Wilrieke Sophia
WILRIEKE SOPHIA (they/them) is a sex & intimacy educator; consent, kink and eclectic neo-tantra facilitator; intimacy activist; (TEDx) speaker; writer; and founder of Exploring Deeper and Cuddle Workshops International. They identify as queer, sex-positive, polyamorous and kinky. Wilrieke is based near Amsterdam, The Netherlands where they openly combine being a mother of three daughters with their work. The main focus of their work is empowerment through self-knowledge and understanding, radical self-inclusion, the embodied experiencing of boundaries and desires, and an extensive practice of consent – all based on a foundation of trauma awareness and neuroscience, embedded in experiential spaces based on intimacy practices. Wilrieke hosts sex-positive retreats, play parties, teacher training, and festivals. In their free time, Wilrieke creates zines and other free materials on e.g. accountability, abuse and power dynamics in the intimacy and wellness communities.
1. THE ORIGINAL CUDDLE WORKSHOP - Start your festival with a Cuddle Workshop by the mother of Cuddle Workshops and founder of Cuddle Workshops International - Wilrieke Sophia! This Cuddle Workshop focuses on practicing consent. How to feel what you want and don’t want - and then communicate it. Get to know people, nourish yourself with touch, and boost your oxytocin levels. Refine your inner navigation skills and receive tools that will help you throughout the whole festival. Keywords: touch-based exercises in various group sizes, come alone or with a partner. There is the option to switch practice buddies several times.
2. PLAYING WITH POLARITY - You may have heard of the polarities BDSM and tantra play with. Dom and sub, shiva and shakti, stillness and movement. Polarity is often mistaken for implicit characteristics like gender. But polarity is nothing more than an agreement. This agreement makes clear what the action is, who is leading or doing, and who is following or done to. In this experiential touch-based workshop, we will play with different flavours of polarity. From compassionate holding to playful teasing and maybe even some gentle kinky things. Keywords: beginner-friendly, deepening for the well-seasoned, come alone or with a partner. There is the option to switch practice buddies several times. Potential partial nudity but undies on.
3. QUEER TANTRA & ENERGY SEX - Nothing as inclusive and yet so excluding as a lot of Western heteronormative tantra that assume gender-based roles and behaviour. From their wide range of queer experiences in tantra, Wilrieke knows energy flows regardless of gender, and heteronormative roles can work as limiting, excluding, and hurtful. This eclectic neo-tantra is queer-centred and straight-friendly. That means that we will do tantra, but skipping gender as an attribute tells you what role to take. We will mix tantra with energy sex, a practice of using conscious directed and flavoured energy for pleasure. Keywords: experiential workshop, breathing, mental focus, touch, alone and in different group sizes. Come alone or with a partner. There is the option to switch practice buddies several times. Potential partial nudity but undies on. Queer and straight folks are welcomed equally!
Wilrieke’s website Exploring Deeper