Wellness
The V-Spot: Husband Seeking Female-Friendly Sex-ed
Hi Yana, My wife is interested in exploring her sexuality a little further — things she might be interested in trying, etc. — but is hoping to do so in a way that is female- and feminist-friendly. Do you have any suggestions for things she can do or read either...
The V-Spot: Babe Needs to Break Up
Dear Yana,I want to break up with my boyfriend of a few years. As we both near 30 I’m getting clearer that he’s just not the guy for me.But here’s the thing: We live together. We have a lease together. We share a car and a cat and just have so many logistical ties to...
In Her Own Words: Incarcerated in a Greenfield men’s correctional facility, she documents her transition
Editor’s Note: In October Erykah Carter will walk out of the Franklin County Jail and take her first free steps — ever. “To be able to say my name, my name is Erykah Carter, it means the world to me, it makes me feel right,” says Carter during our interview in...
Third Eye Roaming: Twelve-Step Yoga, moving through addiction and its effects
While I was growing up, my dad was addicted to alcohol and crack cocaine. He still is, he’d say, although he’s been sober for more than six years. At times it wasn’t easy having a good relationship with my dad, but the thing that always got us through rough patches is...
Could You Spot Someone Drowning? Spoiler: Probably not
For most people, the closest they get to drowning is watching someone on TV or in the movies going through the motions: screaming, flailing arms, and lots of splashing. So, when someone actually drowns, you’d think it would be easy to spot. But not always.In real...
Wellness: Hike Safe
Wilderness survival films tend to focus on bears, wolves, sheer rock faces, and toppling (at least once per movie) into a cold, surging river. But most hiking safety tips — while often a matter of life and death — deal with more prosaic issues. The American Hiking...
The V-Spot: Double the Pleasure: Synced Orgasms
Hi Yana,I recently attended one of your workshops about the G-spot and it worked! My partner and I went home that night and I squirted. But it’s so strange because when I squirt it doesn’t happen as I climax. It isn’t like a climactic orgasm. It just feels crazy good...
The V-Spot: Jealous Over My Flirty Girlfriend
Dear Yana,My girlfriend and I have been polyamorous for three years. We have established boundaries and as far as poly relationships go, it’s been pretty smooth sailing. Usually I’m a very low-jealousy partner.But lately she’s been flirting with this one woman that I...
Free Will Astrology: June 23-29, 2016
ARIES (March 21-April 19): “The past lives on in art and memory,” writes author Margaret Drabble, “but it is not static: it shifts and changes as the present throws its shadow backwards.” That’s a fertile thought for you to meditate on...
The V-Spot: Why Can’t I Have Sex Without Drinking?
Editor’s Note: Sexual trauma is addressed in this week’s column.Hi Yana,I can’t seem to want to have sex unless I’m drunk.This has always kind of been the case, except for when I was a teenager, and horny all the time (and not drinking). Then when I got to...
Free Will Astrology: June 16-22, 2016
ARIES (March 21-April 19): The coming months will be a favorable time to boost your skills as a cagey warrior. I don’t mean you should push people around and get into lots of fights. Rather, the goal is for you to harness your aggressiveness constructively and...
The V-Spot: I’m stuck in a cum-nundrum!
Hi Yana, My partner (cis-male) and I (queer bisexual lady) enjoy getting super hot and bothered with each other, but we’re both frustrated with my seeming inability to orgasm. When we’re fooling around, just warming up, sometimes clitoral stimulation gets...
Free Will Astrology: June 9-15, 2016
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Mythologist Joseph Campbell analyzed fairy tales for clues about how the human psyche works. For example, he said that a fairy tale character who’s riding a horse is a representation of our relationship with our instinctual nature. If...
The V-Spot: How Can I Be Poly, With A Heart?
Hi Yana,I’m in my early 30s and have been polyamorous for a couple of years. Not long ago my wife of 13 years and I split. Now I’m kind of going through a dating/poly crisis. I strongly identify as poly despite not really having a primary relationship....
Oh, Honey: Can spoonfuls of the all-natural sweet stuff help ward off allergies?
Ah, spring: The time of year when nature wakes up from its deep winter slumber: birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and allergy sufferers are miserable. A runny nose, itchy eyes, and constant sneezing are facts of life for the nearly 8 percent of Americans that...
Guest Column: Will You Take My Disease Seriously Now? Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Last fall, when the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced they would finally help the 1 million to 2.5 million Americans with the disease commonly known as chronic fatigue syndrome, patients hoped this would be our moment of recognition — like when the NIH...
The V-Spot: My ‘Orgasm’
Hello Yana,I’ve been dating my boyfriend for almost a year. We’re in our 20s, and he’s a few years older than me. There have been times when we’re intimate when he doesn’t provide me with oral sex. He’s never close to ejaculating while inside me. He only does so...
Free Will Astrology: May 26-June 1, 2016
ARIES (March 21-April 19): To convey the best strategy for you to employ in the coming weeks, I have drawn inspiration from a set of instructions composed by aphorist Alex Stein: “Scribble, scribble, erase. Scribble, erase, scribble. Scribble, scribble, scribble,...
Scene Here: Junior Jiu Jitsu / Warriors in Training
Through the open door of Springfield’s Virtue Brazilian Jiu Jitsu come the sounds of little bare feet rapidly thumping on gym mats. Inside, Kym Sturdivant’s watchful gaze over the tiny fighters is sober. Arms raised, the grade-school grapplers circle each other,...
The V-Spot: How Do I Tell My Partners I’ve Got Herpes?
Hi Yana,I’m 21 years young, genderqueer, very sexual, and polyamorous! I have a penis; I also have genital herpes. Is there a best time to tell a partner?If I have symptoms or have had them recently it’s not much of a conundrum because there’s no...
Freewill Astrology: May 19-25, 2016
ARIES (March 21-April 19): “An oar moves a boat by entering what lies outside it,” writes poet Jane Hirshfield. You can’t use the paddle inside the boat. It’s of no value to you unless you thrust it into the drink and move it around vigorously....
Free Will Astrology: May 12-18, 2016
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Russian writer Anton Chekhov was renowned for the crisp, succinct style of his short stories and plays. As he evolved, his pithiness grew. “I now have a mania for shortness,” he wrote. “Whatever I read — my own work, or...
The V-Spot: Seeking Seduction Instruction
Hi Yana,My boyfriend and I have been together for a year. Up until a couple of months ago, I was extremely satisfied with our sex life. He wanted me all the time and would initiate sex at least one to three times daily. Recently, we moved in together and it seems the...
Get Running – Up-coming 5Ks, Fun Runs, and Benefit Walks
We couldn’t write about all the local races on the horizon this running season, but the following list is a head-start on where to get your legs pumping.For more information, visit the online event calendars at Runner’s World, the Western Mass Athletic Club, the...
Pain to Gain: Ashtanga Yoga Northampton founder talks path to more enlightened practice
Michelle Ryan says she didn’t truly know yoga until she knew chronic pain. And that’s not because Ryan, founder of Ashtanga Yoga Northampton, hadn’t done yoga before — she’d done it for over 15 years — but because it took working around the spasms to show her the...
Chris Trotta, local marathon runner and triathlete, shares tips on how to get running
Marathon runner and tri-athlete Chris Trotta started running because a guy at work wouldn’t shut up about doing the New York City Marathon. “He just kept talking about it and talking about it,” says Trotta a Longmeadow father of three. “Finally, he said, ‘I bet you...
The V-Spot: We Never Talk, But I’d Like To
I know you do sex advice, but I need some relationship advice. My boyfriend and I have been dating for about half a year and he shows zero emotion. I want to bring it up to him, but not in a way that will make him clam up more, ya know? Any advice would be awesome....
Free Will Astrology: April 28-May 4, 2016
ARIES (March 21-April 19): The oracle I’m about to present may be controversial. It contains advice that most astrologers would never dare to offer an Aries. But I believe you are more receptive than usual to this challenge, and I am also convinced that you...
We Can Do It! V-Spot sex advice columnist Yana Tallon-Hicks has made it her mission to get us all to O-Town
Climbing the stairs to V-Spot sex columnist Yana Tallon-Hicks’ apartment, I wasn’t sure what to expect.Would there be a lot of framed Georgia O’Keefes on the wall? A swing hanging in the bedroom? Penis-shaped drinking glasses? I was sort of right.There are no...
The V-Spot: Oh! Oh! Oh? Where’s My Orgasm?
Hi Yana!I started having sex with males this past summer. It’s fun and exciting, but I’ve yet to reach an earth-shattering orgasm. That may be too high of an expectation for myself, but it feels like I’ve never had an orgasm at all. I feel the build up, but...
Yoga instructor Brandon Compagnone Wants to ‘Unstick’ You
The power vinyasa class hasn’t even begun and most around me — 50 bodies with mats no more than an inch apart — are drenched with sweat. As we struggle through the humidity-induced delirium in the 93-degree room at Northampton’s Shiva Shakti, tonight’s teacher...
Adrift in My Personal Great Salt Lake: New float spa in Northampton provides unique, restful experience
As I idled in Northampton’s afternoon rush hour, drumming my fingers on the steering wheel and glancing anxiously at the clock on my phone, it struck me that this moment perfectly captured my week — a traffic jam of tasks that had left me running constantly behind. At...
The V-Spot: Are Tasty Lubes Giving Me Tonsillitis?
Hi Yana,I have been using flavored lube for mostly oral, but recently this has been causing tonsillitis for me. I forgot to read the fine print, “Use within 3 months,” so now I must chuck out a full bottle (I hate wastage!).What brands of flavored lube...
This week’s astrology readings
ARIES (March 21-April 19): According to my astrological analysis, you would benefit profoundly from taking a ride in a jet fighter plane 70,000 feet above the Earth. In fact, I think you really need to experience weightlessness as you soar faster than the speed of...
O, Cannabis! The State of Pot in the State
With an estimated 800,000 weed smokers living and toking in Massachusetts and a likely heading for the November ballot question that could bring recreational marijuana to the state, we figured there’s a demand for some pot talk in the Valley. Enter “O, Cannabis,” a...
The V-Spot: I Want a (Not Too) Open Relationship
Hi Yana!I’m a lady in a happy, healthy, committed relationship with a man. We have a good sex life but my sex drive is much higher than his. I’m also really into girls and have wanted to ask him for a long time how he would feel if I was Friends With Benefits with...
The V-Spot: Fretting Over My First Vibrator
Hey Yana,I would like to buy either a dildo or vibrator for me but I have no experience on what to buy in terms of brand or what type for my first sex toy. What would you suggest to be the best sex toy to purchase to start with?— Fretting Over My First Vibrator Dear...Free Will Astrology: March 17-23, 2016
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Artist Steven Spasuk works exclusively with an unusual medium: soot from candles and torches. He spreads the stuff across a blank canvas, then uses various instruments to sculpt the accidental blobs into definitive forms. I’ve seen the...
The V-Spot: Who Do I Choose?
Dear Yana, I’m a 61-year-old woman dating two men. One of them is a retired, 75-year-old secure man who knows who he is. The other is in his 50s and is still trying to figure it all out. Neither of them knows about the other one and live at a distance from each...
The V-Spot: Straight Talk About the Butt
Hello Yana, I’ve been curious for a while about anal play while I’m pleasuring myself. I’ve heard it generates a more intense orgasm. I can take fingers, but I’d like to try something more (on the smaller side of course). Being a guy, is there a position or toy that...
Third-Eye Roaming: Some Like it Hot — And Cheap, yoga on a budget takes strategy
Ahh, yoga, you’re so good for us but you can be so downward-dog-darned expensive. If I had a ten-class card for every time someone’s asked me for tips on how to do yoga on the cheap, I’d be yoga-rich! Let’s face it, yoga classes at $15-$20 a pop can really add up,...
Smell Your Way to a Healthier You: Aromatherapy can do more than set a soothing mood
A nne Marie Martineau of Florence enjoys making aromatherapy remedies for her friends. She keeps a small refrigerator in her bedroom with dozens of vials of essential oils that she mixes in different combinations. She especially likes making inhalers. She buys the...
The V-Spot: Hide My Hickies!
Hey Yana, Tis I, LL [from previous column “‘Butch’ Lost in Labialand”]. I’m back with another problem. The advice you gave me last time worked out great. Opening the lines of communication between my partner and I really helped. However, my girlfriend and I have run...
Free Will Astrology: March 3-9, 2016
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Actress Blythe Baird writes about the problem that arises when her dog sees her eating a peanut butter and chocolate chip bagel. Her beloved pet begs for a piece and becomes miserable when it’s not forthcoming. Baird is merely demonstrating...
V-Spot: A Dildo Built For Two
Hi Yana! My fiancée and I just realized that we have sex, sure, but we’ve never talked about what we really wanted in sex. Toys came up and we tried my Mini Rabbit vibrator and we love it. We’ve both tried strap-ons before and neither she nor I really like them, but...
The V-Spot: Is It Okay to Quit Sex?
Hi Yana, I’m a relatively young woman who enjoyed an active, above-average sex life for my entire adult life, even after the birth of my first two children. However, I found that after my last son was born, my desire for sex suddenly vanished to the degree that I can...
Not Your Grandpa’s Sex: What we do, who we do, and what gets us going has changed a lot over the last 50 years
Sex has been around since day one, and it’s still evolving. Just over the past 50 or 60 years, getting down has changed significantly. Influenced by popular culture and social mores, sex has become a more liberated and experimental experience since the 1950s. With a...
The V-Spot: The Rules of Attraction
Yana, I’m a single hetero guy in my 60s. Since my divorce some years ago, I haven’t dated much. What I truly want is a loving, long-term relationship with a partner and to be a loving, giving partner in return. Here’s my problem: I’m short and not terribly...
Free Will Astrology: Feb. 11-17, 2016
ARIES (March 21-April 19): “Love is a fire,” declared Aries actress Joan Crawford. “But whether it’s going to warm your hearth or burn down your house, you can never tell.” I disagree with her conclusion. There are practical steps you can take to ensure that love’s...
The V-Spot: Bugged About Body Hair
Dear Yana, As of last year, I love my body hair. I especially like my pubic hair because I can style it, usually depending on my mood: totally unshaven, as a strip, but rarely fully shaven. However, I’ve noticed that when I have the chance to get intimate with...
Bending Toward Northampton: Jocelyn O’Shea on teaching and yoga for kids
If you had the opportunity to work as a designer for Law & Order and Gossip Girl, would you quit and teach yoga instead? That’s exactly what Jocelyn O’Shea did, and she has no regrets about it. The Cambridge native recently moved back to Massachusetts after...
The V-Spot: I Love Anal, But It Hurts
Hi Yana, My boyfriend and I have recently started exploring anal play. We’re starting small with just his finger. We use plenty of lube and it goes in pretty easily and isn’t painful at all, but almost every time we’ve done anal play, I’ve bled the next day and been...
Get Fit: An alternative guide
It’s about that muscle Don’t stress about losing weight — put your effort into getting strong. Many gain some weight when working out because muscle weighs more than fat. It’s not about the scale, it’s about how you feel. And when you’re the strongest possible version...
The V-Spot: My BF is Pushing for Polyamory
Hi Yana, My partner and I have been together for five months. He wants to be polyamorous, specifically to have sex and be in relationships with other women. He recently got out of a long term relationship so he doesn’t really want to be in a serious relationship now,...
App Fit: only 7 minutes?
The “recommended” apps on Google Playstore and iTunes are jammed with seven-minute workouts right now. We checked out three of the most popular seven-minute apps to see if they’re seven minutes in health heaven or a waste of time. 7-Minute Core (Perigee) Recommended?...
Feelin’ the Burn
The best part about working out in the comfort of your own home: you can do it in your underwear. Hell, you can even do it naked. Just don’t be like me and forget to close the blinds. I never do yoga on the screen, and I’m sure it’s always best to have a personal...
Community Acupuncture: Group sessions make alt-medicine more affordable
On Tuesday evenings at the Wellness House, a complementary care practice in Northampton, women with a variety of health problems are finding relief through acupuncture treatments done in a group setting to keep the cost down. “The clinic was born out of the...
Resolve to Yoga: get started in 2016
A staggering 80 percent of New Year’s resolutions fail, and yogis can tell you why. These surface-level resolutions — get a gym membership, lose ten pounds, and the like — lack San Culpa, or deep-seated intention. In yoga, the phrase means that you set an intention in...
Free Will Astrology: Jan. 7-13, 2016
ARIES (March 21-April 19): John Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. His novel Of Mice and Men helped win him the award, but it required extra persistence. When he’d almost finished the manuscript, he went out on a date with his wife. While they were...E-Edition
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