The Joy of Connection: How Sleep, Food, and Intimacy Bring Us Closer
This is Episode #64 of Rancho la Puerta’s Podcast, called Resonate: Conversations and Life Lessons from Rancho La Puerta, hosted by Barry Shingle. Barry interviewed three of us who will be presenters for the Ranch’s Joy of Connection week, scheduled for November 14 to 21, 2026:
Dr. Sabrina Falquier (culinary medicine physician)
Dr. Philippe Montgrain (sleep medicine physician)
Dr. Jenn Gunsaullus (sociologist specializing in intimacy, vulnerability, & communication)
Our conversation addressed habits and well-being, as related to nutrition, sleep, intimacy, mindfulness, and connection. We explored how daily routines—specifically how we sleep, eat, and communicate—intertwine to affect our personal well-being and relationships.
Podcast: Sex Talk with Clint & the Doc
With a commitment to normalizing conversations about sex, intimacy, and desire, and reducing shame around topics like masturbation and therapy, Clint and Dr. Jenn’s conversations included embarrassing sex stories, fantasies, marriage advice, sex dreams, cheating, online dating, raising teenage boys, sexual toys, compassionate communication, generous listening, pubic hair, emotional awareness, BDSM, body-image and body shame, and Hollywood sex stories.
From 2018 to 2024, Dr. Jenn co-hosted an iHeartRadio podcast with Clint August, a husband and father of two teenage boys, who has been an on-air radio personality in San Diego for over 20 years.
Powerful Talks on Sexual Topics
TEDx Talk on Sexual Shame
While sex is a natural act, a large part of our meaning and experiences around sex is shaped by our cultural upbringing.
Female sexuality, in particular, is layered with negative judgments and shame that control women's bodies and minds.
The silence around this sexual shame impacts the sexual climate for everyone. Yet there are simple, everyday acts each person can do to make a difference to reduce their shame or that of others, and allow for the beauty of human connection.
(TEDxPhoenixville was the first TEDx event in the Philadelphia region. They celebrate the creative, innovative and inspiring work happening in the Philly area and all around the world. Their objective was to present thought-provoking ideas via an annual day-long event featuring compelling speakers and performers. Their theme for 2014 was Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll – It’s not what you think!)
TEDx Talk on Sexual Mindfulness
"We don't talk about the complexity of sexuality. What happens when we don't talk about it is that sexuality ends up on the shadows, and that is where we have shame, embarrassment, exploitation, abuse, and fear." ~Jennifer Gunsaullus, PhD
This was my first TEDx Talk, and I was thrilled to speak at America's Finest City's TEDxWomen event in San Diego in 2012, about my favorite topics of sex, female sexuality, and mindfulness.
Growing up as a girl in American society means that you likely learned a lot of negative and shameful messages about your body and sex, and received poor sex education. In this TEDx Talk, I discuss the state of affairs around female sexuality in the U.S….and how applying mindfulness techniques can help.
Storytelling Event: Sex & the Price of Masculinity
What are we doing in our sexual hookups around consent? And what is the price we all pay for how we engage in sex and consent, through the lens of our gendered upbringings? The way we're doing things right now is clearly not working.
Despite being an uncomfortable story to share, Dr. Jenn tells a personal story about an experience with a man who violated their agreed-upon sexual boundaries. And through the lens of a sociologist and sexologist, she offers a new possibility for sexual communication and connection.
We desperately need to be talking about sexual communication, consent, and compassion in new ways.
Sex & the Price of Masculinity was a part of the The New Narrative storytelling event in San Diego, CA.