PleasureMechanics.com

Some of my best memories of being a student at Vassar include sex toys. I remember teaching women in my dorm about vibrators, all crowded in our little dorm room for a lesson on the range of bullet vibes, battery operated vibrators, and the "cadillac of vibrators" the Hitatchi magic wand.  We also ran sex toy auctions, flooding the campus with a variety of toys, and I even took trips to New York City to buy sex toys with friends.

At the SQUIRM conference, I was happy to be the sex toy santa for the weekend, bringing up a wonderful selection of toys and products from the good folks at www.BetterSex.com The students were so excited - gathering around to ooh and aah over the vibrators, lubes, books and videos. Each student had their favorites - one member of the SQUIRM staff fell in love with a Rabbit Vibrator and another was eager to watch the DVDs, especially the oral sex video. The toys will be auctioned off on campus to raise funds to publish the campus sex magazine, and the students were really grateful from the support from the Sinclair Institute.

One of the ongoing themes from the conference was the relationship between the student run campus sex magazines and the larger sex positive community. Sex toy companies, adult sex educators and sex-positive activists can all look to these student groups to learn about the future of sex culture - and we can in turn support them by making sure they have the resources they need to continue publishing campus sex magazines and shaping the sex culture of their own campus, one vibe at a time.

A very full morning covering the history of Squirm, growth of the magazine into a fully funded campus organization, and hearing from the other schools represented at the campus. A common theme was student submissions in the age of internet porn - how is what these student magazines create different from porn? How to encourage student submissions when everyone is concerned about online reputation management and  getting jobs out of college? What is the political statement made by submitting erotic work to a publication, opening up your intimate life and identity to your peers?

More to come - but the rich conversations between alumni and current students are certainly inspiring to all.

It was hard to fall asleep last night, even after 14 hours of driving in the rain.

Images from the past 10 years were flashing through my head. My four years at Vassar, were spent mostly working on Squirm Magazine and all of the events we created - filling my head with memories of erotic photo shoots, long hours editing literary submissions, and of course, the parties and events that made Squirm the celebration of sex that extended long beyond its high-gloss pages.  I thought about the direct line from Squirm into my professional life, driving cross country after graduation, heading to San Francisco to show up at Annie Sprinkle's door and begin my work as a professional sex educator. The past 10 years of my life have been defined by my work on Squirm, and it is with a sense of profound gratitude that I begin this weekend of celebrating the 10th anniversary of campus sex magazines.

I am now sitting at the hotel near campus, sorting through my archives. I saved everything - event fliers, meeting notes, letters to administration defending our right to publish an explicit magazine using college funds.

Fliers with language like "Post-Modern Cock"and "An Evening of Erotica" fill my table. Memories flood my groggy brain. I barely notice when a large group of college athletes file in, enthusiastically hitting the breakfast buffet with the hunger of 20 year old boys. Then I hear it "Squirm! I've heard about that - I thought it was just an urban legend!" - when I look up three of the boys at a nearby table are eagerly looking at the pile of magazines on my table, and all I can do is look up at smile.

"Nope, not a legend. Vassar has been publishing this magazine for 10 years now!"

Then, a pause, and I add "Does your campus have a sex magazine yet?"

We just arrived at Vassar College where we will be spending the weekend celebrating the 10 year reunion of Squirm Magazine, the college sexuality magazine that I (Christine) helped start my freshman year of college. We published the first issue in spring 2000, and 10 years later the magazine is still going strong and the concept has spread to other college campuses. From Harvard's H-Bomb to Columbia's C-Spot and Boston University's Boink, several other schools have started sex magazines, each with their own flavor and goals.

After a 14+ hour drive up from North Carolina, Charlotte and I are quite beat but looking forward to the weekend. We'll be blogging all weekend long, as well as capturing as much of the event as possible on video. We are wrapping up the weekend with a Pleasure Mechanics massage workshop, providing a relaxing end to what will surely be a stimulating weekend.

All of your senses can be sources of erotic pleasure. Some of us experience more charge, more arousal from one sense above the rest. It is traditionally thought that men are more turned on by visual stimulation, and women are more aroused by touch.

Truly, we are all sensual individuals, and can experience arousal from all of our senses. It is useful to pay attention to your own arousal patterns and notice what turns you on most quickly.

Is visual stimulation crucial to your arousal, or is it just the same with the lights out? Does the sound of your partner's heavy breathing give you a buzz? Or perhaps you notice the unique smell of your lover every time you brush by one another? Noticing which of your senses are turned on can help you cultivate more pleasure in your life.

Meanwhile, you can choose to develop the senses that you don't pay much attention to. If you become aware of your senses in your day to day life, you will have more erotic pleasure available to you. If you realize that you don't experience much eroticism from your sense of smell, for example, you can choose to notice more smells in your world. Literally, take the time to stop and smell the roses! Smell your food before you eat. If you have a lover, drink in their own unique smell.

Savor the sensuality of your everyday life - experiencing small pleasures throughout the day takes practice, but brings great rewards.

Pleasure is often thought about as being selfish, greedy, or hedonistic. We believe in making Pleasure a Priority. Pleasure does not just happen to us - we must actively choose to cultivate pleasure in our individual lives and in our relationships.

Pleasure is healthy, makes us feel happier, more alive, and gives us energy to fuel our days. We believe that being fulfilled with pleasure makes us better partners, parents, friends and coworkers.

Here are 5 health benefits of pleasure:

#5 - The autonomic nervous system controls the heart, the smooth muscles around your organs, and your glands. There are two modes - Sympathetic and Parasympathetic - Stress and Pleasure. Many adults stay stuck in the stress mode, which has devastating impact on your health. Experiencing pleasure counteracts the impact of stress and gives your body the chance to heal.

#4 - Pleasure is essential for your heart health. Pleasure activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which calms the heart rate, lowers blood pressure and stimulates production of healthy hormones that are highly beneficial to heart health. 

#3 - Every experience of pleasure activates your immune system, providing a measurable and enduring boost to your body's natural defenses. A single moment of pleasure can boost your immune response for up to 6 hours.

#2 - Pleasurable touch alleviates depression. If you are feeling depressed, and are touched or cuddled, your blood chemistry can change in as little as one millionth of a second - the brain instantly responds to pleasurable touch with a flood of endorphins. Studies have shown that many chronically depressed people are also touch starved.

#1 - Experiencing pleasure makes you feel loved. Feeling loved and emotionally secure is essential for the overall health of mammals. Study after study shows that emotional bonds and physical contact allow mammals to thrive. Studies with infants have shown that touch and love are biological needs on par with food and water.

These health benefits should not be underestimated - more and more medical studies are confirming that pleasure, relaxation and love may be the best cure for what ails us!

Ignite Raleigh 2 was a fabulous event, made possible by the good folks at Our Hash Tag, MC Zach Ward and the other sponsors and volunteers.

We were thrilled to present about our passions - Sex and Pleasure. We are committed to sharing the information, strategies and techniques that allow adults to experience more sexual pleasure and become better lovers. It was a challenge to distill the topic down into a 5 minute presentation, and choose images for 20 slides lasting 15 seconds each. We had a lot of fun developing the presentation, and even more fun delivering it. The crowd at the Lincoln Theater were lively, enthusiastic and super supportive of all of the presenters.

From sexy home energy audits to female boxing, nerd girls online to anti-social media, modernist homes to blogging cats,  the presentations were delivered with conviction and humor. It is such an honor to see glimpses into the lives and interests of the brilliant folks here in North Carolina. Ignite Raleigh confirmed our beliefs that this area is one of the most innovative and exciting regions in the country, brimming with interesting, kind and generous folks.

We had such an amazing time at Ignite Raleigh 2 last night - still glowing from the event and amazing feedback we have received on "20 Little Known Facts About Sex & Pleasure"

We'll be posting more soon, but just wanted to say thanks for all the positive feedback and support. We just arrived in Raleigh a few months ago, and are so happy to be here and be part of this amazing community.

If anyone has any specific questions or feedback for us, please do not hesitate to be in touch, here on our site or on twitter @LearnPleasure

Thanks again to the amazing crowd that came out last night and to all the other fabulous presenters!

Our Valentine's Day event in Downtown Raleigh has sold out, and registration is now closed. We have opened enrollment for the workshop on March 14, in our same gorgeous venue in downtown Raleigh. We will also soon announce our next date for the Chapel Hill - Carrboro area.

You can register now and still give a fantastic Valentine's Day gift - the promise of spending the day together in March, learning how to give one another pleasurable full-body massage at home! Write out the date of the massage class on a nice card, wrap it up with chocolates, flowers or champagne and give the gift of massage for years to come!

People often ask what kind of couples enroll in our Couples Massage Workshop. The truth is, all kinds! Our first workshop in North Carolina had couples ranging in age from 20 - 68 years old, couples who had been together 6 months to 35 years. One of the things we love about massage is that it can benefit couples of every age, at every stage of a love relationship.

We are thrilled that our first two workshops - in Carrboro and Raleigh, North Carolina sold out so quickly - we are now exploring bigger venues, and will continue to offer highly effective and pleasurable workshops with a lot of attention to personal coaching - so every couple finishes the day with the skill and confidence to offer their lover amazing full-body massage at home.

Contact Us if you have any questions about our upcoming workshops!