This is the application for the 2023 August in-person four day embodiment course on
how to address white body supremacy and racism living in white people
today. Especially if you are Jewish, queer, trans and/or hold another marginalized identity AND you are white, this is a place for us to continue to do the learning together from the body up.
This in-person, interactive course will build your capacity, embodiment and
understanding of yourself as a white organizer/ activist/ coach working
inside of liberation movements in the US at this time. Lead instructor
Dara Silverman is an embodiment teacher, equity consultant and somatic coach whose work is based
on her organizing experience in community, environmental and racial
justice movements and training within the Strozzi Institute and
generative somatics.
The course is four days and runs from Thursday, August 3 - Sunday, August 6 from 8:30am-5:30pm and will be held close to Whidbey Island, Washington. Full description for the course is also listed here.
This course is for you if:
* You want to deepen in your somatic awareness, practice and learnings from the body up
* You are interested in bringing your body/Somatics into action in your work and life
* You want a community of practice which will support you to keep exploring, letting your body reveal more depth, and unearthing your longings
* You are an organizer, consultant, trainer, coach or activist, this is a place for you to be deepening and building your commitment to racial justice
Course Promises:* More access to aliveness
* Moving towards more choice under pressure and through the contradictions of this current moment
* Deeper understanding of embodied anti-racist frameworks
* Moving from old shape to new shape in current political conditions
* Becoming more congruent, aligning embodiment, words and actions with our longings
Structure of the Program:* Four days of in-person practice
* Pre-work and curated reading list
* Embodied daily and weekly practices to take home
What People are saying about the course:
"Being part of this cohort has felt like finally coming home, as I've discovered a missing piece in my journeys of racial justice and undoing white supremacy: the body! MY body! Our bodies, together! I feel more hopeful, feeling the palpable change that becomes more possible as we work with our literal cells and tissues, making room for new and more liberatory ways of being. And, what a tremendous gift to get to do this work in community, helping me to break through the lies white supremacy has told me about being all alone, getting to feel instead my belonging in this collectivity." - nicole bauman, Facilitator
“I found it nourishing to be physically present with a group of white people committed to anti-racism and to examining and lovingly transforming our own conditioned responses in the world. Practicing grounding exercises with others and exploring my own responses with partners, often with physical connection, opened my full body awareness more deeply than was possible through online training or individual practice. I appreciated the exercises around assessments and will be bringing learnings from that practice to my work within teams. I experienced a sense of collective commitment and community support with our workshop group. In particular, taking the workshop with two colleagues deepened my sense of connection and support with them in our anti-racist and generative conflict work.”
- Teresa McHugh, Sierra Club, Central Region Organizing Director
"
Practicing somatics in person with a whole crew of other white people committed to ending white supremacy was transformative for me. It gave me my first taste of what liberation could feel like—that as white bodied people we could love on and invest in each other as part of building a world beyond white supremacy. Having that experience has allowed me to bring more rigor and joy into my organizing work and life in general. Highly recommend!!”
- Eli Berkowitz, Community Voices Heard, Lead Organizer
Cost:
This course is offered on a sliding scale, see the image below for more details. The scale ranges from $750--4000, with a $3,000 fund for scholarships. The cost of the course includes: paying living wages to the team of four trainers, camping on site, shared breakfast, lunch and dinners as well as snacks, and drinks, and
organizing and administrative fees.
If you need scholarships or travel assistance, please indicate that in the application below.
Deadlines:
Please submit this application by Friday, June 30.
We will notify you of your acceptance status on a rolling basis.
Housing Options: (More information on housing option TBA)
There are a variety of camping options for this training on site. There are also local rentals on Whidbey Island. Our goal is to build community with one another and sharing space is one way to do this.
About the facilitators:
Dara Silverman is a white, queer Jewish consultant, somatic coach and
trainer with 20 years working with organizations and in movements for social,
racial, economic and gender justice. Dara partners with trainers of
color to lead organizational change and leadership development
initiatives centering racial justice, equity and liberation. When working with white organizers and leaders on dismantling white supremacy in
ourselves, organizations and movements, she
partners with white trainers to lead caucuses and trainings. Previously, she was the Founding
Director of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) and the Executive
Director of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ) in New York
City. She is certified through the International Coaching Federation as a
Professional Certified Coach. Dara has been studying Somatics with the
Strozzi Institute and Generative Somatics since 2011. In 2013, Dara became a Certified Somatic Coach and has been teaching with the Strozzi Institute since 2017. She lives on
Wappinger and Lenape land in Beacon, NY where she grows nine kinds of
berries.
In this course, we are also grateful to be joined by a seasoned team of coaches and teachers and who will be supporting participants throughout the course.
