After 121 episodes and 3 years since launching and producing the Ignite Intimacy Podcast I have chosen to pause the podcast indefinitely. It’s a choice I’ve been avoiding until I realized, it’s ok. Release FOMO, let it go, discover what else is ready for my love and attention. 

  This has been quite a journey with thousands of listeners tuning in week after week and tens of thousands of downloads from all over the world!! I jumped for joy to see listeners from Saudi Arabia, Kenya, New Zealand and Brazil!! Wow!! And, to run into people I’ve known through the years who tell me they’ve been tuning in, that they’re getting something from the content we’ve created and shared, that they’re trying new things with their lovers and partners and that their intimacy IS being ignited!    And, to the people who courageously reached out to disclose their Herpes status for the first time to ME. I honor and SALUTE you!! And, I’ve been deeply touched by your courage.    This is all more than I could have bargained for.    It has truly been my honor to share this journey with all of you.    What’s so cool about this podcast is that it will live on through the 121 episodes we’ve created, so you can continue tuning in, sharing with your friends and discovering intimacy for yourself through these episodes.    Aside from everything I shared on this episode one of the most POTENT realizations that I had is that I AM THE ONE! And I am the SOURCE of my life. I have choice, I have power, I have consciousness and a tool kit filled to the brim with everything I need to continue creating a life and legacy that will uplift and empower through time.    And, so are you, so do you!!    Thank you for showing up, tuning in, sharing, caring, reaching out, trying new things, exploring the edges of your vulnerability and eroticism. I SEE YOU! I HONOR YOU! And I am deeply grateful for you!!!   KEEP GOING!!   I would have not been able to keep Ignite Intimacy going if it weren’t for the support of my team: Lindsay Leclair, who published every episode, David my editor @davidstudio on Fiverr and Amy Greensky who designed the logo. I am deeply grateful for you all!!   Keep listening, stay connected @LauraAiisha @IgniteIntimacy and until we meet again, stay blessed and keep shining!! xox   About Laura Aiisha   I have always been fascinated by the world of relational experiences. Wondering what makes two people come together, break apart, stay single, attract many suitors and long term relationships, or none at all, what makes some venture into the world of polyamory, while others were born into a culture and society where polygamy is common and if not a choice, something they learn to live with.    I had been meditating on these topics for quite some time now when in January 2016 an energy larger than me began pulling me forward to explore all of these topics (and more) in an interactive and audio based conversation I could share with the public. Now we're wrapping up this juicy goodness and moving on to wherever the spirit moves me!   Connect LauraAiisha.com  Listen to Ignite Intimacy on iTunes Spotify YouTube Music - LauraAiisha.Bandcamp.com or @LauraAiisha on Spotify + iTunes Instagram + Facebook: @LauraAiisha @IgniteIntimacy      About Stephanie Carlin:     Stephanie Carlin is an energy expert, artist, and creator of empires. She is on a mission to support women in living an intuitive life. In 2012, Stephanie founded Free Spirits Music. She has supported over 1200 songwriters in shedding self-doubt and discovering their voice. Today, she coaches women who are ready to fall in love with their businesses and their lives. She believes true transformation begins with healing your ancestral line and upgrading your frequency. Her new album "Reclamation: A Collection Of Mantras" is streaming now. Work with her at freespiritsmusic.com/unstoppable   Connect   stephaniecarlin.com freespiritsmusic.com Instagram: instagram.com/stephaniecarlinmusic Facebook: facebook.com/stephaniecarlinmusic Email: [email protected] Stream on Spotify: http://bit.ly/stephaniecarlinmusic Stream on Apple Music: http://bit.ly/stephaniecarlinitunes

 

The path to long term romantic partnerships has been something that’s baffled me through the years.    I’m fascinated hearing stories of how two people come together and ultimately choose each other.    Join coaches, entrepreneurs and speakers, Dorota Stanczyk and Esmond Baring and I as we discover the sometimes awkward and unclear path to romance, intimacy and long term partnership through vulnerability and curiosity on Episode 120 of Ignite Intimacy!!   About Dorota and Esmond: 

Dorota Stanczyk is a visual artist, creative director, documentary filmmaker, speaker and writer. Her passion is to combine fine arts with personal growth. In 2019 Dorota co-founded NYOUDE with the intention to inspire individuals, and couples, to realise that true self-expression, with the willingness to be vulnerable, open and courageous are the keys to a deepening of the connection, the love, and the trust in our relationships. Dorota offers intuitive coaching sessions that focus on unblocking our power to create exactly the reality we choose. 

Connect with Dorota: Website - http://www.dorotastanczyk.com Website - NYOUDE - http://www.nyoude.ventures Instagram: travelarty Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/dorota.art/ Email - [email protected]   Esmond Baring     Esmond is a transformational coach and writer, specializing in bringing greater emotional awareness to men. He supports men, to better learn to feel, articulate, and language, the felt experience of their emotional universes. The results are that men are better able to communicate how they feel to those that they love, to better understand themselves, and to be more understood. Esmond's work invites men to explore, feel, and realize that their vulnerability can be their greatest strength, and ultimately set them free.    Connect with Esmond: Website - http://www.esmondbaring.com Website - NYOUDE - http://www.nyoude.ventures Instagram: esmondbaring Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/esmondcoaching/ Email - [email protected]     * Listen through the end of this episode where Noelle, Scribe of personalized erotica, love stories, and poems will be sharing another one of her pieces with us. For more from Noelle, visit her website at  Museoferotica.carrd.co or connect with her via email at [email protected] *

Wowzas!!! This episode is AWESOME! Terry Real is a fantastic, brilliant and super special human being. His energy and light are so enjoyable, present and powerful.    This conversation is so organic, flowing, fun.. And, I hope this energy transfers to you as you listen.    Terry is sharing some SERIOUS knowledge and wisdom from his 25 years working with families and married couples. We also have a deep conversation about men, toxic masculinity and the patriarchy, dating and communication. He is dishing the goods and I HIGHLY recommend you tune in!   Join us for Episode 119 of Ignite Intimacy!!   About Terry:  

Terry Real is a nationally recognized family therapist, author, and teacher. He is particularly known for his groundbreaking work on men and male psychology as well as his work on gender and couples; he has been in private practice for over twenty-five years. Terry has appeared often as the relationship expert for Good Morning America and ABC News.

*Special Announcement*  Terry has recently reopened his therapy video training series called Relational Life Training for a limited time. Learn practical information for better understanding relationships!  SIGN UP here   Connect:   Website   Resources:   Relational Life Training - Learn practical information for better understanding relationships. Sounds true - Fierce Intimacy Opted piece on Gillette commercial  Gillette commercial Scene on Radio - MEN   * Listen through the end of this episode where Noelle, Scribe of personalized erotica, love stories, and poems will be sharing another one of her pieces with us. For more from Noelle, visit her website at  Museoferotica.carrd.co or connect with her via email at [email protected] *

Erica Force is on a mission to create more sexual freedom and empowerment for the world.    I’m sure glad she exists!    Her Instagram feed (see link below her bio) is filled with short and sweet messages of self love, empowerment and sexual freedom.  Join Erica and I as we have an in-depth conversation about cuckolding, sexual freedom, empowered sexuality and birth control on Episode 118 of Ignite Intimacy!! About Erica Erica Force is a woman who believes in the power of knowing & loving yourself. Studying under Dr. Melissa Jones of Sexology Institute in Texas, Erica quickly jumped into getting certified with Sex Coach U under Dr. Patti Britton & Dr. Susan Kaye founder of Institute For Mind Body Therapy.  Erica’s sexuality has evolved in numerous directions over the years, as she’s found a passion for female/male bisexuality in heterosexual relationships and alternative relationship lifestyles such as polyamory, BDSM, and Kink. Connect: Instagram - @sexuallectual  Website

Miki Agrawal is someone I’ve had my eyes on for a while. She is a bold, brilliant and powerful woman.  And she’s a twin!! She and her sistar, Radha, launched the innovative period underwear brand ‘Thinx’ turning a multi billion dollar industry on its head.  I’ve been both intrigued and inspired by her journey and I’m super excited that we synced up for this conversation today.  Join Mom, Disrupt-Her author, social entrepreneur and all around Goddess Powerhouse, Miki Agrawal and I as we go in on innovating from products to your love life, disrupting mega industries with new concepts and movements, keeping your butt clean, embracing our vulnerability, twins, motherhood and creating a foundation from which long-term romantic relationships can and grow and thrive on Episode 117 of Ignite Intimacy!   About Miki  

Miki Agrawal is a serial social entrepreneur. Recently named Fast Company’s Most Creative People in 2018, she is the founder of the acclaimed farm-to-table, alternative pizza concept called WILD, co-founded THINX, a high-tech, period-proof underwear brand, co-founded Icon, a high-tech pee-proof underwear brand that helps women manage light bladder leakage and most recently founded TUSHY, a company that is revolutionizing the American toilet category with a modern, affordable, designer bidet attachment that both upgrades human health & hygiene as well as the environment from wasteful toilet paper consumption. 

She and her team are also helping fight the global sanitation crisis by bringing clean latrines to underserved communities in India through their partnership with Samagra. Harper Collins published her first book entitled "DO COOL SH*T" on entrepreneurship and lifestyle design and Hay House is publishing her second book “Disrupt-Her” out in bookstores NOW! 

Connect

WebsiteTUSHYDisruptHer@mikiagrawal @hellotushy 

I was in my favorite mezcaleria in San Miguel de Allende recently when my friend said, ‘You need to meet my friend, Lauren. She wrote a book about Sex and love and your podcast is about sex and love. You two should do something together!’  And, the rest is herstory ;) Lauren and I hit it off immediately. When she told me she wrote a book about the lovers she had soon after arriving in this gorgeous central Mexican town after breaking up with her former partner of 10+ years I was hooked. I had to learn more about this gorgeous, bold and brilliant woman and her stories of sex and love here in San Miguel! Join author, lover and soul adventurer, Lauren Leonardi and I as we share about the journey of love, letting go, waking up to the loss of desires unfulfilled, the path to self love and choosing our sexual liberation in the face of it all on Episode 116 of Ignite Intimacy!!

About Lauren

Lauren Leonardi is a native New Yorker and writer, living between central Mexico and south Florida. 

After years of corporate ladder-climbing, Lauren turned away from that world to pursue a life in the arts, and indeed to make her own life her medium. She’s earned her bread and butter as a freelance writer for the better part of the last decade while moonlighting as a taxi driver, shop girl, waitress, consultant; and as a caretaker for animals, children, and the elderly. 

She suffered for years from debilitating depression, addiction, and unresolved trauma, and ultimately found peace through spiritual practice, deep authentic connection, alive partnership, and lots of lots of great sex. 

Lauren is shopping her book, Just Say Me, which chronicles exactly one year to the day after the end of a long term relationship. Each chapter is devoted to one lover in that first year. The book is about the devastating grief of leaving someone you still love, and the powerful medicine sex can be in the healing of a broken heart. 

Connect:

Instagram: @fairtradetravelista

I learned about Lora Haddock after attending the CES trade show in Las Vegas this past January. Lora is part of a movement of brilliant, bold and creative women launching business in the Sex Tech and sex toy space with a focus on woman’s pleasure, gender equity and entrepreneurship.    When I heard that Lora’s company ‘Laura DiCarlo’ was awarded a CES Robotics Innovation Award which was then rescinded because the product was deemed immoral, obscene, indecent and/or profane, plus she was not allowed to exhibit on the floor during CES I knew we had to dive into this on Ignite Intimacy. The product itself supports people with Vaginas to have blended orgasms. Nothing obscene about that from my viewpoint!    So please join entrepreneur, trailblazer and innovator, Lora Haddock and I as we explore the world of sex tech, female entrepreneurs, gender equity, blended orgasms and pleasure on Episode 115 of Ignite Intimacy!!!   About Laura     Lora Haddock has over a decade of experience in healthcare, and after an honorable discharge from the US Navy she enrolled in a pre-med program. As a self-described “anatomy geek”, Lora became fascinated with the psychological, physiological, and anatomical aspects of the female orgasm. She left med school to design functional product specifications determined to produce the perfect orgasm, drawing on years of research and anatomical data she had gathered from hundreds of women. She founded Lora DiCarlo in 2017 and began her journey towards launching new physiologically appropriate women’s health and wellness products.   Connect with Lora: Website Instagram Twitter   **Listen through the end of this episode where Noelle, Scribe of personalized erotica, love stories, and poems will be sharing another one of her pieces with us. For more from Noelle, visit her website at  Museoferotica.carrd.co or connect with her via email at [email protected] **

I was introduced to Dakota Chanel through Damiana Rahshelle after a serendipitous meeting in Los Angeles. Dakota is deeply connected to the sacred waters of our planet and those of our inner bodies.  Dakota has been on a journey of healing sexual wounding, spending time in celibacy, and now embracing a deeply sensual partnership with herself and her life partner as she journey’s into full self and erotic expression.  Join Water Priestess, Mystic and Writer, Dakota Chanel and I as we dive deep into the oceans of our inner waters, the sacredness of water and human fluids, the flow of our sexuality and consciousness and our connection to all that ebbs and flows on Episode 114 of Ignite Intimacy!

About Dakota

Dakota Chanel is an Ordained Water Priestess, Mystic, and Writer. She knows in every cell of her being that we are the children of the most beautiful love story in the universe. She guides woman into their own gnosis through 1:1 mentorship journeys, group programs & retreats. Dakota lives heaven on earth, barefoot in dresses, being a mermaid, and celebrating the magic of life with her beloved on the island of Maui.

Connect with Dakota Website Instagram Facebook   Resources: The hidden message of water by Dr. Masaru Emoto     *Listen through the end of this episode where Noelle, Scribe of personalized erotica, love stories, and poems will be sharing another one of her pieces with us. For more from Noelle, visit her website at  Museoferotica.carrd.co or connect with her via email at [email protected] *

I’ll always remember when I was broken to the core, at the very beginning of a long healing journey to mend a shattered heart and soul, and my twin sis and I got into a massive fight outside of her little home in Haiku, Maui. She said, ‘You have to love yourself, Laura!’    I had no idea what she meant. I couldn’t even place it… there was nothing to compare it to or balance it off of. I had no idea what she was talking about.    Self Love.   13 years ago I began the journey. One foot in front of the other.   And, although this episode is not about the specifics of what brought me to my knees and thus home to myself, it is about a self care practice that I’ve generated over the last few years that was completely foreign to me and has supported me on a daily basis to get connected to gratitude, my body and the magic within each day.   So join me, your hostess with the mostess, Ms. Laura Aiisha, as I share my morning self care routine, which alleviates anxiety, grounds me in my body, generates gratitude and elevates my energy and cells for an activated juicy day… everyday on Episode 113 of Ignite Intimacy!   About Me:     In 2006, after a career on the business side of music, television and film, I began supporting small businesses internationally with new business development consulting. My twin sistar, Sarah Haykel and I, were featured speakers for TedxBuffaloWomen in 2013, and in 2014/15 I released 7 original songs that I’ve been performing nationwide. During the Summer of 2016 I launched the ‘Ignite Intimacy’ podcast, which focuses on intimacy, romantic relationships and sexuality. And, in 2017 I co-founded a project called 'Inclusive Conversations' bringing women of color and white women together to discuss the issues that separate us. I’m a Mom to a 21-year young daughter, West African dancer, cookie baker, music lover and world traveler currently nomading between the US and Mexico while working remotely!   Contact:   Email Website Facebook Instagram

Craig Cullinane has been on a powerful journey of healing shame in his own life while also providing access to that healing for students of the New Body Electric School. This episode flowed so beautifully and is filled with discovery, connection and bravery.  Craig and I offer a simple yet powerful exercise for each of us to tap into our own pleasure and our own self care at the end of the episode. So tune in and take it all in for a journey into healing body shame, erotic shame, the power of prioritizing pleasure, self love practices and worthiness on Episode 112 of Ignite Intimacy! About Craig

  Craig Cullinane is a Faculty member and the Managing Director of the New Body Electric School, the mission of which is to offer expertly guided educational experiences grounded in the erotic and its integration with the sacred, to foster transformative personal and communal healing. Craig is a social justice and diversity educator, having received his Master's degree in Intercultural Management from the SIT Graduate Institute.   Connect:   The New Body Electric School     **Listen through the end of this episode where Noelle, Scribe of personalized erotica, love stories, and poems will be sharing another one of her pieces with us. For more from Noelle, visit her website at Museoferotica.carrd.co or connect with her via email at [email protected]**