To Hump A Pillow with Coach Ellen Melon

To Hump A Pillow is a podcast about the patterns that shape our relationships — with our partners, our children, our desires, and ourselves. Through storytelling and self-discovery, Ellen Melon guides listeners through the deeper work of becoming safer in their bodies, braver in their conversations, and more authentic in their relationships. A podcast for adults who are rewriting the stories they were handed, Ellen blends sex education, relationship coaching, and pattern recognition to help people talk openly about intimacy, desire, conflict, and the parts of themselves they've spent years avoiding. This is relationship therapy in podcast form — with a clergy-like honesty, a recovering-people-pleaser heart, and a storyteller's soul.

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Episodes

#10. Thinking about a career in sex work? Common misconceptions about the sex work industry - with Alice Little

Alice Little is the most successful licensed sex worker in the United States. She has been voted the #1 Companion of the Year at the world famous Moonlite Bunny Ranch legal brothel in Carson City, Nevada. She is also an intimacy and sexuality coach, an outspoken advocate for sex worker rights and vocal champion for an all-inclusive sex-positive society. In this episode, we get to know Alice personally, learning about her childhood upbringing, how she learned about sex-ed, and her early career st...

Apr 02, 2020•1 hr 59 min

#9. Vaginal tearing during child labor: Sex, anatomy, fear, and lessons learned - with Alyssa

Are you having a baby soon? Your FIRST baby soon? Lots of women express "not knowing enough" or being "terrified of the pain" during their first childbirth — Vaginal tearing being at the top of that list. Perineal tears are tears that occur between the vaginal opening and your anus, and are very common, and heal quickly, however not many people get the full education and outlook on their options. That's what Alyssa will be telling us about today – the information she wished she would have known ...

Mar 25, 2020•56 min

#8. Tips on initiating sex and dealing with rejection Part 2 of 2 - with Ellen Melon

How do you initiate sex with your partner or partner(s)? Do you give them a look, do you send them a text, do you outright ask? Are you someone who always initiates sex? Never initiates sex? In this episode, I'll be discussing research on initiating sex, why being rejected sexually is so devistating in a partnership, understanding why we initiate sex, communication styles around initiating sex, and finally tips in dealing with rejection with the communication tools to help you out. This part 2 o...

Mar 16, 2020•37 min

#7. The messages we receive about sex when we're young PART 1 of 2 - with Ellen Melon

This is Part 1 of a 2-Part series. Part 1 is about (Episode 7) The messages we receive about sex when we're young and Part 2 is (Episode 8) Tips on initiating sex and dealing with rejection in relationships. Both of these episodes were born from a place of frustration with Ellen's own libido, sexual shame, self worth and vulnerability. They contain her experiences and tools used for growth in sex/pleasure and also the things she's learned from listening to others experiences. In this episode we ...

Feb 26, 2020•57 min

#6. Bisexuality and thrupples: Exploring triad relationships in your late 20s - with Mallory

We all know that maintaining a relationship between 2 people is hard work, so what would it be like if there was a third? With the rise in polyamory and non-monogamy, we're seeing a shift away from traditional relationships and today we're talking about thrupples and bisexuality. In this episode, we sit down with a dear friend of mine, Mallory who has been in monogamous relationships her whole life...UNTIL the last couple years. She unconvered she was bisexual not too long ago and has since been...

Feb 12, 2020•56 min

#5. Erectile dysfunction (ED) and how it relates to vulnerability - with Men's Sex Coach & Therapist, Joe Molinari

THE PENIS (AND ITS ERECTION) IS NOT THE CENTER OF THE SEXUAL UNIVERSE and we need to stop putting that kind of pressure on penises. In this episode we are discussing erectile dysfunction (also known as ED) with Sex Therapist, Joe Molinari — What is erectile dysfunction and why does it happen? Joe has helped couples and inidivduals with all kinds of emoitional complications that can arise during sex. I wanted to have Joe on the show teach us about difficulties with erections providing us with som...

Jan 29, 2020•47 min

#4. The birds-and-the-bees conversation, revisited - with Mary (my mom)

"The-birds-and-the-bees" — We all know the term, but not all of us got an opportunity to have that conversation. Maybe we talked to a friend. A cousin. A sibling. Some may have even had the stereotypical talk — the one where you sit and wince through an awkward lecture WITH your parent(s). Whatever the case, we seem to never revisit it, if there even was a conversation to revisit. Today, Ellen sits down with Mary, her mother, to revisit that conversation. They'll talk about: How Mary was taught ...

Jan 12, 2020•32 min

#3. What do you want in 2020? - with Ellen Melon

Show Description: While this is a podcast about sex-ed for adults who need help building language in how they talk about sex with their partners and children, it's also the turn of the year — a very relfective time for lots of people — and in order to go forward, you gotta look back. This episode contains a look ahead at What I Want in 2020, separated into four categories: HEALTH SPIRIT CAREER RELATIONSHIPS I know it's hard for some to carve out the time for introspection, so my aim is to inspir...

Jan 07, 2020•36 min

#2. Childhood adolescent sexuality; New ways to talk to your kids about genitals, puberty, and masterbation - with Elleri Scriver

In childhood sexual development, adults often want to know which behaviors are appropriate and indicate "healthy" childhood sexual development. To answer that, we need to first understand that sexuality is much more than sex – it's our values, attitudes, feelings, interactions and behaviors. Sexuality is emotional, social, cultural, and physical. Episode #2 of To Hump A Pillow features Eli Scriver, a sex educator from the Twin Cities pursuing a self-designed sex education undergraduate degree fr...

Dec 18, 2019•1 hr 2 min

#1. What does having HIV mean? - with Jon King

The debut of To Hump A Pillow with Ellen Melon! During this first episode, Ellen sits down with Minneapolis-based muralist and hand-letterer extraordinaire, Jon King. They discuss his upbringing as part of a large family living in rural Wisconsin, how sex-education was addressed while being home schooled, and coming out as queer in his 20s and a brief discussion on being in the gender binary. Finally, his story of contracting HIV and what it means to live with HIV. Thank you Jon King for your ho...

Dec 13, 2019•43 min

#0. Introduction - To Hump A Pillow with Ellen Melon

An introduction, episode #0. For parents who need help building language in how they talk about sex to their partners and children, 'To Hump A Pillow' offers communications and new ideas around intimacy, anatomy, and relationships. Sex is something most of us do it yet find it difficult to talk about. Ellen Melon is enhancing the language and conversation around sex while giving communities the courage to speak up and ask questions, through raw interviews with guests and sharing her own findings...

Dec 10, 2019•1 min

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