Spice alone tastes terrible, add it to something fundamentally good and it takes it to new realms of experience...
Broadening your sexual repertoire and opening up to the amazing life-enhancing potential of a fulfilled sexuality requires a strong basis. If we divide our sexuality into physical, mental, emotional and spiritual sexuality, it’s vital that our emotional sexuality and our spiritual sexuality are developed so that we have the safety and therefore the freedom to explore the physical and mental dimensions of our sexuality, to spice things up.
Jacqueline calls it the Third Wave of Sexuality, today’s guest Sex Geek calls it the New Sexual Revolution.
Alison Petrie is a Tantric Practitioner, Healer and Workshop Facilitator. Today we talk with her about this new revolution, what is it, why is Tantra such a big part of it, and what does women’s orgasmicness have to do with it? What is orgasmicness anyway? Find out here, on The Tantric Lounge!
About Today’s Sex Geek: Alison Petrie
Alison began her working life as an IT professional in a busy, corporate, male dominated environment. A need for more meaning, fulfillment and a curiosity for all things spiritual lead to a career change into psychology/counselling and energy healing. Having opened up on many levels through study, yoga, meditation, energy work and psychic development and having always had a healthy interest in sex, the next question emerged “Can sex be even better ?” which started a deep dive into the world of Tantra and Sacred Sexuality and a reclaiming and valuing of her feminine essence and the need for it in the world.
Alison is now the Sydney based facilitator for Tantric Blossoming and the founder of I Am Woman Global. She runs regular events and private sessions for men and women who want to connect more deeply to themselves and others, enjoy more authentic, heart-centred connections and explore the depths of sexuality beyond the physical. Because of her own journey, she especially enjoys supporting women to own their beauty and feminine power, to enjoy more conscious relationships and intimacy, and to rediscover their amazing capacity for sexual pleasure.
Shibari - the Art of Japanese Bondage has a long history. What is it exactly, what is its appeal to modern Westerners, why are we discussing it on the
Tantric Lounge, why are there photos of Jacqueline being tied up and why is she having trouble speaking?
Shibari is Tantric in essence - it’s about deep connection, sensuality, beauty and poetry. Today we talk to Hebari, head teacher at the Rope Dojo
in Sydney’s inner suburbs and curator of the Sydney Rope Festival. Listen and look at photos as he ties Jacqueline up during this episode...
Guest Info David (known
as Hebari) has practiced Shibari for 16 years, travelling to Japan regularly to study with his mentors. He has performed and taught workshops all over
the world. David began the Sydney Rope Dojo in 2011 where people can come and take classes weekly. The focus of the Dojo is to enable people connect
with their partners with a heavy focus on teaching safe practices.
On today’s show we’re not interviewing a Sex Geek, we’re talking to Seven Sex Goddesses! Or at least, Jacqueline is introducing us to the concept of the Seven Goddesses of Sex and how accessing their energies can help modern women come into the fullness of their gorgeous sexuality, with stronger self-image, more desire and greater sexual response!
I've been working on this concept for over six years and I've just released the book. Each Goddess is accompanied by a fictional, historical erotic story to convey the feeling of these energies in a way that is accessible for modern-day woman. Then through 24 illustrative erotic stories readers follow the experiences of three fictional modern women as they experience the energy of each Goddess in their lives. I call it educational erotica - written to educate and inspire!
Menopause affects 100% of women who live long enough to experience it. But what exactly is menopause and how does it affect a woman’s sex life and the sex lives of her partners?
In this show we’ll be talking to Heather Cameron, Director and CEO of the Menopause Resource Centre, a not-for-profit humanitarian venture dedicated to increasing awareness about menopause and to empowering women about their choices during what can be a challenging time of life and sexual life.
Guest info
After having married, raised three daughters and run several successful businesses, at the age of 50 Heather Cameron’s life changed dramatically when her menopause started. Surprised, amazed and exhausted by menopause’s frequently debilitating symptoms, Heather embarked on a continuing journey to know more about what was happening her body, mind and spirit. Disappointed and frustrated by the difficulty of finding information about menopause that was easy to access or understand, in 2013 Heather decided to found The Menopause Resource Centre. It’s mission – to give all women an enduring resource where they can find answers, support and empowerment and to break the silence and taboos surrounding a life change that affects all women and the people they love.
Today Xavier and I are chatting with two guest Sex Geeks - Deej Juventin and Uma Furman, two of Australia’s top somatic sex educators and practitioners. They practice and teach Sexological Bodywork, supporting individuals, couples and groups to learn to direct their own erotic development, learn about their bodies, sex and sexuality, or work through sexual issues or concerns. It’s a fabulous modality for healing which includes breath work, touch, Taoist Bodywork, mapping, scar tissue remediation, and Orgasmic Yoga coaching. This is yet another fascinating conversation down, on The Tantric Lounge!
Guest Sex Geek info
Deej and Uma are leading somatic sex educators. Focusing on empowering people of all genders, sexualities, and backgrounds to lead more embodied erotic lives, their work is highly experiential, and delivered with safety, heart, and integrity. Based in Brisbane, Australia, they run their programs internationally. They teach the Certificate in Sexological Bodywork Professional Training in Australia and Europe, and are founding members of the Institute of Somatic Sexology and the Somatic Sex Educators’ Association of Australasia.
A great and often under appreciated aspect of sexuality is that of harmony, and one of our most easily accessed paths to harmony is through sound. In this Tantric Lounge episode sound therapist Lia Smith talks to Xavier and I about how she uses sound to evoke both harmony within ourselves and with our partners. We also explore the issue of intimacy and how we align ourselves through sound and vibration.
Guest Sex Geek Info
Lia is an artist, bio-energetic medicine practitioner and birth Doula. Her interdisciplinary practice finds her weaving together skills and interests between the art and health worlds. In recent years she founded a wellness centre in the heart of Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach. Currently based in the Blue Mountains, she practices as a therapist and performance artist Australia-wide and abroad. She offers one-to-one wellness consultations, energetic body balances, bio energetic qi gong, sound healing and birth attendant services. She runs workshops in a range of areas, from authentic relating and movement, creative arts labs and sound intimacy experiences.
Lia has been engaged in personal mind, body, spirit and soul practice for over 16 years. She has had the honour of assisting many others along the way. Her approach embraces both contemporary medical knowledge and ancient medicine traditions; drawing on the art and science of what is available and translating between the two for the best possible outcome.
Our guest on The Tantric Lounge this week has a fascinating story. A good country Catholic wife, mother of seven, Trish Lehman left all that behind in her 50s to pursue her sexual awakening. Moving to the big city she became a, well, she’s not quite sure what to call herself, a sex worker, a surrogate, a bodyworker. Essentially she provides loving touch to those in need, often older men or disabled men, but she’s also amazed at the younger men who seek her services. She’s an amazing woman, come and meet her this week on The Tantric Lounge.
Guest Sex Geek Info
A good country Catholic wife, mother of seven, Trish Lehman left all that behind In her 50s to pursue her sexual awakening. Moving to the big city she became a, well, she’s not quite sure what to call herself, a sex worker, a surrogate, a bodyworker. Essentially she provides loving touch to those in need, often older men or disabled men, but she’s also amazed at the younger men who seek her services.
What is the future of sex? Join me and co-presenter Xavier as we talk with futurist, Ross Dawson. Teledildonics, Virtual Sex, Quasi-holographics, are just a few of the technological innovations that could transform our sex lives. Fascinating stuff, but where does love, connection, spirituality fit in with all this techno-sex. Tune in for what is bound to be a fascinating conversation with a Futurist Sex Geek!
Guest Sex Geek Info
Ross Dawson is globally recognised as a leading futurist, keynote speaker, entrepreneur and authority on business strategy. Strong demand sees Ross speak frequently at major conferences and internal business events around the world.
He is the best-selling author of books including the prescient Living Networks, which foresaw the social networking revolution, as well as Trends in the Living Networks, ranked as one of the top business blogs in the world.
Ross’s frequent media appearances include CNN, Bloomberg TV, ABC TV, SkyNews, Today and Sunrise, Washington Post and many others.
The human body is an incredible pleasure machine, the sensations and experiences we can potentially experience are incredible. Until recently though, it wasn’t really an aspect of science that was studied particularly thoroughly. Even today there is a lot that is unknown or unconfirmed. There’s a lot that is though, and it’s a lot more than you would have learned in school sex ed classes (if you were even lucky enough to get sex ed.) That was more about reproduction than sex, more about how to have babies and not have babies, than about pleasure, intimacy and sexual delight. We’ll be joined in this episode with another of Australia’s great Sex Geeks, Cyndi Darnell, who is creating a fabulous project on sexual anatomy. Join us to find out more about your fabulous body and it’s awesome sexual potential!
Guest Info
Cyndi Darnell is one of Australia's leading sex therapists with over 20 years experience studying human sexuality from the clinical (M.HSc / Grad Dip C/HS) to the esoteric (Sexological Bodywork and Tantra).
Her work and comment has been sought for media around the country. She was a co-creator of six educational podcasts with Catherine Deveny on popular topics in adult sex education. She was the founder and host of Pleasure Forum Australia which ran in Melbourne from 2010- 2013.
Cyndi counsels individuals, couples & beyond, she runs comprehensive and entertaining educational seminars and workshops on adult sexuality, pleasure & relationships both in Australia and globally to demystify sex and emphasise pleasure. Cyndi is uniquely placed to be able to bridge the world of sexology from a variety of perspectives and approaches that embrace, understand and challenge the diversity of human sexuality.
"We weren’t in a very good place. Reading Jacqueline’s book together made the world of difference and we’re stronger for it"
"A huge thank you with all my heart for the unique and beautiful experience that you created for all of us on the weekend. It was such a magnificent experience and I am amazed at how much the Luscious Woman weekend boosted my confidence, I feel fantastic. What you give to others is such a beautiful gift you’re an inspiration to everyone around you."
"It was all about rediscovering and embracing being a woman, and everything that surrounds that."
"It feels like I am taking possession of my 'goddesshood'! As a consequence I find that I am now confident and settled and calm with my husband and I can move between the goddesses, giving and receiving as the dance feels right. It's quite glorious, we're loving it. There is so much more I could say - I am so grateful and joyous! Thank you so much for your dedication, commitment, honesty and love."
"Luscious Woman was so useful and very much applies to the modern lush woman who wants to feel and be even more empowered!"
"I never expected the Luscious Woman Workshop to have such a dramatic change on how I view myself and how I now feel sexy, feminine and graceful. I've never said those words about myself before!"
"Luscious Woman has truly shifted my thinking, my life and me, in a wonderful direction. Thank you so much Jacqueline."
"It’s been so good to find a book that tells us how to look after ourselves - not only how to look after the baby."
"We've just spent a wonderful weekend with Jacqueline. Her workshops are fun, informative, sensual, and in many ways deeply profound - the weekend brought us closer in ways we could never have imagined. Thank-you for filling up our love bank!"
"Your workshops are so fun, connective and amazing, just a joy to participate in. You definitely have great skills in putting together a very cool experience for people."
"Jacqueline, you are so extraordinarily professional. I’ve done a lot of courses in this area and yours are so far above the rest in terms of content and presentation."
"The couples retreat is something every couple should do if they can. The course is refreshing, inspiring and gave our relationship a fun tool set to set us up for a joyful life together. It’s not just about sex (though that stuff was great), it debunks myths and starts a conversation that changed our relationship - definitely for the better. Jacqueline has a gift to make everyone feel comfortable. Don’t wait until there is a ‘problem’ - all relationships can be improved. Would recommend to all couples!"
"I've seen so many therapists but you're amazing! I come out of each session so much more self-aware and enlightened."
"It is beautiful how each activity builds on the previous one like blocks, so that by the end of the evening we are engaging in the most divine magical experiences that we could never have got to otherwise!"
"It was a really powerful, transformative experience. I feel I have reclaimed something precious and essential with the help of a group of loving, supportive women. It made me appreciate how much healing we can do as women when we come together and share our experiences."
"Now we understand why you wanted us to attend one of your retreats. We learnt so much from you in private sessions, but doing your couples retreat has really taken us so much further and deeper. It’s been absolutely wonderful, far more transformative than we could ever have imagined."
"Thank you for your warm vibrant energy, enthusiasm and passion. You've given a recently fatigued man the tools to recover his mojo."
"Thank-you for for so skillfully weaving my sexuality and spirituality back together. I now feel the way I’ve always wanted to feel."
"I feel an enormous sense of relief that we have a platform to communicate about intimacy and sex in an open respectful and adult way."
"Thanks so much for a life changing 5 days! We were truly impacted and challenged beyond our expectations so thank you."
"A really powerful, transformative experience. I feel I have reclaimed something precious and essential."
"I never thought I’d lose my libido - but I did! Who’d have thought one little baby could be so exhausting! Your book made so much sense - it explained why I was feeling this way, why my partner was feeling this way, and what we could do about it."
"It's been a deep, profound and subtle spiritual liberation. It's given me the freedom and empowerment to open up and allow myself to feel and to express how I feel, in every way. This feeling of liberation and love and power and openness pervades my whole life and how I live now, and I can see the effect it has on others too and how they respond to me. It's very subtle, but soooo powerful and wonderful. It feels like it is radiating out from the very core of my being and is an all encompassing love, so, very much including, but not just about, my sexual being."
"Your book made me realise not only what I’d lost, but how to regain it. I’m loving getting in touch with the goddesses in all parts of my life - including sexually!"
"Thank you for a wonderful retreat. All the things we were worried about turned out to be no concern at all and all the things we were looking forward to turned out to be much better than we dreamed! We are still buzzing from the experience. "
"Thanks so much for a life changing five days! We were truly impacted and challenged beyond our expectations so thank you."
"We loved that this book is about simple fundamentals, not superficial tips and tricks."
"I really enjoyed all the loving energy in the room. I've certainly never experienced anything like it before. "
"I thought this retreat would expand our sex life, but it didn’t so much expand as turn our sex life upside down! I’m now seeing the world with a new, exciting, slightly bewildering new light!"
"This book is beautifully clear and succinct, a real treasure."
"I feel far more comfortable with myself and have a willingness to explore and grow in this rather new area of my life - how exciting."
"Thank you for teaching me how to treat my wife (with numerous chronic illnesses) in a spirit of compassion while opening up a multitude of possibilities for both of us to experience giving and receiving."
"You've changed the whole way I look at sex, now I feel so much more positive and free and empowered!"
"We will always remember the weekend, we discovered so much together and shall keep learning with each other with the skills gained for a long time to come. Thank you for such a great experience."
"We want to thank you so very much for the most wonderful week in paradise, both literally and metaphorically. Having been to your workshops previously we knew for sure that we were in for a week of lusciousness, but our week with you in Bali was more gloriously luscious and inspiring than we could have imagined."
"I really enjoyed this book. It contains some great concepts that I’ve really been able to put into practice."
"The videos were beautifully engaging. You've condensed the essence of being a lover from the male perspective into an easy to follow course and I can only wish I had discovered this course ages ago and saved myself 15 years of trial & error with my wife! "
"I really got what it means to come into my masculine sexual energy, with strength and confidence and no macho or aggression. Feels great! (And my wife is beaming!)"
"We had a fabulous time at the retreat. The surroundings, the people, and the teachings were all a blessing. It has taught us to explore new horizons in our love relationship and has brought our connection closer. We will be using all the techniques in the time to come as our sex life develops and improves. In fact, the results have been almost instantaneous!"
"Thank you for the wonderful Tantric Lounge session, we really enjoyed it. You are a very good facilitator, and an absolute expert in this area of life and love."
"I enjoyed doing this course immensely. The content is spot on and you rightly focus on the 'being' rather than the 'doing'. "
"I just am finishing the Luscious Woman course. It has been such an inspiring course and you have such a fabulous gift for taking all the awkwardness out of sexuality and turning it into such a lovely and beautiful thing to embrace. My husband is the doing the black belt in the bedroom course as well and its been so amazing watching him develop into the soft, loving and passionate man I knew he could be. We are so grateful for your course, your passion and wish everyone who wants to expand their sexual understand could know about this course. "
"You’re the first of many counsellors who really feels comfortable and is coming from a practical, understandable place. You've helped us find the key and it's really quite simple."
"Taking Black Belt completely revolutionized my thinking about sex and has had a long lasting positive influence on my sex life."
"Thank-you for creating a safe space for us all to learn, grow and share. Absolutely essential for all women who want to thrive, not just survive."
"Sex was just off the agenda and we’d lost connection. We couldn’t recommend this book more. It really will help"
"Hol-ee f@ck you can write, Bravo!!! ;) I've been reading your things for years, but the Goddesses are tying it all together so exquisitely. Thank-you, and Wow! "
"Your Tantra workshops are fundamental to the health and sustainability of all relationships, regardless. In this faster than ever paced world, over stimulated and titillated, and where choice and everything-can-be-had as a retail experience is omnipresent, your guidance is like a light through the darkness..."
"We LOVED the retreat. You created a safe, adult, sexy space where we could be honest and open, exploring ourselves and the connection that exists in really different ways than we've ever been able to in the past. Your rich and sensitive holding of the spiritual side, and ease of its emergence as sexual energy - an energy to draw the other in and connect with - was really a gift and a beautiful model to offer. "
"This weekend has been so much more than we expected. Solidifying in a way we didn’t anticipate. It has opened our eyes to even more possibilities."
"We have noticed a real shift in our energies towards each other since seeing you, almost like switching from AM to FM radio, the difference is that noticeable."
"I am personally so grateful for participating in Saturday's Tantric Lounge, connecting with a group of people with beautiful, fertile rich energy."
"My sessions with Jacqueline were like a great conversation with a very wise sister/friend. She helped me through the end of my 25 year marriage with compassion and insight, giving me perspective, coping skills and a gentle push where required. I’m so grateful to have had her wise counsel."
"The Tantric Lounge has surpassed any expectations I had of attending such an event and I find myself feeling exhilarated from the experience to a whole new degree after each session."
"Seeing Jacqueline has been by far one of the best decisions we have made. Before seeking her help I was very sad about our situation. I am so happy to say that as a direct result of her thoughtful guidance we are in such a different and better place in our sex life."
"This course has, after 29yrs of adolescent masturbatory style sex, been HUGE with some major penny-drops. I love your approach!"
"You’ve really helped me tap into something wonderful and powerful. I’ve discovered where I was letting myself down and have been enjoying 'filling in the blanks’."
"I don't think it is over-stating to say that I would call the course 'life changing'. In essence I believe it has been a major catalyst in deep healing, a fundamental shift in personal and spiritual growth, and lasting and evolving change in self confidence, body awareness, self acceptance and ongoing sexual exploration."
"Thank you for the weekend retreat - I greatly enjoyed and learned a lot at it. Your combination of spirituality and philosophy meeting is an inspiration."
"A massive thank you for all your guidance and wisdom. Your sex therapy played a very significant role in changing our lives forever."
"We used to fight constantly about sex, I never thought we'd find a way out. Then we found you and that's all changed. You're awesome!"
"Before meeting Jacqueline we were fumbling around in the dark, I couldn’t go the distance and this left my beloved underwhelmed. We were caught in the daily grind, were sexually frustrated and wanting a more satisfying experience. Since Jacqueline’s sex coaching our lovemaking has become light-hearted, our lives filled with romance, dating, petting, smooches. When we make love the time is intimate, fun, erotic, orgasmic and/or all of the above. We’ve never been happier, whole or as complete – and can’t thank you enough."
"You have such a fabulous gift for taking all the awkwardness out of sexuality and turning it into such a lovely and beautiful thing to embrace. "
"What do I say to you for taking me on a magical adventure of discovery yet again? My most heartfelt thanks for an incredible Saturday night at The Tantric Lounge."
"Love your work. You’re speaking the language and have a super in-depth understanding which I respect!"
"Since Black Belt my partner has said that our sex life has turned 180 degrees, and that you are a miracle worker !"
"We really love coming to see you, as you offer us such support and have made a huge difference to our lives."
"It's not a course, it's an awakening. It opens your eyes to what's possible as a couple."
"I'm so happy with ME, where I am and where we are as a couple. This is where I've been trying to get for so long and now I'm here! Thanks - you're the best!"
"Loved this book - it was made for busy people like us. Thank-you for guiding and inspiring us!"
"Thank-you for so deliciously weaving my sexually and spiritually together again, I now feel the way I’ve always wanted and known I could feel."
"Thanks so much for a life changing weekend. I honestly mean it! I feel like a completely different person!!!!!"
"This book has changed our lives. It’s all good practical common-sense - and it works!"
"I wish we’d had this book when our first bub was born. But better late than never, it’s been a great help second time around!"
"I have had a really lovely shift and have felt subtle changes in my approach to myself and body. "
"I have to tell you that this experience has been life changing for me, and your wonderful loving work in helping us let go and come into ourselves made this life change such a warm comfortable natural process, that I can hardly remember what it was like before."
"I've just read your new book and I just want to say it is FABULOUS!! I'm so glad you wrote it and it is such a special and beautiful work I can't put it down!"
"Working on the solution instead of the problem has taken me further forward then anything else I have tried."
"It’s made us realise how important it is to always be there for each other, to prioritise us, even though it’s so easy to be distracted."
"I felt so useless and alone after I had my baby, and forcing myself to have sex with my husband made it worse. This book has helped me see in little ways how I can enjoy being a mother and a wife - which means I can enjoy being me! Thank-you."
"Your program also seriously helped me understand my own male sexuality so much better. A big thank you for helping me with what I needed to hear! It is so awesome what you do, it is life changing for us on this end, and you are such a natural!"
"Thanks again for your brilliant life-changing support. "
"The opening up to my own sexuality and what it means for us as a couple has been way beyond my expectations. I’ve felt safe and loved the sense of playfulness and the choices we’ve had whether or how to participate. I go away hugely enriched."