TANTRA
SESSIONS
Introducing Joytown Pleasure School
Over the past few years, it’s been such an honor to host retreats and private sessions for partnerships of all kinds as they find their way towards more intimacy and vitality — both together and individually. Along the way we’ve discovered the more time we have with couples before and after retreats, the larger the impact in their relationships and lives. Starting in 2025, we are structuring these client relationships as 6-month video-based 1-on-1 trainings with a group retreat in the middle. All calls will be with Mel and/or Gentry, while the in-person retreats will be held by Mel, Gentry and Elisa.
For now we’ll work with just four couples at a time so we can keep the retreat intimate and spend ample quality time with each person. Mel and Gentry will no longer be offering private couples’ sessions.
To join a 6-month cohort, the exchange is $7000 per couple. This program is designed for those seeking a deeper tantric practice both personally and in their partnership, and includes 6 video calls per person with Mel and/or Gentry (some will be individual and some as a couple depending on what’s needed), and a 4 day/3 night in-person retreat with:
1-on-1 coaching sessions with Gentry & Mel
Daily workshop sessions
Private times and space with practices designed specifically for each couple
Group ecstatic ceremony
The first cohort will run from April to October 2025 with a workshop in Joytown August 7th-10th. The second cohort will begin in October and run through April 2026 with a retreat mid-January 2026 in Stinson Beach. We expect these cohorts to fill quickly, so please reach out soon to hold your spot if interested. For more information and to place your deposit, contact hello@joytown.co.
There are as many definitions for Tantra as there are people who have experienced its fruits. That’s because tantra is best understood when experienced, not studied. The word tantra literally means “to loom”or “to weave” — it’s a practice of experiencing the world by being completely immersed in it, not separate from it.
In the West, we commonly associate Tantra with the sexual realms. Although sexual energy is a very important part of many tantric practices, the teachings here apply to all of life. Tantra teaches us how to see what is in front of us without subjecting it to the organizing interpretations of the mind. We learn how to hold multiple truths at once and the intense emotions that accompany those truths.
Tantra expands our capacity for pleasure, hope, ecstasy and bliss, as well as for uncertainty, grief, pain and fear. The magic that occurs when you begin to learn how to transform uncomfortable emotions into creative fuel for building the life you want is immeasurable.
In today’s world of uncertainty and division, tantra is not only a healing balm, but a complete life philosophy that fundamentally alters your relationship to yourself, other, and the collective. Our tantric offerings include a variety of group ceremonies, partnered practices, and private sessions with one to three skilled facilitators in a breathtaking environment. We explore from a place of non-judgement, humor and trust while holding safe boundaries to re-pattern our relationship to our own life-force energy and learn how to share that with others.
We have offerings that cater to individuals, couples, and/or any other formation of orientation or partnership. In our calls, sessions and retreats, we dive into tantric exercises, energetic practices, couples counseling and sacred sexuality in a clean, safe environment built with skill, humor and deep care.
Whether you are curious about these practices or have been on this path for some time, this work will meet you wherever you're starting from and dramatically shift your relationship to the world around you and within you. You will walk away with a much deeper knowledge of self, a stronger connection to your present (or future) partner, and a new lens to view the human experience through that creates lasting changes in every area of life.
I was originally attracted to tantra as a way to heal my damaged relationship to my own sexuality. I quickly discovered that this path had the potential to actually save my life and give me a language for how I wanted to live - sexually, energetically, physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. These profound teachings, practices and modalities have fundamentally changed the person that I am and how I interact with my environment and the people in it. Tantra has given me a way to not only exist in a world that is increasingly volatile, divisive and uncertain, but to thrive in it and help others do the same | Mel Fio
REFLECTIONS OF THE WORK
"Your presence and teaching were a healing balm — and remain so six weeks later. I have found in myself a level of safety and stabilization that runs deep and has always been hard for me to reach. What helped me most was the combination of your humility, humor and desire: I could trust the generous and honest intention that animates your work and everyday life. It is the thing that is most powerful and what, for me, allows for the vulnerability that leads to…everything good! I have a heart filled with gratitude for you and a live wire in my body that I am just loving vibing with. This is just a glimmer of the gift you have given me, and us.
So thank you from my marrow and spirit. You are walking your path so clearly. I have the feeling that everything you have gone through in your life has been preparation for something the world needs so deeply. I feel so blessed that our paths have crossed. And look forward to more!"
-DB
"Mel! The bar has officially been raised for me about what’s possible! You helped open up a whole new world for me! Pretty sure there is my sex life BEFORE Mel and my sex life AFTER Mel and those are two entirely different things! OMG I had no idea my body could do all these things and I am loving loving loving my connection with my body and with my partner! And so so grateful for YOU!"
-BKM
“As someone coming out of a high-intensity religious background, I started working with Mel in a state of depression and disconnection with many parts of myself. The work I have done with Mel over the last year in the realms of tantra, energy work, and sexuality has been nothing short of transformational.
Mel's warmth and skill as a space holder are matched only by her expertise across a variety of modalities of exploration and her attunement as a companion and guide into the depths. I've never felt so safe leaning into such challenging and important work.
The healing and growth that I've experienced are very palpable. I feel a greater sense of aliveness and connection to myself, my body, my feelings, my sexuality, and my relationships than ever. I only want to go deeper in all of these realms!”