Your Brain on Purity Culture (It's Not a Vibe)

Purity culture isn’t just morally outdated—it’s neurologically confusing. In this raw and science-backed episode, Dr. Misty breaks down how sexual shame hijacks your nervous system, floods your brain with cortisol, and turns pleasure into a threat. From brain chemistry to personal stories of dissociation and healing, you’ll learn why your body might resist the very thing you crave—and how to gently reclaim safety, desire, and presence in pleasure.

Includes a reflection prompt and a companion worksheet inside The Ember Society for deeper healing and erotic rewiring.

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Show Notes

Episode 8: Your Brain on Purity Culture (It’s Not a Vibe)
Theme: The neurobiology of shame and why pleasure feels dangerous when it shouldn’t

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In This Episode:

• What shame does to your brain (hello, amygdala and cortisol)

• How purity culture wires your nervous system for fear

• Why shame is self-policing—and who benefits from that

• Dr. Misty's personal story of dissociating during sex (and healing from it)

• How erotic safety is built through presence, not performance

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This Week’s Journal Prompt:

What moments in your life have taught your body that pleasure isn’t safe?

And how might you start building micro-moments of safety—not perfection, not performance—just one extra second of aliveness?

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Companion Worksheet: “Shame in the Body, Safety in the Senses”
Available inside The Ember Society
You’ll get:
✅ A body mapping exercise for shame and safety
✅ Sensory pleasure prompts to rewire the nervous system
✅ Journal questions to explore performance vs presence

️ Join here → members.untamedember.com

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Untamed Ember is the podcast for erotic liberation nerds ready to burn shame and reclaim pleasure.
Subscribe, leave a review, and send this to the friend who still thinks orgasms are “for marriage only.” (We’ll fix that.)

Chapters

• (00:00:10) - Intro: Purity Culture and a Caffeinated Sex Therapist
• (00:00:59) - Your Brain on Shame: Cortisol, Chaos, and Church Guilt
• (00:02:02) - Control, Guilt, and the Beige Cardigan Agenda
• (00:02:46) - Pleasure Rewiring: Why Dr. Misty Dissociated During Sex
• (00:04:07) - Key Takeaways: Reclaiming Pleasure Is a Body-Based Rebellion
• (00:04:32) - Reflection Prompt: When Did Pleasure Stop Feeling Safe?
• (00:04:58) - Worksheet Plug: “Shame in the Body, Safety in the Senses”
• (00:05:25) - Sign-Off: You’re Not Broken—You’re Brilliantly Adapted