“ I initially reached out to River for a month-long immersion program because I wanted to be more creative and imaginative with my sex life, particularly my self-pleasure practices. I wanted to be more aware of my sexual energy and practice communicating my desires, consent, boundaries, and needs unapologetically. I wanted to create a deeper connection with my genitals and to feel like they were strong and not fragile. I desired to listen to, trust, and follow what my genitals were telling me by learning more about my anatomy and bringing awareness, connection, and sensation to my genitals, including my anus. Finally, I wanted to work on not feeling afraid of being pressured to do something I don't want to do. I wanted to be more myself in intimate interactions and not override my "no's" because I didn't think what my body wanted was possible. 

In my month-long work with River, I feel like we addressed and made progress on all my goals. Some of my favorite parts of working with River was how grounded I felt afterward—like, REALLY grounded! River's daily invitation for me to orient to the space how I wanted to when I came in, their attentiveness regarding inviting me to slow down and notice what was happening, even when (and especially when) I didn't recognize something as significant felt supportive. I felt safe with River and enjoyed the playfulness that emerged from our sessions!

River holds a lot of integrity as a practitioner. They hold a solid container, have a lot of diverse experience, are non-judgmental, and are very professional and skilled. River helped me to trust my body's reactions and to stay present, even when my reactions felt unpleasant and uninteresting, or my mind perceived them as irrelevant. I appreciated the deep trust of even the subtleties. 

Even though a part of me wanted to speed up and do intense and ecstatic activities— what I thought somatic sex education was supposed to look like— I discovered how much I desired to slow down. There is SO much there, even in seemingly mundane practices. Also, during our sessions, a playful side of me really came out and I felt like a dormant energy was liberated! 

My biggest takeaway from this immersive experience was that I feel like I've cracked the seal on some of the self-exploration that felt intimidating and inaccessible to me. Having River there to "hold my hand," so to speak, supported me in broaching some of these frontiers. As a result, I feel more confident going forward in exploring my body on my own. I feel more trust in slowing down and noticing the places where I'm already putting the principles of this work into practice rather than feeling chronically not at some imagined standard.”