Here’s how to ExchangE Masculine and Feminine Energy

Whether we identify as a woman, man, or non-binary, we have both masculine and feminine energy. This is the yin and yang of duality and unity. Within the receptive of feminine yin energy is the seed of the active principle of masculine yang energy. And vice versa. Our exploration is to harmonize and unite these seemingly opposite forces and awaken oneness within us.

One practice to do this is “Circle of Light” that Shashi Solluna shares in her book Tantra : Discover the Path from Sex to Spirit. It’s called Circle of Light because the energy exchanged between two people is circulated and circles between the bodies. She writes that other than balancing the yin and yang energy in both people, “it can give you the feeling of opening up, coming together in deeper intimacy and also bring you into a state of Higher Consciousness.”¹

In the Circle of Light practice, we are working with two energy centres – the sex centre and the heart centre. The sex centre in a man is the yang or positive pole while it is the yin or negative pole for a woman. One is active, inserting into the world. The other is receptive. Think of the anatomy. Same sex or non-cisgendered couples practice Circle of Light by deciding who takes what role.

In a woman, however, the heart centre is the yang or positive pole. With this polarity, the practice is to give and receive from different centres to circulate and balance our energy.

We exhale out of the positive pole and inhale through the receptive pole. Women exhale through the heart centre and inhale through the sex centre. Men inhale through the heart and exhale through the sex centre.

The Circle of Light Practice, in brief:

• Sit together, facing each other, knees touching, with eyes closed to centre, deepening the breath. Once connected inward, signal to your partner to begin. Start by eye-gazing and breathing together.
• The partner with the receptive sexual centre begins the movement and sets the pace. She/he inhales while drawing their hands towards her sexual centre, bringing it upward to the heart centre.
• She/he then exhales from the heart centre. Pushing their hands from their heart towards their partner’s heart, gifting this love energy.
• The other partner then inhales through the heart centre, bringing the energy downwards, exhaling from the sex centre.
• Partners mirror this breathing pattern. When one inhales, the other exhales. As energy is exhaled from the positive pole of the sex centre, it is inhaled into the receptive pole in the other person. As the energy is exhaled from the positive pole of the heart centre, it is inhaled by the other person through the heart.
• Continue this flow for about 10 minutes and then rest in this energy for a few minutes, with foreheads touching. When ready, bring the practice to a close with a bow and a hug. Some couples continue with a meditation; others with lovemaking.