Term: Mark A. Michaels

Mark A. Michaels and Patricia Johnson, a devoted married couple, have been teaching Tantra together since 1999. Their approach combines traditional lineage-based Tantra with the best contemporary methods so that students can bring heightened awareness and expanded capacity for pleasure into all aspects of life. The authors are senior students of Dr. Jonn Mumford (Swami Anandakapila Saraswati), and have been named lineage holder of the OM Kara Kriya® system for the Americas and Europe. Sunyata, co-author of The Jewel in the Lotus, named Michaels his lineage holder in 2001. The two have also studied Bhakti Yoga with Bhagavan Das, and Tantra with Dr. Rudy Ballentine.

Michaels and Johnson have been featured on numerous television and radio programs, including appearances on Naked New York, Good Day Colorado, Afternoon Advice and Nightcalls on Playboy Radio, Go to Bed with Cosmo Radio, The Derek and Romaine Show, and NPR’s A Chef’s Table. Additionally, they and their work have appeared in Redbook, Latina, Jane, Cosmopolitan, The Village Voice, Metro, More, Rockstar, and Woman’s World, and have been quoted in the popular books The Complete Idiot's Guide to Tantric Sex and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Enhancing Sexual Desire. They have also contributed to various online and print publications, including Chronogram and Debonair, and regularly give sexuality and relationship advice at Dick-n-Jane.com.

Michaels is a graduate of New York University School of Law, a member of the New York State Bar Association, and holds master's degrees in American Studies from NYU and Yale. Johnson is a retired professional operatic soprano, who has performed with the New York City Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, and the Komische Oper Berlin. The authors are co-founders of the Pleasure Salon, a monthly gathering in New York City that brings together sex-positive people from a variety of communities.

They are the authors of Great Sex Made Simple, Tantra for Erotic Empowerment (a ForeWord Book of the Year finalist), and The Essence of Tantric Sexuality (all published by Llewellyn), and a meditation CD set, Ananda Nidra: Blissful Sleep (Projekt Records). Their two instructional DVDs, Tantric Massage for Lovers and Advance Tantric Sex Secrets, were produced by the Alexander Institute. They live in upstate New York.

For more information about the authors visit TantraPM.com.