A love note to the senses

We often think of arousal as something purely sexual—but tantra teaches us something far deeper. It shows us that being turned on is not just about intimacy with another person. It’s about being present, fully awake, and attuned to the beauty that lives in the body, the breath, the senses… and the world around us.

Lately, I’ve been asking myself a simple but powerful question:

What turns me on that has nothing to do with s*ex?

And the answers arrive like a soft breeze. They’re everywhere.

It’s the way the morning sun filters through my living room window, golden and slow, lighting up the floor like warm honey. It’s the way my tea cup feels in my hands—the warmth, the gentle curve, the scent of jasmine or rose drifting up as the steam curls into the air.

I notice how my body starts to sway without trying, almost like a natural response, when my favourite music begins to play. There’s something about dancing alone in my room that feels completely mine. The way I close my eyes, feel my fingertips glide along my skin, let my hips move to a rhythm that no one else needs to hear. My hair falls over my shoulders and I smile, not for anyone else, just for the feeling itself.

I find a similar pleasure in water. In candlelit baths. In the shimmer of bath oils swirling in the warmth. The way my body feels as I slowly caress it, letting the water hold me. A bath bomb fizzes gently beside me, music plays softly in the background, and my hands touch my skin with reverence. I have all the time in the world—and in that moment, I truly believe it.

Pleasure is in watching a film I’ve already seen five times, knowing every line, every glance, waiting for the first kiss scene and still feeling those delicious little butterflies.

Or walking through the park with bare feet and open palms, brushing my fingers against the bark of every tree, the leaves, the textures of the earth beneath me. Touching the world, and letting it touch me back.

It’s catching someone’s eyes on the street. A stranger I’ll never meet again. That soft, electric second where we both look up at the same time—and smile. Nothing needs to happen. The moment is enough.

It’s in the scent of roses.

It’s in touching soft, velvety textures—fur, silk, fluffy blankets—and letting them wake up something tender and childlike inside me.

 It’s in the way dark chocolate melts slowly in my mouth—how I play with it on my tongue, feeling it soften, spread, dissolve, like a tiny ritual of pleasure.

Or in curling up in fresh sheets just after they’ve been changed, the crisp coolness against my legs, arms sliding under the pillow, a long exhale leaving my chest. Sometimes, that’s the most luxurious feeling in the world.

I feel it when I read poetry or sensual writing that stirs something in my belly—lines that stay with me, rise up through my spine, awaken something warm and glowing within. Words that touch my body from the inside out.

And I feel it deeply when I watch a dance that flows like water, like soul meeting soul. Not just movement, but a kind of embodied poetry. A visual prayer. Like the video I’ve shared below—a piece that had me mesmerised from the first frame. Every gesture, every glance, every breath is alive with feeling. It’s sensual without being overt. Pure without being sterile. Erotic, not because of what’s revealed, but because of what’s felt.

And in moments like that, I ask myself…

How could I ever watch porn—so often deprived of connection and realness—when there is so much beauty, so much truth, all around me and within me?

Why would I seek something manufactured, when aliveness and sensuality lives in the curve of a hand, the softness of breath, a glance, a word or the stillness of presence?

Because this—this richness, this reverence—is what turns me on.

This is tantra.

Not just in the bedroom, but in the kitchen, the bath, the trees, the music, the movement. In life.

So today, I invite you to ask yourself:

What turns you on that has nothing to do with s*ex?

And let the answers come—not from the mind, but from your senses.

Let them lead you.

With love, and soft sheets,

Rosie x

Anderson & Brenda - Zouk Embodiment 2024 in Bali - Zouk Improvisation