Erotic Empowerment: 69 Ways to Embrace Ecstasy (New: In Progress!)
myself and I am a High Achiever! I am Happily Unmarried! And now I am on an Erotic Empowerment journey!
I was raised and came of age in religious settings where I received implicit and explicit messages that pleasurable physical activity outside of marriage was to be avoided at all costs - "the "flesh" was not celebrated but condemned. (This was one of several factors that contributed to my getting married pretty young, at 21 years old.) Additionally, as an academic I found that I was often in my head/mind and not really connected to my physical body. I could theorize my embodiment as a Black woman, but I was rarely deeply connected to my physical body, or really "in" my body. Fortunately, I was able to re-connect to my body (and breath) in positive and meaningful ways through yoga. Being a "High Achiever" I decided to complete Yoga Teacher Training (200 Hours in 2010 and then 500 hours on 2015). A few years later, once I got "Happily Unmarried" I was able to gain even more major insights and self-awareness about my body and the importance of prioritizing various experiences of passion and pleasure - "Erotic Empowerment."
As with my "Happily Unmarried" journey, my "Erotic Empowerment" journey has been (and remains) a process. It has involved counseling, coaching, energy work, workshops, retreats, conferences, bibliotherapy, letting go of limiting beliefs, open and honest conversations with myself and people in my inner circle, finding my voice, learning what gives me pleasure (physically, intellectually, emotionally, spiritually), practicing self-awareness, self-acceptance, self-love, learning and communicating what I want and what I like, learning and communicating what I do not want and what I do not like, and embracing (rather than resisting) the power of vulnerability.
The naming of this "Erotic Empowerment" initiative is inspired by Audre Lorde's "Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic As Power." (Praise the Lorde!) She describes the Erotic as a resource within each of us that lies in a deeply female and spiritual plane, firmly rooted in the power of our unexpressed or unrecognized feeling. She encourages us to feel deeply, to connect to creative energy, to embrace excellence, to share joy, to accept responsibility, to recognize our deepest cravings, to live from within and then outward. She argues that once we have experienced the fullness of this depth of feeling and recognized its power, in honor and self-respect we can require no less of ourselves.
I am excited about building a growing community of people embarking on this Erotic Empowerment journey and learning to embrace ecstasy! Much more to come on this new initiative! Stay tuned!
I was raised and came of age in religious settings where I received implicit and explicit messages that pleasurable physical activity outside of marriage was to be avoided at all costs - "the "flesh" was not celebrated but condemned. (This was one of several factors that contributed to my getting married pretty young, at 21 years old.) Additionally, as an academic I found that I was often in my head/mind and not really connected to my physical body. I could theorize my embodiment as a Black woman, but I was rarely deeply connected to my physical body, or really "in" my body. Fortunately, I was able to re-connect to my body (and breath) in positive and meaningful ways through yoga. Being a "High Achiever" I decided to complete Yoga Teacher Training (200 Hours in 2010 and then 500 hours on 2015). A few years later, once I got "Happily Unmarried" I was able to gain even more major insights and self-awareness about my body and the importance of prioritizing various experiences of passion and pleasure - "Erotic Empowerment."
As with my "Happily Unmarried" journey, my "Erotic Empowerment" journey has been (and remains) a process. It has involved counseling, coaching, energy work, workshops, retreats, conferences, bibliotherapy, letting go of limiting beliefs, open and honest conversations with myself and people in my inner circle, finding my voice, learning what gives me pleasure (physically, intellectually, emotionally, spiritually), practicing self-awareness, self-acceptance, self-love, learning and communicating what I want and what I like, learning and communicating what I do not want and what I do not like, and embracing (rather than resisting) the power of vulnerability.
The naming of this "Erotic Empowerment" initiative is inspired by Audre Lorde's "Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic As Power." (Praise the Lorde!) She describes the Erotic as a resource within each of us that lies in a deeply female and spiritual plane, firmly rooted in the power of our unexpressed or unrecognized feeling. She encourages us to feel deeply, to connect to creative energy, to embrace excellence, to share joy, to accept responsibility, to recognize our deepest cravings, to live from within and then outward. She argues that once we have experienced the fullness of this depth of feeling and recognized its power, in honor and self-respect we can require no less of ourselves.
I am excited about building a growing community of people embarking on this Erotic Empowerment journey and learning to embrace ecstasy! Much more to come on this new initiative! Stay tuned!