Life is funny. A strange turn of events, inspirations, and coincidences led me to OneTaste on Tuesday. OneTaste has been showing up on my radar for a month or so. On Tuesday I called in sick to work and took a walk to check out a yoga center near my house. The center was closed, but as I was leaving OneTaste popped into my head. I thought, why not take a slight detour and check it out? (I used Google SMS to find the address. I cannot recommend this service enough.)

OneTaste calls itself an “Urban Retreat Center”. Their literature is all very light and airy, young good looking people laughing and hugging. They offer yoga, open-mic events, and a variety of workshops all focusing on connection. Their core curriculum consists of six courses in “Connected Living” that are priced at $500 each (!). I realize this is all quite vague. That’s how they present it themselves. However, OneTaste is better known as a sex cult.

Thought that would get your attention. This allegation has been made by the SF Weekly and by various Yelpers. OneTaste teaches Orgasmic Meditation and has a live-in program where residents conduct “sensuality research”. Huh. Clearly I had to check this out for myself.

On Tuesday I wandered over to OneTaste. It is located (interestingly) on Folsom Street in San Francisco’s SoMa district. As you can see from this map, the neighborhood is no stranger to alternative lifestyles. OneTaste looks like your average San Francisco yoga studio. It’s very clean with hardwood floors, exposed ducts, that sort of thing. Very normal for SF.

When I went inside on Tuesday morning, I noticed that all of the staff was young, thin and good looking. Interesting. They were very friendly but somewhat reserved. They invited me to return in the evening for an introductory course.

In the evening, OneTaste was much busier. There were people sitting around tables in the front area chatting and eating. I was told to go upstairs into a large meeting area. There were three other guests, all men, and two presenters. We played some getting-to-know-you type games and they answered our questions about OneTaste. It was all very interesting. They were reluctant to use the word “sexuality”, replacing it with “sensuality” multiple times. It all seemed to have the appearance of openness, but I did not feel a connection. After the group, I was introduced to one of the young ladies who participates in the Y.Now (ages 18-26) group. I felt much more comfortable talking to her and a genuine warmth coming from her. She invited me to return the next evening for IN Group.

IN Group is a gathering to play connectivity games and practice authenticity. There were a lot of people there, maybe 50. There was a good mix of ages, although the crowd was probably 70% male and 90% white. You could identify the female OneTaste residents easily as most of them were wearing flirty dresses without bras. Huh. It’s also very warm in OneTaste. I theorize this is to encourage less clothing. Maybe I’m cynical.

We played some games. I got questioned on the “Hot Seat”. It was interesting, not exactly fun. After the IN Group people stayed around to socialize. I hate socializing and meeting new people. It required a big effort for me not to run out the door, but people were so friendly! I met a lot of people from the Y.Now group and really enjoyed talking to them. It was refreshing to be completely honest about my anxiety and have them give me feedback. I noticed I felt very disconnected to my body as I was meeting people. It was kind of surreal. Maybe that’s why I dislike those situations.

Overall, I enjoyed my first two visits to OneTaste. I will definitely be going back, but with some reservations. First, I can’t help but feel that I was getting extra attention because I am a young female. I suppose this is normal in any social gathering, but because of the “sex cult” reputation of OneTaste, I was a little wary. Secondly, I would advise anyone looking for an explicitly spiritual community to look elsewhere. Spirit is incorporated at OneTaste, however the focus is on connecting to other people rather than to a higher source. So if you’re working on interpersonal issue, as I am, it might be a good fit for you.

(Btw, OneTaste did get its name from the Ken Wilber book.)

From Laura: I freely admit I’m biased against One Taste and wary of the whole thing (even though I’ve never gone or anything) but I’ve got full confidence in Emily’s discernment skills.