Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Turned On Women
Turned On Women
ving
turned
{on}
womens
manifesto
a Workbook to Ignite Your Life
nicole daedone
Living the
Turned-On Womans
Manifesto
A Workbook to Ignite Your Life
Nicole Daedone
{on}
the turned
womens
movement
Are you on ?
44 WOMEN MEDIA
2010 by Nicole Daedone and OneTaste
44 WOMEN MEDIA
contents
Introduction
Epitaph
How to Use This Book
The Turned-on Womans Manifesto
25 Ways to Turn On
1. Dont believe what society says about women.
2. Dont buy off the rack. Customize.
3. Live inside out.
4. You do know. Claim it.
5. Make friends with your fear.
6. Desire is your compass. Follow it.
7. Write a desire contract.
8. Watch Dangerous Beauty.
9. Get behind another womans turn-on.
10. Start a circle.
11. Dont wait for men.
12. Fuck dont fight.
13. Love your man. (Or woman.) Handle him well.
14. Get comfortable with the word pussy.
15. Orgasm lights up the power grid.
16. Post meaningfully.
17. Stay connected no matter what.
18. Replace your but with a yes, and
19. Touch often.
20. Sensation, not story.
21. Be your own energy accountant.
22. Talk about taboo.
23. Be the sex you want to see in the world.
24. Push out.
25. D.I.N.
The Vision of the Turned-on Womans Movement
Who We Are
Book Group Guide
i
introduction
How the Manifesto came to be
The Turned-on Womans Manifesto was born out of desire.
It was a two-day summit to discuss my book, Slow Sex: The Art and Craft of
the Female Orgasm. A book about orgasmhow women orgasm differently than men,
how the male model is the only model most of us know, and how in order to have our
desires met we must change course. We must know our own orgasm and we must
start having the kind of sex that gets us there.
A charged message, yes. But one, I have discovered, that many women are
hungry for. Women everywhere, who know there has to be more, but dont know how
or even what. So we start with sex and build from there. Because if you can craft your
orgasm, you can craft your life.
The question on the table: who is our audience? Would we tailor our market-
ing for everywoman, to reach the widest possible group of women? Or would we
instead focus on a core demographic of early adopters, women like those of us sitting
in that very marketing summit? Women for whom the call of desire is already too loud
to ignore? Women to whom we could speak our own language, and be heard without
translation?
We decided, at the end of the day, to go wide. To adjust the message so it would
not be too confronting to more traditional women. We would make it more appropri-
ate, more digestible.
And yet I went to bed with an uneasy feeling. This wasnt just a book, after all. It was
the message at the core of my life. It was my purpose. It was about the way I actually
live. For me, desire is the
wave that cannot be outrun. I have been owned by it, possessed. Surrendering to the
freedom it offers is the only thing that matters.
I knew from previous experience that not every woman feels this way about
her desire. The woman who is honest about what she wants is not the average woman.
ii
She is rare; she is exceptional. Opting for truth over stability, internal wealth over
external validationthese are choices few women make, and for good reason. We are
taught to be good girls. To keep our voices low and our legs crossed. To settle for the
sex were getting, the life were getting, rather than to ask for what we really want.
The woman willing to stand apartthe woman willing to own her desire, her sexual
power, and her purpose, the woman willing to customize her own lifeshe is the
Turned-on Woman. She is extraordinary.
And yet, she exists. I know, because she is me.
I stayed awake. I thought about sitting across from the woman we
were about to market the book toward, a more buttoned-up, middle-of-the-road kind
of woman. I realized I would have very little in common with her. As women we would
find something to talk about, of course, but it would be a conversation born of polite-
ness rather than passion. I could not truly be myself around her. I had tried before,
many times, and always left feeling parched,
dry. Lonely.
I got up before dawn. I meditated. And then I started writing. What came out
was a call to the women I wanted to gather around me. Women like those I was al-
ready surrounded by. Women whose
desire is already ignited, who have already tried the status quo and succeeded at it
and dare to want more. The woman who hears the call, who knows that until cracks
start forming in the sidewalk no flowers can bloom between. The thirsty women,
the hungry women, the ones who are seeking, who are vibrating with desire, who are
electrified by it. Women who enjoy the richness of this world and also know the alive
emptiness of the world beyond. Who have done time exploring their own landscapes
and are ready to turn their attention toward others.
Turned-on women. Women like you.
Later that day I sat in front of two friends, my hands shaking. I apologized first. I had
gone too far, I warned them, said too much. But I needed this manifesto to be heard, if
just this one time. And so I began to read.
What I read was the Manifesto that starts this very book. This, I told my
friends, is the woman I want to reach. She is where I wanted our compass pointed.
She thinks she is alone, the only one. If we ignite the masses along the way, so much
the better. But our first step on this brilliant journey? I wanted it to be her.
Nicole Daedone
San Francisco, 2010
iii
epitaph
For some, that would be enough. But not for you.
No, your epitaph will begin: She redefined what it meant to be a good woman.
It will say: She scaled mountains, in hiking boots and in heels. She started
in her own backyard and then went all the way around the world. She accepted chal-
lenges with curiosity and determination. She emerged victorious regardless of out-
come, knowing both the pleasure of success and the grace of failure. She tasted long
hot days and cool still nights, at home wherever she found herself. She
wasnt always popular, but she was always true. She wasnt always comfortable, but
no one can say she didnt enjoy her life. She explored her edges, increased her capac-
ity, and lived as big as she could dream. Moved by bliss and pain, she played her heart
out one moment at a time. Dialed in. Courageous. Turned on.
If this sounds more like you, what are you waiting for?
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
Turn-on lives at the edge of what you think is possible. It is ignited when you
dare to dream, act, create, and operate outside the bounds of the status quo.
The status quo is there to douse potentialfiires. You are here to start them.
A turned-on woman is an awakening woman, a woman who is coming alive.
She is ignited in purpose, relationship, and sexuality; body, mind, and heart.
A turned-on woman does not fear danger, risk, or being different. She knows
that life happens out of bounds. What she fears are the true killers: mediocrity, fitting
in, and being average.
A turned-on woman burns big. She will not be contained by size zero pants, quiet
whispers, or the role of follower.
A turned-on woman redefines what it means to be a good woman. She takes the
existing images, consumes them, and resets the bar. She is undaunted in the face of
others expectations of her. Not because she discounts them. Because she knows she
will exceed them.
A turned-on woman isnt defined by her circumstances. She defines her cir-
cumstances by who she chooses to be within them. Urban career woman, suburban
secret agentit is the substance, not the packaging, that determines her destiny.
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Living the Turned-On Manifesto
On Engagement
A turned-on woman plays for the freedom of those around her. She recognizes
that people bang the snooze button over and over, no matter how much they want to
wake up. She is willing to absorb the gripes and grumbles of those who are awakening
out of dreamy sleep into their greatest potential. She has the truth as her ballast. She
knows that truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is vio-
lently opposed. Finally, it is accepted as self-evident. She waits patiently for the third
stage.
A turned-on woman resets the definition of what it means to be generous and
compassionate. She will not call out sugary platitudes to soothe and comfort people
in hell. She will, with ferocity and gentleness, go into the fire and get them out. Her
compassion is the outgrowth of the most relentless parental instinct, love of the su-
perhuman, car-lifting variety. She canshe willshe must lift the weight of imagined
fear from herself and others. She will not stand by, hoping and praying that every-
thing will be okay. She will hold herself responsible for ensuring that it is.
On Fear
A turned-on woman sees just one enemy: fear. She is constantly unbending
herself from its contorted grip. She thanks it for the protection it has afforded, the
way it has kept her small and safe. Then she gently retires it so she can truly live.
She recognizes fear in a hundred different disguises. She knows its subtle
minionsus versus them, tit for tat, selling out. She knows that sustainable
change comes not from responding to its effects or symptoms, but from eradicating
the fear at its source. She will not allow herself to be a carrier of the fear disease in
either action or reaction. She knows to reject the fear in othersnot the ones held
hostage by it, not the actions they take under its influencebut the fear itself.
On Purpose
A turned-on woman gives permission rather than waiting for it. She reigns
rather than submits. She has cultivated her power to such a magnitude that those
around her aim to please herand the way to please her is by being wholly, fully, un-
questionably oneself.
She will not settle for the best of the options set before her. Instead she will cre-
ate new and better ones. She sees opportunity all around her, bounty even in scarcity.
She will reject mere excellence from anyone who is capable of more. She is
willing to push another to greatness even when what is offered fulfills an immediate
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need. She recognizes that her purpose in this world is not to get things done, not to
meet deadlines or achieve worldly success, but to draw from people what they did not
know they were capable of. If her standards are being met but the people around her
are not alive, turned on, and engaged, then she rethinks her strategy. She recognizes
that no one goes unless we all go.
A turned-on woman will not sacrifice truth in order to be appropriate. She
may present with all the markings of the status quo, but only because she knows that
change happens from within. She is always reshaping the mold to her own design.
The laws of linear, familiar, predictable, tried-and-true are there to be broken in favor
of her real truth: the kind that is dangerous, exponential, unique, creative, and now.
On Relationships
A turned-on woman does not hide. She does not shy away from awakening
by shielding herself behind her partner, her children, her reputation. She recognizes
that aiming for goodnessjust being a good mother, a good partner, a good citizen
can divert her attention away from the greatness she truly desires. Great includes
good, but not always vice versa.
She sees how easy it would be to use the roles she has chosen to maintain her
own comfort. Instead she uses them to set herself free. She believes that her respon-
sibility as a mother is to create a better world for her childrennot to show them how
to fit into the existing one. She recognizes that the greatest gift she can give those
around her is an example of a woman who is waking up in the middle of her own life.
On Freedom
A turned-on woman chooses for herself. She looks inside, locates her desire,
and acts out of the natural freedom she knows to be her own. She does not make deci-
sions based on the will of others; her internal compass is too strong. Her only agenda
is for all to be free.
On Power
A turned-on woman eschews force in favor of real power. She educates rather than
emasculates. Rather than withdraw, avoid, judge, and bludgeon, she enters and
transforms. She knows that she is responsible for preparing the world to receive her.
Rather than taking the easy way out and demanding her freedom, she shows others
how they will benefit from it.
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On Energy
A turned-on woman manages her own internal climate before helping oth-
ers. She handles her own basic needssexual, spiritual, emotional, and physical. She
cultivates her energy and spends it wisely. She puts on her own oxygen mask first,
establishing boundaries to ensure that she has something real and nourishing to offer.
She is willing to relinquish the temporary power that comes with martyrdom, victim-
hood, and selflessness in exchange for the enduring power that comes from internal
wealth. She recognizes that giving to others from a place of scarcity only spreads the
contagion of scarcity. She commits to living full.
The turned-on woman knows there is wisdom in darkness. She knows that she
will have bad days, bad weeks, bad months. She does not apologize or fall prey to guilt
and shame. She can hold difficult emotions, transmuting sadness, disappointment,
and exhaustion into fuel for her journey. She enters the deep, feels it fully, gets what
she needs, and moves on. She goes down but she doesnt go out.
On Women
A turned-on woman ignites other womens turn-on. She refuses to deal in
the accepted inter-female commerce of one-downmanship, publicly cataloging all
the ways her life isnt going well to make other women feel safe. She understands
that while she may find comfort in processing and commiserating with her sisters,
soothing and colluding with them, such comfort is not her aim. A world of turned-on
women is her aim. The generous step is to point other women evermore in the direc-
tion of wakefulness, using her own turn-on to foster genius in those around her. She
is not afraid to stand alone if necessary. She knows the value of solitude and is not
afraid of loneliness when the turn-on of other women is at stake.
On Sex
A turned-on woman rewrites the playbook when it comes to sex. She knows
that sex is not an indulgence; it is literally her source of power. She would never use
it to barter for something else she wants, for a turned-on woman knows that sex is the
gateway to the only thing she truly wants. She knows that if she doesnt want sex, its
because shes not having the right kind of sex. The turned-on woman wants sex that
creates energy rather than depletes it. She seeks the slow burn, the kind of sex that
heats her up from the inside out, stoking her fire and powering her journey.
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Living the Turned-On Manifesto
A turned-on woman does not feel the need to dress sex up so it looks one way
or another. She does not perform, embellish, or supplement. Instead she stays pres-
ent, opens herself to the experience, and feels her way. She experiences what is there
and asks for what she desires.
A turned-on woman wants a partner who is willing and able to have this kind
of sex with her. More than that, she wants a partner who desires this same kind of
sex for themselves. Generative sex; sex that begets more turn-on, more awakening,
and more sex. Sex that ignites; that lights up the power grid. The turned-on woman
knows that she is the live wire.
On Courage
A turned-on woman does not trade in measured steps and replicable outcomes.
She is not in the market for stability, a how-to guide to life. She is interested only in
excavating the truth and sharing it with others. She wants to create, generate, raise the
game, and play again. She operates at the edges of her own capacity at all times. She
knows that stormy nights break into the most beautiful sunrises. She believes, she
gives, she tries again, and she never checks out. Courage is her middle name.
***
Turned-on women are changing the world.
Your participation is requested.
Declaration of Turn-On
I declare I am a turned-on woman.
From this day forward, I claim my place in the world.
I vow to show other women how to do the same.
X________________________________________
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25 ways to turn on
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1. Dont believe what society says about women.
Society tells us women are disloyal. Untrustworthy. Catty. Difficult. Bitchy.
Backstabbing. You know better. You are here to change expectations. To set the
record straight.
Model what a real woman can be. Refuse to play the game as it has been writ-
ten. Get behind other women. Support them. Hold them accountable to the deeper
truths of who they are. Listen to the subtext and then speak it. Do not be afraid of your
friends power and do not collude with her to keep her smaller than she is. Do not take
shelter in her failures, reinforcing your own sense of security. If we do not awaken
together, we do not awaken at all. The situation is crucial. It is dire. We must wake up.
Together. Now.
When we believe the cultural myth that women arent built to support one
another, the myth becomes reality. We start to see it around us and perpetuate it our-
selves, both subtly and overtly. Change your perspective. Let go of old hurt. We can-
not do this alone. What are you waiting for?
Set a timer for 10 minutes, and find a piece of paper and a pen. Write down any
memories you have of women hurting you in the past. Include any incidents where
you felt a woman was mean, unsupportive, manipulative, or otherwise unfriendly.
Keep writing until the timer goes off. Even if you have to write the same things over
and over, keep going. You may be surprised by what comes up.
After you have finished writing, find a safe and fun way of destroying that
piece of paper. Tear it up, cut it up, even burn it (carefully!). As you do, let go of any of
the memories you wrote down. You are cleaning the slate, so that a new story can be
written. Then, take a few moments to write about what it feels like to let go of any old
hurt and resentment here.
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We all have judgments, good and bad, about ourselves and other women. We
meet someone and immediately begin to take inventory of what we like and dislike
about them. We take the same inventory of ourselves. It may seem perfectly natural,
but in practice it interrupts the natural connection we are meant to have with others.
This exercise is intended to help focus attention on the ways you have judged wom-
enboth positively and negatively.
Below, take an inventory of any blanket judgments you have about women.
Begin with the sentence starter, Women are and finish the thought with the first
thing that comes to mind.
Try to put your pen down on paper without stopping to think too much. Its
okay if what you write down are generalizations or if you arent sure you even believe
them. Simply write the first judgments that come to mind.
Examples:
pretty
Women are ___________________________________________________________________
stressed out
Women are ___________________________________________________________________
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Your turn:
Think of a woman friend of yours who makes you feel alive, accepted, and
turned on. Call her and express your gratitude for the way she supports you and helps
fuel your journey. Be sure she has read the Manifesto!
After your conversation, journal here about what it felt like to connect with
you friend. Did it go the way you expected? How did it feel to offer gratitude for an-
other womans support? What changes might you make so that another woman might
one day call to thank you?
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2. Dont buy off the rack. Customize.
Were talking about your life. Tailor it precisely to your own desires. To your
longings and your yearnings. It may not look the way you thought it would. It may not
look like the life your parents wanted for you, or the life you saw glorified on TV, or the
life that seems to be working pretty well for everyone else. But it is yours.
A customized life is a life of purpose. Our gifts are found in close proximity to
our delights. The sensations of turn-on are like a breadcrumb trail toward the per-
son you are meant to become. As surely as fish feel like swimming and tigers feel like
pouncing, what you were created to do is something you feel like doing. Have faith in
your desires; they are the most trustworthy map you have.
Get to know what turns you on, what binds and represses you. What you covet
and crave, and what youre just settling for. Then fill up on the former and let go of the
latter. This is your one and precious life! How long are you going to wait?
Think about three times in your life when you opted to buy off the rack, rath-
er than making the effort to tailor circumstances to your desire. How might things
have been different if youd opted to customize instead?
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Discomfort is sometimes the turned-on womans best friend. When our reality
bumps up against a bigger desire, there is friction. That friction tells us exactly where
to look to find the adjustments we most need to make as we customize our lives.
So get comfortable with your disappointments. Write down ten places in your
life where you are currently experiencing some degree of pain, irritability, or confu-
sion. Include resentments you hold toward people, places, or things. Do not judge
your responses; you are the only one who will look at this list. Get specific. You dont
like your new boss. Youre resentful of your husband because he gets toothpaste all
over the sink. No discomfort is too big or too small.
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Go back to the list you made in Exercise #2. Circle the three discomforts that
have the most charge for youthe ones that are causing you the most pain right now.
For each of them, write down three choices you could make right now that would
result in a better fit in this area.
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Before we can open ourselves to the world, we have to take stock of all the
ways we hide. Everyone has a special bag of tricks we use to keep others from catch-
ing a glimpse of who we really are. You may shut down in groups to avoid being the
center of attention. Or you may draw attention to certain positive qualities in your-
self, hoping people wont see the so-called negative ones. Whatever your chosen
method, you likely have your preferred hiding places.
Think of at least two methods you use to protect your internal truth from the
outside world and write about them in the space below. When do you first remember
using this method? What fears come up when you consider leaving these tricks be-
hind and living inside out?
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What is one one actionable step you might take to begin to wean yourself off of each
of the above hiding places?
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Can you commit to taking these steps in the next week? YES NO
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Look around your house. Notice which items you have collected that are there
because they truly express who you are, and which ones you may have chosen because
you thought you should have them. List three things that you can truly say are out-
ward representations of a deeper internal truth. What do they express outwardly that
you feel inwardly?
Item: _________________________________________________________________________
Truth: ________________________________________________________________________
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There is no word in the English language that kills turn-on as quickly or com-
pletely as should. Obligation is the enemy of desire. Unfortunately, most of us do
not even notice how often we use the word should, not to mention how often we are
doing things out of subtle or subconscious obligation. When we do something because
we think we should do it, we are living from the outside-in rather than the other way
around.
This exercise is intended to turn up the volume on the shoulds in your life.
Think back through your day and write down ten different things you did. Things like
went to work or walked the dog or ate breakfast. Then next to each one, write
down whether you did it out of obligation or desire. There is no need to judge your-
self, whether positively or negatively. Just notice how should works in your life.
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4. You do know. Claim it.
You know when you know. Linear thinking, direct verbal communication, and
replicable outcomes are only half the story. You know that more information is avail-
able. You know it because you can feel it in the pit of your stomach.
You know if hes saying one thing and really means another. He probably
doesnt even know it. So youre the one whos going to have to say something. Dont
hesitate. Walk straight into it. If you believe in your own powers of perception, he will
not question you. (If you dont, he will shred you. The difference between the two is a
hairs breadth.) Be willing to say what you know even when you wonder how the hell
you could possibly know it. He will never mention it because he never thought of it.
You didnt have to think of it: you felt it. Feeling is where the truth resides.
Intuition comes through the body. Learn how to listen to your body, and its
wisdom will guide you to your truth.
Think about a time in your life where you did something your mind was telling
you to do, even though your body said differently. It might have to do with food, sex,
exercise, or even a gut feeling you had at work. Take a few minutes to write about the
incident. Why did you let your mind overrule your body? What were the benefits of
making that choice? What did you miss out on?
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There are things you know you know, even if you dont have hard evidence.
Maybe you know on a deep level that your partner loves you, even if hes not saying
it. Or that your boss isnt happy with your performance. Or that a friend is keeping
something from you. You may think you know the whole story, or you might just have
a whisper of a feeling.
Think of one thing you know but dont have evidence for. How do you know it?
Pay special attention to sensations you can feel in your body. Then, write down why
you havent named what you know. What barriers would you have to overcome in
order to talk about it?
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The best way to develop your intuition is to practice speaking it out loud. To-
day, claim one intuition you have by naming it in the momentthen write about your
experience below. Dont worry about how your intuition is received; it may not be
validated by the person youre speaking to. (Remember, theres a reason they werent
saying it already!) The goal is simply to get comfortable speaking your truth, regard-
less of outcome. Be sure to pay special attention to the way your body feels during
this exercise, and write about any sensations you feel.
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Fear lurks behind corners, in every area of our lives. It disguises itself as
entitlement, blame, and the need to control. The first step to working with fear is to
notice where its hiding.
Take a few minutes to consider where fear may have taken up residence in
your life when you were looking the other way. Some will be easy to pinpointfears
youve known about and can identify quickly. Others will be more subtle; you may not
realize you have them at all. So this exercise will ask you to catalog three different
fears you might have for each of the categories below. If you cant think of three fears
for each category, make some up. What are possible fears you could imagine having in
each of these areas? Write them down, even if they seem far-fetched or imaginary.
For example, in the relationship category perhaps you have fear that you are
not attracted to your partner anymore, but you cant think of any other fears. Thats
okaywrite down the one you know about, and then write down two other fears you
could imagine having in a relationship. Dont get too caught up in the details; just
keep writing.
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Relationships
Career
Health
Sexuality
Finances
Fear isnt all bad. No, really: its a natural human characteristic that evolved
as a way to protect us from true dangersthink wild animals and poisonous berries.
The problems arise when we keep fear on the shelf well past its expiration date.
In the chart below, write down at least five fears you have, and how they
might have protected you in the past. What benefit did you get from each one? Then,
ask yourself if you are ready to make peace with the fear and retire it. You might be
readyyou might not. Either way, honesty is the key.
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This exercise can be done whenever you feel anxious about something. It is
also quite powerful when used as a daily practice to keep your system light and open.
Acknowledging your everyday resentmentsand the fears that drive themmeans
they can pass through your system. The same way brushing your teeth keeps plaque
from building up on your teeth, inventory keeps fear from building up in your system.
Step 1. Choose someone to address the inventory to. It can be a higher power,
the universe, nature, your higher selfanyone you choose who you feel has wisdom
that is greater than your own.
Step 2. Choose a resentmentsome thought or idea or person who you cant
get out of your head. Youll know youve found an appropriate resentment because it
will make you feel angry, upset, victimized, anxious, or otherwise unhappy when you
think about it.
Step 3. Write down the fears that are behind this resentment. What are you
afraid of in this situation, with this person? For example:
I am resentful at my co-worker. I have fear I look bad to our boss when we co-
author reports and she finishes her work at the last minute.
Then list the fears that are be hidden behind that fear. I have fear I will get
fired. Under that fear you might find another one, like I have fear I choose to stay in
jobs I dont love because I have fear of financial difficulties. Then, I have fear I have
chosen to believe that money buys happiness even though I know thats not true.
Step 4. Once you have worked through all of your resentments, you ask for
your fears to be lifted simply by writing down: Higher power, I ask to be free of these
fears and any others I cannot see, for me and for [Insert any names that came up dur-
ing the inventoryyour co-worker, for example].
Step 5 (Optional). Read your list to a neutral third party. Ask them in advance
to keep everything you say confidential, and not to comment on the content of your
inventory. Their only job is to listen.
Step 6. Let your fears go! Rip up the piece of paper you wrote on, delete the
fears if you wrote them on your computer, or draw a large X across each page. This
last step is an outward symbol of your willingness to really let the fears go.
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
Dear ___________, I ask to be free of these fears and any others I cannot see,
for me and for:
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
Growing up, we get tons of messages about what good girls do and dont do.
Most of us internalize the dos and donts so completely we end up having a hard
time discerning between our own desires and what weve been told we should want.
In this exercise youll excavate your inner good girl. Set a timer for 5 minutes.
Writing as swiftly as possible, compile a list of everything you can think of that good
girls do. Dont judge or criticize yourself, just write. Then, when the timer goes off,
set it for another five minutes and create a list of what good girls dont do.
Example:
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Dos
Donts
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
Now put a star next to the 3 dos and the 3 donts that you believe might
be stifling your desire most. Choose one and take a few minutes to write about how
things would be different if you let your desire run free in this area:
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Shame is what keeps good girls good. In this exercise, youll begin the process
of freeing your desire by releasing a memory of shame from the past.
Think back to a time when you got into trouble as a kid, preferably one that
resulted in a notable feeling of shame. Perhaps you broke something, got caught
playing doctor with the neighbor, or tracked mud through the house. Whatever you
were doing, you were probably doing it because it felt good. Somehow, you desired
it. Circle any words below that describe how you felt just before you got into trouble.
Feel free to add words of your own.
Happy Relaxation
Need Delicious
Quiet Free
Food Desire
Exuberant Mischevious
Sensation Expansion
Bad Heat
Fun Hunger
Creative Curious
Sex Trouble
Naughty
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
Write a short letter to your younger self, releasing her from any shame that
got tied, subtly or overtly, to the feelings above. Let her know how well things have
turned out for you now.
Dear ___________________,
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Love,
______________________
Now that youre ready to to turn your attention toward your desire rather than
away from it, where should you be turning your attention? The answer is to your body.
Desire lives in your body, not your head.
The mind, on the other handhas its own ideas. It has this way of locking
down and repressing desires that dont fit into its master plan. Which is useful when
youre trying to protect yourself from hurt, disappointment, shame, and guilt. Less
useful when youre trying to live a turned-on life.
So lets take stock of some of your desiresand see if we can broker a deal with
your mind. Fill in the blanks below: name five different places where your desire is
saying yes but your mind is saying not so fast. Be as specific as possible. Then negoti-
ate a compromise, where both parties can walk away feeling good.
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
Example:
Compromise: ____________________________________________________________________
Compromise: ____________________________________________________________________
Compromise: ____________________________________________________________________
Compromise: ____________________________________________________________________
Compromise: __________________________________________________________________
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
Go ahead: get cracking on that list! Find a comfy place to sit and get ready to let
the desire flow. Large or small, feasible or outlandish, good or bad. Do not censor
yourself. Be inappropriate. Dont worry about whether you actually want that thing or
you just maybe want itif it pops into your head, it goes on the list. Ready, set, WANT!
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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8.
9.
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35.
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69.
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100.
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Review the list you made in Exercise #1. Look for the big ones, the guiding prin-
ciples, the desires behind which all the other desires fall in line. (Feel free to add desires
as they arisewe dont always nail the big ones the first time through.) You may have
only one; you probably have no more than three. Write those big D desires here.
Big D Desires
1. ___________________________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________________________________
Little d Desires
Now sort through the rest, and find the ones that most closely support the big
Ds. The ones that act as fuel toward the big D destinations. Write these little d
desires below. (Feel free to use additional paper if you have more than ten little ds.)
1. ___________________________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________________________________
4. ___________________________________________________________________________
5. ___________________________________________________________________________
6. ___________________________________________________________________________
7. ___________________________________________________________________________
8. ___________________________________________________________________________
9. ___________________________________________________________________________
10. ___________________________________________________________________________
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
Now that youve begun to shine light on your true desires, all of the stories
your mind has been weaving to keep you safely separated from your desire will start
to become clear. As such, there are some admissions you will have to make. Now is
the time to own up to the old ideasthe good-girl givens you have been operating
bythat you can no longer pretend are true. I am not as sorry as I said I was. I am not
in love with my boyfriend anymore. I want a different job. Money is important to me. I
am not having the kind of sex I want to have.
The key to making admissions is a willingness to be honest. To recognize what
is true for you. Only then can desire become your true North.
So lets get started. What do you need to admit? Remember, nobody else will
read thisits just for you.
Admissions
1. ___________________________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________________________________
4. ___________________________________________________________________________
5. ___________________________________________________________________________
6. ___________________________________________________________________________
7. ___________________________________________________________________________
8. ___________________________________________________________________________
9. ___________________________________________________________________________
10. ___________________________________________________________________________
Optional: Create a single-page document including your big D desires, little d de-
sires, and admissions. Sign it. This is your contract with yourself. For a more detailed
exploration of this process, visit onetaste.us and download the eBook The Desire Con-
tract by Nicole Daedone.
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
Have a movie night to watch Dangerous Beauty. Invite only turned-on women. Wear
something that expresses your desire. Be sexy, decadent. And dont forget the spread.
Serve foods that light up the senses and turn up the volume.
Before you watch the movie, go around the room and ask each of your guests to com-
plete the sentence, A courtesan is Begin by doing it yourself, right here:
A courtesan is________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
After watching the movie, go around the room again and have your friends
complete the sentence again. A courtesan is
A courtesan is________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Dangerous Beauty is a movie about a woman who unabashedly uses sex as her
power source. It fuels her education, her career, her purpose, and her life. She uses it
to magnetize the best out of the men around her. Her primary driving force is desire.
This is in stark contrast to the wives, who are depicted throughout the movie
as unfailingly appropriate, socially conscious, and sexually repressed. Their primary
driving force is fearfear of someone as openly sexual as Veronica, fear their hus-
bands are cheating on them, religious fearsessentially, fear of anything that upsets
the status quo.
In this exercise you will make two lists of women you are familiar with (celeb-
rities and women of bygone eras count, too). First, those who you believe are fueled
primarily by desire. Second, those who you suspect are fueled primarily by fear.
Dont worry about hurting anyones feelings here; its your perception that counts.
(And as discussed earlier, you can trust your intuition. In other words, you do know.
Claim it.)
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
Take a peek underneath all of those appropriate behaviors and feel the rush
of the inappropriate. Dig deep and unbury the wrong desires you left for another
lifetime or a different set of circumstances. Maybe youve been trying to be the perfect
housewife but have a secret desire to be a stripper. (If only for a night.) Perhaps youve
been the rebel all your life but deep down you want the white-picket-fence dream
house. Find the thing that feels the most inappropriate and most delicious. Bring that
desire out of the dark and breathe life into it now. Write the fantasy down below. If
youre not feeling turned on as you write, start over with a new, even more taboo de-
sire. You will know you have landed on the right one when your body starts to vibrate
with excitement.
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
Old stories we have about women keep us caught in the conspiracy of fear and
envy. As a turned-on woman, you dont have time for that. This exercise is meant to
clear out any old stories you have that keep you from getting behind another womans
turn-on.
Name three reasons you dont get behind other turned-on women. Perhaps
you have a deep belief that women are disloyal, or that you get along better with men,
or that turned-on women are dangerous. What memories or previous experiences
support that story? Are you ready to let these stories go?
Story: ___________________________________________________________________________
Memory: ________________________________________________________________________
I am ready to let this go. (Circle one) YES NO
Story: ___________________________________________________________________________
Memory: ________________________________________________________________________
I am ready to let this go. (Circle one) YES NO
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
Story: ________________________________________________________________________
Memory: _____________________________________________________________________
I am ready to let this go. (Circle one) YES NO
Name three stories you have that make it so you dont ask for help from other
turned-on women. What memories or old experiences support these stories? Are you
ready to let these stories go?
Story: ___________________________________________________________________________
Memory: ________________________________________________________________________
I am ready to let this go. (Circle one) YES NO
Story: ___________________________________________________________________________
Memory: ________________________________________________________________________
I am ready to let this go. (Circle one) YES NO
Story: ___________________________________________________________________________
Memory: ________________________________________________________________________
I am ready to let this go. (Circle one) YES NO
Think of three women you know who are thriving. Following their passions.
They may be workers, friends, neighbors, or women in your book club. Women whose
aliveness you can feel. Who seem to magnetize what they desire in life with ease. Who
are these women? What is it about them?
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
Now, call each of these turned-on women and invite her to tea. When you see
her, ask these questions:
Then make her an offer. You will get behind her turn-on, if she gets behind
yours. Build an alliance. Make at least one offera concrete way you will help her
and commit to an actionable first step. Then make a request that she does the same
for you.
Feelings are feelings, and we all have them. The journey of the turned-on
woman is no exception. From time to time you will feel jealous, angry, frustrated, or
just plain irritated with other women. The key is to let these feelings flow the minute
you have them, so they dont turn to resentment. Resentment shuts down your turn-
on, while transparency ignites it. Moreover, behind every trigger is a desire. When
feelings flare up around other women, you can welcome them as a love letter from
your desire.
Try this. Think of a woman in your life who you feel jealous of. Maybe she has
the job you want, the body you want, the man you want. Maybe shes just funnier than
you are, and everyone seems to like her. Dont judge yourselfbe honest. Who is this
woman?
I am jealous of _________________________________________________________________
because _______________________________________________________________________.
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
What might these triggers say about what you want? What desires might these
feelings be pointing toward?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
Take some time and think about your intentions for this circle. Why do you
want to start it? To connect with other women? To build community? To show
women what is possible? To heal your relationship with women? To serve? To enjoy
the turn-on of creation? What do you hope to accomplish?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
Using the intentions above, craft a mission statement for your Turned-on
Womens Circle.
Now that you know why youre starting a Circle, what do you want the meetings
to be like? Take this opportunity to consider different possibilities for your Circle.
What would be the benefits of choosing a theme each month? What would be
the benefits of letting the topic be more free-form?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
What could be great about having a large Circle (8+)? What could be nice
about a smaller Circle?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
Why might you choose to meet in someones private home? What might be the
benefit to meeting in a public place, like a coffee shop or restaurant? Would you meet
at the same place each month or move around?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Why might you want to have food and drink available? What might be some
drawbacks of having food and drink?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
How long would the ideal Circle meeting last? How frequently would you
get together?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
1. Might we suggest choosing one of the 25 Ways to Turn On as your topic each month! See the Book Group
Guide at the end of this workbook. Now, plan your ideal Circle:
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
Monthly Theme?
Size of group?
Location?
Meeting Length?
Frequency?
Rituals?
Other?
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
The idea that turn-on lies within can be confronting. If turn-on doesnt de-
pend on external source, we might draw the conclusion that we could be turned on by
just about anybody. Dont be alarmed if youre feeling resistant to this concept. What
cultural norms would have to fall if it were true? Are you comfortable with the con-
cept that turn-on lies within? Why or why not?
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
If you have a partner, initiate sex with them today. (If you dont have a partner,
initiate a flirtation with someone you have your eye oneven if its just the barista at
your local coffee shop.) Notice the turn-on in your body, then take a few moments to
answer these questions.
What does turn-on feel like, in terms of temperature, motion, and location?
Where does it begin, and where does it end?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
At what point does turn-on begin for you? What increases sexual energy and
what decreases it?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
In what ways do you turn yourself on? In what ways do you expect your part-
ner to turn you on?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
Recall a time when you felt turned-on, alive, happy, free, and in your purpose.
A time when your turn-on came unquestionably from within. What did that feel like
in your body? How might you access those sensations again?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
All feelings and emotions express themselves through the body as sensations.
This includes sexual turn-on and the urge to fight. In the chart below, write down any
words or phrases that describe the feelings you get in your body during sex and fight-
ing. Use the categories in the left-hand column to help you
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
In what ways did the descriptions match? In what ways were they different?
Next time you have the urge to fight, might you consider having sex instead?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
As women, we receive a lot of social cues and subtle messages about how we
should and should not use our sexuality. The concept of using it to liberate frozen
sexual energy in the body is rarely part of our education.
In this exercise, consider how you have related to your sexual energy in the past.
Think back over your sexual history. Start from your first sexual experiences through
the present day. See if you can remember a time when you related to your sex in each of
the following ways, and write a description of the incident as you remember it.
2. One fight I had with a partner that I now see might have been avoided if wed
had sex: _________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
3. One recent fight that might have been the result of frozen sexual energy:
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
One of the major obstacles we women must overcome in order to use our
sexual energy for the purpose of freeing ourselves is the idea that I should only have
sex with him if he deserves it.
Have you ever withheld sex because you were angry with your man? Name
one recent example.
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Place a checkmark next to any of the following ideas that sound familiar.
Then, take a moment to consider them. How would things change if you changed
your perspective about this?
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
Women do not recognize just how much our partners desire to please us. The
first way to handle him is to tell him what you want. Give him specific instructions,
delivered in a loving and appreciative way, and watch him step up to the plate.
Pretend you are talking to your partner. Tell him five desires you have. Think
foot rubs, dinners out, and sexual activities. For the purpose of this exercise do not
ask him to do chores. Ask for things that would make you feel alive and well taken
care of. Make sure to phrase them with kindness.
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
Example:
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
Now, choose one of the above behaviors. With appreciation and kindness
rather than blame, tell your partner what you desire and ask him if he would be will-
ing to give it to you next time.
Sometimes handling your man means modeling the behavior you want him
to display. Think of one thing you know your partner (or a friend, if you dont have a
partner at the moment) would appreciate you doing for him. What would it take for
you to enjoy doing this thing? For you to do it out of desire? Not desire for him to
reciprocate, but pure pleasure in the moment of the activity?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
What is your current relationship to the word pussy? Do you love it or hate
it? Use it or ignore it completely? Write a short paragraph to describe it. Do not cen-
sor or judge; just write.
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
Write down every word you have ever heard used to refer to a womans geni-
tals. Do not be ashamed. Do not edit. Write down every single word that comes to
mind, positive or negative. Weve gotten you started:
Pussy
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
We often use the sexual vocabulary that we heard when we were young. The
words our mother used, or would have approved of. Now is your chance to choose
for yourself.
1. Look at the list you made in Exercise #2 and place a star next to the three terms you
use most often to describe your own genitals. Write them down here:
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
2. Then, read the whole list you made in Exercise #2 out loud. Feel your body as you
read it. Which terms feel most alive, vibrant, sexy, and decadent in your body? Circle
the top three and write them here:
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
3. Where did your stars and circles overlap? Or did they? Why do you think you use
the terms you use?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
4. Now that youve taken the time to consider it, will you adopt the word pussy? Why
or why not?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
If orgasm is our power source, what happens when we keep our sex hidden away?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
How might things change in your life if you treated sex as your power source?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Living the Turned-On Womans Manifesto
A turned-on woman knows that orgasm is the rise and fall of sensation in her
bodyhow her body receives and responds to pleasure. Climax may be part of orgasm,
but orgasm can be felt throughout the day in many different ways. Any time the body
fills with pleasurable sensation, thats orgasm.
Taking the time to notice when orgasm rises in our body keeps us alive,
vibrant, and turned-on. A great way to start paying attention is by keeping an Orgas-
mic Journal.
Choose a journal. Start with the notebook itself. Choose a journal that feels
good to youone that generates energy when you look at it, touch it, even smell it.
What about this journal says orgasm to you?
Choose a pen. Then find a pen that feels good in your hand. You might want
something lightweight or heavy; ink that is thick and viscous or ink that flows freely.
Whichever you choose, make sure its a pen you desire to have in your hand.
Start paying attention. Now, start noticing how orgasm rises and falls in your
body throughout the day. Throughout the day, pay attention to any moments where
your body feels alive, sensual, hot, and buoyant.
Write it down. Each time orgasm catches your attention, pull out your journal
and jot down a brief snapshot of what it feels like. Capture the circumstances and
the sensations alike. Think temperature, location, motion, and color. Did you feel a
tingling? A buzzing? Where was it located in your body? What was happening around
you at the time? Keep the descriptions succinct; hopefully you will be experiencing
many of them.
Review your orgasm. At the end of each day review your journal. What sur-
prised you? What stood out? Which experiences would you like to repeat?
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Write a letter to yourself from the point of view of orgasm. Let your orgasm speak to
you. Is orgasm a long-lost friend? A constant companion? Where does it feel listened
to? Ignored? In what ways does it feel judged or repressed? Celebrated and appreci-
ated? What are some recent desires its asked for that have yet to be fulfilled? What is
it upset about and what it is grateful for?
Dear _______________,
Love,
Your Orgasm
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Think back throughout your life and make a list of people who were once important to
youfriends, lovers, co-workerswho you have not seen or heard from in a while.
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
_________________________________ ____________________________________
Now, go through the list youve made and take a moment to really feel each person
on the list. Notice any names that make you feel good in your body. Chances are, you
have stayed connected to these peopleif only in your heart. If they walked through
the door today, how would you feel?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Now, circle any names on the list where the primary or overriding sensa-
tion you feel is negative. (Include anyone who doesnt bring up any sensation in
your bodyits possible a part of you is choosing not to feel that person for a reason.)
Chances are these people are associated with feelings of pain, sadness, or disappoint-
ment.
That doesnt mean you have to disconnect, however. What would it take to feel
connected to these people, even without necessarily inviting them back into your life?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Staying connected does not mean giving in or renouncing your desires. It simply
means staying in relationship with all aspects of your world: the good ones, as well
as the bad or uncomfortable ones. Lets start by looking at the places you might be
disconnecting right now.
Name three reasons you choose not to stay connected to this food:
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
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Name three reasons you choose not to stay connected to this music:
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Name three reasons you choose not to stay connected to this part of town:
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Name three reasons you choose not to stay connected to this person:
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Name three reasons you choose not to stay connected to this chore:
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
What is one thing a friend or loved one does that drives you crazy?
___________________________________________
Name three reasons you choose not to stay connected to this behavior:
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
Name three reasons you choose not to stay connected to this act:
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
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1. _______________________________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________________________
What would it be like to reconnect in such a small way with each of these ex-
periences? What might you come to appreciate about them? About yourself ? Will you
try reconnecting with at least one of them?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Exercise #1: Looking at Your Ideas about Technology
What does it mean to you to post meaningfully? What kinds of posts, emails,
blogs and tweets do you enjoy reading from other people? Which ones do you dislike?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
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If you had a platform where you could speak to the world, what would you say?
What if you only had to curate a message rather than writing it yourself ? You can do
just that. Write down your top five favorite writers and thinkers here:
1.________________________________________________________________________
2.________________________________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________________________________
4.________________________________________________________________________
5.________________________________________________________________________
Now, go online and run a search for Quotations by [insert name of thinker
or writer you love here]. Choose a quote that means something to you from each of
these great minds and copy them here:
1.________________________________________________________________________
2.________________________________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________________________________
4.________________________________________________________________________
5.________________________________________________________________________
Now, post one of these quotes to Facebook every day for the next ten days.
While youre online, be sure to write meaningful comments on your friends posts as
well. The more you join the conversation, the more people will see your posts in their
news feedsand the more you will be able to ignite others turn-on!
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_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
List five websites or organizations that inspire you, and how you will use tech-
nology to spread the turn-on. (Note: Weve gotten you started!)
1.Turnedonwoman.com. I will post the link to my Facebook page and I will sign
my posts, tweets, and emails with the symbol {on}.
2.________________________________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________________________________
4.________________________________________________________________________
5.________________________________________________________________________
Would you want your friends and loved ones to have access to these resources?
If so, why havent you posted about them on your blog or Facebook account?
Do it now!
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Take a moment to remember a time when you had an idea you wanted to get
across, but someone was unwilling to hear you out. What sensations come up from
that memory? Do you communicate most clearly when you have to fight to be heard?
What does it feel like in your body to be shut down by someone elses but?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Moving from but to yes, and is moving out of your comfort zone into a
place of infinite possibility. If things can be both yes and something else, then nothing
is impossible.
What else might become possible if you were to move outside of your comfort
zone? List five small ways you could step outside your comfort zone today. Include
foods you might eat, people you might talk to, or risks you might take.
1.________________________________________________________________________
2.________________________________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________________________________
4.________________________________________________________________________
5.________________________________________________________________________
YES NO
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Think back to a time when someone seemed to form an opinion about you with-
out knowing you. How did it feel to be the subject of someones cosmic but? How
might things have been different if they had taken a yes, and approach with you?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Have you ever felt violated by touch? If so, when? If not, do you know anyone who has?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Is touch important to you? What does touch mean to you? Do you ask for the kind of
touch you most desire?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Write down five of the most important people in your life. Include lovers,
friends, and family members. For each person, write down a specific description of
what kind of touch would feel the best with them, whether it would be feeling their
hand on your arm, getting a hug, or something more.
1.________________________________________________________________________
2.________________________________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________________________________
4.________________________________________________________________________
5.________________________________________________________________________
Now, assign yourself the task of asking for the touch you desire from as many
of these people as possibletoday!
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In this exercise, all you have to do is to let your imagination run wild! You will
be taking a few moments to imagine the sexual touch you desire right now.
Start by choosing your perfect loverperhaps it is your current partner, a for-
mer fling, a celebrity, or someone you dont know yet. Describe this person briefly:
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
If he or she were here with you right now, how would you want to be touched
first? Would you want a massage? A caress of your hair? Would you want him to wash
your feet?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Now transition into mutual sexual touch. Be as specific as you can. Do not
be embarrassed or critical; let your body feel what it wants. What would you like to
do first? Where would you want him or her to stroke you? Would you like to feel the
weight of his body on top of you? What is it that you desire?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Sensation is the language of the body. It engages all five of our sensestouch,
sight, smell, taste, and sound. When we talk about feeling sensations in the body,
the primary sense were talking about is the sense of touch. We describe these body
sensations in terms of temperature, motion, vibration, and texture. We can feel them
more easily during intense periods of high sensationsuch as during sex, or if we are
in pain. They tend to be less noticeable at other times, but if you pay attention you can
still feel them.
Can you remember a time when you were very aware of the sensation in your
body? Describe the circumstances and what you remember feeling.
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Sensation is clean. It does not come with interpretation attached; it simply is. The hu-
man mind, on the other hand, is fantastic at interpretation. It receives a signal from
the body, and the next thing you know its got a label attached: good, bad, or neu-
tral.
Read back over the writing you just did, and answer these questions:
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What signals did your body send to say the sensation good?
__________________________________
What signals did your body send to say the sensation was bad?
__________________________________
What emotions came along with the story that a sensation was bad?
__________________________________
What emotions came along with the story that a sensation was good?
__________________________________
Its not that story is a bad thingit helps us understand our world. The problems
arise when the stories begin to take over, steering our attention away from sensation.
Think of a high-intensity emotional experience in your past. Perhaps you got
your heart broken, lost your job, your best friend cut off ties with you, or a loved
one died.
Imagine a neutral third party was recording what happened from the outside.
She knows nothing about you or the situation. What pure facts would she see? Do not
include any interpretation, emotion, or background storyjust the facts. For ex-
ample, if your partner moved out, she might say, Two people were living together and
then they werent anymore.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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Now, as if that neutral third party could enter your body, write down the sensa-
tions she would feel. We are not talking about emotions (sadness, fear, anger) but
pure sensations. What temperature would she feel? What motion? What textures?
For example, she might say, A woman felt a deep rich ache behind her sternum that
spread out from the top of her head and the bottom of her feet. Her eyes burned and
soon she could feel hot tears running down her cheeks.
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Now, tell the neutral third party the story you laid on top of the sensation. Re-
port any emotions, judgments, and interpretations that were layered onto the experi-
ence she was watching. For example, He said he loved me but he lied. He left me for
someone skinnier and younger, and now Im going to be alone for the rest of my life.
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Looking back, how might things have been different if you had stuck with sen-
sation, without the story? Which feels more true to you?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Time, on the other hand, is finite. Apply skillful attention to where you are
spending your energy, making the best possible use of every moment. Shore up any
waste as soon as you notice it. Do not use your precious resources for any activity that
does not have true desire behind it. Guilt and shoulds and negative self-talk are en-
ergy vampires. Enemies of turn-on. Keep yourself very clean. Take responsibility for
your own systemthere is too much at stake.
Nobody else is going to do it for you. Your energy reserves are not the respon-
sibility of your boss, your husband, your children. Attune yourself carefully through
meditation, reflection, and self-discovery, so you know which activities fill you up and
which deplete you. Be vigilant about making time for the former and not the latter.
Use your energy well and for its right purpose and you will never run empty again.
Paying attention to how you are generating and spending your energy is called
Energy Accounting. Energy Accounting is simply noticing where you are investing
energy and where you are consuming or dissipating it. Just like financial accounting,
it breaks open your habits and allows you to see whats been going on behind closed
doorsyours.
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How do you plug in and get energy? Do you make those activities a priority?
YES NO
YES NO
YES NO
YES NO
YES NO
YES NO
Studies prove that people who write down everything they eat actually lose
weight, whether or not they consciously change their eating habits. This exercise
operates on the same principle. Use the chart below to help you discern which of your
daily activities cultivate energy and which deplete it. Dont worry if youre not sure
which box to check; go with your intuition. Over time you will become more famil-
iar with the sensations of generating and spending. Soon you may discover yourself
gravitating automatically toward the activities that generate rather than diminish
your energetic currency.
Log the activities you take part in over the course of the day. Try to be specific;
rather than saying work, note the actual tasks and duties you are working on and
how they make you feel. Do you feel more energized or less energized when you are
finished? Place an x in the Generating box if you sense that the activity cultivated
energy. Place an x in the Spending box if you believe it depleted your reserves.
Then note why you marked the box you did. Repeat this exercise daily for one week,
or longer if you find it helpful.
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Generating Spending
Time Activity
(mark x here) (mark x here) Notes
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Contrary to many of the messages weve received that say we should save sex
for special occasions, the turned-on woman knows that sex is her number one energy
resource. There is no other energy-generating activity that is as accessible, as power-
ful, or as pleasurable. She uses it often and well.
Do you see sex as an energy resource? If not, why not? What would it take for
you to see it this way?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Do you see any practical obstacles that you would have to overcome in order to
make sex a source of energy in your life? If so, what would they be?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Do you see any emotional obstacles that you would have to overcome?
What kinds?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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A taboo is an inhibition, a boundary, a line you dare not to crossin the realm
of sexuality or anything else. Perhaps its a curiosity you have never explored; maybe
its an old memory you have tried to forget. It might be a particular sexual act a part of
you wants to try. Whatever it is, while its been sitting over there in the corner gather-
ing dust, its been stealing your turn-on. Thats right: take a peek and youll discover
that it takes a whole lot of energy to keep your taboos under wraps.
Being your own energy accountant means cleaning out energy leaks wherever
they arise. Taboos are no exception. The time has come to put some attention on the
places where light has never shined beforeand to liberate your turn-on in the process.
Take a minute to uncover five different non-sexual taboos you have. Things
you could never do, or would never say. List them here:
1.________________________________________
2.________________________________________
3.________________________________________
4.________________________________________
5.________________________________________
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Now, out of that list choose the boundary that has the most heat for you. The
one that glows with desire. Consider it more carefully. What about it is taboo? Would
it hurt someone? You? What sensations do you feel in your body when you think
about acting on it?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Because its so closely associated with shame, sex is a breeding ground for
taboos. Most of us have been conditioned to push our sexual taboos so far away that
many of us dont even know where our lines are drawn. So take a moment and feel
your body. What sex acts might your body want, that you would ordinarily be unwill-
ing to admiteven to yourself ?
1.________________________________________
2.________________________________________
3.________________________________________
4.________________________________________
5.________________________________________
Pick the taboo that evokes the most charge or sensation. Why do you think this
one has so much energy around it? Who taught you that this particular act was taboo?
Why do you think you believed them?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
One thing is for sure: you are not the only one who has taboos. We all do. That
said, not everyone knows it is safe to think about them, much less talk about them.
Thats where turned-on women can make a big difference. If we become comfortable
enough with our taboos to discuss them openly, others will feel safer doing the same.
Consider building an alliance with a friend, partner, or family member where
you both admit your taboos. Note the alliance part: talking about taboos works best
when you can acquire consent in advance.
Start here. Who in your life would be the easiest to talk to about taboo? Who
would be the most difficult? Why?
Now, choose someone from the first list who you will likely see very soon.
Can you commit to building an alliance and talking about taboo? YES NO
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Dont you wish you could have truly open conversations with other women
about sex? About the ways it is wonderful and the ways it is painful? All of its ups and
its downs? We are interconnected beings, after all. Sex is our power source. How can
we not be talking about it?
Craft five questions you would like to ask your friends about their sex lives. Do
not be shy; ask the questions youre most curious about.
1._______________________________________________________________________
2._______________________________________________________________________
3._______________________________________________________________________
4._______________________________________________________________________
5._______________________________________________________________________
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How might you initiate a conversation where you could get one of these ques-
tions answered?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
How would you feel if you were asked these same questions, and how might
you respond?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Sex is the most natural thing in the world. Its how we got here, after all. And
as women, its our power source. So why are we so embarrassed to talk about it? For
many of us it has to do with messages we received when we were very youngmes-
sages weve never taken the time to re-examine.
Lets see if thats the case. List five reasons why you dont make sex a public
conversation:
1._______________________________________________________________________
2._______________________________________________________________________
3._______________________________________________________________________
4._______________________________________________________________________
5._______________________________________________________________________
Now, consider each of the reasons youve listed. Ask yourself whose voice you
hear within the words. Does that sound like your mother? Your father? A religious
leader? A teacher? Next to each reason, write down whose voice it most closely re-
sembles.
Make a new list of reasons why you dont make sex a public conversation. This
time, carefully review each reason to make sure its your voice that is reflected.
1._______________________________________________________________________
2._______________________________________________________________________
3._______________________________________________________________________
4._______________________________________________________________________
5._______________________________________________________________________
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Which of these reasons do you want to hold onto for a while longer? Which are
you ready to let go of today?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
What are some rules of propriety that keep you from having the kind of sex you
want, as often as you want to have it?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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If you were to be the sex you want to see in the world, what changes would
you have to make? What obstacles might you have to overcome along the way?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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Fear is a great yardstick. The closer you get to what you most desire, the louder
its alarm bells will sound. Desire takes us; it possesses us. We can no longer remain in
control. The first response that comes up is fear.
In other words, if youre not doing something that scares you every day, youre
not really living.
Make a list of ten things youre truly scared to do. Skydive. Break up with your
boyfriend. Have a kid. The more charge you feel in your body when you think about
that fear, the better.
Then, imagine a desire that might be waiting just on the other side of that fear. For
example, if the fear is going skydiving, the desire might be to feel the freedom of fall-
ing without a net.
Fear Desire
Are you willing to commit to doing one of the above in the next week? YES NO
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1.________________________________________________________________________
2.________________________________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________________________________
Do you enjoy it when someone else takes an interest in you and engages you
with meaningful questions? Why or why not?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Its often the things we are most meant to do in the world that are the most dif-
ficult to get off the ground. List 3 things you have the desire to do but keep postponing
for one reason or another. These might be big goals like traveling the world or smaller
ones like taking an exercise class. Whatever they are, commit to completing them by
a hard deadline:
Goal 1: __________________________________________________________________________
Complete by: ____________________
Goal 2: __________________________________________________________________________
Complete by: ____________________
Goal 3: __________________________________________________________________________
Complete by: ____________________
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We treat the future like a storage closet for everything we dont have time to do
right now. But the truth is, theres no such thing as having more time. Now is always
exactly the perfect time. Anything worth doing is doing is worth doing now.
Before you read any further, do one thing that has been on your to-do list for
a while. Notice what it feels like in your body just before you decide to do it, and then
once the decision is made. Then notice how it feels to have that task behind you.
Which state feels best in your body? Why?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
We tend to think of this list as The List of Really Good Reasons Why I Cant
D.I.N. The problem is, our turn-on is directly linked to our willingness to D.I.N.
When a task sits on our to-do list unattended to, it is a magnet for resentmentand an
energy leak to boot. So, lets clear out all these really good reasons right now, so you
can move onto the task of turning yourselfand the worldon.
My Personal Top Ten List of Really Good Reasons Why I Cant D.I.N.
1.________________________________________________________________
2.________________________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________________________
4.________________________________________________________________
5.________________________________________________________________
6.________________________________________________________________
7.________________________________________________________________
8.________________________________________________________________
9.________________________________________________________________
10._______________________________________________________________
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Now, review the list. Cross off any reason that would not stand up in a court of law.
Can you commit to questioning the remaining reasons whenever they arise in
the next week? Will you D.I.N. instead? Nothing less than your very own turn-on
is at stake.
YES NO
You have everything you need to turn on. Take this moment to ignite your own
turn-on by igniting it in another woman. Do one of the following, and D.I.N. (Dont
forget to feel the sensations of turn-on in your body as you go!)
1. Call a friend you havent talked to in a while and ask her if shes turned on.
Ignited. On fire. Living the life she was meant for. If she doesnt say an immediate
YES, ask her to tell you one thing you can do to help. And then D.I.N.!
Now that youre getting the hang of this D.I.N. thing, what are you going to do next?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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This is our lifes work, and we are devoted. But we will wait for you. Not just because
we want to, but because we have to. We cannot awaken alone. Awakening happens
together. So in truth youre not just invited; your presence is required.
Who We Are
We are a group of real live turned-on women and the men who support us. We
come from OneTaste (www.onetaste.us).
We are artists and internet entrepreneurs and writers and accountants. We
are singers and MBAs and venture capitalists and painters. We are mothers and
fathers, aunts and uncles, grandparents and godparents and daughters and sons. We
are chefs and Buddhist meditators and computer geeks and marketing gurus. We are
Indian and Israeli, Vietnamese and Thai, African-American and Chinese-American,
gay, straight, and somewhere in between. We are blond and brunette and dark-
skinned and light-skinned and fat and thin and right-handed and left-handed. At last
count, at least one of us was a small red dog.
Most of all, we are friends. We are dedicated to supporting each other on this
journey weve been called to at this very important moment in time. We come from
everywhere, but if you happen to be wandering the streets of San Francisco or New
York, keep an eye out. You just might run into one of us.
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This workbook is most powerful when you share it with others. Turned-on
women everywhere are encouraged to gather together and discuss, wrestle with, and
make their own decisions about everything written here. None of us awaken until we
all awaken, after all.
A Year of Turn-on
This guide is organized as a year-long journey for your book group or Turned-on
Womens Circle, assuming one meeting per month. Some decisions youll want to
make in advance:
For more ideas, to get in touch with other book groups, or to join the monthly teleclass
discussions, visit www.turnedonwoman.com.
Month 1
The first months reading includes the Epitaph and the Turned-on Womans
Manifesto itself. These two pieces of writing were the genesis of the Turned-on Wom-
ans Movement. They can be very powerful when read aloud, so we suggest taking the
time to do so during your meeting. Go around the room and have each woman read a
section. Then have the moderator begin a discussion, starting with the questions that
follow.
Epitaph
How do you define a good woman? Has your definition changed over the
course of your life? If so, how?
Have you ever lived a status-quo life? How did it suit you? What are some
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Month 2
The underlying theme of this months discussion is this: how do you set a
course for your life that is tailored to who you are specifically? That is the most
authentic life you can be living? How do you let go of messages youve received from
society, family, and friendsso that you can discover whats true for you?
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Whats one other societal expectation you enjoy challenging? One you have
been afraid to stand up to? One that turns you on and you make your own?
Month 3
The Ways being discussed this month have to do with the interior journey.
Looking within, we can discover the beliefs that are motivating our external actions
and then make adjustments if we so choose. Such self-discovery teaches us that we
can trust our intuition, and gives us the courage to face deep-rooted fears that may be
blocking our growth.
3. Live inside-out.
Do you feel you own who you are? In what ways?
Who is someone close to you who lives her truth ferociously? What form
does that heat take?
What are some reasons you choose not to live authentically? What would
have to change if you decided to do so from now on?
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Month 4
This months theme is desire. Desire fuels turn-on; it is the only compass of
the Turned-on Woman. Yet when asked, What do you want? few of us know how to
respond. As children, we learn to feel shame when our desires bump up against social
rules and parental regulations. By the time we are adults, many of uswomen espe-
ciallyare so out of touch with our desire we cant remember if it ever existed. This
month is about reversing that trend and putting desire back in the drivers seat.
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Month 5
This month, we recommend meeting twice: the first time to watch the movie
Dangerous Beauty, and then for the book group discussion. Women supporting other
turned-on women is the theme of the month. What does it mean to take responsibility
for your own turn-on? How and why might you then choose to ignite other women?
The concepts you will discuss this month are key to the success of the Turned-on
Womans Movement. Get behind one another and make something happen!
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Month 6
This months theme is men and sex. While not every woman feels this way,
overall women in Western culture have been conditioned that sex is a mans game.
That he holds the power in love and relationships. The Ways you will be discussing
this month point to a very different reality. NOTE: Sex can be a very charged issue.
These Ways can be particularly sensitive for queer women, since the content is not
entirely gender-neutral. Charge is just turn-on with a different story. Use any energy
in the room to help fuel the conversation rather than shutting it down. Go around the
room before you begin and let each woman speak a bit about any concerns, fears, or
apprehensions she might have about discussing men and sex. Then, have the modera-
tor check in frequently throughout the conversation to make sure everyone is still
feeling safe and included.
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did not feel good. Now, talk about a time when it felt great.
What about this Way do you think might be controversial? What rings
most true?
Month 7
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Month 8
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In what ways could you be more expansive and inclusive in your life right
now? What would it mean if everything were true, valid, and important?
Month 9
This month, the Ways concern the sensations of turn-on in the physical
bodyboth the sensation that arises through touch and that which can be felt within.
Sensation is the doorway to reality at its most fundamental level. In that way the body
is the gateway to true connection with other people and our world.
Month 10
This month the focus turns to energy accounting. This is a new concept to
many women but is so key to sustainable turn-on that we have given it a month all on
its own. It is recommended that each woman in the group test-drive the Energy Ac-
counting exercise in the week prior to the meeting.
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Month 11
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Month 12
In the last month of your Year of Turn-on, your group will have the opportuni-
ty to set intentions for the future. How will you take what you have learned through-
out this year and share it with the world? Which of your talents are you finally going
to start sharing? The world cannot wait one moment longer. Other women need you
to turn yourself on so they see whats possible. D.I.N.!
25. D.I.N.
What keeps you from doing things right now?
When do you have more energy to accomplish a goal: right after you
think of it, or after some time has passed?
What do you spend your time doing when youre not doing it now?
What do you see as the benefits of taking a D.I.N approach?
The drawbacks?
What will you do right now to keep the turn-on going?
(Visit www.turnedonwoman.com/spread for some ideas!)
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