Newsletters!

I love to write, and share my thoughts about INTIMACY!  To receive newsletters, sign up at IntimacyRetreats.com!

Keep Love Alive!
Diana

Pillow Talk

(Sorry, this has ended.) 

HAPPENING RIGHT NOW and over the next 10 days:  "The Pillow Talk Summit".

Along with John Gray (of Mars/Venus fame) and almost two dozen other relationship experts, I (Diana) was interviewed and invited to share valuable information about communicating about sex. Although it has already begun, you can join in now (TOTALLY FREE - NO SALES GIMMICK) and catch up on the missed interviews later on. 

Each of us also offers you a FREE GIFT.  Nothing to lose, lots to gain. Having a "sex talk" doesn't have to be scary or shameful. Learn to free your voice and create open dialog in your bedroom.

And.. be sure to check out our calendar for upcoming Intimacy Retreats, currently offered on Florida's Gulf of Mexico and on the Pacific Coast of Oregon!

Feminine Spiritual Trailblazers

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I am honored & delighted to be included in a new book about Women Spiritual Leaders. There are MP3 interviews, bonus gifts, and more!


Check it out!
www.womenspiritualleaders.com/book/?fst=8

Making Music, Making Love!

Last week I had the most AMAZING experience!  I have played flute for many years. An interesting story about my very first flute-playing experience can be found here. I also can play other instruments, like guitar, in a minimal way. Harmonica? No way. "I can't play harmonica" was a thought I have carried since, well, probably since some long ago time when I tried and didn't like the sounds I made.

Last week, I played flute with a harmonica player, a friend. We jammed, it was improvisational, it was lovely.

Later in the evening, as he was off talking with Richard, I picked up the harmonica he had left sitting on a chair. Something made me do it - I didn't even think to ask him if it was ok! The next thing I knew, I was experimentally making sounds, and I liked it. Soon my friend returned, took another harmonica out of his bag, and began playing with me.

We jammed, we rocked, we soared, we wove magical moments of melody. We made love with our music. All those who heard us were shocked to find out it was the first time I had ever played a harmonica.

So, don't always believe your thoughts!

Article in Natural Awakenings Magazine, Dec. 2013
by Diana Daffner

It’s the holidays! What GIFT are you giving to your Beloved this year? How will you express your holiday love to that most important person in your life? Maybe you’re lucky and know exactly what they would like. Perhaps you’ve exchanged lists with each other, eliminating the bother of returning unwanted gifts. (Or maybe you don’t even exchange gifts.)

Regardless of the actual presents you’re choosing, be sure to share your very real PRESENCE with each other – not only during the holidays, but all year long.

Continue reading...

Sarasota, FL: Sept. 28 Event

Learn transformational yet simple tools and techniques in communication & understanding:

How to improve any and all of your relationships;

How to authentically replace judgment with Compassion,

How to be fully understood and to listen with an open heart;

How to express yourself in ways that others can fully hear you;

How to live a happier and fulfilled life

2:30 - 5:30 pm:  COMPASSIONATE CONNECTIONS Practice Group   Scott Catamas, founder of the Love Coach Academy will lead a series of practices that increase our ability to change our neurological patterns.  The best way to change our relationships in a positive way is by changing the way we think.  We will learn to differentiate between our thoughts/stories/judgments and the real feelings and universal human needs taking place.  There will be practice of how to empathize with one's self, and with others.  Finally, there will be the practice of how to deal with difficult behavior and to set boundaries with compassion.

7:30 - 10 pm:  CULTIVATING GREATER LOVE IN YOUR LIFE with Scott Catamas, Richard & Diana Daffner (the founders of Intimacy Retreats).  This is event is for both singles and couples.  Richard & Diana will introduce participants to Tantra Tai Chi, an easy-to-do, qigong-style partnered movement exercise that creates emotional closeness and spiritual awakening. Even when practiced alone, these movements are a powerful process for centering into the presence of LOVE.  Scott will lead practices to deepen our connection to ourselves, to the divine within, and to others.  There will be movement and experiences of eye gazing to see the Divine within all. All participants receive hand-outs with specific tools & practices to improve relationships.

Registration fees: $45 per session, per person, or both sessions for $80

Couples registering together: $80 per session, or both sessions for $140

Location:  

Garden of the Heart Yoga Center 
941 341-9781

2888 Ringling Blvd, Sarasota, Florida 34237

Love & Intimacy.. Nutrition for the Soul

 by Diana Daffner, published August 2013 in Natural Awakenings

Love & Intimacy: Nutrition for the Soul

As conscious beings, we are mindful about what we eat. We pay attention to the nutritional value of our food intake. We seek to increase what we think is good for us and diminish consumption of unhealthy commodities.

Love, too, perhaps even more than our diet, can provide healthy nutrition for both our bodies and our souls, even to the point of our survival from disease. Dean Ornish, M.D, , founder of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute, says “I am not aware of any other factor in medicine that has a greater impact on our survival than the healing power of love and intimacy. Not diet, not smoking, not exercise, not stress, not genetics, not drugs, not surgery."

As with food, bringing mindfulness and attention to our intake of love can affect how beneficial it is for us. How do we do that? As with food, it is important to select well. Without knowledge, amply provided by magazines such as this, we might make poor choices. Of course, we need to apply our knowledge intelligently. When I was young, I must have somehow learned that too much salt was not good to eat. I distinctly remember feeding potato chips to my dog, but first licking off the salt because I knew it would not be healthy for her!

Selecting a love partner involves more than knowledge and the necessary rational application. Lovers are drawn toward each other by many inexplicable forces – perhaps including karma, pheromones, astrological intervention and who knows what else. Once we are in the relationship, we must continue to be smart about how to give and receive love in the most nutritional way possible.

Eye Contact
It is said that eyes are the windows to the soul. A recent Yale study actually supports the idea that our sense of our true essence is indeed located in or near the eyes. Intimacy can be thought of as “into-me-see.” Allowing our beloved to see into our eyes is perhaps the most direct path to cultivating the nutritionally intimate aspect of love.

Although it is considered romantic, couples often do not make strong eye contact, even when making love. Instead, we usually close our eyes! Closing the eyes may put us more in touch with what we are feeling in our body. However it is the eye contact that puts us more in touch with our partner. It is the eye contact that provides the opening to our soul.

In the movie Avatar, the phrase “I see you” is used to acknowledge a deep resonance and respect for one another at that soul level. In the novel “The Amaranth Bloom,” author Deborah June Goemans describes a South African ritual of soulful story telling called kukummi. “It starts with Ma saying, “I see you,” she writes.

To be truly seen by our beloved, to look into our partner’s eyes, is not only the height of romance, it provides a nutritious helping of love and intimacy. When served on a daily basis, with a sprinkling of gratitude and appreciation, it is like taking a megavitamin that nourishes and sustains both each individual and the relationship itself.

www.IntimacyRetreats.com