- $30/class, Sliding scale, No-one turned away for lack of funds
- 90 minutes each on Zoom
- Click “join a class” for current dates and times
1. Less Exhaustion, More Ease: Masks, Video Calls, and Vigilance.
When the threat we protect ourselves from is invisible, we never get that gut level, instinctive signal that our response is effective. It’s like battling a cloud. Additionally and ironically, measures we take that make us actually safer from infection can make us feel less safe. We are all simultaneously coping with a physiological double bind! No wonder so many of us are so exhausted and stressed so much of the time. In this class, we’ll address some of the specific ways living through this pandemic confuses our nervous systems. We’ll aim to connect, develop our somatic skills, and build resilience together.
Note to folks with trauma history: You are already entirely familiar with the impact of physiological double binds. You are most welcome to show up in this class in any way that feels right to you.
Recommended preparation: Have your mask handy.
2. Touch Hunger: Social Distancing Alone
We all need human contact. Connection at a distance and through social media have to be enough for now if we live alone… but when we don’t have the touch we need, the longing and want can be hard to bear. In this workshop, we’ll meet that feeling with kindness and curiosity. We’ll bring skill and nuance to the (nonsexual) touch we can receive from our own hands. Even when the touch of another isn’t available, with the resources of our own body/mind/self we can feel held.
Some folks who are chronically lonely and/or touch-deprived paradoxically feel less lonely during social distancing and sheltering in place. If this is your experience, this workshop is for you, too. The relief you feel now can make new practices more available and more effective, building resilience for the return of in-person social life – and social pressures.
3. Touch Skills for Connection, Calm, and Co-regulation: Support Your Loved Ones in Stressful Times
We all have the wiring to soothe and be soothed by touch. Nondemanding touch produces oxytocin, the hormone associated with bonding and stress relief. However, what feels good or neutral in times of ease can aggravate in times of heightened activation. Practicing nondemanding touch as a skill makes soothing touch more available even when we’re not quite sure what to do. Knowing how to attune to each other through touch can help us meet complex situations with patience and continued openness to connection.
In this class, you and someone with whom you can practice will do less, sense more and tune in to your own and each others’ responses.
Please note that the class fee is per person, not per pair.
Recommended preparation: set yourselves up physically so that both of you can be relaxed while one person rests their hands on the others’ shoulders.
