Workshops
In this workshop you’ll explore your people pleasing tendencies and your ability to access your own pleasure, preferences, likes and dislikes and voice them powerfully.
Learn:
How pleasure is the antidote to people-pleasing
How you give up or take power
Tools to find inner clarity in making decisions
Techniques to show up more assertive in your relationships, erotic-life, and work life.
Lauren will skillfully guide you in this experiential, hands-on workshop. Your vulnerability will be asked, but your “no” and your “maybe” along with your “yes” will be celebrated and encouraged every step of the way.
This is space to gain embodied awareness of your patterns and tools to begin to transform them.
We will meet on Zoom
6:30p - 9:30p Wednesday March 26th
It’s clear that people-pleasing is an adaptive survival pattern meant to not only keep us safe, but keep us in a familial circle of beloveds. We want, sometimes desperately to be liked, loved and desired. We start to undermine our own needs and boundaries to get it. We slowly, without even knowing it, erode our own sense of self at the expensive of belonging to a wider circle of kin.
It can be super helpful to know where and with who you give your power over. Under what circumstances do you capitulate your own desires in order to be liked or perceived to be liked?
It can also be super helpful to know - in your body - what happens to you when your attachment system is activated in this pattern. What do you need from your attachment relationships and what is yours to give yourself and where can you advocate for your needs.
In this workshop we will explore embodied tools around these questions. You will leave with more awareness and tools to be able to notice your patterns and how to be an agent of caring for them.
This class is a wonderful follow up to the first session of People-pleasing, Pleasure & Power however it stands on it’s own as well.
We will meet in-person in New Orleans in Holy Cross.
Accessibility note -
Workshop space is up a flight of stairs. We will be exploring very gentle movement & meditation exercises that can be adapted for any body. Seating is available on the floor with blankets and cushions. If you need a chair or any other access needs met, no matter how big or small, please don’t hesitate to email me: Lauren@thebodyerotic.com
Covid policy/protocol -
We ask that you come only if you are well enough, not exhibiting signs of sickness and if you have been exposed to Covid, please test before coming. Masking is optional. Windows and doors in the space can be opened if weather permitting.
In this workshop you’ll explore your people pleasing tendencies and your ability to access your own pleasure, preferences, likes and dislikes and voice them powerfully.
Learn:
How pleasure is the antidote to people-pleasing
How you give up or take power
Tools to find inner clarity in making decisions
Techniques to show up more assertive in your relationships, erotic-life, and work life.
Lauren and Aaron will skillfully guide you in this experiential, hands-on workshop. Your vulnerability will be asked, but your “no” and your “maybe” along with your “yes” will be celebrated and encouraged every step of the way.
This is space to gain embodied awareness of your patterns and tools to begin to transform them.
Space is is limited to 12 participants.
About your facilitators and our intention for this workshop:
On People-Pleasing: We believe people-pleasing is an adaptive pattern that stems from the need to survive, especially in situations that weren't safe, or where your own needs weren't met. Many of us learned if we took care of the emotional and sometimes physical needs of others (especially our caregivers/parents), we could prevent big upsets, and theoretically get our own needs met. We often learn these patterns from our families of origin but also through the dominant hetero, patriarchal, sexist, capitalist, and ableist society that demands we put our own needs last, or not have needs at all.
On Power: We believe power is inherent in the people-pleaser/pleasee relationship. In fact, we believe power is part of all relationships and is especially important to name and understand in our most intimate relationships. As your facilitators, we acknowledge our own power as white, cis, Jewish, and middle-class. We strive to make the a learning space, one that is safe enough an accessible for everyone but also acknowledges how our identities will shape the space. Our hope is to actively work with this tension/dynamic and invite in the ways power plays a role in all of our people-pleasing patterns.
On Pleasure:We both have first-hand experience noticing and appreciating the way being in choice about our pleasure: that is, our likes, desires, and preferences, guides us to have active agency. This is critical for the people-pleaser. Many of us haven't even considered what we want, let alone ask for and receive it in an erotic or body-based context. This intimate and deeply personal space is precisely where huge shifts can happen and have rippling effects in the rest of our lives. We are excited to be weaving in elements of touch and pleasure in a consensual container. And as always, your "no" will be celebrated just as much (if not more) than your "yes".
About Lauren & Aaron
Aaron and Lauren are white, cis, Jewish, queer, sexual healing professionals. After connecting both professionally and socially, they discovered their shared passion for working with their clients’ propensity towards people-pleasing. As recovering people-pleasers themselves, they found a lot of shared excitement in the ways going towards and accessing more pleasure has supported them. They are thrilled to share some of the tools that have been the most helpful with you!
Accessibility Note
The space is in a temperature-controlled room up a flight of stairs on the second floor. Participants are welcome to sit on the floor with blankets and cushions or in chairs. There will be an invitation for some gentle movement, though all practices are optional.
***To sign up click “add to cart” and then check out by clicking the cart in the upper right hand corner of the screen.
For those of us who have been hurt by sex, going towards sex is the ultimate healer - freeing up all parts of ourselves to exist fully, and authentically. Here, you will find an intimate space with fellow survivors to uncover, reclaim, and honor your erotic self, your boundaries, and your pleasure.
For those who have tried more traditional therapy and know there is something left to be desired…
Perhaps you know you are deserving of more pleasure, but things like triggers, boundaries (or lack thereof), unwanted fantasies or desires, disgust, numbness, or pain all get in the way. For legitimate reasons, maybe your relationship with self-trust and intuition has been shattered…
This is space to be with and care for those parts in tender and tangibly loving ways.
Through embodied practices, group work, and hands-on tools, we will dive deep into our most vulnerable, and shameful parts, while also turning our attention to pleasure, savoring and expanding it.
While powerful in its own way, the 1:1 dynamic so often mirrors the trauma around intimacy many survivors know so well, and so leaning into group space gives us a chance to find new levels of safety & vulnerability.
This is an in-person series in New Orleans with 6 spots total.
We will be utilizing the practices and tools of Somatic Sex Education, Sexological Bodywork, the Wheel of Consent, Parts Work, & Re-evaluation Counseling, among other adapted creative practices such as dance and drawing.
We will meet Wednesday evenings 6:30-8:30pm in a private studio in the Bywater.
November 6th - December 18th with a break the week of the 27th for turkey day.
Investment is $400 for the 6 weeks.
Click “Add to Cart”, fill out as much or as little as the questionnaire as you like, submit, and then click in the top right corner of the website to check out with your “cart”.
Please be in touch: Lauren@thebodyerotic.com if you have any questions or would like to schedule a free call before deciding if this is right for you.
For many of us, being chronically ill or in pain can take a toll on our mental and spiritual health. It can also deeply affect our relationship to our bodies: putting us at war inside our very own skin. We may have forgotten what it's like to be inside a body without pain or sickness. And we may have long lost the sensations of pleasure, joy, and ease.
We may have spent years trying to ‘fix’ the problems and pain our bodies present, only to be left feeling hopeless, exhausted, more stressed, and often in more pain, or more sick.
You might feel like you tried everything: from doctors to supplements, diet changes, energy work, and plant medicines, and nothing worked, only to leave you feeling hopeless. Perhaps you even feel doubtful there could be a day you feel well.
The dominant Western medical model has also damaged our relationship with our bodies. Doctors claim to be experts of our bodies, leaving us to question our intuition and self-knowledge. We leave appointments feeling powerless over our healing at best, and at worst, we can be traumatized by the gaslighting, power-over structures that claim to want to heal us. We have become ridden with anxiety awaiting testing, biopsies, and diagnosis, all the while affecting our quality of life. It isn’t hard to see how being sick = getting sicker, or following the pain leads to more pain.
The miracles of healing disease and pain have been systematically taught out of us. We may have forgotten our bodies’ brilliance and capacity to know what it needs to heal and feel better. Our inner child may be activated in its wounding, believing we are wrong or doubting our intuition.
The good news is, your pain & illness is a doorway. The hard news is, you might have to be the one to open the door.
Through this 4 week series, we will explore practices that resource the pain/sick body by attuning to the felt sense of safety, pleasure, and boundaries. We will practice embodied safety to get our nervous system out of fight/flight/freeze/appease and learn tools to notice when we are in these states and how they affect the pain/sick body. We will locate the felt sense of pleasure and/or what gets in the way of it, and how to use pleasure as a resource for our sick/pain bodies. We will practice knowing and expressing our felt sense of yes, no, and maybe - boundary-setting tools that give a sense of autonomy and personal power. We will also explore tools for self-advocacy in medical settings. And perhaps most importantly, we will practice witnessing and listening to the pain & illness in our bodies.
All of these practices and tools will help you build an “inner pharmacy”, along with a deeper sense of self-trust and intuition.
This is not a program to 'fix' your pain & sickness quickly. I can't promise instant solutions. This course is not a band-aid, cure-all, but instead offers to meet you where you are, allowing for the pain/illness to unfold in a unique to you way that feels safe & perhaps even pleasurable.
Of course, we can stay open to the possibility you may have some instant results. EIther way, you will have tools to continue practicing and building upon for years to come.
The Down & Dirty Deets
1.5 hours on Zoom four times:
Wednesday, Sept 18th 10:00 am - 11:30 pm central time
Wednesday, Sept 25th 10:00 am - 11:30 pm central time
Wednesday, Oct 2nd 10:00 am - 11:30 pm central time
Wednesday, Oct 9th 10:00 am - 11:30 pm central time
FAQ
Will I be cured of my illness/pain? I can't guarantee that, but I can bet your relationship to your pain/illness will change, and with that, quite possibly your quality of life. It's also very possible that the tools and practices in this class will set you up to reduce your symptoms and pain over time, if not during the duration of the class. You may also find these practices and tools help you become more receptive to other complementary treatments such as acupuncture, massage, physical therapy, and even allopathic medicine. There is also a very good possibility you will come away with other benefits such as being more open to receiving help, feeling more access to pleasure, being better able to advocate for yourself in both clinical and intimate settings, deeper access to your own intuition, and more confidence, among many other possibilities.
I'm not sure if I am "sick" enough or in enough pain, can I still join? This is a very valid question and I suspect one you are grappling with on a deeper level in your life. The truth is, you deserve to live a life free from chronic pain and sickness and any amount of feeling unwell is hard and worthy of attention, healing, and support. You are most definitely welcome.
How do I know if my pain/sickness is chronic? "Chronic" is medically defined as something that lasts 3 months or longer and most often gets worse over time. However, for this series, your personal definition of "chronic" will do just fine. If you think it's gone on too long, it's too long. Come on in!
I have a long-term illness and use allopathic medicine & prescriptions to cope, can I still participate? Yep! This course will be a great complement to other practices.
Will this be recorded? Yes, the recording will be available to you after each class forever. Closed captioning also will be available.
Do I have to attend all 4 classes? No, you do not have to be but my recommendation is that you commit to coming as much as you can. The more attention and devotion you put into this, the more you will receive.
Investment & Payment Options
Cost: $350 early bird sign-up before Sept 6th
$400 sign-up between Sept 6th - Sept 13th (enrollment closes Sept 13th)
Some scholarships and partial scholarships are available - please be in touch if you'd like to access these funds. Please don't let money be a barrier to working with me.
Please sign up below by “adding to cart” - there is a short questionaire that will help me get to know you a little and thus serve you better. Then you''ll need to proceed to ‘cart’ in the upper right hand corner of your screen to check out. *Apologies for the clunky check out system.
***If you are paying sliding scale - which I offer on any honor system - you will need to receive the questionnaire from me manually (i.e. don't bother filling it out if prompted).
An email with further information will come from me: Lauren@TheBodyErotic.com
If you're still undecided and would like to chat and see if this course is right for you, send me a note: Lauren@TheBodyErotic.com - I'd love to hear from you!
(please check your spam if you don't hear from me within 24-48 hours)
With this Aquarius New Moon comes a time to get a little weird. In these still quiet times of winter, this “party” of sorts will create space to explore subtle body listening, authentic expression, and creativity as resource. The organs hold deep wisdom as they are the parts that make use whole. It is here we can tap into deeply held fears, blocks, doubts, pain, and longing to see how they serve us, and what they need from us to move into tender loving relationship.
This workshop will draw from parts work, Internal Family Systems, Somatics, energetics, breath, touch, and movement modalities. It also comes from practices I have been researching in my own body in relationship to chronic pain and illness, sexual assault survivorship, and trauma healing.
Connecting with our organs is a way into the visceral body that can be very empowering, especially for many of us who have been disconnected or have fraught relationships with out bodies.
The practices we will explore can also help build skills and capacity for somatic awareness, aka your ability to sense yourself holistically. These practices will also help you move into acceptance - a place of being with yourself compassionately, gently.
The workshop will be AUDIO ONLY. This way you can drop in to yourself, your experience without any distractions.
Who is this workshop for?
If you’d like to deepen into a trusting, safe enough and gentle relationship with your body.
If you suffer from thinking “something is wrong with me'“.
If you currently or previously have suffered from chronic pain & illness.
If you are interested in Somatics practices but new to tuning into your body.
Conversely, if you are a experienced in Somatics but never spent time with your organs.
If you feel curious but a little afraid of ‘going inward’ to parts of your body.
If you feel emotionally stuck, numb, or in pain and are curious about it.
If you have a sense a part of your body is telling you something but you don’t know what.
If you’re curious to deepen your relationship to your body’s wisdom.
If you like to geek out on the relationship to health, emotional intelligence, and nervous system functioning.
If you’re sick of having do something to feel better & want a practice that can help you be rather than do.
$21 *
*Please be in touch if you’d like to arrange for a different payment option.
No one turned away for lack of funds.
The workshop will be recorded and a download link sent after class.
Please sign up below by “adding to cart” & then proceed to cart to check out.
An email with Zoom link will come from me: Lahind@gmail.com
Check out some of our previous workshops:
In-Person Class @Dancing Grounds
New Orleans
Sundays 4-6 pm November 27th - Dec 18th
We will be playing with mooovement in the broadest sense of the word. Movement in tiny dances, slow motion, in the eyes, in touch, in breath, in our energetic & emotional bodies…
It’s an invitation for co-created brave space…space where you can self & co-regulate, space where you can take space 😚
We will play with the senses & get weird for pleasure. There will be sooo much room to say “no” & participate as much or as little as you want.
We will explore pleasure & perhaps anything that gets in the way of it. Classes will build on one another but you can come drop in anytime.
$10-20 for BIPOC folks. Everyone else $20-40
Free for Dancing Grounds SOAR members & 20% off for LEAP & STEP members
In this time of continued collective unease and cultural contraction, orienting to abundance, pleasure, and joy is more important than ever. Join Somatic Sex Educators Lauren Hind and Noah Klöze as they offer a variety of somatic inquiries exploring joy cultivation and orienting to pleasures woven within the body and wider world. Learn new skills on how to discover, attend to, and expand the joy and pleasure that is possible in your life at any given moment in an intimate 2.5hr community workshop with other pleasure seekers and curious souls.
The Earth may be our biggest teacher in understanding the phenomena of the life-death-life cycle. She is forever decomposing and regenerating herself as a multi organism of bacteria that forms new life and new meaning as she decays the old. Similarly, as humans, we experience birth and rebirth in every breath we take by the oxidation (death) and oxygenation (life) that occur in our bodies as we breathe. Can we integrate this continuous cascade of events in our bodies, minds and spirits? Can we continue to look to our Great Mother Earth for ways to expand into the teachings of death, dying, and rebirth?
Together, we will dive into the basics of cultivating a pleasure practice that works for you; at your own pace, in your own special way. We will practice meeting your erotic self, greeting them, and seeing how they would like to be nourished and cared for. We will expand our notion of The Erotic, what can be pleasurable, and what we think we deserve. Consider it a date with yourself, supported by a community of others dedicated to their own journey of self-pleasure.