There is a story I often tell about my big toe.

For most of my life I didn’t really pay attention to my body. I lived mostly in my head. I thought, analysed, planned and solved problems.

And then I started exploring pleasure and embodiment.

I remember one day paying attention to my big toe and suddenly noticing how much sensation was there. It sounds ridiculous, but it was a revelation to me.

There was so much more to experience in my body than I had been aware of.

And this is what fascinates me about this work.

We can know so much intellectually and still be disconnected from ourselves.

We can understand boundaries and still struggle to say no.

We can know what we want and still not ask for it.

We can understand that rest is important and still work ourselves into the ground.

We can know that joy matters and still postpone it until everything else is done.

I know this because I have done all of it myself.

For a long time I thought the solution was to understand more. If I could just think about something long enough, I would figure it out.

But there are things you cannot think your way into.

You have to experience them.

You have to feel them.

You have to let your body become part of the conversation.

That changed so much for me.

I became more aware of what I wanted. I became better at noticing when something was a yes or a no for me. I became more comfortable with pleasure, with my desires and with taking up space.

And I started to understand that power and pleasure are not things that have to be given to us from the outside.

They are things we can learn to access ourselves.

That is why I care so deeply about this work.

Because I don't think we are here simply to function well.

I think we are here to experience our lives.

To feel.

To create.

To connect.

To enjoy.

To want things.

And to have the courage to ask for them.