Episode 7: Engaging with the Nervous System for Pleasure and Survival with Michaela Boehm

 
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Michaela Boehm teaches and counsels internationally as an expert in intimacy and sexuality. Born and raised in Austria, Michaela combines her training in psychology and extensive clinical counseling experience with her in-depth training in the yogic arts as a classical Kashmiri Tantric lineage holder. Michaela’s approach empowers her students through an eclectic mix of education, experiential exercises and guided explorations. Known for her work with high-performing individuals, her ongoing private clients include Oscar-winning actors, producers, business pioneers, and multiple Grammy-winning musicians. Michaela is the Author of “The Wild Woman’s Way”, published by Simon & Schuster/Atria in August 2018. She lives on an organic farm in California where she rescues and rehabilitates animals.

 

In this episode we talked about :

 

  • The way Michaela used the embodiment practices she had created to move through the loss of her house, possessions, land and animals due to Californian wildfires.

  • Our bodies are made to cope with challenging times

  • Daily ways of releasing stress e.g. in the morning or end of the day

  • The Non-Linear Movement Method (NLMM)- generally done on hands on knees for maximum flexibility to release what’s stuck emotionally, physically and mentally.

  • Becoming current with emotions and sensations

  • The simplicity and safety of NLMM

  • Michaela’s experience working in an addiction facility and teaching ways of engaging with the body to her clients

  • Working with the body without taxing the nervous system, whilst still being effective

  • Use the body’s natural ability to create homeostasis through continuous movement

  • Working with trauma

  • Why trying to create cathartic experiences can trigger the trauma pattern

  • The lineage of Kashmiri Shaivism which includes devotional and embodiment practices

  • Michaela’s combination of tantric training, trauma therapy and counseling for relationships and intimacy

  • Will the online age lead to a lack of intimacy body to body?

  • Beauty, aesthetics, colour and order in the environment to affect the nervous system

  • Our nervous system is the part that made us survive, and is therefore far more attuned than we realize

  • Travel altars to anchor beauty and embodiment and things that Michaela holds dear

  • The archetype of the Wild Woman, who knows to navigate in the world through all the rhythms of life and nature

  • Pleasure as part of the sensory system and part of what makes human

  • Connecting with pleasure through touch, essential oils, tasting delicious foods

  • Sexual receptivity and aliveness

  • Tuning in to background pleasure to keep the nervous system engaged

 

Resources

You can find out more about Michaela’s workshops and courses here: www.michaelaboehm.com

 

Michaela’s first book, ‘The Wild Woman's Way: Unlock Your Full Potential for Pleasure, Power, and Fulfillment

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