(an excerpt from the upcoming book, Journey to the Ecstatic Self) My husband and I were traveling in Germany and wanted to experience some local culture. There, nudity is a social pastime—the Germans enjoy getting naked at beaches, in the woods, and at government-run bathing complexes. We were advised to patron one of Munich’s state-sponsored bathhouses—and when we arrived, we …
Ah — happiness! That elusive, golden ring that so many of us seek. Day in and day out, we strive for the perfect circumstances that will finally make us feel those blissful few seconds of radiant joy. Happiness! And nearly as suddenly as it arrives — it fades away. We are back in the murky existence of everyday living. We gradually return to seeking …
What was originally called The Discomfortable Person’s Guide to Self-Acceptance is now out of my hands. It has transformed into Journey to the Ecstatic Self—and is at the mercy of an editor, designer, and typesetter. It is getting dressed for its debutant ball—all gussied and bedazzled and tiara-ed. Soon it will be an entity unto itself—my job in creating it is complete. Sure, …
We’ve all had it happen. We are at a social event, we strike up a conversation with someone dynamic, and—before long—we notice ourselves feeling tingles of attraction. The trouble is, this person is outside the bounds of who we normally feel chemistry with. Perhaps they’re a different gender—or an atypical presentation of the gender with whom we ordinarily connect. Maybe …
Being queer is an inherently spiritual experience. I hear so many people claim that being non-heteronormative is sinful or disqualifies you from being a yogi/tantric practitioner. There is a tremendous bias to view opposite-sex pairing as being more holy or sacred then same-sex. This viewpoint is limited and flat-out wrong. Being born queer is an incredibly powerful spiritual attunement. Why? …