Tantra is a thousand years old. Tantric massage, about fifty, and it's Californian.

7 October 2026

The concept of 'tantric massage' is practically synonymous with 'erotic massage': it's rare for a massage centre not to have a tantric massage on its menu, or even that it describes itself directly as a tantric massage centre.

Tantra is far more than massages: it is a worldview, a philosophy and a way of life that goes far beyond sex and massages. It is a very ancient teaching where sexual energy is of great importance; massages exist, but they have nothing to do with what the West reinterpreted as tantric massage.

The term had previously been introduced in the West, but it was Osho Rajneesh, at the height of the new age and the sexual revolution, who westernised the term and gave rise to what we know today as tantric massages in our culture.

If this has made you want to try it: the tantric massage.

According to this view, a tantric massage involves gently running your hands over the other person's body, initially setting aside their genitals, and finally, once a connection has been established through breathing, touch and caresses, massaging the intimate areas to reach orgasm.

There are many variations. The most widespread, surely, consists of gently massaging the penis and squeezing the upper part to prolong the time of caresses and delay ejaculation.

This sensation of maximum arousal and the continuous postponement of ejaculation means that when climax is reached, it is usually much more pleasurable. As it is practised, some men claim they can better control their ejaculation, and women say that seeing their partner on the edge excites them so much that the enjoyment multiplies.

The connection within the couple grows: they synchronise their breathing, massage each other, spend hours exploring each other's bodies and orgasm takes second place.

There are many more variants, but I consider that this is the one that best describes what is considered a tantric massage.

Among people who live tantra as a worldview, there is a certain unease that their way of life is identified with erotic massage. In fact, many concepts from Vedic teachings, Taoism, Zen and other Eastern teachings are mixed in many places that offer tantric massages, and even teach them.

The name that most closely matches its content is surely 'erotic massage', but because of the connotation of the word erotic in our culture, it sounds much better to call it tantric, which gives it a mysterious aura and softens it.

There is a scholar, Hugh Urban, who has traced the drift of tantra in the West and its association with capitalism and sex. Christopher Wallis, in Tantra Illuminated* (2013), explicitly distances classical tantric philosophy from neo-tantric sexual practices.

The fact that the name is not the most appropriate to reflect its reality does not diminish the value of the massage: there are indeed many testimonials from clients who describe these massages as far more pleasurable experiences than penetration, and couples who practise this type of massage within their everyday sexual practices.

In the centres of erotic massage is usually the star of the menu, along with the nuru massage.

A good erotic masseuse will master the art of tantric massage: she will be able to control the man through caresses, connection and delaying orgasm.

For women, whether alone or as a couple, it tends to be the massage they enjoy most. Women greatly enjoy foreplay, caresses, having their whole body caressed all over, and not going straight to penetration.

The name really doesn't matter, as long as we know what to expect when we go to an erotic massage centre and ask for a tantric massage, and understand the difference between the word 'tantric' referring to massages and what tantra really is.