Better Intimacy for Couples Through Sensate Focus

Do you and your partner feel out of sync when it comes to intimacy? Are you craving closeness, but unsure how to get there without pressure, frustration, or misunderstandings?

Whether you're navigating different levels of desire, healing from past hurts, or simply trying to rekindle your spark, this class offers a gentle, practical path back to connection.

Better Intimacy for Couples Through Sensate Focus is a guided experience designed to help couples rebuild emotional and physical closeness—without rushing, forcing, or expecting everything to click right away. Sensate focus is a proven intimacy-building technique that shifts the focus from performance to presence. Through a series of touch-based exercises done at home (and introduced during class), you'll learn how to slow down, listen to each other’s bodies, and rediscover connection through simple, grounded sensation.

This class is designed for couples at all stages—whether you're in a new relationship or have been together for decades. It’s especially supportive for those who:

• Feel anxious, avoidant, or disconnected during sex
• Struggle with differing libidos or timing around desire
• Want to move away from pressure, obligation, or “fixing” sex
• Are healing from trauma, shame, or disconnection
• Simply want to deepen their intimacy in a low-pressure way

During this 2-hour session, we’ll explore:

• How stress, shame, and disconnection impact arousal and intimacy
• Why desire doesn’t always show up “in the moment” (and how to work with that)
• The principles of sensate focus: slowing down, tuning in, and taking the pressure off
• How to navigate avoidance, fear, or awkwardness with care and compassion
• Creating rituals of ongoing consent and curiosity in your relationship

You'll leave with simple, powerful practices you can do together at home—no fancy tools, no performance, just time and attention. Everything shared in class is clothed, optional, and focused on helping you feel more at home in your own body and more connected with your partner.

This is not a “how to have sex” class—it’s a how to come home to each other class. A space to rebuild trust, rediscover pleasure, and explore what intimacy looks like when it’s rooted in safety, slowness, and attunement.

Whether you’re struggling or simply wanting to grow together, this workshop offers a beautiful opportunity to start again—with kindness, curiosity, and connection.

About Your Instructor: Marissa Zumbo (CSE) is sex educator and intimacy coach. After her own healing journey following a sexual assault, she realized how ill-equipped most people are to address sexual roadblocks. This realization led her to become a certified sex educator, life and relationship coach, and trauma-informed practitioner. Her training also includes somatic EMDR, breathwork, gender & sexuality, kink/BDSM, crisis counseling, and group facilitation. Overall, she specializes in helping individuals heal, rediscover their sexuality, and embrace joy. Through her work, she empowers people to deepen their relationships with their bodies, develop self-compassion, and live pleasure-filled lives. Her mission is to guide those on a path of healing and self-discovery to cultivate greater awareness and authenticity in their sexuality and relationships.

All classes at the Sexploratorium are intended for those 18 and older.

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