FOUNDATIONS | TANTRA MASSAGE
THE ENERGETICS OF TOUCH
Where tension lives, and what happens when it’s finally met
Do you carry tension in your body? A tightness that seems to always be there, in the same place? It might be how a shoulder feels, why a jaw stays clenched, or why certain kinds of touch make you want to pull away before you even understand why.
Different traditions offer maps for understanding where tension settles in the body, and what may happen when it begins to move.
LEA BURRI — Founder & RETREAT FACILITATOR
August 15, 2026 · 3 min read
3-Part Series
TANTRA MASSAGE
Part 2 of 3
PART 1
THE MYSTERY OF TOUCH
Remembering the language of the body.
PART 1
THE ENERGETICS OF TOUCH
Where tension lives, and what happens when it’s finally met.
PART 3
WHAT TOUCH OPENS UP
Pleasure as something to expand, not rush toward.
In this article
1. THE BODY BENEATH THE BODY
As we touched on in the previous guide, we’re more than just our physical body. Tantric teaching describes five layers, or koshas, stacked one inside the other. Because they’re layers, they’re connected, so when something happens on one, the others carry an imprint too. It’s why heartbreak can show up as a physical ache in the chest. Or why the right kind of touch on the physical body can bring someone to tears for no obvious reason.
So a tantric massage works on all of these levels at once, not just the physical one.
2. THE HANDS AS CONDUITS
Tantra maps the subtle body through channels called nadis, the lines along which our life force is said to travel. The hands, in this teaching, act as powerful conduits for that current. There’s a small practice for this below.
Want to know more about the different energy fields that move through the human body? Read more here.
3. GENTLY UNLOCKING STAGNANT ENERGY
Tantra describes the pelvic region as especially reflexive, a place where psychosomatic stress and old emotion tend to collect and stay held. Part of what tantra massage aims to do is gently unlock that holding, so energy that’s been stuck there has somewhere to go, drawn upward through the body rather than staying stored in one place.
When that movement happens, it’s common, and considered healthy, for something emotional to surface alongside it, crying, or a sudden deep sigh that catches you off guard. Tantra reads this as a sign that something stuck has finally started to move again, not as anything gone wrong.
4. GIVING IS RECEIVING
During a tantra massage, we practice something powerful: consciously seeing the person in front of you as more than a body, an embodiment of something larger, and holding that view quietly rather than performing it. It’s what keeps the touch sacred instead of purely instinctual.
Here’s the part that surprises most people. The shift isn’t only in the person receiving. When the giver lets go of any goal, any need for the touch to lead somewhere, something moves in them too, the giver’s own heart opening in the process, as if generosity itself is what lets more energy pass through both people.
A kind of circuit forms, surrounding and flowing through both receiver and giver, ending in a deep connection.
5. A SIMPLE PRACTICE
Practice this week
Rub your palms together until they warm. Then hold them a few inches above your own forearm, or a partner’s, and notice what you feel.
Warm, easy areas need little from you. Cooler, flatter ones are where your hands can rest a little longer, offering warmth without forcing anything.
1. Opening: Presence & Breath
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Sexual energy is a life force, not just a reproductive one. From a Tantric perspective, it is the fundamental spark that animates the body and the most potent resource we carry.
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You can feel it. You probably already have. Think of a moment of genuine creative inspiration, a surge of aliveness after cold water, or the electricity before a first kiss. That charge is not separate from sexual energy. In Tantric understanding, it is the same current moving through different channels.
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- Gentle breath practice
- Grounding exercise
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Practice this week
Sit quietly for 10 minutes each morning and track sensations.
WRITTEN BY
LEA BURRI
Lea is the founder of Tantra Ritual and facilitator of sacred intimacy and embodiment retreats across Mexico, Guatemala and Europe. Her work draws on Tantric teachings, Ayurveda, conscious touch and somatic practices to help people reconnect with their bodies and deepen their capacity for intimacy.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Common Questions About Tantra MASSAGE
CAN TANTRA MASSAGE HELP RELEASE STORED TENSION?
Tantra Massage works with more than muscular tension alone. In Tantric and Yogic traditions, the physical body is understood as connected to subtler layers of experience, including energy, emotion, and mind. When the body begins to relax through slow, intentional touch, people may notice sensations, emotions, or patterns of holding that were previously outside their awareness. The aim is not to force a release, but to create enough presence for what is already there to be felt and allowed to move.
WHAT ARE NADIS IN TANTRA MASSAGE?
In Tantra and Yoga, nadis are described as subtle channels through which life force, or prana, moves through the body. Tantra Massage works with this energetic understanding of the body, using touch, breath, awareness, and intention to support the movement of energy. The hands are traditionally understood as important conduits within this process.
WHY CAN EMOTIONS COME UP DURING TANTRA MASSAGE?
Tantra does not view the physical body as separate from our emotional and energetic experience. The different layers of the human being, often described through the koshas, are understood to influence one another. As the body relaxes and areas of holding are met with attentive touch, emotions can sometimes surface unexpectedly. This may appear as tears, laughter, a deep sigh, trembling, pleasure, or simply a feeling of relief. There is no response that needs to happen, and emotional release is not the goal of the massage.
continue the Series
TANTRA MASSAGE
Part 2 of 3
PART 1
THE MYSTERY OF TOUCH
Remembering the language of the body.
PART 2
THE ENERGETICS OF TOUCH
Where tension lives, and what happens when it’s finally met.
PART 3
WHAT TOUCH OPENS UP
Pleasure as something to expand, not rush toward.
NEXT IN SERIES · NO. 3 OF 3
WHAT TOUCH OPENS UP
