Woman who went on £11,000 'orgasm retreat' reveals 'heartbreaking' revelation she had about other guests
Speaking to Metro's Just Between Us podcast, Hocking said most guests at the women's-only retreat were 'in their forties and just realising they'd had years of bad sex'.
At the three-day 'climax retreat', Hocking reported witnessing live orgasm demonstrations by instructors and attending classes on anatomy and various kinks.
The oldest participant at the 'Back to Body Retreat' in Joshua Tree was 75 years old, who told Hocking that she'd come to the desert because 'she'd lost her sex drive and wasn't okay with that'.
'It was wild,' Hocking told podcast host and former X-Factor star Diana Vickers.
'I thought it would be full of extroverts: outlandish people who just like to perform in front of each other. But it really wasn't.
'It was a group of 16 – all kind of in their forties, apart from one 75-year-old. All the women who were there were either getting divorced or felt they'd never had a proper orgasm and wanted to right that wrong.
'These were women dealing with trauma, who wanted to learn how to enjoy sex again, which was quite heartbreaking.'
Hocking described how the women were given their first lesson about sex positivity when being shown the camp's lavish amenities.
She said: 'They had this private chef, who'd set up this amazing charcuterie board with different cheeses.
'As we were eating it, Pamela, the creator of the retreat said – this is where we learn our first lesson.
'She asked, did you just dive in and help yourself to whatever you wanted, or did you stand back and let others go before you?
'I had really dived in and started to panic. But Pamela turned to me and said I'd done the right thing.
'She told the group: Women are brought up to believe that we are supposed to take the scraps and that the men come first. That our needs are not important.
'You should all dive in for whatever you want and put your needs first.'
The sex columnist then described how retreat leader Pamela and her team introduced the group to a 'whole new world of sex'.
'We were all blindfolded', Hocking recounted.
'We were all told to lay on the ground while this sexy music played… the instructors then adorned our naked bodies with crystals and fruit.
'They introduced us to all these kinks, to see which ones we'd like… there was a live demonstration too.'
Hocking said she felt empowered by her visit but admitted that it was difficult to get aroused in such a 'clinical' environment.
'I didn't get turned on at any point', the journalist said.
'But, I was the only person not to have an orgasm, which was disappointing. I think my brain was too aware during the whole thing, a lot of the women got good at letting go.
'I did leave with a lot less hangups about my body. I started to cry at one stage when we took the masks off, and I realised I was lying next to the 75-year-old.
'I caught her looking down at her body all lit up. It was so nice to see these beautiful women looking at her body like it was brand new.'
To listen to the interview in full, search for Just Between Us now, wherever you get your podcasts.
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