After a health crisis in 2020, Shauna Stewart discovered something life-changing: pleasure wasn’t frivolous; it was medicine. As an intimacy coach, she helps people move beyond shame, burnout, and disconnection to reclaim their bodies as sources of truth, vitality, and power.
From redefining erotic energy as leadership to exploring the freedom of midlife transformation, Shauna’s work challenges cultural myths about sexuality and invites us to live from aliveness rather than depletion. Her approach isn’t about quick fixes—it’s about unlearning, listening, and choosing pleasure as a radical act of healing.
In conversation with Shauna, we explore how intimacy extends beyond the bedroom, the empowering possibilities of BDSM, and the transformative power of solo pleasure. Central to her work is a mission to make rest and pleasure a priority in a culture obsessed with constant hustle
The Turning Point
Your journey into intimacy coaching began after a health crisis in 2020. What did that moment of discovering “pleasure as an antidote to pain” teach you about resilience and the body’s wisdom?
Shauna: Well, first, I had to confront my relationship to pleasure and my body. After a lifetime of restricting and trying to control my body in all sorts of ways, I discovered that resiliShauna:ence isn’t about pushing through; it’s about softening into what the body is trying to tell us. My health crisis forced me to slow down and listen, and in that space, I realized that pleasure wasn’t frivolous; it was medicine. It taught me that the body is inherently wise, and healing doesn’t always come from force or fixing but from honoring what feels good.
Redefining Burnout
You’ve spoken about erotic energy as an antidote to burnout culture. How does cultivating erotic leadership shift not only our personal lives but also the way we show up in workplaces, communities, and relationships?
Shauna: We’ve been sold the myth of “work-life balance” and a version of self-care that often leaves us more isolated and exhausted than before. A bubble bath or a checklist of wellness rituals can’t touch the root of burnout, because they keep us in the same loop of managing, controlling, and doing more. Erotic energy, on the other hand, is our life force; it’s what connects us, nourishes us, and fuels our creativity and joy. When we reclaim that energy, we stop living from depletion and start leading from fullness. In workplaces, it shifts the culture away from grind and extraction toward one that values presence and inspiration. In our communities and relationships, it invites authenticity and deeper intimacy. Erotic leadership isn’t about managing balance; it’s about embodying aliveness. And that changes everything.
The Shadow Side
Are there misconceptions about coaching, about sexuality coaching, like “it’s just about sex tips”, that you wish more people understood differently?
Shauna : You know, sometimes “just the tip” is a great place to start, but I like to take my clients deeper. For me, sexuality coaching isn’t about quick fixes or surface-level techniques. It’s about going beneath the scripts we’ve been handed, unlearning shame, and reconnecting with the body as a source of truth and vitality. When people do that, they don’t just get better sex, they get access to their desire, their confidence, and their power in every area of life. My clients often say they finally feel like themselves.
Midlife Liberation
On your podcast Life Turned On, you highlight stories of sexual self-discovery in midlife and beyond. Why do you think this stage of life can be such a powerful—and often overlooked moment for transformation?
Shauna : Midlife is a threshold moment. Many of us have spent decades ticking the boxes (mother, partner, career-woman), living according to everyone else’s expectations. And then midlife arrives and whispers, “Okay, but what about me?” It’s like a permission slip to shed old scripts and start writing a new story, one with more pleasure, more power, and more possibility. I see so many people at this stage finally choosing themselves, and that choice is electric. It lights up not just their sexuality but their whole damn lives.
Breaking the Routine
Many long-term partners hit a plateau in their sex lives. What are some gentle yet daring ways to bring novelty back into the bedroom without making it feel forced?
Shauna: Instead of starting with toys or techniques, I encourage couples to begin with energy and attention. One daring way to shift routine is to break the pattern of when and how intimacy happens. Try initiating outside of your usual times, or experiment with slowing everything way down, even to the point of not “finishing”. Play with anticipation: send a voice note describing something you’d love to explore together, or create a ritual of undressing each other with full presence. Novelty doesn’t always mean adding more. It can mean stripping away autopilot mode and discovering each other as if for the first time.
Solo Exploration
Do you believe solo experiences of pleasure and intimacy can sometimes be more healing than experiences within a relationship, especially when it comes to mental well-being and sexual growth?
Shauna: Absolutely. Solo exploration allows us to listen deeply to our own bodies without the expectations of another. It’s a way to cultivate self-trust, discover what actually feels good, and release shame. For many people, this becomes the foundation for more satisfying relationships because they show up already knowing their desires. Solo pleasure is not a substitute for relational intimacy—it’s a complement, and sometimes it’s the doorway to healing.
Beyond the Bedroom
Many people view “intimacy” as strictly a physical act. From your perspective as an intimacy coach, how does a balanced and healthy intimate life extend beyond the bedroom to influence a person’s overall sense of self-worth and confidence?
Shauna: When we reduce intimacy to what happens in the bedroom, we miss its real power. Intimacy is the gateway to aliveness. When we’re disconnected from our erotic selves, it shows up everywhere: burnout at work, resentment in relationships, even the ways we people-please just to be liked. But when we reclaim intimacy and erotic energy, we stop apologising for our needs and start walking through the world lit up from the inside. That kind of aliveness is magnetic. It changes how you speak, how you lead, and how you love. A healthy intimate life isn’t just about sex; it’s about power and connection.
The Layers of BDSM
What do you personally find meaningful or exciting about the role of BDSM in relationships, and how do you see it deepening trust, intimacy, or self-expression between partners?
Shauna : BDSM, when practiced consensually, is a beautiful playground for trust and self-expression. It creates space for honesty. Partners must communicate desires and boundaries clearly, which builds deeper intimacy. It can also be incredibly healing, giving people permission to explore parts of themselves they’ve repressed or judged. What excites me most is how it allows couples to co-create experiences that are raw, honest, and deeply connective. Even couples who don’t engage in BDSM play can learn so much from those who do.
Your Personal Mission
If you could leave our readers with one single message about their sexuality, their relationships, and their personal power, what would that message be, and why is it so important to you?
Shauna: My mission is to normalise rest and pleasure in a society that glorifies exhaustion and calls it success. We’ve been conditioned to treat pleasure as optional, even dangerous, but the truth is, your pleasure matters. Not as a luxury, but as a source of power, vitality, and truth. When we honor our sexuality as sacred and central to our wholeness, we stop living from depletion and start living from aliveness. I know what it feels like to be disconnected and in pain. I’ve lived it. Reclaiming pleasure changed my life, and I believe it has the power to liberate us all.
Shauna’s voice cuts through the noise of quick fixes and surface-level “self-care”. What she offers is a deeper reclamation of body, desire, and aliveness, a reminder that pleasure isn’t trivial but transformational. From midlife awakenings to the radical honesty of BDSM, from solo exploration to reshaping long-term love, her work is about shedding old scripts and stepping into a life that feels fully lived.
Editor’s Note:
At The Sin Edit, we believe stories like Shauna’s matter because they challenge cultural narratives of shame, exhaustion, and restraint. They open up new ways of thinking about sexuality, leadership, and intimacy, not as side notes to success, but as the very heart of it. Pleasure, as Shauna reminds us, is not an escape. It’s a revolution.
