Hi, my name is Svitlana Textoris. I am a co-founder of the Sunrise studio project. I have not been visiting Oslo for some time, because I wanted to entirely dedicate my time to the improvement of my professional skills, by blending cutting-edge body-oriented psychotherapies and our intense hands-on work with intimacy and sexuality.
My Story
Over the past eight years, I have been looking for different methods and techniques that could help me and my clients experience more excitement and joy. My journey started from my own personal request – to have long-lasting, whole-body orgasmic states that some people call “tantric orgasms”. I have met with various Tantric teachers, healers, therapists, sex coaches for advice and received a huge number of different recommendations, some of which were quite strange and even crazy. Here are some examples: you should stand on your head for 20 minutes a day; you need to open up the third chakra, forgive your parents, have sexual intercourse with a tantric practitioner, breathe deeply a lot; try a lot of Tantric massages, and many other wild ideas and ready-made solutions. I have always been amazed by the confidence with which these teachers or experts give advice completely without knowing me, and without even spending 10 minutes in close contact with me. The worst thing was that most of them did not even teach students in practice how to build safe and trustworthy relationships with others.
At first, I tried to follow some tips and performed a lot of different exercises and techniques to “open up”. And you know what happened? None of these exercises have brought tangible results in the long term.
Later, a big personal and professional crisis occurred in my life. As a result, I began to take more care of my health, change my lifestyle. I stopped using “magical techniques” promising me a quick and mind-blowing result. Instead, I began to look for better, more realistic, and holistic approaches and found BodyMind Gestalt therapy that completely changed my style of life and helped me to find the key to long-lasting and extended states of pleasure.
What Is So Special About My New Approach?
First of all, in my sessions, I track my emotions, thoughts, and bodily sensations without evaluation like in meditation. This allows me to be more sensitive and fully present in the company of my clients. Also, I invite my clients with their free consent to actively participate in the awareness of their inner processes and share their experiences with me. You can ask, “Why so much attention and work? I can just relax and trust massage therapists who are professionals and must know how to do their job”. The fact is that many clients contact me not only to relax and enjoy the massage, but also to solve specific problems regarding mental and physical health. I used to give very detailed advice, and sometimes I even offered the whole strategy, then we performed some techniques, just like I once did. Now, I understand how useless it is to force the body to do something in order to achieve a goal somewhere in the future, without realizing what is happening inside in the present moment.
From my own experience, I was convinced that not a single one-size-fits-all technique or massage can guarantee to heal or satisfy any person’s need to the full if he or she cannot be fully present at the moment and speak openly about his or her needs. Maybe sometimes structured technique helps if the conditions come together, sometimes vice versa. It is like hoping that some stranger luckily will guess how to heal us or make us happy.
I do believe that we already hold in ourselves the wisdom of the entire evolutionary path. Our body knows how to deal with any trauma or dysfunction, it knows the way to the highest bliss. We do not need a magical healer or big guru. But it is very difficult and scary sometimes to be present enough to go along this path on our own, that is why we need the assistance of another person, who will activate us to use our own strengths.
Variety Of Possibilities
I deal with people with very different needs and possibilities. Some are ready for intense experiments in real-time which involves hands-on work, and with them, I can use massage, intimate touch, somatic practices which involve nudity. Other clients are satisfied with a session where we remain completely dressed, finding out contact with ourselves, with our bodies, with our feelings very slowly and carefully. Often people come to me who first think that they can begin right away an intensive session with touches, and then they realize that their nervous system is not ready for this. Experiments with a “transition” are also possible, for instance, from “I am dressed, I do not accept touch” to “now I feel quite relaxed and I would like to try”.
Some Key Points About The Principles Of My Work:
1. I am a client-oriented therapist. My clients and their intents are the centers of the session. I support them where they are and do not impose my interpretations, evaluations, judgments, and ready-made solutions.
2. Each session can be completely different from the previous one. It all depends on the needs of a specific person, right here and now.
3. I invite my clients to place attention on their sensations in the body. They help to navigate the direction of our experiments and set boundaries better.
4. I am in constant contact with my clients and am curious about their processes and states.
5. I do not unexpectedly initiate any experiment or touching without the consent of the client.
6. If I notice that the client’s focus on the final result and ambitions can harm one of us or drain energy much, I suggest a new approach or refuse to fulfill the request.
7. I respect the resistance of my client and support only that process that naturally unfolds in the body and mind without pushing.
The Topics I Deal With:
- restoring a somatic sense of safety in contact with others after trauma;
- fear and shame in intimate life;
- sexual dysfunctions which are psychosomatic (premature ejaculation, problems with erection, anorgasmia, numbness, etc);
- avoiding relationships and close contact;
- coaching for couples which want to invite more pleasure into their bedrooms;
- teaching the art of intimate touch;
- improving the body-mind connection for mental and physical health;
- understanding the principles of extended erotic states;
- achieving multiple orgasms;
- and many others;
In conclusion, I want to add that I try to create an easy and relaxed atmosphere where there is a place for playfulness and humor. It is essential for me that it was easy for the client to breathe next to me and that my work only made it easier.
Certifications And Educational Programs:
– Holistic Sensual Massage ”Tantric Massage” School of Tantra Massage, 2011, Prague;
– Sexological Bodywork, European Academy of Somatic Education, 2013-2014, Prague;
– Visceral Therapy, School for Visceral Therapy, 2014, Kyiv;
– Somatic Sex Education, European Academy of Somatic Education, 2014-2015, Prague;
– BodyMind Gestalt Therapy – training for psychotherapists, United Psychological Centre, 2016-2018, Moscow;
– Embodied Intimacy Training – somatic psychotherapy approach for healing trauma of relationships, 2018-2019, Sweden.
Other Workshops, Events, Conferences, etc:
“Embodied Presence in Work with Resistance” – BodyMind Gestalt Therapy workshop, Moscow;
“Trauma to Trust” – Embodied Intimacy workshop on trauma, Amsterdam;
“Expressive Voice” – Voice Movement Therapy workshop, Prague;
“Freedom in Contact” – Contact Improvisation workshop, Prague;
“Embodied Intimacy Intensive”, Prague;
“Dancing with the Shadow” – Integrative Dance Movement Therapy workshop, Kyiv;
“Somatic Sound Journey” – embodied listening workshop, Prague;
“Dance Movement Therapy” – workshop, Brno, Czech Republic;
“Vaginal Acupressure, Scar Tissue Remediation” – seminar, Prague;
“Dancefulness” – Contact Improvisation festival, Kyiv;
“Conscious Sexuality” – ISTA Conference, Berlin;
“Psyche and Eros” – a conference on sexuality in psychotherapy and Tantra by Stanislav Grof;
“Sexuality and Psychotherapy” – a сonference, Kokořín, Czech Republic;
“Karmamudra: The Yoga of Bliss” – a lecture on the Buddhist practice of partnered sexual yoga;
Self: Cervix – online programs on awakening cervical orgasms;
Tantra: Initiation into Sacred Sexuality – an online program;
Tantric Mastery of Ejaculation Control – an online program;
“Pussybilities” – workshop on awakening sensitivity for women, Berlin;
“Energetic Orgasm” – workshop, Prague;
“Retreat for Couples” – a seminar on conscious lovemaking, Czech Republic;
“Tantric Massage Intensive”, Prague;
Family Constellations;
Feldenkrais Method seminars, Prague;
Contact Improvisation classes, Prague;
16-year experience of Buddhist meditations;
“Psoas Muscle and Diaphragm” – seminars on rehabilitation and release, Sensing Body, Prague;
“Pelvic Floor Release” – a practical seminar on bodywork and exercises, Brno, Czech Republic;
“Rang-Drol (Jin Shin Jyutsu)” – energy work workshop, Olomouc, Czech Republic;
“Orgasmic Woman” – sex coaching workshop, Prague;
Authentic Movement sessions.