Ep 321 - Noa

Mariana is a wonderful 31 year old polyamorous woman in Portugal who is in a mono-poly dynamic with her partner of five years and an additional partner of about a year. Consensual non-monogamy is a relatively new concept in her life but she has been pushing back against societal norms and scripts since she was a teenager.   She shares with us her beautiful and powerful journey of hitting rock-bottom in an abusive partnership before digging deep into who she is and what she really wants out of life and relationships. She takes us through the work she did for herself and with her partner to design the relationship she wants... And, it's everchanging.   Speaking of designing relationships... Mariana is a designer and worked with her therapist to adapt the tools she used with her partner into a stunning game. You can find The Relationship Design Game here on her website and you can save 10% when you use the code "EMMA" at checkout!   Check out the full show notes here.   Submit a question for our Ask Us Anything Episodes! Click here to join our upcoming Virtual Meet and Greets! Join the most amazing community of open-minded humans on the planet!   Check out our weekly peer support groups!   Skip the ads and sign up for the Premium Feed!   Click here to order your very own NNM shirt! $10 Off - Online STI Testing

8 Nov 20231h 7min

Jessica and David have been in many different iterations of relationship together for over twenty years... They were friends, they dated, they were friends again, they dated again, they got married, they had a child, they divorced, they became friends again, and now they're nesting co-parents who refer to themselves as "poly intimates" and life partners. This interview is a beautiful and vulnerable look inside what that journey was like for them together and as individuals, and how they arrived here. And, where "here" even is.   Jessica Fern is the author of the wildly popular book Polysecure. From her website: Polysecure is both a trailblazing theoretical treatise and a practical guide. It provides nonmonogamous people with a new set of tools to navigate the complexities of multiple loving relationships and offers radical new concepts that are sure to influence the conversation about attachment theory.   She and David Cooley recently released their new book, Polywise. From her website: Using a grounded theory approach, they explore the underlying challenges that nonmonogamous individuals and partners can experience after their first steps, offering practical strategies for transforming them into opportunities for new levels of clarity and intimacy. Polywise provides both the conceptual framework to better understand the shift from monogamy to nonmonogamy and the tools to navigate the next steps.   To learn more about Jessica's work, please visit her website. Similarly, to learn more about David's work as a restorative justice facilitator, please visit his website.   Check out the full show notes here.   Submit a question for our Ask Us Anything Episodes! Click here to join our upcoming Virtual Meet and Greets! Join the most amazing community of open-minded humans on the planet!   Check out our weekly peer support groups!   Skip the ads and sign up for the Premium Feed!   Click here to order your very own NNM shirt! $10 Off - Online STI Testing

1 Nov 20231h 19min

Meshai and Fin team up together to answer amazing listener questions every fourth Friday of each month!   Today's questions are about how to determine the difference between a personal boundary and an opportunity for growth AND two questions about group play.   If YOU have a question, we'd love to hear it! Please, ask us anything by clicking here!   You likely know me (Fin) from over 300 episodes of Normalizing Non-Monogamy. Just in case you don't, I cohost the podcast with my partner Emma and we have been in an open relationship together for over 15 years. I am also working towards completing a sex and relationship coaching program through the Somatica Institute and will be finished in late spring 2024.   We are super excited to be partnering with Meshai for the Ask Us Anything episodes! She first appeared on the podcast on Episode 233 and we're honored to have her back!   Meshai is relationship coach with the team at Expansive Connection. She believes in the power of living as one’s authentic self, and the freedom that comes from changing perspectives. She loves putting the puzzle pieces of a couple's sexual energy together and aiding them in positive and explorative movement.   Her coaching work implements creative synergy, openness, self-expression, and the confrontation of challenges through self-determination. She helps individuals from diverse populations move forward with their goals while being fully aware that trauma can play on the whole person.   Meshai is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and is certified in both Trauma Therapy and Sex Therapy, and she is trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy.   Check out the full show notes here.   Submit a question for our Ask Us Anything Episodes! Click here to join our upcoming Virtual Meet and Greets! Join the most amazing community of open-minded humans on the planet!   Check out our weekly peer support groups!   Skip the ads and sign up for the Premium Feed!   Click here to order your very own NNM shirt! $10 Off - Online STI Testing

27 Okt 202348min

Rachel's first appearance on the podcast was over 300 episodes, and five years ago. She originally shared her story on episode 8 with her partner and used a pseudonym. A lot has changed since then.   Rachel has been exploring non-monogamy for close to a decade. Initially, she and her partner were in a hierarchical relationship where they explored swinging, dating as a couple, and a bit of polyamory. As time went on, their dynamic shifted and they eventually found themselves in a pseudo-quad dynamic where there was much less hierarchy. More recently, she has embraced the concept of being her own primary partner, while investing in a committed relationship.   Rachel is incredibly eloquent and vulnerable in this interview. We have amazing conversations about maintaining friendship after transitioning a romantic partnership, rekindling romantic partnerships after a breakup, processing the grief and loss of a relationship, the power and vulnerability in asking for help and leaning on your support system, and we dig into capacity and healing around commitments and expectations. There is so much that is wonderful about this conversation.   If that wasn't enough... Rachel is also a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW-C) and an AASECT certified sex therapist (CST). She is kink, poly, and LGBTQ friendly with a wide range of experience working with individuals and couples on a myriad of treatment issues, including sexuality, communication, conflict, life transitions, lack of emotional or physical intimacy, depression, anxiety, trauma, and more. Please learn more at aliveintimacy.com.   Check out the full show notes here.   Submit a question for our Ask Us Anything Episodes! Click here to join our upcoming Virtual Meet and Greets! Join the most amazing community of open-minded humans on the planet!   Check out our weekly peer support groups!   Skip the ads and sign up for the Premium Feed!   Click here to order your very own NNM shirt! $10 Off - Online STI Testing

25 Okt 20231h 15min

This conversation is beyond powerful. We say that often and we always mean it. This is no exception to the rule.   About a year ago Anna and Andy opened up their relationship after being together for over 30 years. They'd talked about it for a long time, and finally did it. They even had a plan and lots of agreements. And then, the first person they met was J! J has been exploring non-monogamy for about a decade in a wide range of configurations and now he, Anna, and Andy are in a V together with Anna as the hinge.   The power in this conversation comes from how these three vulnerably dig into the really beautiful work they've all have had to do to get here. Anna has ADHD and is Autistic, Andy has ADHD, and J is Autistic. Learning to navigate a hinge relationship while meshing multiple neurodivergencies has been revolutionary for all three of them. We talk a lot about the relief that comes from not having to mask anymore and at the same time, the challenges that come with it as well.   We also dig into healing from intense religious upbringings (Anna and Andy were both raised by parents who were pastors), deconstructing the patriarchy and ownership, and forming relationships with metamours. Again, this conversation is beautiful, powerful, and even full of laughs. Enjoy!   Check out the full show notes here.   Submit a question for our Ask Us Anything Episodes! Click here to join our upcoming Virtual Meet and Greets! Join the most amazing community of open-minded humans on the planet!   Check out our weekly peer support groups!   Skip the ads and sign up for the Premium Feed!   Click here to order your very own NNM shirt! $10 Off - Online STI Testing

18 Okt 20231h 25min

This is such a deep, vulnerable, and beautiful conversation. Orit and her husband discussed opening their relationship fairly early on. However, personal history and trauma made the conversations scary and triggering for Orit.   She shares with us her powerful journey of healing over the last decade and how she and her husband currently explore polyamory together. She speaks elegantly about her path of healing trauma, transitioning and grieving relationships, holding multiple opposing truths at once, her brief experiences in swinging, and so much about new relationship energy (NRE). We absolutely love this one and hope you do, as well.   Orit doesn't just walk the walk, she also loves helping others. She is a Board-Certified Dance/Movement Therapist, a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist, and has a MS in Dance/Movement therapy with over 13 years of experience.   As she says on her website: "I call myself a Trauma and Relationship Expert because I’ve helped thousands heal from past wounds and improve their relationships. But to be honest with you – I’m still making mistakes in my own relationships. I’ve had 10+ years of therapy, coaching, and plant medicine journeys – yet, I’m still learning.   I’ve grown so much since the days I used to sabotage my relationships with uncontrollable jealousy and fear. A decade ago, I could barely stand the idea of my husband texting another woman. Now, we’re in a loving & stable polyamorous marriage. Healing does and can happen! I am living proof and it is my mission to share it with the world as best as I can.   This has been far more than a personal transformation. This is my calling."   Please check out all of her amazing work at www.oritkrug.com.   Check out the full show notes here.   Submit a question for our Ask Us Anything Episodes! Click here to join our upcoming Virtual Meet and Greets! Join the most amazing community of open-minded humans on the planet!   Check out our weekly peer support groups!   Skip the ads and sign up for the Premium Feed!   Click here to order your very own NNM shirt! $10 Off - Online STI Testing

11 Okt 20231h 21min

"You have to do the work..." gets thrown around all the time these days in love and relationships. Never before have we heard a more powerful discussion of what "the work" is than this one with Bru and Mark. They talk through the raw and beautiful work they have both done individually, and together, to get to where they are today.   They're both in their mid-thirties and are high school sweethearts who have been married for over 18 years. They're also about two years into a very slow and intentional opening of their relationship. They opened, explored, paused, redesigned, and are now opening again.   Again, this conversation is incredible from beginning to end. Bru and Mark talk so vulnerably about their experiences growing up intensely Evangelical Christian, leaving the church, healing complex PTSD, and finding and rebuilding a loving and supportive community around themselves. Enjoy!   Check out the full show notes here.   Submit a question for our Ask Us Anything Episodes! Click here to join our upcoming Virtual Meet and Greets! Join the most amazing community of open-minded humans on the planet!   Check out our weekly peer support groups!   Skip the ads and sign up for the Premium Feed!   Click here to order your very own NNM shirt! $10 Off - Online STI Testing

4 Okt 20231h 19min

Rachel Lark is a bisexual, kinky, polyamorous, cis female musician, performer, and writer. And that's all before she's had her morning coffee! Raised by two sex-positive philosophers, Rachel tends to question most things, rather than blindly following the herd. In a similar fashion, this is one of our more philosophical interviews about non-monogamy. We absolutely love it and hope you do as well.   As we mentioned, Rachel is a musician and performer. What we didn't tell you is that she is an AMAZING musician and performer and you should definitely check out her website for more information on her work and her current fall 2023 tour!   One last thing... Many of the world's greatest creative minds and artists make their living $5 and $10 at a time by finding their most loyal and supportive fans. Please consider supporting Rachel's work by contributing to her Patreon.   It may seem crazy, and it's hard to explain how much getting a new Patreon supporter means to indie artists and creators. She has about as many supporters as we do in our virtual community and we know how much it makes our day when we get a new member. Emma and I still text each other immediately to celebrate. I imagine it's the same for Rachel. Here's that link again.   Check out the full show notes here.   Submit a question for our Ask Us Anything Episodes! Click here to join our upcoming Virtual Meet and Greets! Join the most amazing community of open-minded humans on the planet!   Check out our weekly peer support groups!   Skip the ads and sign up for the Premium Feed!   Click here to order your very own NNM shirt! $10 Off - Online STI Testing

27 Sep 20231h 11min