Sex.Love.Power.: Skills for a pleasure-fueled marriage at every stage

Michele Lisenbury Christensen
  • 5.0 (23)
  • Relationships

Our pleasure can be the fuel for abundant, sustainable work, service, and play throughout our long lives. Our sexuality can be a wholesome pillar of our daily experience.   Our marriages can be fueled by desire rather than duty. Monogamy can be the hottest place on earth. It’s a confusing time to be a heterosexual, monogamous couple.  The love and passion you desire may be more an inner urge than something you really see people around you living.  But there are a growing community of devoted couples creating monogamy as a conscious spiritual crucible.  Couples are using their marriages to fuel their leadership and service and activism.  Welcome to Sex. Love. Power. where we convene the conversations that unlock new possibilities in your life and relationship.   I’m your host, Michele Christensen. Since 1997, I’ve helped thousands of couples create the love and sex they desire.  Kurt and I, in 26 years of marriage and adventures together before that, have suffered, avoided, dared, and triumphed in countless ways.  Now, I’m here to help you get more peace, more connection, and more passion in your days and nights, so you’ve got the energy and attention left over to be the change you wish to see in the wider world. Everything you want in love and sex and beyond starts with YOU, and it starts right now. Let’s tend your flame.

  1. 02/12/2025

    Heroine's Heartache: Why marriage frustrates powerful, abundant women

    This is an exclusive preview of my limited private podcast series: Elevate Your Marriage to Great! This podcast series is for you if you're an ambitious, growth-oriented woman who is tired of not receiving the passion, partnership, and potency you know is possible in your long-term relationship. If you loved this episode and want to hear more, you can get the full series for free at ourlegacylove.com/elevate ------------------ You're brilliant. You're accomplished. But you're frustrated. In the first episode of this limited series, I solve a mystery that troubles powerful women like you: "I'm such a skilled creator and problem solver in other areas of my life: work, home, fitness... Why is my marriage the one place I can't make any headway?" There is nothing wrong with you if you have this question. You're not broken or bad for feeling or thinking it. AND there is so much power available to you when you recognize the root of your frustrations. Today, I'll reveal the five key reasons why you're struggling to achieve deep intimacy and satisfying relationships with men. These are the answers I wish I could have given myself 20 years ago. As you listen, I hope you’ll feel seen and understood in a way you haven’t before. Make sure to subscribe to Elevate Your Marriage to Great to get the rest of the episodes! Ready to elevate your relationship with my help? Book your free Relationship Audit, together as a couple or on your own, 1:1. Connect with me on Instagram: @tinylovehabits New here? Subscribe so you never miss an episode. If the conversations on this podcast are resonating for you, please leave a rating and ideally a review on your favorite podcast platform. Ready to bring about a transformation in your relationship to yourself, your body, and your partner?  CLICK HERE to apply for a consultation.

    Heroine's Heartache: Why marriage frustrates powerful, abundant women

  2. 06/02/2024

    Four Stages of Love

    “The day that you wake up, and you realize that you have been had, and the person you’re sleeping with is not the person you fell in love with, that’s the first day of your real marriage.” - James Framo. In this episode, my husband and I walk you through our journey through the four stages of relationship. Whether you're wondering why marriage is so hard or seeking ways to reignite the passion, join us as we delve into the intricacies of navigating these stages and finding grace in each one. In this episode, you’ll hear about: How Kurt and I navigated the four stages of relationshipsStrategies we've used to navigate challenges and conflicts in our 27-year marriage.The three components of fostering intimacy and connection beyond the reckoningOur experience with embracing imperfections and growing together as individuals and as a coupleThe iterative process of facing yourself and your relationship with honesty and authenticity every dayAnd more. “Marriage is a crucible that turns you into who you were meant to be... It's like a rock tumbler making gems beautiful, banging off the rough edges.” RESOURCES OR LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Embracing Pain + Beauty with Special Guest Myra Sack The Five Winning Relationship Strategies episode The Five Losing Relationship Strategies episode How to Stay, When to Go episode 100-Year Marriage episode Ready to elevate your relationship with my help? Book your free Relationship Audit, together as a couple or on your own, 1:1. Connect with me on Instagram: @tinylovehabits New here? Subscribe so you never miss an episode. If the conversations on this podcast are resonating for you, please leave a rating and ideally a review on your favorite podcast platform. Ready to bring about a transformation in your relationship to yourself, your body, and your partner?  CLICK HERE to apply for a consultation.

    Four Stages of Love

  3. 05/18/2024

    Embracing Pain and Beauty with Special Guest Myra Sack

    Today, I'm so grateful to share with you a profoundly moving conversation with Myra Sack, a woman who embodies the essence of resilience and intimacy with life. In her newly released book,57 Fridays: Losing Our Daughter, Finding Our Way, Myra brings us into the intimate journey through the immense grief of losing her daughter, Havi, to Tay-Sachs disease. I wanted to bring Myra onto the show to explore the delicate balance between the most painful and beautiful moments of our lives. It's a must-listen for anyone seeking to face their pain and find a source of profound connection and authenticity. In this episode, you’ll hear about: Myra's practice of "Shabbirthdays" and the power of ritualHow to face and embrace fear to avoid being paralyzed by itThe importance of emotional granularityThe role of self-awareness and self-trust in developing psychological resilienceHow to foster community support during times of profound personal crisis.And more. “We are so afraid to turn towards the deepest, most painful, real reality that we miss the opportunity to experience the deepest joy and the fullest love” Get your copy of 57 Fridays: Losing Our Daughter, Finding Our Way Learn about E-Motion, the non-profit Myra founded to “support community, movement and ritual to enhance coping and resilience” Follow Myra on Instagram @myrasack Ready to elevate your relationship with my help? Book your free Relationship Audit, together as a couple or on your own, 1:1. Connect with me on Instagram: @tinylovehabits New here? Subscribe so you never miss an episode. If the conversations on this podcast are resonating for you, please leave a rating and ideally a review on your favorite podcast platform. Ready to bring about a transformation in your relationship to yourself, your body, and your partner?  CLICK HERE to apply for a consultation.

    Embracing Pain and Beauty with Special Guest Myra Sack

  4. 04/26/2024

    From People Pleaser to Truly Generous

    I want to go deep with you today about something that's been coming up a lot in my life and work: what it means to embrace our power and pleasure as women. For the longest time, I used to feel guilty for wanting more, for desiring abundance and joy in my life. But, after many years of being stifled under my feelings of shame, I realized something. And now, I'm here to share that revelation with you, to show you a different way to navigate this world as a woman. In this episode, you’ll hear about: Why viewing yourself as a woman built to receive can transform your relationships and your life.The liberating truth I’m learning about seeking approval from others (or pissing them off!)How your deepest desires can serve as divine guidanceThe transformative power of embracing self-careHow cultivating abundance within yourself can enrich the lives of those around you.And more. “There's no limit to how expansive your life can be. There's no way in which your expansion takes away from anyone else. You grew it. If you're doing it from your own honesty, your own love, you're not hijacking anyone else to take what's rightfully theirs. You're in fact growing what's yours. And as you do that, you have a right to absolutely anything you can imagine opening your receptivity to. ”-Michele Christensen Ready to elevate your relationship with my help? Book your free Relationship Audit, together as a couple or on your own, 1:1. Connect with me on Instagram: @tinylovehabits New here? Subscribe so you never miss an episode. If the conversations on this podcast are resonating for you, please leave a rating and ideally a review on your favorite podcast platform. Ready to bring about a transformation in your relationship to yourself, your body, and your partner?  CLICK HERE to apply for a consultation.

    From People Pleaser to Truly Generous

  5. 04/12/2024

    Relationship Help That Works for Men

    So often, we find ourselves stuck in the same old patterns, grappling with conflicts or feeling disconnected. We try workshops, therapy, self-help books, but somehow, things just don't stick. After today's episode, you'll understand why and what steps to take next. Through working in this way, I've seen couples completely turn things around in as little as three days, or a couple of focused weeks. So today I'm going to show you how best to use your precious energy. In this episode, you’ll hear about: What doesn't work in getting help for your relationship.The three things that really do make the biggest difference.The framework that’s been tremendously helpful in my marriage and my clients’Why this method works way better for men than the other approaches I’ve triedAnd more. “The reason we've been doing things the way we've been doing them is because of the patterns we brought into the relationship. We have deep devotion to repeating our patterns because at some point those patterns were survival level necessary” -Michele Christensen Learn more about Terry Real at Terry Real - Relational Life Therapy. Ready to elevate your relationship with my help? Book your free Relationship Audit, together as a couple or on your own, 1:1. Connect with me on Instagram: @tinylovehabits New here? Subscribe so you never miss an episode. If the conversations on this podcast are resonating for you, please leave a rating and ideally a review on your favorite podcast platform. Ready to bring about a transformation in your relationship to yourself, your body, and your partner?  CLICK HERE to apply for a consultation.

    Relationship Help That Works for Men

  6. 03/08/2024

    How I Cultivate Inner Growth

    I was so grateful to sit down and record with my teacher, Eric Klein, the founder ofWisdom Heart along with his wife, Devi. I wanted you to hear from him what he's teaching me about my body, mind, spirit, and the way that those interact with the experiences I have in my marriage, my earning, my business -- pretty much in every area of my life. I am thrilled for you all to hear Eric talk with us about some of the ways that you can apply planetary astrology, the chakras, meditation, and the spiritual path in general to evolve more of what you want in love and life. In this episode, you’ll hear about: Both of our journeys with Kriya YogaThe power of practice and why it resonates with me and so many other womenThe connection between planetary astrology and our inner chakrasOur definition of intimacy and how it can show us our greatest teachersAnd more. “Intimacy is another word for awakening because it's really reducing the layers of self protection in order to become more and more connected to life. The most potent aspects of life come to us as human beings.” -Eric Klein Learn more and connect with Eric at wisdomheart.com or @wisdom.heart on Instagram! Ready to elevate your relationship with my help? Book your free Relationship Audit, together as a couple or on your own, 1:1. Connect with me on Instagram: @tinylovehabits New here? Subscribe so you never miss an episode. If the conversations on this podcast are resonating for you, please leave a rating and ideally a review on your favorite podcast platform. Ready to bring about a transformation in your relationship to yourself, your body, and your partner?  CLICK HERE to apply for a consultation.

    How I Cultivate Inner Growth

  7. 06/15/2023

    11 Surprising Libido Killers

    So many women come to me wanting to turn up their libidos and experience more and better orgasms. I start by asking them 11 questions that, on the surface, don’t seem directly related to erotic desire. But the answers that women give me tell me a ton about their relationships with themselves, their turn-on, their bodies, their sensations, and with their capacity to contain embodied experiences, both desired experiences and not desired experiences. In this episode, I'm going to ask you those same 11 questions that tell me whether or not you are in a robust, joyful relationship with your own desires, receptivity, and pleasure. You’ll hear about: Why I ask each of these questions and the common answers I hear from clientsWhy and how these libido killers affect women specificallyHow to cultivate a desire in ways that have nothing to do with your partnerSimple practices you can add to your day to experience more turn-on throughout your lifeAnd more. “Our capacity for pleasant sensations is always conscribed by our capacity for unpleasant, unwanted sensations, the things we fear, the things we're angry about, the things that we have grief about.” -Michele Christensen Hot Moments in This Episode: How you wake up matters [10:20]A note about dressing sexy [16:05]Why you need to put on your own oxygen mask first [25:36]What your inner pleasure goddess wants for you [31:15]Ready to elevate your relationship with my help? Book your free Relationship Audit, together as a couple or on your own, 1:1. Connect with me on Instagram: @tinylovehabits New here? Subscribe so you never miss an episode. If the conversations on this podcast are resonating for you, please leave a rating and ideally a review on your favorite podcast platform. Ready to bring about a transformation in your relationship to yourself, your body, and your partner?  CLICK HERE to apply for a consultation.

    11 Surprising Libido Killers

  8. 05/12/2023

    Gaslighting "Lite" in Otherwise Good Marriages

    The term “gaslighting” has become a buzzword in recent years and, because of its widespread use, the meaning of this term has become a bit murky. Today, I want to talk about what I call “gaslighting lite” or the ways that understanding the gaslight effect can help you navigate when gaslighting behaviors show up in your otherwise healthy relationship. In this episode, you’ll learn: Common areas in which many, many people gaslight our partners or other people in our livesWhy gaslighting shows up in otherwise healthy relationshipsHow you may be unconsciously participating in this patternHow you can extricate yourself from this painful cycle, whichever side of it you are onAnd more. “Subconscious parts of us react in a knee-jerk fashion that might be out of character for us, might almost be like a different person's behavior, and that subconscious part does that in order to protect the blind spot.” -Michele Christensen Hot Moments in This Episode: How I’ve participated in “gaslighting lite” and how I intervened [13:48]The way you or your partner is acting like a 15-year-old [16:28]What can happen when you start calling out these behaviors [17:52]RESOURCES OR LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: We Can Do Hard Things Podcast: Are You Being Gaslighted? The Gaslight Effect by Dr. Robin Stern The Gaslight Effect Recovery Guide by Dr. Robin Stern What is DARVO? by Dr. Jennifer J. Freyd Ready to elevate your relationship with my help? Book your free Relationship Audit, together as a couple or on your own, 1:1. Connect with me on Instagram: @tinylovehabits New here? Subscribe so you never miss an episode. If the conversations on this podcast are resonating for you, please leave a rating and ideally a review on your favorite podcast platform. Ready to bring about a transformation in your relationship to yourself, your body, and your partner?  CLICK HERE to apply for a consultation.

    Gaslighting "Lite" in Otherwise Good Marriages
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Our pleasure can be the fuel for abundant, sustainable work, service, and play throughout our long lives. Our sexuality can be a wholesome pillar of our daily experience.   Our marriages can be fueled by desire rather than duty. Monogamy can be the hottest place on earth. It’s a confusing time to be a heterosexual, monogamous couple.  The love and passion you desire may be more an inner urge than something you really see people around you living.  But there are a growing community of devoted couples creating monogamy as a conscious spiritual crucible.  Couples are using their marriages to fuel their leadership and service and activism.  Welcome to Sex. Love. Power. where we convene the conversations that unlock new possibilities in your life and relationship.   I’m your host, Michele Christensen. Since 1997, I’ve helped thousands of couples create the love and sex they desire.  Kurt and I, in 26 years of marriage and adventures together before that, have suffered, avoided, dared, and triumphed in countless ways.  Now, I’m here to help you get more peace, more connection, and more passion in your days and nights, so you’ve got the energy and attention left over to be the change you wish to see in the wider world. Everything you want in love and sex and beyond starts with YOU, and it starts right now. Let’s tend your flame.

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