Creating Your Erotic Menu – Part 2
Reviews on New Ways to Talk About Sex with Your Partner
By Corinne Farago
Last week I shared my new communication tool, Your Erotic Menu with my readers. (you can download it on my homepage: www.lovesexanddesire.com)
With a list of 186 erotic activities and guided questions, Your Erotic Menu makes talking about sex a whole lot easier.
Here is some of the feedback I’ve had from readers who felt moved enough to write to me about it.
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“I’ve been wanting to broach the subject of sex with my partner for a very long time. Every time we’ve tried, it’s ended badly. We start off being open to hearing the other’s point of view but pretty soon, we’re feeling hurt and withdrawn.
When I showed her Your Erotic Menu, it was a completely different experience. It felt like wiping the slate clean and starting the conversation from a lighter place. Rather than blaming each other about what wasn’t happening, we talked about what we did want to happen.
It was the best conversation we’ve had about sex in years.”
Talk To Me, Baby
If you’ve been dealing with sexual challenges in a long-term relationship, talking about sex may be full of blame, guilt, regret, embarrassment, and a whole host of other emotions that have built up over the years.
If your partner suggests sitting down to talk about your sex life, your first reaction may be to brace yourself for the inevitable bad feelings that will come out of that talk.
If it usually starts with a complaint on someone’s part and ends with good intentions or promises that never come to fruition, it’s no wonder that the subject of sex often gets swept under the carpet for years, and we end up coping with a less than satisfying sexual life.
That’s why coaching can be the solution to this kind of tension. Coaching creates a safe space for both people to speak honestly, even if it becomes challenging. A coach guides you through these rocky waters until both people feel heard. At this point, the conversation can begin to get productive and interesting.
What does sex mean to a couple? What do they want out of sex? How do they find their pleasure in sex and express their connection through sex?
I designed Your Erotic Menu to guide you through this conversation in a way that bypasses the blame game and supports curiosity and exploration.
Starting to talk about sex is the first step in getting what you want, and giving your partner what they want.
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“My partner and I stopped having sex a year ago after his affair. I know it’s hard for me to trust again. When I read Your Erotic Menu and saw the list of activities, my heart sank at how far away we were from having the kind of sex life we both wanted in the beginning of our relationship.
Based on your recommendation, we focused on the Sensual and Romantic categories of the list as a place to start. It was actually exactly what we needed to begin to share our feelings about sex again.
We both found activities that will help us feel connected, and plan on starting with baby steps to get back to a life of intimacy and trust again.
Thank you for giving us a tool to build our new erotic menu at our own pace.”
Intimacy: First Things First
Even though there are 186 erotic activities in Your Erotic Menu, don’t get overwhelmed. Just know that there’s something for you in that long list that speaks to your unique needs and desires today.
If you’re starting your journey back to sexual connection, or you’re relatively new to sex, you may want to focus on more sensual, romantic activities to build trust and find a heart-felt connection with your partner.
Intimacy is the foundation for any sexual play. Without it, you’re left with just body parts looking for release. Whether you’ve been together for 20 years or you just met last night, intimacy is the name of this game. Otherwise you’re playing in the minor leagues. 😉
Start from where you are and build trust and intimacy through sensual, romantic, tantric activities that speak to your heart.
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“I’ve been putting off talking to my partner about my “fetishes” for years.
I kept waiting for the right moment, but was too afraid of what he’d think. I don’t want to be one of those people who hide their whole lives behind their fears. When I asked him to sit down to do Your Erotic Menu exercises with me, I checked off one of my fetishes and waited to see what he’d say.
It turned out he checked the same fetish as a fantasy, and it started a whole conversation about it. I finally felt brave enough to tell him what I wanted.
That was a giant step for me toward living, what you call :”an authentic sexual life.”
Taking the Leap
This kind of heart pounding experience can be scary enough to keep us stuck in silence. Silence leads to secrets and secrets undermine intimacy.
How do we let our partners into our most vulnerable places and trust that they will hold that information with care?
You start by making an iron clad spoken agreement that no matter what, you will both respect the confidentiality of your shared confessions. That means no matter how angry you might become with each other or even if the relationship ends, your agreement stands. You never use sexuality as a tool to hurt each other. Period!
You won’t truly know your partner sexually until you lay the foundation of trust and acceptance.
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“I’ve never thought much about the feeling component of my sexual life. But when I started to consider what kind of feelings I was looking for in sex it always comes back to the same thing. Feeling special, feeling really desired, feeling like a Queen who could ask for anything I wanted. If I wasn’t feeling those things, I’d lose interest in sex and get bored.
Now my partner understands that I’m not rejecting him; I’m just wanting to feel something. If he can help me feel those things then I’m up for sex.
It felt like a whole new perspective that was workable, rather than some sort of massive, unsolvable problem.”
Feelings: From Your Head to Your Toes
One of the most important steps in doing this communication exercise with your partner is spending time with Your Erotic Menu on your own first, before you share your lists. Consider not just your desired activities but also what attracts you to those activities. What feelings would you like those activities to give you. After all, sex isn’t just physical. It’s psychological, it’s spiritual, it’s emotional.
Attributing a feeling to an erotic activity may be something you’ve never done before. Frankly, it’s a bit of a light bulb moment for many people, especially when we see that feelings during sex can expand outside of the obvious feeling of being loved and cared for.
We may want to explore a range of feelings that give expression to our more shadowy sides. Sex is far more complex than hearts and flowers, and our erotic minds offer vast landscapes to explore should we want to embark on that inner journey.
Your Erotic Menu has 73 feelings you could potentially want to feel during erotic play. Take your time and see what rings true for you.
Your Erotic Menu communication exercise is just the beginning.
Toys and techniques may pave the way to new experiences, but the real gold is found in the realms of trust, polarity, and authenticity. This is the kind of exploration you can’t find in a book.
If you want to use this erotic communication exercise to truly transform your relationship and expand your erotic menu, set up a free 15 minute Discovery Call with me here to learn more about working with me as your personal sex and intimacy coach.
Stay well and love deeply,
Corinne
Sometimes we all need a little help with love, sex, and desire…
I work with clients online or by phone from all over the world.
If you’d like to speak for 15 mins to say hello and discuss the details of working together to give you the love, sex and desire you long for, set up your call here:
Click here to schedule your FREE call today
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I offer a 6 week one-on-one coaching program that will guide you on your journey back to sexual fulfillment and intimate connection.
Direct your partner to my website, www.lovesexanddesire.com where they can learn about sex coaching and read more of my teaching.
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By engaging in honest self-reflection and exploring the source of our stories, we can better understand ourselves and improve relationships by approaching conversations with clarity instead of fear or judgement. By owning up to what we’re telling ourselves and actively listening to our inner dialogue, we can unravel distorted thinking and create healthier connections with those around us.
9 Reasons Why Couples Work With a Relationship Coach
I love my couples. They reach out for sex coaching, wanting to create a fulfilling sexual and intimate life. The number one obstacle to achieving their goals is sometimes an unhealthy relationship dynamic. For most of us, opening ourselves to sexuality with our partners requires trust, connection and a sense of emotional safety. If our relationships are being impacted by unhealthy dynamics that leave us triggered and harboring conscious or unconscious resentment, sexuality will be impacted or, at worst no longer exist.
Sexual Trauma and PTSD
Sexual Trauma and PTSD keep painful memories from our past alive and present in our day to day lives. Hypnotherapy uses the power of your own mind to unlock the hold these memories have on you, by helping your brain process them in a gentle and effective way. If you suffer from trauma, you’re well aware that some memories trigger feelings of present-time fear, keeping you anxious, and on high alert, even though consciously you know you’re no longer in danger. If some of those memories have created Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that means your brain is ‘matching’ those past memories to present day experiences, or what is referred to as ‘pattern matching’ in Hypnotherapy.
New Ways to Heal Old Wounds
When two people get together to form a relationship, there are two sets of wounds merging and intertwining, our partner’s and our own. We know when our old wounds are being dragged into a conflict because our pain and defensiveness will suddenly spike. If our partner is speaking the same words as our inner abuser, the armor will go up, and disagreements will escalate into shouting, tearful battles.
Always medicine