Our History
Body Electric was born in the crucible of the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco in the 1980s.
History
The Body Electric School has a long and storied reputation for inspiring personal transformation through erotic education that integrates eros, the somatic, and the sacred for men, women, non-binary, diverse, and transgender populations.
Origins and The Path Traveled
The Body Electric School was first founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1984 in response to the emotional trauma, social dislocation, and shame experienced by gay men during the first years of the AIDS crisis. Since then, the School has offered professionally guided workshops lasting two to six days that inspire and support participants toward integrating their emotional, sacred, and erotic lives.
Our curriculum includes elements of psychology, bodywork, and group work. Our original focus was work within the LGBTQ community, although not restricted to it. Originally serving men, Body Electric began some twenty-five years ago offering women’s and all-gender workshops.
Learn more about our commitment to serving our diverse community.
The Development of Our Work
The work of the School was first developed by combining the ancient wisdom of Taoism and Tantric sexual cultivation with the insights of western sexology, psychology, and neurobiology. In the 1980’s Dr. Joseph Kramer, the founder of the Body Electric School, developed an expression of these philosophies to meet the needs of the modern era called Taoist Erotic Massage.
The Body Electric School incorporates solid theoretical grounding and is committed to offering expert, ethical instruction. The ‘work’ of Body Electric has touched thousands of people over the last 35 years as a result of passionate and dedicated owners, facilitators, coordinators, assistants, and – most importantly – participants. In 2018, the School transitioned from a privately owned company to a not-for-profit organization to expand its capacity to offer the work to as many people as possible. Our goal is to create dynamic experiences that meet the erotic needs and aspirations of people in all socio-cultural groups both in the US and globally.