Diana Richardson - Tantric Sex and Menopause: Practices for Spiritual and Sexual Renewal

To all women, past, present, and future.

TANTRIC SEX
AND
MENOPAUSE

Through a wide range of methods and tools, the authors offer practical advice to support your health and emotional well-being during menopause. By releasing old disempowering beliefs, dropping tired and worn-out expectations, allowing yourself to express emotions healthfully, and putting yourself and your needs first, they offer a holistic, supportive paradigm to nourish your body and soul, to honor yourself and your partner, to experience real intimacy and deep love on a level previously unimaginable. They invite you to come home to the wisdom, power, and truth of who you are.

BRANDON BAYS, INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE JOURNEY AND FREEDOM IS

The journey of embodiment has been life changing for me. Thank you, Diana and Janet, for writing this book while I embrace menopause. I could not ask for a better guidebook. This work in the realm of sexuality is truly groundbreaking and opens up a magnificent realm of possibility and fulfillment hitherto unimaginable.

CATHERINE OXENBERG, ACTRESS, AUTHOR, PRODUCER, AND PHILANTHROPIST

An uplifting and empowering read. The authors have shared so much wisdom and demystified so many mythsits astounding!! This book offers inspiring stories from women with open hearts and courageous souls and many great tips and practices to access your own knowing and body wisdom. I feel this book is for women of all ages to read and create a new collective voice of what menopause and intimacy can be.

VANESSA FINNIGAN, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER OF HOLISTIC BLISS MAGAZINE

Through its simple, yet elegant, practices and empowering information, Tantric Sex and Menopause is an inspiring guide that gives the power back to women through this transition, while still honoring men. It will speak to all women, no matter what age, who wish to truly understand femininity and the journey of womanhood at its core. I was inspired and uplifted by this heart-opening book.

RACHAEL JAYNE GROOVER, AUTHOR OF POWERFUL AND FEMININE AND CREATOR OF ART OF FEMININE PRESENCE

A womans midlife rebirth is a revolutionary passage that were only just beginning to honor. We are urgently in need of the wise council and fierce love of seasoned experts in feminine embodiment like Diana Richardson and Janet McGeever to show us that, far from being the end, menopause should be celebrated as a glorious new awakening. This is the book weve been waiting for.

LISA SCHRADER, AUTHOR OF KAMA SUTRA 52, COACH, AND FOUNDER OF AWAKENINGSHAKTI.COM

Tantric Sex and Menopause offers great help to menopausal women and couples who wish to continue to be sexual and grow in their lovemaking. Thank you to authors Diana Richardson and Janet McGeever for sharing such practical and beneficial wisdom. May it help many people!

MERCEDES KIRKEL, AUTHOR OF SUBLIME UNION: A WOMANS SEXUAL ODYSSEY GUIDED BY MARY MAGDALENE

This is the book women need most right now. Whether you are peri- or postmenopausal, this book gives the gift of empowerment. It is high time that women in middle age and beyond are embraced as the multifaceted sexual beings they are. Tantric Sex and Menopause does just that and more.

SUZANNA MILLER, BLOGGER AND PODCASTER AT BLISSRUNNER.COM

Tantric Sex and Menopause opens the door and introduces a new way of being sexual that is nurturing to the feminine body. I was struck by the empathy for the journey of women and felt a deep sense of support and connection within this book. It offers a recalibration of a womans sexuality, emotional health, and understanding of menopause. This book is full of hormone and body knowledge and practices that empower. I love this book.

MARY SPICER, LIFE SOLUTIONS COACH, ENERGY MEDICINE PRACTITIONER, AND RADIO HOST

Acknowledgments

TO THE MANY COURAGEOUS WOMEN who have stepped forward on this journey, our gratitude to each and every one of you for sharing your experiences, which have served both to inspire us and to confirm our own experiences. Our heartfelt thanks also to your men, without whose presence and willingness the whole experiment in love could not be made manifest, and to the men closest to us, Michael and Gene, through and with whom we have learned and experienced an inestimable amount. Our sincere thanks for their research, resources, and inspiration to Dr. Christiane Northrup and the late Leslie Kenton, who sadly passed away just as we finished writing this book, as well as Melissa Borich, mindfulness and yoga teacher who inspired the inclusion of the yoga in this book; and Andrea Lopez for her inspiring work on Mayan abdominal healing. Many thanks also to Yollana Shore for her support and to David Andor for his cooperation in redrawing some previously published pictures, and for drawing several new ones. Last but not least, to the spiritual masters Osho and Barry Long, we offer everlasting gratitude for life-changing insights into human sexuality that revolutionized our own personal lives.

Note to the Reader

The content of this book is intended for guidance only. We are not medical practitionersthe information and suggestions we make are not meant to be prescriptive. We have consulted with medical experts, who have approved our recommendations, however any attempt to treat a medical condition should always come under the direction of a qualified medical practitioner, preferably one who works in conjunction with alternative or natural therapies. Neither we the authors nor the publisher accept responsibility for any consequences of a reader failing to take appropriate medical advice.

PREFACE

Why We Wrote This Book

OUR BOOK IS AN ENDEAVOR to shed light on the true nature of your body, and to give hope where there may be a sense of loss or little inspiration. There are many books on menopause, but few approach sex and menopause through the window of Tantra. We have both personally explored Tantra in our own relationships, and we both teach Making Love Retreats for couples, where we present an approach to sex that is life changing. And, of course, as women we have had our own unique menopause experiences, which have been very different from each other but shared many similarities.

Additionally, we have interacted with hundreds of participants (women and men) over a span of many years who have given us a wealth of direct feedback, some offered verbally and some very apparent. The impact of a tantric approach on the body and mind is undeniable: it imparts a new sense of self, a serene inner connection with the body, and a profound understanding of sex and its function beyond reproduction.

Of necessity, there will be a certain level of repetition in the chapters ahead, partly due to the interweaving themes but also to aid readers who may not read in sequence, preferring to dive into chapters randomly and independent of one another.

OUR PERSONAL BACKGROUNDS

Although women share many common elements of lovemaking and menopause, each womans path is unique. We are both grateful that our paths intersected.