My first career was spent as a Chef, starting at the lowest level after enrolling in Culinary School in Charleston, SC, and working my way up to Sous Chef of one of the most iconic Charleston restaurants: S.N.O.B. or Slightly North of Broad which is the full name of the restaurant. I didn’t realize it at the time, but cooking is all about Eros and sensuality. All I knew is that it all made me feel good. Amazing food would be accompanied by equally delicious alcohols, which would then quite often lead to stimulating drugs and juicy sex. It quickly became a way of life, and an adequate living for a young 20-something finding his way, and it all just seemed like a basic existence. Sure, I knew I was having more fun than someone who was working in an office, but I didn’t really know what I was literally drowning myself in, and it almost killed me. I eventually succumbed to the lure of unconscious pleasure taking me down a path of alcoholism and heavy drug use in an effort to connect and feel loved, and I did catch glimpses of it, but that’s all they were- glimpses. Ephemeral moments that only seemed achievable through a haze of smoke and a beer can (or 12).
I wanted so bad to be loved, to feel safe, to be appreciated, to have self-respect.
My parents had planted the seeds of love, safety, and appreciation, but the early exit of my father from a fatal heart attack left me in free fall as I developed into adulthood physically, but remained emotionally stunted, and closed off to true fulfillment.
Thank god for those seeds, because they eventually sprouted once I approached 30 and started facing the reality that I could end up like my father in an early grave.
Through what can be described only as a series of incredibly FORTUNATE events, I woke up to the possibility that what I was seeking was always inside me, and if I just ALLOWED myself to feel it and embrace it, I could experience love, safety, and appreciation and realize that self-respect is a choice I could make through behaving in a way that is truly loving towards myself.
The Chef became a Yoga student- then teacher, stopped drinking and using substances, and started eating foods that I not only loved, but that loved me BACK, constructing a stronger, leaner, and healthier version of myself- the man I wanted to be! Dropping 50 pounds in about 9 months allowed me to shed not only physical parts of me that I didn’t need anymore, but also old habits, emotions, and thoughts that I wasn’t good enough or deserving of happiness.
People noticed, started asking questions, and the Chef re-emerged and started sharing what I knew about the transformational qualities of healthy foods and drink. Moving and breathing had started the change, food catapulted me so quickly into a new way of being in my body, but there was one more crucial step.
There is a saying that goes something like this: “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”, and that’s when I was introduced to BODY ELECTRIC and my life changed again…
After my first CBE (Celebrating the Body Erotic) workshop, it honestly was not very long before I began my journey as a Sacred Intimate.
Having been steeping my body, mind, and soul in the world of Yoga for several years, the discovery and naming of EROTIC ENERGY made complete sense, and it seemed like the missing piece that brought me back to the pleasures of love, safety, and respect, but this time it felt accessible 24/7 without needing the substances that had been, in fact, numbing me. I began an erotic bodywork practice in earnest in 2007 and began to hone my skills in Sharing Eros with men, waking them up to the possibilities that you know exist through your own experience with Body Electric!
After many years developing my technique, It was 2021 that I finally came BACK to Body Electric as a whole being having integrated the way that I EAT, FUCK, MOVE, AND BREATHE.
In the past few years, I have continued to develop my Sacred Intimacy practice, helping many people achieve a more embodied and pleasurable life.