Sexual yoga (Taoism)

Sexual intercourse (whether physical or mental) may be used to cultivate energy, bliss and health, especially in the case of practitioners of advanced age. The basic aim of sexual yoga in Taoism is to gain control and conscious use of sexuality, since neither celibacy nor indulgence balance psychic energies in a manner which leads to their transcendence. Whether or not physical intercourse is involved, the process of sexual intercourse is recognized as a fundamental metaphor, or set of imagery, through which the art of fruitfully balancing duality can be explored. In one form of sexual yoga inner heat is generated by sexual arousal. This is then circulated by concentration through the active and passive psychic channels, up the spine, through the head, and down the centre line of the front of the torso. In another form, practised in conjunction with sexual intercourse, ejaculation by the male practitioner is suppressed (either by muscular contraction or external pressure) creating an extremely intense and prolonged orgasm, the heat of which is then conducted by concentration up the spine by the active channel into the brain, where it "burns" away mundane thoughts and feelings through bliss. It is recognized, as with breathing exercises and psychosomatic meditation practices, that sexual techniques may be hazardous if improperly performed, namely if the practitioner controls his energies or is controlled by them. Stress is placed on the complementary role placed by meditation, both in ensuring the appropriately serene attitude to undertake such practices effectively and, subsequent to them, in achieving unconditioned transcendence.