(Most of these can be found on Lee’s, blog, passionandsoul.com
Kink 101: An Introduction to Creative Sexual Exploration and Play (Monday, Feb. 7, 5:30-6PM)
Bondage, discipline, dominance, submission, sadism and masochism. These words elicit for many people a sense of titillation, or of dread. In this humorous and accessible approach to learning about alternative and sometimes edgy sexual practices, we will be looking at what draws people to this wide array of kinky sex interests, as well as other similar topics such as fetishism, voyeurism, exhibitionism, varies relationship structures, swinging and more. After looking at what kinky sex is and why people get into it, we will have an opportunity to look at the laws around these activities, the variety of types of things people enjoy in spicy bedroom (and out of the bedroom) games, the tools used, and how these things can be and are safe to explore. Bring your sense of humor, your curiosity, and your questions to this opportunity to learn about the wide variety of sexual expression found in BDSM and Kinky Sex.
31 Flavors of Erotic Rope (Tuesday, Feb. 8, 5:30-6PM)
Think that kinky play is too complicated? With a single piece of rope (provided for you, and you get to take it home), learn from Lee Harrington, the author of “Shibari You Can Use: Japanese Rope Bondage and Erotic Macramé” a whole bundle of fun, sensual and kinky things to do with just one rope. From leashes to improvised whips, erotic restraint to playing dress up, gags to blindfolds, rope has so many more possibilities to be used in an erotic scenario. Come learn some new tricks, or learn your first tie!
What Labels Give Us, What Labels Take Away: The Power of Gender and Sexual Identity Labels (Wednesday, Feb. 9, 5-6:30PM)
Before many of us were born, we were given gender labels that set our life course in motion. In this discussion and personally explorative class, we will dive into looking at a variety of questions: What labels have you been gifted, inherited, chosen, been forced into, or run away from? How does your internal identity for yourself affect your outside identity and your interpretation of gender and sexual roles you play or fill? What power do your labels grant you for flirting, community exposure, personal interactions, group dynamics, and more? What do you lose by stating a specific label or expressing it physically at first meeting another individual? How are these labels all formed, and why don’t we just scrap them all? Labels can get us hot, labels can turn us off, labels drive us mad, and labels give us hope for claiming our own sense of self. Let’s challenge ourselves, look deep inside, then examine how it all affects the current communities we each play a part in.
Open Hearts, Open Minds: Exploring “Alternative” Relationship Structures (Thursday, Feb. 10, 6:30-8PM)
Modern romance dictates that a single individual should fulfill all of our needs- from sharing joys and fears, co-parenting and financial commitments to sexual happiness, identity confirmation and spiritual fulfillment. Is this fair? We will look into what relationships give us, then explore a wide variety of relationship structures that are being employed to have people fill all of their needs. Monogamy and serial monogamy are valid options, but what about polyamory, swinging, pre-arranged trysts, friends with benefits, and more? How do we communicate in our relationships to make whatever structure we choose actually work, and of course we’ll plunge into issues like jealousy vs. envy, new relationship energy, and making each of our friends and partners feel like the unique person they are in our lives.
Laughing Our Way to Intimacy: Humor and Sex (Friday, Feb. 11, 5-6PM)
We’ve each had those moments — when the vibrator goes flying or the stereo goes off with just the wrong song, and suddenly sex has turned into hilarity. But looking beyond the accidents that make for funny stories later, how can we incorporate humor and comedy to purposefully add spice, connection, intimacy or variety to our bedroom (and other) erotic adventures? Exploring the different schools of comedy from absurdity and slapstick to satire, black comedy and dry observation, we will see how each can be included in our sexual escapades. Whether you are using humor to try something new, push a boundary, look back on past pain, or simply PLAY — this class is for you.
About Lee Harrington:
Lee Harrington is a passionate spiritual and erotic educator, gender explorer, eclectic artist and published author and editor on human sexuality and spiritual experience. He is a nice guy with a disarmingly down to earth approach to the fact that we are each beautifully complex ecosystems, and we deserve to examine the human experience from that lens. He’s been traveling the globe (from Seattle to Sydney, Berlin to Boston), teaching and talking about sexuality, psychology, faith, desire and more since 1995, and has no intention to stop any time soon. Along the way he has been a brainy academic, a female adult film performer, a world class sexual adventurer, an outspoken philosopher, a long-time sexuality and faith blogger (since 1998), a spirit worker and priest, and an award winning author and artist. Check out the trouble he has been getting into, as well as his many books, audio classes, videos and more over at www.PassionAndSoul.com.
