Practicing Love: Have the Best Love and Sex of Your Life After 40

In this episode of Practicing Love, I talk with tech modern mystic Renée Blodgett, about where science and spirituality meet in love and relationship. We explore real-life relationship dynamics, like how awareness, vulnerability, and presence directly impact and deepen intimacy, from Renee's spiritual perspectives. We talk about what's beyond traditional conditioning around love and sex, how overdoing and constant striving can create distance in a relationship, and what it takes to shift into deeper connection. We also explore masculine and feminine dynamics, the importance of communication, and simple practices that help partners reconnect. In this episode, we cover: Why we can't be truly intimate until we're willing to be vulnerable How over-functioning and constant doing create distance in love What shifts when we move from reacting to responding in relationship How to create intentional time for deeper connection Simple practices to deepen intimacy and feel more in sync with your partner What to do with past wounds and shadow patterns that show up in relationships This is a powerful conversation about love, consciousness, and how to create deeper intimacy without forcing, fixing, or overworking in your relationship. Find out how to have the best love and sex of your life! Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/prigida/burbleLicense code: 15Q3WZOTKSNA4MJM

Most men want to please the women they love. But many don't understand what actually helps a woman open, relax, and experience truly satisfying sex. In this episode, I talk with Certified Sexologist Kevin Anthony, host of the Love Lab Podcast, about what men often miss about what women need to make sex great for them. For many women, great sex doesn't start in the bedroom. It begins with safety, trust, connection, and presence. When a woman feels emotionally safe and deeply connected, her body can relax and open to pleasure. Without that foundation, sex can feel tense, pressured, or disconnected — even when both partners have good intentions. Kevin and I explore: • Why safety and trust are essential for women's sexual pleasure • How connection starts long before the bedroom • The role of emotional intelligence in great sex • How presence creates much better sex than performance • The physical things many men misunderstand about foreplay • Why women's arousal is more fluid and responsive than many men realize • How you can create more harmony, connection, and passion This conversation will give you powerful new perspectives to create deeper intimacy, better sex, and a more connected relationship. Find out how to have the best love and sex of your life! Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/prigida/burbleLicense code: IHVPCN3F5C1BO2Q0

What if calling in "the one" who is a soul-aligned partner isn't about doing more, but about coming home to who you truly are? In this episode, Shana James sits down with Self-Love & Relationship Coach Risa Gaull, who reminds us of a powerful truth: you are the love you seek. If you've read Calling in "The One" by Kathryn Woodward Thomas and wondered how to truly become and attract a soul-aligned partner, this episode is for you. Risa Gaull, who is a certified coach for Kathryn's program, joins me to explore how self-love, healing your wounds, and shifting your identity, help you call in conscious, commitment-ready love. We explore what it actually takes to call in a soul-aligned partner, not through manifestation tricks or self-improvement, but through deep self-alignment, emotional responsibility, and healing the wounded parts of ourselves that learned love had to be earned. Risa shares how to recognize when you're relating from your wounded self versus your true self, including the subtle body, emotional, and thought-based signals that reveal whether you're in alignment or operating from old survival stories. She also offers compassionate practices for reconnecting with your inner truth, without trying to fix or bypass your pain. This conversation is an invitation to stop outsourcing your well-being, stop making partners your source, and start relating from wholeness — where real intimacy and soul-aligned love can grow. In this episode, you'll learn: Why self-alignment is the foundation of soul-aligned partnership The three signs you're relating from your wounded self (and how to come back) How to meet anxious or insecure parts with compassion instead of judgment Why your partner is not your source of validation, and how that creates healthier relationships What changes when you stop needing someone else to be different for you to feel good Find out how to have the best love and sex of your life! Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/prigida/burbleLicense code: FTDWN40V3UIZ5PJL

Money can feel even more vulnerable than sex. In this episode of Practicing Love, I sit down with money coach and Gentle Money author Adam Koren to explore why finances carry so much emotional weight — and why so many couples struggle to talk about them without tension, shame, or defensiveness. Most of us were never actually taught how to manage money in a grounded, relational way. And yet we often carry deep shame if we believe we're "bad" at it. That shame keeps conversations surface-level, creates distance in partnership, and quietly erodes trust. Money isn't just about numbers. It's about safety, power, freedom, identity, and worth. Together, Adam and I explore how family history shapes financial patterns, why restrictive budgeting often backfires, and how approaching money with gentleness instead of fear can increase both emotional and financial intimacy. We also talk about practical ways couples can create regular money conversations that build connection instead of conflict. If you want more peace — not just in your bank account, but in your relationship — this conversation will open new doors. Find out how to have the best love and sex of your life! Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/prigida/burbleLicense code: HDF76SDCD7O26RO5

Mark J. Platten, a men's guide who leads midlife initiation programs, talks about how menopause and midlife upheaval can blindside relationships. He contrasts reactive "Prince" habits with grounded "King" tools. Short, vivid conversations explore emotional immaturity, triggers as growth points, archetypal roles, and how presence and steadiness can deepen intimacy beyond sex.

What happens when desire fades, sex feels effortful, or intimacy keeps getting interrupted by resentment, pressure, or exhaustion? In this episode of Practicing Love, I'm joined by Elana Auerbach, author of The Sure Thing: A Pleasure Practice to Revive the Spark, for a refreshing and deeply human conversation about desire differences, sensual connection, and what actually helps when intimacy takes a back seat. Rather than pushing through, fixing, or forcing desire, Elana offers a radically different orientation: pleasure as a practice of presence, intention, and safety. We explore: Why desire often disappears in long-term relationships, even when love is strong How resentment, withholding, and "trying to get it right" block sensual connection A new definition of orgasm as how much you can surrender to pleasure Why Responsive Desire needs context, safety, and curiosity to arise What to do when intimacy gets interrupted, and why nothing is lost when you pause How short, intentional pleasure practices (even 10 minutes) can rebuild closeness Learning to know what you want, and how to ask for it without pressure How devotion, play, and self-attunement can reignite the spark over time This conversation is for anyone who wants more aliveness, more connection, and more honesty around pleasure, whether you're partnered, single, or somewhere in between. Find out how to have the best love and sex of your life! Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/prigida/burbleLicense code: CHROXRSGACRHE8NP

Reclaiming eros can impact every area of your life! In this episode of Practicing Love, Shana James is joined by Erotic Wholeness Guide Darshana Avila, whose work has been featured on Netflix's Sex, Love & goop, The Guardian, The New Yorker, and more. Together, they explore an expanded understanding of eroticism — not as performance or sexuality alone, but as the life force energy of Eros that supports your creativity, intimacy, passion, and aliveness. Darshana invites us to rethink everything we've been taught about erotic energy, showing how cultural conditioning, people-pleasing, perfectionism, and nervous system dysregulation often suppress our erotic vitality — leaving us exhausted, and disconnected from our authenticity and from one another. This conversation weaves together somatic wisdom, relational insights, and deep compassion as Shana and Darshana explore how reclaiming erotic wholeness creates safety, presence, and intimacy in sex and intimacy, as well as every area of life. In this episode, you'll explore: What erotic wholeness (beyond sex) actually means How erotic energy fuels creativity, connection, and vitality Why many people feel disconnected from desire and aliveness The role of nervous system regulation in intimacy and pleasure How people-pleasing and perfectionism suppress erotic expression Why integrating grief, shame, and protective strategies is part of erotic healing How safety and relaxation allow erotic energy to flow naturally This episode is an invitation to let go of pressure, performance and shame and find more of yourself -- your body, truth, and the full spectrum of your aliveness. Find out how to have the best love and sex of your life! Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/prigida/burbleLicense code: WGWRQANBJDWAVVM6

A Conversation on Real Connection & Ecstatic Intimacy What do we actually long for in love? In this episode, Shana James is joined by Joanna Shakti, founder and facilitator of Ecstatic Intimacy, for a rich conversation about authentic connection, emotional depth, and intimacy that doesn't require shrinking, over-giving, or shape-shifting to be loved. Joanna introduces the concept of ecstatic authenticity — the shift from hiding parts of ourselves to keep the peace, to honoring who we truly are in relationship and lovemaking. From this place of authenticity, deeper emotional intimacy, trust, and soul-level connection become possible — and passion becomes grounded in honesty, support, and delight. Together, Shana and Joanna also explore masculine and feminine energy not as rigid roles, but as living polarities (like yin and yang) that can create greater attraction, freedom, and aliveness in conscious relationships. In this episode, we explore: Why authenticity is the gateway to deeper intimacy What it really means to feel fully seen, understood, and "gotten" in love How conscious conflict can become communion instead of disconnection A more liberating approach to masculine and feminine dynamics in intimacy The conscious path from authenticity → intimacy → ecstasy If you're longing for a relationship where you can be fully yourself — and experience passion, devotion, and real connection — this conversation is for you. Find out how to have the best love and sex of your life! Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/prigida/burbleLicense code: OHMHFXBSHHFV307Z

On today's Practicing Love podcast, Shana James is joined by divorce coach and NLP practitioner Rachael Sloan for a powerful conversation about how relationships break down — and how they can be repaired before it's too late. Rachael works primarily with men navigating separation and divorce and is the creator of the Better Beyond Divorce program. Together, Shana and Rachael explore emotional regulation, conflict, boundaries, survival responses, and the unconscious patterns that couples bring into relationships. This episode is for anyone who wants to communicate more effectively, stay connected during conflict, and build a relationship that can weather hard moments with greater compassion and clarity. It's a hopeful conversation about staying in love longer, even when things get hard, and how to stop the downward spirals that couples get stuck in. Find out how to have the best love and sex of your life! Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/prigida/burbleLicense code: 3XO0LDATK42BXEXU

Why does connection and communication break down in long-term relationships, even when love is still there? In this episode of Practicing Love, Shana James and Hannah Chapman explore the hidden dynamics that cause couples to talk past each other, shut down, or feel chronically misunderstood. Drawing from vulnerable relationship experiences and decades of coaching, this conversation illuminates how defensive communication forms, what matters more than "being right," and how to rebuild connection over time. You'll learn: Why long-term couples often repeat the same painful communication cycles The difference between defensive communication and open, connected dialogue How curiosity and nervous-system safety change dynamics What it really takes to rebuild emotional intimacy and trust How partners feel seen, heard, and met again Whether you're feeling disconnected, stuck in recurring arguments, or longing for deeper closeness, this episode offers practical insight and hope for creating a relationship where communication becomes a source of connection, not conflict. Find out how to have the best love and sex of your life! Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/prigida/burbleLicense code: JYEBEACXSYUOYD5E