Pleasure is Healing

On this episode, we meet Arielle Clark, owner of Sis Got Tea, a Queer-owned, black-owned, Louisville-based tea shop. Nubia and Arielle explore how mental health is a vital part of pleasure, and what obstacles can get in the way. Arielle takes us through her own mental health journey through learning the beauty in boundaries and their enforcement. She says her home is her home is her safe space, and she's curated it intentionally to feel that way. "I have a super comfy couch that I can lay on, and work from, if my chronic pain is acting up. I've got an inversion table where I can literally flip upside down if my back hurts. I've got a bathtub so I can soak. I've got a super comfortable bed. My home is relatively quiet. I have incense and candles. I have a cat," she says. "When I have sensory overload, I just want to come home to like a muted space so I can calm down." And she talks about how therapy and sobriety have both contributed to her recovery from trauma, and her ability to make space for pleasure in her life—and to know that she deserves it.