CarnalNation

Amy Jo Goddard is a “professional sexuality educator, trainer and consultant,” with a special emphasis on sexual health and communications. I've know her for years, since back in my fanzine days, and she's advanced so far in her career it's truly inspirational. She is currently fulfilling one of her most ambitious dreams: conducting the Women's Sexuality Empowerment Apprenticeship. On Tuesday, March 23, Amy Jo began what will hopefully be the first in many Apprenticeship programs and her biggest experiment yet.

The apprenticeship will run for eight consecutive Tuesday evenings from 6:30pm-9:30pm and four Saturdays from 9:30am til 5:30pm, “reconvening around 9pm for special evening events.” A complimentary consultation was required to become an apprentice. The web site delineates 13 objectives, including “Challenge and confront body image issues” and “Deepen your ability to experience intimacy,” both of which would be of use to any woman. But all 13 of the goals are designed to “empower and affect every aspect of their being.” Students will participate in a “ combination of deep work on the sexual self through discussion, coaching and self-exploration; examination of our sexual history and patterns; and education about sexuality and the sexual body” and are promised “a rare opportunity to dive deeply into the study and development of our own sexual selves.” I will be interested to hear how her apprentices fare.

I wasn't able to make that much of a time commitment, given my globetrotting ways, but I did attend a one-night class to get a feel for Amy Jo's teaching style. “Unstuck Your Sensual Self: Tools to Ignite Pleasure & Desire” offered to help attendees “ 'unstuck' ourselves, create clarity about how to churn the butters of deliciousness in our lives, and open the second chakra to embrace pleasure and desire in a new way” through a series of “movement, meditation, reflection and group exercises.”

I'm really not one for the touchy-feelie. The woo-wooest I've gotten was reading Barbara Carellas's Urban Tantra and actually following through on a few of the exercises. So, adventurous as I may seem, it was with much trepidation that I strolled into the Flatiron District yoga studio.

The class was intimate, with 10 females and 5 males, one of whom showed up so late that he wasn't really a full participant. There was an interesting mix of ages and races with the one unifying factor being that everyone seemed well versed in new-age lingo. I suppose a class like this is more apt to attract the enlightenment-inclined as opposed to the self-exploration-averse, eh? We gathered in a fairly tight circle of cushions and I was seated beside a 6'8” man who must've weighed over 300 pounds. My boundaries were already being challenged!

Activities ranged from brief introductions to discussions, breathing and posturing, movement to guided meditation, all packed into less than two hours. I was surprised by how quickly the time went and probably even more surprised by how enthusiastically the students participated. In addition to lively conversation and lots of laughter, people really opened up to each other, somewhat unexpected in a city that prides itself on aggressive stoicism.

Amy Jo's style, it turned out, is an appealing combination of life coach and cheerleader, therapist and instructor, all wrapped up in a dynamic package of positive reinforcement.

The class wrapped up with some physical “play,” interactive exercises designed to assist getting in touch with our second chakra, and free-form dance, designed to keep us laughing. If this much transformation can occur in an abbreviated amount of time, imagine what is in store for the women participating in the Apprenticeship.