.

6th annual

Explore More

Summit 

2020

April 20 - April 29, 2020

A free online conference dedicated to exploring your pleasure, healing, connection, and body.

 

Register now for a free workbook to see what it was all about!

Pleasure lives here.

Welcome to Explore More Summit.

 

For the sixth time, we came together online for an intimate, eye-opening event.

 

This year's theme was Gathering the Threads of Pleasure. We will be exploring relational responsibility, community accountability, healing, body trust, and dreaming ourselves into new futures.
 

Featuring 28 talks over ten days, you can join close to 7,000 attendees as we explored what it means to center pleasure and healing in our lives - all from the comfort of your home or mobile device.


My supportive community is growing because of Explore More. I became aware of more of my own biases through the various identities of the speakers who were chosen. I'm feeling more comfortable in embracing uncertainty and mess, of trying to live with courageous vulnerability. Thank you.

2018 Explore More Attendee

The summit has passed, but...

Register now for a free sample workbook to see what it was all about and treat yourself to Extended Access.

 

IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO SEE IT ALL!

AN EXTRAORDINARY OPPORTUNITY TO SEE 28 RICH CONVERSATIONS

We do not know what the world will look like in the coming weeks and months, but we do know that having more tools, bigger questions to ask, and new language for what it means to be alive and in community will be an important part of how we thrive, even in dire times.

Being able to revisit the conversations, questions, and community bonuses that offer you a sense of relief, peace, hope, and meaning matters.

 

With an extended access package, not only do you get more time and loads of goodies, but your financial support means we can pay our speakers for their time and continue to make this event as accessible as possible.

If you require transcripts for accessibility reasons, contact us at mariah (at) dawnserra (dot) com. ​

BASIC

ACCESS

$47

VALUED AT $235

This package includes:

AUDIO FILES

for all 28 talks 

FREE CONFERENCE WORKBOOKS
10 in all - one for each day of the conference

READING LIST & RESOURCE GUIDE

books, podcasts, and resources to help you continue your exploration after the summit

Click the button and choose from the list on the purchase page which access package you'd like.

EXPLORER

ACCESS

$87

VALUED AT $2200

This package includes:

VIDEO ACCESS

for all 28 talks

AUDIO FILES
for all 28 talks

EXPANDED WORKBOOKS
more than double the questions & prompts for each talk

TRANSCRIPTS
printable versions of every talk

PLUS...A BONUS 20-MINUTE CONVERSATION WITH TURTLE TANK

- we chatted for over 2 hours, and due to time we had to clip an entire section of the talk, so we're including it here for you!

PLUS...FOUR WEEKS OF COMMUNITY CALLS
after the summit is over, an intimate group of us will dive deep into your questions together (always a favorite!) for 90 minutes each week

PLUS...25% OFF POWER IN PLEASURE ONLINE COURSE
- save 25% when you join the next cohort


NEW BONUS! MOVING TOWARDS BODY TRUST
- free access to host Dawn Serra's 2.5 hour online workshop all about body trust

 

BONUS! PELVIC PAIN CLINIC
- a PDF eBook by Caffyn Jesse on anatomy, touch, & practices for addressing pelvic pain

 

BONUS! MINDFUL SEX ECOURSE
- Pleasure Mechanics are offering you FREE access to their $147 Mindful Sex online ecourse.

 

BONUS! SEX MAP GAME
- a simple, playful approach to practicing sexual communication in a fun & approachable way!


READING LIST & RESOURCE GUIDE

books, podcasts, and resources to help you continue your exploration after the summit

Click the button and choose from the list on the purchase page which access package you'd like.

PREMIERE

ACCESS

$157

VALUED AT $3975

This package includes:

EVERYTHING IN EXPLORER

Video Access

Audio Files

Expanded Workbooks
Transcripts

Bonus 20-minute Turtle Tank
Four Community Calls

Moving Towards Body Trust Pelvic Pain Clinic eBook

Mindful Sex eCourse

Sex Map Game
Reading & Resource List


PLUS...50% OFF POWER IN PLEASURE ONLINE COURSE

when you join the next cohort

AND...ACCESS TO THE NEW EXPLORE MORE SUMMIT ARCHIVE

which contains every single talk from 2019, 2018, Bodies Edition, 2017, & 2016. That's over 130 interviews you cannot access anywhere else. Plus, workbooks, bonuses, & more from all prior summits. Membership is good until December 31, 2020. See the topics & speakers from all prior summits here. IT'S SO MUCH!!!!! Stand-alone access costs $297, so get this!

Click the button and choose from the list on the purchase page which access package you'd like.

We awarded over $6,300 in scholarships and support funds to people in need at Explore More Summit 2020. 

Explore More has a beautiful history of creating a community fund to help offer those in need with sliding scale pricing. If you choose to donate $3 to the fund, it will be added to the Explore More Summit 2021 fund!

 

A note about accessibility: 

Every year, we do our best to improve accessibility - it is always a work-in-progress. All of the talks have closed captions. The video speed can be slowed down or sped up, if that helps with comprehension. We are also adding written descriptions to all Facebook images in the Facebook group for those folks who use screen readers. Finally, transcripts are available for purchase in the Explorer & Premiere extended access packages, but if a transcript is needed for accessibility reasons, just let us know by emailing mariah (at) dawnserra (dot) com!

EXPLORE MORE 2020 SPEAKERS


Curious about who spoke at the conference this year? These incredible individuals have a wide range of stories, experiences, and invitations that challenged us, delighted us, and inspired us to reconnect our own wisdom.

Aida Manduley headshot

AIDA MANDULEY

Pronouns: they/them

AMBER RICE

Pronouns: she/her

ANDREA GLIK, LMSW

Pronouns: she/her

ARAVINDA ANANDA

Pronouns: she/her or they/them
 

BE NOURISHED

Dana Sturtevant - she/her
Hilary Kinavey - she/her

BUNNY McKENSIE MACK

Pronouns: they/them
 

CAFFYN JESSE

Pronouns: they/she

CLEMENTINE MORRIGAN

Pronouns: they/she

DARCEY STEINKE

Pronouns: she/her

GINA SENARIGHI

Pronouns: she/her

GRAEME SEABROOK

Pronouns: she/her

GWYNN RAIMONDI

Pronouns: she/her

HEATHER PLETT

Pronouns: she/her

ILYA PARKER

Pronouns: he/they

DR. JENNIFER MULLAN

Pronouns: she/her

JOELLEN NOTTE

Pronouns: she/her

KAI CHENG THOM

Pronouns: she/her

LAMA ROD OWENS

Pronouns: he/him

MARIA PAREDES

Pronouns: she/her
 

NORA SAMARAN

Pronouns: she/her
 

PLEASURE MECHANICS

Charlotte Mia Rose - she/her
Chris Maxwell Rose - they/them

PRENTIS HEMPHILL

Pronouns: they/them

RACHEL COLE

Pronouns: she/her

RACHELLE BENSOUSSAN

Pronouns: she/her

DR. ROBYN

Pronouns: they/them
 

SEXOLOGIST SHAMYRA

Pronouns: she/her/Orisha
 

SPRING UP

Stas Schmiedt - they/them
A. Lea Roth - they/them

TURTLE TANK

Samia Abou-Samra - they/them
Ije Ude - she/her

VANESSA ROCHELLE LEWIS

Pronouns: she/her
 

JOIN US!

GET YOUR FREE WORKBOOK TODAY.


Join us in our exploration of what it means to inhabit our bodies, our relationships, our desire, our pleasure, and our healing in new ways.

WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT AT AN EXPLORE MORE SUMMIT?

TEN DAYS OF PLEASURE.

Register & join us for ten days of intimate interviews on pleasure, relationships, healing, justice, & body acceptance. Workbooks included. Entirely online.

ASK BIG QUESTIONS.

This summit is an invitation & permission slip to explore new ideas, questions, & skills that will give us greater access to joy, healing, & connection.

THE POWER OF COMMUNITY.

None of us heals or gets free alone. Learning new ways to navigate relationship, to hold each other accountable, to feel supported & witnessed is part of what we do here.

ACCESSIBLE & INCLUSIVE.

With closed captions on all interviews, transcripts for accessibility, and image descriptions on all group images, we strive to make this as accessible & inclusive as possible.

YOU DESERVE TO FEEL SUPPORTED.

SUMMIT SCHEDULE

DAY 1: MONDAY, APRIL 20

PRENTIS HEMPHILL

We discuss what it means to come home to ourselves, embodiment for disenfranchised people, the power of pleasure to heal, & moving away from innocence and guilt so that we might all get free.
 
Pronouns: they/them

AMBER RICE

We discuss Amber's fun way of connecting with the parts of ourselves we've abandoned or ignored, how to work with our inner board room, and tools for finding self-compassion.

Pronouns: she/her

KAI CHENG THOM

We discuss the performance of virtue in our communities, validating our humanity in our relationships, somatic sex education, pleasure, and the complexities of consent

Pronouns: she/her

DAY 2: TUESDAY, APRIL 21

DR. JENNIFER MULLAN

We discuss decolonizing therapy, the harm and oppressive legacy of modern mental health, ancestral healing & alternative healing for POC, what it means to take up space, and why group/community healing is so important.
 
Pronouns: she/her

CLEMENTINE MORRIGAN

We discuss what happened when Clementine started writing about their pain and shame, trauma-informed polyamory and how most polyamory resources focus on jealousy & owning your feelings without naming power & systemic oppression or trauma, forgiving ourselves for our shame, the importance and complications of safe love, finding magic and possibility in our trauma (and  how disability justice informs that), and boundaries for folks with trauma.

Pronouns: they/she

GRAEME SEABROOK

We discuss why mothers need more support, the harm that men/fathers do in heterosexual relationships and what it means to actually be an equitable partner, why motherhood itself is broken, the importance of community, and raising resilient kids.

Pronouns: she/her

DAY 3: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22

MARIA PAREDES

We talk about Maria's work in eating disorder recovery, all the ways your body is waiting to make peace with you, how difficult body trust is after infertility/ miscarriage, plus Maria's very personal story & the harm of gatekeeping information by professionals.
 
Pronouns: she/her

VANESSA ROCHELLE LEWIS

We explore ugliness and uglification, desirability politics and beauty, what it means to worship our own pleasure, embracing our lush fat bodies, and moving through our fear of our own ugliness.

Pronouns: she/her

SPRING UP

We dive into how binaries of good/bad get in the way of accountability, what it means to honor both the trauma AND our healing, finding pleasure in our activism, breaking up immediacy, & self-accountability.

Pronouns: they/them for both Stas & Lea

DAY 4: THURSDAY, APRIL 23

BE NOURISHED

We discuss what Body Trust means, sneaky ways diet culture & fatphobia show up in our lives, what body liberation means, why it's important to LIKE what we eat, and why boundary work isn't only about our boundaries but respecting the boundaries of others. 
 
Pronouns: Dana & Hilary both use she/her

AIDA MANDULEY

We explore the fictions we tell ourselves, how relationships & sex are impacted by systemic issues, what it looks like to have deep ambition for pleasure & connection (vs. money & career), community accountability and justice, and how to improve at repair work in our relationships.

Pronouns: they/them

JOELLEN NOTTE

We discuss myths about depression & sex, why it's not depression that kills relationships and what actually does, ways to support people struggling with depression, breaking the shame spiral around libido, & medical gaslighting and what to do about it.

Pronouns: she/her

DAY 5: FRIDAY, APRIL 24

RACHEL COLE

We dive into what it means to be well-fed around all of our hungers, ways we are indoctrinated into body submission & what body sovereignty can offer us, intuitive eating, the wisdom of emotional eating, & the power of pleasure to heal.
 
Pronouns: she/her

DR. ROBYN

We dive into the role pleasure plays in our activism, why we need to break up with authority and certainty in service to not knowing and liminal spaces, how microdosing T has helped Dr. Robyn be more embodied, & how we can build bridges across difference.

Pronouns: they/them

ILYA PARKER

We discuss how Ilya came to this work, the ways we punish ourselves with exercise and what joyful, healing movement can look like, the questions Ilya is asking about gender and toxic masculinity, and the barriers many trans people face around access and support.

Pronouns: he/they

DAY 6: SATURDAY, APRIL 25

HEATHER PLETT

We discuss what it means to hold space and what becomes possible when we hold space for others, the power of ceremony and ritual, becoming more resourced to allow messiness and ugliness in our relationships, & being in right relationship with ourselves. 

Pronouns: she/her

RACHELLE BENSOUSSAN

We discuss how Rachelle got into grief literacy and what grief literacy means, why we're so grief-averse in Western dominant culture, the difference between grief and mourning, how grief can offer us deeper connection & intimacy, and the importance of pleasure for people who are grieving.

Pronouns: she/her

     

DAY 7: SUNDAY, APRIL 26

SEXOLOGIST SHAMYRA

We explore what intimacy means to Shamyra, how people can break up with 'should' and create their own relationships, entitlement around sex in dating & relationships, and how we can better weather the discomfort of conflict.
 
Pronouns: she/her/Orisha

GWYNN RAIMONDI

We discuss what cultural-relational trauma is, Gwynn's feelings around the word healing, how we can begin moving trauma through our bodies, simple methods to explore embodiment, soothing our nervous systems, and how we can all be better stewards around our healing work.

Pronouns: she/her

...

DAY 8: MONDAY, APRIL 27

LAMA ROD OWENS

We discuss the impact of intergenerational trauma & the power of coming home to ourselves, the importance of connecting with our anger & rage, masculinity & patriarchy, saying no as an act of love, and how Lama Rod's life began when he stopped running from the pain.
 
Pronouns: he/him

ANDREA GLIK

We discuss restoring connection to all parts of the self - especially those we had to reject in order to survive, consensual non-consent and healing trauma through BDSM & kink, attunement in our relationships, and attachment theory,
 

Pronouns: she/her

DARCEY STEINKE

We unpack the ways menopause is represented in media, Darcey's exploration of menopause on her own terms and how it led her to killer whales, the de-gendering or third gender she experienced in menopause and how trans folks served as mentors for her journey, and how menopause invites us to reconnect with our wildness.

Pronouns: she/her

DAY 9: TUESDAY, APRIL 28

McKENSIE MACK

We talk about the ways we've been culturally groomed to be boundaryless, how boundary work is worthiness work, what it means to choose vulnerability, why imperfect boundaries are crucial, & dismantling white womanhood.
 
Pronouns: they/them

GINA SENARIGHI

We discuss why curiosity is one of the most important tools in our relational toolkit, cultivating shared meaning in love, why quick fixes are not the way forward in our relationships, and rebuilding trust after betrayal or infidelity. 

Pronouns: she/her

CAFFYN JESSE

We discuss somatic sex education, what becomes possible when we are met around our vulnerability and our monsters, the power of erotic touch, how to relate to each other outside of our trauma, loving skillful touch and why our nervous systems are ALWAYS co-regulating with the world around us.

Pronouns: they/she

DAY 10: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29

TURTLE TANK

We dive into what it means to operate FROM desire rather than moving towards it, how to build our lives around our desire & soul purpose, what it means to die into desire and pleasure, developing self trust, and the importance of play in connecting with our aliveness.
 
Pronouns: Samia uses they/them & Ije uses she/her

NORA SAMARAN & ARAVINDA ANANDA

We discuss relational responsibility & moving away from hyper-individualism in our relationships, what it means to belong as our whole selves, why worthiness work has to come before accountability, and how we can orient towards a culture of nurturance. 

Pronouns: Nora uses she/her & Aravinda uses she/her or they/them

PLEASURE MECHANICS

We talk about enduring and tolerating touch and ways to move towards pleasure, how Chris and Charlotte cultivated a relationship that is bigger than romance, dealing with chronic pain in a relationship & how it changes things so deeply, and what it means to develop the skills of personal & collective pleasure.

Pronouns: Charlotte uses she/her & Chris uses they/them

WHAT WAS COVERED THIS YEAR?

Each and every year, our goal at Explore More Summit is to create a transformative experience where we can explore new edges and new depths of our stories, needs, wants, and desires. Here's a sneak peek at some of the topics we savored together.


  • Expanding our capacity for pleasure

  • Healing trauma

  • Embodiment and mindfulness for greater aliveness & sensuality

  • Interdependence and building community pleasure

  • Trauma-informed non-monogamy & polyamory

  • Erotic touch

  • Finding freedom in our bodies

  • Masculinity and pleasure

  • Deepening our relationships & finding new erotic potential

  • Chronic pain & illness in relationship

  • Why pleasure is liberatory & crucial to our collective freedom

  • Racial justice, indigenous wisdom, & ancestral healing

  • Community accountability

  • The power of massage & touch

  • Deepening our sense of worthiness

  • Disability, access, and pleasure

  • Fat activism & joy in food

  • Consent culture & changing the ways we talk about sex

  • Emotional intelligence & befriending our grief, anger, & joy


WHO IS THIS FOR?

If there's one thing we know after so many years, it's that Explore More Summit is not for everyone. So who is it for and is that YOU?


Explorers are...

 

curious

open

interested in leveling up

social justice oriented

ready for big questions and even bigger feelings

hoping to find new ways to relate with their bodies

hungry for depth & meaning

courageous

OK with messiness, uncertainty, and imperfection

Many people in our community are...

in fat bodies, disabled bodies, aging bodies
trans, non-binary, queer
Black, Indigenous, People of Color & white folks committed to anti-racism
people with a history of eating disorders or disordered eating
survivors of sexual violence
feeling like something is missing & they want more
lifelong learners

If these things excite you, we would love to have you inside of these enormous, important questions with us.

I want to thank you so much for organizing and moving this summit! You were such an awesome interviewer/co-host/listener for the talks and I loved the ending activities at the end of each to bring awareness back to self. Thank you too for making things accessible and so very diverse, and for explicitly giving space and focus to peoples and issues often ignored or unknown, and acknowledging how uncomfortable that can be, and making that discomfort real and heard as well. I haven't ever listened to something so authentically aware of how imperfect everyone is, and how very human and real that is, and it's been life-affirming. So my sincerest gratitude for bringing this fantastic group of people together and letting me just seep in the combined wisdom and humanity. I am so very excited for next year!

Explore More 2019 attendee

MEET YOUR HOST

What if everything we've been taught about love, bodies, sex, and pleasure is wrong?


Welcome to the Explore More Summit. My name is Dawn Serra. This conference is the result of being hungry for a place where people like us could ask questions, practice using our voices, and learn together in ways that actually created meaningful connection.

Because I believe that we all deserve joy. I believe we all have the capacity for pleasure. I believe we grew up in a world that prescribed lies, myths, and expectations as truth, separating us from our innate wisdom and power. That's why far too many of us are suffering or tolerating things that don't really work for us.

Explore More is a place where we can find those missing pieces, imagine new stories, and venture out into the world knowing we have a community of like-minded people at our back.

Our bodies are wise. Our pleasure can lead us towards healing. We are all bound up in each other's stories, so join us for this exploration of what it might mean to embrace our relationship with pleasure, connection, love, healing, and a new way forward.

JOIN US!

GET YOUR FREE WORKBOOK TODAY.


Join us while we investigate what it means to inhabit our bodies, our relationships, our desire, our pleasure, and our healing in new ways.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Is this really free?

Yes. It is, as long as you attend April 20 - 29, 2020. Even though the summit happens online (no pants required!), it unfolds just like a live, in-person conference. Each day has a unique set of talks that you won't be able to see any other day. You can watch one, two, or three - as many times as feels good during the 24-hour window for that day, and then the next day's talks go up. Registered participants also receive free workbooks (full of prompts and journal reflections that help you bring the ideas and questions into your own life), and of course, the Facebook community is a terrific free resource, too. ​

What if I only have time for one talk?

Fear of missing out happens every year. And it makes sense - there are some AWESOME folks sharing their wisdom and stories. The good news is whether there's time for all the talks or just a part of one, there's something to savor and take away from each and every session. Eager for more? Bring the talks home for as little as $1 per talk.

Is the conference accessible?

Every year, we do our best to improve accessibility - it is always a work-in-progress. All of the talks have closed captions. The video speed can be slowed down or sped up, if that helps with comprehension. We are also adding written descriptions to all Facebook images in the Facebook group for those folks who use screen readers. Finally, transcripts are available for purchase in the Explorer & Premiere extended access packages, but if a transcript is needed for accessibility reasons, just let us know by emailing mariah (at) dawnserra (dot) com!

How do I access the conference?

After registering, you will receive a welcome email (plus a series of emails over the next several days with more information about the conference). Be sure to mark that welcome email as a favorite/safe because access to each day's talks will be delivered via a daily email. This is crucial, as every year there are a handful of people who cannot access the talks because their email provider marks the emails as unsafe. So favorite the heck out of them!) Then, during the conference, just click the links for the talks & workbook, and that's it. 

Are the speakers paid?

YES! One of the reasons online summits got such a bad rap a few years ago was that most of them only offered their speakers "exposure" in exchange for their time and support. But compensating folks for their labor is super important to the ethos of Explore More. That said, since this is a self-funded endeavor, it's the community support through purchasing extended access to the talks and the bonus materials that makes paying the speakers possible. It's a win-win! More access to their wisdom for all of us while they get compensated for their labor.

Looking to host a conference?

In addition to hosting Explore More Summit each year, Dawn Serra also produces online conferences and summits for other entrepreneurs and businesses. Reach out if an idea is brewing...

Still have questions?

New this year, we have live chat support and help desk tickets via the little floating icon you see on the lower right of your screen. Just click to get started and we will do our very best to clear up any confusion.

© Copyright 2020. All Rights Reserved.