In this episode of The Better Sex Podcast, I talk with intimacy and relationship coach Marga Bardinski. Together, we explore how relationships evolve over time, how identity shifts through major life transitions like marriage and parenthood, and what it really means to create intimacy on your own terms.

Throughout the conversation, Marga shares her journey into motherhood and how it challenged her assumptions about identity, partnership, and autonomy. Along the way, Deborah reflects on her own experience of preparing for marriage after decades in partnership, unpacking the unexpected beliefs and conditioning that surfaced. Together, they examine how roles like "wife," "partner," and "mother" carry inherited meaning and how those meanings can be questioned, reshaped, or released.

In this conversation, Marga speaks to the importance of slowing down, listening to the body, and developing the courage to express desire clearly. She also highlights the role of conscious choice, whether in relationships, parenting, or personal identity, and the power of creating frameworks that support connection, curiosity, and growth.

Marga offers us a grounded approach using embodiment, communication, and the ongoing practice that is required to build intimacy that is honest and alive throughout a long-term relationship so that you can stay connected to yourself while building deeper, more authentic relationships.

Connect with Marga

Website: https://www.turnonnl.com/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/turnon_the_netherlands/

Newsletter: https://turnonnl.activehosted.com/f/93

Connect with Deborah

Skool: https://www.skool.com/better-sex-9290

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@deborahkat9349

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/deborahtantrakat/

Podcast Feedback DeborahTantraKat@Gmail.com

Book a breakthrough session with Deborah


https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=11737312&appointmentType=60692935

In this episode of The Better Sex Podcast, I talk with trauma-informed somatic educator, practitioner, and speaker Darshana Avila. We explore why receiving pleasure can feel so hard—and what begins to shift when you learn how to come back into your body and your truth.

Along the way, we spoke about how her early experiences in marriage, spirituality, and sexuality led her to question the disconnect so many of us feel. Through her journey into tantra, trauma work, and somatic practice, we explore how identity, conditioning, and lived experience shape our capacity to receive, not just give, in intimacy.

We also get into how people-pleasing, self-abandonment, and a lack of felt safety in the body make it difficult to stay present with pleasure. Darshana shares what it actually takes to build that internal sense of safety, and we talk about how receiving is a skill you can learn—not something reserved for a lucky few.

If you've ever found yourself over-giving, disconnecting during intimacy, or unsure how to let yourself fully receive, this conversation offers a grounded and practical way back—to your body, your pleasure, and your power.

Connect with Darshana

Website: https://darshanaavila.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@darshana-avila

Connect with Deborah

Skool: https://www.skool.com/better-sex-9290

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@deborahkat9349

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/deborahtantrakat/

Podcast Feedback DeborahTantraKat@Gmail.com

Book a breakthrough session with Deborah


https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=11737312&appointmentType=60692935


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In this episode of The Better Sex Podcast, I talk with men's work leader and founder of the Integral Man Institute Mark Platten. Mark shares how his decades of work guiding men through rites of passage—and his lived experience walking alongside his wife through menopause—led him to focus on the often-overlooked transition midlife couples face when bodies, identities, and sexual dynamics begin to shift.

Throughout the conversation, Mark and I explore how menopause and andropause reshape intimacy in long-term relationships, why so many couples feel blindsided by these changes, and how unspoken expectations about sex can quietly erode connection. Along the way, we talk about the archetypal transitions men move through in midlife, the emotional impact of hormonal changes for both partners, and why so many couples find themselves struggling to navigate this phase without guidance.

Mark shares insights from his work with men about upgrading the "tools" we bring into relationship as we age—moving from youthful patterns of fixing, performing, or proving ourselves into deeper connection, communication, and vulnerability. We also discuss how honest conversations about desire, aging bodies, and shifting needs can open the door to a richer and more intimate phase of relationship after menopause.

This conversation offers a grounded and compassionate look at a stage of life that many couples experience but rarely talk about—and how facing it together can deepen intimacy rather than end it.

Connect with Mark

Website: https://integral-man-institute

Gift: 5 Conversations All Midlife Couples Need to have -https://integral-man-institute.mykajabi.com/Conversations-for-Midlife-Couples

Connect with Deborah

Skool: https://www.skool.com/better-sex-9290

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@deborahkat9349

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/deborahtantrakat/

Podcast Feedback DeborahTantraKat@Gmail.com

Book a breakthrough session with Deborah


https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=11737312&appointmentType=60692935


Sex and Relationship tips direct to you Inbox


https://deborahkat.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=428b26a12a8810bb5012792c3&id=ff89fb0d94