Film: The Sessions
Award-winning American independent drama film (2012) written and directed by Ben Lewin about a paraplegic who hires a sex surrogate to teach him about sexuality. Beautiful. www.thesessionsmovie.com
Apps
This where to obtain the NHS ‘Squeezy’ app: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/squeezy-nhs-physiotherapy/id700740791?mt=8
‘Kegel Aerobics’ App with nine levels. (Good luck with level nine.)
http://kegelaerobics.com
Websites
There are many but http://www.ohmygodyes.com is especially good.
Short Word of Warning
I want to alert you to the fact that, as with all human potential and personal development work, some courses that teach sexuality can be expensive.
Some of them use ‘hard sell’ techniques for their higher level courses that I’m ashamed of.
Please never sign up for any course, of any kind, at and introduction event no matter how great the ‘discount’ that is on offer if you do so.
NEVER borrow money to do a course. Never take out a loan. Never get into debt to take a workshop. There is no course on earth that is worth getting into debt for.
For example – the beauty of the OM experience is in the actual practise. This can be explored with my book, Nicole’s book, a pot of their One Taste Lube (because it’s the right viscosity) and a loving and curious partner. Maybe a private lesson if you get stuck.
But ‘One Taste’ (like many businesses) offer a wide range of courses which are outside the price range of most bank accounts. I’ll say it again. Please don’t spend money that you don’t have.
On the other hand – if you are fortunate enough to be wealthy then (in my opinion) your money would be better spent on studying sexuality for a year and buying a cheaper car – for example. Life is short and the body is designed for pleasure.
Always give careful consideration before signing up to a course or a series of courses. If in doubt send me an email or a message.
Take care of yourself.
xxx Isabel
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
All the people in this book are real. In rare cases I have changed someone’s name to protect his or her identity, but most people appear as themselves so I would like to thank everyone who is mentioned in these pages and has played a part.
Inspiration for a more profound level of understanding about sexuality comes primarily, for me, from Hilary Spenceley, at Shakti Tantra, whose lifetime of dedication to teaching and liberating both women and men from everything that stands between them and the full enjoyment and celebration of their own pleasure is profoundly beautiful and has inspired all those that have come into contact with her. Special thanks are also due to Sue Newsome and Martin Hellawell, also at Shakti Tantra, for their patience with me. I am so grateful to these three for their skill and generosity in allowing me to describe so much of their material. Thanks to all the brave souls in the women’s workshops and the couples’ workshops. I have huge admiration for everyone who does this work.
Thank you very much to Rachel Cherwitz, Rachael Hemsi, Maya Block, Justyna Kucharska, Elena Maxwell, Marc Quin, Adam Jacobowitz, Claudia Melli, Kapil Gupta, Chris Eadie, Clouds L. de Narvaez, Michael Silbert and all the other inspiring and wonderful beings I met in the OM community for your encouragement along the way. Especially to Nicole Daedone for her joyful courage and love of life, to Justine Dawson who just gets everything right in a most extraordinary way, to Ken Blackman for proving the teachings are real and to Jeff Ridenour for the quality of his practice. Thanks to Emma Jane Thompson for making The Golden Gate Bridge ours forever.
Other teachers and fellow pupils of sexuality on the path that I’d like to thank are, Alexey Kuzmin for existing – I wish I could have heard all that you teach when I was 18; thank you for your profound kindness and generosity during this process. Thanks to Mike (no relation) Lousada for his knowledge, to Drew Lawson for answering so many of my questions, to Jovanna Desmarais for her humour, and to Angela Sabine and Hanna Steinschlag for being truly beautiful women. Thank you to Uta Demontis for sending me those three and for your commitment to teaching your material.
In Sussex, thank you to Steve and Laura Griffiths for creating the ‘Love, Sex and Intimacy Fair’, to Lucky and Albert for hosting, to Rachel McCoy for being delightful, to Jamie McCartney for his Great Wall of Vagina, to Nic Ramsey for talking about PCs, and to everyone who came to my own talk on my book, Men!, one memorable evening.
Thank to Clare and her amazing boss at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and – although I know it’s a lot of people to thank – to anyone and everyone who works for the NHS. Thank you to my astounding dentist for giving me her story, to Saby Harmony for allowing the inclusion of the details of her events and to Linda for explaining to me about Kundalini. Thank you to Barbara Carrellas for permission to write about my experience in her workshop.
In the publishing world I would like to thank two agents, Julia Cameron and Jane Graham Maw, for their hard work and confidence in the book. At Watkins, thanks to Michael Mann for being wonderful, to James Spackman for asking, my editor Kate Latham for her patience, my publisher Jo Lal for backing the book from the start and to Etan Ilfeld for making everything possible. Also to Vicky Hartley – for being Vicky Hartley.
Most especial thanks to Caroline Sanderson who read the book twice, as a manuscript, believed in the work when I doubted it myself and spoke words of wisdom and inspiration at moments when I most needed to hear them. I would also like to thank Carole Tonkinson for her constant kindness and for picking me up on more than one occasion and speaking to me as if I was a sane person at moments when I didn’t feel like one. I owe a profound debt of gratitude to these two extraordinary women.
Closer to home I’d like to thank my daughter Emily for her tolerance (who wants a mother who writes a book about sexuality?), Gala and Jane for reading the book in manuscript and for all thoughtful comments and suggestions; Polly and Daisy for listening to me; my guardian angels JJM and CM for making it possible for me to get to San Francisco and New York; and to the man I’ve called ‘T’ for absolutely everything. Rare is a man whose passion for love and life results in him saying ‘Yes, please’ – whatever adventure is suggested. I’m privileged to know you. Thank you very much.
Finally, I’d like to thank that core bunch of loyal readers who have read all the books from The Battersea Park Road to Enlightenment through Tibet and the Amazon to this one, especially those on my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages who offer words of encouragement, write reviews and buy copies of my books for everyone you know. A career as an author is not always easy but the loyalty, wisdom and generous friendliness of readers makes the job a joy. You are too many to list by name – but if you are reading this then you are now undoubtedly one of them. Thank you.
The story of Watkins dates back to 1893, when the scholar of esotericism John Watkins founded a bookshop, inspired by the lament of his friend and teacher Madame Blavatsky that there was nowhere in London to buy books on mysticism, occultism or metaphysics. That moment marked the birth of Watkins, soon to become the home of many of the leading lights of spiritual literature, including Carl Jung, Rudolf Steiner, Alice Bailey and Chögyam Trungpa.
Today, the passion at Watkins Publishing for vigorous questioning is still resolute. Our wide-ranging and stimulating list reflects the development of spiritual thinking and new science over the past 120 years. We remain at the cutting edge, committed to publishing books that change lives.
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This edition first published in the
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Text copyright © Isabel Losada 2017
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