The power of touch: meet intimate bodyworker Elizabeth Sheppard

What services do you offer on Sensuali?

I offer in-person intimate bodywork and coaching sessions for men, women and couples. I also offer virtual masturbation and intimacy coaching, and have a website dedicated to on-demand courses to support you in learning more about intimate touch, mindful masturbation and the foundations of good massage at home.

I’m based in Brighton predominantly but regularly visit London and Stockholm for work.

Tell us more about yourself.

Outside my work, my family and friends are the centre of love in my world, alongside my garden!

I love to train and take care of my body. I’m in the gym five times a week and the sauna whenever I can (my current dream is to build a sauna in the garden!).

I relax by walking, getting out into the countryside or down to the sea (Brighton is amazing), reading and listening to music.

I’m afraid of spiders, hate liquorice and cry happy tears at every opportunity. 🙂

What turns you on?

Touch! Being touched, touching others, touching myself, reading and learning about touch, talking about touch, sharing the wonders of touch and seeing others explore, enjoy and feel confident with touch.

Playing with polarity, being in the lead AND being led. The delicious combination of strength and vulnerability, and that moment when people stop taking themselves too seriously.

What was your journey into this world?

I came from a background of personal training and sports massage. I loved supporting people to enjoy their physical bodies more. I also worked as a pole dancer and pole dance instructor in my early 20s!

In 2014, I was introduced to Tantra and discovered that there was a whole alternative narrative around sex, pleasure and intimacy that really made sense to me. I decided to blend my love of embodied practices with a specialism in intimacy and pleasure.

Over the years, I’ve trained in various forms of bodywork, along with the Wheel of Consent, Sexological Bodywork and TRE (Trauma Release Exercise).

Over a decade later, I’ve made mistakes and learned a huge amount, not just about the specialism of being an intimate touch practitioner, but all the other aspects of running a business and adapting to the ebbs and flows of life.

What do the first 60 minutes of your day look like?

I’m usually an early bird, so I wake up and have a decaf coffee before sitting quietly for 10 minutes of meditation.

I might text or call to have a ‘good morning’ check-in with my partner (we live in different countries) and then I’ll potter around with some housework, a ‘proper coffee’ and some protein for a bit, before I head to the gym.

I do not like to be rushed in the mornings. 🙂

Why do you do what you do?

I genuinely feel like this is how I can be of most service and contribute something to the world. It took me a while to get here. I had a 10-year career in office and event management before I found my way to this work, but this makes sense to me.

I love that I get to work with people who are exploring something incredibly intimate, personal and vulnerable.

What is an unexpected pleasure you’ve discovered in your work?

Bodywork sessions help me regulate my own nervous system.

Giving massage, working with touch, is a meditative experience and I get to spend many hours of my week in that state.

When Covid hit and I wasn’t able to work hands-on with people, I really felt it!

What do you wish more people knew about intimate bodywork?

There can be a common misconception that any sessions involving intimate touch must be somehow ‘seedy’, centred around orgasm/ejaculation, and in some way degrading to the practitioner.

And, in many cases (sadly), that IS the nature of the work on offer.

But there is also a growing niche, where I operate, where touch is one-way, consensual, focused around learning and exploring different approaches to pleasure, and where the practitioner is making informed choices about who they work with and how.

I’d love to normalise the conversation around receiving bodywork from practitioners who are skilled in intimate touch, trauma-informed, well-trained, working with informed consent and joyfully supporting clients to inhabit their bodies, without shame and without judgement.

What’s your superpower?

Touch is my superpower. I have a whole YouTube video on this!

I definitely feel that being comfortable and skilful with ‘intimate’ touch is about so much more than arousal, sex and pleasure.

It means I can be physically present for loved ones, to hold their hand, stroke their head, hold them and give them support. When words don’t hit the spot, or all the words have already been said.

When I know that offering a simple head massage, foot massage, or shoulder massage gives a struggling friend or relative 30 minutes to themselves.

When someone you know is nearing the end of their life and your physical contact and love can ease a little of their pain or fear.

When the people who normally hold you up are the ones who need emotional support and attention.

When your own body is tired and achy, and actually just giving yourself a hug and a kiss is a phenomenally simple act of courage and care.

For all these reasons and more, I believe that touch is a superpower. It’s one that we’re all born with and (like all superhero skills) one we need to practise to fully understand its positive impact in the world.

We love vices. What’s yours?

Oooooh, carrot cake. But really the cake is just a vehicle to get the icing to my mouth!

Who are your sensual inspirations?

It’s not a person but… music (of all genres).

I started studying music at age five and went on to study at university. Music is energy, it’s a whole language, it’s emotionally and physically impactful in a way I haven’t found in anything else.

It gets into your body and creates a reaction (if you let it). Whenever I’m feeling a bit disconnected sexually or sensually, I turn to music to guide me back into my body.