Miscellaneous
What were your earliest experiences with pleasure? Do you remember being in the womb or those first cuddles with a caring adult? Probably not that far back. Some of us may recall a little further down the road when we discovered pleasure in the context of our own bodies and masturbation and there may or may not have been shame associated with those experiences. In this episode, we are exploring pleasure in the early years of a child’s life, and how parents and caring adults can best support their child’s understanding of pleasure, without taboo, especially before it’s even about sex. Helping me explore this important topic is Lydia M. Bowers, a sex educator who is passionate about helping families and other educators understand and appropriately support sexual development in individuals from birth to adulthood. She is a Pleasure Professional with O.school and an American Sexual Health Association Ambassador with over 15 years as an Early Childhood Educator. Want to connect with Lydia? Visit her website here. Follow her on Instagram here,like her Facebook page here and become a Patron here. Check out her live streams twice a month on O.school here. If you'd like additional resources on fostering pleasure in children, read this. And as always: Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for regular sex-positive content and updates. Sign up for our email list and receive your free download of 'Preparing for the Sex Talks: An Action Plan for Parents & Caretakers.' Shop sex-positive swag and merchandise for parents, caring adults and sexual health advocates here. Leave a review in iTunes to let us know how much you’re enjoying the podcast. This gives us great feedback from our community as well as expands the reach and visibility so we can serve more families! Transcript {Soft instrumental music plays as introduction} {Person speaking} Welcome to Sex Positive Families where parents, caring adults, and advocates come to grow and learn about sexual health in a supportive community. I'm your host, and the founder of SPF, Melissa Carnagey. Join me, and special guests, as we dive into the art of sex-positive parenting. Together, we will shake the shame and trash the taboos to strengthen sexual health talks with the children in our lives. Thank you so much for joining us! {Same person speaking} Hello families, I have a question for you. What were your earliest experiences with pleasure? Do you remember being in the womb? Or those first cuddles with a caring adult? Probably not that far back, right? Well some of us may recall a little further down the road, when we discovered pleasure in the context of our bodies, in masturbation, and there may or may not have been shame associated with those experiences. Well in this episode we're exploring pleasure in the early years of a child's life and how parents and caring adults can best support their child's understanding of pleasure without taboo, especially before it's even about sex. Helping me explore this important topic is Lydia M. Bowers, a sex educator who is passionate about helping families and other educators understand and appropriately support sexual development in individuals from birth to adulthood. She is a pleasure professional with O.school and an American Sexual Health Association ambassador with over 15 years of experience as an early childhood educator. Want to know how to foster a healthy understanding of pleasure? Let's have a listen. Melissa Carnagey: “I’m so excited to have you with us, especially for this topic. How are you?” Lydia Bowers: “Good. How are you?” M.C.: “I’m doing well!” L.B.: “Thank you.” M.C.: “Yes, so glad to have you! Before we get started, if you can share with us, what has your journey been like to the work that you’re doing now?” L.B.: "I was in the early childhood education field for about fifteen years. I spent time as a classroom teacher for infants, toddlers.