ABOUT THE WHEEL OF CONSENT
There lies a tremendous amount of confusion around the nature of consent— what it actually is — and how we consciously or unconsciously traverse in or out of the boundaries of it with our own bodies and in our relationships with others.
The Wheel of Consent offers a model of interaction that is based on exchanges of touch but applies to much more. It sheds light on troublesome and confusing interactions and clears them up. It turns out to describe the fundamental dynamics of most human relating.
The Wheel of Consent distinguishes between who is ‘doing’ and who it’s for. With this distinction four kinds of touch become possible, opening a rich and varied possibility of experience. It shows you how to notice what it is you want, how to trust that, value it and communicate it.
Many people have found this workshop and the Wheel of Consent to be life-changing. The Wheel brings clarity, ease, freedom, gratitude, and generosity in all your interactions.
Using the Wheel as a framework, in this workshop we will map the landscape of consent through Giving and Receiving touch with the intention of mindful awareness, honoring, trust and communication. With a deeper understanding and practice of embodied consent you will...
...learn how to trust both your boundaries and your desires
...gain greater fluency in asking for what you truly want from others
...identify common reasons why people operate out of consent (including habitual patterns, held religious trauma, institutionalized systems of oppression and power)
And, ultimately…
...gain access to more choices for yourselves in your body and in our relationships.
This workshop offers an opportunity to fine-tune your relational skills through somatic (body-based) explorations into the more radical and nuanced aspects of consent.
***This is a clothes-on workshop, and participation in any of the somatic practices is completely optional. This is not about sex, but certainly can be applied to all relationships, including and especially your intimate and sexual ones.
Through solo and partnered embodied practice and discussion, participants will refine their understanding of consent by:
- Gaining a more nuanced understanding of giving and receiving touch
- Differentiating between the act of giving versus doing, and between active and passive receiving states
- Increasing one’s ability to fully receive (and why that’s important!), recognizing what brings us out of a place of receiving and how to get back there
- Decreasing the risk of harm created by consent injuries and providing a common language for communicating consent
The Wheel of Consent has been developed by Dr. Betty Martin who is a former Chiropractor and currently a sex and intimacy coach, sacred intimate and sexological bodyworker. Check out her free video resources on her website: www.bettymartin.org
"Transformative information." - CJ
"Katie masterfully brings the concept of consent into a concrete set of practices. She expertly guides the process of awakening and embodiment, in a safe and brave space." - Chelsea
"This workshop offers a transformative understanding of boundaries and consent. I wish everyone could take this class. It's brilliant -- an fun. I felt safe the whole time." -Amy
"I'm going to apply this material in every relationship I have." - Serendipiti
"This was a powerful journey inward and in deliberate proximity to others, a journey that had me mapping my own internal landscapes and understanding the way they were tangled up in a really new way. " - Ida
“I thought I knew a lot about consent, but this workshop opened me about a completely new understanding and skill set. I am actively bringing these new skills to all facets of my life, partnering, parenting, friendships, family work. Katie and Corinne are both grounded, attuned facilitators, and I appreciated their skills as facilitators. There was a real grace between them." -D.H. Seattle 2018
“I wish this class was a requirement - or at least more readily explored and discussed. The depth of the discussion, the “a-ha’s”, the thought-provoking treasure trove of it all, make it a topic I will return to again and again." -Charity
“Expansive and accessible, rich in nuance and subtlety, vital building blocks for the rising paradigm of consent culture” - Greta
“I’ve been excited about practicing and understanding the wheel of consent ever since I witnessed it’s teaching from Betty Martin’s videos. This workshop gave me a firm grasp of the somatic subject matter that I’m sure will be more than helpful to my partner’s and my 45 plus year relationship!” - Dan
“This workshop offers a deep dive into a topic I believe has been overly simplified in media and mainstream culture. I so appreciate having the knowledge and skill to approach consent in a novel dynamic and influential way. Many thanks to Corinne and Katie and Betty for their genius and effort.” - Kendra
"The work we did was deceptively simple. Breaking consent down and moving through permeations of giving and receiving while listening for my own no or yes has given me the tools that I will use everyday. I look forward to taking this workshop again!"
