The OPEN Podcast

Join Keith & Michaela as they discuss one of the more difficult aspects of relating: dealing with jealousy, envy, and other difficult emotions that arise within our intimate relationships.

Join Keith and Michaela as they discuss the concepts of polyamory as it relates to friendships. Their discussion is inspired by a new book (link below) exploring our generation's shift of emphasis from the nuclear family to a wider net of friendships and relationships.

Podcast about the new book "The Other Significant Others" by Rhaina Cohen: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3xooPpTMuA9jBl5dRBNtfj?si=4c841cde7b854333

Join Keith and Michaela as they discuss the psychology of projection. What are projections, where do they come from, and how can we work with them to create more connections with others? How do we know when we are seeing others through our personal lens? What is the impact of projections on our relationships, plus a lot more!

Join us to hear Michaela interview Keith about some of the more difficult issues that men face around sexuality: Premature Ejaculation(PE) and Erectile Dysfunction (ED). They discuss the causes of these conditions and what steps men (and their partners) can take to get support and heal.

Join Keith & Michaela as they speak about the importance of initiation rituals on the human journey, why they've been lost, and how to create them in a world that no longer considers them necessary.

Iron John - https://a.co/d/8FKObJg

Keith's Blog Post on Iron John - https://www.awakenintimacy.com/blog/2009/08/18/iron-john-book-review

Waitlist to Join our 6-Month Facilitation Training - https://forms.gle/rSJsxNzLV9arpmpM8

Are you on the right path? Are you doing what you came here to do? Are you fulfilling your life purpose? Where in your life are you out of alignment and lying to yourself about it? Join us to talk about wtf "aliveness" and "inner truth" is and how to find it.

Join Keith & Michaela as they discuss a busy weekend at the TOI (The OPEN Institute) house. Keith hosted a Men's Gathering, Michaela hosted TantraFEST, and then we hosted Om Rupani for a workshop called The Masterfully Submissive Woman and the Dominant Man.

After a few updates, they dive deeply into a conversation around Om's edgy and controversial transmission. They reflect on the workshop and the many people who were triggered by such direct and non-pc content and why it resonates so strongly with their lives and teachings on Polarity.

Join Keith and Michaela as they continue exploring Polarity (or its lack in our communities). We explore a listener's question about her challenge of finding a partner in mixed-gender communities where men and women focus on feminine expression and healing. Keith also calls out men for shying away from criticism and challenge and invites them to take a hard look at their past to begin the path of becoming an adult man.

Join Michaela and Keith this week as they discuss controversial and painful topics about what has led us to such an unpolarized world today. Why is modern dating so hard? Why do men end up in the friend zone, and how can they avoid this? How are women supposed to indicate availability and interest without masculine directness? And how can re-evaluating the #MeToo movement and personal shadow work help us out of this unpolarized culture of fearful and unskilled courtship?
Content note: Some discussion of rape, assault, etc.

Join Keith & Michaela as they discuss the intense response to Michaela's recent Facebook post describing how men should prioritize the emotional safety of their women. And why it doesn't work the other way around.

Join us this week as Michaela bitches about "conscious" community. When she finishes her rant, Keith joins in to discuss the negative effects of social media and the downside of emotional entitlement in conscious communities.

Join Keith & Michaela after a long hiatus where they talk about moving in together, why Michaela moved back to Boulder, and exciting updates about TOI's upcoming in person and online events.

Join Keith and Michaela as they share their wisdom about having multiple sexual partners and their experiences of being ethical and non-ethical sluts. You don't want to miss this lively, vulnerable, and intimate conversation where they consciously explore the benefits and pitfalls of having a variety of sexual partners and experiences.

Join Keith and Michaela as they share their process over the last year of orienting toward monogamy in their intimate relationships, and how they feel the conscious exploration of non-monogamy in their current and past relationships has created a more secure and transparent foundation for a monogamous container.

Join Keith and Michaela as we talk about all the reasons you should never open your relationship, and why you still should! Keith also speaks about his recent shamanic dearmoring experience and how that has impacted his approach to non-monogamy.

Join Keith and Michaela as they discuss how boundaries and agreements in relationships are often set in place as protective strategies in an attempt to shield us from the inevitable relational pain of relating to another human and how they can easily become barriers to deeper intimacy. Is it a Boundary or a Love Barrier? Despite all this, they discuss why they still choose to have them as a fundamental part of their relationships.

Join Keith and Michaela this week to discuss menstruation, its effects on a woman's energy and sexuality, and how it affects how she relates to her work and relationships. They set the stage for a topic unfortunately not openly discussed or understood to be brought more into the mainstream by both men and women. Keith emphasizes the importance of men tracking and attuning to the cycles of their women, and Michaela shares personal stories of her experiences and desires around her monthly cycle.

Join Keith and Michaela this week on The | OPEN | Podcast as they discuss the phenomenon of Blue Balls - What are they? What to do for preventative care & treatment (Not blame women that's for sure!), and how they relate to the practice of ejaculatory choice.

Join Keith and Michaela as they explore the topic of jealousy, discuss its biological origins, and how they both navigate it in their relationships. Is it possible to have an intimate relationship without jealousy? Do we need to act jealous to prove to our partners that we love them? 

Join Keith and Michaela as they explore the topic of shame, and share several personal areas of shame that they are currently holding. They also discuss how they approach and work with shame individually and within their communities.

Join Keith & Michaela for our ongoing conversation around polarity. Today's podcast was inspired by Steven Kessler's "5 Personality Patterns" and Michaela's ongoing study with the Luminous Awareness Institute. They discuss some basics on attunement, reading energy, and relating to people in a way that is much more likely to create the result you want.

Join Keith & Michaela as they talk about relational agreements, ethical non-monogamy, and their struggles with these topics in their personal lives.

Join Keith and Michaela as they model several classic Authentic Relating practices on the day Keith learned his grandmother passed away. The practices leads them into a deep and edgy conversation around death, dying, and suicide. 

Join Keith & Michaela for the first of many conversations around male/female polarity. Today's podcast was inspired by Alison Armstrong's Keys to the Kingdom and includes how to move in and out of spaces with your partner, claiming and honoring the feminine heart, congruency in a non-monogamous relationship, and much more.

Join us for an extra edgy episode where Keith & Michaela explore the topics of perpetration, devotion, and feminine expression. Michaela invites Keith to attend her monthly women's group in Puerto Rico.

Join Keith & Michaela as they discuss polyamory, ethical non-monogamy, open relationships, triggers & attachment, and their personal stories and experiences around all of these topics.

What is sex work and how has it transformed into what we know it as today? Can it really be a catalyst for healing, personal development, and exploration of consciousness? How does this all connect to Tantra? How can it rewire what we know to be real and love us back to wholeness? Join us for another episode of The OPEN Podcast to talk about all things sexuality & consciousness.

What are we up to? Keith and Michaela come together in this episode to talk about why they decided to create The Open Institute and their plan to change the world through authentic relating and sexuality.