From my column in Body+Soul

Question: I was wondering if you could help me reconnect with my husband as we’re both super stressed from this bushfire season. We live on the South Coast of NSW and our house has been extremely close to the bushfires – over the summer we’ve been evacuated a few times. We’ve been in a state of high stress for a couple of months now, and it’s taken a big toll on our relationship. It feels like my husband has switched to survival mode and can’t or won’t switch back, so there’s no room for emotional or physical intimacy. Is this normal? What can I do?

Answer: I’m sorry to hear the bushfires have had such a big impact on you. Being on high alert for so long, and so repeatedly is terribly stressful. In times of crisis our emotional, mental and physical resources automatically go into survival mode. We are totally switched on and focused, we are fully up-regulated with our sympathetic nervous system pumping. Adrenaline floods our body, our heart rate goes up, our air passages expand, our whole being is primed for fight, flight or freeze.

At times like these, when all our resources are directed towards survival, it is very normal that we aren’t feeling romantic, relaxed, chilled. We’re in the opposite state.

Our bodies aren’t designed to stay in that intense stress for long though. If we do, we continue to produce stress hormones and are more likely to suffer from poor thinking, poor sleep, anxiety and illness, and in time total overwhelm and exhaustion. The crisis has to be resolved and our nervous system and physiology return to a normal relaxed state.

How do we do that? Well, we are a communal species, and one of the key ways we survive crises is through banding together in cooperative ways to support each other.

We’ve seen this during the bushfire crisis in so many ways – our volunteer firefighters risking their own lives to save others, people helping their neighbours, people saving pets, livestock and our native fauna, not to mention the outpouring of support from the broader community. I know that two single friends of mine who both lost their homes in the bushfires have been astounded at the support they have received within their communities.

Having that support network is an important way to overcome the stress of crisis situations, as my friends are finding. But being single, there is one ‘support network’ they can’t access, and that’s the support of a life partner.

Our significant other is the person who can regulate our nervous system and calm us more than any other (that same person can also dysregulate our nervous system more than any other, but that’s another story). The touch of our beloved, their words, their attention, their time, all contribute to feeling calm and secure, removing our bodies from crisis mode. And, of course, we can do this together, so that we are co-regulating our nervous systems and calming each other.

So, to return to your situation. When a bushfire is bearing down on you and you are escaping for your lives, at that time you will be in crisis mode, and you need to do all you can to survive. Let your bodies’ natural responses of intense focus, hyper-alertness, and all the accompanying physiological processes kick in to action so that you survive. Then, when you are out of danger, that is the time to recover, to get out of crisis mode, and to use your connection to help you return to a healthier, less-stressed state.

How you do that will depend on you as individuals and as a couple. The key thing is to ensure you pay attention to each other and that you use words and touch for comfort and security. There are so many strong emotions that arise in these situations that it’s important to share them with your partner. Have a cup of tea together and talk about how each of you are feeling, just share, there’s no need to ‘fix’. Or lie with one person’s head in the other lap and gently stroke your partner as they speak, or let them lie there and simply receive the touch. Have lots of hugs. Express your appreciation and gratitude. Give each other shoulder rubs to relieve the tension. Sex might not be at the forefront of mind in times like this, but don’t exclude it. If you engage in these other connecting activities, you might find you do naturally move into tender sexual activity, which can be both stress-relieving and bonding.

In a nutshell, do what humans have always done in times of crisis – support each other. Use the love you have for each other to help ‘reset’ your mind and body once the intense crisis is past and return to calm, connectedness.

The neurotransmitter dopamine makes us feel good and positive and upbeat. When we have healthy levels of dopamine, we have a positive outlook on life and have energy and motivation - and a better sex drive!

When dopamine levels are low, we feel sluggish and down, the world is grey, and everything is an effort - including sex.

To increase your sexual desire, you need to do things that increase your dopamine levels.

Having goals in life and achieving them is one way to keep the dopamine high. That’s why it’s so important to enjoy your work and get positive feedback from what you do and achieve.

It’s not just big goals though, any small achievement, especially if you take the time to notice it and reinforce the positive feeling will keep your dopamine levels up. In fact, it’s good to keep this in balance so that you don’t have wild fluctuations. So, notice all the good positive things in life, take a moment to really appreciate them and keep the positive feelings going.

Exercise is great too. It doesn’t have to be intense, just get up off your butt and go for a walk! Walk to a park at lunchtime or go for a walk after dinner and enjoy the evening.

Eat healthy food, food that makes you feel uplifted, not heavy. So, ditch the heavy carbs, high sugar and processed foods and eat fresh, invigorating foods.

Reduce your caffeine and nicotine intake, which gives you an artificial stimulus. And definitely avoid drugs like cocaine and amphetamines because these cause higher levels of dopamine in the brain than the brain can handle and so can lead to addiction.

It’s much better to raise dopamine levels naturally.

Doing new and interesting things raises your dopamine levels. Doing the same old same old lowers them. This is why the same old evening routine including hours being a couch potato in front of the TV is not foreplay and never will be. Get up and go for a walk, or play a board game, or sit and chat, or any number of things that are more interesting and stimulating than the idiot box.

Take control of your hormones by getting a life, and use them to get a get a sex life!

From my column in Body+Soul

Question: I’ve recently discovered my husband is having an affair. But I’m not upset about it – I’m glad. Glad because I haven’t fancied my husband for years, and this affair means the pressure to have sex has ended. Our love life was good at the start. Three children later though, and the chemistry just isn’t there.

Answer: Your question shows just how more complex the issue of infidelity is than just “you’re a cheater and I’m leaving!”. It’s not that straightforward! I deal with these issues every day in my clinic and every situation is unique.

You say that you have ‘a perfectly good marriage’. I’d like to challenge you on that point. Is a sexless marriage, or one with only ‘dutiful’ sex a good marriage? What is the role of sex in a relationship? And can that part be successfully out-sourced to a third party?

I often describe a good relationship as being like a tripod. It has three legs, and all three legs need to be strong for it to be a steady, useful tripod. If any legs are wobbly, the whole thing is wobbly.

The first leg is the logistical leg – you need to be team-mates in the game of life. You can raise a family, earn money, get the garbage out on time, and manage all those practical matters.

The second leg is the leg of friendship – you need to be friends. This means that you genuinely like each other, you like hanging out together, you have common values and interests, you’re each other’s go to person.

The third leg is the lover leg – you need to be lovers. When I say lovers, I don’t just mean that you have sex occasionally, I mean that you share a unique feeling between you that combines both sex and love. It’s a vital, enlivening feeling that you share all through your life together: in a glance, a touch, in small acts of kindness and flirtation, all the way through to sexual intimacy.

Now here’s the thing, this feeling has to be cultivated or it will wither and die. In the early stages of a relationship you are usually doing all the right things to keep these feelings strong, you’re doing things together, having fun, having both deep and playful connections. But over time complacency sets in and we can feel, as so many of my clients say, that “I love my partner but I’m not in love any more,” with comments like “we just feel like housemates now”. But it’s actually this third leg, you as lovers, that makes you uniquely a couple, that provides the vibrancy and connection that keeps you feeling good about yourself and your partner, and that keeps you secure and loved-up.

Without that, people are prone to straying. It doesn’t excuse deceit by any means, but it does explain it. We love to be loved, and part of that love is to be desired, to have a level of intimacy where we can be totally vulnerable and open, and through that to feel known, cherished, understood. That’s why strong relationships are the greatest predictor of health and wellbeing.

These days some people are exploring positive forms of openness within their relationship. It’s called consensual non-monogamy, or CNM for short. This is where a couple discuss and agree on some level of openness in their relationship. Note the phrase ‘discuss and agree’, to do this you have to have really good communication. Which you don’t. Yet.

So, yes, you do need to talk to your husband. Through opening up this conversation, you’ll have to get vulnerable and open and honest and real. Which is scary and challenging and difficult, so you might want to get professional help with the discussion. And, this might mean that you are able to consensually negotiate an open relationship of some kind. Or, and this is the key, developing this level communication may well open you back up to each other…

Good sex is like good food. If you want a good meal, you've got two choices.

1) Plan in advance: set a date, go through the recipe books, do the shopping, set time aside for the cooking, start work in a clean kitchen, enjoy the process of cooking, lay a beautiful table, plate the food up well - then you have an amazing meal.

Or, if you want a more ‘spontaneous’ good meal:

2) Have a well-stocked kitchen: plenty of good ingredients in the larder and all the right implements in the cupboards, plus have plenty of practice at throwing things together - then you grab all the right elements to put an amazing meal together at short notice.

It’s the same with sex. If you want a really good encounter, you can:

1) Plan in advance: set aside some time, create a lovely environment, ensure you’re not too tired, put some thought into what you might do - then you can have an amazing sexual encounter.

But if you want a more ‘spontaneous’ good sexual encounter:

2) Have a well-stocked ‘love larder’: so that you’ve got what it takes to move into a sexual encounter easily and smoothly.

So, what’s required for a well-stocked “love larder”?

First - you’ve got to have a good connection. The two of you need to be getting on well, focusing on yourselves as lovers through positive small acts of loving kindness, with a yummy edge, throughout the day, and making sure you have some quality chill-out connecting time together for at least ten minutes every day.

Second - you’ve got to have the time. You can’t be too rushed or too tired. So last thing at night is not a good idea. If it has to be in the evening, get to the bedroom as early as you can. Otherwise, focus on daytime, weekends (Sunday lie-ins are great) or have sex before dinner not after.

Third - you’ve got to have the space.You need a gorgeous bedroom - make it a boudoir. The more enticing your bedroom is, the easier it is relax into some gorgeous love-making, or hot and heavy shagging, or both - whatever takes your fancy at the time. You need to consider your Bedroom as a Sanctuary, a place away from the cares of the world, where you can leave all that behind and simply focus on the two of you.

Fourth - you need the right equipment.Everyone needs a comfortable bed, plenty of cushions, good music and soft lighting. Have on hand a bottle of lube, tissues or wet wipes and water. Then there are the additional items that will depend on your personal eroticism that you’ll want to have close by: blindfolds, ties, vibrators or dildos, massage oil, ticklers or erotic storybooks. And you may want to have other items available, such as lingerie or dress-ups or other toys that you like to bring out now and again.

Five - you need the right attitude. It doesn’t matter if you’ve got the connection, the time, the place and the goodies if you’re allowing false or limiting beliefs to hold you back from letting go and playing. So if you’ve got “stuff”, “issues” or beliefs around being “too old” or “the wrong appearance”, or if you think that sex is about performance and “doing” things to the other person, if you can’t receive or you can’t give, if you’ve got fixed ideas about sexual roles, if you limit yourself with unnecessary views on what’s sexually acceptable or not, or any number of other self-imposed limitations, then you’re not going to have as much fun and pleasure (with all the associated health and wellbeing benefits) that you could. It’s important that you approach sex with curiosity, lightness and playfulness.
Remember that sex is Playtime for Grown-Ups!

So, what’s missing from your love larder? What can you do individually and as a couple to stock it up?

From my column in Body+Soul

Question: "I want to reinvent my sex life in 2020, really take it by the balls, so to speak. I’m married and in my mid 30s. My husband is a good lover but until recently I’ve been quite conservative in the bedroom, so it’s not like I've asked much of him! We don’t have kids yet and I’d love to get a bit wild with him before that all happens. This new desire started when we discovered a fantastic vibrator that gave me firework orgasms, and now I’m thinking about what else I’m missing out on. How do I flex my newfound interest in sex?"

Answer: Congratulations on starting to wake up to your sexuality! Sex is playtime for adults, and you’ve started playing!

So, how to flex this newfound interest? The first thing is to find out what you both like. Create a congenial environment for sharing, chilling out on the back veranda with a glass of wine, or over a romantic dinner out. Then broach the topic by asking questions like:

• what’s the best thing we’ve ever done?
• what’s something you’d do if you had no inhibitions?
• what do you fantasize about?
• how do you like to be touched?
• how do you like things to be initiated?
• what’s the most erotic scene in a movie you’ve ever seen?
• what’s your greatest turn-on?

If you’re the keener of the couple, don’t appear too eager or too pushy, allow time for your partner to open up. There’s no rush.

You might find you come up with plenty of ideas on your own, but to help you along the way, here are some simple suggestions to get your creative juices flowing.

Positions: there are numerous variations on the five basic positions of man on top, woman on top, from behind, side-by-side, and sitting and standing. Find a ‘sex positions’ web page and try out the possibilities.

Places: Get off the bed and onto the floor, on the windowsill, on couches, tables, washing machine (when it’s on), back veranda, in the shower, in the garden, under the stars.

Props: Check out your local sex shop or hunt around the house for items to spark up your play – the kitchen and bathroom are particularly good places to find ‘toys’.

Clothes: make undressing part of your play, undressing your partner or doing a striptease yourself; or leave some clothes on instead of being naked. You might find particular clothes are arousing, such as lingerie, leather, corsets, or ridiculously high-heeled shoes that you leave on…

Sensory arousal and deprivation: heighten your senses by blindfolding your partner (or both of you!) and feeding them delicious morsels of food; or touching them with different items both softer and harsher; or putting on headphones while delighting other senses. Have scented candles or incense, scented oils and lotions. Play sensual music in the background. Drip honey, liqueur, chocolate topping over your lover’s body and lick it off. Smear strawberry jam all over them with your body. If you feel wicked, explore the boundary of pleasure and pain with nails, clothes pegs, forks…

Role plays: Classic role plays can be arousing (even if not very PC!): teacher-student, master-slave, employer-servant, doctor-patient, warrior-captive, etc. You might role play a particular period of history or culture (the Queen of Sheba with her sex slave perhaps?) or be animals having a rough and tumble. You can take your role play out into the world: ‘strangers’ meeting in a bar, meeting your ‘escort’ or ‘gigolo’ in a hotel room.

Erotic talk and stories: You can describe an erotic scenario during your sexual play. Reading aloud erotic stories can be a big turn-on and help get you in the mood and feel creative. Speaking seductively can help your partner lose themselves, and the more aroused you are, the dirtier your talk might get.

Cameras: Take photos or videos of yourself as part of your sexual play. You can keep them for later if you like to watch, or delete them straight away if the turn on is the taking and not the watching. Combine with role plays for added effect.

Some of these ideas will turn you on and some will turn you off and some might be a tentative maybe... Whatever your reaction, hopefully they’ve sparked your creativity and are setting you up for a great, sexy 2020!

Foreplay is generally seen as what you do before you get to intercourse, to prepare yourselves (especially the woman) to be ready to receive “penetration” by the man. Intercourse is seen as a vigorous activity consisting of the man thrusting into the woman, or less frequently, the woman bouncing around on the man.

The problem with this limited view is that it assumes that:

• Intercourse is the “main event” or “the whole point” of sex and that other activities simply lead-up to that “main event”
• Intercourse is such a vigorous activity that plenty of preparation is required.

But let’s look at this differently. Let’s take a less linear view of sex and say that:

• Intercourse isn’t the main event, that it isn’t the whole point, that it’s just one of many elements and possibilities of sex and lovemaking
• Intercourse doesn’t have to be vigorous, so it doesn’t necessarily require lots of preparation
• Intercourse can, in essence, be part of the foreplay.

Now that’s a very different point of view!

You’ll notice that I often focus on sensuality and exploring the “valleys” of sex as well as the “peaks”, and particularly on softening and making the genitals more receptive. With this approach the lines between foreplay and sex blur and it all becomes part of a flow of lovemaking that changes every time and can last from moments to hours.

Gentle intercourse can start the whole sexual encounter, even without any movement at all! Having your genitals connected while gazing into each other’s eyes, or kissing, or simply lying there enjoying the feeling of genital connection - is a type of foreplay. That could be enough in itself, or it might lead on to more vigorous intercourse, or more vigorous oral or manual, or bring in toys, lie around in 69 for ages, get up and dance, chat, have a cup of tea, and then do it all again…

Anything's possible...

Create something wonderful and new every time!

From my column in Body+Soul

Question:"I’m single for the first time in 10 years. I’m over the heartbreak, and now I’m ready to have some fun – specifically, some fun on holiday. I’m going with some other single friends to a resort in Bali this summer. But I’m also prone to UTIs in summer, and I’m desperate to make sure that doesn’t happen on holiday and ruin my good time. What can I do to protect myself? And what are the other golden rules for healthy holiday sex?"

Answer: Singles fun in the sun in Bali sounds like a good way to move forward now you’re over the heartbreak. It’s good that you’ve waited, as too many people try to mend a broken heart by distracting themselves with new people, but you don’t necessarily make good choices in that state. It’s much better to take the time to get over the grief, anger and other negative emotions you inevitably go through at the end of a relationship. Rebound encounters, whether relationships or flings, are rarely based on clear emotions and made with clean choices.

So, now that you’re in a good place – it’s time to meet people and have fun! Before I focus on the UTI issue, I first want to make some comments on how to have the kind of fun you’re looking it for. It has to be consensual and it has to be safe.

Safe might not sound very sexy, but it’s essential. Like any other fun on your holiday, you want to be prepared and you want it to be safe. You wouldn’t go scuba diving or kite surfing on your holiday if you weren’t sure you were going to be safe. It’s the same with sexual fun.

So, the first rule of good holiday sex is: don’t get too drunk! A little alcohol can loosen inhibitions and ease awkwardness to help you get started, but too much means you lose judgement leading to poor choices that you’re are likely to regret, and could even be mentally and physically harmful.

For you personally, another reason to limit the alcohol is that it makes you more prone to UTIs. You also need to stay hydrated and drink plenty of water, which you can forget to do when you’re drinking, increasing the risk of succumbing to an UTI.

The second golden rule is that if you’re going to have sex with a holiday lover, use a condom. Without one you’re putting yourself at risk of catching sexually transmitted diseases. You might know that intellectually, but in the moment, people can get so carried away that the condom gets overlooked. So, make sure you’re carrying condoms with you. Don’t assume that because it goes on a penis that it’s the man’s responsibility to carry condoms. You’re both having sex, so you’re both responsible for all aspects of the encounter.

Some people feel applying a condom is awkward, so make the application playful. I am a big advocate of learning to put a condom on with your mouth (it’s actually very easy) as it’s a lot more likely to go on if it’s applied that way!

Carry a small tube of lube with you too. Dab a little on the tip of the condom once it’s on the penis and use your hands to playfully and sensually spread it over the head (he’ll enjoy that) to make for a smooth entry.

Those are the two most important things to keep in mind for sexy adventures on your holiday: minimise alcohol and use condoms. Some more advice for you particularly around preventing UTIs while you are away are:

- Make sure you’re clean, not just to avoid bacteria that might be hanging around your anal area and that can get transferred to your vagina during sexual activity, but also to remove chemicals that could be irritating. When you’re on holidays you might have sunscreen or insect repellent on your skin, so make sure that’s washed off.

- Avoid g-string type underpants and bikini bottoms as they can irritate your vulva more so than knickers and bikinis with a wider crotch and bottom.

- Make sure you pee before and after sex.

- And as romantic as it looks in the movies, sex on the beach is never good – the sand gets into all the wrong places!

Bon voyage!

I love using food metaphors when educating and inspiring people around sexuality. We understand the variety, the flavours, the processes and ingredients – from simple to complex - when it comes to food. So, it is with sex too.

One of my most important food analogies is that great sex is non-linear, more like a picnic than a three-course meal. More recently I wrote about ‘relationship vitamins’, all the little things that are needed to make a relationship strong and healthy and sexy.

Today I’d like to use the metaphor of a cake and icing (frosting for my North American readers). Icing is sweet and delicious, but on its own, it’s too sweet and is sickly rather than tasty. Icing is only good when it’s on a cake. When you have a delicious cake, and then you ice it – mmm, yummy scrummy!

When we’re talking about sex, what you’re actually doing is the icing. Everything that goes into yourselves individually and as a couple, is the cake. That’s who you are as a couple, your dynamic, how you approach and engage intimately and sexually.

I’ve developed a model, the seven elements of sexuality, which I’ve described in an earlier blog article on sexual evolution (and which forms the basis of my online courses Luscious Woman and Black Belt in the Bedroom, my couples retreats and women’s retreats and my book Seven Sex Goddesses). These elements are all essential to having a strong, healthy, integrated sexuality. If you are weak in any of them, your sexuality will be out of balance.

These seven elements are the ‘cake’. Check out the diagram below.

If the cake isn’t good, if it’s under-cooked and soggy, over-cooked and hard, missing vital ingredients so tastes bad, then it doesn’t matter how good the icing is, it’s still going to be bad. Icing is pretty straight-forward, it’s the cake that’s the challenge.

So, it’s vital that you focus on these elements of your relationship and sexuality. If you’re missing any, or not developed in some, then focus on those. Then the icing will be pretty straight-forward.

Another way to think of this is that it’s not what you do sexually, it’s how< you do it, the attitude and approach and all these elements that underlie the what.

We tend to focus way too much on the what, and not enough on the why. It’s like putting all your attention on making the icing and ignoring the cake. What a disaster! Like so many people’s sex lives!

So, get baking!

From my column in Body+Soul

Question: "Hoping you can shed some light. Two months ago I decided to end a wonderful relationship, due to my partner's desire to have sex twice a day. He told me this is normal for him, and that he had it like that in his last two long-term relationships. It all came to a head when he told me he wasn’t ready for us to live together and be defacto. I felt I was being sexually used, and called it quits. But we still love one another and talk regularly and have huge chemistry between us. Can you help me? Is it normal in your 50s to be wanting sex twice a day, and how can we find a compromise?"

Answer: What’s normal is that everyone is different! There are so many elements to sex – the lead-up, initiation, timing, activities, pace, rhythm, location, atmosphere, props, aftercare – you’re always going to be different. Every couple faces the challenge of co-creating a sex life that suits you both.

But since you ask, let’s focus on the frequency point for a moment. In regard to what’s ‘normal’ in terms of frequency, the Australian Study of Health and Relationship a few years ago came up with an average of 1.4 times per week for partnered people. That’s about six times a month. Body+Soul also did a survey recently and discovered that 8% of respondents had sex most days (5% of those in their 50s), and another 36% answered that they had sex 1-3 times a week. At the other end of the scale, 15% said they never had sex and 20% said they had sex less than every three months (32% of those in their 50s). So, you can see there is a broad range of ‘normal’.

Your partner is definitely at the far end of frequency. If the average is six times a month and he’s wanting it 60 times a month, that’s ten times the average! Which is not to say it’s too much, only that if it’s more than you want, then there needs to be some understanding and co-creating.

Do you know why he wants it so often? Is it that he finds you so goddamn gorgeous that he can’t get enough of you? If so, while that’s flattering, perhaps what he really wants is connection and intimacy. In which case, twice daily bouts of quality conversation and cuddling could satisfy his needs, with less frequent genital engagement. Or is it that he has the urge to ejaculate twice a day and it actually has very little desire for you (as much as I’m sure he does like sex with you). In which case, masturbation is the best way to scratch that itch, and leave the partnered activity to when you’re both wanting connection and mutual pleasure. Or maybe he’s bored or stressed in life and uses orgasms like other people eat chocolate bars, that is, it’s something that gives him a quick fix and makes him feel better. In which case I suggest he do some soul searching about life, love and happiness, and stop imposing his dysfunctional needs on you.

And what about you? You mention nothing of your own needs and desires in your question. You talk more about your annoyance at his needs and feeling used if you meet them. You need to also know why you have sex. How do you like to get in the mood? How do you like to approach or be approached? What turns you on and what turns you off? Would you be open to frequent bouts of cuddling, only some of which turn into PIV (penis in vagina activity)? Until you can answer these questions, you can’t co-create a love-life together.

It sounds as though you two do love and desire each other. That’s a great start. So, forget about the quantity and get talking about the how and the what and the why. That’s what’s important. You will always be different, whether it’s with this partner or with someone else. The key to having a great sex life is being aware of yourself and being aware of your partner, and that requires talking about it openly, without feelings of entitlement or obligation. If you struggle to do this together, work with a qualified professional to help with the communicating. In this way you will get understanding, creativity and lots of love, intimacy, pleasure and great sex!

I’ve just received final approval for my research project – hooray- and now I need couples to be my research participants.

The fancy, academic title for my research is:

The transformative potential of optimal sexuality within a relational context.

What this means in everyday language is:

Does having a great sex life develop you as a couple and as individuals, and if so, how?

There’s a great quote from John Welwood that says:

“intimate relationship…is such a provocative and powerful meeting place, where the psychological and the spiritual come together in a particularly potent way.”

I totally agree with this and am particularly interested in how a couple’s sex life contributes. I am sure, from all my years of professional experience, and from my own personal life, that developing a certain kind of sexuality, does transform you. A couple who attended one of my Bali retreats, describe this beautifully when they said that they felt their relationship “had changed frequency, as though we have shifted from AM to FM”.

In my last LoveLife Blog article, I described ‘optimal sexuality’ and what it entails. There are eight components to having this level of sexuality:

1. Being present: focused, aware and utterly immersed in the experience.
2. Intense emotional connection: a sense of connection, alignment, being in sync, merged with the partner.
3. Deep sexual or erotic intimacy: mutual respect, caring, genuine acceptance.
4. Extraordinary communication: heightened empathy and sensitivity.
5. Interpersonal risk-taking: sex experienced as an adventure, a journey, ongoing self-expression.
6. Authenticity: being genuine, uninhibited, transparent.
7. Vulnerability: getting ‘swept away’, revelling in the sensations and surrendering to the partner.
8. A sense of transcendence: bliss, peace, awe, the feeling of utter timelessness in encounters that are transformative and healing.

I’m looking for couples who self-identify as having this kind of sexuality who would like to explore with me how they’ve grown and transformed as individuals and as a couple through developing this level of sexuality.

What I mean by the term ‘transform’ is a qualitative shift in one’s life and/or worldview that is persistent (not merely a temporary shift that reverts to a previous state), pervasive (not confined to isolated aspects of one’s being or functioning), and profound (having an important life impact).

In evolving and transforming in this way you tend to have:

• an increased expansiveness of being,
• an increased openness,
• an enhanced awareness,
• an increased sense of connection, and
• a more authentic and meaningful existence.

So, if you feel your sexuality meets all or most of these criteria and feel that it has transformed you in this way, I’d love to interview as part of my research!

It will of course be totally confidentially and the reporting anonymous. I’ll need an initial hour or two of your time for an interview which will be recorded and transcribed for my research, and then a few months later, after I’ve interviewed all the participants (about six couples) and done my analysis, to see how you feel about my findings and whether they need modifying.

I’m sure it will be fascinating project to do and be involved in, so if you are interested, please let me know by email: jacqueline@jacquelinehellyer.com.

Cheers!