Episode 25: Joy and Pleasure the Road to Inner Wisdom with Elise Bish
In this enlightening episode of "Investment of Self," host Kathy Washburn welcomes Elise Bish, a renowned desire catalyst and expert in pleasure-focused practices. Together, they explore the transformative power of pleasure, its role in healing, and its profound connection to desire. Elise shares her unique approach to embracing joy through pleasure practices and discusses how these can serve as powerful antidotes to pain and negativity in our lives.
Delve into the intricacies of how pleasure can counterbalance the often overwhelming demands of modern life and discover how integrating simple acts of joy can amplify your overall well-being. Elise's insights on the ancestral connections to our perceptions of pleasure and desire provide a fresh perspective on personal empowerment and self-healing.
Whether you're looking to cultivate a deeper relationship with your own desires or simply curious about incorporating more joy into your daily routine, this episode offers essential strategies to start you on the path towards a more fulfilled and pleasurable existence.
In this episode, Kathy and Elise discuss:
Concept of Pleasure and Desire
Practical Steps to Embracing Pleasure
Pleasure as a Tool for Managing Negative Emotions
Broader Implications of Pleasure Practices
Connection of Pleasure to Ancestral and Sexual Healing
Timestamps:
[00:00] Met at empowerment program, now work together.
[06:41] Conditioning around pleasure, self-permission, and support.
[10:21] Start small, nourish joy, build pleasure practice.
[13:42] Acceptance and enjoyment in giving and receiving.
[16:19] Pleasure connects mind, body, and emotions.
[18:37] Harness pleasure and joy to overcome negativity.
[23:19] Deep exploration of self, interconnection, and playfulness.
[24:54] Expresses appreciation for the beautiful effects experienced.
If Elise was a pill, what effect would she want to have on someone?
Opening and connection with the heart
Resources mentioned in this Episode
More About Elise
Follow @desirecatalyst on Instagram
Hi, I'm Elise. I have a courageous heart, a curious mind, and a deep desire to live a pleasurable life.
As a Desire Catalyst, my work stems from a range of modalities that centralize the wisdom of the body and its capacity to perceive, feel, and express. I approach desire from a multidimensional perspective, with consciousness at the core of my practice. I support my clients in weaving new levels of awareness through their mind, body, and spirit.
In 2006 I focused my academic studies on sexuality and gender, earning my degree in Communications and Women & Gender Studies from Muhlenberg College in 2010. Since then I have studied with several leading sexuality experts.
I'm a Certified Urban Tantra® Practitioner and have received several years of mentorship, sacred sexuality training, and breathwork practice from best-selling author and sexuality educator, Barbara Carrellas. My training and education in Tantra have equipped me with the knowledge, skills, and courage to work with desire, sexuality, consent, and sensual experiences.
In 2014, I witnessed the tremendous healing power of Systemic Family Constellations and immediately felt the potential that the modality has for healing generations of sexual shame. I've completed five years of training and certification with renowned facilitators and trainers, Dan Cohen and Emily Blefeld, with the intention of bringing deeper systemic shifts around how we relate to ourselves as sexual beings. Constellation work helps us to shed the echoes, impacts, and overculture of oppression so that we can embrace the differences that shape where we belong.
I began to study energy medicine and sound healing with Lisa Murphy of Fairhaven Healing Arts in 2018. Sound healing brings harmony and presence to the body, supporting the deep release and transformation of emotions and stories that live within our cells. In 2022, I completed my certification as a Level 2 Sound Healer.
Intrigued? If you're willing to come a bit closer, I'll share a little more about what moves me.
I’m an open-hearted explorer, with a fondness for the unusual. I'm currently immersed in an experiential exploration of the following endeavors:
Healing through deeply conscious sexual expression.
Untangling from the effects of systemic oppression and inherited trauma.
Sacred ecstasy and its power to access the divine.
I believe that the purpose of life is to walk through the world with our desire leading the way, and breathe in the fullness of existence with all of our senses. Desire is the place of creation; it's our most powerful resource. When we've cultivated a healthy relationship to desire, we're able to navigate the labyrinth of life with more conviction and consciousness. My desire is leading me on a quest toward holding space for authentic intimate connection, radical self-love, and subverting the oppression of depth.
I honor and deeply respect the polarities that exist within all of us. I'm able to see and witness your brilliance, even when your shadow is leading the way. I’m not afraid to go into the darkness, yours or mine.
I have the skills to see the connectedness of your bliss, your block, and your vision. I'm your co-adventurer through the underworld of your unexplored desires, ushering you through the darkest corners, and calling in healing for sexual woundedness and shame, all the while, celebrating the vast potential for truly ecstatic expression.
I breathe resonance into the vague, create sacred clarity for tender truths, and love a good a-ha moment.
I have a lot of feelings, I’m vast and complex. I’m basically a paradox walking.
And you probably are too…
Connect with Kathy Washburn
To learn more about Kathy and her coaching services, head over to https://kathywashburn.net/
To schedule a free consultation with Kathy visit https://kathywashburn.net/contact
Follow Kathy on Instagram @kathywashburn
Sign Up for Kathy’s On Demand Anchored Hope Course https://kathy-washburn.teachable.com/p/anchored-hope