Oh yes! How London got its mojo back

From sex talks and self-love workshops to olive oil-soaked 'tantric touch' events, pleasure is big business, says Vicky Jessop

- Vicky Jessop

IT'S noon and I'm in the middle of telling a room of complete strangers things about my sex life that not even my boyfriend knows. All around me are women doing the same thing, airing their deepest desires and eliciting sympathetic nods. To my right, our instructor -a sex, love and relationship coach - is letting out orgasmic sighs that punctuate the chatter like air horns. To round things off, we finish the session by engaging in some "sex magic". That is, sensual meditation that involves "connecting to the flow of energy" in our clitoris. Just your average Sunday.

The pursuit of pleasure in London has become big business. Everything from female-centric masturbation workshops to spanking classes and even clitoris-focused book festivals - command high prices and draw dedicated followings. At the London Edition, sex columnist and broadcaster Emma-Louise Boynton regularly sells out her Sex Talks (an event series where alongside expert speakers she covers once-taboo subjects like self-pleasure and the orgasm gap). The workshop that I attended is run by She's Lost Control, a Hackney-based lifestyle brand which takes pleasure as a central principle of holistic wellbeing. One Hundred Shoreditch's current pop-up, titled No Ordinary Love, offers attendees masturbation classes (alongside more prosaic pursuits like flower crown making), while companies like Studio Sexus host workshops where women can decorate and fire their own ceramic dildos. For the more adventurous there are things like Liquid Love - semi-regular group events where the organisers pour warm olive oil over participants' semi-clothed or naked bodies (yes, really) and invite them to explore the "world of touch", often blindfolded.