1 to 7 February 2027
The Erotic Animal Hiding in the Shadows
With a strong sense of belonging in the group, and stability in our personal power, we are ready to turn towards what has been hiding in the shadows.
This module is about desire, attraction, sexuality, erotic energy, wildness and tenderness. The parts of us that are often hardest to present, not because they are wrong, but because they can feel too risky to reveal.
Under the protective layers of fear and shame, our natural erotic aliveness and our capacity to love fiercely has been waiting.
We enter this territory with curiosity, honesty and respect for what is actually moving in us. Together, we begin to explore what happens when more of our instinct, desire and raw truth can be felt, named and met in relationship.
“I always felt there was something wrong with this society and I knew I had something inside of me, some kind of craziness, creativity and wildness, and I had to lock it and keep it in my cage. I feel like I can break this cage here.”
Svitlana, participantWhat we focus on
Experiencing the beauty, innocence and intelligence of our erotic nature.
Developing the capacity to speak our truth without guilt or shame, to set clear boundaries and go for what we want.
Learning to access, feel and express what lives in our shadow, so it can become a gift rather than a burden.
Releasing the life-force power of our animal instincts: personal power, passion, spontaneity and fearlessness.
Learning to ride the edge of our growth zone, staying present while taking relational risks.
Being welcomed in the good, the bad and the ugly: the parts of ourselves we may have the hardest time accepting.
Developing a loving relationship with a vital, grounded sexuality.
Exploring voice, rhythm, movement and play as ways of giving expression to desire, instinct, vulnerability and erotic aliveness.
Learning the alchemy of relating: transparent, embodied self-disclosure that can turn old patterns of separation into greater presence and connection.
Becoming more comfortable owning our attractions and desires.
In this module we bring light to the places where our raw aliveness has often been hidden.
For many of us, love and eros is covered by shame and we may have learned to cut some part of us out in order to not overwhelm others: We may know how to be loving cutting out the wanting of our erotic desire. How to feel sexual without allowing our hearts to be fully open. How to care for others without taking up space ourselves. Or we may only feel fully alive when something is intense, forbidden or out of control.
This is not a failure of character. It is often the result of trying to stay accepted in relationships where parts of us did not feel welcome.
To enter this territory in community takes courage and it asks for a warriorship of the heart: a willingness to reveal what feels embarrassing, messy, hungry, jealous, strange or difficult to explain. It asks us to own our projections rather than making another person responsible for what has been stirred in us.
Instead of performing love or sex, anxiously trying to become who we think we need to be in order to be wanted, we begin to meet the wild, hungry and sensuous animal that has been waiting underneath. Not as another identity to put on, but as a living part of ourselves that can feel, respond, play, stop, want and soften..
The deeper picture
Sometimes the erotic animal has felt too risky to bring into a close relationship. So it has been pushed into the shadows in order to preserve stability. In a group, there can be more room to discover what is actually there. Attraction can be named without becoming a demand, boundaries can become clearer, desire can be felt without having to turn into action and we can begin to learn that truth does not have to destroy connection.
We track what is between us and practise sharing clear, heartfelt feedback. We may meet each other in tenderness, laughter, resistance, play, movement, longing, anger or uncertainty. As we reclaim the projections we have placed on others, old stories about who we are can begin to loosen.
More of our life force becomes available. The energy that was tied up in shame, fear and self-protection can return as presence, creativity, pleasure, courage and contact.
And perhaps the deepest discovery is this: despite our edges and shadows, we are still lovable. We are still welcome. We still belong.