The Keys to the Queendom with Sheila Kelley
Beginning in childhood, we make little girls feel shame about their bodies. It’s no wonder that adult women have trouble feeling sexy in their own skin. Actress Sheila Kelley founded the S Factor, a movement-based practice to help unleash your inner erotic being. On this episode, Sheila talks about living her naked truth as a feminine being in a masculine world.
If you’ve ever felt awkward and unsexy, Sheila Kelley has the keys to the Queendom. When preparing for an acting role, she found that she had no idea what it meant to channel her inner eroticism or sexuality. So, she founded the S Factor, classes that focus on movement and allow all women to unleash their inner sex goddess in a supportive environment.
Andrea has been a fan of S Factor classes for many years and talked to Sheila about the spiritual journey she’s taken back to her body. Sheila also explains why so many women have mental blocks around their sexuality and what they can do to feel confident and sexy.
[02:00] - Dancing at the Blue Iguana
[05:19] - The S Factor high
[09:37] - Claim the birthright of sexy
[18:31] - Ten types of erotic creatures
[26:56] - Relearning the natural language of the feminine body
[30:22] - Shame shutdown
[37:54] - S Factor retreats
[42:06] - The five feminine geniuses
[49:28] - How does Sheila live a dope ass life?
S Factor® founder, actress and body-whisperer Sheila Kelley pioneered a feminine movement revolution, launching a brave new practice into a very masculine world nearly two decades ago. Her own soulful journey is a passionate, personal, and scientific study of the feminine body, soul, and purpose. Sheila has been featured on TedX, Ellen and Oprah, and is a regular speaker on stages across the world where she is the go-to authority for feminine empowerment, healing, and discovery.
RING RING: FEMININE POWER ON LINE ONE
Part of living your Dope Ass Life is living in your truth. For this week’s podcast guest, Sheila Kelley, actress and founder of S Factor, living that truth comes down to embracing her femininity and filling her cup first.
But before I get into what that means, I just need to say this episode might change your life. Sheila is really that incredible and her work with S Factor, a pole-dancing studio, changed mine when I first took a class several years ago.
As women we are told ALL THE TIME, in overt and subliminal ways that we need to dial back our femininity. We are told that embracing our masculine energy is the only way to succeed — we have to be strong, forceful, powerful and judgmental. We’re told to dress a certain way and act a certain way so as not to provoke or entice. And throughout the course of our lives, we take all this messaging in and we allow it to change us.
Sheila and S Factor are breaking this cycle by creating a safe space for women to tap into their feminine essence and movement without fear or judgement. And let me tell you, it’s powerful work. I can speak from my own experiences at S Factor that the classes (even the virtual ones that I’ve been taking since quarantine started) are better than therapy. But what Sheila can really speak to is the why behind it.
According to her, tapping into your body does what words cannot. It allows you to express yourself in new ways, healing from the constraints that society puts on your being. Sheila explains that the feminine is all about being. It’s powered by slow, intentional movement, it’s about remaining in flow (hence the “S” shape).
Of course, all of this talk on connecting with your power through stepping away from social pressures got me thinking that there’s no better time to explore my femininity than right now. With all my usual excuses — lunch plans, dinner plans, happy hour plans — on pause, I’m making a commitment to myself to spend more time with my femininity and my sensuality. And I’m feeling pretty great about that decision.
So is Sheila. She made the incredible point that if everyone who identified with feminine energy cast aside the pressure to operate in the masculine, we would have a different world. A world powered not by logic and linearity, but by intuition, openness and love. And when you think about it, if those who were able to spent this time cultivating their feminine sensuality and sexuality, we could step into a world that’s very different from the one we left. Which is really the silver lining that I’ve been looking for.
Sheila’s advice on making this a reality? Recognize that as a feminine being, your job isn’t to be a mother, a wife or even a producer. Your job is to fill your cup first and allow your power to overflow to those around you, building a world that is based not on judgment, but on love.
On the Dope Ass Podcast, Andrea Levoff and her roster of hilarious, inspirational, and always-opinionated guests are tackling everything from motherhood to fashion to travel and spirituality---with a seriously dope ass lens. But don’t take our word for it. Learn more about your dope ass host and her mission to make everyone see the world through hot pink-colored glasses at https://www.andrealevoff.com/.
This podcast episode was produced by Dante32.