massage · Amsterdam · From €180
Tantra massage in Amsterdam, set for an evening with room in it
Tantra Massage
Tantra massage moves more slowly than anything else on the list and sits badly on a crowded night. It is paced by breath rather than by a sequence of strokes, it takes a while to find its rhythm, and it rewards a guest who has nowhere to be afterwards. That makes it a planner's booking. Fixed from home, it can be placed on whichever evening of the trip has plenty of room around it, usually a middle night, when jet lag has faded, the sights have been seen and nothing is booked for early the next morning. Squeezed into an hour on the night of arrival it rarely works; given two hours on the right evening it becomes the part of the trip people remember.
Where it comes from
Tantra is a Sanskrit word often translated through the image of a loom, the warp that holds a weave together. The historical traditions behind it are Indian and far older than any massage. The massage practice that uses the name today grew out of the Western neo-tantra movement of the twentieth century, which took ideas about breath, attention and slowness from those traditions and brought them into bodywork.
How it is worked
Breathing sets the pace. She times her strokes to a slow breath and invites the guest to slow his own, so the whole session runs at the tempo of a long, unhurried breath. The hands move wide and light at first, covering the whole body before settling on any part of it. Warm oil comes in once the rhythm is established. Pauses are part of the work rather than gaps in it.
What the hour holds
The start is slower than any other session. She talks for a few minutes about breathing, about the pace, and about her own limits, which she states clearly and which hold until she leaves. The room is dimmed and warmed. The work itself begins with the breath, hers and yours, before any oil is used, and the first strokes are light and wide. As the session goes on the strokes lengthen and the pace settles, and the guest is asked to do almost nothing except breathe and notice. The time is left alone. When the booked time comes, she brings the session to a quiet close and leaves the room still.
Who asks for it
The traveller with a free middle evening and a morning with nothing in it. Guests who find ordinary massage over too quickly. Anyone who has tried tantra elsewhere and wants to arrange it properly, with enough time, instead of hoping for a free slot on the day. It is less suited to the arrival night, when a tired body tends to sleep through what tantra is trying to do.
What it leaves you with
A deep, unhurried calm that tends to last well into the next day, and a sense of having stepped completely out of the trip for a couple of hours. Guests who book it for a middle night describe the rest of their stay feeling slower afterwards, as if the city had been turned down a notch.
At your address
Tantra massage at hotels and apartments in central Amsterdam, placed on a quiet evening of the trip and booked from home in advance, outcall only, ninety minutes and longer, Schiphol hotels by arrangement.
Length
Tantra needs at least ninety minutes, at 270 euros, to work at all. Two hours at 360 is the comfortable length and the one most planners choose. Three hours at 540 is possible and carries the half deposit whenever it is booked, whatever the notice.
Near it on the menu
The figures
What this one costs
| 1 hour | €180 |
|---|---|
| 2 hours | €360 |
| 3 hours | €540 |
| Overnight (8h) | €1,250 |
Asked often
Questions
Which night of my trip suits tantra?
A middle night with nothing early the next morning. By then jet lag has usually passed and the city has been seen, so there is attention left for a slow session. The first night tends to be too tired and the last night too busy with packing.
Why is an hour not enough?
Because the first part of a tantra session is spent finding the pace, and an hour ends just as that has happened. Ninety minutes is the minimum that lets the session settle, and two hours is where most guests find it works properly.
Do I need to know anything about tantra before she arrives?
No. She explains what is needed at the start, and what is needed is mostly breathing slowly and letting her set the pace. Guests who arrive with fixed ideas from books or videos often find it simpler to put them aside.
Who works it
