"There is no intimacy without vulnerability"

— Brené Brown

A somatic workshop on speaking and listening from the body

Relationships, especially the intimate ones, are some of the hardest and most beautiful places we grow in. There's a joke that if you want to test your spiritual progress, spend a week with your family, and if you want to know your shadow well, ask your partner.

Real, heartfelt communication is hardest exactly where we most want to be open. In the places where we could be most vulnerable, we often freeze, shut down, or fall into blaming ourselves and the other person.

Words carry only a fraction of what actually passes between two people. Most of it moves through energy, body language, felt sense. This workshop looks at the voice itself as part of that layer: what happens in us bodily when we speak, beneath the words we choose.

In my somatic training, I noticed people's voices changing after certain practices. Someone I knew well would speak in the circle and suddenly sound deeper, more convincing, more themselves. The words seemed to come from a different place in the body.

In Nonviolent Communication trainings, I noticed something similar from the other side. Being listened to in a present, embodied silence often gave people the empathy they were looking for. Naming feelings and needs correctly, without that embodied presence, rarely landed the same way.

This workshop works with both of these directly: speaking from the body, and listening with the body.

Who this is for

• People curious about Nonviolent Communication or compassionate communication who want a felt experience of it, not another framework to memorise

• Anyone who has said the right words to someone and felt it didn't land, or heard the right words and still felt unmet

• People interested in finding a regular practice partner for embodied listening and speaking

• No prior Nonviolent Communication or somatic experience needed

What to prepare:

• Paper and something to draw with (paint, markers, pencils, whatever you have)

• A little space to stand and move

• An open, unhurried two hours

Where: Online (Zoom link sent upon registration)

When: 17th October, Saturday, 5pm-7pm CET | 4pm-6pm UK

Price: sliding scale €25-40

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this therapy? No. This is a creative and somatic exploration, not a therapeutic relationship. It can still be moving, sometimes surprising, but I'm not treating anything, and you're not required to process or resolve anything.

What if the embodiment part feels intimidating? It's simpler than it sounds. There's no performance, no audience judging you. You can work as small or as big as feels right; even a shift in posture or breath counts.

What if I can't move much, or don't have space? Everything is adaptable. Embodiment can happen seated, through gesture and breath alone, so you don't need room to run or dance.

What if difficult emotions come up? The container is designed to be safe and self-paced. You control your own process. We establish "too much" signals, and you can always pause, step back, or work at your own depth.

Art: Moonassi

What you get

• A felt experience of speaking from three different centres in the body and noticing what changes when you do.

• A practice of embodied empathy that goes beyond finding the right words.

• A gesture-based way of working with needs when words aren't available yet.

• A simple exercise you can keep practicing with a partner after the workshop.

What to expect

Theory and grounding. A short introduction to thoughts, feelings, needs and strategies, and why nervous system regulation comes first. Locating three centres in the body: head, heart, gut.

Speaking practice. A short meditation to connect with each centre. Then speaking the same simple phrase from each one, in whatever voice shows up, and noticing how it sounds and feels.

Partner practice. Speaking and listening in pairs.

Working with a real situation. Moving through thought, feeling, and need for something currently alive for you through the body.

Closing meditation. Connecting with the felt quality of a need directly, rather than only the strategy that would satisfy it.

We'll also touch on how we speak to ourselves, and what to do when our deepest needs don't seem to be met by another person.