*photography by Ganesha Isis, at Shakti Spectrum Play Temple, 2024*

Think Temple spaces are just fancy sex parties in disguise? Let's unpack that assumption for a moment...

Temple culture often evokes the association of "sober play parties" or "spiritually infused sexuality" spaces - and sure, many spaces actually are that way. The moment we hear about spaces dedicated to conscious connection and embodied exploration, something in our minds jumps straight to sex.

It's not surprising, really. We've been taught to restrict our expressions of desire and pleasure so much, making them such a taboo, that any remote hint of non-restriction, non-judgement, non-rejection of these interactions makes it feel like it "must be all about that."

When we push sexuality into the shadows for so long, of course it becomes THE thing we see everywhere we look, especially in spaces that dare to speak of embodiment and intimate connection. But what else might we discover if we let our attention expand beyond this single focal point?

What if conscious play spaces could be containers for ALL the things that want to emerge while moving with intention, presence, playfulness and ONE ANOTHER?

Imagine more people around meaning more possibilities to move with permission, maybe in ways you normally wouldn't, with humans outside your usual circles. Picture spaces that welcome forms of self-expression that might not always feel permitted with others around, in other contexts.

Think about the last time you felt truly welcome to express yourself fully - to move, to sound, to engage, to withdraw, to simply be - while staying present with whatever emerges, including others' responses and your own. Not pushing away judgement, not trying to avoid it, but letting it dissolve into something bigger, more spacious, more real.

OF COURSE this could include expressions and explorations of intimacy and pleasure :)) namely, because these feel so UNpermitted in other spaces. But that's not a prescribed activity. It's not a checkbox to tick, not a goal to achieve, not a measure of a "successful" temple experience.

Let's talk about permission for a moment.

A DOING side invites you to explore what you might not usually do. To stretch into new territories of expression, to play at the edges of your comfort, to discover parts of yourself that rarely get to come out and play.

A NONDOING side honors your freedom to NOT do whatever doesn't feel right. To sit with yourself. To observe. To decline. To change your mind. To stay exactly where you are, exactly as you are.

Here's the thing: given our culture, it's natural that many folks approach Temple spaces with juicy potentials in mind. This is welcome, honored and celebrated. AND... what if there's even more to discover?

What if we could unpack, deconstruct and decolonize our narratives from the gaze of a pleasure-negative culture that oppresses our bodies by shaping our minds? What might emerge when we release ourselves from the scripts we've been handed?

Let's challenge the assumptions that:

Touch must lead to more touch
Arousal must lead to action
Attraction, flirtation, interest, or closeness must follow specific scripts
Being must transform into doing
Receiving must be matched with offering

Each of these "musts" is a story we've been told, a pattern we've absorbed, a limitation we've accepted. But what happens when we hold them lightly, when we let them be questions instead of rules?

Can we free ourselves from these stories and expectations? From the shame of desires? From the fear of pleasure? Can we step into spaces where all forms of expression - sexual and non-sexual, active and passive, giving and receiving - are equally valid, equally welcome, equally sacred?

Can we detach from outcome and just come out to play?

Ready to explore these ideas in embodied practice? Curious about what might emerge in a space of genuine permission?

Check out upcoming Play Temple events and join us in this exploration of what's possible when we expand beyond our usual scripts.

Sex, Permission, and The Temple Paradox

Permission to Feel Good