Stories of Mother: A Somatic Writing and Grief Journey

Our journey will begin with an opening ritual to create our trauma-conscious container, and we’ll then engage in subtle somatic movement and sound. By settling into these restorative rhythms, we create an inner spaciousness in which our stories can fully emerge.

We’ll then follow the flow of sensations to invite our stories onto the page, moving and writing our way toward our narratives of grief and ancestors, and allowing our bodies to continuously guide our writing (and our grieving). This practice focuses on each participant’s lived experiences of mother and grief. As we unpack our narratives, the unspoken weight of our journeys is made more visible, and we can fully own our stories, while releasing what needs to be released.

The relationship with mother is the most powerful of all relationships for many species, especially ours. Long after we become independent adults, this relationship continues to influence us. For most people, it will live on in us as long as we are alive, even after our mothers are gone, and even after we have our own children. Scientific research in the field of epigenetics shows that not only are we impacted by our direct interactions with our mothers, but that we also carry within us the impact from the experiences our mothers had before we were born, as well as the experiences of their mothers (or grandmothers).

This means that when we find ourselves stuck, repeating patterns over again (even when we want to change them), or engaging in behaviors such as ignoring our need for self-care, it might be that we have inherited these patterns from our matriarchal lineages. This is not to blame our mothers. It’s to point to the need to bring awareness to the inherited (and often systemic) grief that lives in us — in order to get unstuck. Because when we make these patterns explicit, and grieve what needs to be grieved, we make room for new possibilities: for ourselves and for future generations.

This workshop will create a container to do just that. We’ll gather in a quiet, shared space to explore how Somatic Writing offers a gentle way to honor and express our stories, the stories of our mothers and grandmothers, and the intergenerational grief we hold in our bodies.

Participants are asked to bring their most supportive and comforting writing tools (notebooks, pens, etc.) and are also welcome to bring poetry, prose, artwork, photos, and/or songs to help guide their Somatic Writing and grief journey. This workshop is open to all, no prior experience necessary.

Register here: https://www.arestfulspace.com (select "Classes" tab).