Human Awareness

In this interview with HAI’s Facilitator Marci Graham, we explore how to begin breaking down and changing patterns of inequity, patterns that are woven into our dynamics, our relationships, and our identities. Marci is a visionary who takes the stand for a future in which no woman, man or child is treated as less than whole. And she is also a brilliant teacher. Her compassion and wisdom gives her a unique perspective for understanding the underbelly of a history we are only just beginning to unravel.

Trigger Warning: There are some mild references to boundary crossings in this episode.

Marci Graham is uniquely and simultaneously soft and fierce in her compassion for human beings. She has a 30-year history of soul searching and personal transformation through movement, vision questing, painting, writing, sculpting, bodywork, and voracious reading.

Marci began as a workshop participant at HAI in 2000, quickly incorporating HAI’s mission into her deep knowledge of self. As a Facilitator, Marci brings her strong desire for people to know and love themselves enough to awaken to their magnificence. Marci lives with her partner, Jason Weston, in rural California, where the natural beauty astonishes, delights, and invigorates her every day.

Photo of Marci taken by Jason Weston, used with permission

Monica Jayne speaks to the importance of really knowing ourselves. There is nothing to fix. Nothing to change. Rather, if we give ourselves permission to live fully and explore the full version of ourselves, we create a safer world for everyone. In this episode, Haje and Kate are taken through a series of brilliant concepts for deeply understanding our erotic and human selves. Learn about “erotic blue-prints,” listen in as we share personal stories about identity transformation, and share in the many giggle fits we have during this interview.

We are so pleased to offer you this valuable, sometimes silly, and at other times heart-wrenching, conversation. May it bring you as much pleasure as it did us. 

Monica Jayne has facilitated, taught, nurtured, and witnessed 1000s of men and women across 45 countries and 5 continents transforming their lives and influencing them to discover, love, accept, and be who they truly are. She considers herself a “promissory” – being full of acceptance for herself and others. Monica Jayne delivers practical, applicable adult education on sexuality, relationships, communication, identity, expression, authenticity, and vulnerability: all the things we were never taught but should have been. 

 For freebies, goodies, real-life tips, and more awesome information from Monica Jayne, visit MonicaJayne.com/more

Thank you for listening to May I Have This Dance. In this episode, Kate and Haje share our favorite episodes from Season 1, tell you a bit about season 2, and invite you to join us for the live Q&A on April 20. 

We would love to get your feedback on Season 1: https://forms.gle/SPDv9VzNvbHvriJm6

Learn more about the live Q&A: https://www.thisdance.org/episodes/live-zoom-ama

Please share our website with your friends: thisdance.org

Listen in to our first Live Q&A Episode with your lovely hosts, Haje and Kate!

We were joined by a wonderful audience of listeners on April 20th who helped to open up an intimate conversation about love, living through coronavirus, pain, optimism and more.  It was a fantastic way to kick off Season 2!

In the last episode of Season 1, we are talking to Dr. Alison Ash, who has dedicated her life to relationships, play, and sexuality. We talk about how to break the intensifying loop of being in your head, bringing your attention back to your body,  and much more besides. It’s a beautiful, intimate conversation that we’re beyond excited to share with you!

Dr. Alison Ash is a sex and intimacy coach and educator, a lecturer at Stanford University, author, and founder of TurnON.love. As a sociologist with a Ph.D. from Stanford, Aly has a comprehensive understanding of the complex societal challenges that often lead to unsatisfying and disempowering sexual experiences. Aly designs workshops and retreats and offers individuals and couples coaching to give others the tools to discover their desires and confidently pursue them. She invites you to TurnON pleasure, intimacy and love at TurnON.love

Bob DeRosier is a long-time HAI community member. He wears many hats in this organization, as well as in his life. A workshop team member, a technical wizard, and a friend to many, Bob is the kind of person we all hope to have in our lives.

In this episode, Bob shares about his childhood, his experiences at Stanford, and his experience stepping into the role of step-parent to young teenage boys. It’s real life. It’s real connection.

Bob DeRosier is HAI’s Technology Director and has been a part of the HAI community since the 1980s. He has worked on Team for our workshops since the 1990s and been a long-term volunteer within the organization.

In a beautiful conversation with Danielle Harel, co-founder of the Somatica Institute of Sex and Relationship Coaching, we learn about living life from your “Turn-On”. What makes you excited, tingly and awake? Danielle describes using her “Turn-On” to guide her decision-making processes and explores how to connect with the creative energy that stimulates and enlivens us. We talk about family and immigration, her sex-coach work and more. YUMMY.

Danielle Harel, Ph.D. is the co-founder of the Somatica Institute of Sex and Relationship Coaching. She brings a tenacious dedication to self-realization in all of her teaching and coaching. Danielle has a Ph.D. in Human Sexuality Studies and an M.A. in Social Work. She sees clients in her Sunnyvale office and trains professionals in the Somatica Method – an experiential and body-based method of interpersonal coaching.

In this episode, Kate and Haje talk to Alicia Davon. She’s a teacher of sexuality and intimacy, alongside her husband Erwan Davon (who we interviewed for Episode 4). In this conversation, we get into the contrasts between being a sexual being, a lover, a wife, and a mom - and how to stay present for shifting dynamics and shaking off the social conditioning that goes with all of that.

In particular, we explore how to keep intimacy in a relationship in combination with working together, and how to notice challenges in relationships in real time - as they come up - and how to tackle them as they come along.

Learn more about the work Erwan and Alicia do together at ErwanDavon.com.

Listen in as Kate and Haje indulge in our second, hosts-only conversation of the season. This time, Kate interviews Haje and we learn more about how his mind, highly active and imaginative, has brought him on a somewhat eclectic journey of passion, creativity and self-discovery.

When he's not hosting the HAI podcast, Haje helps startups tell their stories - see haje.me or @Haje on Twitter. 

When Siobhan went through a difficult break-up, she was left with a heavy heart and a difficult challenge: How do you bounce back from heartbreak?

The old saying “you have to love yourself before you love someone else” sprung to mind, and she came to a realization: The one relationship that is going to exist for all of her life, is that with herself. Why not make it official, and marry herself?

So, that’s what she did. In this episode, Haje dives into a wonderful conversation with Siobhan about what being an actor has taught her about being human - and what being human has taught her about connecting with people. They are also getting into how life as a newly-wed - to herself - has impacted her life, and how making a commitment to herself has changed the way she sees relationships, and life itself.

You can learn more about Siobhan at siobhanvoice.com