About Eric
Long before I started The Loving Laboratory, I was a client.
I first experienced sensual bodywork at places like Temple of Bliss , and that experience changed the way I understood touch, presence, and the body’s capacity for pleasure.
It was revelatory. It helped me shed shame and disconnection I’d been carrying around sex and my own body.
It was genuinely joyful. That experience planted a seed.
I didn’t act on it right away.
From Curiosity to Practice
I began exploring the local tantra community, which led me to a men’s class where I first encountered one of my future teachers.
Her approach resonated with me, and I began following her work.
Eventually, I committed to an immersive eight-day coed Tantric Practitioner Training.
That training was a turning point: rigorous, embodied, and deeply transformative, covering breathwork, energy movement, hands-on technique, and the art of holding space.
My fellow students were generous and formative in ways I didn’t expect. If the largest credit for my path goes to any single experience, it’s that training.
I continued with additional workshops in bodywork, qigong, and somatic practices.
I originally trained in Reiki (Levels I and II) decades ago and recently renewed that practice.
What I Bring to This Work
In my other professional life, I hold a doctoral degree and have spent years as a professor and educator. I’ve taught graduate-level courses and trained professionals in communication, presence, and how to hold space in high-stakes situations.
That background is the foundation of how I work with clients: how I listen, how I read what’s not being said, how I create a space where someone can be honest about what they want.
I also have a background in healthcare, which shapes how I understand the body and how I think about consent and vulnerability.
I’ve trained in clinical hypnotherapy, which deepens my understanding of how the mind and body interact during states of deep relaxation.
And I’ve maintained a Buddhist meditation practice for over thirty years.
The tantra training gave me technique. The professional life gave me rigor. The meditation practice gave me presence. And the experience of being a client myself gave me empathy for the courage it takes to walk through that door for the first time.
Why I Do This Work
I’ve seen what this work can do.
I’ve seen people arrive carrying tension they didn’t know they were holding, and leave feeling more present in their bodies, more connected to their own desires, more at ease with pleasure. In a world that constantly tells people what their bodies should look like and how they should perform, having a space where none of that applies is genuinely powerful.
I know what it feels like to be the person on the table. I know the vulnerability it requires and the trust it demands. And I know how powerful it can be when that trust is met with genuine skill, presence, and respect.
Two practitioners I never met in person had a big influence on my decision to do this work.
Dr. M of HerPrivatePleasures, a practitioner in New York who built a reputation for creating safe, respectful, deeply pleasurable experiences for women.
I referred friends and partners to him over the years and heard extraordinary things.
The articles and interviews about his work were inspiring. He demonstrated that a man could offer this kind of service with professionalism, warmth, and integrity.
Shaun Galanos, a writer and practitioner whose podcast, The Love Drive, and writing I encountered while exploring this world. He was remarkably thoughtful about the work of providing sensual bodywork for women. His openness and intellectual rigor helped me see this work as something worthy of serious attention.