Sexological Bodywork Webinars

Webinar 1 with Katie Asmus

At the heart of health and healing is the imperative for our body-minds to experience a sense of relative safety. As humans, when we've experienced a scary or traumatic situation that we are not able to fully process, we can become stuck in a perpetual heightened state of activation, ultimately developing an aversion to feeling anything. When this occurs even feeling pleasure can be activating and overwhelming.

In this workshop we will look at the more subtle skills of identifying unconscious associations and roadblocks to feeling good and learn tools to repattern habits in the nervous system opening the somatic pathways for greater health and healing.

Through understanding the role and significance of somatic resourcing for ourselves and clients, as well as the mechanisms for regulation, practitioners will leave with a greater clarity and confidence in facilitating full body-mind transformation.

Webinar 2 with Laurie Ure

Shame debilitates people from enjoying their sexuality perhaps more than any other single factor. Chronic shame is often out of a person’s awareness and usually has roots in traumatic experiences, either from their childhood or events later in life. Shame manifests as tensions in the body that inhibit the flow of energy, including sexual pleasure. It also frequently underlies negative beliefs and messages about the self.

In the presentation, I will offer a definition of shame, including the social context which includes both positive and negative reasons for shame. I will review the topic of shame from the perspective of Bioenergetic Analysis - a body-based/analytic approach to psychotherapy. The presentation will include a discussion about the importance of offering presence through awareness, openness, and non-judgment as a beginning step towards releasing shame.

An overview of exercises used in bioenergetic therapy to reduce tensions associated with shame which inhibit sexual desire and enjoyment will be included. Examples from my work with clients will add richness to the presentation along with a discussion of cultural contexts of shame, such as the impact of gender stereotypes and racial constructs. The presentation will be experiential and participatory along with didactic.