We’re excited to share this interview with Devon and Aaron Evans. Devon is a sex-positive life coach and host of the F*ck Like a Woman podcast, which we recently appeared on. Devon and Aaron have been married for 10 years, and we love the intentionality they bring to their marriage. In this episode, they share so many valuable lessons with their story in a fun, honest way. We cover A LOT in this conversation, so if you’re married (or just interested in marriage) you will certainly find something relevant in this episode.

Topics Covered:

Overcoming challenges in early marriage, including guilt, shame and resentment

Managing “Oh Shit” moments in marriage

Moving through different seasons of a relationship, including separation

Valuing individuality within the relationship and healing from codependency   

How to have healthy dialogue that doesn’t blame the other partner

Identifying Good Sex vs Bad Sex

The harmful effects of religious shame on sexual desire

The challenges of vulnerability and putting your story out into the world

Sex education and open communication with children

Moving beyond certainty and embracing mystery within marriage

Resources:

Our Interview on the F*ck Like a Woman Podcast

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In this episode, we attempt to define shame and talk about our early experience of sexual shame in the context of religion. This is a meaty topic so hang in there - we give it our best! We were inspired to talk about this after our recent interviewed with our friend Devon on her podcast, F*ck Like a Woman. 

Topics Covered:

- Defining shame and guilt, and distinguishing between the two- The indicators of shame: secrecy, silence and judgement- The antidote to shame: connection and compassion- How we experienced sexual shame in the context of religion- Owning our shame and modeling appropriate behavior for our children

Resources:

Our Interview on the F*ck Like a Woman PodcastBrené Brown

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Travel can be hard on a marriage, especially after a major event like infidelity. In this episode, we talk about how we learned to successfully manage work-related travel after an affair. And we only say the word "travel" 7,000 times!

Topics Covered:

- Why travel can be so hard on relationships, especially when it's work-related- How we learned to accept travel and even make it a healthy experience for our marriage- Discussing individual needs related to travel experiences- How to reconnect after extended travel apart- How we learned to appreciate time apart in our relationship

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Thank you for joining us for this interview with Rosie Rees! Rosie is the founder of Women’s Nude Yoga and creator of Yoni Pleasure Palace, a leading online boutique selling crystal sex toys. Her message of radical self-acceptance challenges societal norms and is leading the way in normalizing nudity and female sexual pleasure.

This candid conversation explores the emotional, spiritual, and physical aspects of nakedness, as well as sexuality, desire, and life purpose. We talk about it all! 

Topics covered:

- Rosie’s personal journey from the corporate world to the job of her dreams - The powerful question that changed Rosie’s life - What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?- Protecting your dreams from the opinions of others - Navigating different beliefs and viewpoints from friends and family - The link between naked experiences and a healthy, active sex life - Body acceptance and choosing a mindset of abundance- Exploring sexual orientation and identity with openness and curiosity- Moving into your life purpose one step at a time

Resources:

RosieRees.com

YoniPleasurePalace.com

Esther Perel’s TED Talk - Rethinking infidelity ... a talk for anyone who has ever loved 

Book - Big Magic, by Elizabeth Gilbert

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We're so excited to share this interview with one of our favorite authors, Laura Pritchett. We were first drawn to Laura's work when we read her popular article in The New York Times, “No Sound, No Fury, No Marriage”.

We share a very candid conversation with Laura where we talk about bringing mindfulness into marriage, relationships, and death; and we talk about approaching life with a mindset of nakedness.

Laura is an award-winning author based in Colorado, and her novels include Sky Bridge, Stars Go Blue, Red Lightning, and The Blue Hour. Laura also has two nonfiction books, Great Colorado Bear Stories and Making Friends with Death, and she has a variety of articles that have appeared in The New York Times, O Magazine, Salon, High Country News, The Sun, and many others. Laura has also been recognized by several organizations for environmental stewardship. 

Topics covered:

- Laura's personal and professional journey as a full-time writer- How to address marital conflict with mindfulness - How conflict and tension can bring a couple closer together- Changing perspectives on marriage and longterm committed relationships- Moving beyond the fear of death, and how to plan for death in a mindful way- Living life from a posture of emotional, spiritual, and physical nakedness- How to reframe personal pain and relational conflict in order to use it for our growth

Resources:

Laura's Website

“No Sound, No Fury, No Marriage”

Making Friends with Death

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Thank you for joining us for this special interview with Janette Gyesky and Morgan Miller of the Bend Birth Center. Listen as Janette and Morgan share their passion for providing midwifery care and candidly talk about the joys and challenges of life as a midwife. We also share our home birth experience with the Bend Birth Center. 

Topics covered:

- Janette and Morgan's personal journeys to the profession of midwifery- Janette's challenges in opening the Bend Birth Center in 2007- The daily life of a midwife and what it's like to be on call- How cultural attitudes and assumptions impact our understanding of the birth process- The benefits of midwifery care and the importance of personal choice and available birth care options- Our positive experiences with midwifery care, home birth, and hospital care - Advice for mothers and couples exploring birth care options

Resources:

Bend Birth Center

The Bend Birth Center offers licensed midwifery care for the Central Oregon area, providing one-on-one prenatal, birth, postpartum and well-baby care in a loving and respectful environment.

Thanks for listening!

Join us for the last episode from the closet! We’re signing out from the closet one last time as we prepare to move into our new house. A perfect time to talk about doing scary things - together.

We believe scary things can be a catalyst for positive change when we approach them in the right way. Join us as we talk about the value of being scared, and we share three experiences from our own life - disclosing infidelity, going public with our story, and getting naked!

Topics covered:

- The importance of communication and planning before diving into something scary- The difference between a healthy and unhealthy approach when moving into new situations- Asking an important clarifying question, "Why are we doing this?"

We share three scary experiences from our own life and ask three important questions about each - Why were we scared?What did we learn from the experience?What was revealed in us after the experience?

Thanks for listening!

We believe relationships aren’t meant to be easy; they’re meant to make us better people.

In this year-end episode, we provide a perspective on marriage and relationships that we hope is helpful as you look back over the year and plan for the year ahead. We want to reframe the conversation around relational conflict and tension. We believe “crunchy” parts of relationship are designed to move us into the best version of ourselves as long as we’re willing to see it that way. We talk about a recent example from our marriage and provide some helpful tools for using in your relationship.

Topics covered:

- How to reframe the conversation around relational conflict and tension - is this moving us forward and making us better people?- Seeing past the social media highlight reels- Helpful discussion starters for your own relationship- Keeping your marriage fun and your connection alive while working through difficult situations

Resources & Quote Shared:

“If either partner’s style dominates the relationship, you both lose because you stop growing. . . . Poorly differentiated people mistake the absence of open conflict to mean that everything is okay.”     –David Schnarch, Passionate Marriage

NYT Article by Laura Pritchett - No Sound, No Fury, No Marriage

Thanks for listening!

We are so honored to interview Jade Beall on this episode of the Show Up Naked podcast. Jade is a world-renown photographer and her images of raw human beauty have reached millions with global attention from media outlets including the BBC, The Huffington Post and beyond.

Listen as Jade shares her journey of redefining human beauty and inspiring women to love themselves just as they are. This interview follows our own photoshoot with Jade and we share our experience being photographed by her!

Topics Covered:

- Jade’s untraditional journey as a self-supported artist to reaching millions of people with her photographs- How women have experienced transformation through Jade’s work- Jade's friendship with Jes Baker (@themilitantbaker) in the early stages of the body positive movement- Jade’s unapologetic and counter-cultural approach to beauty regardless of a person's age, size or ethnicity - The power of owning our stories and sharing them- Using vulnerability as a catalyst for growth- Reconciling healthy, non-sexual nakedness, and sexual desire

Quote Shared:

"A nude person cannot project an identity through fashion or acquired symbols of status. He or she can only be taken in their purest, undiluted form: as human."      – Susannah Martin

Resources:

Jade's Website - jadebeall.com

Instagram - @jadebeallphotography

Cobalt Studios PDX

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Welcome to ANOTHER episode of the Show Up Naked podcast! In this episode, we talk about one of the most important but scary topics - CHANGE. We believe change can be a catalyst for growth in marriage and relationships. It can be messy and hard, but the lessons are invaluable. 

Learn how we processed change through the most difficult challenge in our relationship - Infidelity.

Topics Covered:

- Our two beliefs about change: 1) It's OK to change. 2) We can love and maintain relationship through change.

- How to approach change honestly: Change is scary but it also holds exciting opportunity- How to use change as a catalyst for growth in marriage and relationships- Holding space for both individual change and relationship change- How we worked through our most messy change - Infidelity

Quotes Shared:

"Nobody wants to do it - not real change, not soul change, not the painful molecular change required to truly become who you need to be. Nobody ever does real transformation for fun, nobody ever does it on dare. You do it only when your back is so far against the wall that you have no choice anymore."      – Elizabeth Gilbert  

“The willingness to show up [naked] changes us. It makes us a little braver each time.”- Brené Brown*We may have added that part.

Thanks for listening!