Cancer & Intimacy

I am hosting a free online seminar that addresses relationship challenges caused by prostate disease, breast cancer & other serious illnesses. It will be led by Rabbi Ed Weinsberg, author of Conquer Prostate Cancer: How Medicine, Faith, Love and Sex Can Renew Your Life.

It's taking place on Tuesday, March 1, 4 pm PST (7 pm EST) but registrants who cannot listen at that time can hear it later. He's very good and answers personal questions. Highly recommended! For info, go to http://bit.ly/IntimacyPro3111.

RX for Sex & Intimacy - our workshop!!

Our Intimacy Retreats are featured in today's USAToday newspaper, travel section! A version is also available online. What fun!

Now Amazon is almost sold out of our book.. but we have them, you can order directly at www.IntimacyRetreats.com.

♥ Diana

Relationship Epidemic: Shutting Out Body Wisdom

I'm wondering if there was ever a time when alexithymi­a was NOT the common state of much of humanity. Also wondering if it is really a disorder or maybe simply a different, non-feelin­g-based way of experienci­ng (or not experienci­ng!) life. In any case, tapping into and appreciati­ng body wisdom and learning how to notice, express and recognize feelings and energy flow in our bodies and others is so valuable - so necessary - in relationsh­ips. Thanks, Gay and Kathlyn, for all you do in providing informatio­n and tools for learning how to awaken this way of being truly alive.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Love with a Capital 'L': Recognizing the Divine Through Another

Great article. In my own writing, I often refer to "Love with a capital L" - although my publisher refused to use the capital L in our book because he couldn't justify it grammatically! Whether or not we connect such an experience with the divine, and however we interpret that, doesn't matter. What matters is the experience itself. To share such moments with our significant other is to enter into the delicious heart of a relationship. When all else falls away but our intimate connection with our partner, something arises that we can surely call Love - with a capital L! ~ Diana Daffner
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Why Your "Good Enough" Marriage Is Good for Your Kids

Diana Daffner commented on this article:
During the "Falling in Love" stage of a relationship, we probably experience more unconditional and non-judgmental love than at any other time of our lives. Of course, if we let ourselves be blindsided by our feelings of love, we might miss some conditions and necessary assessments that would help us make a better mate selection. However, if we've chosen reasonably well, and we're relatively comfortable in our relationship, then bringing back some of that unconditional love can add a whole new dimension to our happiness. Love is not a feeling that comes and goes, it's a very real experience of what is. And while, yes, there are many aspects to intimacy, a couple who can tap into the kind of love that drew them together in the first place is a happy couple indeed. And the happier the marriage, the better for the kids, the community and the world.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Marriage Renewal: From This Day Forward

Richard and I just celebrated our 25 years of marriage with an amazing renewal ceremony at the EcoTulum resort on Tulum Beach, in Mexico. This is the romantic location of our winter Intimacy Retreats, on the Riviera Maya, along the Yucatan coast of the Caribbean Sea.

Since I myself perform both weddings and vow renewals, this experience has given me more insight into the power of such ritual. I feel that new life has been breathed into our relationship. Rather than simply moving forward in our marriage from this year to the next, we have taken the time to consciously choose each other again. We began our new vows, "From this day forward..."

Since you asked..

Well, maybe you didn't ask, but my last post - and our recent newsletter - mentioned that I was participating in an ancient ceremony/ritual without saying what it was. In case you are wondering, I experienced a mikveh (also spelled mikvah) which is a biblical immersion into water. It was a meaningful and powerfully sacred event. Note that although this ritual is most often associated with orthodox Jews, one does not need to be an orthodox Jew to experience it. (I am not.)

Actually, I created a ceremony that drew on ancient teachings related to chakras, which is from the world of yoga and Tantra. Walking down the seven steps to the mikveh (a pool of water), I connected with, and then released, the attributes of each chakra. It was a personal journey of letting go. I will write more about it at some time...

Thanks for your interest...