I developed a playful new workshop for an event where I taught this past weekend. I was really inspired about "Embodied Sexuality," and am finding myself asking the question, what does it mean to fully embody my sexuality?
For me, it means a lot of things. My embodied sexuality means I am fully present in my body, and that I look to my body for information when things get scary or uncertain, rather than disassociate or run away from it. It is seeing that my own body is a huge source of information that I want to honor and listen to.
It also means that I use tools to be fully present in my body each day... everything from touch, breath, intuition and playfulness help me to come home to my body. I pause during my day to feel my heart beating, my blood coursing through my veins and my energy vibrating.
Enjoying dressing up my body and wearing make-up are fun things I like to do, although they are not what everyone likes. I think the way we feel in our clothes is important for helping us feel good in our bodies. Our self-expression is very important and a key part of our sexuality. I know when I have gone through depressions or times in my life where I lost some of my vibrancy, that was also reflected in my clothes and in hiding my body. When I'm feeling good, my clothes and self-expression reflect that.
Embodying sexuality is also about enjoying my body... playing, running, doing yoga, working out, riding a bike-anything physical where I am connecting to my body feels so good and connects me to the pleasure of living as a physical being. And of course sharing sex with a partner is also a way of connecting and embodying my sexuality. That requires staying present, feeling what is actually happening and enjoying my body and my lover's. It is about all of my senses... what I see, hear, feel, smell and taste... it's so delicious that we have these marvelous senses to help us experience all there is to experience in the world. Truly, have you ever stopped to think about how amazing it is that we have all of these abilities?
Many people spend a lot of time very disconnected and disembodied from their sexuality. They stay in their head about it. They don't allow themselves to feel in their body. They guard their heart and shut it down. When you do that, you push away all the wondrous experience that is there for you to have in the world. Why deprive yourself of this amazing human experience? We are here, locomoting around in our physical bodies, praying in the temple of our skin, singing the songs of our souls with our voices and hearts, meant to have a beautiful bodily experience.
When our body is ill or when something changes in our bodies, it's an opportunity to reconnect to our body in a new way, to embrace something new about it. And sometimes we need to release what is no longer. Doing a ritual to express and release grief and to say good-bye to a function we once had, a body part we had removed, or an ability that has been altered can be very healing in helping us to move forward with our body in its new state.
Whatever state your body is in, you must love it, cherish it and thank it each day for giving you this human experience.
To get more connected, each morning, take a moment to touch your skin and your body parts with a loving, intentional touch, and thank it for all it does for you.
I'd love to hear your thoughts about your own experience with embodied sexuality on my blog.
Amy Jo Goddard thrives on helping people develop sexually empowered lives, deeper intimate relationships, more abundance and more pleasurable sex. A sexuality educator, trainer, author, performing artist and activist, she travels to colleges, universities, communities and conferences teaching workshops and speaking about sexuality. She has taught workshops at such schools as Barnard College, Princeton University, Vassar College, NYU, & Gallaudet University. A professional trainer of sexuality professionals, medical students, college students and youth for fifteen years, she has taught courses at the City University of New York and the University of California at Santa Barbara. Amy Jo is co-author of Lesbian Sex Secrets for Men and contributing Author of All About Sex, among other writings. She has worked in various women's and queer communities as an activist and advocate. Amy Jo maintains a private sex coaching practice and facilitates her six month sexuality program for women, The Sexually Empowered Life, in New York City. She can be found online at http://www.amyjogoddard.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amy-Jo-Goddard/348841508485024
No comments:
Post a Comment