BETTY MARTIN on the Language of Consent /358
Aerial photo of a landscape with a stone circle growing with vibrant green foliage.
In this week’s episode we tap deep into the trust, desire, intimacy, and vulnerability that come from relationality. Betty Martin offers her vast knowledge of bodywork, somatics, and consent to give listeners insight into what she calls “The Wheel of Consent,” a quadrant that details a practice of giving and receiving.
Betty reminds us that access is a gift. No one is born with the knowledge of how to give and receive in the “perfect” way, rather we must learn and feel together – navigating boundaries and allowing ourselves to find what feels right. Intimacy is a deeply vulnerable act, and Betty discusses how we can create a sense of acceptance and safety as we root in our bodies rather than societal expectations.
Throughout the conversation, Betty emphasizes that consent should be the baseline for interaction, not just in intimate relationships but in the world writ large. The questions we ask and the people we include in conversations about consent matter. Only in knowing our limits as individuals, as a society, and as a part of the more-than-human world can we find the true meaning of trusting ourselves, of tapping into generosity, and of comfort.
“Learn how to ask for what you want, and that’s hard…. but that’s where integrity lives.” ”
Photo of Betty Martin
Dr. Betty Martin has had her hands on people professionally for over 40 years, first as a Chiropractor and upon retiring from that practice, as a certified Surrogate Partner, Sacred Intimate, and Somatic Sex Educator. Her explorations in somatic-based therapy and practices informed her creation of the framework, The Wheel of Consent®. She wrote a book about it, called The Art of Receiving and Giving: The Wheel of Consent, and travels the world teaching other practitioners how to use the practices and the model to keep their clients safe, and their sessions effective and satisfying.
♫ The music in this episode is “J’ai Vu Le Loup” and “Tiocfaidh an Samhradh” by Roehind, and “Solomon’s Seal” by Vaughn Aed.
Episode References
The Art of Receiving and Giving: The Wheel of Consent book
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