Biting Lemons

“I'm so transparent, there's nothing to hide"Professional Dominatrix Saskia Walker, aka Goddess Transcendence, exchanges female-led BDSM guidance and pleasure for her clients’ submission. Based in Brighton & Hove, UK, she holds space for those who want to surrender.Saskia is not your stereotypical Dominatrix out there. In this conversation, she opens the door to a world that is often misunderstood, offering nuance, intelligence and a refreshing softness that reshapes how we think about BDSM and how it benefits society without harm if we understand it properly.Sharing a bath with someone so young, thoughtful and quietly powerful was a genuine privilege. She welcomed us with grace, guiding us through her childhood, personal evolution and the experiences that shaped her worldview, her work and her sense of self.In this episode, we enjoy a wealth of topics in a rich and honest conversation, which, unlike what our judgements and fears might say, feels empowering in its transparency. We talk about power dynamics; the impact of patriarchy; boundaries; safety; kink; polyamory; female body, intimacy and hair; family relationships; accessing joy in a world of pain; what it means to receive pain as a way of healing; navigating what is sexuality and how to meet it healthily; Saskia’s five-year sub relationship and how the experience has impacted her; the most common client profiles in her practice; and more. For many, these topics might feel unfamiliar or even uncomfortable. For me, the chance to sit with Saskia, to listen, to learn and to witness her humanity, felt like an honour. Her openness reminds us that behind every label is a real person with a story worth hearing.B – BondageD – DominatrixS – SubmissionM – Masochism👀 Watch this episode of Biting Lemons: https://youtu.be/8-xU2_VjVww🍋 Follow Biting Lemons:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biting_lemons/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@biting.lemons Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bitinglemons Website: https://bitinglemons.com/ If this conversation moved, challenged or inspired you, subscribe and come join us for the next one.You can find Saskia on:https://www.instagram.com/liberationinmotion/ https://www.youtube.com/@liberationinmotion https://www.liberationinmotion.uk Want to learn how to listen and connect with people from all walks of life like Beth does? You might have noticed us mentioning the ART Affiliate link. We highly recommend their training for everyone who wants to improve their communication and understanding of each other. The ART International courses are there to help you nourish your relationships and the world around you. It’s easy and accessible, online and in person, across the world. On behalf of this world, thank you for wanting to be better! Get a 5% discount on Level 1 ART courses. Use our code BL: https://authenticrelating.co/courses/level-1/artpartner/BethHardwick/

"To me, it's just a job"British adult performer and online content creator, Rob Makin is a straight man working in the gay male porn industry. He is also the winner of Channel 4’s social experiment "Handcuffed: Last Pair Standing", where he was partnered with Charlie Gray, who appeared on Biting Lemons earlier this season.Rob is a big guy with a big heart and a soft energy. After the bath experience with him, I had some conflicting feelings emerge. On the one hand, being in our studio’s bath with someone so much larger than me was overpowering, as I was so aware of how small I was. On the other, I felt almost comforted, like a child.At the same time, I felt protective over him. The industry in which he works is one that I find challenging to understand and fully accept. It’s undeniably obvious how easy it is for me to love Rob, as he is so open, vulnerable and strong in equal measure.Yet, I have to be true to myself as his listener and acknowledge that I found myself at a crossroads on several occasions during our conversation. I wanted to dig deeper and question some of the thoughts and beliefs that he shared. My impulse was to pull things apart more to understand what’s underneath.I chose, however, to remain in connection with him as I felt the layers within him that needed that more than a challenging time! It left me reflecting on the times when we need to save the deeper challenges with people around us to protect them and how tough sometimes that can be.Although, on reflection, I’m not sure whether this was the right decision, I do know that this is not a podcast that seeks to tear down someone and probe and poke. To this day, I don’t know if I should have asked more, as I have a lot of curiosity around the industry and the impact it has. I am coming away with a more convinced attitude that sex education needs a radical reform, that we need many more places where humans can experience, experiment, learn and grow in their sexuality safely and that I want to get more confident to challenge myself in the bath than I perhaps do currently.Rob was generous to meet me in that conversation and share some of his thoughts and experiences. I am very grateful that he opened up about the challenges of living and working with anxiety and ADHD, especially as a content creator, because this field of work does have a very strong impact on mental health. Living in the reality of that is vital and cannot be sugarcoated. Rob shares this openly, which is what I most admired about our time in this together.There are several occasions where I felt Rob contradicted himself, but I believe all human experience, if we are fully engaged, is a contradiction. On the one hand, we can be fully okay; on the other, we can be in the depths of despair. Both can be true at the same moment. I’ve learnt to live in this contradiction comfortably and so seeking that in others is where my heart is.Thank you, Rob, for opening us all up to a reality many of us will experience, without pretending like it doesn’t exist. It takes a brave human to share their authentic self and that’s where I want all of us to live.You can also watch our conversation with Charlie Gray, Rob’s partner on Channel 4’s Handcuffed here: https://youtu.be/NxxcsC0sqRU👀 Watch this episode of Biting Lemons: https://youtu.be/iKsXCr0B-Ko🍋 Follow Biting Lemons: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biting_lemons/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@biting.lemons Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bitinglemons Website: https://bitinglemons.com/ You can find Rob on:https://www.instagram.com/iamb1gr0b/ https://www.tiktok.com/@iambigrob93 https://www.facebook.com/iamb1gr0b Want to learn how to listen and connect with people from all walks of life like Beth does? You might have noticed us mentioning the ART Affiliate link. We highly recommend their training for everyone who wants to improve their communication and understanding of each other. The ART International courses are there to help you nourish your relationships and the world around you. It’s easy and accessible, online and in person, across the world. On behalf of this world, thank you for wanting to be better! Get a 5% discount on Level 1 ART courses. Use our code BL: https://authenticrelating.co/courses/level-1/artpartner/BethHardwick/

“I believe in second chances”Laura is, in her own words, a biker with a love for anime and gaming. With her motorbike, she has reached 37 countries and crossed 100,000 miles, all solo.I was blown away by the confidence Laura exudes in her solo motorbike adventures. Hearing about these types of quests has always inspired and challenged me, regardless of the gender of the person in the saddle. Yet, I have to confess my admiration for solo female riders.Seeing her drive to the interview on her bike and being around her energy was just delightful. I felt this motherly and sisterly energy around her, but I also know that I could probably rave with her in a heartbeat.I loved meeting this free spirit in her maturity and softness. In her sharing of early life traumas, she reflects that honest blend of vulnerability and strength of the human condition, without being bitter or resentful. Hearing more about her early life and that impact felt human and real. This is the kind of truth-sharing without blame that I am deeply grateful for. There is a lot we can learn from this human!One particular moment from our conversation and her solo adventure moved me to tears: her meeting someone from a country that we, coming from the UK, would judge as harsh and difficult, and that person warmly shaking her hand and embracing her with “Welcome to my country”. That’s at the very heart of what I want for myself and others: to see each other as people of equal value. Not to judge and fear, but instead come from a place of open-heartedness and curiosity.She has inspired my family so much that my middle child has now gotten her CBT and is riding her very own red motorbike. I’m still trying to find the time to upgrade my big bike licence and get myself on the road. The inspiration’s there and, when I get to it, I shall be celebrating Laura’s influence in this story. 👀 Watch this episode of Biting Lemons: https://youtu.be/pe_CFCMWoSQ🍋 Follow Biting Lemons: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biting_lemons/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@biting.lemons Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bitinglemons Website: https://bitinglemons.com/ If this conversation moved, challenged or inspired you, subscribe and come join us for the next one.You can find Laura on:https://www.instagram.com/motowaifu/ https://www.tiktok.com/@motowaifu https://www.youtube.com/@MotoWaifu https://www.facebook.com/motowaifu07 Want to learn how to listen and connect with people from all walks of life like Beth does? You might have noticed us mentioning the ART Affiliate link. We highly recommend their training for everyone who wants to improve their communication and understanding of each other. The ART International courses are there to help you nourish your relationships and the world around you. It’s easy and accessible, online and in person, across the world. On behalf of this world, thank you for wanting to be better! Get a 5% discount on Level 1 ART courses. Use our code BL: https://authenticrelating.co/courses/level-1/artpartner/BethHardwick/ 

“I know my kinks to a T” Virgin Island Season 2 contestant Marianne Banda is much more than her participation in the Channel 4 show. She is an actress and a singer/songwriter with a spice of ADHD.Such an open-hearted, authentic, clean and clear communicator, Marianne Banda was a joy to meet. She taught me with grace some terms about race and let me in on her experience of being brought up in South Africa, which I greatly appreciate. I found her balance between humour and grounded humanity really lovely.Talking about your sexuality and sex life with a stranger in a bath isn’t your everyday experience but she rose to it with zeal. This is Marianne: a joyous ray of sunshine who wears her heart on her sleeve and has a lot to give.She feels life deeply, through the lense of neurodiversity and I know that this isn’t an easy ride at times. We dive into her transition to the UK, her parents' relationship and the impact upon her, race and neurodiversity and of course, Virgin Island, the cast and crew and what an amazing experience this was for her sexual awakening and sense of self.P.S. I want to apologise for my feet appearing in the camera shot. I know there are some who find feet rather unappealing and I am sorry when they emerge out of the water. For those that loved it.. Enjoy! In this episode, Marianne mentions the Loop Experience earplugs that help cancel background noises. They can be a life-save for neurodiverse people or people with anxiety, whether it’s at a festival, a party, a concert or a walk through a big city. You can find them here: https://www.loopearplugs.com/ 👀 Watch this episode of Biting Lemons: https://youtu.be/Ti8w5rD1vnM?si=TOn9TtpcXNZW0Vg_🍋 Follow Biting Lemons: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biting_lemons/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@biting.lemons Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bitinglemons Website: https://bitinglemons.com/ If this conversation moved, challenged or inspired you, subscribe and come join us for the next one.You can find Marianne on:https://www.instagram.com/mariannebanda/ https://www.tiktok.com/@mariannebanda https://www.facebook.com/bandamarianne https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-banda-25ba35141/ Want to learn how to listen and connect with people from all walks of life like Beth does? You might have noticed us mentioning the ART Affiliate link. We highly recommend their training for everyone who wants to improve their communication and understanding of each other. The ART International courses are there to help you nourish your relationships and the world around you. It’s easy and accessible, online and in person, across the world. On behalf of this world, thank you for wanting to be better! Get a 5% discount on Level 1 ART courses. Use our code BL: https://authenticrelating.co/courses/level-1/artpartner/BethHardwick/ 

“I went up to the mirror, opened my gown and thanked my breasts” Hazel is a mum to four, one of which is Beth herself. She has been married to her husband for 57 years and together they have seen 11 grandchildren grow up before them. Hazel is a singer, author and counsellor living in East Sussex.My mum. Just saying that brings a swell of tenderness. Having her step into the bath with me felt like such an honour and also like stepping into a very exposed place. Our relationship is good, loving, steady… and yet nearly half a century of shared life means there are layers, silences and old family patterns that could easily tug at us. But at this moment, we chose something different. We chose to sit together, open to whatever might rise, trusting that we could meet it with dignity, with grace, with the kind of courage that only grows between two people who have lived a lot of life side by side. It felt like a soft rewriting of something old. Want to listen to more conversations from the bath? Find the podcast, explore more episodes and connect with Beth here:👀 Watch this episode of Biting Lemons: https://youtu.be/NTv0AVyW2r8🍋 Follow Biting Lemons:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biting_lemons/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@biting.lemonsFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/bitinglemonsWebsite: https://bitinglemons.com/ If this conversation moved, challenged or inspired you, subscribe and come join us for the next one.Hazel wrote a book about how to look after your guts and the importance of doing so. A vital message. I want to celebrate that with anyone who has children in their family or friend circles: Gran’s Guide to Good Guts: My Friend Mikey (Find it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.it/Grans-Guide-Good-Guts-Friend/dp/1739855701) Want to learn how to listen and connect with people from all walks of life like Beth does? You might have noticed us mentioning the ART Affiliate link. We highly recommend their training for everyone who wants to improve their communication and understanding of each other. The ART International courses are there to help you nourish your relationships and the world around you. It’s easy and accessible, online and in person, across the world. On behalf of this world, thank you for wanting to be better! Get a 5% discount on Level 1 ART courses. Use our code BL: https://authenticrelating.co/courses/level-1/artpartner/BethHardwick/