Intro to Politicized Somatics
Registration is open for the Winter 2027 cohort
In this 2 month (online) immersion, you will be introduced to a series of foundational somatic practices from various lineages, including generative somaticsand the Strozzi Institute.
We will combine practice + theory to explore what it means to be a body in a disembodied world.
Participants will be guided through a series of individual, partnered, and group somatic practices, designed to move you beyond the embodied patterns that keep you constricted and towards more life, more connection, and more possibility.
Our embodiments are shaped by the social and cultural contexts we inhabit. Often the habits, tendencies and belief systems that live inside of us are not fully conscious to us. Somatics allows us to become more conscious of the unconscious stories that shape our lives so that we can live in deeper alignment with our values and commitments.
Somatics is more than simply “tuning into the body,” it’s about increasing our sense of aliveness and our potential for transformation through awareness and practice. It’s about creating new muscle memories and unwinding patterns that hold us back from embodying the world we long for.
Shifting cycles, creating new possibilities. Unraveling old stories.
This group is for those new to somatics as well as those who want to continue to deepen their practice. We will work to heal, transform, and move towards the change we long for individually and collectively, while learning about the lineage and theory of the field of somatics.
All sessions are live and will not be recorded.
This work is inherently therapeutic but it is not a “somatic therapy” group or an adequate substitute for therapy.
This group will always center the experience of those on the margins, particularly queer and trans folks, BIPOC, change-makers, and cultural workers navigating the complexities of this political moment. Many of us are experiencing increased repression and fear as tendencies towards authoritarianism escalate. This greatly impacts our bodies and our capacity to organize. Politicized somatics gives us a path and practices to stay centered in our dignity and continue acting from purpose, love, and longing even as the pressures increase around us. Politicized somatics offers us a path towards connection and relational depth in a culture of self-reliance and competition. Politicized somatics supports us to cultivate a felt sense of safety, connection, and dignity (aka power) so that we can effectively work towards material safety and cultural change.
What to expect
individual, partnered, and group practices
work with gesture, movement, breath, and awareness of sensation
practice responding from a grounded, centered place, even under pressure
a deeper sense of what has shaped your patterned reactions, beliefs, and triggers
identify the impacts of trauma, oppression, and social conditioning on your current embodiment
begin to shift the embodied patterns that keep you stuck
access a wider emotional range, more sensation, and more joy
re-establishing an internal sense of safety, dignity, and belonging
What participants are saying…
“I am truly amazed and grateful for how much I gained in 8 weeks, and I'm so curious and excited to continue learning.”
— Jan “Working with Zoë is a gift of transformational possibility- what I can keep in the box of ideal talk she translates to real sparks of change that I felt/feel shift in real time. It feels like bittersweet hope.”
— mud“Zoë's politicized somatics course has totally changed my relationship to my body for the better. This course provided me with a new framework for moving through the world in a more connected and regulated way and the set of practical tools needed to get there. The skills I gained in this course have made me a better organizer and widened my window of what political work is possible for me.”
-Nancy MercadoFacilitator
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Zoë Poulette
Zoë is a white trans woman living in the southern swamps of Gainesville, FL on occupied Timucua land. She finds her body most viscerally in the heat and cold springs of North Florida. As a body that has never seemed to fit social norms or expectations, she’s found her way, her community, and her magic to cultivate a path forward through rigorous and creative embodied practice.
Professionally, she is a bodyworker and practitioner trained through the Strozzi Institute and generative somatics, and receives ongoing supervision and mentorship through generative somatics, gs trained teachers. She has an MA in Embodiment Studies, an MFA in Poetics, and is a practicing LMT. Her work is about tracing the connections between philosophy, poetics, embodiment, and social change.
All sessions are on Zoom
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8 weeks beginning Aug 6th
Thursdays 12-1:45pm ET
Registration is full.
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