Tuesday, December 20, 2022

Greetings on this last day of fall. When we wake up tomorrow it will be winter and I will be en route to be with my family in New York. 

This newsletter is a thank you from my heart to yours for your presence in my life and work this past year: for each dance we've experienced together, for learning together, for playing together, for tarot-ing together, and for leaning on each other for support, comfort and understanding (angel detail!) when we've felt on unsteady ground. Being with you all has steadied me and made me feel less alone in the muck and mud this year. It's also been such a joy to celebrate with you - honoring birthdays, holidays, and celebrating little and big wins in life.

When this year began, my schedule was up in the air. I couldn't plan anything beyond the week in front of me as I waited for word on when I'd be leaving for New York to be a caretaker for my sister-in-law as she underwent treatment for breast cancer. I finally went in February and I realize now, in hindsight, what an incredible gift that time was for me and my sister-in-law. We had always been close since she and my brother married 17 years ago but during this trip we became sisters through and through. When she wasn't in treatment, we spent hours talking openly about life and death. Both of us lost a parent at the age of 26. She lost her mother. I lost my father. We talked about. how neither of us was prepared for the unexpected loss of a parent - leaving us unmoored. Both of us had unprocessed and un-held grief living in our bodies. Our time together was deeply vulnerable. We had no idea that five months later she would lose her baby sister to breast cancer. The closeness we developed while I was there in February allowed us to lean on each other even more deeply as she grieved her sister, her cousin, uncle, as well as the loss of our abuela and my cats. 

When I came back home in late February I focused on my clinical year for somatic therapy - working with practice clients for months. My practice clients were intentionally selected. I chose to work with people of color, like me, who have experienced generational, social, racial, cultural, and gender-related trauma. Most of our conversations and experiences led us to grief. Grief over the loss of cultural identity, language, safety, protection, autonomy and sovereignty, to name a few. These powerful hours spent, both as a client and a somatic therapist in training, gave me space and pathways to healing and mending fragmented parts of me. They also prepared me to listen more attentively and better attune to my needs - especially in the grieving process. I have experienced grief before. This time I had new skills that allowed me to navigate grief differently than before. This time, I did not try to control or avoid the intense feelings that accompany the grief journey. I was/am much more aware of the spectrum of feelings (in grief), allowing myself to be with them without pushing away, and finding safe comfort and connection within myself and with others. This shift in my own grieving process allowed me to serve an interim grief therapist for my sister-in-law until she was assigned to one in New York. What a sacred opportunity to come full circle with her. We revisited our conversations about grief with new tools and so much more open hearted courage. And...drum roll...I officially completed my two years of SomaSoul Somatic Therapy training, graduated and starting in January I will open my books to see Somatic Therapy clients and will also be guiding experiential groups. Squeals! 

As I reflect on this past year, I also marvel at how I allowed my creativity to blossom. I not only created several somatic movement-oriented bodies of work (see images below), I also spent time creating collage art and other expressive arts-guided drawings in my notebook. I am most proud of my class creations this past year, where I blended together my extensive training in Nia (renewing my license), Yoga, Shake Your Soul (Level Institute), BrainDance, ArcanaDance (my creation), nearly two decades in Afro-Caribbean and West African dance, and somatic therapy practices together - creating meaningful dances that tell a story and facilitate empowerment, joy and healing. Many of your requests, along with the personal stories you shared with me this year, became the catalyst for many of our dances and embodied movement explorations. Thank you for not only supporting my work but also co-creating classes with me. It is a privilege to conspire with you :D. 

I know that many of you have returned to attending in-person classes and experiences. With that, I am immensely grateful for the time we spent together via Zoom and I am grateful for those of you that continue to show up in our virtual sacred dance space. The virtual space could never compare to an in-person experience but it has kept us connected across timezones and distance and it's been the place I have found connection, support, strength, love, and community. You are the people that held up the "mirror of possibility" for me and have been the support as my creations come to life and as my new dreams gestate and await birth. I am excited to continue being with you, in the virtual world, in 2023. 

A reminder that classes are on break until January 2023.

Our first class of the year will be Sunday, January 8, 2023 at the new time of 9AM PST.

I will send a newsletter with class registration links after January 3rd :). 

Deeply grateful for this community,
Jennifer
 

• Somos Luceros on Sundays at 10AM PST 
• Embodied Movement Explorations in Body Wisdom & Wellness on Wednesdays at 9AM PST 
• ArcanaDance - next workshop TBA