Love on the Air - Podcast of The Whole Parent

There’s a lot to be said about the benefits of journaling. For me, writing crystallizes the thoughts in my head. I generate structures, ideas, frameworks, for holding many different aspects of my life. Poems. Songs. Short-short stories. This blog. I write. It’s what I do. And it helps me process all that is going on around me, even in the moment, when I’m not writing it all down.

Read the entire post here: Capturing Love

Check out all the episodes of Love on the Air.

Let’s say there’s a partner you’ve had your eyes on for some years. There appears to be mutual interest. Coffee dates are accepted with grace and laughter. The “dates’ go well. And then… nothing. You take this as a sign and move along. Still thinking about this person, but willing to take their scheduling issues as a sign. And then they’re back in your life, for your own reasons, and you’re single and you offer another coffee date. The ask is accepted with the same enthusiasm and glee as before, and there’s a promise to “get on my calendar and find the time.”

READ THE EPISODE HERE: Slow Road

Have you ever met someone and felt the immediate electrical shock of sexual chemistry? It is sort of the panacea most of us are seeking when we approach our next lover/relationship/partner. Maybe not everyone is into sex, but… Well, I’ll leave it at that. When the sexual chemistry is on, I know immediately that I am in trouble. I need to take sexual intelligence into consideration and not just sexual chemistry.

You can read this entire podcast here on The Whole Parent.

Thanks,

John McElhenney

In my conversation with Krysta Rosina, I am delighted to learn about her sex-positive approach to life and living. From an ecstatic tantric experience several years ago, she redirected her life's work. In this conversation, we explore her first massive tantric event. Wow. I was a little envious. And we quickly moved on to stories of love, intimacy, and looking for the one. 

"I was really focused on finding the perfect partner," she says about herself, pre-awakening. "I chased desire, but those relationships didn't last very long. I knew there was something more."

She has put the last several years into that journey of discovery. And in this conversation, we will talk about her work as a sex-positive practitioner. What does that even mean? And what is sex-positive? Why are these younger women getting so jazzed up about breaking down the stigma surrounding sex in our modern culture? 

The conversation ran long, and I talked too much, but it was energizing and delightful. We end in a quick check-in and meditation. A momentary namasté for all of us, along our own journeys to discover our true inner bliss.

You can find Krysta's work on her website: krystatantric

A goddess for sure.

Stay loving. Be more loving to each other. And most importantly, be extra loving to yourself. We're all healing in these tough times. Keep going. Bliss is within your body and within your reach. 

Namasté,

John McElhenney – life coach austin texas

When we are mood challenged, we’ve got to assemble our care team with care and focus. You need professionals on your team. A talky doctor, a meds doctor, and others, who can guide and support you through the challenging journey ahead. If you know you’re moody, maybe begin to observe what things take you higher and what things bum you out. Do more of the good stuff and less of the bad stuff.

To my friends and lovers who have suggested my antidepressants are unhealthy or masking my real feelings… Um, yes, I love you, but you have no idea what you’re talking about. Let’s establish some healthy boundaries right upfront. The Al-Anon program will give you a great system for staying focused on your own issues and not the issues of another person.

I alone am responsible for how I navigate each day of my life. My care team comes into play when I have questions or need a fresh perspective on what I’m struggling with. Make sure you’ve got people around you that you can contact when you need them.

Read the full article here: Finding Balance

Each one of us wants to feel loved. We seek a partner. We navigate dating introductions to hopefully find someone to share our lives with. We commit to a relationship and try to make it work. We fail. And we find the courage and energy to start over.

We all want to be loved. We seek love. We find someone to love. Then what happens next?

Being in a loving relationship is a continuous process of micro-corrections in our everyday lives together. We will all have difficulties and disagreements, the trick is how we choose to address them as a couple. In a healthy and consciously aware relationship, we can make choices that move us towards our partner.

read it all at The Whole Parent

Here’s the thing we all want to talk about. Or, we don’t want to talk about. But, we need to talk about. There is a lot we don’t know about sex.

My sex. Your sex. Sex with another person. Sex other than hetero-ciz white male sex. That’s my DNA, I can’t change it. I’m willing to learn. I’m willing to discover our sexual preferences. I’m even open to exploring my outside edge when it comes to sexual turn-ons and turn-offs. What I don’t know about, I won’t assume I don’t like. “Let’s find out together.”

Read the entire article here: Sexual Fulfillment

I learned to be happy in spite of the divorce. I found a way to embrace myself and my joy within the darkness and aloneness that tried to overwhelm me after the divorce. I lost my kids and I knew I’d have to reemerge as a happy and healthy dad, so they could learn from my example. I am showing my kids how to live. I am giving them examples, even now, nine years after the divorce, of how to form healthy relationships. And I am attempting to keep sharing my happiness and hopefulness with them.

I wish I could’ve had more time with my kids. I wish my then-wife had agreed to 50/50 shared parenting. I wish my ex-wife would be a more collaborative parent. But even as I wish about these things, even as I can feel regret about the lost time, I am HAPPIER NOW THAN I HAVE EVER BEEN IN MY LIFE.

Read the entire post here: Next-Level Parenting

I’d like to imagine that I get better and better at sex over time. Of course, my aging body may have a slightly different course, but, at the moment, we’re all on the up and up. No little blue helper is needed at this point. Still, sex is different. Deeper, richer, and less concentrated on the orgasm. But this didn’t happen overnight. This happened as an evolution. I listened to my partners, I read books about sexual intelligence, I tuned in to my own body and tried to decipher its hidden messages. Here’s what I learned: I’m evolving.

Just like any other physical activity (yoga, running, swimming, tennis) sex gets better the more you practice. Sometimes it’s good to practice by yourself, to understand your own mechanics and proclivities. In a relationship, it’s good to tune into the rhythms of your sexual desires, understanding that sometimes they will not be in sync, but when they are… Watch out.

Monogamy offers the opportunity to practice and meditate and discuss sex for an extended period of time. Over time, I can learn ways to get us both off. Over time, I can discover ways to get you off that leave me completely fulfilled as well. Over time, I can set both our bodies on fire with a few words of poetry and a gentle brush of my fingers across the back of your neck. Over time, I’m going to find the places that drive you mad. I promise not to overuse them. And I promise to keep exploring, seeking, new erogenous zones, ones that neither of us has ever uncovered.

You can read the entire article on The New Language of Sex from The Whole Parent.

In the past, I had a partner who had a hard time deciding where she wanted to eat. I’d say something like, “Well, can we start with what kind of food you want to get?”

“Um, I don’t really care.”

“All right, how about breakfast tacos?”

“No.”

“TexMex?

“No.”

“Okay, how about Italian or Thai?”

“I don’t know.”

STOP.

Okay, this is a simplified example. But here is what I’ve learned about myself (that I am attempting to understand better in this post) in this example.

I Want To Know Your Decision, Your Wishes, What YOU Want

I'll see you on the whole parent. Here is the text of this episode.  Pausing In the Gap on The Whole Parent.