Open relating versus monogamy—which is the ultimate relationship model?

In this episode, we dive deep into one of the most polarizing debates in modern love: whether relationships thrive best with the freedom to connect outside the primary bond or within the safety of exclusivity.

While some believe that one model reigns supreme, we’re here to explore a more nuanced perspective. Through honest conversation, we unpack the myths, truths, and complexities of both open and monogamous relationships.

What’s inside this episode?

• A breakdown of the ever-growing list of terms and labels defining open relationships today
• The pitfalls of being a “polyamory evangelist” or a “monogamy purist”
• The often-ignored shadow sides of both relationship models
• Strategies for staying emotionally available—no matter your chosen style
• Why jealousy and infidelity are part of the human experience (and why trying to “eliminate” them is the wrong goal)

Whether you’re curious about open relating, deeply committed to monogamy, or still figuring out what works best for you, this episode offers insights to help you navigate love with more clarity and self-awareness.

Tune in if you’re ready to explore relationship models from a fresh perspective—free of dogma, judgment, or pressure to “pick a side.”

🍄Special shout out to Moment Mushrooms🍄

Moment Mushrooms is a BC-based wellness brand focused on the transformative power of psilocybin mushrooms to support inner growth and mental health. They are committed to 100% plastic free packaging and quality organic ingredients.

We’re happy to introduce any of our Canadian listeners to Moment Mushrooms. Just go to https://momentmushrooms.com/?coupon=holyeros and use the code holyeros for 20% off your order.

COME FIND US:

Site: www.holyerosinstitute.com

Phoenix Amara IG: @thephoenixamara

Sonja Semyonova IG: @bodystoryteller

If you liked this episode, please give us a five-star rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This episode is dedicated to Alan MacNaughton.

The father wound – defined as the emotional pain, unmet needs, and psychological impact of the lack of healthy masculine figures – is an issue that affects us all.

Men, through a lack of initiation into manhood and the absence of masculine elderhood that leaves them without the capacity to understand positive masculine role models.

Women, through the lack of discernment in relationships with men that leaves them chasing unavailable partners to fill the void their fathers left in their hearts.

But right now there is more hope for healing this deep-seated wound. With men’s work gaining popularity and women learning to let go of the idea of being “saved” by a handsome prince, we are closer than ever to suturing up this wound and building a world where men can offer and receive the love they are capable of.

Listen in to learn:

• Why the father wound exists (including the relatively new historical roots of absent men).
• What men can do to heal their hearts and step into a new definition of manhood.
• The step up that women need to take in order to heal and have healthier platonic and romantic relationships with men.
• What healthy masculinity looks like (and how to look for it).

Phoenix and Sonja also share some very personal stories about how they’ve worked through the father wound in their own lives and learned to trust men’s hearts again.

🍄Special shout out to Moment Mushrooms🍄

Moment Mushrooms is a BC-based wellness brand focused on the transformative power of psilocybin mushrooms to support inner growth and mental health. They are committed to 100% plastic free packaging and quality organic ingredients.

We’re happy to introduce any of our Canadian listeners to Moment Mushrooms. Just go to https://momentmushrooms.com/?coupon=holyeros and use the code holyeros for 20% off your order.

COME FIND US:

Site: www.holyerosinstitute.com

Phoenix Amara IG: @thephoenixamara

Sonja Semyonova IG: @bodystoryteller

If you liked this episode, please give us a five-star rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The dating world has changed—swiping, texting, ghosting, lurking exes, and juggling a work/love balance has made finding meaningful connections feel more complicated than ever.

In this episode, we’re condensing the best parts of our recent live workshop, The New Rules of Dating, to share with you some tools for the best ways to navigate a complicated world.

Tune in to learn:

• the historical patterns that determine how we got here, and how we can shift course.
• what patterns in your life are getting in the way of healthy relationships.
• somatic tools to process the experience of dating and relating.
• journaling prompts to help you uncover your worth so you can magnetize love from that place
• that you’re not alone if you feel like finding or keeping love is a struggle.

💖 Mythic Love: A 90-Day Journey on Becoming 'The One' 💖

If you like this episode, check out our new live program, Mythic Love.

We’re guiding a group through a 90-day transformation to help you heal wounds, celebrate who you are, and learn to magnetize exactly the kind of love you desire.

We’re not just going to talk our way through these wounds. We’ll move, dance, make art, learn mythology, and make healing actually fun. We promise.

If you’re a full yes for this, sign up for Mythic Love here. We start November 19 and we can’t wait to see you find the love that’s been waiting for you.

COME FIND US:

Site: www.holyerosinstitute.com

Phoenix Amara IG: @thephoenixamara

Sonja Semyonova IG: @bodystoryteller

If you liked this episode, please give us a five-star rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Have you ever heard of erotic ritual theatre? If you hang out long enough with women like us, you’ll soon find out.

Theatre has long been used as a modality to express emotion, heal pain, and explore issues within the collective experience. Erotic ritual theatre is no exception. Its focus is on intimacy – love, sex, and relationships – and its expression is pure magic.

Join us for a casual conversation with three cast members from our upcoming erotic ritual theatre show, Worshipper: The Passion (October 19 in Vancouver). Eavesdrop on our chat with Aubrey Aurora, Meghan “Lady Eve” Kelly, and Cheyenne Sapphire as we talk about why we do this work and what we see it offering a world that desperately needs to heal its relationship with love and sexuality.

Tune in to hear:

• How erotic ritual theatre creates a gentler space to heal issues in sexuality and love
• The origin story of Worshipper (our very own offering in this genre)
• What need erotic ritual theatre fills in the space of healing love and sexual expression
• What makes shows like Worshipper different from sex parties or pornography
• The inspiration (and deep desires) for our upcoming show on October 19 in Vancouver

If you’re inspired by listening to this, apply to join us at our upcoming show on October 19. Just mention in your application that you heard about this from the Holy Eros Podcast to get 15% off your ticket for this October’s show.

Learn more: https://holyerosinstitute.com/worshipper-the-passion

🍄Special shout out to Moment Mushrooms🍄

Moment Mushrooms is a BC-based wellness brand focused on the transformative power of psilocybin mushrooms to support inner growth and mental health. They are committed to 100% plastic free packaging and quality organic ingredients.

We’re happy to introduce any of our Canadian listeners to Moment Mushrooms. Just go to https://momentmushrooms.com/?coupon=holyeros and use the code holyeros for 20% off your order.

COME FIND US:

Site: www.holyerosinstitute.com

Phoenix Amara IG: @thephoenixamara

Sonja Semyonova IG: @bodystoryteller

Aubrey Aurora IG: @aubreyyaurora

Cheyenne Sapphire: @cheyennesapphireofficial

Meghan “Lady Eve” Kelly @meghankellyart

For thousands of years, women have been cast into one of two roles: the virgin or the whore.

Most people see them as polar opposites, as two parts that could never be one. On one side is a woman who is “marriage material.” On the other side, a seductress who elicits fantasy and desire but lives outside the bounds of respectable society.

But in this episode, we’re going to illuminate the truth – we are both of these all at once, and so much more.

Tune in for a history lesson in the virgin and the whore and find out which parts of the story have been left out.

Listen to this episode to hear about:

• The root of the words, “virgin” and “whore” and what they tell us about women’s sexual power
• Steps people can make to heal the divide and embrace a full range of sexual expression
• Our personal experiences with being labeled one or the other, and how we broke out of those one-dimensional cages
• Why the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene were both misunderstood in their expression of the virgin and whore archetypes
• Different types of experiences that people can attend to expand their expression of sexuality and embrace more of their wholeness, including our own Worshipper erotic ritual theatre (our next show is on October 19 and will cover the story of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and the Virgin Mary)

🍄Special shout out to Moment Mushrooms🍄

Moment Mushrooms is a BC-based wellness brand focused on the transformative power of psilocybin mushrooms to support inner growth and mental health. They are committed to 100% plastic free packaging and quality organic ingredients.

We’re happy to introduce any of our Canadian listeners to Moment Mushrooms. Just go to https://momentmushrooms.com/?coupon=holyeros and use the code holyeros for 20% off your order.

COME FIND US:

Site: www.holyerosinstitute.com

Phoenix Amara IG: @thephoenixamara

Sonja Semyonova IG: @bodystoryteller

Please consider giving us a positive rating, sharing the episode and leaving us a review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Want more of what we offer? Learn how to do love better by joining the Holy Eros Community. Sign up for your free trial month here and get access to monthly online and in-person workshops and events that can grow your skills in communication, relating, sex, and repair.

It’s a dirty little secret no one likes to acknowledge yet many of us have experienced – cheating.

Studies show that up to 44% of people admit to cheating in relationships, and up to 57% of all divorces result from infidelity. Whether we like it or not, cheating happens. So let’s figure out what to do with it.

Cheating on someone can feel shameful. Being cheated on can feel like the worst kind of betrayal. But no matter what side you’ve found yourself on, this behavior doesn’t have to be the end of your ability to love. In some cases, it can even result in major healing if repair takes center stage.

Tune in to hear about the ways cheating has shown up in our lives – whether from personal experience or our clients’ – and paths to repair once the line has been crossed.

Listen to this episode to hear about:

• The reasons why people cheat (and why partners always know when it’s happening)
• The most important thing to do to recover trust after cheating
• Why desire fades in long-term relationships and steps to take to make things 🔥 again
• Different relationship models and communication techniques that can prevent or repair relationships that have experienced cheating
• The secrets of couples who have made relationships exciting for the long term
• Why couples need community, and the myth of being able to do it alone

Links mentioned:

Family Constellations (aka Systemic Family Constellations)

The stat Sonja couldn’t find without her glasses: 88% of women who cheat place a greater emphasis on emotional affairs than purely physical. Source

Whether you’re single or partnered you can learn how to do love better by joining the Holy Eros Community. Sign up for your free trial month here and get access to monthly online and in-person workshops and events that can grow your skills in communication, relating, sex, and repair.

🍄Special shout out to Moment Mushrooms🍄

Moment Mushrooms is a BC-based wellness brand focused on the transformative power of psilocybin mushrooms to support inner growth and mental health. They are committed to 100% plastic free packaging and quality organic ingredients.

We’re happy to introduce any of our Canadian listeners to Moment Mushrooms. Just go to https://momentmushrooms.com/?coupon=holyeros and use the code holyeros for 20% off your order.

COME FIND US:

Site: www.holyerosinstitute.com

Phoenix Amara IG: @thephoenixamara

Sonja Semyonova IG: @bodystoryteller

Please consider giving us a positive rating, sharing the episode and leaving us a review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What does it mean to be a man these days? As gender roles are being restructured and explored, the emerging field of men’s work offers a rich landscape of ways to explore a new, healthier expression of masculinity.

Our guest for this episode is Vern Petty, a somatic therapist and men’s work facilitator. He shares with us his personal journey to finding men’s work and how it has helped him heal his wounds and guide men to realize their greatest potential.

Our conversation is laced with vulnerable shares about dating, breakups, and how we’ve learned to work with the emotional spectrum within relationships. We tackle the question of what it means to be emotionally available, and how we can do the work to become more attuned both to our own needs and our partners’.

We also hear about Vern’s experience with conscious uncoupling, a process he recently underwent to honour his ex-partner and heal his heartbreak by sealing the ending of a partnership with a story of gratitude and growth.

Listen in to explore what men like Vern are gaining from men’s work and why it matters. We explore topics that include:

• What it means to show up in truth at the beginning, middle, and end of a relationship
• The need for men to find spaces to align and direct toward purpose
• What men and women can do to deepen hetero romantic relationships and platonic friendships
• Sexual energy cultivation (beyond simple semen retention)
• What emotional availability actually is

Anyone who loves men – or is a man – owes it to themselves to explore what is happening in the field of men’s work.

🍄Special shout out to Moment Mushrooms🍄

Moment Mushrooms is a BC-based wellness brand focused on the transformative power of psilocybin mushrooms to support inner growth and mental health. They are committed to 100% plastic free packaging and quality organic ingredients.

We’re happy to introduce any of our Canadian listeners to Moment Mushrooms. Just go to https://momentmushrooms.com/?coupon=holyeros and use the code holyeros for 20% off your order.

ABOUT VERN PETTY:

Vern is a man exploring what it is to be human. He serves as a counsellor, men’s coach, and breath work facilitator and is the founder of Expansive Man brotherhood, and Synergy Ecstatic Dance. Every space Vern hold’s is focused on providing opportunity for people to cultivate and express peace, purpose, and passion. Building community on self fulfillment and service to the good of all.

COME FIND US:

Site: www.holyerosinstitute.com

Phoenix Amara IG: @thephoenixamara

Sonja Semyonova IG: @bodystoryteller

Vern Petty IG: @vernpetty

Please consider giving us a positive rating, sharing the episode and leaving us a review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Imagine how much more fulfilling relationships would be if we took the time to have a “crush cleanse,” periods of intentional reflection after a breakup, or made space for rituals to harvest the learnings from loves lost so we can explore what we want to bring in.

From conscious celibacy, casual dating, to the art of relationship fasting, and creating a personal relationship vision, listen in to our convo from our personal experiences so you can create your own North Star in the jungle of dating.

We think taking time to explore what you want (and what you don’t) before you jump into the dating pool might just revolutionize everyone’s love life. This kind of relationship “master cleanse” can show you what’s a true love connection and what’s a patch to cover the hole of loneliness.

Tune in to this episode to hear us explore themes around:

• The power of intentional celibacy (a practice that is surprisingly gaining in popularity).
• How meaningful self-pleasure can quench the touch-starved thirst.
• The impact of the father wound on the quest for deep intimacy.
• What we’ve learned about what we want by leaving behind what we don’t want.
• The magic of romance, love letters, and ways to make consent S E X Y.
• Our favorite practices for mapping out a relationship vision.

A bonus offer: If you’re interested in journeying into your relationship vision, the first workshop of our Holy Eros Summit focused on practices that can guide you to outline what you’re looking for by exploring how you got here and all that it taught you. You can get access to a recorded version of this by purchasing access to the Holy Eros Summit recording at https://holyerosinstitute.com/healing-eros.

Or, by becoming a member of the Holy Eros Community, you’ll get access to all the recordings from the summit as well as monthly online and in-person workshops and events designed to tap into the power of your sacred love. Learn more and join our membership at https://holyerosinstitute.com/holy-eros-community.

🍄Special shout out to Moment Mushrooms🍄

Moment Mushrooms is a BC-based wellness brand focused on the transformative power of psilocybin mushrooms to support inner growth and mental health. They are committed to 100% plastic free packaging and quality organic ingredients.

We’re happy to introduce any of our Canadian listeners to Moment Mushrooms. Just go to https://momentmushrooms.com and use the code holyeros for 20% off your order.

COME FIND US:

Site: www.holyerosinstitute.com

Phoenix Amara IG: @thephoenixamara

Sonja Semyonova IG: @bodystoryteller

Please consider giving us a positive rating, sharing the episode and leaving us a review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Welcome to Season 3 of the Holy Eros Podcast with Phoenix & our new permanent co-host Sonja Semyonova.

Is it really ‘Love in the Time of Tinder’?

Is there really a price tag on true love, or are we just victims of a heartless algorithm?

In this episode, join us as we hack our way through the dense underbrush of online dating, how to dodge the pitfalls of capitalistic courtship, and alternatives to the algorithms.

From the treacherous terrain of Tinder to the perilous pitfalls of Plenty of Fish, we'll reveal our own misadventures in the jungle of digital romance. We even recount some hilarious mishaps, cringe-worthy encounters, and downright bizarre messages and experiences we've encountered in the wild.

But we discuss deeper issues at play, exploring the capitalistic models of dating that often leave us feeling more like commodities than human beings. Is love truly blind, or are we all just victims of the almighty dollar sign?

WE ALSO DISCUSS:

• Some essential survival skills you need to navigate this modern jungle with grace and clarity.

• How to cut through the noise & get clear on what you truly want in a partner and relationship

• Tips to creating an eye-catching Online Dating Bio (if you do decide to try this route)

• & alternatives to the hazardous and emerge from the chaos with your heart (mostly) intact.

From awkward first dates to unexpected love connections, get ready to laugh, learn, and maybe even find a little romance along the way.

Welcome to the jungle, where the only thing more unpredictable than love is our podcast!

🍄Special shout out to Moment Mushrooms🍄

Moment Mushrooms is a BC-based wellness brand focused on the transformative power of psilocybin mushrooms to support inner growth and mental health. They are committed to 100% plastic free packaging and quality organic ingredients.

We’re happy to introduce any of our Canadian listeners to Moment Mushrooms. Just go to https://momentmushrooms.com/?coupon=holyeros and use the code holyeros (one word) for 20% off your order. That’s holyeros (one word) for a 20% discount.

COME FIND US:

Site: www.holyerosinstitute.com

Phoenix Amara IG: @thephoenixamara

Sonja Semyonova IG: @bodystoryteller

Please consider giving us a positive rating, sharing the episode and leaving us a review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

• Facing comparison to access the secret of success thru compersion
• The gift of being ‘Project Polyamorous’ and how strengthening your creative capacity across different mediums vs. niching allows you to explore facets of your expression you didn’t realize
• Why tapping your outlet of creativity will make you a BETTER LOVER
• The Difference of Dating as a Creative & approaching your dating + relating through the lens of ‘how fun can it be’?
• & letting fear and grief bring you to the edges of your creative expression to liberate your unique message