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Topics: Sex Education, California, US News, Sex and Relationships
Liv Bridge
Topics: Sex Education, California, US News, Sex and Relationships
A woman who went to a unique 'wellness' experience that costs $15,000 has revealed what happened there.
In an attempt to demystify women's sexual pleasure, and help women connect with their bodies, sex educator Pamela Madsen launched a one-of-a-kind workshop in California more than two decades ago.
Since then, Back to the Body has evolved into a full-blown sex retreat, nestled in the wilderness of Joshua Tree National Park, ultimately to help women climax and feel empowered.
The multi-day experience includes workshops, guided touch sessions, 'soulful' group discussions, and other related activities - as well as a private chef, pool and hot tub.
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“Connecting to our bodies without shame is essential for empowerment, pleasure, and freedom," Madsen told Vogue. “But the reality is most women have never been taught how to access their own erotic energy."
"We’re taught to perform sexually, but not to receive or explore what turns us on without guilt."
Now, a woman who stopped by for a seven-day stay has had her say on what it was like at the retreat.
Writing in Vogue, Aubree Nichols revealed she witnessed some sights indeed - from a 60-year-old woman 'sprawled atop a massage table' and guided to orgasm an impressive five times by a practitioner, to her own involvement in a blindfolded group exercise where staff 'caress' attendees lying on the floor with soft touches of fingers or fur.
Nichols stated she was apprehensive for 'The Art of Adoration' exercise at first, writing that she 'didn't want to be seen' - up until she challenged her internal chatter and 'surrendered' to the hour-long session.
"I allowed myself to feel. It was as if a layer of shame had been stripped away, bringing me a little closer to the woman I used to be," she wrote.
Despite the $15,000 cost, Nichols concluded it's worth it, saying it's 'more than an indulgence' but rather a 'valuable investment in personal liberation.'
By the end of her sexological week-long awakening, she noted how her group felt 'more alive'.
"I, too, felt more open and free, realizing that denying myself pleasure might have been more detrimental to my health than I had thought," she continued. "I couldn’t just put pleasure on the shelf until I felt like my best self; it was part of getting well. This is the new world of wellness."
Nichols apparently isn't alone in having this eureka moment either as Hazel Stricker, a 47-year-old from San Diego, told the outlet: "My table sessions helped me realize that I was in charge of cultivating my own erotic energy.
"I felt more empowered, alive, and at ease with myself.”
Erinne Branter, a 46-year-old from Canada, also added: “It’s like you’ve been walking around in this incredible sports car that no one has driven correctly.
"And suddenly someone knows how to drive your sports car and you realize that the sports car that the world has told you is too small, too big, too fat, too hairy, and not enough was actually perfect all along.”
However, sex and dating columnist Jana Hocking for the Mail Online and apparently had a different experience.
Speaking as a guest on the Just Between Us podcast, Jana said many of the exercises included forms of bondage, sensory deprivation and touch from the staff.
In one session, the group were invited to hold their vulvas, rock back and forth and speak to their private parts about 'what we wanted, who we wanted to be and what our goals were.'
But she said she became 'bored' in another session where Madsen was brought to orgasm by a male helper after 30 minutes of foreplay while the group watched on.
Jana confessed she was the only one who didn't reach an orgasm at the retreat, but says she feels well-equipped and more confident to do so in private at home.