with Brittany Policastro and Dr. Timaree Schmit
Saturday, October 12 and Sunday October 13
9am – 5pm
Investment: $249 before September 1
$299 after September 1
So often, sex is pushed into the shadows where it’s covered with shame and guilt and so much judgment. So let’s bring the sexual discussion into the light. From our bodies, to our orgasms, to our sexual health, it’s time to start talking. In this unique and powerful collaboration, longtime Studio 34 teacher Brittany Policastro is teaming up with sexologist Dr. Timaree Schmit, PhD, bringing you tools, yoga practices, conversations and education about sex, sexuality and sexual health in a safe and judgment-free environment.
There is so much to unpack around the topic of our own sexual being – so much that tends to get pushed down and repressed. This is an opportunity to come together in a safe, inclusive space to talk openly about your thoughts, feelings and curiosities around sex, body image, wellness and sexual health. Let’s bring the conversation out of the shadows and into the light. Together.
Day 1
9:00 am – Introductions
9:30-11:00am – Body witness yoga practice and meditation with Brittany
11:15-1:00pm – Body Love: Body image – Social Constructionist, Historical, body love and practical advice with Timaree
1:00-2:00pm – Lunch
2:00-3:30pm – Pleasure, Guilt and Needs- Chakras and Sex with Brittany
3:30-4:30pm – Sexercise workout Timaree
4:30-5:00pm – Closing Circle
Day 2
9:00-9:30am – Check in
9:30-11:00am – Sexual Awakening yoga practice and meditation with Brittany
11:15-1:00pm – Sexual Wellness: orgasms, guilt/shame, sexual health, getting away from goal-oriented sexuality with Timaree
1:00-2:00pm – Lunch
2:00-3:00pm – Forgiveness and healing our sexual stories with Brittany
3:00-4:30pm – Pleasure and Fantasy with Timaree
4:30-5:00pm – Closing circle
Course Modules:
Yoga Practices and Meditations
Each morning we will engage in a vigorous yoga practice designed to ground you into your body and awaken the 2nd Chakra energy that ignites sexual awareness and healing. We will be using the yoga practices and the meditations to embody a lot of the information we will discuss.
Body Love
Where do we get our ideas about what bodies “should” look like and do? We get a lot of messages about health and beauty, many of which are rooted in bad information, motivated by greed and used to sustain unequal systems of power. In this section we will examine and break down these messages, search our own relationships with our bodies and apply practical advice for building a better, more sustainable body image.
Pleasure, Guilt and Needs: The relationship between the Chakras and Sex
The Chakras are energy discs or wheels in the body that offer a window of wisdom into our psyche, our personalities and our patterns. The 2nd Chakra specifically is connected to our reproductive organs, pleasure centers, sexuality, the ability to have our needs met, and guilt. Here we will discuss how creating awareness and balance with the Chakras can help to heal and inspire our relationship with our bodies, our sexuality and our partners.
Sexercise and Pelvic Floor Work
Train for the sport you want to play. Not only can sexual activity be a great workout, but working out can lead to better sexual experiences. Strength, flexibility, endurance and power are all facets of physical fitness that can be focused specifically for the bedroom. In this workout we will use conditioning lessons from the fitness world while discussing their direct sexual applications. You’ll never look at squats and planks the same way again.
Sexual Wellness
What does it mean to be sexually healthy? This workshop will not only address issues of pleasure and orgasm, but reframe sexuality in a more sustainable, less goal-oriented way. We will also look at overcoming the guilt and shame that hold us back from experiencing intimacy and pleasure.
Forgiveness and Healing Our Sexual Stories
Often we are made up of all the stories we tell about ourselves, the stories others tell about us and the stories society tells us. Here we will be exploring which stories around our sexuality and sexual history we want to let go of, where forgiveness is needed and how to continue the healing process one loving breath at a time. Artist expression will be part of this process.
Pleasure and Fantasy
It’s important to do things just because we enjoy them, even if it’s not productive, lucrative or useful to others. Explore the power of pleasure and bravely look at what brings pleasure to you. Learn the skills of identifying and communicating what makes us happy, and come up with a battle plan against the obstacles that keep us from accessing enjoyment. Whether it’s a warm bubble bath or an indulgent kinky scene, we’re entitled to pleasure.
Brittany Policastro
Known as a Stevie Wonder-loving, truth-speaking, change-agent who bagged law school to pursue a creative thirst that led to teaching yoga full time, Brittany challenges her students to be brave, wake up and live their purpose. She has been teaching soul-stirring yoga classes for the past 12 years and is the founder and director of Beyond Asana, an online platform for those looking to use their practice to transform their lives. Her technique is influenced by her 300 hours of training in Anusara, practice in Vinyasa, Kundalini, Restorative Yoga, and Osho Dynamic Meditation, work with Off the Mat Into the World, study of the Chakra system, a year of intense self exploration with her shamanic healer, extensive travel, and deep study in India. Brittany has travelled the world to teach yoga to children, build schools and engage in service projects. In 2010, she co-created the Beyond Asana Yoga Teacher Training, which combines asana, sacred activism, personal growth work and global travel. Brittany is a blogger for the Huffington Post, and two of her poems are featured in The Poetry of Yoga: Volume One. She was also featured on the 10! Show for a segment on healthy backs and FYI on channel 6 news. She has appeared in Origin Magazine, Mantra Yoga and Health, Yoga Journal (online), Women You Should Know, and is an ambassador for lululemon.
Dr. Timaree Schmit
Sexologist Timaree Schmit earned a Ph.D. in Human Sexuality Education from Widener University, the culmination of a lifelong search for rational, sex-positive, empirically-based knowledge about sexuality. She now works as an adjunct professor, guest lecturer, writer and consultant. As the founding Chair of HSEDSO, the Human Sexuality Education Student Organization, and founding Laureate Counselor of Gamma Eta Rho, the first national honor society for students of Human Sexuality, Timaree has worked diligently to promote factual, comprehensive sexuality education and to enable other emerging professionals in the field of sexuality to bring useful, helpful and supportive information to the curious world at large. “Sex with Timaree” podcasts cover a range of topics and feature amazing, entertaining guests whose lives and professions touch on sexuality. It was named one of the top sex podcasts by Daily Dot, Buzzfeed and iTunes. Her weekly column, Timaree’s Body, appears in Philadelphia Weekly and Philly Now, and her sexuality advice column runs twice monthly at Philly.com.