Lin Holmqvist About Yoga, Sex and Consciousness {Interview}
Ängsbacka – A Conscious Community in Sweden
I just returned from one exciting week at No Mind festival at Ängsbacka. Ängsbacka is an alternative living community and conscious festival and retreat space in the tiny Swedish village Molkom near Karlstad.
Being very interested in alternative living communities and new conscious models of togetherness I was super excited to learn more about Ängbacka and to get to talk to some of the people involved in the community. I dig the vibe of the Ängsbacka community and will publish more about it in the following months.
If you are curious, check it out yourself! The next two festivals in Ängsbacka are the yoga festival (july 18-24) and the tantra festival (july 28-august 2).
Interview
I talked to the Swedish yogini and tantra teacher Lin Holmqvist who is the organizer of both festivals.
Lin, how did you become involved in Ängsbacka?
In the beginning of my yogic journey I met some people at another festival in South Sweden that told me that I had to go to Ängsbacka. So I went with my daughter. It was good to meet all these devoted people here. I like ecstasy and devotion and there was a lot of that here. So I became a teacher at Ängsbacka for many years.
When the lady who did the organization retired she asked me to take over her job. It was a natural step. I am very good at having an overall view of things: „Oh, this person is perfect for this!“ I love seeing the spark in people… I love to see hidden potential in everyone.
However, I am not a fan of fancy talk. In the yoga world there are a lot of people who do fancy talk. So when I organize festivals I really like to invite people that are humble rather than people that speak too much about themselves because they want to be looked upon as someone.
What is tantra?
Tantra is expansion. It makes my experience of life move in any direction. The actual translation is „tool for expansion“. The tantra festival came to me when I was arranging the yoga festival. I was in Amsterdam, at a tantra training. You can come to a state in which everyone feels like a part of you. I felt so much pain because everyone is in so much pain. Then someone came by with the sense of freedom…
The tantra that we are doing is sex plus consciousness. Sex is sexual energy. Everything that you experience is eventually sexual energy. This sexual energy is expanding and its potential is limitless. Since the beginning of times it is continuing to expand and everything that exists is a total chaos. So we need consciousness to be aware of this creation. Without consciousness creation is either nothing or chaos. With consciousness you create something. Tantra is being aware of the source of existence that is sexual existence. What we do is like peeling layer after layer after layer of our emotions.
Will there be actual sex in the classes?
The actual sex is a way to get in contact with a very powerful force. That is the potential to create a new life! There will be no actual sex in the classes but energetic sex. If you go through a tantric awakening, the kundalini energy awakens in you that is a drop of you. When you are aware of that it grows and in an encounter with someone you can circulate it between you and the other person.
This is energetic sex. It can be practiced with clothes on or off, with one person or many. Energetic sex removes the identification with my emotions.
On the festival there will be different color-coded levels of classes for beginners and more advanced practitioners that help you to decide how much out of your comfort zone you want to go.
How do tantra and yoga go together?
I started off as a yoga teacher which prepared my physical body and my mind. But in my practice I felt like something was missing. When my kundalini awakened I realized yoga was a fantastic preparation for the power of releasing the kundalini. I live in this world, I need to play a part in this physical world and tantra grounds me in that. In tantra we keep the energy but we don’t want to repress it but circulate or flow.
I could imagine that the tantra festival attracts also People that are rather interested in sexual encounters than spiritual awakenings. How do you Deal with them?
We teach people to say yes when they really feel yes and to say no when they feel like no. We try to find out why people are sleazy. There is a reason why some people develop this weird kind of energy. Eventually I believe everybody is longing for connection. The whole work we are doing is creating possibilities to get in contact with our vulnerability, our neediness, our greediness, our cravings and so on. And that’s a big chance for some people…
Thank you very much, Lin!
Want to learn more?
You are interested and want to learn more about Ängsbacka and what’s going on there? Check out their website en.ängsbacka.se!
