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Tentative Schedule

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Friday April 22

7:00pm - 11:00pm

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Super Cuddly

With Reid Mihalko

A Cuddle Party is: A structured, safe workshop on boundaries, communication, intimacy and affection. A drug and alcohol-free way to meet fascinating people in a relaxing environment. A laboratory where you can experiment with what makes you feel safe and feel good.

This playful, fun workshop has been a place for people to rediscover non-sexual touch and affection, a space to reframe assumptions about men and women, and a great networking event to meet new friends, roommates, business partners and significant others. (Doors Close at 7:30pm - NO ADMITTANCE after 7:30)

Cuddle Party is $20 ($12 for seminar attendees)

Location: Host Hotel

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Saturday April 23

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7:30am- 9:00am - Seminar Registration/Check in

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8:30am – 9:15am Announcements/Questions and Answers with Polyamory Experts Panel

Meet the presenters and find out what the day has in store for you.

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Presenters Page-Bios

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9:30am – 11:00 am Session 1 (1.5/hours)

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Relationships Choices Polyamory 101

Robyn Trask and Jesus Garcia

Polyamory 101 is a class exploring polyamorous (multi-partner) relationships as well as other choices.  Practical tips to help these alternatives to monogamy work.  We will cover different choices in relationships and styles of polyamory, terms and definitions, and the kinds of issues and challenges one might encounter including safer sex discussions. We will explore how to deal with conflicts and the needed skills to make these alternative relationships work. This class is meant as an introduction and guideline for those interested in learning more and looking to explore alternatives to traditional monogamy.

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Every Day Intimacy

Suzann Robins

Interconnectedness is a key to good health and lasting relationships. How do we achieve this in healthy and balanced ways? Pleasure, desire, passion, and longing are experienced in our bodies as well as concepts of the mind. Everyone wants a satisfying “sex life” but what does this actually mean?  In order to be truly healthy, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects need to be considered through the ISIS (Integrating Spirituality Into Sexuality) connection. (Dr.Gina Ogden, Heart and Soul of Sex).   This presentation will demonstrate the power of the mind to regulate conscious and unconscious thoughts in a variety of both sexual and non-sexual relationships. Participants will be introduced to two qigong exercises using color visualization, which will demonstrate an internal experience of their energy flow through the aura, meridians and charkas centers.   We will address aspects of pleasure and joy. The concept of kundalini energy, and the importance of awareness of the breath, will be introduced as it relates to the union of mind/body/spirit.

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Healing Sexual Shame By Asking For What You Want

Reid Mihalko of ReidAboutSex.com

Have you ever been too ashamed to ask for something you wanted? Can you remember a time in your life when you felt embarrassed or shameful for something that felt good? For many of us, feelings of shame (or trying to avoid them) keep us from asking for and experiencing things that we want, and we feel powerless to change things. The great news is you don’t have to let shame stop you anymore and don’t need to be “shameless” to get what you want in your relationships. Join sex and relationship expert Reid Mihalko from ReidAboutSex.com for this 90-minute, experiential workshop, you will learn: • The emotional tools and approaches Reid uses to deal with his own sexual shame • How to “track” your shame and have it lead you to breakthroughs in your relationships • Communication tools and strategies to have you asking for what you want in your love life, the bedroom and beyond!   This is a clothes-on, participation-optional workshop. Group exercises are not mandatory. Voyeurism is participation! And you are free to change your mind at any time. Exercises will include practicing asking for what we want sexually and witnessing it together as a catalyst for accessing our shame and working through it through by revealing it.

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11:15am – 12:45pm Session 2 (1.5/hours)

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What Does Polyamory Look Like?

Mim Chapman, PhD

What is your poly relationship dream, and what does it look like in action? A wide variety of models for loving and living are emerging within the poly community. This interactive workshop will give you the opportunity to look at some of them and explore what best matches your fantasies, desires, and needs. It will propose a vocabulary to describe these varied forms of poly lifestyles, both to ourselves and to our potential partner(s). There can be as much difference between two models of poly living as there is between poly and mono!  Come share what YOUR poly family or your poly dream looks like, and explore some of the ways folks have developed what one poly leader calls “Poly Designer Relationships.”

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Love, Sex, Intimacy and Compassionate Communication… An Experiential Workshop.

Paul Sterling - freerelationshipreport.com

When your communication is great… so is your relationship, it’s full of love, intimacy and understanding. When communication falls apart– so does your relationship.  Little things become huge issues, lovers become guarded, defensive, jealous, reactive, hurt and angry. Problems get swept under the rug and everyone ends up walking on egg shells – feeling lonely, frustrated and confused. Sound familiar?

You will learn –

• Better ways to communicate – To be more open, honest and compassionate communication with your lover(s). And... where everyone gets to feel HEARD, UNDERSTOOD and VALUED!  -  the 6 key points of communication
• A simple way to listen to your lover(s) so that they really want to open up and talk to you… FEARLESS, LOVING LISTENING
• A method to talk to your lover(s) so that they want to listen and understand… COURAGEOUS, COMPASSIONATE COMMUNICATION...

Develop skills to talk about important and emotions issues without people getting defensive, shutting down and going into reaction (and, if they do, you will know the 4 step method to handle it.) Healthy communication means less stress, drama, upsets and misunderstandings in your relationship(s).  BRING: your lover(s), your biggest relationship challenges, an open mind and a strong desire to create new future for yourself and your relationship.  In this workshop I will mix experiential exercises, role playing, communication skills practice and live demos…, this workshop is partially based on the principles of Nonviolent Communication

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Dance, Touch, Play:  Contact Improvisation in Relationship

Victor and Elena

Contact Improvisation is a dance about relationship.  Through this practice we can understand more fully the ways in which we meet each other physically and intimately.  In this workshop we will explore play, touch & dance/movement with the intention of broadening our touch vocabulary, deepening intimacy and finding more joy with our partners. We will teach some of the basics of Contact Improvisation so that you get some grounding and confidence in the form.  We will also touch upon some of the relationship metaphors inherent in the dance.  Then we will open it up for an open, delightful jam! The workshop is open to beginners who have never experienced Contact Improvisation and to people already familiar with the form.

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12:45pm – 2:15 pm Lunch Break

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2:15pm – 3:45pm Session 3 (1.5/hours)

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Battling the Eight-Armed Octopus of Jealousy!

Reid Mihalko - Reidaboutsex.com

When it comes to jealousy, many of us are left feeling like superstitious sailors who whisper of an almighty leviathan that will inevitably come for us. And when the Green-Eyed Monster rises from our emotional depths, we usually find ourselves powerless to stop it’s many arms from tearing our relationship-world apart. Join sex and relationship educator Reid Mihalko for an informative and humorous class designed to help you tackle the ugly, eight-tentacled octopus of jealousy! In this class, you will: • Learn how to distinguish Envy, Possessiveness, Anger, Depression, and Jealousy’s four other arms.

• Gain valuable tools for dealing with each arm, especially when it’s your partner(s) who is being attacked! • Discover what the corresponding qualities are for each arm and how to use them to bring down the beast.  • Dramatically decrease your feelings of dread and anxiety around jealousy, and lessen Jealousy’s grip on those you care about.  • Walk away with a practical understanding of how to hack and chop this giant sea-monster into something more manageable, and begin making Jealousy your pet. If you’d given up on dealing with jealousy or resigned yourself to a life of powerlessness, please join us for what is sure to be an insightful and extremely useful journey into the uncharted seas of being empowered around Jealousy!

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Polyamory from a Minority Perspective

Jesus Garcia

Polyamory is on the rise in the US and the world.  As the polyamory community grows why do we still see so few minorities in poly circles?  What unique challenges face polyamorist who come from non-white backgrounds?  As a community how can we help or get information to African Americans, Asians and Hispanics and should we try?  In this facilitated discussion we will explore the unique challenges faced by minorities in regards to polyamory, bisexuality and other alternative life and love styles.

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Awakening our Sensuality

Claudia Lanigan HighTouchHealing.com

Using therapeutic essential oils, Tantric breath techniques, and touch to awaken our senses and our sensual nature. In this fun hands-on workshop we will be working in groups of three to four, learning to connect energetically, intimately and sensually.

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4:00pm – 5:30pm Session 4 (1.5/hours)

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No Blame:  Using "The Work of Byron Katie" for Peace in Your Relationships"

Stacy Clark

"Judge your neighbor.  Write it down.  Ask 3 questions.  Turn it around." ~ Byron Katie

Do you ever get upset with your partner?  If only, s/he did/didn't, had/hadn't, would/wouldn't, etc? What to do?  Here is one of the most truthful and constructive processes for investigating your most judgmental, negative thoughts about your partners.  It's called "The Work of Byron Katie."  With The Work, even your most angry upsets turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

Ask yourself:  Am I willing to know the truth?  Even if it means giving up some cherished belief?

Come prepared to be really honest about what you think and feel and find out how to see the silver lining in every thought!

Recommended Reading:  "I Need Your Love:  Is That True?"  By BYRON KATIE

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Writing Alternative Relationship Stories for Mainstream Publishing

Rex, Kasi, Gena

This workshop will discuss the emerging genre of Alternative Romance. We will share our experiences and tricks in working with a mainstream romance publisher. Attendees will gain a better understanding of related subgenres, the types of publishing available in today's market, elements to be sure to include and those to be avoided to improve the likelihood of your manuscript being accepted.

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Connecting through the Mandala; Sacred Sexuality for the Polyamorous

Robyn Trask

This in depth interactive workshop combines the teachings of Taoist and Tantric Sacred Sexual practices to take you on a journey exploring what is possible when we tap into our most powerful creative energy.  Using techniques of Tantra and Taoist fire breath, heart connection and energy exchange we will connect to ourselves and others in dyadic partnership, with multiple partners and with the entire group.  It is recommended that you have some knowledge of Sacred Sexual breathing.

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7:00pm to 10:00pm

After Party at the Exchange Tavern

Click for Complete Seminar Details and To Register Now