Eco-Somatic Program For Women Tending Ancestral and Ecological Grief
River Flows Through Her
Tapping into our emotional tributaries, we gather on the edge of A Great River.
We honour the flow of these lands, meeting the ancestral and ecological stories that we fear.
We feel the flow of these waters, and dip our body into the river of stories that flow between us and the earth.
As women, we bleed crimson rivers and it is this innate embodied relationship to the earth that we are being called to return to.
This 6 month program will open you up in profound ways. The flowing waters of these lands have healed me in ways I cannot describe with words. I know I am not alone. They are ancient and true medicine and have been respected and protected as such by the original people of these lands.
And these river’s are sick. They do not flow as they should. I believe this has much to do with western, colonial culture’s deep aversion to grief. Instead of tending to our grief, we consume, we extract, we go to war. When I say we, I mean the culture in which we are all members of. And yet their animacy remains in-tack. As does ours.
It is undeniable that the state of the environment is connected to our cultural landscape, and thus our own personal internal ecology. Eco-somatic's is the bridge we can personally walk in order to repair the wounds inflicted by this culture. Ritual holds us as we release these imprints. Combined with writing practice, we can write new myths, we can tend to new narratives.
Embodied Practice meets cultural repair
Each of us has a river of grief that runs through our body. This river is a landscape of purification, restoration, and renewal. When we learn to come to this river in a good way inside of ourselves, we can begin to feel a sense of deep somatic and spiritual renewal.
As settlers, it is our sacred responsibility to rebirth culture, to do so we must touch our grief-personal, ancestral and ecological. Regardless of the grief you hold, it is each of our personal responsibility to honour what is ours.
Our own sense of essential wholeness is restored when we call forward the pain of our lineages and step into the stream of alchemical transformation that is available to us when we honour our grief.
This is a courageous act of embodying a new story, for ourselves, lineages, and communities and one we should not do alone.
You’ll develop foundational eco-somatic ritual proficiencies, including:
the necessary steps to safely guide yourself and others in lasting and profound eco-somatic healing
knowledge of both the psychological and cultural intersection of ancestral and ecological healing
understanding how to assist others in accessing the healing of grief, nature, and stories
skills for working with the troubled stories of our times
capacity to hold space for personal and collective trauma, pain and grief
support your clients, communities or workplaces to reimagine what is possible in our lifetime
Participants in this cohort will be the first of a growing network of ritualists, holistic healers, activists and community leaders, midwives and hospice workers, artists, diviners, practitioners of traditional and/or Western medicines, and priestesses of diverse traditions dedicated to ancestral and ecological grief tending through embodiment, nature connection and storytelling.
Participants will also be invited back to teach in future iterations of this program,
“Working with Jenny feels like moving across the great river marking life from death, waking from dreaming, or what we hilariously think we know from what we know we don’t know. The embodied, in-mother-nature experience of approaching the river of mystery, entering, being enveloped, swimming, dwelling, deepening, wandering, lingering, all the while moving and crossing, then surfacing, fully emerging, and stepping onto and resting on the other shore. This dynamic in itself, this process, is the sacred stuff.”- Chantell Foss, 5 Rhythms Teacher
What to expect on this journey:
Connect to your personal grief as a source of somatic and spiritual renewal
Connect to your ancestral grief as sacred inheritance and begin to relate to as a blessing with many gifts
Connect to Eros and Earth as a sacred support system as your journey across rivers and into stories that you fear
Connect to the solidarity of sisterhood as you embrace the flow of vulnerability and overcome the fear of being seen
Develop a set of ritual practices to open your being to the presence of loving ancestors
Develop a confidence in giving voice to your grief through embodied writing and sharing practice
Is this program the right fit for you?
You are on a healing path and have connected to your grief and sense a deeper current calling to you
You have found your voice but lack confidence to share your most intimate and vulnerable stories
You have nurtured a relationship with your self but long for deeper connection with other women
You have a strong urge to go deeper into your relationship with nature and desire support
You are at a threshold and desire to be held and witnessed as you reclaim more of yourself
You are invested in decolonization and take responsibility for showing up in humility and humanness
What is eco-somatic leadership?
Eco-somatic leadership offers individuals and organizations an understanding the interconnectedness of natural systems and applying ecological principles to organizational and social contexts.
Somatic practices: Incorporating body-based awareness and techniques to develop presence, embodied knowledge, and intuitive decision-making.
Leadership development: Cultivating skills and mindsets for effective, ethical, and sustainable leadership.
Key aspects of this approach may include:
Developing sensory awareness and attunement to one's environment
Cultivating empathy and connection with nature and other living beings
Using mindfulness and body-based practices to enhance self-awareness and presence
Applying ecological thinking to leadership challenges
Promoting sustainable and regenerative practices in organizations
Emphasizing holistic well-being for leaders and their communities
The goal of eco-somatic leadership is often to create more sustainable, adaptable, and empathetic leaders who can navigate complex challenges while considering the broader ecological and social impacts of their decisions.
What is included:
A $250 deposit is required to secure your spot. Registration closes on March 15th.
Only 11 spots available.
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We will meet once a month. Each session will run between 3-4 hours. First session begins in April
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Because we only meet once a month and this is a long journey together, we will have the opportunity to deepen into connection together through an online community space. This space will be available for sharing of integration experiences, writings and reflections, as well as space to ask for and receive support from myself and our community.
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We will meet for 4 nights at a river side retreat center in the Cowichan Valley in September
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$4,499 PIF or $750 per month. Does not include transportation to the retreat centre.
On this journey, you will:
Nurture an embodied sense of purpose and vitality
Expand your felt sense of impact within a wider ecological web
Restore your ecological identity and sense of relational responsibility
Heal ancestral wounds of separation, isolation, guilt, shame, scarcity
Repair disconnection from community support and care
Engage your senses within the wider ecology and within your work
Call back instinctive ways of being as you move into with your work
Support nervous system regulation and re-patterning as you expand
Nurture self trust as you take greater risks in creating
Deepen your sense of belonging, reverence and responsibility to place
About your Guide
Hi, I am Jenny Holden. I am passionate about guiding women into a deeper relationship to their bodies and the earth. I have always felt a deep connection to the natural world. For most of my childhood, I felt more of a kinship to plants, animals and even the unseen spirits of a place. But like so many of us, this relationship was severed.
Even when I lost connection to my body, I was always being guided by a deep care for humanity. In fact, it was learning about the Rwanda genocide that compeled me to go to university. I went on to get a graduate degree in the Studies of Policy and Practice, working in community development and non-profit management.
Disconnection from my body eventually led to burn out and other mental health challenges. Personal crisis became a doorway for deeper ancestral healing.
I have followed my bodies wisdom, and that of the earth to a deep well of creative energy which supported my work as an interdisciplinary artist and storyteller. I have support over 100 women to access and release the wisdom of their bodies and the healing stories that want to live through them.
My Jewish ancestors journeyed through Eastern Europe and the Middle East, fleeing genocide and persecution before arriving on Turtle Island.
My European ancestors settled on Turtle island from Germany, England and Ireland.
My family has lived on the stolen lands of the Quw’ustun People for nearly 100 years.
