Body Electric School

well fellas and gals, i just spent two full days taking a course called Celebrating the Body Erotic offered by the Body Electric School. http://www.thebodyelectricschool.com/

here is a report. (the executive summary is that i highly recommend it).

the school is based in northern california, and has been active for 25 years. there are many courses and retreats offered in many cities throughout the country.

all beginners must start with the course i took, Celebrating the Body Erotic. here is a video explaining it: http://www.thebodyelectricschool.com/cbe_clip.html

It is offered as an all-men class and an all-women class.

to get a sense of the kind of stuff they teach, you can also look at videos on a spin off site (made by the founder and former director of BES): http://www.erospirit.com

If you are interested in or open to the idea of learning about your own eroticism and that of others through male-male erotic exploration and massage, i highly recommend the class.

of course, this will naturally have more interest to gay men. but, open-minded straight men (or anywhere on the spectrum) will also highly benefit from it. the key there is to step back and "abstract" out of the situation issues of "attraction" and "masculinity" and move to a place where you are studying human eroticism. yes, you will be taught to give and receive erotic pleasure to and from men. but the way the course does it is really cool and is quite compatible with any sexual orientation. of course... you must be open-minded, flexible and adventuresome. the class i took had mostly gay men, and at first i was a little overwhelmed by that. but, one of the biggest thing you do in the class is learn to let yourself go, and to accept others, which are pillars of successful erotic adventures, and so the letting go of orientation issues fits in nicely with that.

one thing i very strongly recommend is that you get reasonable buy in from your partner. you don't want to be there "under the radar." it is an emotionally large event, which calls upon you to really look into yourself, and having the weight of a partner-out-of-the-loop won't work very well. it is definitely the case that what you learn in the workshop will help your home love life prosper, whatever its details, so that is a good way to explain it.

another thing i will say is that the protocol for this course is to use hand-sanitizer as a preventative against pathogen exchange. i was not comfortable with that, nor with touching the genitals of people outside my marriage, so i brought vinyl gloves (oil compatible), which i used and which those touching me used. this was a little outside the comfort zone of the organizers at first. but it soon became clear that the goal was for me to be comfortable, and that this could be accommodated with no fuss. it indeed made me hugely more comfortable, both from a marital perspective and a pathogens one. in the end it worked for everybody. personally, i think the school should adjust its protocol. there is definitely bodily fluid involved, ie, pre-cum. and part of the protocol is an honor system about contagious skin conditions which, given the devil in venereal disease, i find naive. but, they claim that they have been doing it this way for 25 years, and that it is ok. the gloves would been seen as unnecessary and therefore detracting from a trusting attitude. to me, they were completely innocuous, and very reassuring.

a sense i got while i was there was that we aneros users *are* pretty advanced erotically. the workshop explores the terrain of extended pleasure that we discuss here routinely. i had to re-calibrate in a workshop of about 25 men, because most of them were expressing revelatory feelings as a result of experiencing it, and i had to remind myself that, whatever other sexual adventures these guys had in their lives, that this kind of pleasure was something quite new and amazing to them.

unlike typical aneros use, in the course there is the added dimension of having it shared with others. of course, it does not claim to provide the intimate and loving experience of sharing eroticism with your loved one. but, it is fun to share it nonetheless.

a significant portion of the course covers ground of getting to know yourself and others through focused communication. it is very well done and professional. the idea is that through connecting this way, you will better open yourself up to being a giving and receiving person, in general, and in particular erotically. i think there is merit here, though if you are averse to touch-feely, it is possible it might be a bit much for you.

i took the course because it was described to me as "one of the best things i ever did" and "life changing." *many* of the participants used terms like that during some of the communication segments. of course how people respond to it reflects what they brought to it, and what their expectations were. for me, i'd describe it is "very worthwhile, *fun*, and highly recommended." whether it is life changing or not i suppose i'd only know over time. i will check in with myself in a couple of weeks to see if any of my personal growth goals generated in the workshop are thriving. i sure hope so!

so, guys.... go for it!

darwin

Darwin,

Thanks so much for sharing this, it sounds very interesting. I like how you got these guys dancing to your tune also, lol. (I'm with you on the use of gloves in this context...better safe than sorry!). I think that we've all absorbed much more than we know during our time here in this forum. There's a tremendous amount of information that's been passed around in our little users community and you yourself have played a large role in that. This becomes evident when one takes an introductory workshop like this, it's not at all unusual to find that you're a great deal farther down the path than others. I had a similar experience in one of the Tantric workshops that I took. Still and all, it was great being with people who had a similar goal, namely, learning more about themselves and expanding their notions of sensuality.

Perhaps you might check in with us all down the line when some of this coalesces with you.

Thanks again,

BF Mayfield

Thanks for this Darwin. I'll definitely consider taking this course when I get some money saved up. It sounds like I could learn a lot in the communication area and the spiritual aspect. Something I'm lacking...

My upbringing has really destroyed a lot of what's mentioned in that wonderful video. I really could benefit from this. 8)

Very Interesting read thank you Darwin for taking the time to share.

Cheers

D

darwin,

Thank you for taking the time to give us this report. It sounds like you had an enjoyable experience. It is interesting that you noted some of these men were learning about or experiencing the heightened states of erotic awareness which we speak of (here on the Forum) for the first time. I had to stop and think about that for a moment as I realized just how much information I have gained over the past two years from participating on this Forum and how enriching it has been for me. I’m curious if the topic of Aneros use was discussed at all. In any event I’ll bet you brought some knowledge to the workshop that all the participants will be able to take back with them to enhance their own lives. Thanks again for sharing.

Last month I took the same introductory Body Electric class. I agree with everything Darwin said. For me it was life-altering. I think many members of this forum, who tend to think "out of the box", would benefit from the experience.

Darwin, I complement you for your openness, adventurousness and willingness as a straight man to experience this with a group of gay men and also for your courage to speak up in matters of your health and safety.

Marmot

about me offering ideas to the other participants, thanks for the implicit compliment, but, no it didn't happen. i actually felt pretty humbled (and was there to learn not espouse). the instructor and staff are men who have been practicing erotic massage and other mental and physical healing arts for years or decades.

we have a very substantial body of knowledge here on this forum. but it is more focused on an inward and solo practice, and also is confined to the realm of words.

when it came to applying what i know to the bodies of men who i was massaging i found that, really, what i had learned in the workshop mostly covered it. none of the ideas were new to me, for one thing because i had previously studied all the videos on the www.erospirit.com site. but, like anything, putting them into practice is a whole different matter. i did add some flourishes to do with external prostate spots and nipple and breast stimulation, which seemed to have good effect.

i imagined that i was a more responsive recipient because of lots of practice breathing, vocalizing and moving, and i did plane up into orgasm pretty quickly. unfortunately, i never had a chance to ask other guys whether they experienced full body orgasm, or just lots of bliss. they were clearly all blissed out, but, there wasn't any discussion of orgasm.

i should add that one of the most important things i learned in the workshop is that eroticism at its heart should be based in giving. that might be physical giving in the form of pleasure for another, or it might be giving in the form of making yourself more whole so that you in turn can be there for others. (this is the touchy-feely part, which i am really kind of revved about).

darwin

since marmot has spoken up, i will publicly thank him for introducing me to the BES, and encouraging me to go, as well as supporting me through doubts and concerns i had.

marmot, you're the man.

darwin

People such as I who take the introductory Body Electric course often say it is life-changing. I'd like to elaborate a bit on my own experience so people can understand why we say that.

We were taught how to give and receive a 90 minute erotic massage. This included learning breathing techniques, how to focus erotic energy, how to ask for and receive pleasure, how to give general massage, and about a dozen interesting ways to massage genitals.

I learned the difference between eroticism and sex. Most of what transpires at Body Electric is eroticism. We learned how to spread erotic feelings from the genitals to the entire body. In that sense, it reminds me of Aneros because my experience with it has been mostly erotic.

The initial reason I took the class was I wanted to learn to see people as more than sex objects based on their external appearance. . By the second day of class I was giving and receiving major erotic love with every person there irregardless of age, body build, beauty, sexual orientation, or ethnicity. This happens because the exercises allow us to make - what is usually forbidden in our society - the link between eroticism and the divine.

Most of the class is done in the nude, so it brings up issues some people have about their own body image. By the end of the class, these problems are usually resolved.

The exercises generate intense erotic energy, and we were taught "The Big Draw". It re-directs the energy into the brain and creates a period of ecstasy. I was fortunate enough to actually go into an erotic trance and experience some pretty incredible things.

Darwin has mentioned The New School of Erotic Touch, www.erospirit.org. This pay-to join site is run by Joseph Kramer, the founder of Body Electriic, and it contains a wealth of videos which can be downloaded and contain valuable information about techniques of erotic massage.

The site also has information about masturbation and incorporates a lot of material from the massage exercises. I just completed a one month class, Orgasmic Yoga. Among other things, one hour a day of masturbation was recommended as homework. Besides becoming a connoisseur of edging, I was able to perfect the technique of entering erotic trance. I can't believe the experiences I have had with this. I think many successful Aneros users have developed the meditative skills needed to reach this state.

In June I'm planning to attend a one week summer camp which is a continuation of the introductory Body Electric class. I'll let you know how it is.

Although it is mostly gay men, it is open to straight men, and as Darwin reported, if one has an open mind, this is not a problem. I believe one reason it is not a problem is because it is primarily about eroticism and love of fellow man -not sex - and this trumps sexual orientation.

In summary, at least for me, Body Electric is much more than getting naked with and massaging a group of men. I highly recommend it for anyone who is open to erotic exploration.

Marmot

Hi guys,

I've been following this thread since darwin started it. And trying to digest and make sense of all the information.

So my question is...
If they separate the classes by gender, and you are heterosexual, of what use is it to learn erotic massage on somebody of the same gender? And that's assuming you are opened minded enough to want to do that. Wouldn't you want to learn to do that on a person of the opposite gender? Thanks.

Love_is

Hi guys,

I've been following this thread since darwin started it. And trying to digest and make sense of all the information.

So my question is...
If they separate the classes by gender, and you are heterosexual, of what use is it to learn erotic massage on somebody of the same gender? And that's assuming you are opened minded enough to want to do that. Wouldn't you want to learn to do that on a person of the opposite gender? Thanks.

Love_is

They offer a couples class.

Marmot

you need to do the beginner's class before doing the couple's class, ie Celebrating the Body Erotic, which is one-gender.

the reason is this: you are learning a lot more than particular strokes for a particular recipient. you are learning how to:
- let go
- actively receive pleasure
- breath
- watch the other person's responses
- communicate
- patterns of arousal
- teach your woman strokes that would be good on you

also, logistically, couples classes are much harder to fill, and co-ed classes that are not couples classes i would imagine would be unattended by women.

for particular strokes to use on a woman, see the videos on www.erospirit.com

darwin

Thank you for your responses marmot and darwin. It's all clear now. 😀

Love_is

I have to say, Darwin, you are a better man than I . I watched a little of the video, and I can tell that for me, I would be very uncomfortable being in that setting with so many gay men.

I have to say, Darwin, you are a better man than I . I watched a little of the video, and I can tell that for me, I would be very uncomfortable being in that setting with so many gay men.

I'll second that, hula. Hell, I couldn't even watch the video! 😳

SWW

That's part of the reason I brought up my question. I couldn't imagine myself participating in a class like that with other guys. But it appears if you are open minded enough you can learn something valuable from it. I'll just have to take darwin's and marmot's word for for it.

Love_is

guys, i totally understand your response to the video. i felt the same way.

first, that video doesn't *at all* capture the flavor of the class. it is vastly more fun than that. second, the video has a grating staged feel to it. third, it over-emphasizes the touchy-feely.

i also understand feeling uncomfortable in a group of mostly gay men. there is a cultural and behavioral disconnect there that is similar to finding yourself in any group of people that you don't identify with. but, it is also something that you can get past, and i would claim will do you some good if you try it.

as i said, if you are an erotic adventurer, want to learn a ton about yourself, both physically and emotionally, enhance your ability to give and receive pleasure, and move towards a more whole place in the world, and... you are open-minded and flexible, then this course is for you.

darwin

Appreciate your thoughtful comments, darwin. I actually find gay porn quite erotic…but when the face to face kissing stuff starts I’m completely over it. 😯

Us humans are sure a fickle lot, huh?

SWW

Ps: Come to think of it, I'm really not that big a fan of face to face kissing when it comes to the opposite sex either. Now the kissing of other parts of the body is another story alltogether!

Among the basic rules in the Body Electric classes: No kissing. No insertion of anything into anything else.

Marmot

Hi guys,

I've been following this thread since darwin started it. And trying to digest and make sense of all the information.

So my question is...
If they separate the classes by gender, and you are heterosexual, of what use is it to learn erotic massage on somebody of the same gender? And that's assuming you are opened minded enough to want to do that. Wouldn't you want to learn to do that on a person of the opposite gender? Thanks.

Love_is

They offer a couples class.

Marmot

I'm confused. The only couples class I see offered on the web site is for 'male couples'...

wow, yes, SB, i see what you mean! bummer.

darwin

Sorry to bump this thread up to the top, again, but I was reading Urban Tantra: Sacred Sex for the Twenty-first Century by Barbara Carrellas. She acknowledges her colleagues, Annie Sprinkle and Joseph Kramer, who introduced her to erotic massage. In fact, she was one of the guinea pigs for the female erotic massage techniques. The instructions for erotic massage seem fairly detailed and she has a separate chapter describing the techniques for each gender. It sounds quite similar to what transpires in the Body Electric workshops, although the terminology is definitely different (e.g. "The Big Draw" vs "Clench and Hold"). Interestingly, she highly recommends latex or vinyl gloves during the genital massage portion.

Darwin, I am curious of your take on this. I'm sure it can't compare to the experience you get from a workshop, but for those individuals who are reticent to participate in same-gender genital massage, this book may be a compromise.

slipperybugger

Hi slipperybugger, 🙂

Thank you for the idea of the Urban Tantra book!!! When I did a internet search for the book title, I found Barbara Carrellas's web site. And right on the front page were a few sentences that really struck a note in me that I'd to share.

Most of us have been taught to compartmentalize our lives—to keep our work, spiritual and erotic lives as separate as possible—in order to keep the peace and not offend anyone. I advocate exactly the opposite approach. When our erotic energy is aligned with our spiritual purpose, it releases our creativity and manifests in prosperity and happiness in all areas of life, including fulfilling relationships with other people.

Separating my erotic life from everything else has been what I have done most of my life. And it has always felt wrong, even though my perception is that our society, and often times upbringing, pressures us to do this. Its like I've been denying a part of who I am. It's good to know that other people out there believe it to be normal for the erotic nature of our beings to be intertwined with our other aspects of our lives. And that it makes for better living all around. I'm going to have to see what I can do to reintegrate my eroticism into everyday life.

Love_is

Love_is,

I'm getting slightly off track from the original thread, but you may also want to check out Chapter Three of this article by Joseph Kramer, http://www.erospirit.com/article/56 founder of the New School of Erotic Touch (and founder of the Body Electric School), concerning how he overcame his shame of his homosexual orientation. Interesting exercise...or 'exorcism', which could prove beneficial for many of us in overcoming the society-imposed suppression of our erotic nature.

slipperybugger

Wow!!!
That's really difficult and powerful stuff this guy went through to find freedom from his shame and self-disgust/loathing. Thank you for recommending that chapter to read. When he talks about masturbating in front of Jesus, this brings up a really important concept that Christian based faiths, and probably others I'm not aware of seem to not get the importance of. That of intertwining your sexuality and eroticism with spirituality and every other aspect of life. I really feel that our sexuality and our experiences of it play a part in our personal and spiritual unfoldment. Why shouldn't our bodies and sexuality be treated as holy as anything else?

It reminds me of the old joke...
If God didn't want us to masturbate, it wouldn't have made our arms long enough! 😆

Love_is

I was able to perfect the technique of entering erotic trance

marmot could you please explain for us exactly what you mean by erotic trance? What exactly is erotic trance? I have never really had multiple orgasms in my life, but I did master the big draw years back, and I do think that did put me in some slightly altered states.

For me, an erotic trance is an altered state of consciousness which can vary from my being aware of my surroundings to being completely removed. Sometimes I can direct the trance - such as looking into a flower or the forest - other times I allow myself to go into a place inside my psyche - often the heart chakra. There are many different experiences, ranging from peaceful emptiness, going into the "white light", sensing the presence of people I have known who have died, and a sense of unity with the divine. I have gone into the earth and met Gaia. (We even had sex!) I have met and talked with parts of my inner self such as my child, my animus and anima. The conversations I've had have been interesting, insightful, and useful. I have done it with a mirror, often on my meditation cushion, and sometimes outside and naked in the forest. Once I did it in a gold mine. The experience is very much like a shamanic or Tantric trance.

Getting into an erotic trance is a little like using the Aneros successfully, only it is done with masturbation. The secret is to focus completely on the erotic feelings of the masturbation and use no porn or fantasy. Edge right up to to just before ejaculation and stay there. It takes me about ten or fifteen minutes before the trance begins. Once it starts I'm not even aware of masturbating - I just stay on the edge in auto-pilot.

This requires several kinds of practice. First, I initially found it difficult to become aroused only focusing on the erotic feelings. Second, edging is an art that requires practice. One has to know how to get right to the point just before ejaculatory inevitability and stay there for a long time. This creates a state of continuous full-body orgasm lasting as long as you want. Third, one has to be able to empty the mind, go into the body and allow the trance process to happen on its own. I've had a lot of practice meditating, and I think that helps. I am able to project the erotic feelings from my penis to the object of my attention. For example when I send those feelings to my heart chakra, they are transformed into intense feelings of love. When I go into the spiritual realm, it is an indescribable sense of unity with the divine. Tantra speaks of this process as alchemy or transmutation of erotic energy into something else.

Sometimes I end the trance with a big draw. Other times I just relax and allow myself to come back to reality. Occasionally I'll allow myself to ejaculate, but the orgasm and trance are so intense, I'm hardly aware of the ejaculation, so I usually don't do it unless I think it has some symbolic meaning within the context of the trance.

When I first started having these experiences, I thought they sounded so crazy I didn't want to tell anyone about them. Fortunately my friends assured my that I'm not crazy, and I've been able to find out that others are able to do this too.

I discovered this only a few months ago and am still discovering a lot about it. I would be very interested to see if anyone else on the forum has explored this.

Marmot

For me, an erotic trance is an altered state of consciousness which can vary from my being aware of my surroundings to being completely removed. Sometimes I can direct the trance - such as looking into a flower or the forest - other times I allow myself to go into a place inside my psyche - often the heart chakra. There are many different experiences, ranging from peaceful emptiness, going into the "white light", sensing the presence of people I have known who have died, and a sense of unity with the divine. I have gone into the earth and met Gaia. (We even had sex!) I have met and talked with parts of my inner self such as my child, my animus and anima. The conversations I've had have been interesting, insightful, and useful. I have done it with a mirror, often on my meditation cushion, and sometimes outside and naked in the forest. Once I did it in a gold mine. The experience is very much like a shamanic or Tantric trance.

Getting into an erotic trance is a little like using the Aneros successfully, only it is done with masturbation. The secret is to focus completely on the erotic feelings of the masturbation and use no porn or fantasy. Edge right up to to just before ejaculation and stay there. It takes me about ten or fifteen minutes before the trance begins. Once it starts I'm not even aware of masturbating - I just stay on the edge in auto-pilot.

This requires several kinds of practice. First, I initially found it difficult to become aroused only focusing on the erotic feelings. Second, edging is an art that requires practice. One has to know how to get right to the point just before ejaculatory inevitability and stay there for a long time. This creates a state of continuous full-body orgasm lasting as long as you want. Third, one has to be able to empty the mind, go into the body and allow the trance process to happen on its own. I've had a lot of practice meditating, and I think that helps. I am able to project the erotic feelings from my penis to the object of my attention. For example when I send those feelings to my heart chakra, they are transformed into intense feelings of love. When I go into the spiritual realm, it is an indescribable sense of unity with the divine. Tantra speaks of this process as alchemy or transmutation of erotic energy into something else.

Sometimes I end the trance with a big draw. Other times I just relax and allow myself to come back to reality. Occasionally I'll allow myself to ejaculate, but the orgasm and trance are so intense, I'm hardly aware of the ejaculation, so I usually don't do it unless I think it has some symbolic meaning within the context of the trance.

When I first started having these experiences, I thought they sounded so crazy I didn't want to tell anyone about them. Fortunately my friends assured my that I'm not crazy, and I've been able to find out that others are able to do this too.

I discovered this only a few months ago and am still discovering a lot about it. I would be very interested to see if anyone else on the forum has explored this.

Marmot

wow that is quite incredible marmot, thanks for sharing this with us, while I have never had quite as remarkable experiences, I think i have been able to alter my conscious state using sexual sublimation excercises, and through prolonged masturbation (at least an hour). lately I have found it difficult to masturbate without using fantsy or images for whatever reason, but this is some good encouragement for me to try and simply focus on the feelings instead. Right now one of my goals when masturbating is trying to relax all my muscles in the region as much as possible, but it has proven difficult for me because years of PC excercises have trained me to clench a lot of things down there, which caused probelms for me.