About

"I feel a deep calling in my soul… to inspire passion, unity and bliss in life and in love… to be an expression of the fully embodied feminine in her beauty, her sensuality, her power and her grace… to inspire, honor and celebrate the awakened masculine in his full presence, his penetrative power, and his deep consciousness. I am a light for, and a facilitator of, awakened intimacy, sensuality and sexuality." ~Joanna Shakti

s a product of the women's move for independence and equality, Joanna Shakti did her part and got an electrical engineering degree, an MBA, and a chance to quickly climb the corporate ladder. Working in the Oil & Gas and High Tech fields in Houston, Texas she learned to prove herself as an up and coming twenty-something in a completely male-dominated world.

As her career grew, she married 6' 3" blond-haired, blue-eyed "Prince Charming", but they were divorced four years later. She proved over and over she could "out-man" the men at work but her love life suffered… greatly.

Beyond the promotions and raises, she consistently cried herself to sleep at night; and then the blessing happened.

One extraordinary day in 2001, she found the cause of her pain - she'd buried herself away, along with her feminine nature, and became what everyone else wanted her to be. "Joanna" was nowhere to be seen. It was time to end the "masculine" game. Fifteen months later she quit her high profile job and began her journey to real love, happiness, and service.

"To awaken every man and woman to the spiritual journey of love -- self-love, romantic love, divine love -- so that they may experience the deepest of connections, pleasures, intimacies, and joys available on this human journey."

Joanna has personally experienced every dimension of relationship and is well acquainted with the challenges of being feminine in a masculine business world and achievement-oriented society. At the same time, she is keenly aware of the challenges men face when living with and relating to a "revolutionized" woman in a modern world. And the evolving societal conditioning to be a "sensitive new age guy."

The 4 Unconscious Ways I Sabotaged (and then Discovered) Love

As I reflect on my early days of love, intimacy and sex, I see so clearly the 4 major ways I sabotaged love and joy. These are the same 4 ways I transformed my life.

I suspect your journey might look a bit like mine, I wonder if you might share the same hurts, frustrations, longings, and saboteurs.

If so, you have all the same possibilities, opportunities and magic awaiting you. (If you're willing to be honest and look within -- because it was never "them" it was me. I was the cause and the solution to everyone of my romantic challenges.)

Masculine-Feminine

Seemingly successful but divorced, exhausted and depressed, I wondered what was wrong with me and what was wrong with men. I rarely orgasmed and I certainly didn't trust men. I typically met men who were more passive, letting me take the lead.

Here's the challenge. You see masculine and feminine energies attract. They're like magnets and opposites attract. Which means if I wanted a man with predominantly masculine energy, I had to bring feminine energy to that man. Therein lies the problem. I was enmeshed in masculine energy and, just like the "same" ends of two magnets repel, I repelled the very men I sought. Equality Kills Passion (at least when equality means "same".)

Self-Love

I discovered it the hard way. In my first marriage, he could not possibly have loved me enough for me to actually feel loved. I didn't believe I was really worth loving. I thought I had way too many flaws and that I always felt "not good enough." No matter how many times I reached out for reassurance or how many times he reassured me, I never trusted it. I never believed him. That was particularly tough on him. He couldn't win and I always felt empty.

On top of that, I was a perfectionist. Thank God, I've (mostly) recovered. But in the days that I was proud of my perfectionistic tendencies, I also beat myself up terribly. I remember a boyfriend walking in once when I was in a verbal outloud tirad with myself. He was shocked. I was embarrassed. No one knew how much I hated myself, until then. I cried. He cried.

Tantra

I grew up in the conservative midwest with a grandfather who was a Lutheran minister. Yet, something in me craved depth, connection, passion, an unleashed freedom. At the same time, I held back. I didn't want to lose control.

And, once again, therein lies the problem. I was practically non-orgasmic throughout my marriage and much of my single life. I wanted to let go but rarely could. Having an orgasm requires letting go of control, at least for the moment.

I desired a better, a much better, sex life and intimate life…

During my first Tantra workshop, by the third day, I knew that I would never make love the same way again.

Ecstasy

Yes I wanted sexual pleasure. I also wanted to be happy. But thinking of pleasure, pure pleasure, pure ecstasy always seemed to lead back to sex.

I wanted the moments that take your breath away… and still I knew there was something beyond that. Yes, ecstasy is the moments that take your breath away and it also happens in the everyday moments in between.

But, I was also afraid of it. I thought it's not for me, how can I be joyful when others suffer? I didn't want to lose love. I didn't want to be disappointed again, so I decided it was better not to go for it. Those were the fears of a young child who lost love too early.

Living in Ecstatic Union

This is the "piece de la resistance", the epitome, of a life well lived, a heart well loved. I know that may seem far off, even impossible. It did for me too. Yet, it's not that far off. The journey is easier than you think. I call it "loving 360 degrees" and it starts with you. It starts with living in union with you, no longer rejecting you, but being you, fully you. And, then it continues as you discover how to live in true union with all - with you, your lover, the clerk in the store, your adversary, the divine, and life itself. This the path of Soul Love.

"I am dedicated to divine ecstasy and unconditional love. Facilitating the spiritual union of heart, mind, body, spirit and soul for the global Re-union of humanity."

Joanna Shakti, The Soul Love™ Mentor and founder of Ecstatic Intimacy,™ is smart, sexy, and a little bit spicy. You can't miss her passion and warm playful style that both entertains and inspires. No other person on the planet possesses the experience, expertise and ability to transform lives in quite the way Joanna does. She, artfully and professionally, mixes male-female dynamics, leadership training, spiritual awakening, engineering, and even Tantra, along with a whole lot of love.

You might call her a Dating Coach, a Relationship Coach, an Intimacy Coach, a Tantra Teacher or a Spiritual Guide. She's all of that and so much more. Joanna guides men, women, singles and couples with the genuine hunger for deeper love and more intimate pleasure to walk the spiritual path of love. Those beautiful beings who intend to create relationships that are an expression of ecstatic authenticity, intimacy and ecstasy.

And that brings us to you…

lifetime of relationships that offer only a fraction of what we desire, and deserve, often awakens a knowing within us...

Our histories tell us stories about our value, ability, desirability, and chance for love. For those that do the work, the old stories no longer hold true. Of course, only we can choose to explore and expand into the love that awaits us.

We know at a deep, often hidden level, we are here to experience a love that takes our breath away. Divine Union. And, we are filled with as much doubt that we can have it, as desire to experience it.

For most of us, the quiet (or increasingly loud) inner knowing that there is a relationship we are destined to have - one that fills us, ignites us, and brings us home - and it is actually waiting for us.

Many of us are willing to take the journey…

If we're willing to get honest love starts right here right now. It doesn't start with luck or the right circumstances. It doesn't start when you get your life together or when you lose the weight. It starts the very moment that you tell the truth about how you've struggled. It starts when you decide you don't want to judge yourself or anyone else any longer. It starts when you're willing to take a step into vulnerability and say "I don't know. But, I want to know." It starts when you recognize that you truly have the power to change your life.

It starts when you connect with a community and mentors who stand for you and your heart, who believe in you... until you do.

Uniqueness in Life & Love is powerful. Ecstatic Intimacy holds a space of inclusion and connectedness. Celebrating couples and singles of every race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression.

"We are beautiful individuals united."