What Excites Us!

Lie Back and Think of England with Jess WIldman - ep 73

Have you ever caught yourself saying "I shouldn't want that" or "I should just be grateful"... and wondered where that voice is even coming from? Jess Wildman is a Personal Power Coach who helps women shed the weight of societal expectations so they can live delicious lives full of pleasure and joy. Her work is rooted in a simple but radical idea: that personal power begins the moment you stop outsourcing your own desires. In this episode we get into all of it... shame, sex, body image, self-trust, diet culture, and why "fine" is not good enough for you. Jess brings warmth, zero judgment, and some genuinely great anecdotes to conversations most women aren't having anywhere else. In this episode: * Why every "should" might be a self-betrayal * How diet culture and shame around sex are running the same con * The moment Jess realized she'd completely outsourced herself * Body image, performance anxiety, and why the lights-off thing has to go * Porn, pleasure, and what we're accidentally teaching ourselves * Why "fine" is actually a cry for help * How to start reclaiming your personal power right now Content note: This episode includes an open conversation about disordered eating and diet culture. Please take care of yourself as you listen. Find Jess: Instagram: @personalpowercoach Email: hello@jesswildman.com [hello@jesswildman.com] Visit What Excites Us! and Gwyn: WhatExcitesUs.com [http://whatexcitesus.com]

Stop Editing Yourself with Elize Simon - ep 72

If you've ever edited yourself down to be more lovable, Elize Simon is here to tell you to stop. As a relationship and communication coach and self-described professional permission granter, Elize helps people build love that actually feels good — without hiding who they are to get it. In this conversation with Gwyn, Elize unpacks why so many people enter relationships for the wrong reasons, what real communication looks like when emotions are high, and how her Sacred Goodbyes ritual helps people move through heartbreak with grace instead of getting pummeled by it. She also completely rewires the way you think about flirting. Grab her free dating profile checklist and the Sacred Goodbyes download — both linked below. This episode originally aired as part of the Reclaiming You Summit. Both Elize and Gwyn are firm believers that Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski should be required reading for every human with a body. Elize also quotes the legendary Regena Thomashauer, better known as Mama Gena, whose several books are equally worth your time. Find them all at bookshop.org/shop/whatexcitesus [/shop/whatexcitesus] Find Elize at linktr.ee/elize.simon [http://linktr.ee/elize.simon] and instagram.com/elize.simon [http://instagram.com/elize.simon]. Visit Gwyn at WhatExcitesUs.com [http://WhatExcitesUs.com].

Kink 101 through How to do it Right with Nyxie Noc

Kink isn't what porn taught you or abuse. Here's what it actually is, and how to do it without being garbage about it. Nyxie Noc is a kink educator, sadist, presenter extraordinaire, and one of the most knowledgeable and genuinely thoughtful people out there teaching. In this episode, they break it all the way down - from what kink actually is to what makes someone an ethical dominant, and why agency is the missing piece of every consent conversation you've ever had. They get into partialism and the possibility that certain kinks are literally inborn. The very real and very serious dangers of breath play that pornography consistently gets wrong. Why voyeurism is not an education, the femdom myth and why you should pay a sex worker if that's what you actually want. They discuss what ethical dominance looks like, including why caregiving and sadism are not opposites. The three negotiation questions Nyxie asks that will change how you think about any kink scene. There's a content note: if you're squeamish around intense language, be aware in the middle s afew lines mught stun you a second, but please stay. This one is absolutely worth it. Nyxie Noc / Viridi Lux Consulting: linktr.ee/viridi_lux_consulting Instagram: @viridi_lux_consulting All the other links listed at WhatExcitesUs.com

From Purity Culture to Boudoir Photographer with Wren Morrow

What does your body feel like to you right now... is it yours? If you grew up in purity culture, you know that question hits different. Wren Morrow did grow up in that world, deeply immersed in it, and then in 2016 she chose a completely different story. Now she's an outdoor embodiment photographer in the Pacific Northwest, guiding women through wild places and watching them come back to themselves. Gwyn and Wren talk about the slow unraveling of religious shame (not the confrontational approach... the feminine slipping-out-of-the-knot version), what actually happens to a body when skin meets the outside world without anything in between, and the aligned action that finally makes affirmations land in your nervous system. Plus: blizzards on demand, oracle cards mid-shoot, and why Wren thinks she became a therapist anyway... just with better scenery. Find Wren at wrenmorrow.com [http://wrenmorrow.com] and https://www.instagram.com/_wrenmorrow/ [https://www.instagram.com/_wrenmorrow/] Visit Gwyn at WhatExcitesUs.com [http://WhatExcitesUs.com]

What You Get Wrong About Non-Monogamy with Ellecia Paine

You think jealousy means you're not cut out for non-monogamy. Ellecia Paine is here to tell you that's not quite right. Ellecia is a non-monogamy coach, host of the podcast Nope, We're Not Monogamous, and someone who spent 13 years in a monogamous marriage before deciding... nope. Not doing that again. And she did it knowing she was a jealous person. That's not the punchline. That's the point. We talk about what ethical non-monogamy actually looks like (spoiler: it's not a light switch), how to figure out what you actually want versus what you think you want, why confidence and self-worth are at the root of almost every relationship challenge, and how shame keeps us small, quiet, and deeply unfulfilled. We also get into intimacy, what it actually means, and why masturbation is genuinely great relationship research. This one is for Susan in Kansas who's curious but doesn't know where to start. And also for the rest of us who just want to feel a little more free in how we love. Go find Ellecia at elleciapayne.com [http://elleciapayne.com]  Come find me at whatexcitesus.com [http://whatexcitesus.com] to get on the newsletter so you don't miss what's next. What we cover: * The main styles of ethical non-monogamy and what actually sets them apart * Why jealousy isn't a disqualifier... it's just an emotion that needs tools * How shame was designed to keep us small (and how to start moving through it) * The confidence and self-worth stuff that surfaces the moment you open a relationship * Baby steps for anyone curious about non-monogamy but not sure where to start * Why knowing yourself intimately (yes, that kind of intimately) is the foundation of everything