Tantric Guide to Better Sex, The Review

Reviewed by astroknight  on  9/9/2005

The Little Details

Running Time: 60 min.

Production Date: June, 1997

Director: None credited

Cast: Charles & Caroline Muir, Robert Frey, David Ramsdale, and Margo Anand as “experts” plus several couples for demonstrations

The Short Story

Initial Expectations: I’ve had mixed luck with Sinclair’s educational features, but I have a bit of hope for this one for some reason.

Initial Reaction: There’s some nice tips, but there seems to be a lot of bullshit to wade through as well.

Who Should Watch It : Anybody wanting a fairly clinical look at Tantra that incorporates lots of the mumbo jumbo

Who Should Avoid It: Anybody who wants Tantra that’s just about the fucking

The Technical Stuff

Audio /Video Quality: The technical aspects are nicely done. The audio is clear and well balanced, and I don’t think I heard a single background noise. The video is much the same way. There’s very nice use of lighting throughout the feature and barely any grain. This is a very nice looking and sounding release.

Music: The music has a very soft feel and balance that works very well for the feature.

Disc Complaints: There’s no time stamp, which always ticks me off. Granted, as an educational DVD Most people aren’t going to be watching this like your normal adult movie, where I like to sometimes go back to specific instances. For those times, a time stamp is a necessity. Here, that isn’t needed, but the lack of a time stamp instead gives the DVD a cheap and slightly shoddy feeling.

Menus: As usual, the menus are basic and straightforward. The main menu has the usual canned Sinclair style, while the chapter menu lets you choose a scene based on a still and a subject for the chapter.

The Feature

Tantra is something that anybody interested in sex has heard of. Maybe it was just a shocked look wondering how many trips to the chiropractor would be needed after considering a couple pages they checked out in the Kama Sutra book or maybe it was wondering about an all night lovemaking session. There are many thoughts about Tantra, and this release looks at them after trying to clear some of the confusion about it.

After a long talk on the benefits of Tantric sex as well as many misconceptions about it and problems with “traditional western sex”, the seven Chakras are covered, places where energy can supposedly enter and leave the body. The first exercise to start Tantric sex is finding your partner’s chakras, and paying attention to the sexual feelings throughout the body rather than just in the bottom. They next hold each other’s genitals to feel the energy flowing between them and then put their other hand over their partner’s heart to complete the circle. Another exercise is to just hold your partner and enjoy the feeling between you. Breath control, specifically deep breathing, is also important, as it leaves the body full of oxygen so your body can perform at its best and helps in having a full body orgasm. After getting the proper pattern down, one should practice breathing at the same rate as your partner as well as alternating with your partner so that you can be more aware of your partner’s breathing. Once you’ve trained your body, you might be able to have a full body orgasm. The feature moves through several Tantric positions, explaining how they differ from the positions one might be used to and the reason why. Finally, it covers being multi-orgasmic for both men and women.

Tantric Guide to Better Sex is an okay release. There’s some very nice information throughout the release, and I really liked how the narrator explained some of the cultural reasons for different positions. The problem with it is that it also brings people in who are technically referred to as “Kooks”. The narrator did a great job, but whenever it changed over to one of the Tantric “experts”, after about three words I couldn’t drown out Penn Jillette’s voice screaming “Bullshit! It’s just fucking!” in my head. Therein lies much of the problem with studying Tantra. There seems to be two types of people, those who consider Tantra a religion and those who don’t. If you’re somebody who doesn’t want the religious aspect of Tantra, this release is going to have a fair amount of fast forward fodder along with some decent information. Tantric Guide to Better Sex is a pretty good instructional release that struck me as having a bit of bullshit to wade through.

The Extra Stuff

The No Greater Love featurette is included, which covers condoms in a very nice, very artistic, and very romantic way. There’s also sexual health information and a bonus featurette.

The bonus featurette, The Couple’s Guide to Better Orgasms which also from the Better Sex Video Series, lasts about a half hour and is led by Marty Klein, Ph.D.. After a quick reminder that everybody’s orgasm is different, Dr. Klein covers some of the physical changes that happen to the body during orgasm. He moves on to cover stimulation and the importance of communicating what turns you on to your partner. The G-spot and techniques for finding it are covered, as well as multiple orgasms and touching yourself during sex to make sure you get what you need. Things like vibrators, blindfolds, and lube are also covered to round out the discussion. It’s a nicely presented featurette, and although relatively simple I think that most couples could learn a thing or two watching it.

The Down -n- Dirty Sex Stuff

Themes: Straight and educational

Raincoat Factor: Medium high

Condom Usage: None

The Bottom Line:

Currently, many of the Sinclair Institute’s DVDs can be found online for between about $13 and $28 with a few stores offering them at the lower end. I’d rent this one before buying it. There’s some nice information here, but I think there’s also plenty to turn some people away. The technical aspects are very well done, and there’s some nice care put into the extras. This is a decent feature on a well done DVD.

Note to Sinclair: Thank you for putting smaller featurettes on your titles as an extra. It really does make them a much more attractive package.

If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail me .

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