{"id":940,"date":"2011-07-04T22:20:24","date_gmt":"2011-07-05T02:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/blissblog\/?p=940"},"modified":"2011-07-04T22:20:24","modified_gmt":"2011-07-05T02:20:24","slug":"reclaiming-aphrodite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2011\/07\/reclaiming-aphrodite.html","title":{"rendered":"Reclaiming Aphrodite"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"Reclaiming<\/a><\/p>\n

Aphrodite is known as the Greek Goddess of beauty, love and sexuality.\u00a0As the story goes,\u00a0she\u00a0rose fully formed from the sea. \u00a0Her lovers were many. Clearly, she was a woman who knew her own power. As I am typing this, I am looking at a small statue that I have on my nightstand that is of her image.\u00a0Aphrodite reminds me of the importance of a healthy sense of sexuality. But what happens when, because of sexual abuse, our impulses become stunted, stagnated, exaggerated or addictive? Some of the answers can be found in Amrita Grace’s book entitled Reclaiming Aphrodite: The Journey To Sexual Wholeness\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Based in Hawaii, Amrita is a sex educator, intimacy and relationship coach and author who, along with her husband Apollo\u00a0offers sessions for individuals and couples. She has come along way from being Kimmy, the one who experienced sexual wounding in childhood. As a result, her sense of self was thwarted and she found herself on a path of sexual addiction in an effort to redeem some\u00a0portion of control. Paradoxically, it sent her spiraling out of control as all addictions inevitably do. She sets the stage by framing sexual addiction as ‘chemical dependency’ since the ways in which sexual feelings may land in the mind and body of the person in question, mirror those that a drug addict may feel when craving and then getting their ‘fix’.\u00a0 She asks several questions that may help someone who is wondering whether they too are experiencing sexual addiction. Samples include:<\/p>\n

Do you have feelings of shame or guilt during or after sex?<\/p>\n

Do you coerce or pressure others into having sex with you?<\/p>\n

Do you use sex with others as a way to punish your partner?<\/p>\n

Do you put yourself at risk for sexually transmitted diseases or violence?<\/p>\n

Amrita\u00a0indicates that if the reader can answer yes to any of these questions, then there is something to explore further.<\/p>\n

The book is a journey through healing into recovery as seen through the lenses of the chakra system. The word comes from Sanskrit and means ‘wheel’. Chakras\u00a0are considered swirling energy vortices. Each one has a representative purpose, color, symbol and sound\u00a0and can be used as guides to determine areas of our lives that call out for healing.<\/p>\n

There are also meditation\/visualization exercises, journaling, setting intention, deepening spiritual practice ideas contained in the book.<\/p>\n

By the end\u00a0 Amrita expresses gratitude that she has emerged from her self destructive patterns into a sense of integrity and and honoring the complete woman she has become. She is what I think of as a thriver, since she continues to reach out to those in need who may have been or may still be in the perilous place in which she once dwelled.<\/p>\n

www.grace-awakening.com<\/a><\/p>\n

www.amritagrace.com<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Aphrodite is known as the Greek Goddess of beauty, love and sexuality.\u00a0As the story goes,\u00a0she\u00a0rose fully formed from the sea. \u00a0Her lovers were many. Clearly, she was a woman who knew her own power. As I am typing this, I am looking at a small statue that I have on my nightstand that is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":233,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,55,19,3,22,14,4,30,7,52,48,10,37],"tags":[505,506,507,509,510,508],"class_list":["post-940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-attracting-what-you-desire","category-book-review","category-empowerment","category-gratitude","category-healing","category-how-to-invite-bliss","category-inspiration","category-love","category-re-creating-your-life","category-recovery","category-sexuality","category-spirituality","category-writing","tag-amrita-grace","tag-apollo-grace","tag-reclaiming-aphrodite","tag-sex-addiction","tag-sex-educator","tag-sexual-abuse"],"yoast_head":"\nReclaiming Aphrodite - The Bliss Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2011\/07\/reclaiming-aphrodite.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reclaiming Aphrodite - The Bliss Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Aphrodite is known as the Greek Goddess of beauty, love and sexuality.\u00a0As the story goes,\u00a0she\u00a0rose fully formed from the sea. \u00a0Her lovers were many. 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She has also contributed to several anthologies and personal growth books. Edie has interviewed such notables as Ram Dass, Wayne Dyer, Debbie Ford, don Miguel Ruiz, don Miguel Ruiz, Jr. Marianne Williamson, Grover Washington, Jr. Noah Levine, Shirley MacLaine, Dennis Weaver, Ben and Jerry and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. She calls herself an Opti-mystic who sees the world through the eyes of possibility. 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