Group Classes | Somatics with Sara

I Just Wanna Play!

Summer 2022 Somatic Movement

Class Series

Are you a high-achiever who struggles to make time for play and spontaneity?

Do you suffer from perfectionism that prevents you from having fun and living life to the fullest?

Do you feel weighed down by your daily responsibilities?

Do you suffer from old injuries that prevent you from doing the activities you love?

Are you craving a sense of freedom in your body and mind?

Perhaps you suffer from chronic pain or anxiety that limits your full participation in life.

Perhaps you have a busy mind and often fall into ‘paralysis by analysis.’

When you listen to your heart, you know that play and pleasure is the best medicine for you.

Deep down, your inner child wants to be free to play and enjoy each precious moment this summer!

I’m familiar with this physical / emotional pain pattern because I’ve lived it. Like so many of us, I was conditioned by society and academia to achieve results through discipline and effort.

Unfortunately, this productivity-oriented mindset had a corresponding shape in my body that left me feeling tense, constricted, and constantly under pressure. When our body is in a state of self-protection, we often feel too stressed out to relax and play.

When we are chronically stressed, our brain might even begin to associate movement or social connection with pain, so we live our lives fearing the consequences and protecting ourselves from further pain.

Play is all about exploring new possibilities. When we feel anxious or are in pain, we can’t access curiosity or experimentation which leads to new discoveries.

Drawing on my lived experience, I’m offering a somatic movement class series to help you invite more play into your life this summer!

Through novel movement sequences inspired by child development and martial arts, I will teach you how to:

Cultivate the key ingredients to a playful life: safety, support, curiosity, and spontaneity
Move like a child again, with freedom to play and explore without fear of pain
Connect to internal support so that you can play without fearing the consequences
Reconnect to a sense of biological calmness, childlike wonder, and receptivity to the world around you
Dive into the summer activities you love with ease - walking barefoot, gardening, hiking, dancing, and swimming

If you are feeling stuck in a self-protected state, often the best thing you can give your nervous system is a sense of competence, novelty, and play.

In exploring developmental movement patterns, you will have the opportunity to reconnect to your inner child and the primal movements that are your birthright as a human being.

When you are no longer bound by your body’s patterns of self-protection, a sense of curiosity and receptivity to the world around you emerges. Just like a child who is alert, curious, and ready to play!

What impact will a weekly somatic movement class have?

Physically, you will learn to:

Improve communication between your hands and feet - our two primary sense organs
Improve the mobility of your toes, ankles, and hip joints
Soften the tension held in your spine, chest, and shoulders
Connect to a sense of internal support, suppleness, and wholeness

Emotionally, you will learn to:

Create a sense of safety within your body so that you can learn and explore with curiosity and ease
Cultivate a sense of inner composure, lightness, freedom, and joy
Create a sense of biological calmness and receptivity to the world around you
Receive playful connection with fellow human beings in a safe environment

*You will discover that your physical and emotional experience are intrinsically connected. That’s why changing your movement changes how you feel emotionally.

One thing I know is that physical and emotional patterns become more fixed over time. Pain patterns persist unless a better alternative (i.e. movement pattern, neural pathway) is discovered.

In the absence of choice, we become compulsive in our behaviour. We keep pushing through the pain and causing harm because our brain and nervous system isn’t aware of any alternatives.

In I Just Wanna Play, we will teach your brain and nervous system that easy and pleasurable movement is available in every moment. All it takes is a little awareness and curiosity.

Finding more ease and play in your movement will have a ripple effect on all aspects of your life.

Join me for my Summer 2022 Somatic Movement Series: I Just Wanna Play!

Every Tuesday, we will gather for a weekly online class to rediscover playful movement and the capacity to bounce back from life's challenges with ease.

Tuesday, July 19, 2022 at 4:30pm MT
Tuesday, July 26, 2022 at 4:30pm MT
Tuesday, August 2, 2022 at 4:30pm MT
Tuesday, August 9, 2022 at 4:30pm MT

Learn to move like a child again, with freedom to play without fear of pain.

Give yourself permission to play and enjoy each precious moment this summer!