Check Out Chris Muse’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Muse

Hi Chris, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’ve heard that one way to tell you’re landed in your life’s work is when you’d still do it even if you didn’t get paid – I’m fortunate to have found mine.

My deep interest in understanding relationships, intimacy, and sexuality goes all the way back to my childhood, when I’d tune into Dr. Ruth on the little clock radio in my bedroom and ask my parents questions that made them blush. In high school, college, and beyond, my friends came to me because they knew I’d drop anything to listen and be with them in whatever they were going through.

In 2007, I was invited to assist in workshops that supported men to wake up to their undermining and often unconscious patterns, freeing them to become better lovers and partners. An entire ‘authentic relating’ community sprouted around this vulnerable and inspired work, and I was hooked. We spent many nights and weekends experiencing each other’s relational genius and relational wounds, leaning in over and over again to forge and polish who we were becoming while supporting others to do the same.

In 2013, I took another step and joined a community of women to explore similar themes, except we added an erotic element through the embodiment of temple arts and the modality of sexological bodywork. The impact was so profound that by 2015, I committed myself to becoming a relationship and intimacy coach and started my first of many in-depth trainings spanning multiple modalities.

My personal values have always informed my professional dedication to helping people grow their relational empowerment and erotic joy. It’s not always easy, but full respect living pays off. The increased intimacy and resilience my clients enjoy and my own thriving marriage and community are all the proof I need that this work works.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s strange to me that the essential topics of relationships and sexuality, to this day, are largely held as secret or private.

My family is still uncomfortable with the questions I ask and probably always will be. When I tell people I’m a relationship and intimacy coach with a focus on sexuality, they either want to share their story and ask for advice or they stop the conversation immediately and change the subject.

Every once in a while, I feel backlash from those who misunderstand what I’m up to and deem it immoral. My hope is that every conversation opens a door to a new way of thinking, one that supports people’s liberation from what keeps us separate from nature and each other.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
These days, there are many resources and practitioners who work with the psyche, the nervous system, mind-set, skill building, embodiment, or sexuality, but it’s harder to find someone who can support all of these aspects of wholeness with fluency, which is where I come in.

I’m known for supporting systemic change for lasting results. We start with your vision and then we explore your conscious and unconscious beliefs about love, pleasure, sex, vulnerability, and more. We get experiential and experimental, we include and learn from your body, we examine family of origin imprints and set loving limits on younger parts.

We come to understand what’s happening inside when your best intentions give way to your unhealthy reactions and we empower your boundaries, pleasure, sensuality, and choice. We’re guided by what brings you alive rather than only focusing on what’s in the way. Rather than a side benefit, we center pleasure as a powerful, life-affirming force that supports increased resilience and joy. When we build skills on this strong foundation, they are more likely to stick, which is the whole point!

The locus of my work is relationships and intimacy but after working together, people feel stronger when facing challenges in all aspects of their lives, even ones that seemingly have nothing to do with partnership or sexuality. This truly is world-changing work.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Thinking about where I came from, I feel warmth for the landscape that held me – and not just because it was hot! I grew up in Miami, Florida in the 1980’s and I spent most of my time outside with friends riding bikes, swimming, and climbing trees. We got hurt, we fought, we cried, and we had loads of fun. We had little use for TV and, in those days, people seemed more concerned with beach time and fishing than they were in politics and each other’s business.

I remember walking home from school every day, grabbing a snack, and heading straight back out until I heard my mom ring the cowbell and call out “suppertime”! After dinner, we headed outside again until the sun went down. The adults usually congregated then too, but they mostly stayed in their own orbit, away from us.

I was a free range kid wearing barely any clothes, exploring playgrounds, construction sites, shopping centers, bugs, animals, trees, and other kids. Looking back, I can see how these aspects of my childhood laid the framework for the freedom I still feel in my body today. That’s a privilege I hope to pass onto others along the way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://chris-muse.com

Image Credits
Edica Pacha