, we quickly 'blame' our mental condition rather than seeing it as a possible side consequence of a lack of exercise. When we are depressed, we drink, and when we are bored, we stare at a screen... so it goes, until neglecting the body's requirements becomes nearly natural.
Tantric activities like breathwork and yoga help to bring our awareness back into our body and learn what it requires of us. There have been studies on how techniques like body scans, in which you are urged to pay attention to regions of your body that you would normally overlook, can help reconnect neural networks, increasing your sensation of that portion of the body. It basically establishes a biofeedback loop between the body and mind.