 |
|
Dear generative somatics (gs) community,
In 2018, gs courses took place over 64 days, were taught by 37 gs teachers, and included 220 participants - community organizers, activists, politicized healers, cultural workers, funders, and other leaders in social and environmental justice movements. Our course offer has more than doubled since 2016, and this only scratches the surface of our current programs. We have Movement Partnerships with organizations and alliances, our Practitioners Network, Teacher Training, Transformative Resourcing programs, and more.
To powerfully advance our liberation struggles, we need to understand the impact of trauma and oppression on our movements, and that the individual and collective impacts and mending are inextricably linked. gs plays an important role in that work.
Scroll down to read testimonials
from participants in our 2018 Embodied Leadership courses in Detroit.
Those are just two reflections about the impact that gs courses have - building embodied leadership skills that then make our movements more visionary, life-affirming, and powerful.
This year, gs received 100-150 applications for approximately 30 spots in each course.
Please help gs continue to build a strong and sustainable organization that can grow to meet this need.
Thank you for your commitment.
With hope,
Chris
--
Chris Lymbertos
Program Director
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nate Mullen, the Director of People In Education, which works to humanize schooling, shared this reflection --
Part of the work that [People In Education] does is trainings with teachers and educators. In that work, I carry a lot of anxiety and fear that results in me being a perfectionist. I move my team to do good work, but the process isn't necessarily reflective of the experience that we want the teachers to be having. Through my work [with gs], I now have more capacity to be aware of when I am in that space of fear, and I can communicate that with my team, which then allows my team to step up and to support me.
The impact on my team is amazing. Because I am able to state where I am, I create a sense of urgency around the support that they provide for me. When I am able to say to my team, 'I'm afraid. I need your help,' it opens up a door for them to step up in ways that I had been working with them for months to get to. It's an invitation for them that they really needed.
Being able to identify and communicate what I'm feeling opens up a world of possibilities. A lot of people look at me and the work I've done and think 'he's cool, he's got this.' They could assume that I don't need support, but that's not true. Now, I can say, 'I am really afraid and I need you to hold this, I can't keep holding everything and being at the center'. That's completely new for me to have the awareness to say - 'this is what I'm feeling, this is what's happening'. It opens up a door to say --
I can be competent, and also afraid. I can lead, and also need support.
For me to be able to identify the sensations in my body and be able to say - 'that's fear, that's anxiety, and I could really use support' -- the amount of choice, possibility, and transformation that opens up- is really exciting."
|
Tera Bell, Operations & Administration Coordinator at Women on the Rise and the Racial Justice Action Center
, shared this reflection -
This has been a transformative
experience for me. It is impactful to know that we are all resourceful and whole. That life experiences have chipped away at that, but we are still whole and resourceful at our core, and I have the ability to tap into my core. This course has allowed me to go within, and return to my original natural place. That place is peaceful, strong, and powerful. [If I lead from that place], there will be healthy work relationships and better alliances... with internal colleagues but also with partner organizations.
Finding my own strength will help me work better with others and manage conflict. [I will be clearer about] - what do I need? what do I need to request? what can I offer? I'm finding out that I come with a wealth of experiences, and I need to not be afraid to allow my experiences to contribute to an effort, a movement. This is important. This will really impact the rest of my journey. Returning, tapping into, and then moving forward. These principles can applied across my life - work/life balance, healthy relationships - there is so much I can incorporate from the principles of gs."
|
|
Photos
: 1) Nate (right) in the Mutual Connection practice, Detroit, MI (September 2018); 2) Nate (front row, right) and Tera (back row, left), Detroit, MI (September 2018).
|
|
|
|
|
