Workshops and Series | Embodied Refuge

Workshops and Groups

Embodied Homecoming: Foundations

Next Foundations group begins Winter 2024 | To be added to the email list for future groups,

Our relationships with our bodies can be complicated. Our bodies hold our history, our ancestry, and the systems woven into our society. For some of us, being aware of our bodies might bring up anxiety or fear or shame. We may at times forget we have a body at all. Yet, our bodies can also provide us with invaluable information about our needs, boundaries and intuition. With gentleness, curiosity and practice, our bodies can become a powerful ally on our human journey.

The aim of this 12-week group is to provide you with a space to explore coming back home to the innate wisdom of your body. Sessions will incorporate mindfulness practices, somatic tools, yoga therapy and Polyvagal Theory to support learning about your nervous system, reacquainting yourself with your body and reclaiming it as a trustworthy resource. During each group, there will also be opportunities for individual check-ins, personal reflection and group processing.

*Please note that this is a coaching group and not therapy. It is recommended to be simultaneously working with a therapist throughout the duration of this group series.*

Where: Online

When: Every Monday (with some exceptions) | Weekly for 12 weeks | 5:30 - 7pm

Cost per session: Sliding scale, $30 - 60

Group limited to 6 participants.

Kind words from past participants:

"I have found this group to be very helpful in modeling practices for supporting the nervous system. I feel like I am building a repertoire and exploring resilience by choosing to engage with what is coming up - even when it is hard. I have also appreciated the group's meaningful dialogue about our individual lived experiences with anxiety and these tools. One of the biggest realizations is knowing that I am not alone in facing these challenges and that anxiety is often a valid and understandable response to everything we balance in the collective and personal. I have found a deep sense of solidarity and compassion in this."

"I wasn't sure what to expect going into this session, but I was hoping to feel safer in my body, not so afraid of the parts of me or memories I've kept locked away for decades. I can say I absolutely feel safer in my body. I have learned so much about my inner world and how to listen to its needs and desires. Just the fact I can hear it was enough for me to call this session a glowing success. It is hard to explain, but it feels like I've found the missing piece that I needed. Making the time to attend these sessions has been the best form of selfcare I have ever found. I am able to utilize the tools, language and concepts I have learned in the session to actually care for myself in the most meaningful way. I feel empowered to continue on my journey of learning about myself."

"I really enjoy the adaptability and flexibility offered in this group. While it maintains a familiar structure week to week, I feel that Jess does a wonderful job leaning in to the needs of the participants and shifting the session's practices as needed. Whatever we choose to engage with feels relevant to the present moment's needs. This is helpful as it models the practice we are working to cultivate - tending to what is here. I also have deep appreciation for the space offered in group. We can put into practice tending to our needs. I find that honoring of self really sacred. Being in a group setting where that type of caring for yourself is not only acceptable, but encouraged, has been so radical and important to me personally."

Embodied Homecoming: Monthly Practice

This monthly practice is open to past participants of Embodied Homecoming: Foundations. Our time together is intended to provide a space for check-ins, revisit practices and continue supporting the integration of embodiment into daily life.

Where: Online

When: First Wednesday of each month (with some exceptions) | 5:30 - 7pm

Cost per session: Sliding scale, $30 - 60

The Foundations group is the first of three 12-week series.

Participants that complete the Foundations (1st) group can continue to the Integration (2nd) and Emerging (3rd) groups, both of which build off of the previous groups, go deeper into Polyvagal Theory and how we can support nervous system resilience, and expand into

the somatics of emotions, boundaries and intuition.

Nervous System Care: Embodied Resources

If you have been feeling stressed, anxious or overwhelmed by all that is going on in our local and global communities, you’re not alone. While there may be a lot we cannot change, we can have some say in how we are showing up for ourselves, and in turn, our loved ones and our community at large.

Join me for for this virtual workshop hosted by Three Moon Collective to increase understanding of how our nervous systems function, so we can also shift how we relate and respond to ourselves in the face of stress. Equipped with accessible and adaptable tools, we can establish greater self-regulation, build resiliency and even find calm within the storm.

In this workshop, you will walk away with:

Foundational understanding of the nervous system and Polyvagal Theory
How to “map” your nervous system
Somatic tools to soothe anxiety and stress, support nervous system regulation and build resiliency

Our time together will also incorporate group check-ins, personal reflection and an all levels movement practice to encourage the grounding and centering of our nervous systems.

Open to all bodies.

Video from this workshop available to purchase through Three Moon Collective.

Past Offerings

Restorative Yoga for Anxiety

Next Series: TBD

Unwind and soothe your nervous system in this 6 - week restorative yoga series specifically designed to ground and support your anxiety. Each session will offer tools for cultivating a deeper sense of calm and ease within your body and in your daily life. Research has shown that restorative yoga can help to:

lower cortisol and create a buffer for chronic stress
soothe the nervous system
boost the immune system
restore muscle and brain function
support digestion which in turn supports mood regulation
reduce stress and anxiety

Each session will include gentle movement to warm up the body and encourage blood flow as well as restorative postures to ground and soothe the nervous system. Restorative yoga utilizes props to support the body in a fully supported position that are held for an extended period of time (up to 5 - 10 minutes) to encourage the body and mind to rest. Throughout the practice, mindfulness tools, breathwork and meditations specifically to address anxiety will also be incorporated. Each class will also provide opportunities for personal reflection and group processing as well as invitations for home practice.

Where: Fjord Collective (near Fishermen's Terminal)

When: Wednesdays 6:30 - 8:30pm | TBD

Cost: Sliding scale, $125 - 175

All levels welcome. Limited to 8 participants.

To register, please email Jess.

Whether you are living with a roommate, family member or significant other, staying home full-time has presented new (or amplified old) challenges for many of us. While there may be a lot we cannot change right now, we can have some say in how we are showing up for ourselves, and in turn, our loved ones. By learning the language of our nervous systems, and that of our partner’s, we can foster communication, understanding and support during times of stress.

Join me for this virtual workshop hosted by Three Moon Collective to explore supporting co-regulation and connection through somatic tools and movement practice. This workshop is open to all forms of partnership, whether roommates, family members, or romantic couples.

In this workshop, we will explore:
• Understanding the basics of co-regulation
• Creating a common language about the nervous system to foster communication between partners
• Somatic tools to soothe stress and support nervous system regulation both individually and between partners
• Individual movement practice focused on grounding and centering
• Partner movement practice to explore building trust, playfulness and communication through words, touch, and breath

Our time together will also incorporate personal reflections and group check-ins. Please come prepared to provide and receive physical touch and support from your partner. This workshop will also be recorded and sent as a replay for those who are unable to join us live.

Where: Online via Zoom

When: TBD

Cost per session: pay-what-you-can and 25% of proceeds going to the Seattle Foundation's Covid-19 Response Fund.