I received a truly amazing massage from John. He is extremely professional and experienced in offering a unique experience to his clients. He is welcoming and open and offers a relaxing and uplifting massage from start to finish. I would highly recommend and i will return again. Thank you John!

Emily, Vancouver, 2018

I have participated in two Trainings with John Picard, one of which was a professional Tantra Massage Taining in the Czeck Republic with John Hawken. I am  both a holistic and a Tantra  massage practitioner myself, and appreciate how rare it is to find a male practitioner with the level of expertise, strength  and sensitivity possessed by John.
My experience of receiving Bodywork from John has been nothing but positive. John has a very professional approach to his work and a very sensitive intuitive touch. Aside from being a top class masseur with very healing hands, John has the unique capacity to make his clients feel very safe and 'held' in a way that allows them to relax into  vulnerability without any fear of John stepping over personal boundaries. He is able to make clients feel comfortable and safe by using humour and genuine interest in their needs. John has  a wealth of life experience and compassion that he applies with ease and authenticity. During the treatments I have received from John he has listened to my requests with both his ears, his hands and his heart.
I cannot recommend John highly enough for his skill and professionlism, so much so that in the past I have organised for several of my women friends to receive Tantra massage from John, as I trust his integrity implicitly.

Sally Elsbury

MTI Massage Training Institute
ITEC International Therapy Examination Council

"Thank you for the wonderful Tantra Massage John. It came at the perfect time. My body had been experiencing some armouring and stress prior to the massage and you helped my body feel safe, held and nurtured throughout the session.
You were very respectful and clear about boundaries and you honoured and stuck to the agreements we made at the start of the session and I really appreciated that. I experienced you as professional, clear, compassionate and nurturing and the session felt safe and held well. Thank you for creating a safe container for the treatment and for honouring my body in a sacred, respectful and loving way." 

Orla Quinn talking to Joe Nash on Live95FM about 'me too', how we need to change our approach to sexuality and an introduction to the Art Of Intimacy workshop being held in Limerick on 26 Nov- places still available!
https://www.facebook.com/events/662822253925130/


Limerick Today - Is there a need to respond to sexuality in a more mature and responsible way following the #MeToo campaign?
live95fm.ie

One of the principles of Tantra is healing through pleasure, rather than being bound by pain.
 Tantra allows healing to happen through release, it allows the body and the being to do this in a way and at a pace that fosters integration.
 This is so important in a process as it gives a context for the healing, it allows the being to integrate and personalise the release, which helps change flow naturally, there is no force. There is only alignment and harmony.
New understandings, new ways of being, new possibilities and the actions that these bring come out of who we are, not just something we do. There is depth, because they've become part of us, of who we are.
This is reflected firstly by a process we use called Layers, secondly by the progression through layers of being, going from healing to growth to expansion.
The initial healing is driven by some level of pain, physical, mental, emotional, sexual, spiritual, relationship... The focus is on changing the condition or situation.
However, once this has happened the healing never stops, it changes character.
It becomes more about growth.
If we say healing 'has happened', we're saying that it's complete. What has happened in fact, is that we've released one, a few, many layers of an issue that is rooted in the past.
As we become more conscious of ourselves, our patterns and responses, what we've done, what we do, and release that which limits us, which no longer serves us, we begin to free ourselves from the layer of pain.
We move into the layer of growth, the layer of choice. Here healing is not based in pain, it's based on possibility. We're no longer trapped by the past, we're moving to greater freedom and to positive choice. We're more in the present, and more aware of the future we'd like to create. We also become more aware of how much of this journey is about ourselves, how responsible we are for our happiness and pleasure.
Growth brings consciousness, awareness and presence. This naturally moves us into expansion. Simply put, we become aware of more. There are no limitations, other than those we accept. The field of possibility is continuously expanding. What is within us, thoughts, feelings, energy, sensations, expands, deepens, heightens. Awareness grows.
Consciousness deepens.
There is greater presence. We are present, more of us, more of who we are, more of the resources within us. The connections we have with people, with energy, with knowledge expands.
We see life, our lives, and the world differently.

The healing never stops, because the issues of life never stop.

But we start to live in a different world.

And we see that the layers of being are infinite.


( Thanks to Jonti Searle)

tantra

I know what you're thinking: Are you nuts? My back hurts like hell. Why would this ever be a good thing?

First off, I know what back pain feels like. I know what it's like to have pain shooting down your leg. I know what it’s like to not be able to move your toes properly. I know how excruciating it can feel to peel yourself out of bed in the morning and I know how infuriating it is when your body keeps you from living your life the way you set out to live it. I get it.

At 25, my lower back started hurting so much that I often couldn’t find a physical position that would free me of my pain even just for a short while. After months of denial, trying to medicate the pain, and forcing myself to strengthen my abs and stretch my hamstrings, I finally admitted that something more serious was going on with me. I was diagnosed with two herniated disks in my lower spine.

As a then soon-to-be med school student and the daughter of two physicians, I did what made the most sense: I had surgery and went through month of recovery ... and guess what? The pain was still there.

The primary emotion I felt throughout was anger. Anger towards my body for hurting, for being weak, for deserting me, for keeping me from reaching my goals and living the ambitious life I had planned out for myself.

I was deathly afraid of looking like a failure and now that my spine was giving in, I was forced to take a break, forced to stop what I was doing (applying to medical school), and worst of all: since I wasn’t able to keep myself busy and distracted, I had to feel all of my stored up unhappiness.

In addition, I was an avid runner and loved yoga, and I had I drawn a lot of confidence from being athletic and feeling like my body was invincible. Secretly, I was also obsessed with exercising because I was terrified of gaining weight. (In fact, I was constantly trying to lose 10 pounds.) I often pushed my body beyond its limits and told myself that until I lost weight, my body wasn’t love worthy.

The world I had built up for myself crashed when my back pain became unbearable, and thank goodness it did. Throughout my recovery, I came to realize that my entire reality was built upon the idea that I had to impress others, that I had to push myself to perform, that I had to compete and that I needed to be “successful” at all costs. What I did was more important than who I was. What others thought of me carried more value than how I felt.

My back pain forced me to question this reality and the choices I was making.

By way of the pain, my body forced me to stop and to reconsider the choices I was making. My body wasn’t willing to sacrifice myhappiness for what I thought “success” was. My body had my best interest in mind and since I didn’t want to listen when it was whispering, it began to scream.

My back pain sparked the biggest transformation of my life.

Through my pain, I was able to reconnect with my body and come home to myself. I was able to hear my own voice and identify my own desires without thinking that the external environment knew better. I began to honor my body, listen to my intuition, and create a mind-body connection that is full of wisdom and gentle guidance.

I withdrew my med school applications and instead got my M.A. in Counseling Psychology. I graduated as a published author for my work on how women experience emotion in their body and have created my own life-coaching business since. I fell in love with the man of my dreams and lost 20 pounds without forcing myself into a strict diet or exercise regime. Best of all, I am now free of pain, once again running and practicing yoga, and I'm filled with a deep happiness and trust in myself and my abilities. When my back starts aching (which it sometimes still does), I know that I need to listen, release the pressure I put on myself, and invite more playfulness into my life.

My back pain saved me from a path that was in disharmony with my internal world and instead allowed me to take a step back and create a life that is in alignment with who I am and what I want to add to the world.

If you are experiencing pain—whether it's back pain, tight shoulders, a knot in your throat etc.—ask your body what it is trying to tell you. If your symptom could speak, what would it say? By having this pain, what is your body forcing you to do differently? What is it keeping you from doing?

If you want to befriend your body, think of it as your most loving advocate, helping you become the happiest and most fulfilled individual possible. Be gentle with it. Honor it. Engage in conversation with it. Make feeling good a priority.
Original by Caroline Zwick, Nov 2013.