Intro to Politicized Somatics
Registration now open for the Summer cohort!
In this 2 month (online) immersion, you will be introduced to a series of foundational somatic practices, mostly from the lineage of generative somatics and the Strozzi Institute.
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
Facilitators
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Zoë Poulette
I am a white trans Taurus living in the southern swamps of Gainesville, FL on occupied Timucua land. I find my 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, I’ve been forced to find my own way and cultivate my path through practice and community.
Professionally, I am a bodyworker and coach trained through the Strozzi Institute and generative somatics (2016-2018), and I receive ongoing supervision and mentorship through generative somatics, gs trained teachers, and Embodying Racial Justice (ERJ) teachers. I also have an MA in Embodiment Studies from Goddard College, and am a LMT in the state of Florida.
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Tess Waechter Smith
I'm a queer, white, earthly Taurean being and a mother. I have been shaped by song circles, choreographed living room dances, and the expansive freshwater lakes of Anishinaabe land in so-called Northern Michigan. I have been enchanted with the body since I was a kid, and my practice grounds have included dance, music, sports, racial justice organizing, parenting and so much more.
Professionally, I have been studying within the generative somatics and Strozzi lineages since 2020. I became a certified somatics coach through the Strozzi Institute in 2023. Somatics has allowed me to be in regular practice of discerning what external forces have shaped me away from my true self and reclaiming the sparkly, bold, erotic, creative, fiercely loving human that I am.
Registration is now open for the Summer and Fall (online) cohorts!
All sessions are
Thursday 12-2pm ET / 9-11am PT
Summer 2025 Cohort
June 19- August 14th (with a one week off - July 3rd)
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Fall 2025 Cohort
September 28- November 13th (with one week off- tba)