Ep 263 - Elizabeth

Meshai and Fin team up together to answer amazing listener questions every fourth Friday of each month! Today we are answering questions from our virtual community! First up, we determine when you're allowed to call yourself non-monogamous. How many partners do you have to have to qualify? Come found out. Then we talk about how to show up authentically in a non-monogamous partnership when it feels like you can't really be yourself around your loved ones or may not even be able to be out in public at all. 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. Learn more about Meshai and all of her work over at expansiveconnection.com! 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 also completed a sex and relationship coaching program through the Somatica Institute in March 2024! Check out the full show notes here. Join the most amazing community of open-minded humans on the planet!   Click here to order your very own NNM shirt! $10 Off - Online STI Testing

27 Dec 202443min

Today George takes us on his powerful relationship journey that spans more than thirty years... For the first ten years he was monogamously married and then separated amicably when he was about 30. In his thirties George remarried but ended up cheating on his wife every few years throughout most of their partnership. She found out early on and they sort of had an unspoken agreement which ultimately ended after about 11 years. After his second marriage George decided he wanted to do relationships differently. Lying, cheating, and dishonesty were not what George wanted in a partnership yet neither was monogamy. For the last ten years George has been diving deep into learning and exploring the world of ethical non-monogamy. He now identifies as solo poly and loves forming connections with women all over the world that are rooted in honesty, transparency, and clear communication. Not only does George love exploring relationships and connection in his personal life, he's also made it his profession. George lives in Australia and has been working as a legal male escort for the last year. For him, his work is about companionship, connection, and healing. To learn more about George and his work, please check out his website! Check out the full show notes here. Join the most amazing community of open-minded humans on the planet!   Click here to order your very own NNM shirt! $10 Off - Online STI Testing

25 Dec 20241h 20min

Irene's first "serious" dive into exploring non-monogamy came towards the end of her Master's program when she and a new partner both came to their relationship not really wanting monogamy... Yet, neither of them had done this before, they didn't have many resources to guide them, and they were in a brand new relationship together. And, those were just the hurdles they knew existed. Spoiler alert: They ended up finding some hidden ones as well! As Irene describes it, opening their relationship was chaos. Today, she takes us back to the beginning and shares with us how she and her partner moved through the chaos together while also healing themselves as individuals. The journey has not been easy and we're incredibly grateful to Irene for her vulnerability in sharing her story. Irene combines her own lived experiences with her extensive training in yoga therapy and her background in clinical sexual health counseling to bring an in-depth understanding of the mind and body to her coaching work. She is also the author of the bestselling book The Polyamory Paradox: Finding Your Confidence in Consensual Non-Monogamy. Please check out all of Irene's work on her website. Check out the full show notes here. Join the most amazing community of open-minded humans on the planet!   Click here to order your very own NNM shirt! $10 Off - Online STI Testing

18 Dec 20241h 19min

Over the last few weeks we have been bringing you updates from Christy, Rebecca, David, and Jason... They've all been on the podcast multiple times before and even came on Episode 143 all together at the start of the pandemic to talk about how they live under one roof. A lot has changed in the last four years and today we dig deep into it in this beautiful conversation. We highly encourage you to listen to this episode even if you haven't listened to any of the other conversations with these four and even if you never plan to live with multiple partners. The intentionality, skills, and communication needed to live together with five adults and a toddler are really not much different than living with one other person... You just need a lot more of it when there are more people and you can't get away with sweeping as much under the rug. We learned so many incredible and valuable lessons in this interview and we hope you do as well.  It's really just about the vibe, ya'll! Enjoy! Check out the full show notes here. Join the most amazing community of open-minded humans on the planet!   Click here to order your very own NNM shirt! $10 Off - Online STI Testing

11 Dec 20241h 29min

Christy and Jason met on Fetlife a bit over six years ago and have been together ever since. They've both been on previous episodes (Episodes 46, 72, 143, and 367) but we've never had an opportunity to talk with just the two of them about their relationship and how it came to be. In this conversation, they take us back to the beginning and share with us how they've grown their partnership from a starting point where they were not at all aligned in how they approached polyamory. Christy was living a very integrated life with her husband and multiple partners in a kitchen table polyamory dynamic while Jason was exploring solo polyamory and healing from multiple recent relationships that left him scared to ever have his partners meet one another and never wanting to live with anyone. Six years later, Christy and Jason are married and live on five acres with their two year old kiddo, Christy's other partner and former husband David, his wife Rebecca, Christy's sister, eleven chickens, two dogs, and a cat...  Easy as that. Except it wasn't quite that easy. Check out the full show notes here. Join the most amazing community of open-minded humans on the planet!   Click here to order your very own NNM shirt! $10 Off - Online STI Testing

4 Dec 20241h 40min

Rebecca is back! David is back! Rebecca shared her story on Episode 142, David has been on the podcast with his partner Christy on Episodes 72 and 367, and David and Rebecca were both on Episode 143 with their polycule... Yet, Rebecca and David have never been on the show together with just the two of them to share their story. So, here we are! David had been polyamorous for a few years when they both swiped right, but this was Rebecca's first experience in a polyamorous relationship. Today, Rebecca and David have been together almost six years and they take us through how they came together and built a beautiful and collaborative partnership while navigating a global pandemic and living together with other partners and family members. Check out the full show notes here. Join the most amazing community of open-minded humans on the planet!   Click here to order your very own NNM shirt! $10 Off - Online STI Testing

27 Nov 20241h 35min

Meshai and Fin team up together to answer amazing listener questions every fourth Friday of each month! Today we are answering questions from our virtual community... We get a bit personal and talk about our own journeys into the world of coaching and working with people in sex-positive and non-monogamous spaces. We also talk about when and how to have conversations with new potential connections about their approach to non-monogamy and... We make an official ruling on what counts as being in an orgy! 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. Learn more about Meshai and all of her work over at expansiveconnection.com! 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 also completed a sex and relationship coaching program through the Somatica Institute in March 2024! Check out the full show notes here. Join the most amazing community of open-minded humans on the planet!   Click here to order your very own NNM shirt! $10 Off - Online STI Testing

22 Nov 202457min

"In the half decade since we first spoke... We have moved several times, grown the polycule, and gotten divorced... Oh, and had a baby. Well, me and you didn't have the baby. But, there is a baby in the house!" Christy and David are back! It's been more than five years since we first talked with these two on Episode 72 and every time we get the chance to talk it's absolutely amazing... Today is no exception. You do not need to listen to our previous conversations with Christy and David for today to rock your world. This conversation is full of love, determination, hard work, stubbornness, and more love as Christy and David take us deep inside their relationship and the incredibly beautiful journey they have been on together and as individuals. Enjoy! Check out the full show notes here. Join the most amazing community of open-minded humans on the planet!   Click here to order your very own NNM shirt! $10 Off - Online STI Testing

20 Nov 20241h 43min