WITHIN
season 5 : a journey deeper
SEPTEMBER 28 — DECEMBER 11, 2023
registration is full
probing the depths of
nervous system & narrative…
WITHIN is an embodied writing method, somatic practice, and set of experiments in expression, designed to open up and spill outward—from deep within the body onto the page.
WITHIN Season 5 is a journey deeper — deeper into expression, deeper into connection, deeper into intimacy.
ONLINE / VIA ZOOM
we practice live and asynchronously
within
WITHIn SEASON 5
a 3-month series of community and personal practice
WITHIN Season 5 takes us from the Fall Equinox into the cocoon of winter and the Swedish festival of light, St. Lucia (in the Northern Hemisphere; for those in the Southern Hemisphere the journey occurs in reverse—from Spring Equinox onto the doorstep of Summer Solstice). These shoulder seasons are especially potent times for rewriting stories, initiating or returning to practices and rituals, and tuning in to the shifts of our inner and outer landscapes.
While the specific themes are not shared in advance to cultivate a sense of presence and unfolding with each step, some of the facets we will explore in our bodies, on our mats, and on the page include:
body language, metaphor + myth, fiction + imagination, writing with sensoria, inner geography, and non-linear narrative structure.
PLEASE NOTE : Season 5 will be the FINAL live offering of WITHIN before my maternity leave in 2024!
season 5 includes:
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— Embodied writing workshops
— 1h 45min, including:
* 30-40 min somatic grounding and attunement (including movement, meditation, and pranayama/breathwork)
* 30-45 min embodied writing session with guiding prompts + exercises
* 20-30 min community circle— All Labs are recorded and sent out within 24 hours to practice with on your own time (it is entirely possible to do the whole program via recording)
Our LIVE sessions take place in our virtual studio (Zoom). All you need is a computer, a mat or rug, pen, and paper / notebook. Pillows and blankets and additional supports are welcomed.
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— 75 minutes
— Writing focused (write-alongs / pomodoros)
— Monthly intention-setting for writing practice
— Closing circle includes optional reading (the one time we share our writing!) -
Unlimited access and available for download
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*please note: this season does not include asana in the live labs
10+ hours of recorded yoga asana classes and prior labs to support your personal yoga practice before or in between live sessions (all video)
*suggested classes will be paired with each lab
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inspired by each session’s theme
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Recorded and available for download
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— writing prompts
— writing rituals
— selected readings on writing craft and embodiment
— encouragements for a daily writing practice -
Podcasts, poetry, and prose to inspire and support your WITHIN journey
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a virtual watering hole for us to connect with, share among, learn from, and grow alongside one another between our gatherings
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Since its beginnings in 2020, the WITHIN community has grown to include more than 70 humans from 12 countries and four continents
While each Season is capped at 20-25 people, our online community platform provides ways to stay connected with one another outside of practice.
Once Within, always Within.
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A journey partner is someone with whom you reflect 1:1 on your WITHIN practice, support one another in its deepening, and have the option of exchanging writing if you so choose.
schedule
live practice
We gather live* via ZOOM every other THURSDAY (for LABS)
and select MONDAYs (for CIRCLES).
LABS are 1 hour 45 minutes. CIRCLES are 75 minutes.
DATES:
LAB 1 (Opening): September 28, 2023
October CIRCLE : October 9, 2023
LAB 2: October 12, 2023
LAB 3: October 26, 2023
November CIRCLE : November 6, 2023
LAB 4: November 9, 2023
LAB 5: November 23, 2023
LAB 6: December 7, 2023
Closing CIRCLE : December 11, 2023
TIMES
For All Labs (Thursdays):
19-20:45 CEST
18-19:45 GMT
1-2:45p EST
10a-11:45p PST
For All Circles (Mondays):
19-20:15 CEST
18-19:15 GMT
1-2:15p EST
10-11:15a PST
convert to your time zone here
* note Daylight Savings Times: Europe — Oct 29 , North & South America — November 5 (turn back clocks 1 hour)
*Attendance at live sessions is encouraged but not required. All live sessions are recorded and sent out within 24 hours to practice on your own time.
registration & self-investment
registration for WITHIN Season 5 is now FULL
Add your name to the waitlist to be the first to know when cohort spots open for future Seasons! Or, begin today with WITHIN: Your Time or WITHIN: A Beginning.
love for the practice:
testimonials from the WITHIN community
your guide
I come to facilitate this journey as…
an anthropologist (PhD) with over a decade of research on embodiment, neuroscience, and the relationship between language + body
a published essayist with nonfiction workshopping experience
a yoga & meditation teacher for over 8 years (learn more HERE)
a writing mentor & editor with over a decade of experience working with writers + academics around the world
a writer intimately acquainted with her inner critic
My writing pedagogy is influenced by the teachings of Lidia Yuknovitch ("CORPOREAL WRITING”), Natalie Goldberg (WRITING DOWN THE BONES), and the mode of “flow writing.”
My embodiment praxis is trauma-informed and inspired by several of my teachers/influences: Nevine Michaan’s fusion of Taoism, sacred geometry, and metaphor for personal and collective well-being; Dages Juvelier Keates’ intersectional embodiment praxis; Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen’s mind-body centering; Molly Caro May’s teachings on somatic experiencing and story; and Prentis Hemphill’s teachings on embodiment as a mode of healing justice.
Our sessions draw inspiration from these pedagogies, fused with my own tools, techniques, exercises, and experiences.
I seek to hold a space where we can be curious, creative, daring, expressive, unhindered by performance and embracing a state of informance
faq’s
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Embodied writing is a writing practice rooted in the sensory, felt experience of being in a body (as opposed to the oversteering of thoughts, ideas, or concepts). Like the body itself, it can be unruly, messy, sensual, unpredictable. Embodied writing is not necessarily writing about the body but writing from the body. I like to call it a “getting-out-of-my-own-way” kind of writing; it is the practice I return to again and again when I feel like my words are becoming overdetermined and heady.
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Everyone who has a body! It’s as valuable a practice for poets as it is for academics as it is for people who have never considered themselves writers by any stretch of the imagination.
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It is my firm belief that everyone has a writer within, just as yoga is for every body. This practice welcomes those new and seasoned in either practices alike. Past Within participants have uncovered a writing voice they never knew they had; others recovered a joy and pleasure in the practice they haven’t been in touch with since grade school. I invite you to detach from labels and identifiers and to show up exactly as you are. You are ready, trust me.
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That is the precise question this journey explores :) I can’t answer exactly what your yoga has to do with your writing—that is for you to discover through your body and this practice.
For me, I’ve found that yoga, breath and meditation help me drop in to my body and brush off the cobwebs of self-criticism, doubt, and trepidation, priming me for a clearer connection to my voice. It also awakens me to what I feel, allowing me to tap into the more sensory aspects of being, the place I feel most “me” writing from.
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Each session focuses on one specific theme of embodied movement + writing—as we progress, we will peel back the layers. Asana, specific parts and networks of the body, meditations and guided writing prompts are crafted around the specific theme we are exploring. But think of the theme as itself a prompt—the rest is for you to create and explore with your own body and voice.
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I open the doors to our virtual studio 10 minutes early for you to arrive, land on your mat, and for me to get a sense of the needs and energy of the group. We begin with a grounding practice, followed by a 30-45 minute asana practice (sweet and slow flow into Yin, connecting deeply with both physical and subtle bodies). After savasana, we transition to a pranayama exercise and a 10-15 minute guided meditation that integrates our asana and specifically primes us for our writing session. We will then write in solidarity together (I will provide prompts related to the theme, but what you write is for you and you alone) for ~20 minutes. Like any good savasana, if you are in a deep flow I will leave you to your writing, otherwise we will end with a community closing circle (which, I've found, is an integral part of the magic of this practice).
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The purpose of the writing sessions is specifically to free ourselves from the gaze of anyone else. We are not writing “for” anyone, no imagined audience or critic. We are not writing to “produce” or to be witnessed. We are writing for the simple act of writing from the sensing body.
However, if you feel the tug to share your writing with the community, there are two spaces for doing so:
— our private online community platform (MightyNetworks)
— ‘spoken word’ circles (hosted once per Season)
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No problem. All live sessions will be recorded and sent to you to practice on your own time during the week.
It is up to you whether you choose to practice live or on-demand. Some past participants of WITHIN have done the entire series via recordings and have found great benefit in adapting the practice to their unpredictable schedules (or time zones, for our friends in the Southern Hemisphere!).
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Sessions will be lead in English, but I encourage you to write in whichever language you feel most embodied (for many, this is the mother tongue).
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This course is, in many ways, a reverse-engineering of what I myself deeply crave in this season of life: exploring the relationship between yoga and writing and the body, in community with other inspiring humans. It was born in the midst of a heavy fall, in the midst of a pandemic and the fateful 2020 US elections. WITHIN Season 1 featured a group of 25 brave humans from around the world who showed up with curiosity, openness, and generosity. Since then, over 50 humans have joined our community, many of whom have practiced with me from WITHIN’s very beginning.
WITHIN Season 4 is as much a reflection of what I learned from this group as what I brought to the practice in the first place. The program is intuitive and iterative, shaped by its people. I believe communities have their own ‘collective effervescence’ and creative potential that exceeds any one individual — this energy is contagious, generative, and inspiring.
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Yes! What a lovely gift. Write me at hello@liminalliety.com and we’ll make it happen.
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Absolutely. At least half of the community is returning, in that they've participated in a prior season (or, for many, all of them!).
While we revisit some of the same themes in each Season, each time is slightly different, and many have found this revisiting a welcome opportunity to reflect on their own inner growth and to go even deeper. At the same time, I always incorporate new material inspired by the particular alchemy and needs of the group itself.
Returning participants of WITHIN also receive a discount for each Season.