Yoga @ Unfold Yoga OC!

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be joining the Unfold Yoga OC Community as a teacher in 2019! I’d love for you to come join me on Thursday nights from 7:50 pm - 8:50 pm for a Mindful Slow Flow class. Every BODY will be welcome in these classes! They will also be LGBTQ Affirming and Trauma Sensitive.

Special considerations for those interested: Low lighting will be used in the space and classes will be set to music. There will be mild aromatherapy offerings that can absolutely be declined by the individual or class. Consent will be honored as a highest priority. There will be an invitation for gentle flow but participants will be encouraged to listen to their bodies and hearts first and foremost as long as they remain respectful of the rest of the community.

Please, register online here. If you’re a new student to Unfold OC please take advantage of your FREE 20 minute Success Session with studio owner: April Lovett!!!

Conscious Kink Yoga Class @ The Armory Club

The array of kinky play we can get ourselves into ranges far and wide, but there’s one thing most of us can agree on-- it’s the connection that makes the hottest scenes!

In the ideal play scenario, you’re connected to yourself, connected to your partner(s), and connected to your environment. You’re in “the zone.” It’s what can make the touch of a feather and the touch of a single tail feel like the same stroke and why you can feel your partner’s breath on your ear while reading an email of their orders. It’s why a good scene can feel like so much more than play and why practitioners will speak of it as a solo sexual liberation practice, a healing ritual, or a spiritual experience!

So how do you get there?

A loving and experienced play partner will undoubtedly help. And it’s always hard to turn down a new beautiful piece of gear, but losing yourself in the pleasures of kink really starts by finding yourself in your breath and your body.

Come join me at the Armory Club for Conscious Kink, a sensual midweek yoga journey to connect and elevate your play! Expect breathwork, meditation, and various options for movement as well as a closing discussion to process how to get safely connected to the body and engage with others. This class will be accessible to any level of familiarity with yoga or kink.

Please, bring a yoga mat and be able to sit on it comfortably for an hour. We apologize that the Armory Club event space is not wheelchair accessible.

Dating and Sex After Trauma

We live in a world where trauma exists.

Its causes range from purposeful, systematic, and institutionally validated, to accidental. It can be caused by many thing—from complex unintended side effects of other healing practices to just bad timing.

Without a doubt, the likelihood of sustaining trauma increases with the number of marginalized identities one holds, reminding us that—with the addition of a more intersectional lens—the personal is still political.

I would argue there are few things more personal than trauma. As a feminist healer, I have seen how it wreaks havoc on the most intimate level, violating us down to our nervous systems.

I also believe that healing can be one of our most liberating political acts. It is a place where we can take back and take up space, finding ways to operate that are not dictated by oppressors and, rather, are guided by our innate right to safety, intimacy, sexual wellness, and connection.

If you missed the live webinar you can still purchase and view Dating & Sex After Trauma through Everyday Feminism's School for Social Justice.

Know that by even entertaining the thought that there are experiences for you (or your partner) outside of survival, you have already started the journey towards them!

With hope and trust,

Traci

Mondays, Motivation, and Monsters

Returning to the discussion and exploration of shame as I prep for my upcoming offering to The Armory's Educational Series- Pajamas, Popcorn, and Porn: Slaying the Shame Monster Under Our Bed. It's an interesting thing to wake up on Monday morning and immediately start calling out the monsters that have been lurking around you. It's also a really powerful practice.

I stumbled upon this quote from one Brene Brown's Ted Talks on Listening to Shame: 

Jungian analysts call shame the swampland of the soul. And we're going to walk in. And the purpose is not to walk in and construct a home and live there. It is to put on some galoshes- and walk through and find our way around. 

This isn't a full offering but rather a note that I've been rolling over the intersections of shame and marginality in my head and am so excited to share it in it's full incarnation soon! In that work I certainly have had to "pull up my galoshes" and move around and through the work that I'm digging into. 

So just in case you're struggling with monsters, motivation, or just Mondays, here's a little help from the incomparable Anis Mojgani to Shake the Dust and move through the swamplands... 

Contemporary Relationships Conference is Almost Here!

Heading to ATX next week for the Contemporary Relationships Conference May 13th & 14th! 

Excited for Clearing the Cache while Lindsay Legé presents on Poly 101 (a sneak peak of our new online course) hosted on Queer University! Read workshop descriptions below:

Clearing the Cache:

Demystifying and Destigmatizing the Consumption of Pornography in Contemporary Relationships (Crail B)

Traci Medeiros-Bagan, LMFT- Anaheim, CA, and Kristel Penn, BA - Los Angeles, CA

There is a lot of work done around the problematic nature of pornography: how it represents our sexuality, what the acceptable amount (if any) it’s okay to consume, and the politics of the industry itself. Even the most sex positive of individuals, couples, and providers may find themselves a bit shy when it comes to our own personal browser histories. Still, the numbers remain the same. The industry continues to boom. There is a lot of porn being watched and not always by the demographic you might think. So why is there so much shame around it? If we’re all doing it, why can’t we talk about it? Is it possible that breaking the silence around the consumption of commodified sexuality might also shed some light on our most private pieces of identities and relationships?

• Start the discussion around destigmatizing and demystifying our culture’s consumption of pornography.

• Create a basis for the consideration that there are ways the consumption of pornography may have value and empowerment properties for the individual and the relationship.

• Give some recommendations on how to open up communication about what we are drawn to, why, and how it can increase intimacy and self-awareness.

Poly 101, or 2, or 3 . . . (Crail B)

Lindsay Legé, LMSW - Austin, TX

Poly 101, or 2, or 3 . . . will offer the workshop participant a basic understanding of types of non-monogamous relationships they might encounter personally or professionally. The group will engage in some “Myth Busting” around understanding non-monogamy in a monogamous culture and will be encouraged to internally explore their own biases. Initial recommendations will be made on how to assess for readiness to work with this population and how to move towards being an affirming and knowledgeable clinician. Lastly, the workshop will offer resources for further study.

• Participants will gain basic knowledge around definitions and an understanding of differences between identities and relationship structures.

• Participants will have common myths dispelled and assess for their own internal biases about working with this population.

• Participants will leave with a list of resources to take away and recommendations for continuing study.