Published: Just now
WELCOME. Last year, strong criticism was directed at the tantra festival.
This year it is back. Cristina, 39, has traveled from Portugal to participate for the first time.
– I’m a bit single here, she says.
Right on the edge of the Värmland municipality of Molkom is Ängsbacka course. At the parking lot, where the entrance is located, two men in yellow vests are sitting. One hugs a participant for a long time.
During last year’s festival, around a hundred participants were infected with covid-19. Soon after, Norway closed the border to Värmland to unvaccinated people. The event was covered in many media and strong criticism was directed at the organizers. A local politician wrote on Facebook that “A bunch of anti-vaxxers have fucked around in Molkom”.
But last year’s writings are not visible in the meadows where the participants eat lunch. It’s a relaxed atmosphere and among the sea of people there are two women walking around with white feathers that they caress along the bodies of the lunch eaters.
“A little overwhelming and a little scary”
Cristina Neves, 39, has traveled from Portugal to Molkom to take part after her friend in Berlin thought she needed to “de-stress”.
– He was right, I have been more relaxed since I came here, she says and laughs.
Cristina believes that the Scandinavian nature is calm and different compared to big cities. But there are many impressions to take in.
– I have to say that the first day I was here it was a bit overwhelming and a bit scary because I’m new to this and it was very intense, it’s still a bit intense. But I complete everything at a leisurely pace.
But an activity during the festival made Cristina uncomfortable.
– I didn’t bring my boyfriend, so I’m a bit single here. So I had to take a partner I barely knew and it’s all about touch and intimacy. So I had to leave that time.
She continues;
– But I can imagine that it would have been fantastic to be here with a partner.
“Not an exhibitionist type of nudity”
The days at Ängsbacka look different. There are often parallel workshops.
– After lunch we hold “sharing”, it’s an exercise we do here at Ängsbacka where you sit in a group of five to six people for about an hour. It is always only one person at a time who speaks from the heart regarding their life, the others comment or do not react. They are there to testify and listen to you, says Hylco Broos, marketing manager.
During a tour of the large barn at Ängsbacka Kursgård, some participants remain in the barn after the workshop. A man lies with two women on either side of him hugging. Across the floor, another man and woman sit holding each other.
– Nudity may occur in an arranged workshop. The focus is to see when the nudity actually supports the experience, it is not an exhibitionist type of nudity. It is there to perhaps discover something about yourself or your body. Nudity usually occurs in a specific context, such as with a partner. But to also get the experience of being vulnerable with several people, whom you don’t know, it can be very relaxed and fun to explore, says Malin Wik, product manager.
– There is use of the sexual energy. It is not about sex but sex is part of tantra. I think that sometimes it is simplified to make it only about sex, says Malin.
“It’s about a fear”
Ängsbacka Kursgård holds several different themed weeks. It can be anything from meditation to yoga and sexsibility. This week it is the rewritten tantra week on the agenda. One of the teachers is Torbjörn Hellmouth.
– For me, this is a little bit of changing the world. To help people to “connect” to themselves. What I notice in my everyday life as both a therapist and group developer is that very many people walk around with a feeling of loss, a kind of emptiness, he says.
How do you get involved, what do you do to help?
– Firstly, I contribute with my own story and then I work a lot with breathing, movement and sound. These are often the easiest ways to “connect” with the body. When we go out to discos and dance, there is little to “connect”.
Do you ever encounter prejudice?
– Continuously. It is about a fear, people are generally afraid. Maybe not safer than ever but for a very, very long time.
Torbjörn believes that people often choose to avoid what triggers fear, and when you approach tantra, you go against the fear.