What is this work about, why do I do it, and how do I feel about it?

PART ONE -
Sensual Massage ::: a rather non-traditional line of work. While in school I never knew sensual massage existed much less that I was preparing for a first career in sacred sexual healing. I thought I was destined to become an architect. I quit architecture after one year realizing the stress, the competition, the cookie-cutter curriculum was not conducive to either my personal or professional happiness. On I went to complete a degree in sociology, concentrating in gender, sexuality and identity, with the underlying purpose of reclaiming my awareness of healthy sexuality and sexual expression as warped by 13 years of Catholic education.

My path would lead me to sensual massage about 5 or 6 years later. At first a way to make money and survive in a new environment, but over time becoming more of a vocation.

So what is this work about?

At its simplest, what can I say? It's massage that includes the genitals. Not only that, it can and often does include bringing the client to climactic arousal -- sensual release, or happy ending, as its called. Generally the arousal is not for the purpose of intercourse or sexual expression (I can at least say that's not the purpose in my sessions.) The arousal is for the purpose of enjoying the feeling of sexual energy coursing through the body; pleasure for pleasure's sake even; a reclaiming of the sexual arousal experience. A relaxing massage in a nurturing environment with the feeling of warm skin across the back and chest and permission to be aroused and enjoying ones arousal. It's quite a multi-faceted experience, serving different purposes for different people. Let's explore a few of those...

1) blissing out (relaxation + pleasure = a winning combo for any overworked, stressed out human) - a most needed period to relax and clear the mind. What better way to be more in your body and less in your brain? Sensual massage helps a client get of their head and thus get out of their own way.

2) nurturing - perhaps it's been a while since someone has been touched. Even people who are in a relationship can go long periods of time without touch. There are statistics that demonstrate how babies who are touch-deprived will die after a certain period of time. Most adults won't physically die from being touch-deprived, nonetheless, a very real and vital part of them will. I consider gentle, reverent touch as a way to keep our energetic life force circulating; how to keep our personal feng shui flowing. Touch is soothing, nurturing, calming, relaxing, and good for the body, mind and soul. The important thing is intention. In a sensual massage session the intention can be to create a nurturing environment and experience for a client's whole-health.

3) healing - for some people sensual massage offers a healing. Being touched with respect and reverence can be meaningful and healing for someone who, let's say, has been sexually abused or violated or even criticized. Additionally, genital massage when done very attentively (like the strokes taught by Joseph Kramer and the Body Electric School) can re-build trust in someone who's sexual trust has been violated or damaged at an early age.

to be continued...

a new approach to Sensual Dialogue

What exactly is Sensual Dialogue?

Is it the way a finger caresses a cheek? Or how a tongue glides across a cherry? Or even the way an eye dilates when gazing intently at another?

Sensual Dialogue is all these things, and more.

We, as lovers of life, are engaged in sensual dialogue all the time with objects and others through our five senses: taste, touch, smell, hearing and sight. We are delighting endlessly in all the stimulus that life ecstatically provides.

However, after we take in enough stimulus, we can become over-stimulated. Too much dialogue happening. The senses on over-load and the pleasure compromised.

When reflecting on this, instead of becoming frustrated or overwhelmed, I began to consider a new expression of Sensual Dialogue, one that is a very Buddhist precept.

Up until that moment I had forgotten that there is Sensual Dialogue in the stillness, in the silence, in the Zero Point...otherwise known as the space between the breaths.

I began imagining what it can be like for lovers to Sensually Dialogue (meaning be Present and Aware of each other through their senses as well as through their arousal) in the space between the breaths. In the stillness. In the silence.

We think of Dialogue as needing to include words and sounds. Rather dialogue is happening --silently-- in event moment as we interact energetically with objects and others.

My offering today, a new approach to Sensual Dialogue, is simply this --- reactivating the simple joy of Being Bare with your lover: silent, perhaps naked, perhaps intertwined, perhaps connected physically. Allowing the flow of silent energy to breathe you both. Exchanging no words and yet everything is said.

I imagine the ecstasy that lurks just around the corner from the moment of surrender and silence--- when we enter the Sensual Dialogue in the space between the breaths.

What an incredibly powerful place to allow Sensual Alchemy to unfold.

with love,
*C.

JOY

I like to work with oracle cards in my personal internal work each morning. And the card I selected for today was JOY. Here's what the card's meaning said:

"It's simple: your purpose in life is to experience joy! That's all that's required of you as a Soul. Whatever your circumstances, there's always something that can bring you delight, and what you put your attention on will grow. When you focus on the areas of your life that bring you joy, these areas will prosper. One of the fastest paths to happiness is through sharing and giving, so give of your heart and share your love. Happiness spreads to others like wildfire and can help heal the world. Dance and sing with abandon: Joy is your spiritual birthright."

from Denise Linn's Soul Coaching Oracle Cards Guidebook


I invite you to consider JOY as a key ingredient in your personal Sensual Alchemy. With JOY, anything is possible!

Alchemical Journey ::: Erotic Artistry

Somewhere in a dark cave within my awareness, I realized I had not been expressing my most innate exclamation points of purpose. I have many gifts, that are valuable and life-affirming, yet how much more satisfaction I derive as a creative, living being when I activate the ones that I source from my Truest nature.

I AM soul alchemist. I am sensual oracle. I am erotic artist. I am sexual shaman. I AM willful creator. I AM at-peace with WHO I BE.

What I offer is an Alchemical Journey. You may not be accustomed to a description of body work and sacred sensual work quite like this. What exactly is an Alchemical Journey, you might ask? It is a sacred container of time set aside with the intention of engaging the mind, the body and the spirit in ways that invoke the three sisters of sanity: Serenity, Surrender, and Alignment.

The BODY is our sacred vessel. You may think of it as flesh, muscle, bone. And yes, you would be correct in your understanding of what comprises the body’s purely physical components. But I invite you to query deeper. The body, at its most atomic expression is energy, pure life force energy. The body is a container for animus, for Divine-Spirit. Imagine a smoothie being poured into a cup. The body is the cup for the smoothie of our essence. All the components, qualities, aspects that comprise our Being…their address is the body.

The MIND is our sacred tool. With this tool we carve, chisel and manifest our creative impulses. From left brain to right brain and back again – the mind is the culmination of millions of years of human evolution tracking and expanding awareness. When the mind is relaxed, it is revitalized, which in turn revitalizes the body. To keep the mind in a perpetual state of action burns out the mechanism, like keeping a car running even while it’s parked. Practicing surrender – conscious quiet, whole-body release—is a luscious, deep gift. Priceless and infinitely rewarding.

The SPIRIT. Ahhhhhh—the spirit! A domain that is put last when it may serve us best when put first. Culture and media are very good at distracting us away from Spirit. When we choose connection with Spirit, we realize that lack, worthlessness, shame, etc are all blasé stories. Connection with Spirit reminds us that we are innately Whole, Perfect and Brilliant in every way! So, what is Spirit, you might ask? Well, there’s no one definition to that question. Spirit is an indefinable essence of Being. I personally define spirit as my awareness of connection to the Oneness of All That Is. Spirit is the Source of Oneness that expresses its essence as creative impulse, as life, as manifestation. Spirit is Sanctuary. Spirit is Sacred Space. Spirit is the Higher Self. Spirit is Soul. And the Soul loves the truth, loves authenticity, loves purity and peace.

In the Alchemical Journey, these three aspects of your Self are re-united. How regularly we resign ourselves to living lives of quiet desperation: worried, afraid, fearsome, loathsome, lonesome. Lost, desperately lost, in an illusion of a losing battle.

I invite you into a new story. Into an allegory of well-being, where in fact, you are the author of the tale. You are the winner of the game. You are the dreamer of the dream. You are the victor and the victory.

How can this reunion happen with just touch and gaze, you may wonder. Because the power of life force energy and the power of transmission surpass the logical time-space infused mind. The alchemical journey transpires outside of time, outside of space – in a timeless ether accessible with the help of the three sane sisters: serenity, surrender and alignment.

I invite you into a revolution of reclamation.

Fearless reclamation of your Body, your Mind and your Spirit!

When I reach out to touch your body...

When I reach out to touch your body, my intention is to soothe you -- your mind, your body, your spirit.

We've created quite a complicated world for ourselves in this society. Stress, tension, deadlines, expectations, requirements, ... it seems that if we stop to take a breath, we'll be overcome by a tidal wave of INCOMPLETION.

At least that's how I can feel when I've lost sight of my awareness of CENTER. I personally have chosen to live within a paradigm that sees life as Eternal. When I move out of that paradigmatic focus, I can quickly get lost in doing more to have more... in a hurry!

Maybe you can relate...?

But what is the hurry about? Why have we created so much tension and expectation for ourselves? Why have we knotted up our muscles, frazzled our minds, disconnected from our sensuality, disembodied our Spirits?

Actually, it doesn't matter why. What matters is that we've noticed we have. We've caught ourselves RED-HANDED!

And YOU! You've taken a moment to re-access SERENITY and, in that, SANITY.

You've taken a deep breath.

You've given me a call.

You've scheduled an appointment to re-acquaint yourself with BLISS.

You've arrived.

AHHHHHHhhhhhhh.......

You made it. And re-made your Self.

When I reach out to touch your body, my intention is to soothe you -- your mind, your body, your spirit.

We ALL could benefit from some soothing touch!

Through the Sensual Arts, we live, learn and grow... pt 1

I have been a sensual artist by nature my entire life and by training & trade for the past 4 years.

A sensual artist is someone who boldly interfaces with life through the senses and is able to create "sense"-ually evocative experiences for others by utilizing a finely honed ability to stimulate another's physical and energetic bodies. The Sensual Arts are as much an art form as they are an intuitive sixth sense. One is often born with the gift and training helps the gift be developed.

Often the Sensual Arts take the form of sensual massage, Tantric Ritual, and other sacred, sensual ceremonies. Sensual Arts can also take the form of role playing, BDSM, and other forms of kink and fetish.

What I appreciate most about the Sensual Arts is the sensual laboratory they provide. Inside this laboratory I use a wide array of tools to tantalize my client. I use oils, potions, scents, candles, music, feathers, fans, scented pillows, singing bowls, tingshas, misters, diffusers, ... I can also use visuals, costumes, crops, paddles, clamps, all of these tools stimulate life up and down...with rhythm and inspiration. These tools rejuvenate, venerate, revive, revitalize... My clients often arrive weak and weary from a stressful world and leave re-juiced, re-newed, and re-animated. Through the Sensual Arts, I remember and remind others how to LIVE --- thoroughly enjoying the ways that our bodies that take in sensory stimulation and produce pleasure, bliss, ecstasy in our lives.

Another amazing aspect of the Sensual Arts is the opportunity to LEARN about ones body. The body responds in so many ways to so many kinds of stimulation. The body is a vehicle to swirl, swing, and sway. The body absorbs more pleasure, experience, insight when it is relaxed. The Sensual Arts provide this relaxation... reminding the Spirit that it's safe... and enjoyable... to be in a body. There is much to learn in the body. There is much to experience. There is much to experiment. The body has limits that must be discovered. How much can we take in? How well are we receiving? The body always tells. The Sensual Arts magnify this revelation.

And finally, through the Sensual Arts I GROW. I grow and expand my ability to receive, to give, to top, to bottom, to lead, to follow... The Sensual Arts are a dance of bodily responses and energetic exchanges. I grow into my boundaries. I grow into my desires. I grow into my communication. I grow into my relationships. And I return to my Wholeness.

Through the Sensual Arts, I am welcomed back HOME.