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Queer Connections – An LGBTQ+ evening for community and bonding
12/05/2023 @ 19:30 - 22:00 CEST
Are you ready to taste the sweet pleasure of coming home, feeling loved, wanted, and like you truly belong?
As queer folks, we’ve often been challenged by society’s perceptions of who we are and who we’re supposed to be, which can make it hard to feel that sense of belonging. And while there are spaces for us to connect, they’re often gender-divided or focused solely on dating and sexuality.
But imagine this: a night of intimate connections with your community, where the only goal is to be in a soft, sumptuous space where you can truly be yourself and connect with others who want the same. It’s an evening where you can let your hair down, relax, and enjoy the company of like-minded people who understand and accept you for who you are.
So what do you say? Are you ready to experience the joy of belonging and connecting with your community?
THIS EVENING INCLUDES OPPORTUNITIES TO:
> learn approaching people through a lens of curiosity – and letting yourself be surprised what you may find there
> have an amazing, queer evening out. We are equally friendly towards vanilla, tantric and kinky folks, the sexy sluts and the shy ones, the introverts and the extravagance.
> get to know amazing like-minded people in the best way! Between us, we usually host a very diverse crowd that is of mixed ages, gender, experience levels, and backgrounds.
It is our wish and desire that you will go home having made new friends and have found a bigger circle of support!
FOR WHO IS THIS EVENT?
This event welcomes folks from all walks of life. We are LGBTQIIA+ informed (Simon, Wilrieke and most of their teams identify as such), slut-friendly, trauma-informed, and non-monogamy informed. White folks are overrepresented in our team and life experiences are coloured through that lens. We do come from different social backgrounds and have different life experiences when it comes to health, wealth, neurodiversity, gender, sexual orientation, etc.
We welcome people with specific needs as much as able-bodied folks. Feel welcome to reach out if you have specific needs that you wish to share with us.
WHAT THE EVENING LOOKS LIKE
The doors open half an hour before starting time. Make sure to be on time! Once we have started we cannot let latecomers in!
During the opening circle, Wilrieke and Simon will welcome you all. We will start with exercises to land, get to know each other, get on the same page around consent and boundaries.
We then step into some gentle movement exercises that give you the opportunity to connect with your body and with each other in a fun and joyful way. From here we’ll lead you into some led discussions to allow you to connect on a different level of understanding and depth.
This will lead to some wonderful movement and touch work that allows you to move into spaces where you feel safe with each other, to connect and touch the hearts of others in the room.
This will lead to some wonderful movement and touch work that allows you to move into spaces where you feel safe with each other, to connect and touch the hearts of others in the room.
We end the evening together in a closing circle.
Afterwards the space will remain open for 30 minutes to allow some soft social time with each other.
ABOUT US:
SIMON MAGNUS & PLAYFULL LIVING
Simon Magnus (he/him) has been running in-person and online workshops for over 20 years, training people in improvisation and creative inspiration.
He used to run a transformational community theatre charity and came to discover I was more passionate about exploring the creative energy in the workshop room than actually putting on shows.
After spending a number of years studying somatic trauma work and conscious sexuality, he was inspired to focus on the creative and playful dimensions of intimacy and sexuality in workshops and coaching across Europe. He is now based in Amsterdam where this wonderful community of conscious sex people has massively embraced him.
His experience ranges from working in mental health centres to corporate leadership trainings. Simon leads from a place of vulnerability and courage in a way that invites you to step into these places within yourself as well.
WILRIEKE SOPHIA & EXPLORING DEEPER:
Wilrieke Sophia (they/them) is a sex & intimacy educator, conscious kïnk facilitator, intimacy activist, TEDx speaker, writer, and founder of Exploring Deeper and Cuddle Workshops International. They identify as queer, sex-positive, polyamorous and kïnky. Wilrieke is based near Amsterdam, The Netherlands where they openly combine being a mother of three daughters with their work.
The main focus of their work is empowerment through self-knowledge and understanding, radical self-inclusion, the embodied experiencing of boundaries and desires, and an extensive practice of consent – all based on a foundation of trauma awareness and neuroscience, embedded in experiential spaces based on intimacy practices. Wilrieke hosts sex-positive retreats, play parties, teacher training, and festivals. In several projects with colleagues, Wilrieke creates workshops and materials on accountability, abuse and power dynamics in the intimacy and wellness communities.
How does a person change their life? By doing things differently, and then repeating that new way. When it comes to intimacy, our current society does not provide us with the means, tools, and places to practice our intimacy skills.
Exploring Deeper aims to create those spaces. Laboratories for exploring intimacy – deeper. We do that by creating events, sessions, materials, and professional training. All our products and services are based on the pillars of consent, solidarity and inclusion. This means our events are meant to be a welcoming place to you, independent of race, gender, age (though 18+), sexual orientation, relationship style, being neurodivergent or neurotypical, being disabled or non-disabled, or looks.
SOME PRACTICAL INFORMATION
In the week before the event, you will receive an email with detailed information for this training. Make sure you sign up with an email address that you use. Check your spam filter if you did not receive an email seven days before the event.LOCATION
The weekend takes place in Amsterdam Weesperzijde. Full details will be emailed to you in the week before the event.
The weekend takes place in Amsterdam Weesperzijde. Full details will be emailed to you in the week before the event.
ACCESSIBILITY
We welcome folks with disabilities. We can adapt exercises so that they fit you. Where we can we will support you. If you have a person/animal that supports you in daily activities that you need to bring for your care, they can of course come with you without buying a ticket. Please reach out if you have special needs, and we will discuss how we can support you. In case we cannot comfort your needs, we will honestly let you know.
Accessibility of this specific venue: there are steep stairs to access the building. There is no elevator. One inside, there are bathrooms on the workshop floor. the bathrooms are not specifically all-access. There are mattresses and you can lie down as much as you can. There is a separate room where bags etc can be stored, that can also be used as an outbreak room with minimalized stimuli.
WHAT DO I WEAR?
Wear what makes you feel comfortable during the workshops. Bring some layers, as you might get hot or cold.
HOW MUCH IS IT?
You find that info in the ticket shop. There is a limited amount of budget tickets, meant for people with limited financial resources. We trust you to choose the ticket that fits your situation.
WHY GENDERED TICKETS?
We want to include everyone, whatever your gender or identification is. That means there’s space for everyone, without one group getting overrepresented. Therefore there are tickets for people who identify themselves as male, female and other.
(We realize that there are many gender identities outside the binary norms. For practical reasons, we have summarized them as a category ‘other’ on the ticket sales pages. We apologize to anyone who does not feel represented by this category.)
Please only buy a ticket that represents your gender – and not any other ticket. Sold out = sold out.
(We realize that there are many gender identities outside the binary norms. For practical reasons, we have summarized them as a category ‘other’ on the ticket sales pages. We apologize to anyone who does not feel represented by this category.)
Please only buy a ticket that represents your gender – and not any other ticket. Sold out = sold out.
WHAT IF I CAN’T COME ANYMORE?
There are administration costs involved, but refunds are possible up to a month before the event. You are free to sell your ticket to someone else. We don’t mediate in selling tickets. (See Wilrieke’s terms and conditions). Please respect the gender of the ticket, and in case we send pre/aftercare emails, forward them to the person you sold your ticket to. Feel welcome to use the Facebook group Exploring Deeper Online Community to sell your ticket – or buy one.
WHAT IF TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT?
You can ask for a ticket in the FB-event. Feel welcome to use the Facebook group Exploring Deeper Online Community to ask for a ticket.
WHAT IF I DON’T FEEL LIKE TOUCHING SOMEONE?
Then you don’t. We will never push you to do anything, nor to do anything with anyone. You can come, decide to keep all your clothes on and not touch anyone – and that’s perfect. You can also always sit out an exercise.
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COVID: Check our COVID-19 protocols here. We may ask for a self-test of max 24hr old for this event.
Ticket holders will be informed prior to the event through email. Always check your SPAM folder. If you have signed out for Wilrieke’s emails, these emails won’t reach you. Reach out to Wilrieke if you did not get any information seven days before the event.
For this workshop, Exploring Deeper’s Terms and Conditions apply.
