Tantra, Trauma & Pleasure: Healing Through the Body

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In This Episode

Rahi is joined by Devi Ward Erickson, founder of the Institute of Authentic Tantra Education, ACS Certified Sexologist, certified tantric healer and host of the Sex is Medicine podcast. Devi shares how pleasure became the missing piece in her own healing from sexual trauma, after years of seeking relief through herbalism, Reiki, raw foods and a decade of monastic meditation that, while steadying, taught her to rise above the body rather than live in it.

Listeners learn how the Tibetan Five Element tantric practices are first learned without any sexual content, through seated meditation, visualization and chanting, and how each element is understood as an antidote to a root poison such as anger or attachment. Devi describes pleasure as a counterweight that can make trauma safer to meet, and Rahi adds why pacing matters: resting in pleasure, then returning to what hurts. She introduces Sacred Erotic Dance, her four pillars of meditation, movement, pleasure and connection, and why she sees connection as an antidote to trauma. Devi also speaks candidly about growing up as a biracial Black woman, internalized racism, good-girl conditioning, and how cultural silence shaped her early relationship to her own anatomy. It is a grounded, honest look at tantra for trauma healing.

Today’s Guest:

Devi Ward Erickson is the Founder of the Institute of Authentic Tantra Education, the first and only government accredited professional training institute using the Tibetan Five Element Tantric practices for holistic sexual healing. Devi is an ACS Certified Sexologist, Certified Tantric Healer, Certified Reiki Practitioner, Certified Meditation Instructor, and has been teaching meditation and personal growth workshops for over 20 years. 

Devi is an author and the Host of Sex is Medicine with Devi Ward Podcast on Itunes and tunein.com. She has been featured as a Tantric Healing Expert in countless articles and over 30 different radio and television networks world-wide including Playboy Radio, Men’s Health Magazine, CBS, NBC and Rogers TV and the movie Sexology with Gabrielle Anwar and Catherine Oxenberg.

What You’ll Learn About Tantra, Trauma & Conscious Sexuality

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Common Questions About This Episode

Can tantra help with healing sexual trauma?

Devi Ward Erickson shares that tantric practice, especially bringing pleasure into the process, was the missing piece in her own healing. She describes pleasure as a counterweight that can make difficult sensations safer to meet. Rahi adds that pacing matters: resting in pleasure and returning to the pain only as quickly as the body feels safe.

What are the Tibetan Five Element tantric practices?

As Devi Ward Erickson explains, this lineage works with five elements linked to energy centers, such as fire in the pelvis and earth at the navel. Each element is seen as an antidote to a root poison like anger or attachment. The practices are learned first through non-sexual meditation, visualization and chanting under a teacher’s guidance.

What is Sacred Erotic Dance?

Sacred Erotic Dance is a modality Devi Ward Erickson developed from her dance background. It combines the five elements with conscious breath, movement and embodied awareness, offering a gentler route into the same release as other tantric practices. She shares that she has used it with women carrying significant sexual trauma.

Why does pleasure matter in trauma recovery?

Devi Ward Erickson describes trauma as constricted, blocky energy and pleasure as warm energy that helps it soften. She believes humans are wired to move toward pleasure, and that trauma makes it feel scarce. Reclaiming solo pleasure, then connection with others, became central to her healing and to what she now teaches.