21: Pleasure Activism and Reclaiming Eros, with Suzanne Blackburn

“I'm convinced that external suppression and degradation of our bodies, our sexuality and our pleasure, robs us of our full potential. When we claim our embodied autonomy and inherent right to pleasure, we claim our power”. - Suzanne Blackburn

Patty talks to Suzanne Blackburn, queer pleasure activist, elder, and guide. After having her own embodiment taken from her early in life, Suzanne found her way back home to her body through a workshop at the Body Electric School more than 25 years ago. She has worn many hats there ever since including facilitator, board chair, and coordinator, driven by her  fierce passion for reuniting the erotic and the sacred.

In this warm and at times fiery conversation we explore how cultural, religious, economic, and political systems can detach us from our erotic life-force energy—and why that detachment serves power structures that profit from our shame and disconnection. Suzanne shares her personal journey of reclamation, defines eros as the relentless pulse of aliveness that runs through everything (not just genitals!) Patty brings the IFS lens and considers how parts either block or open the flow of that energy. They talk about the political nature of pleasure, the danger of splitting sexuality from spirituality, the beauty of slowing down and breathing together, and what becomes possible when we finally feel safe enough for our embodied sexual Self to emerge. Suzanne reads a favorite poem by Mark Nepo and leaves us with the image of gliding—on water, on snow, across skin—as something that is a sensual pleasure for her.

Suzanne Blackburn has been a social and political activist for decades, volunteering with Equality Maine on two successful campaigns to legalize same-sex marriage. She is the author of Reclaiming Eros: Sacred Whores and Healers and continues to facilitate transformative workshops with the Body Electric School. 

Take a slow breath, settle into your body, and let this episode remind every part of you that pleasure is your birthright.

Connect with Suzanne:

suzanne@bodyelectric.org 

Book - Reclaiming Eros: Sacred Whores and Healers, by Suzanne Blackburn

Erotic Liberation Podcast Episode 21: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6gm69EVf5oIZij9tj0RF0W?si=8831b198f5fa4816

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