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June 23, 2016
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Warning: this post involves lovers, tantric practices, and other delicious things. It all ends up being about public speaking and leadership. Stay with me here….I promise to explain.
In 2001, I left my investment banking job. Walked up to the office in the Transamerica Pyramid and forked over my Blackberry (aka ball and chain), laptop, and announced I was leaving. I gave up my chance at that coveted bonus (which no one my year got anyway because the whole market crashed. This was one of my first truly great intuitive moves:)
Not long after, I sold all my belongings and took off on a one way ticket to Asia.
In Thailand, I met a guy.
Well, I met a few. But one in particular captured my attention for quite a while. He was a very sexy Israeli scuba diving instructor named Ben. We dated while I lived on that little island in the Gulf of Thailand for a few months.
Just a month before meeting Ben, I had become friends with an English couple who were the most luminous people I’d ever met. When I asked them what had them be so shiny and alive, they told me they practiced tantra.
I was immediately both scared of them and that word: TANTRA! And…I was also completely magnetized and curious to understand what this spiritual practice was all about.
You might be thinking this immediately involved s’e’x (I have to spell it that way or your spam blocker will have a hayday with my email).
It did not.
The English guy in the couple – his name was Vinod – taught me some meditation and contemplative practices that massively shifted my perception of being alive. I was never able to see myself or the nature of life or connecting with another person the same…ever again.
I was introduced to this indescribable light within myself and in him, and to a level of connecting with another that totally blew me away.
Now, back to Ben the Israeli – he was my first boyfriend after being introduced to these meditation practices, and through sharing in some of these tantric meditation practices with him, I discovered a river of love and sensuality inside myself that was so beautiful and healing. I fell in love with it and dedicated my life to learning how to bring that energy out.
Years later, after studying Tantric yoga and meditation as a spiritual practice and becoming certified as a Tantra Teacher, I realized the feeling I felt inside myself that I loved more than anything and longed to be in all the time is what people called “feminine energy”.
My greatest insights, poetry and wisdom came to me when I was feeling this feminine energy inside myself.
I learned to unblock it in my mind and body so I could flow freely with this energy and let it express itself however it wanted to.
(I make that sound so easy here when I say it like that! It has been a long path and one I am still on. I consider it to be the most beautiful, valuable path in life.)
During this time exploring and teaching Tantric practices, I learned how to see where this feminine energy – this river of brilliance- was blocked in other women and how to help that energy run free again.
Then…
Years later, when I began doing public spoken word performances (poetry spoken out loud and performed), I felt what some might call total “terror” prior to going on stage to speak.
But, because of all my work in tantric meditation, I knew that this feeling was not something to run from. Rather, I knew that this feeling was ME, and all I had to do was say yes to it. Then, I was able to give fully, and feel completely at home in myself, even in the midst of what is commonly known as abject “fear.”
Here is why: Tantra helps us to see that everything that is arising in every moment is an aspect of who we are. This recognition allows us to have intimacy with every life experience, and to be fully alive.
And that includes public speaking.
Public speaking is an opportunity to create intimacy and transformative conversation with a group of people.
It’s also a very high energy sport. (If you’ve ever felt all those crazy jitters before you speak in front of others, you know what I’m talking about).
Tantric practices help you to gracefully be with intensity of energy and to find the love and intimacy of the moment in the midst of all that intense sensation.
I found them to be extremely helpful when I started to get out there and speak publicly.
I’ve since gone on to develop an entirely new and unique public speaking modality that has its roots in tantric yoga and meditation. It is just for women.
These practices help you to not only be masterful with the intensity of energy that is inherent in public speaking, but also to stand up and lead from your feminine energy.
I remember being nervous about whether even corporate, big stage women would resonate with these practices, and yes – they do. Women who have spoken on big stages like TED, TEDx, the American Heart Association, Emerging Women, Wisdom 2.0, and at Princeton University, among others, have found freedom, grace and clarity to rock their talks with these practices.
Even women in more traditional corporate environments like Microsoft, where I have taught, have used these practices to find greater confidence and authentic feminine power to share their ideas in male dominated board rooms.
They have worked now for thousands of women around the world, and I believe they will work for you.
I have just released my brand new, FREE 4-part video training program, Speak Your Truth, Change The World. It’s zero-cost, and these videos have never been seen by the open public before, only some of my clients.
In this new training video series, you will learn:
– What the fear of public speaking “really is” and how to free yourself from it forever
– My unique & highly effective practices for turning nervous energy before speaking publicly into feminine grace, natural confidence and joy
– The three most important feminine practices for speaking with confidence and exuding charisma
– How to finally land on that “truth” you’ve been circling for years but hasn’t fully clicked.
– How to own the value of what you have to say and speak powerfully from that place
– And (I love this one) the questions you must ask yourself each time before you speak that will make what you say succinct, to the point, relevant & valuable
I am only keeping this series available to the public for a very short period of time, so head on over.
Come see what women who have done my work have been raving about – this stuff works. And it’s fun.
Your message matters…greatly.
Take your voice and your message seriously and come learn my techniques and practices.
They will set you free to speak up, have fun, be the woman you are, and deeply impact the world.
I look forward to seeing you in the videos.
To you and your voice,
KC
My name is KC Baker and I’m a women’s thought leadership & public speaking trainer and speechwriter. You can get on my list for my posts & trainings at kcbaker.com.
I love this post. I’m curious if you’re able to share more on the tantric practices you explored? I’m doing more somatic meditations from the Vajrayana tradition and love them.