Erotic Embodiment in the Desert

I’ve been on a solo road trip for the last few weeks, and I’m currently staying in Phoenix. Every time I step outside, I’m hit by the unbelievable (to me) heat of the Sonoran desert. It hits hard at first. Shocking. Similar to when you open the oven and the heat rushes out into the room, smacking you in the face on the way. 

I typically have a hard time with heat. There’s a particular threshold of high temperature + duration spent in it that when crossed, leads to frustration, irritation, even anger. I contract and tighten up, hoping I can somehow keep the heat out and away from my skin. All of this, of course, only makes me hotter...

And so I’ve taken the last week that I’ve been here to work with my relationship with heat, and I can honestly say, it’s become an erotic, even pleasurable experience for me. 

Each time I step out the door, I’m hit by that first rush of heat. Rather than contracting and bracing, I’ve been practicing relaxing into and allowing it to seep into the cells of my skin, warming me to the core. I feel the relationship between my body and the air, the sun, the heat of the pavement and the grass. Perspiration immediately beads on my forehead, between my breasts, along my spine, and under my arms, and I feel awe at the mechanisms of my body that work tirelessly without me having to think or do a single thing.

The intense heat is probably not an experience I’d choose to stay in for an extended period of time, but after a few days of this practice, I can stay with it rather than closing myself off to it. 

This is erotic embodiment. I am participating with the world, as it’s occurring, in my body, awestruck by the intimacy and interaction between my body and the environment.