About

Primal Embodiment is the culmination of my life’s passion combined with the practices and teachings that helped me recover, as a teenager, from a devastating eating disorder. During that transformative time I discovered what embodiment meant through my work as a body image activist and mentor. As I gained confidence in myself I also began to explore the world of Witchcraft and other alternative spiritualities. I resonated with them because they were rooted in our connection to the earth and the body. As I learned to love my body, or un-learned to hate it, I began to inhabit it more fully.

I have always loved to move my body. I fell madly in love with dance when I discovered Bellydance and Afro-Haitian at a performing arts camp in Northern CA. Over the years I studied with many different embodiment teachers, but it wasn’t until I discovered Sensual Pole Dance that something awakened in me. I began as a student but quickly knew that teaching was what I was meant to do! I completed my teacher training at an incredible SF studio, Sisters in Motion (formally S Factor), and have since developed my own unique style.

Since childhood I have lived with chronic illness becoming immobilized by what I now know is a condition called Psoriatic Arthritis. It causes flare ups where multiple joints swell, are intensely painful, and as a result I was unable to walk without a cane let alone dance for months! As an adult I utilized many of the sensual and embodiment practices I teach and stayed connected to my body (during a time that I desperately wanted to not have one because of all the pain).

 I am still in the process of decolonizing my mind along with continuing to heal and grow as a teacher and guide. I continue to strive in making my classes a place of inclusion, safety and to conduct my business with integrity. I share these offerings from a place of profound hope, reclamation and in deep love and reverence for the Erotic Divine!

It is my greatest joy and privilege to teach with passion and guide in a way that empowers the individual and creates a deeply connected community!

-with love,

Caitlin Simone Devi Ryvlin

{most photos of me on this site are by Scott David Burgess and the one with the panties is by Larisa Johnson-Roberts}

“We have been raised to fear the yes within ourselves, our deepest cravings. For the demands of our released expectations lead us inevitably into actions which will help bring our lives into accordance with our needs, our knowledge, our desires. And the fear of our deepest cravings keeps them suspect, keeps us docile and loyal and obedient, and leads us to settle for or accept many facets of our oppression as women.”
― Audre Lorde, Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power