Relationship has been a major component of my life. My lifetime Tarot card (obtained from the numerology of my birthdate) is a 6 – The Lovers. I came in with the intention to delve into relationship, and I did just that! I have been in relationship most of my life, and I learned to use it as a vehicle for personal and spiritual growth.
Early Drama
In each relationship I’ve had, I’ve learned so much. Often, especially at first, I learned what I didn’t want. That was valuable, although often painful. I got to witness myself turning into a two-year old having a tantrum. I got to experience being beaten by an abusive husband. (I left soon after that experience!) I got to explore and release my repressed anger, and developed a fondness for breaking glass in a contained area in my basement.
Those relationships were brief and tumultuous. I needed to dip in, get the experience that person held for me, and get out again. It brought me to a place where I was ready to heal. I started psychotherapy, which I did for years. After a few years of therapy, I discovered sacred sexuality workshops, and my horizons widened!
Better Choices
My choices of partners kept getting better and better. I consistently chose conscious, loving partners who were interested in growth both personal, in relationship, and spiritual.
I’d like to thank these people for the gifts they have given me in partnership:
Kevin Braheny Fortune
Kevin helped me open my heart, expand my spirit, and love fully. We were partners for ten years, and we have lived together as dear friends for more than fifteen years after that. He has been an incredible source of love and wisdom and support for me, as well as keeping me laughing!
Kevin and I founded a sacred sexuality school in Oakland, California, called the Center for Divine Passion. We drew upon our lovely relationship as we taught many workshops and ongoing groups, trained teachers and assistants, and developed a curriculum for extended group experiences. Kevin is a talented award-winning composer and musician whose music was an integral part of the Center for Divine Passion. We have collaborated on several offerings which you can find here and here.
Time with Myself
I got burned out on teaching and clients and took a couple of years off. I spent them mostly on my land in the Sierras. I call it my “Tantric nun” phase. I was celibate for three years, an essential realignment of my energies. I changed my first name to Satya, which means “truth”, in the sense of the ultimate reality that cannot be denied.
Daniel Freespirit
I was privileged to be in relationship with Daniel Freespirit for three years. He taught me to open my heart and to have a lot of fun.
That relationship ended with his death in 2013.
The grief of that event was intense, and I took an extended time off to process it. My heart broke open, and I used that opening to plunge into the deepest healing I had ever done.
I worked extensively with a healer who helped me heal my grief and open up my spirituality. I found a renewed connection with joy and the Divine, and I emerged saying, “There is so much fun to be had!” I took a new last name, Lila, which means “divine play”.
Finding New Love
In 2014, I met my current partner, John Thompson. We came together just before the Year of the Wood Horse began, and we were both born in the last Year of the Wood Horse, sixty years before. We galloped through that year and several others, playing on land with contact improvisational dance, and in the water, developing Otter’s Play. Now he lives on the land with Kevin and me. He is a wonderful partner who meets me in so many ways — spiritually, playfully, passionately, and most of all, in the heart. I am blessed to be with him.
John and I often remark that we wouldn’t have liked each other before we were 60. We each had to do our own healing and growth before we were ready for each other. Now that we are together, I feel settled and happy to devote myself to him and the growth we both value.
John assists me with private retreats on our land, both with providing delicious vegan meals and with his powerful sound healings.
THANKS TO MY TEACHERS
I have been blessed to receive the wisdom of some wonderful teachers:
• Lori Grace – My first sacred sexuality workshops were with her. She helped me open up, normalize sexuality, and create freedom in my being.
• Johanina Wikoff and Stephen Clark – My main sacred sexuality teachers. They created an environment of conscious relating that helped me grow tremendously.
• William Rainen – A gifted psychic who channeled an entity named Dr. Peebles. I have benefited from William’s guidance for almost thirty years. He and Dr. Peebles taught me about non-judgment and taking things lightly. Dr. Peebles often said, “If you want to be enlightened, then lighten up!”
• Will Bagley – A healer, meditation teacher and channel of a light being named Sohra. Will helped me heal from my former partner Daniel Freespirit’s death. Sohra has opened me to the field of luminous emptiness that is Pure Awareness.
I know how powerful it is to have a mentor to guide us through the waters into the light. I can do that for you.
“Satya is a laughing, loving person without a phony bone in her body. With emotional honesty and vulnerability, and with a hearty dose of wit, she creates a sacred space focused on healing and respect where I can feel safe to explore.” – M. L., Storyteller
Here’s more about my credentials.
Satya Lila 