No one told me that sex was about pleasure.
Connection, yes. Making babies, got it. But pleasure? Fun? A way to express and come to understand the many sides of myself, a portal into altered states of consciousness? All of that was buried under fear, embarrassment, misunderstandings, trauma, and shame.
The journey to where I stand now, a Somatic Sex Educator, was a winding and meandering one. Undergraduate studies in college lead to a degree in journalism, taught me to think for myself, and revealed that most of the questions I was interested in asking would not be answered – probably could not even be asked – in the ivy covered halls of academia.
Twenty-two years spent in gymnastics facilities, as both athlete and coach, taught me much about the body, its mechanics, its beauty and grace. I learned of sacrifice and devotion, pain and frustration, triumph and failure, friendship and betrayal. I learned what humans need to relax into and trust another to catch them as they hurl their bodies through the air, while refining a capacity to look deeply into complexity and find and name the simple adjustment that can change everything.
Deep dives into the relational practice Circling, as well as Zen Meditation, and Women’s Culture and Community, along with medicine journeys and soul work, slowly peeled back layers to reveal the truth that had perhaps existed all along: Embodiment, sexuality, eros, intimacy, and relationships are my work.
In 2020, in what felt like a fight for the very core of who I was, I ended a relationship with a man to follow my desire for women. As I’ve leaned into this desire it’s come to feel so essential to who I am I often can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner. It’s been both humbling and exciting to discover something this significant about myself as I approach 40, and has me deeply aware that who we are is ever-changing and unfolding.
My work with clients is a meeting of and collaboration with all of these explorations, leading to deep embodiment, pleasure, and knowing. My work traverses a wide range: from practical, applicable, matter-of-fact sex education and problem-solving, to sensual, inexorable, earth-shattering magick, to clear self-knowing – all through the body.
I’m influenced by Bill Plotkin, Polyvagal Theory, Deb Dana, Peter Levine, Gabor Maté, David Whyte, Mary Oliver, Rainer Maria Rilke, Audre Lorde, Adrienne Rich, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Riane Eisler, Andreas Weber, Joan Halifax, Starhawk, Melissa Febos, and countless others.
I bring patience, the capacity to track the micro and the macro across time, and a willingness to s l o w d o w n. I listen carefully, welcoming all of you without assumption, bringing creativity and an invitation to not know.
I see clients in Boulder, Colorado, and online, and I’m deeply and fiercely committed to creating a new way of being in this world, which is also an old way of being in this world. A way of being that honors our bodies, hearts, and minds, includes diversity, and orients to pleasure.
Education, Trainings, and Experience
Member of the Association of Certified Sexological Bodyworkers Grievance Council, and Ethics Committee, 2021 – present
Restorative Justice Circle Training with Elizabeth Clemants, 2021
Hakomi Level 1: Mindfulness-based somatic therapy, 2019 - 2020
Founding Faculty for The Verdant Collective: Immersion experiences into New World Women’s Culture, 2019 – Present
Founding Faculty for the Institute for Erotic Intelligence: Leading-edge, evidence-based trainings, mentorships and programs which guide students and practitioners alike into deeper intelligence, intimacy, and wellness, 2019 – Present
Somatic Sex Educator & Certified Sexological Bodyworker: through the Institute for the Study of Somatic Sexology, 2016
Bridging Soma and Soul: 9-month, 200-hour training in somatic trauma work, attachment, and nervous system integration, 2017
Courting Your Medicine: 4-month deep dive into nature based soul work in the lineage of Bill Plotkin. Participant in 2014, apprentice in 2017
Women’s Temple Collective: women’s community, sexuality practices, and shadow work, 2014 - 2016
Certified Circling Facilitator: through Authentic World, 2013
AMP Woman: Supporting men in intimacy and relationships through honest feedback, 2013 - 2017
Zen study and practice: under Diane Musho Hamilton Roshi and Jun Po Denis Kelly Roshi, and self-directed, 2012 - present
BS in Media Studies: from the Journalism School at the University of Colorado, Boulder, 2007
Competitive Gymnastics: as a gymnast (1991 - 2001) and a coach (1999 - 2013)