The Love Drive with Shaun Galanos

If you haven't heard part 1, I strongly recommend you start there. One of my former clients shares what prompted her to reach out to me, what the session felt like from beginning to end, and what lasting effects she experienced from receiving loving touch and attention from me.  We explore the importance of slowing (everything) down, what giving loving touch looks (and feels) like, and why it's cr...

I'm a former erotic masseur. I don't talk about that part of my life very often, but when I do, I record a whole podcast episode on it. Find out what it was like providing erotic massage to women in San Francisco. I answer every question you might have about the topic. From what it costs, to how I found my clients, and what brought me to start that practice in the first place. You're not going to...

Hey, lovebirds. It's been a while since I've shared with you what's happening for me. There's been a lot of growth for me in the last two years (and especially in the last 6 weeks) and wanted to take this opportunity to share some of it with you. I'm also taking this time to talk about how The Love Drive came to be, what kind of work I'm currently doing, and where The Love Drive is headed.  The Lo...

Communication is the foundation of healthy, fulfilling, and loving relationships.  How do you deal with a partner who is uncommunicative? At what point do you accept that you have different needs when it comes to communication? And how much are you willing to sacrifice to keep the good parts of your relationship? To find out about my upcoming group program and future live singles events, join the...

How do you navigate moving 3,000 miles away from your high school sweetheart? Do you promise to keep in touch every day? Or do you trust that if you're meant to be together, nothing can keep you apart? To find out about my upcoming group program and future live singles events, join the newsletter:  https://thelovedrive.com/newsletter Get The Love Drive Booklist https://thelovedrive.com/booklist Le...

Our greatest fear is that we'll end up alone. Either our partner will leave us, or we'll never find someone to grow old with. What if we let go of that idea? What if we learned to live in the present moment, with no expectation that the love we have will be forever? What if we stopped looking for the perfect partner? What then? To find out about my upcoming group program and future live singles ev...

Online dating can suck. Especially when you're using it to get an ego boost, or because you're bored. And especially when the folks on the other end of the screen are doing the exact same thing.  No wonder it's hard to connect with people in a meaningful way. So if looking for the lover of your life online is depressing, what else can you do? What did folks do before dating apps?  Let's explore ju...

How can we stay present when we're waiting for the other shoe to drop? What about when we're terrified of losing the partner we love so much?  How can we feel gratitude for the present moment and live in the here and now?  Welcome to Free Love Advice Get The Love Drive Booklist https://thelovedrive.com/booklist Learn more about The Love Drive Website  https://thelovedrive.com/ Instagram  https://w...

How do you tell the new person you're dating that you're going to die much sooner than you'd planned? What are the effects of long-term cancer treatment on your sex life? How can one remain grateful and enjoy living life knowing that you might only have a few years left to live?  That's what we're exploring today on The Love Drive.  Resources and Links There Is No Good Card for This book by Dr. Ke...

It can be incredibly vulnerable to receive, especially if you've been a giver or an over-giver your whole life. To receive means believing yourself to be worthy of attention, respect, care, compassion, and love. Intellectually you might believe this, but do you feel it in your body? Janne Robinson is an author, poet, friend, and a woman of distinction and we talk about the power of receiving. We d...

Pleasure is fundamental to happiness, productivity, and health. And in this hyper-productive world, we're likely to put pleasure on the back burner as we strive to get more shit done. Euphemia Russell is a pleasure educator, and they believe that it's best to do less, better. I agree. Let's focus more on cultivating pleasure within ourselves (and with others) and less on being productive (and oh s...

It's nearly impossible to have deeply connected relationships without vulnerability. And unfortunately, we weren't taught how to be vulnerable in school, or why it's important to stay open in your partnership. And, it's even harder for men to be vulnerable because the messaging has taught us that being vulnerable is a sign of weakness, when in fact, it's a relationship strength.  Jayson Gaddis is...

Loneliness is a systemic issue, and a huge problem in the United States (and probably around the world). It's hard making friends as an adult, and lots of folks are unsatisfied with their adult friendships. So what are we to do? Jillian Richardson is the creator of The Joy List NYC and the author of Unlonely Planet: How Healthy Congregations Can Change The World  and today we're talking about how...

If you aren't listening to the How To Human Podcast with Sam Lamott, here's your chance. I'm airing the episode we recorded together in November of 2018. Sam interviewed me about my creative process, the origin story of The Love Drive, and how I came to do the work I do today.  We also get real and raw, because that's how Sam is, about our sexual shame, the importance of reducing that shame and ho...

Today we're talking about love and depression. How can we love when we're struggling with a mental health issue? How can we support those we love when they're fighting depression? Joelle Pouliot is a journalist, works for a mental health organization in Montreal, and has struggled with the effects of depression on her ability to love.  Warning: This episode is not a substitute for therapy, psychot...

Asking for your needs to me bet can be scary because the risk is that your partner will say no. And sometimes, it's easier to stay in a relationship that sort of meets your needs than to risk not being in one at all because asking for exactly what you want leads to the end of the relationships. And that's the risk. But the payoff is that you might just get everything you ask for if you can come up...

Dating is hard. How are we supposed to show interest, but not too much? Is it best to be pursued or to be the pursuer? What if you don't want to date online? Are you supposed to talk to strangers on the street?! Early-stage dating can be awkward, scary, and downright unpleasant. It can also be exciting, sweet, and fun. Knowing how to navigate the landscape will give you the upper hand. I like to s...

Whether we're telling boys to "man up" or warned that "crying is for girls" young men are subjected to damaging messages about manliness: they must muzzle their emotions and never show weakness, dominate girls, and compete with one another. And yet we wonder why many men are emotionally unavailable.  Rachel Giese is a journalist and author of Boys: What It Means To Become A Man. Her new book exami...

The data is wrong. Forever we've been told that men are more sexually promiscuous and have a need to 'sow their oats' while women are more fulfilled in long-term monogamous relationships because they value love, stability, and emotional connection more than men. Wrong. The data suggests that women are more sexually adventurous, promiscuous, and cheat more than men but because that goes against the...

From clothing to flirting, from our fascination with youth and innocence to the orgasm gap, every aspect of women's lives is dictated by their status as sex objects, and it's a problem.  Journalist, columnist, actress, and now author Lili Boisvert wrote a book on how women are set up to fail at sex, the problem with over-sexualizing women and under-sexualizing men, and how we can start to reverse...

Jealousy can be one of the most frustrating emotions that you'll face in your relationship. It can drive you to insanity. But what if you'd found a way to turn that jealousy upside down; what if you could derive pleasure out of situations that used to drive you mad?  Blogger, researcher, and author Marie-Claude L'Archer wrote the book on compersion, a relatively new term in the polyamorous communi...

Remember the story of my first sex party? There were two main characters in that story; the woman with the red fishnet dress, and the one with curly hair in the black dress. I thought it might be fun to interview the woman in the little black dress and get her side of the story. From meeting up in line at the bathroom, to the awkwardness around introducing me to her fiancé, she shares what was goi...

Relationships are hard, messy, and confusing, and they will never stabilize. Bummer, but there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Susan Piver is a meditation instructor, best-selling author and she shows us how to meet that instability with your partner and how to turn it into love.  Susan took The Four Noble Truth, a Buddhist concept, and applied them to love and relationships. She's here to sha...

Welcome to Storytime, a new segment from The Love Drive. Today, the story of both my first and second sex parties: how terrified I was at both, why you should check your lube to make sure it's not hand sanitizer, and the importance of friends who can support you through new experiences. Enjoy; I sure did.  If you'd like some free love advice of your own, send me a message and tell me what you'd li...

Julia is in love with a much older man. They met when she was in her early twenties and they never expected it to last this long. Julia has dreamed of getting married since she was a little girl, and she's highly motivated to because of how successful her parent's marriage was. The only issue is, her partner refuses to get married. How can they navigate something that is a deal breaker for each ot...