Dawn Cartwright

06/10/2025

The Sacred Pause - Cultivating Inner Spaciousness
The Be Fully Alive Podcast
 
It’s that time of year when darkness overtakes light and I feel (almost) guilty for loving this turn as much as I do.
 
The way my body settles in and gets quiet in the weeks and months after the Autumn Equinox feels so incredibly good.
 
The brilliance of self-examination and truth have been extraordinary these weeks. And I know there is more to come.
 
A natural turning within. 
 
Our live practice session for October happens this Tuesday. A time to be deeply still with yourself - and me and others.
 
The gifts of the NeoTa**ra practice continue to wow me. I have the sense they will wow you too. Come on in and find out what all the stir is all about.
 
Join at the EMBODY or EVOLVE tier to participate - link in bio.
 
Dawn
 
p.s. This week’s newsletter contains many things - a quote from Adrienne Rich, an excerpt from Osho’s Ta**ra Vision, a dark and smoky Spotify Playlist, an introduction to our Embody Empress, Isabelle Loeb, the October, November and December Live Zoom Practice Session details, a new collection, “DAYDREAMS & MEANDERS” - and more. Access via link in bio.

*xuality

26/08/2025

The Ancient Art of Energy Cultivation
 
How ancient is ancient?
 
2,500 years?
 
4,000 years?
 
This morning? (If you've been hard at it since the break of day.) 
 
What I've discovered, at least for myself, is the faster I propel myself toward the future - or the more things I put on my to do list - the faster time passes. And suddenly I'm nowhere at all.
 
I missed a special moment with a friend.
 
I forgot to feel your body when you hugged me just now.
 
I didn't hear that last thing you said.
 
Lucky for me, and for all of us, time has a way of folding in on itself. The truths that are true don't stop being true just because I've checked out.
 
Plato wrote about eros and the tryst between heaven and earth within the neural architecture of the spine more than two thousand years ago. 
 
Yogis in the Indus Valley were sitting in postures to activate the s*xual serpent and send it surging toward the crown even earlier. 
 
And here we sit, longing for something that has always been here. 
 
This is your invitation to arrive - here - back at the beginning. 
 
Where eros reveals the geometry of your longing.
 
And time stops. And catches its breath. 
 

12/08/2025

What happens when a successful, emotionally intelligent man suddenly loses access to the intimacy he's always known? When someone who can present to investors without breaking a sweat finds himself paralyzed by performance anxiety in the one place he used to feel most confident?

This is David's story—a composite drawn from many clients who've walked this path from disconnection back to embodied presence.

David had everything that looked like success: the career, the relationship, the life that worked. But when his body stopped responding the way it always had, everything began to unravel. Despite medical tests showing perfect health, shame and anxiety created a spiral that threatened not just his s*xual connection with Elena, but their entire relationship.

You might recognize David's experience - the way performance anxiety can turn every kiss into an audition, every touch into a test of your worth. The subtle avoidance that creeps in when we don't want to face another disappointment. The feeling of being trapped in your own head when all you want is to be present in your body.

David's journey shows us something profound - that the path back to intimate connection isn't through trying harder, but through the radical act of relaxing into what we're actually feeling in our bodies and emotions while staying connected to our partner.

Through practices of titration and pendulation—working with tiny increments of sensation while learning to move between activation and calm—David discovered that his arousal and anxiety were separate energies. That shame could be felt without being overwhelming or shutting him down. That trust could be resourced within himself, one breath at a time.

The most surprising discovery? When he stopped performing and started being present, he accessed experiences he didn't even know were possible—including full-body arousal that had nothing to do with performance and everything to do with acceptance.

Six months later, David wrote - "I used to think relaxing was giving up. Now I understand it's actually a powerful shift to being more authentic."

This story isn't just about s*xual healing—it's about what becomes possible when we move from mind-based control to body-based trust. When we stop fighting our experience and start opening to it in a systematic way.
 
Whether you're struggling with performance anxiety, feeling disconnected from your partner, or simply wanting to deepen your capacity for embodied intimacy, David's journey illuminates the path from fear to trust, from performance to presence.

Listen To David's Story Via Link In Bio 🌊🌊🌊

**ra

07/08/2025

You know that feeling when you're supposed to be relaxing but your body is still buzzing with the day's stress? When you want to be present with your partner but your mind won't stop spinning?

This is where the revolutionary act of actually relaxing becomes real in our bodies—a gentle guided practice of being with the tension in your jaw when you're trying to fall asleep, the knot in your stomach during difficult conversations, the tightness in your chest when you feel misunderstood.

This is the practice that changes how we show up in our most vulnerable moments—when we're triggered by our partner, when we want to be close but feel guarded, when pleasure feels just out of reach.

Using somatic principles that teach our nervous systems to pendulate between overwhelm and receptivity, we move from our mind's urge to control into the vast, intelligent landscape of our felt experience where true transformation becomes possible.

This is what makes relaxation so revolutionary. It's not about managing stress or optimizing performance. It's about returning to ourselves and each other, from an open, available and receptive place.

Whether it's the overwhelm of your morning routine, the frustration that shows up during intimacy, or the anxiety that visits at 3am—this practice teaches us to stop trying to fix ourselves and start being with ourselves.

Rediscovering the natural responsiveness that is still there, always there, beneath the tension.

In this week's practice episode you'll create an inner relationship with the edges that feel tight and the spaces that feel resourced. By the end of this practice, you'll know exactly how to find your calm in the middle of activation—and how to stay connected to yourself and your partner even when things feel intense.

An opportunity to expand your inner capacity to relax into the limitless possibilities that appear in every moment.

Link in bio! ✨🎧✨

*x

07/08/2025

One of my favorite things to do when I’m preparing a podcast is to dig deep into all kinds of articles, stories and revelations - then stand back and watch as something I hadn’t expected takes shape.
 
I’m never disappointed. 
 
The articles, stories and revelations I dig into consistently reveal bits of unexpected new information that change the way I look at everything.
 
This is not an exaggeration. 
 
This week, I discovered that the average person holds chronic muscle tension in at least 12 different areas of their body simultaneously.
 
(According to recent research from Harvard Medical School.) 
 
First, I want to know who these people are who are aware of their bodies to such a degree they CAN distinguish (FEEL) 12 separate parts. 
 
Want to give it a try? Ready. Set. Go.
 
How many parts did you count? Of those parts, how many hold chronic tension?
 
And this is where the good stuff lives. Most of us - myself included - have embraced the chronic tension in our bodies so completely we are #1. Unaware it exists and #2. Unable to distinguish 12 separate parts of our bodies because many of those parts have gone to sleep. This is such a great jumping off point.
 
Our chronic tension contains a vast ocean of aliveness. Chronic physical tension, chronic emotional tension, chronic (everything and anything) tension is filled with possibility. 
 
And connection.
 
And freedom.
 
This midsummer, as we trek the path to transcendent s*x, we’ll continue to meet all that possibility. With awareness and love - and relaxation. 

25/07/2025

We've been asking all the wrong questions. 

Truly connected intimacy, with each other and ourselves, appears effortlessly once we know the right questions to ask - making the shift from asking "why" to asking "how." 
 
I recently discovered that the secret to feeling fluid in my body and my relationships comes down to the questions I ask. And suddenly an old injury I thought would limit me forever has even started to shift, making space for more sensitivity and feeling in my body.

When I skip the baseline and jump straight into "fixing" or "improving," I'm actually operating from the very mindset that created disconnection in the first place - the mental space of "I should be different than I am."
 
I discovered the only thing keeping me tight and inflexible was my perspective. 
 
In this practice episode you'll explore authentic embodiment through awareness and physical practice. 
 
Check Out Your Body’s Secret Intelligence Practice Via Link In Bio

24/07/2025

Ever notice how the best conversations, most inspiring hikes, and transcendent lo******ng all have one thing in common?
 
They all happened when you were younger and had fewer responsibilities. 😳
 
Meet Jack and Susan. 
 
Jack is 43, a forensic accountant who specializes in entertainment industry fraud investigations - he's the guy who figures out when someone's been skimming money from film budgets or when a streaming platform's numbers don't add up.
 
He lives in Los Feliz with his wife Susan, who's a film set designer known for creating these incredible immersive worlds that make audiences forget they're watching a movie.
 
They have two kids, ages 5 and 7, and from the outside, their life looks pretty enviable.
 
They've been married 14 years and remain genuinely good friends - they laugh together, they respect each other's work, they're excellent co-parents.
 
But here's where things get interesting, and where their story becomes relevant to all of us: Jack and Susan have completely different erotic personalities, and this difference, which once felt exciting and complementary, had become a source of growing disconnect.
 
Jack loves spontaneous intimacy. He's drawn to that free-form, in-the-moment kind of connection where desire just ignites and you follow it wherever it leads. Susan, with her dancer's precision and set designer's attention to detail, likes to plan time and space for intimacy. She wants to anticipate connection, to prepare for it, to create the right environment so she can fully relax and be present.
 
When they first met, this felt like a perfect match. Jack would surprise Susan with his spontaneous desire, and she would create these beautiful, intentional spaces for their connection. But over 14 years, something had shifted.
 
Jack and Susan's story (woven from many client experiences) reveals what happens when two people practice the shift from analytical "why" to embodied "how" in their daily lives.
 
From crazy schedules, to truly touching intimate moments, witness how baseline awareness revolutionized their connection in just one week. 
 
Their journey shows what becomes possible when we begin where we actually are rather than where we think we should be.
 
Listen To Jack & Susan's Story via link in bio.

24/07/2025

Ever notice how the best conversations, most inspiring hikes, and transcendent lo******ng all have one thing in common?
 
They all happened when you were younger and had fewer responsibilities. 😳
 
Meet Jack and Susan. 
 
Jack is 43, a forensic accountant who specializes in entertainment industry fraud investigations - he's the guy who figures out when someone's been skimming money from film budgets or when a streaming platform's numbers don't add up.
 
He lives in Los Feliz with his wife Susan, who's a film set designer known for creating these incredible immersive worlds that make audiences forget they're watching a movie.
 
They have two kids, ages 5 and 7, and from the outside, their life looks pretty enviable.
 
Jack spends his weekends hiking the trails around Griffith Observatory or catching waves at Malibu when the surf's good. Susan, who's been a ballerina since childhood, still takes class several times a week at a studio in Silver Lake.
 
They've been married 14 years and remain genuinely good friends - they laugh together, they respect each other's work, they're excellent co-parents.
 
But here's where things get interesting, and where their story becomes relevant to all of us: Jack and Susan have completely different erotic personalities, and this difference, which once felt exciting and complementary, had become a source of growing disconnect.
 
Jack loves spontaneous intimacy. He's drawn to that free-form, in-the-moment kind of connection where desire just ignites and you follow it wherever it leads. Susan, with her dancer's precision and set designer's attention to detail, likes to plan time and space for intimacy. She wants to anticipate connection, to prepare for it, to create the right environment so she can fully relax and be present.
 
When they first met, this felt like a perfect match. Jack would surprise Susan with his spontaneous desire, and she would create these beautiful, intentional spaces for their connection. But over 14 years, something had shifted.
 
Jack and Susan's story (woven from many client experiences) reveals what happens when two people practice the shift from analytical "why" to embodied "how" in their daily lives.
 
From crazy schedules, to truly touching intimate moments, witness how baseline awareness revolutionized their connection in just one week. 
 
Their journey shows what becomes possible when we begin where we actually are rather than where we think we should be.
 
Listen To Jack & Susan's Story via link in bio.

08/07/2025