The Loving Challenger

Yes, this is the last Amory podcast. But...there's something new coming too!

Marty, Kyle and I started this podcast in August of 2019. That was almost 4 years ago. A lot has changed in those four years. I am beyond grateful for what we created here, and for all of you who have connected with us here.

I am completing Amory podcast, but opening up a larger conversation. I'm looking to connect with even more people who are challenging the status quo and breaking out of the normative paradigm of the systems undergoing major change right now.

Stay tuned for The Loving Challenger, and in the meantime, feel free to share any comments, questions, feedback or anything that you've gained from Amory. The new IG handle is @lovingchallenger (main) or @thelovingchallenger (personal).

If YOU are a Loving Challenger and want to join the community, send a DM on IG and I'll share more information. Thanks!

Hello friends! There is going to be SO MUCH to take from this conversation with Shai Fishman and Lea Dawn from Leveled Up Love. They not only share their own personal experience in non-monogamy, they have amazing frameworks to support you in your journey no matter where you are at. They have a holistic team approach to open relationship Thera-coaching and I'm personally so thrilled to be a part of their amazing network!

Watch their FREE WEBINAR - From PolyAgony To PolySecurity

Shai Fishman is the founder of Leveled Up Love, an international CNM/ENM community and education platform. His programs have supported thousands worldwide to thrive, not just survive, in more secure open relationships. He is the creator of live events such as The Open Love Experience and RelateFest. He also developed S.P.A.R.C. a simple step-by-step process, for expressing, examining, and resolving open relationship conflicts faster. Shai struggled through decades of monogamy. After the standard guilt, shame, and stagnation, he had to give open relating a try. But opening up his marriage had its unique challenges and he was far from prepared, so he struggled needlessly! After 13 years, some hard-won lessons, and advice from top experts, he became passionate about sharing all of his knowledge with those who need it. Shai is the creator of The Secure Poly Protocol, a transformative, holistic team approach to open relationship Thera-coaching!

Lea Dawn is an attachment and relationship "thera-coach", international speaker, writer, and workshop facilitator, who specializes in anxious attachment and “poly-anxious” relationship issues. intersections of alternative and open relationships, attachment theory, relational trauma, and complex PTSD. She draws upon her rich 7-year journey through consensual non-monogamy and living in an expanded family to share the robust toolbox she gained throughout her own experience of poly panic. Lea uses her deeply self-studied lenses of parts work (Internal Family Systems or IFS), inner child work, attachment theory, nervous system regulation, neuroscience, Non-Violent Communication (NVC), boundaries work, shamanism, and therapeutic plant medicine to help coaching clients become aware of, explore, and heal their relational wounds and overcome challenging behavioral patterns. She is an advocate of the poly-anxious and HSPs overwhelmed by the challenges of open relating.  Lea’s ultimate mission is to compassionately help people learn the skills they were never taught by parents or schools to create and sustain securely attached, fulfilling, and empowered relationships. She is certified in Neuro-Fit and a graduate of the IFS Circle, Terry Real’s Relational Life Therapy (RLT Level 1), and ISTA Level 1.

www.amorypodcast.com

IG @amorypodcast

Jackie Titus shares her polyamorous journey over the last few years, with the main focus of how she and her 2 partners sought 3-way legal custody of their baby boy. Jackie also shares about her challenging coming out process as both bi-sexual and polyamorous, coming from a religious background that does not support either of these.

I'm sure you'll see why I asked Jackie to share her story...she's a wonderful example of what can happen when you believe something's possible AND take action to make it so! She and her partners are stepping into new legal territory as trailblazers and I'm sure there will be many to follow.

If you want to reach Jackie directly (with questions or as a professional voice coach):

IG: @genuinelyjackied

LA-based Birthing center:

IG: @gracefullbirth

She recommended listening to a previous Amory podcast - here are the additional show notes from that show with Dr. Heath Schechinger. Here's the link to that episode.

If you're looking for support in your poly journey, please reach out on IG @amorypodcast or @thelovingchallenger

Jessica Fern's first book, PolySecure, rocked my world and started me down my path of Self-Love. Her 2nd book, Polywise, authored with David Cooley is just as revolutionary - right in the sweet spot of polyamory and personal growth. I appreciate both Jessica and David's candid honesty regarding their own personal life paths and how they have gained the knowledge they included in the book. What a conversation!

FYI - part of the episode we had to cut because we lost connection with Jessica. In my edits, I accidentally cut out the part where David says how you can find him. Please find him directly at www.resortativerelationship.com

Jessica Fern is a Psychotherapist, Coach, and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. Jessica is the author of Polysecure: Attachment, Trauma, and NonMonomgamy, The Polyseucre Workbook: Healing Your Attachment and Creating Security in Loving Relationships, and Polywise: A Deeper Dive Into Navigating Open Relationships. In her international private practice, Jessica works with individuals, couples, and people in multiple-partner relationships who no longer want to be limited by their reactive patterns, cultural conditioning, insecure attachment styles, and past traumas, helping them to embody new possibilities in life and love. Learn more at JessicaFern.com.  (IG @Jessicafern411)

David Cooley is a professional Restorative Justice facilitator, diversity and privilege awareness trainer, and bilingual cultural broker. He is the creator of the Restorative Relationship Conversations model, a process that transforms interpersonal conflict into deeper connection, intimacy and repair. In his private practice, David specializes in working with non-monogamous and LGBTQ partnerships, incorporating a variety of modalities including trauma-informed care, attachment theory, somatic practices, narrative theory, and mindfulness-based techniques.

⁠www.resortativerelationship.com

Looking for more love in your life? Start with yourself? The next Self-Love Journey starts in January 2024!

As more and more of us share our stories and begin to normalize polyamory, we need people like Heath Schechinger to work systemically to shift policies, laws and societal structures to support the NEW modern family. I was lit up after this conversation with Heath, and share the vision he described at the end of the podcast!

Please take a few minutes to check out some of the advocacy work he is doing, and see if you are called to jump on board any of the initiatives!

Dr. Heath Schechinger is an internationally recognized therapist, researcher, and consultant, known for his groundbreaking work within the realm of family and relationship diversity.

As Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Modern Family Institute, and Founding Co-Chair of the Committee on Consensual Non-monogamy housed in the LGBTQ Division of the American Psychological Association, Dr. Schechinger has dedicated over a decade to studying the dynamics of both monogamous and non-monogamous relationship dynamics.

He is also Co-Founder of the Polyamory Legal Advocacy Coalition and Affiliate Faculty at the renowned Kinsey Institute at Indiana University.

Dr. Schechinger's work serves as a catalyst for both academic discourse and practical support, with his initiatives paving the way for a more nuanced understanding of what constitutes a healthy, fulfilling relationship in contemporary society.

OMG, I LOVED this conversation with Melanie Curtin...and for men who have sex with women, this will be paradigm shifting for you! Ladies - you're also going to be soooooo validated listening to Melanie's sex research findings!

In this podcast you'll hear Melanie share about:

- The important information that women are NOT telling men about sex...and why!

- What women are craving from men (inside and outside the bedroom)

- And...the Heart/C0ck Matrix - what it is and how men can cultivate heart AND power.

Melanie is a sex researcher and men’s coach with a Master’s in Communication from Stanford University.She is a columnist at Inc. magazine, and has been published or seen on TODAY, Huffington Post, Forbes, Business Insider, The New York Observer, and more.She has been coaching men for over six years, and specializes in bringing a woman’s perspective to men, so they can connect and succeed with women in fun, inviting, and meaningful ways that lead to fulfilling sex and relationships.

www.melaniecurtin.com

www.pleaseherinbed.com

spotify podcast - Dear Men: How to Rock Sex, Dating and Relationships with Women

Thanks for listening to Amory Podcast!

www.amorypodcast.com

Self-Love & CNM Relationship Support

In this solo episode, I not only give you a relationship update, but I also go deep into how to use boundaries to create a MORE loving relationship.

If you resonate with this episode and want to work together:

- Schedule a FREE 20 minute consultation call - click here.

- Join the 6 month Self-Love Journey

- Work one-on-one to transform the relationship with yourself and others

- Grab a spot on the Costa Rica Retreat Nov 9th-14th!!

Melissa Stangl is a Founding Partner and COO for Soltara, a healing center in Costa Rica. She is passionate about using her technical, managerial, and problem-solving skills to help bridge the gap between the Western world and the incredible healing potential of plant medicines and holistic health.

"Everything you think you know about kink, throw it out the window!" - Sunny Megatron

I am LOVING the conversation I had with Sunny Megatron, host of American Sex podcast, where we dig deep into the essence of kink. There are many overlaps with open relating as it relates to creating mutual agreements, seeking consent, communicating boundaries, intentionally exploring emotional states, and so much more!

Sunny Megatron is an award-winning Clinical Sexologist, BDSM & Certified Sexuality Educator, and media personality. She’s the host & executive producer of the Showtime original series, Sex with Sunny Megatron, co-hosts AASECT Award-winning American Sex Podcast and Open Deeply Podcast, and was 2021's XBIZ Sexpert of the Year. Currently, she’s the Editor-in-Chief of kink-focused Zipper Magazine.

@sunnymegatrontwitter.com/

sunnymegatroninstagram.com/

sunnymegatronfacebook.com/

sunnymegatronamericansexpodcast.compatreon.com/

americansexdirect.me/

sunnymegatron

http://youtube.com/sunnymegatron

Kyle and I (Megan) share about the transformation of our relationship as Kyle moves to Oregon. Instead of closing our hearts, we are focusing consciously on building more secure attachment practices and new relationship agreements. For anyone in a long-distance relationship, or currently restructuring a relationship, this episode might provide you some context to see your relationship challenges in a new light.

Special Invitation!!! One of our secure attachment practices is to create together...and you are invited into the process! We will be holding a 6 week group program "Secure Attachment Practices in Polyamory" where we build our skill sets and better relationships! Limited to a small number of participants so message [email protected] if you are interested. Starts July 19th.