Sex education is a phrase that takes me back to awkward overly-scientific high school health classes, which is why I decided to attend a sex workshop.
There’s a whole world of new learnings and exploration out there just waiting to be discovered through a sex workshop. What we think we know about sex and anatomy can be completely re-imagined after just one class.
Georgia Grace is passionate about sex, pleasure & relationships. Through her work as a qualified sex coach and teacher, she aims to help others bring mindfulness to sex. So what does it take to become a sex coach?
Georgia is a certified coach and has an extensive background in her area of expertise:
Sex is powerful and as Georgia says “in a world where we are always busy, we’ve become numb to the simplicity of pleasure.”
The enjoyment and pleasure experienced during sex has a huge amount to do with our behaviours and attitudes toward the experience. This means that mindfulness can play a big part in helping have the best experience possible.
More often than not, this reality is lost on most people. Most assume once you are sexually active, you pretty much know all you need to know.
I attended one of Georgia’s classes (GenARTls) with two of my girlfriends who were also intrigued by the workshop. There was no set formula for the type of person attending. There was a beautiful blend of singles, couples, men, women, older, younger. It was only after attending that I wished I brought my boyfriend along.
The 2 hour class cost $50 and included:
- How to paint/create the naked form
- How to name different parts of genitals
- Where pleasure can be accessed
- How to speak about pleasure, genitals and sex in an open, normal and real way
Even though I knew what was going to be covered in the class, I still had no idea what to expect and was nervous about going into her ‘classroom’. What I thought would be an instructional workshop, turned out to be an intimate and communal environment that was open to sharing and bonding.
The class was held in an art room where the walls were covered in explosions of paint, texture and colour. The setting made me feel at ease, particularly as people popped bottles of wine to sip on during the event.
Georgia speaks in a way that allows you to get to know your sensuality amongst a group of strangers, and reduces any stress, fear or shame you may have about sex. She removes the ‘taboo’ that surrounds sex talk in a public space.
There’s no question or comment that could shock Georgia – she keeps the floor open and honest and encourages everyone in the group to engage in real conversations about sex.
The class was divided into three sections – Real Sex & Body Talk, Anatomy, and Pleasure. Each section was followed by small intervals to create and paint/draw the topic of discussion to slowly build an artistic masterpiece.
The anatomy section was a mind blowing 20 minutes that changed the way I perceived genital anatomy. Unlike high school sex ed, Georgia talked through where and how you’re actually experiencing pleasure in a real and scientific sense.
At first glance in the workshop, I thought the following image was a diagram of the male reproductive organs. In actual fact, it’s the female:
This is an image you definitely do not see in high school classrooms. It’s surprising to see how large the clitoris actually is and this diagram provides an insight into the world of female pleasure. It shows how integral the clitoris is to the structure of the vulva – not touching the clitoris during sex is like not touching the penis during sex.
The clitoris has nearly 8,000 nerve endings – twice that of the penis. The commonly held idea that males find it easier to reach orgasm than females is a myth born out of a lack of proper understanding of anatomy and how women reach orgasm.
One key learning that stuck with me was the way in which females (myself included) refer to their own genitals, most commonly referred to as a ‘vagina’. Georgia refers to this area as the ‘vulva’.
Since Alfred Kinsey’s iconic book Sexual Behavior in the Human Female written in 1953, we’ve known that most women need direct clitoral stimulation to have an orgasm. So why do we keep calling it a ‘vagina’ when it collectively ignores the outer and most visual part of the female anatomy?
The fact we call the female genitals “the vagina” speaks volumes about the politics of sex in the western world. The vaginal opening is just one part of the vulva and it happens to be the part where men most commonly access pleasure during sex with women. Language is powerful, particularly when it comes to sex so it’s important we don’t use male-centric language when referring to our own vulvas.
Georgia debunks everything we think we know about anatomy and provides authentic and relevant explanations for how things work. These anatomical explanations provide real, practical and useful tools that allow people to explore their sensuality in a new way.
Most of us never consider sex or pleasure as something that can be taught or learnt. We only know what we’ve been taught in school, through friends or through porn, and all of these outlets can have gaping holes in their sexual syllabus and can also convey a false message.
It can also feel weird to think about going to a workshop or class with strangers to learn about sex, as if that’s admitting you’re ‘bad’ at sex or that you’re ‘obsessed’ with it in a way that’s unconventional.
But you wouldn’t hesitate to see a personal trainer if you wanted to improve your physical endurance or performance in exercise, so why hesitate to see a sex coach?
Mainstream media tells us all kinds of misconceptions about sex, pleasure and places too much emphasis on the orgasm itself. I would definitely attend another one of her workshops in future – I left her class feeling enlightened and inspired.
I highly recommend attending a workshop if you’re curious or inspired by anything you’ve read.
Georgia offers a range of classes from The Art of Orgasms to a Mindful Sex Masterclass.
Click here to read about some more influencers who are like-minded and sex positive.
