It has been a while since we've been in your inbox! Today we'd like to share updates on what we've been up to so far this year and ways to engage.
generative somatics (gs) is offering free, accessible, regular spaces to be in practice and build community in this moment of high-stakes organizing and repression. This is based on many conversations with movement leaders and the assessments of our practitioners. In a landscape of ongoing actions and more people being politicized and entering movements, taking a few days off to attend a course and integrate learnings is not feasible due to the pace of work. What is needed, this year, is consistent support for transformation and growth with drop-in spaces to practice within a politicized somatics community.
For that reason, in addition to our daily practice space (see below) we’ve been offering monthly in-person, regional practice groups in Los Angeles and Durham, as well as regular (almost weekly) practice spaces online.
For those newer to gs's work, our programs engage politicized somatics, a holistic change theory and methodology that works through the body (emotions, sensations, physiology). Our programs support movement leaders to heal from the impacts of trauma and oppression, and to develop embodied skills that can magnify their power in fighting for and building a radically transformed world.
All our current offers are free/donation based, our intention is to make politicized somatics offers consistent and accessible so organizers and leaders deep in campaigns and actions can have spaces to feel, heal, connect and be resourced.
Please check out our social media pages for the most up to date information on the date, time and location of practice spaces.
Additionally, our practitioners are preparing for summer in-person offers and continuing to create spaces online. Please visit our social media pages for more information.
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PHOTO: Screenshot of gs instagram feed showing posts of recent offers |
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gs Practitioner Skills-Share + Monthly Community Calls: Innovation, Collective Wisdom and Shared Power
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gs’ culture shift to share power means supporting a wide circle of gs practitioners to lead and experiment with gs’ methodology and collectively hold the commitment to offer it accountably. gs has hosted skill-sharing spaces with the gs Practitioner Network (gsPN) to discuss lessons learned, best practices, and innovations to align the offer of somatics to frontline organizations and movement leaders. Skills-share topics have been bringing somatics to movement organizations and online healing groups.
In December 2023, gs launched our monthly gs Community Calls to offer a way for gs practitioners to stay in regular communication and practice as a collective body to distribute leadership. The two hour meetings are a space to practice somatic innovation, repair, and cross-learning. The second portion typically involves transparent discussions about strategy, leadership, finances, and decision making. Each month’s practices and discussions are informed by the feedback generated from each meeting. One meeting informs the other while continually moving us into the new organizational shape of gs.
Embodying our community culture shift requires practicing together to generate embodied collective wisdom. It has been inspiring to witness the power of learning within the community and the collective innovation that sparks from these spaces.
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Interested in transforming through daily practice?
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Since February 2022, gs has been offering a 30 minute Daily Practice Space for movement leaders. The practice space is led by majority BIPOC gs practitioners, the practices and space continue to evolve to meet the moment.
We offer this space as we transform through embodying new practices over time and understand that it is much easier to stay in practice within community. Daily practice participants share that this consistent collective practice space has deepened their wellness and resilience.
We invite you to join us to grieve, rage, feel our collective power, ground, and resource together to take collective action. You can join us every day or once in a while – whatever works for you.
This space is ideal for anyone who has already practiced politicized somatics, it is also evolving to include people who are brand new to gs’ methodology.
gs has a goal of a minimum of 60% BIPOC attendance at our online daily practice space. We manage registration to meet this goal.
This practice space is free of charge. We encourage you to make a one-time donation or become a monthly donor to support this space.
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Rapid Response for Palestine Solidarity Organizers
Throughout February and March, gs practitioners offered weekly somatic groups for folks closely impacted, engaged, or determined to become more engaged, with Palestinian liberation efforts.
gs practitioners chose to orient these groups around shared identity to increase chances for dropping in and feeling safe enough to enter in a group of people who don't necessarily know each other beforehand. People with overlapping identities were invited to participate in any and all of the groups that applied to them.
Additionally, from November 2023 through February 2024 gs practitioners offered almost 200 free one-on-one somatic healing sessions for organizers.
Practitioners are currently working to craft additional support spaces to meet the needs of organizers, people being newly politicized and facing repression for their actions.
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Lead Teacher Training
In March, gs gathered a group of gs practitioners in Los Angeles for a training in lead teachership skills! This year, fourteen practitioners are being led by 3 senior teachers over 6 months to develop skills to lead teach a course, embody the lessons we have been learning over the past four years about the ways to hold spaces differently, and evolve the gs politicized somatics methodology to meet the current needs of movements.
This training has been a long time coming and it was worth the wait. gs experienced a major leadership transition in 2020, new staff entered, our gs Practitioner Network (PN) organized itself toward rapid response and making offers during a time of epic shifts with uprisings and a global pandemic. gs moved with the pace of what was possible which meant a pause with gs Teacher Training to face into the reality of how to hold a development space while many of our Senior Teachers were taking space or reorienting their relationship to gs. Four years later, gs is benefitting from our community change processes, our Lead Teacher training is able to be more reflective, supportive, and incorporate lessons learned over the past decade of offering politicized somatics to movements.
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PHOTOS: Top right: Leads Training participants and staff outdoors; Bottom left: leads training partial group photo indoors with masks; Bottom right: Some of the Leads Training participants in extension practice outdoors |
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It hasn’t been easy navigating major cultural transitions within our community and our 501c3 organization at this time. If you feel moved by the work we are doing, we encourage you to donate what you can to support our efforts. We truly cannot do this work without the generous donations of our supporters. Monthly donations are always encouraged. Thank YOU!
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