What OM (Orgasmic Meditation) is
A specific structured 15-minute practice developed by OneTaste in the early 2000s in the San Francisco Bay Area. The protocol: a male partner ("stroker") stimulates the upper-left quadrant of a female partner's clitoris with a specific featherlight technique for exactly 15 minutes while the female partner ("strokee") receives. There is a specific opening, a specific stroking pattern, and a specific closing. The practice is positioned as a "meditation" rather than as sex.
OneTaste — what to know
The organisation that developed and taught OM (OneTaste, founded by Nicole Daedone) has been the subject of significant controversy, including a federal indictment of its leadership in 2023 on charges of forced labour. The Netflix documentary "Orgasm Inc" covers the history. The practice itself can be done outside the OneTaste framework, but the organisation's history is relevant context for anyone considering a OneTaste-affiliated workshop or program.
How OM differs from broader tantric practice
OM is one specific 15-minute practice. Tantric practice is a broad multi-millennium contemplative tradition with hundreds of practices, of which sustained-clitoral-attention is one possible exercise. OM is fundamentally heterosexual in its protocol design. Tantra is not. OM positions itself as a "meditation" with a particular brand frame. Tantra does not have a single brand frame. OM was developed in the 2000s. Tantra is much older.
What OM does well
When practiced outside the OneTaste organizational framework with a trusted partner, the protocol can be a useful structured practice for couples. The 15-minute attention to a single body region is genuinely contemplative. The non-reciprocal structure removes performance pressure on the receiving partner. Many couples report meaningful experiences.
What tantric practice offers more broadly
A much larger toolkit, including partnered practices that are not gender-locked, solo practices for the unpartnered, body-mapping protocols for re-sensitization, breath foundations, energy circulation work. Tantric practice does not require subscription to a single organisation's framework. The history is older and the source material is broader.
Our recommendation
If the OM-style sustained clitoral attention protocol appeals to you, you can practice it with a trusted partner without needing to engage with the OneTaste organisation. We do not teach OM in our programs. We teach a broader range of partnered practices including some that share the slow-attention quality of OM but with different mechanics and different gender architecture.