The new pleasure professionals

Ten years ago, the capixaba Alexsandro Barcellos Silva was a young psychologist with a weird father-in-law. Deva Nishok, father of his then girlfriend, had adopted tantra, an oriental philosophy that uses sensory experiences - like massages - to achieve physical and spiritual liberation. Massage means stimulation of all parts of the body, including erogenous zones and sexual organs. Even "scared", Silva participated in some sessions promoted by the ex-father-in-law. "Months later, I realized that the experience had moved me," he says. Silva left his private psychology practice and decided to study Tantric philosophy.

Today, at 33, Silva goes by the name of Pashupati. In a townhouse in Vila Mariana, in São Paulo, he makes women moan, cry and laugh when they reach orgasm during tantric massage sessions. He says that his family and his colleagues from Vitória, in Espírito Santo, where he was born, do not accept the turnaround in his life very well. Neighbors speculate whether he became a call boy. The parents, shocked, asked if the massage was "there" where they were thinking. He confirmed it. Her mother, Xanderly, a 53-year-old housewife, expressed concern: "What if the husband of these girls finds out?"

Dona Xanderly has nothing to worry about, says Silva. He, like the other 63 therapists from Metamorphosis, the largest tantric center in the country, is a new type of pleasure professional. In rooms with low lighting, aroma of incense and relaxing music, they apply the massage as aseptically as possible, in delicate circumstances. After a brief conversation with the client, to understand the motivations that led him there, they invite him to lie naked on a futon, wear disposable gloves dipped in body oil and start the job. The masseuse is not allowed to be naked or to be touched during the session. Silva, like the other therapists, says he follows the protocol strictly. For almost an hour, he performs gentle finger movements across the client's body, "waking up" the muscles and nervous system. In the next half hour, he dedicates himself to the genitals. The session may or may not end in orgasm, but it is certain that there will be no sex between the masseuse and his client. “I see my work as if I were a gynecologist,” says Silva. Even so, he is not very discreet in revealing the compliments he hears from customers. "Some consider me a kind of god." Silva calls some of the massage sessions "exorcism", because of the screams and crises of laughter or crying: "I just press the right buttons to awaken something that is already in the person".

The masseuse is neither naked nor touched by the client. Takes you to ecstasy without leaving the protocol 

New pleasure professionals are not doctors. They win to drive customers into sexual ecstasy. They don't like to talk about it, but they balance on a fine line that separates their work from prostitution. The Metamorfose website highlights that the center does not offer any kind of sexual intercourse, but even there the good looks of the employees, whether girls or boys, stand out. On the page where the client chooses who they want to be served by, many therapists call attention for their beauty and photogenesis. In this field, numbers are not mentioned. Therapists say they do at least 30 visits per month. As each session costs about R $ 300, a monthly gain of R $ 9 thousand is reached. Even considering that 50% commission is paid to the company, the massage therapist keeps a salary of R $ 4.500, for a few hours of work.

To anyone looking outside, it seems like an activity motivated by money or desire. Masseuses say it is basically altruism. They want to help people with sexual problems. Women who seek the service often complain about a lack of libido. Some have been victims of sexual abuse. Others have vaginismus (involuntary contraction of the vaginal muscles) and anorgasmia (absence of orgasms). Men report sexual dysfunctions such as premature ejaculation or impotence, caused by emotional problems. Dysfunctions for physiological reasons, such as a disease, cannot be resolved by tantra. If the causes are emotional, like anxiety or performance demands, he may be able to help. “For some people, it may be easier to face a massage session than a psychoanalyst,” says psychiatrist Carmita Abdo, coordinator of the Sexuality Project (Prosex), at the University of São Paulo (USP).

DEDICATION
Therapist Dhara Prem during a session. She says that the reward of the profession is to develop the clients' sexuality (Photo: Julia Rodrigues / ÉPOCA)

In theory, tantric massage is capable of providing powerful orgasms because the person is both relaxed and totally focused on receiving pleasure. There is no tension in a sexual relationship, in which both parties are concerned with the other's feelings and judgment. At the same time, it is possible to monitor, through the massage therapist's work, how each part of the body reacts to touch. People are used to concentrating their eroticism in predetermined areas and may have pleasant surprises. And instructive. The business administrator M., 43, sought one of the five units of Spaço Tantra in the city of São Paulo to have new sensory experiences. He says that his girlfriend soon noticed the changes, even though he did not know about his weekly meetings with therapist Dhara Prem, 38. “Today, when I have a foreplay, the erection lasts longer and I don't need to ejaculate to have pleasure,” he says. Dhara, who does not give his real name, says this is the biggest reward for his work. "My pleasure is to realize that the person gave in and left the problems out there," she says. His clients are stressed lawyers, engineers or executives. They need to relax and are able to pay for the service.

Sometimes, Indian therapy works as a form of personal salvation for the masseuse. São Paulo therapist Samvara says that she was abused until she was 12 years old by her alcoholic father, a violence that resulted in severe depression. Until the age of 25, their dating was just "kiss, hug and handshake". Without sex, she was slow to have serious relationships and did not form her own family. The first orgasm was at age 40, in a tantric session. Upon noticing the transformation in her own life, she decided to abandon her career as a labor lawyer and devote herself to tantra. Today, at the age of 50, she says it is “exciting to be able to repay” the good they did to her.

Tantric therapy attracts people with sexual dysfunction and people interested in increasing their pleasure 

This generous disposition seems to be a feeling common to everyone involved in the new pleasure industry. “My personal satisfaction is to see the evolution of the customers”, says Ivy Fasanella, Yamini, a former dentist who works at the Metamorfose center. “I love to know that their sex at home has improved. When that happens, life changes for the better. ” Ivy is a blonde with blue eyes, is 38 years old and has a wide and beautiful smile. Some of the men she serves prefer not to reveal the hours spent on the futon to their partners. Yoga teacher Pedro Salgado, Ivy's boyfriend, doesn't care. He says that helping people's sexual development is "a noble goal". It is not uncommon for Ivy to receive inconvenient calls from those who mistake tantric therapy for sex. Patiently, she explains the mistake. The frequent confusion made her afraid, in her first sessions, of being alone with a naked stranger. Even so, she says she never went through a situation that she couldn't get around. "Some play green, play that they will fall in love," he says. “I show that there is no possibility of anything else. Serious posture and a firm tone of voice inhibit the bad guys. ”

SCHOOLS
Therapists Ivy Fasanella (left.), Alexsandro Silva and Edna Pereira. They know how to move clients who confuse therapy with sex (Photo: Julia Rodrigues / ÉPOCA)

Therapist Edna Pereira, called Hyanna, has already received cash offers to dine or have sex with clients. The first few times that happened, she was heartbroken and cried. "I felt like a prostitute," he says. She reconciles work as a tantric massage therapist with the position of physiotherapist. He says that today he has a speech ready for the abused: "You find what you want in other places, for a lower price and without restrictions". Edna spent a long time under the crooked looks of colleagues at the hospital, and a relationship ended when the boy heard about her activity. One day, he offered to give her a tantric massage. He loved the surprise, and she revealed that she did it professionally. His expression changed instantly: "Do you take strangers' penises?" The romance did not go forward, and Edna remains single. "It is difficult for a man to understand my work," he says. "In bed, they also don't keep up with me." Because of the body's knowledge of tantra, Edna says she can prolong her orgasm for so long that a sexual relationship can last for hours.

The market for pleasure services appears to be growing. Metamorphosis alone has ten units spread over several cities in the country, and its therapists travel to make appointments in places where there are no branches. In addition to people with problems in bed who want some help, there are multitudes interested in increasing their own pleasure - and that of their partner. “People always want more fun, more intensity, more pleasure”, says sexologist Amaury Mendes Junior. This is part of the culture of our time, as is the search for the perfect body and professional success. Psychiatrist Alexandre Saadeh, from Hospital das Clínicas, USP, says that we have never been so demanding in relation to sex. "It is almost an obligation to have intense orgasms and always have phenomenal sex," he says.

The search for high quality, constant pleasure may be just an illusion, but it mobilizes people. Just as we buy cars and cell phones, which get better every year, we like to believe that it is possible to improve everything about us: appearance, feelings and, why not ?, the ability to give and receive sexual pleasure. Paying for it. In his new book, How to think more about sex, Swiss philosopher Alain de Botton suggests that these expectations may be unrealistic. Sex, he says, is mysterious and hopelessly complicated. Tantric massages can be pleasurable and stimulating. But it is unlikely to open the doors of paradise to us once and for all - despite the goodwill and talent of the new pleasure professionals.