About the course
Mondays, 6:30-8pm EST · Five Weeks, beginning 10/16
From years of working with clients, I’ve seen how overriding the body to achieve particular results leads to disconnection and lack of trust with the wisdom of the body. Feeling stuck in overwhelm, confusion, and isolation is often an invitation to slow down. Somatic Foundations is a set of practices and guidance to explore the body's natural way of adapting to stress, the contractions that produce maladaptive reactions, and the restoration of a felt sense of wholeness in the body, all in service of expanding our capacity to meet life’s demands.
How are somatic practices different from meditation?
Consciousness is not separate from the brain and body, yet traditional ways of meditating often leave the body out of the conversation. As stress occurs and produces maladaptive reactions, the body is the container that holds that charge.
When we engage with somatic practices, we are working “bottom up,” nurturing curiosity and compassion around the language of the body to help expand its natural capacity for healing. We meet old charges in the body with a different energy from which they were created, thus allowing the body to fully metabolize those responses.
The body houses a primal language that, when understood and nurtured, increases one’s ability to create a deeper sense of trust and felt sense of safety within. This is the beginning of embodied spirituality.
In this course, we learn the art of how “slow is smooth and smooth is fast.” Each week we’ll explore a particular theme through a combination of theory, practice and community. The theory helps us understand the intelligence of the body, practice provides direct awareness of that experience and community helps to deepen understanding and support along the way. A powerful way to cultivate a felt sense of safety and belonging within your own body.
What will this course cover?
In five weekly sessions, you will gain a deeper understanding how your body naturally adapts to stress — and let go of some common myths about this process. You'll also learn a set of practices for restoring a sense of wholeness in your body and build a greater capacity to support your nervous system through life’s ups and downs.
Session 1: “The Body Is a Being, Not a Thing.” We will explore the somatic body, the various sites that shape our conditioned responses, and learn practices of orientation as well as connection to the heart.
Session 2: “Language of the Body.” You will learn to distinguish between the language of your body and the language of your mind, as well as the foundational practice of resourcing.
Session 3: “Meet Your Nervous System.” We will debunk the myth of your nervous system being in either fight/flight or rest/digest, and you’ll learn how to map your own nervous system.
Session 4: “Mobilizing as a Way to Complete.” You will learn how stress cycles actually work, as well as mobilization practices to support the full completion of stress cycles.
Session 5: “We Become What We Practice.” We will revisit everything you’ve learned and explore a daily practice to integrate into your routine.
Course sessions will be held online from 6:30 to 8pm ET on the following Mondays: 10/16, 10/23, 10/30, 11/6, and 11/13. Live participation is strongly encouraged, but sessions will be recorded for those who are not able to attend.