Extraordinary Love with Laurie Handlers & Michael Gibson

For the first time since before the pandemic, Laurie Handlers returns to the East Coast—and Tantra Collective is honored to welcome this living legend, along with her husband Michael Gibson, to Philadelphia.

Renowned neo-Tantra pioneer, bestselling author, and trailblazer in sacred sexuality, Laurie is a guiding force in the field of sacred intimacy and embodied awakening.

Join us for a rare two-evening immersion with Laurie, whose groundbreaking work in conscious relationship and energetic healing has transformed thousands across the globe.

On Night One, Laurie and Michael weave wisdom transmission, ritual puja, somatic practice, and group alchemy—all designed to awaken the heart, restore sacred polarity, and deepen your relationship with yourself and others.

Night Two invites you into the temple of the body through Tantric Latihan—a practice of pure surrender, deep listening, and radical embodiment. Facilitated by Laurie, who has shared this powerful Tantric modality throughout the world (now 30 countries) adapted from the Indonesian Subud tradition, the evening culminates in Bodyhan, her signature group healing ritual.

Together, these two nights form a powerful arc of Tantric revelation, embodiment, and integration. Whether you come solo or with a partner, you’ll be welcomed into a space of authentic connection, devotional presence, and deep energetic renewal.

✨ Included with your ticket: Your choice of a signed copy of one of Laurie’s bestselling books ($20 value):
→ Sex & Happiness: The Tantric Laws of Intimacy
→ Sex & Happiness: It Gets Better With Age

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♥️ Night One: Extraordinary Lovers Talk, Healing Puja, & Book Signing
Thursday, September 11, 6pm

We grew up on the promise of “Happily Ever After,” but no one taught us how to make it real.

Whether you’re single, partnered, or somewhere in between—this is your invitation to experience what extraordinary love looks and feels like.

Join internationally renowned relationship mentors Laurie Handlers and Michael Gibson for an eye-opening, heart-expanding talk about what it really takes to keep love alive. Based on their groundbreaking Extraordinary Lovers Method—taught at retreats across the U.S., Europe, and beyond—this engaging evening will reveal why traditional couples counseling often fails, the three hidden forces sabotaging modern relationships, and the simple rituals that reignite passion, connection, and joy.

In this live Philadelphia event, you’ll discover:

❤️‍🩹 How to navigate love’s challenges (without spending years in therapy)
🧠 Why traditional couples counseling often fails
⚡ Three hidden forces that sabotage most relationships
🔥 How simple rituals can reignite passion, connection, and joy

After the talk, we enter a Masculine/Feminine Healing Puja—a sacred Tantric ritual designed to harmonize the inner and outer expressions of divine energy.

Rooted in ancient tradition, puja (Sanskrit for “to honor” or “to adore”) becomes a living prayer—an embodied meditation that awakens the sacred in self and the other.

Through ritual, presence practices, and guided connection, we create a ceremonial space where time slows, the veils between us soften, and the divine is seen and celebrated. You’ll be invited to witness and be witnessed, to honor and be honored—softening old patterns, embracing sacred polarity, and opening to the full spectrum of your being.

Whether you’re seeking inner balance or relational harmony, this ritual invites personal and collective healing—and offers a profound return to the truth of our interconnectedness.

Key aspects include:
🌗 Balancing Energies – Reconnect to your inner masculine and feminine
💝 Healing & Awakening – Release imprints and restore sacred wholeness
🌹 Connection & Celebration – Enter a heart-centered ritual of presence and reverence
🌿 Individual & Relational Integration – Cultivate deeper harmony in love and life

The evening concludes with a book signing—your ticket includes a choice of one of Laurie’s bestselling books—plus time to soulfully mingle in community.

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♥️ Night Two: Tantric Latihan & Bodyhan
Friday, September 12, 6pm

Step into the temple of your body through Tantric Latihan—a practice of pure surrender, deep listening, and radical embodiment—facilitated by Laurie Handlers, the originator of this powerful Tantric modality.

First premiered in Philadelphia by Tantra Collective, this transformative ritual traces its lineage to Laurie, who evolved the Indonesian Subud tradition into a uniquely tantric form of somatic awakening. Latihan is a movement meditation that invites you to let go of ego and be moved by something deeper. In this tantric evolution of the practice, blindfolded movement becomes a gateway into heightened sensitivity and deeper inner awareness.

In Tantric Latihan, your body becomes your guide. Through spontaneous, unscripted movement, you’re invited to:

🌬️ Slow down and embrace the power of stillness
🤝 Deepen connection through energetic attunement and presence
💨 Release stuck energy, emotional blocks, and unconscious holding
🌀 Fully inhabit your body in its authentic, expressive truth
🔥 Use discomfort or resistance as catalysts for inner alchemy
🪞 Let go of identity and conditioning—yours and others’
💗 Strengthen your resilience and capacity for intimacy

This is not about performance—it is about letting go, listening to your instincts, and allowing the body to speak. The more you surrender and trust your internal flow, the more joy, freedom, and connection can unfold.

The night culminates in Bodyhan, Laurie’s signature group healing ritual. In carefully guided triads, you’ll move through short, potent interactions that integrate the energetic openings of Latihan—offering you space to be seen, supported, and received in your wholeness. Bodyhan supports emotional release, somatic re-patterning, and collective coherence.

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🌀 A Two-Night Tantric Immersion
A transformative journey into the heart of sacred intimacy and embodied awakening. Each evening offers its own unique experience—together, they create a powerful arc from relational insight to somatic integration.

Whether solo or with a partner, you’ll step into a sacred space of authentic connection, devotional presence, and deep energetic renewal.

✨ Night One — Heart-opening wisdom, ritual, and polarity practices.
✨ Night Two — Tantric Latihan and Bodyhan: deep embodiment and collective energetic healing.
💫 Join both nights for the fullest depth, integration, and transformation.

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🌿 How to Prepare

This is a sacred container—come as you are, ready to soften your heart, drop into your truth, and reconnect in love.

What to bring:
• A cushion, backjack, or something comfy to sit on
• A water bottle and anything you need to feel at ease

What to wear:
Dress comfortably—wear clothing you can sit and move freely in. Whether that’s ritual attire, cozy layers, or flowing fabrics, choose what helps you feel at home in your body.

Please arrive showered, wearing clean clothes, and free of perfumes, colognes, essential oils, or scented products. This helps honor the sensitivity of the space and each other’s nervous systems. Upon arrival, we ask that you wash your hands as a simple gesture of respect and care for the shared field.

Tending your inner temple:
Please arrive lightly nourished, clear-minded, and open-hearted. We encourage you to refrain from alcohol, intoxicants, or heavy meals beforehand so you can feel vibrant, grounded, and fully present.

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🔥 Your Facilitators

Laurie Handlers is the author of two Amazon international best sellers Sex & Happiness: The Tantric Laws of Intimacy and Sex & Happiness: It Gets Better with Age. She’s been featured on Canada’s Bloomberg Report and has appeared in the New York Times. Laurie has appeared live before thousands of people speaking about sexuality, sensuality, embodiment, empowerment, relationships as well as Sex and Radical Life Extension (biohacking). She’s been featured on countless radio shows, podcasts, summits, and festivals.

Laurie has been leading retreats worldwide since 1978. She hosted a podcast for almost two decades starting with Tantra Café and then Sex and Happiness. She also co-hosted a podcast for powerful women business owners called “Power Suits and Pillow Talk.” Right now she is taking a break from podcasting.

With her unique style of humor and directness, Laurie empowers people to transform shame, fear, and guilt into embodiment, power, and self-love. Her vision: “Women and Men Dancing in Eternal Ecstasy on Earth Now!” 

Laurie is a Lead Facilitator for a variety of transformation schools and travels the world regularly offering courses, retreats, and workshops to diverse audiences.

Her current focus is on Extraordinary Lovers because she believes “couples are an endangered species”. Since finding the love of her life at age 67, she and her partner, Michael Gibson, create sacred space for couples and singles to do the work necessary to attract, ignite, and maintain love in their lives. 

Michael Gibson, studying since 2008, is a Certified Sex and Happiness Coach and practitioner, the co-founder of the Academy for Men, and creator of Just Add Skill workshops for men. 

Michael is also the creator of The Extraordinary Lovers Experience and co-facilitates with Laurie Handlers in many of her in person and online courses all over the world.

Michael fuses ancient shamanic wisdom, sacred sexuality and modern science into his coaching to create truly Extraordinary Lovers.

⭕️ Your Hosts

Elana Stern is a devoted guide in Tantra Yoga, walking the path of love and supporting individuals, couples, and groups in cultivating sacred connection, embodied presence, and lasting transformation. She was drawn to meditation as a teenager, studied Eastern Philosophy and Religion academically, trained with celebrity fitness icons in NYC, and earned Yoga Teacher certifications in both Vinyasa Yoga (Cindy Lee lineage) and Restorative Yoga. Her foundation is further enriched by training in Tibetan Buddhist, Transcendental, Vipassana, Mindfulness, and Sonic Meditation modalities, as well as Pranayama breathwork and Reiki techniques. Her journey expanded through advanced certification with Yoga Chitta—a Black-owned yoga school serving the BIPOC community-where she mentors yoga teacher trainees. After a life-altering kundalini awakening opened the portal to deeper energetic and tantric realms, she became a certified facilitator of Tao Tantra Arts (Mantak Chia and Osho lineages) and a graduate of the International School of Temple Arts (ISTA). With a vision for evolving consciousness in Philadelphia, Elana founded the Tantra Collective—producing monthly offerings for embodied spiritual connection—and ONE LOVE HUB, the city's co-created community for conscious events. With decades of practice in movement, meditation, and energy healing, Elana's teaching bridges the physical and the spiritual. She invites you into a deeper relationship with your body, your breath, your heart, and each other—where love becomes the path home to your divine nature.

Dave Schiman is an acupuncturist, hypnotherapist, and seasoned facilitator with over 25 years of experience in transformational healing. He brings a deep understanding of the body-mind connection, drawing from his extensive background in acupuncture, hypnotherapy, and somatic healing. His facilitation expertise includes Tantric Latihan, Mark Group training, men’s group leadership, sexual shamanism, and shadow work. Passionate about guiding individuals through profound personal transformation, he creates spaces for deep embodiment, emotional release, and the integration of suppressed energies. His work empowers men and women to move beyond old conditioning, unlocking greater authenticity, vitality, and connection.

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❓FAQs

Do I need any prior experience with Tantra or Latihan?
Not at all. Both nights are open to all—whether it’s your first introduction to Tantra or you're a seasoned practitioner.

What kind of people attend?
Every adult is welcome here! Singles, couples, and friends of any sexual orientation, gender, adult age, and background come together in this supportive container.

Can I come alone or is this experience for couples?
Come as you are—solo, with a friend, or bring your partner! Each night offers a self-contained initiation into tantric healing and connection.

Is there an age restriction?
There is a certain level of self-awareness and maturity required to create a safe container in which we can dive deep and move freely within this space. For the comfort and safety of all, participants are required to be over 18 years old.

What do I bring?
- Bring cushion, backjack, or pillow to sit upon and help form the perimeter of the space.
- Bring a water bottle and anything you need to feel at ease.

How should I dress?
- Wear comfortable attire or loose-fitting clothes in which you can move freely.
- Prepare to be barefoot or in socks for our practice.
- Please arrive showered, wearing clean clothes, and free of perfumes, colognes, essential oils, or scented products. This helps honor the sensitivity of the space and each other’s nervous systems.
- Upon arrival, we ask that you wash your hands as a simple gesture of respect and care for the shared field.

Is it important to arrive on time?
Yes. Doors open at 6pm, and we begin promptly at 6:30pm. Please arrive early to settle in and help us hold the container from the start.

Are any intoxicants or plant medicines allowed?
This is a sober event, and no intoxicating substances are allowed. The invitation is to tap into your unclouded intuition and connect with divine guidance.

Will there be nudity or intimacy during either night?
While Tantra practices are eclectic from White to Red Tantra, both nights are held in a clothed, sensual, nonsexual container. We encourage participants to stay in their own body while connecting somatically with others as they choose. Safety for all is our priority, and we will go over the upper limits for the space as part of the experience

Is parking available?
Yes. There is ample free street parking in the neighborhood. You’re also welcome to bike, ride share, or take SEPTA if preferred.

Where do I enter the venue?
Please enter through the courtyard door on Greene Street (past the lawn under the archway). Use the door code posted. Once inside, follow the signs upstairs and down the hall to the Parlor Room (on the right, just past the water fountain and restroom).

Why do I need to provide my contact information?
We ask for your real full name, email, and mobile number to share important details and help maintain a safe, intentional container. Incomplete or false registrations may be canceled.

Can I buy a ticket at the door?
Our events have sold out in the past. We highly recommend registering in advance. If the event reaches capacity, a waitlist will be available.

What is the COVID protocol?
While masks are not required, we ask that you take mindful health and cleanliness precautions. Please arrive in good bodily and clothing hygiene, wash your hands upon entry, and stay home if you’re feeling unwell. Your care supports the safety and well-being of all.