Deeper With Darshana

Darshana Avila

The podcast for soulful seekers, liberated lovers, the courageously curious and anyone who aspires to evolve in those ways. Get ready for stimulation, provocation and transformation - mind, spirit and body - as we go Deeper, together. Join Darshana Avila—somatic sex and relationship expert, international speaker, and Erotic Wholeness transformational guide—for honest, unfiltered conversations exploring sex and intimacy, soul and social justice, healing and wholeness, pleasure and power and so much more. Each episode is an invitation to deepen your own journey of personal liberation and transformation. Darshana and her guests share real stories, practical wisdom, and the kind of radical honesty that sparks action and aliveness. Whether you’re seeking to deepen your relationship with yourself, your partner, or your community, this podcast is your space to get curious, get real, and get free.

Episodes

  1. 6 DAYS AGO

    Trauma, Safety, and the Radical Permission to Feel Joy with Jimanekia Eborn

    In this episode, Darshana is joined by Jimanekia Eborn, widely known as the Trauma Queen, for a conversation that is honest, grounded, and unexpectedly joyful. Together, they explore trauma not only as something to survive, but as something that can be metabolized through safety, humor, pleasure, spirituality, and community. Jimanekia brings nearly two decades of experience in trauma education, survivor advocacy, and systems change, alongside her own lived experience as a sexual assault survivor and the daughter of a survivor. This conversation moves fluidly between grief and laughter, depth and practicality, offering listeners permission to relate to trauma without becoming defined by it. About JimanekiaJimanekia Eborn is a trauma specialist, educator, creative, and strategist with over 17 years of experience in mental health, sexuality education, and survivor advocacy. She is the founder of Tending the Garden, a nonprofit organization that supports survivors of sexual assault from marginalized communities, and the host of the Trauma Queen podcast. Jimanekia’s work bridges care, culture, and systems change consulting with media, education, and wellness organizations on trauma-informed practices and equity-driven leadership. She is also the co-founder of CINTIMA, expanding representation in intimacy coordination across film and TV. While doing consulting work on film and media for true crime with Lenora Claire. Connect with Jimanekia Website: traumaqueen.loveInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/jimanekia/ | tendingthegarden.love | https://www.instagram.com/tendingthegarden.4.sas/In this episode Darshana mentioned the book Eve: How The Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon. Find out more at CatbohannonEve — Cat BohannonConnect with Darshana:Darshana has supported thousands of people across the world to claim their Erotic Wholeness. Whether you begin with a self paced journey taken from the comfort of your own home or work with her directly for the transformational experience of a lifetime, your path to the pleasure, power and purpose you’re truly made for is just a step away! Learn more: DarshanaAvila.com/offerings for courses and details about her private practiceDarshanaAvila.com/community to enter the Galgasm community hub full of free resourcesYouTube.com/@darshana_avila for tons of inspired lessons, interviews and more

    39 min
  2. 5 FEB

    Returning to Kinship: Indigenous Wisdom, Matriarchy, and Belonging with Monique Castro

    In this episode, Darshana is joined by Monique Castro, a licensed marriage and family therapist of Navajo and Mexican descent, and the founder and CEO of Indigenous Circle of Wellness. Together, they explore Indigenous worldviews of healing, kinship, matriarchy, and belonging, and what it means to return to relational ways of living in a culture shaped by individualism and disconnection. This conversation moves through lived experience, lineage, culture, and professional practice, offering a grounded and expansive look at healing as something that happens in relationship, across generations, and in connection with land. In this episode, we explore: What it means to return to Indigenous ways of healingKinship as a worldview rooted in interconnection with people, land, and more-than-human beingsCollectivist approaches to wellness versus Western individualismGrowing up in a matriarchal and matrilineal Navajo householdWisdom as leadership rather than domination or controlHow matriarchy shapes decision-making, family structure, and community careTwo-Spirit identity as sacred within Indigenous traditionsThe role of Two-Spirit elders in family and community lifeGender beyond binary frameworksCollege, dating, and leadership culture shock for women raised in matriarchal homesThe impact of colonization, relocation, and church systems on Indigenous identityReconnecting to spirituality outside of religious harmHealing as remembrance rather than fixingCreating belonging and chosen familyLand as a living source of wisdom and reconnection About Monique: Monique Castro, LMFT (Navajo/Mexican) is the Founder & CEO of Indigenous Circle of Wellness, a thriving multi-site private psychotherapy and wellness practice serving communities across Southern California and virtually statewide. Rooted in culture and community, Indigenous Circle of Wellness centers the healing of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color through therapy, wellness circles, and leadership development. Connect with Monique: Website: https://www.icowellness.com/Instagram: @indigenouscircleofwellness | @moniquecastro.coachConnect with Darshana: Darshana has supported thousands of people across the world to claim their Erotic Wholeness. Whether you begin with a self paced journey taken from the comfort of your own home or work with her directly for the transformational experience of a lifetime, your path to the pleasure, power and purpose you’re truly made for is just a step away! Learn more: DarshanaAvila.com/offeringsDarshanaAvila.com/communityYouTube.com/@darshana_avila

    47 min
  3. 29 JAN

    Surrender: The Common Roots of Kink & Faith with KJ Song

    In this episode, Darshana is joined by KJ Song for a bold, tender, and deeply thoughtful conversation at the intersection of devotion, kink, spirituality, queerness and erotic aliveness. Together, they explore how faith, doubt, praise, sexuality, and care can coexist, and how reclaiming these connections can open new pathways to healing, belonging, and power. KJ shares their personal journey into music, faith, kink, and ministry, including how embodied experiences in kink spaces mirrored and deepened their experiences of surrender, awe, and presence in spiritual contexts. This conversation invites listeners to question inherited narratives about religion, sexuality, and care, and to imagine what becomes possible when these realms are integrated rather than separated. In this episode, we explore: Reclaiming the word God outside of shame, fear, and exclusionSpirituality as a felt, embodied experience rather than belief alonePraise as an erotic, emotional, and communal practiceDoubt as an essential component of faith rather than its oppositeKink as a form of embodied care and pastoral presencePlatonic kink and non-sexual erotic experiencesSex work beyond narrow cultural definitions of sexErotic aliveness as life force, creativity, and vitalityWhy surrender in kink can mirror surrender in prayerCare as the common thread linking kink, ministry, and healingQueering love, care, and intimacy beyond normative scriptsCommunity singing as a site of repair for religious harmThe lineage of queer, trans, and Black spiritual eldersReturning to ancient integrations of sex, spirit, and healing About KJ:KJ Song (they/them) is a queer music minister, holistic kink practitioner, and Master of Divinity student who leads transformative spaces at the intersection of Spirit, song, and rowdy liberation. As the founder and director of Sing Praise! and The Prayerotic Way, KJ blends Gospel-inspired roots, ritual leadership, and radical welcome to create gatherings that are as joyful as they are healing. They love their piano, bacon, and going to bed at a geriatric hour most of all. Connect with KJ: Voice practice and Sing Praise gatherings: https://www.kjsong.com/singpraiseHolistic kink sessions: https://prayerotic.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kjpraisesongCity of Refuge: https://www.cityofrefugeucc.org/Connect with Darshana:Darshana has supported thousands of people across the world to claim their Erotic Wholeness. Whether you begin with a self paced journey taken from the comfort of your own home or work with her directly for the transformational experience of a lifetime, your path to the pleasure, power and purpose you’re truly made for is just a step away! Learn more: DarshanaAvila.com/offeringsDarshanaAvila.com/communityYouTube.com/@darshana_avila

    53 min
  4. 23 JAN

    One Breath Can Change Everything: Healing, Intimacy, and Non-Ordinary States with Claudia Nanino

    In this episode, Darshana is joined by Claudia Nanino, a master breathwork facilitator, crystal curator, and guide into non-ordinary states of consciousness, for a rich conversation about breath as a portal to healing, embodiment, intimacy, and self-forgiveness. Claudia shares her personal story of divorce, infidelity, shame, and reckoning, and how conscious breathwork became the turning point that allowed her to release emotional charge, reconnect with her body, and reclaim her life force. Together, Darshana and Claudia explore breath not as a performance or optimization tool, but as a simple, profound, and accessible path back to presence. In this episode, we talked about: How a single breath can begin to regulate the nervous systemThe science behind six intentional breaths and measurable stress reductionQuality over quantity in self-care and healing practicesClaudia’s journey through divorce, shame, and self-forgivenessInfidelity as an attempt to meet unmet needsBreathwork as a catalyst for emotional release and integrationConscious breathwork as a non-ordinary state of consciousnessThe difference between breathwork styles and conscious breathworkBreathwork as an alternative or complement to psychedelicsWhy subtle, peaceful experiences are just as valuable as cathartic onesThe relationship between breath, embodiment, and intimacyRelaxation as a foundation for arousal and pleasureSlowing the breath to deepen erotic connectionBreath as an accessible embodiment practice for modern nervous systems About Claudia: Claudia Nanino is a master breathwork facilitator, crystal curator, and an explorer of non-ordinary states of consciousness. She found her way along this path after western approaches to healing from a devastating divorce and struggles with addictive behavior left her disconnected from her heart and out of alignment. After encountering Conscious Breathwork, which took her personal healing journey to the next level, she completed a 250+ hour apprenticeship, plus trauma informed and healing with psychedelics training, and is now fully devoted to helping others heal, forgive and love themselves fully.   Connect with Claudia: Website: https://www.amarsi.love/Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/amarsi.claudia | https://www.instagram.com/claudiananino | https://www.instagram.com/amarsi.crystals Retreats and virtual offerings available through her website Claudia offers a welcome discount for first-time sessions and sliding scale options to ensure accessibility. Connect with Darshana:DarshanaAvila.com/offerings for courses and details about her private practiceDarshanaAvila.com/community to enter the Galgasm community hub full of free resourcesYouTube.com/@darshana_avila for tons of inspired lessons, interviews and more

    35 min
  5. 15 JAN

    When Triggers Arise in Intimacy: Trauma, Presence, and Erotic Repair with Dr. Willow and Leah

    What happens when we’re saying yes to intimacy, but our bodies suddenly say no? In this episode, Darshana is joined by Dr. Willow Brown and Leah Piper of the Sex Reimagined podcast for a nuanced conversation about triggers in intimacy. Together, they offer accessible guidance for how to navigate these moments, while also exploring what’s actually happening in the nervous system when dissociation, flooding, shutdown, or defensiveness arise during intimate encounters. This conversation weaves lived experience, somatic wisdom, trauma awareness, and practical tools for how to navigate old patterns surfacing, without collapsing into shame, blame, or disconnection. In this episode, we explore: Why triggers often arise even in consensual, desired intimacyHow trauma lives in the body and sensory memoryDissociation, freeze, fight, flight, and subtle signs of nervous system activationWhy the body’s responses are intelligent rather than pathologicalHow presence and attunement create conditions for healingErotic intimacy as a potential portal for trauma repairThe role of pausing without abandoning connectionHow defensiveness escalates trauma responses between partnersUnderstanding personal “safety strategies” in conflict and intimacyWhy curiosity is more effective than judgment when triggers ariseHow ritual, communication, and consent practices support nervous system regulationThe difference between essence and pattern in relationships About Dr. Willow and Lea: Meet the visionaries behind the Sex Reimagined Podcast: Leah Piper and Dr. Willow Brown—they are modern-day pleasure ambassadors who've guided thousands through the labyrinth of desire, intimacy, and sexual awakening.  Leah's professional approach to Tantric practices complements Willow's experience of Taoist sexology, creating a powerful alchemy that transforms listeners' relationships to sex, intimacy, & partnership.  Their signature blend of ancient wisdom, modern science, and lived experience has made Sex Reimagined not just a podcast, but a portal to the sexual sovereignty you've always deserved. Links and resources: Sex Reimagined Podcast: https://sexreimagined.com Free Tantric Kissing Training: https://sexreimagined.com/free-tantric-kissing-trainingThe Power of Pleasure Summit Live Free Event - February 11-12, 2026 https://sexreimagined.com/power-of-pleasure Book mentioned: The Five Personality Patterns by Stephen Kessler: https://the5personalitypatterns.com/  Connect with Darshana:DarshanaAvila.com/offerings for courses and details about her private practiceDarshanaAvila.com/community to enter the Galgasm community hub full of free resourcesYouTube.com/@darshana_avila for tons of inspired lessons, interviews and more

    59 min
  6. 9 JAN

    Erotic Expression, Grief, and the Healing Power of Community with Z and Victor

    In this episode, Darshana is joined by two friends and colleagues, Z and Victor, for a deeply relational conversation about erotic expression that makes room for the full spectrum of human experience. Together, they explore eroticism not only as pleasure or sexuality, but as aliveness that includes grief, loss, tenderness, rage, joy, and the importance of being witnessed in community. This conversation reflects the heart of Deeper with Darshana, moving slowly, honestly, and with care for what it means to feel deeply together. Rather than separating pleasure from pain, the three of them explore how erotic aliveness can hold both, and how community becomes essential when navigating the harder edges of being human. In this episode, we explore: Erotic expression as more than sex or pleasureWhy grief and hard feelings belong in erotic and embodied spacesHow aliveness includes joy, sorrow, and everything in betweenThe role of community in supporting emotional and erotic expressionWhy isolating our pain limits our capacity for pleasureThe importance of witnessing and being witnessedHow shared presence can deepen intimacy and trustWhat it means to practice erotic wholeness in relationshipAllowing complexity rather than striving for positivityLetting erotic energy move through grief rather than around itAbout the Z and Victor Z (aka Zahava Griss, they/them) is the founder of Embody More Love, a spiritual kinky dance community for personal & cultural liberation. Since 1999, Z has guided dance rituals to decolonize, heal, build intimacy, & make love out of what is not yet love. Z guides a 3 month immersion called Play with Power & Gender through Dance, dedicated to attachment & trauma informed kink. Z also created a Grief & Eros Film honoring the legacy of grief ritualist Sobonfu Somé. Victor Warring is an Erotic ReWilder, Somatic (body-centered) Sexuality Educator, Mentor, Coach and also an Erotic Activist. He is passionate about supporting people in discovering the truth of their erotic sovereignty and removing any self-imposed, internalized or socially imposed blocks that interfere with the expression of their erotic brilliance. Victor is also a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) educator and works with people in understanding the intersections where the body, sexuality, inclusion, oppression, racism, white supremacy and decolonization are interwoven.  Connect with Z and Victor Find Z at www.EmbodyMoreLove.comFind Victor at https://www.rewilderos.com Instagram: @bonobo_manJoin the 4 Day Grief Eros Ritual in June 2026: https://www.embodymorelove.com/villageritual Connect with Darshana:DarshanaAvila.com/offeringsDarshanaAvila.com/communityYouTube.com/@darshana_avila

    47 min
  7. 9 JAN

    Sex Ed for This Century: Bodies, Pleasure, and Being Askable Humans with Julia Feldman

    In this episode, Darshana is joined by Julia Feldman, founder of Giving the Talk, for a deeply grounded conversation about sex education, pleasure, consent, and what it really means to support people in having a healthy relationship with their bodies across the lifespan. Julia brings decades of experience teaching compassionate, empowering, and scientifically accurate sex education to people of all ages, from young children and teens to parents, caregivers, and older adults. Together, Darshana and Julia explore how shame, silence, and fear around bodies are learned, and how different things might be if curiosity, consent, and pleasure were centered instead. This conversation weaves together trauma awareness, sexuality, parenting and embodied agency, offering insights that are just as relevant for adults without children as they are for caregivers and educators. In this episode, we explore: What “sex ed for this century” actually looks like in practiceHow Julia’s own chronic health journey shaped her work as an educatorWhy learning to talk about bodies without shame is a foundational life skillHow parents’ unresolved body stories often shape how they talk to their childrenThe importance of becoming an “askable adult” rather than a controlling oneWhy puberty is not a single event, but part of a lifelong body-change continuumHow curiosity can replace fear when bodies changeThe role of pleasure in sex education at all agesWhy pleasure is not inherently sexual and does not need to be moralizedHow early consent practices support embodied agency later in lifeWhy empowering people to feel into yes and no is more protective than shameAbout the JuliaJulia Feldman, founder of Giving The Talk, is a teacher who supports people of all ages with the compassionate, empowering, and scientifically accurate sex education we all deserve. She is passionate about creating educational experiences that center the needs of her students and encourages them to move through the world informed, confident, equipped to care for themselves and others, and free of shame. Connect with Julia Website: https://givingthetalk.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/givingthetalk Connect with Darshana:Darshana has supported thousands of people across the world to claim their Erotic Wholeness. Whether you begin with a self paced journey taken from the comfort of your own home or work with her directly for the transformational experience of a lifetime, your path to the pleasure, power and purpose you're truly made for is just a step away! Learn more: DarshanaAvila.com/offerings for courses and details about her private practiceDarshanaAvila.com/community to enter the Galgasm community hub full of free resourcesYouTube.com/@darshana_avila for tons of inspired lessons, interviews and more

    40 min
  8. 9 JAN

    Coding the Body with Sufficiency: Wealth, Abundance, and Erotic Aliveness with Isha Vela

    In this episode, Darshana is joined by Isha Vela for a rich, layered conversation about abundance, sufficiency, and the body.  Together, they explore how scarcity is encoded not only through personal experience, but through ancestral lineage, systems of oppression, and nervous system patterning, and what it means to consciously re-code the body for with the experience of enough-ness and overflow. Drawing inspiration from their respective personal and professional experiences with somatics, trauma psychology, money, intimacy, spirituality, and erotic aliveness, you’re invited to redefine what it means to be wealthy and experience abundance in all aspects of your life. In this episode, you’ll learn: What it means to “code the body with sufficiency”How scarcity is shaped by ancestry, oppression, and nervous system conditioningThe difference between abundance and sufficiencyWhy our nervous systems often lag behind material realityHow wealth includes far more than moneyRelational, environmental, and spiritual forms of wealthThe parallels between money conditioning and intimacy conditioningHow outsourcing power shows up in both finances and relationshipsWhy diversification matters in relational and financial ecosystemsPleasure, erotic aliveness, and vitality as sources of wealthThe distinction between needs and wantsHow money reflects relational patternsStewardship versus hoardingCommunity-based approaches to wealth, including mutual aid modelsWhy slowing down and noticing is a powerful first step toward sufficiencyAbout IshaIsha Vela, Ph.D., CCEP (they/she) is a trauma psychologist, certified somatic practitioner, wealth activator and financial professional on a mission to help creative disruptors build generational wealth and co-create sustainable futures. Isha is a solo patent and activist currently worldschooling her children. Connect with Isha Website: www.ishavela.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/wakingup_wealthy/ Youtube: https://youtube.com/@wakingup_wealthyConnect with Darshana:Darshana has supported thousands of people across the world to claim their Erotic Wholeness. Whether you begin with a self paced journey taken from the comfort of your own home or work with her directly for the transformational experience of a lifetime, your path to the pleasure, power and purpose you're truly made for is just a step away! Learn more: DarshanaAvila.com/offerings for courses and details about her private practiceDarshanaAvila.com/community to enter the Galgasm community hub full of free resourcesYouTube.com/@darshana_avila for tons of inspired lessons, interviews and more

    46 min
  9. 9 JAN

    Pleasure Activism, De-Shaming Desire, and the Politics of Embodiment with Kai Cheng Thom

    Darshana is joined by Kai Cheng Thom for an intimate conversation that goes deep and wide about pleasure activism, embodied liberation, and the ways shame, identity, and power shape our relationship to desire. Listen in as they move between personal story, somatic wisdom, cultural critique, and practical reflection, offering you a grounded and humane entry point into pleasure as both a personal and collective practice. In this episode, we explore: What pleasure activism means as a lived, embodied practice rather than a conceptWhy many people internalize the belief that pleasure is “not for them”How race, gender, sexuality, trans identity, and colonial narratives shape erotic shameThe body’s protective strategies, including freeze and somatic armoringWhy honoring the body’s no is essential before opening to desireThe importance of de-shaming the yes, not just strengthening boundariesHow comfort can serve as a doorway to pleasure and healingThe role of consent, pacing, and presence in embodied workSimple practices for naming needs and desires without pressure or performanceWhy reclaiming pleasure is deeply connected to collective liberation About Kai: Kai Cheng Thom, MSW, MSc, Qualified Mediator, and Somatic Sex Educator is an author, performer, and noted expert in the fields of trauma healing, professional coaching, somatics, dialogue facilitation, and conflict transformation. As a theorist and practitioner, she has made significant contributions in the area of trauma-informed, social change-oriented approaches to pursuing individual and collective healing and transformation, particularly in her work on Transformative Justice and conflict resolution in activist communities Connect with Kai: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaichengthom Website: https://kaichengthom.comArise Embodiment: https://ariseembodiment.org Connect with Darshana:Darshana has supported thousands of people across the world to claim their Erotic Wholeness. Whether you begin with a self paced journey taken from the comfort of your own home or work with her directly for the transformational experience of a lifetime, your path to the pleasure, power and purpose you're truly made for is just a step away! Learn more: DarshanaAvila.com/offerings for courses and details about her private practiceDarshanaAvila.com/community to enter the Galgasm community hub full of free resourcesYouTube.com/@darshana_avila for tons of inspired lessons, interviews and more

    47 min
  10. SEASON 1 TRAILER

    An Introduction to Erotic Wholeness

    Welcome, dear one! This is the very first episode of Deeper with Darshana, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to share it with you. It's offered as an initiation. An emergent experiment. A threshold crossing into something unknown. A moment of leaning in together without needing everything to be polished or perfectly formed. In this inaugural episode, Darshana Avila shares what has been calling this podcast into existence and what kind of space she hopes it becomes. She speaks about her life’s work in Erotic Wholeness, the ways embodiment, sexuality, spirituality, healing, creativity, and power intersect, and why these conversations feel so necessary and alive right now. This is a podcast rooted in curiosity rather than certainty. In listening rather than performing. In the belief that the body holds wisdom we were never meant to override, and that healing and liberation often begin when we slow down enough to ask honest questions. Darshana reflects on the many ways dominant culture pulls us away from ourselves. From desire. From truth. From pleasure. From our own knowing. She names Erotic Wholeness not as something narrow or sensational, but as life force itself. Vitality. Care. Aliveness. The energy we channel into intimacy, activism, creativity, boundaries, and belonging. Throughout the episode, she shares pieces of her own story and identity, not as a biography to consume, but as a way of offering context and connection. She speaks openly about queerness, kink, relationship diversity, shame, repair, imperfection, and the ongoing practice of showing up more fully human. This is not about having it all figured out. It’s about being willing to be seen, to listen, and to grow. You’ll hear Darshana name what you can expect from this podcast going forward. Conversations with people she loves and people she’s curious about. Dialogues that sometimes center sex and intimacy, and other times widen into culture, power, healing, resilience, creativity, and purpose. Stories forged in difficulty as well as delight. Wisdom that lives not only in expertise, but in lived experience. This podcast is emergent by design. It will evolve. There will be room for tenderness, for edge, for rupture and repair. Darshana invites engagement, dialogue, and calling-in rather than calling-out. She names her commitment to learning alongside listeners and to holding difference with compassion. This episode is also an invitation. To listen with your body, not just your mind. To notice what resonates. To notice what challenges you. To stay curious. To remember that you are not alone in wanting more aliveness, more truth, more intimacy with life itself. If something here lands for you, you are welcome. If you don’t share Darshana’s identities and still feel resonance, you are welcome. If you’re unsure but curious, you are welcome. This is a space being shaped breath by breath, conversation by conversation, together. Thank you for being here at the beginning. Welcome to Deeper with Darshana.To learn more about my work, visit my website at: darshanaavila.comTo explore working together, go to: https://darshanaavila.com/immersion-experiences/

    15 min

Trailer

About

The podcast for soulful seekers, liberated lovers, the courageously curious and anyone who aspires to evolve in those ways. Get ready for stimulation, provocation and transformation - mind, spirit and body - as we go Deeper, together. Join Darshana Avila—somatic sex and relationship expert, international speaker, and Erotic Wholeness transformational guide—for honest, unfiltered conversations exploring sex and intimacy, soul and social justice, healing and wholeness, pleasure and power and so much more. Each episode is an invitation to deepen your own journey of personal liberation and transformation. Darshana and her guests share real stories, practical wisdom, and the kind of radical honesty that sparks action and aliveness. Whether you’re seeking to deepen your relationship with yourself, your partner, or your community, this podcast is your space to get curious, get real, and get free.