The richness of our lineage lives in our cells.
Body Wisdom Practices for BIPOC
Reclaiming what we already know
Kira Allen and
Kelsey Blackwell
Oakland, CA
Wednesdays, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. (Sept. 4 – Oct. 2)
The issues are in your tissues, but the stars are in your scars
-Sebene Selassie
Even if we don't "know" the body wise ways of our people, we KNOW them. The richness of our lineage lives in our cells. In this 5-week series will use the tools of InterPlay as well as other somatic practices to connect with the wisdom that’s carried through from generation to generation. This deep knowing has all the information we need to live our lives with more resiliency, freedom and joy and is necessary for upending the harmful systems that seek to keep us fearful, angry, overwhelmed and depressed. As Buddhist teacher Sebene Selassie reminds us, “The issues are in your tissues, but the stars are in your scars.”
In our time together, we will lift our voices, move our bodies, share our stories and make time just to be. We will be witnessed. We will hold space for each other and we will come back over and over again to making contact with what our bodies are communicating and trusting that truth.
This space, specifically for BIPOC, aims to support us in putting down the burden of “taking care” and to instead take up space in the ways that feel the most nutritive towards our own resiliency. Let us taste the sweetness of being together so that we may bring more of this fullness to our daily lives, relationships, and the meaningful work we’re called to do. Let us empower the fullness of our radiance (gathered from the stream of our rich lineage) to flow forth.
This series will support participants to: • Connect more deeply with the wisdom of the body • Drop out of the head and into the present moment • Learn a joyful form for improvisation • Practice synchronizing mind and body • Name and claim more joy, freedom and expression
This class is open to anyone who identifies as Black, indigenous or as a Person of Color who wants to develop and deepen practices for more embodied living.
Register here...
Accessibility info: This workshop is at InterPlayce, the home of InterPlay. Yay! The space is wheelchair accessible, with all activities happening at ground floor.
To support the space, please don’t use any fragrances or scented products.
Join our Facebook Group for more info and to hear about more class offerings.
Even if we don't "know" the body wise ways of our people, we KNOW them. The richness of our lineage lives in our cells. In this 5-week series will use the tools of InterPlay as well as other somatic practices to connect with the wisdom that’s carried through from generation to generation. This deep knowing has all the information we need to live our lives with more resiliency, freedom and joy and is necessary for upending the harmful systems that seek to keep us fearful, angry, overwhelmed and depressed. As Buddhist teacher Sebene Selassie reminds us, “The issues are in your tissues, but the stars are in your scars.”
In our time together, we will lift our voices, move our bodies, share our stories and make time just to be. We will be witnessed. We will hold space for each other and we will come back over and over again to making contact with what our bodies are communicating and trusting that truth.
This space, specifically for BIPOC, aims to support us in putting down the burden of “taking care” and to instead take up space in the ways that feel the most nutritive towards our own resiliency. Let us taste the sweetness of being together so that we may bring more of this fullness to our daily lives, relationships, and the meaningful work we’re called to do. Let us empower the fullness of our radiance (gathered from the stream of our rich lineage) to flow forth.
This series will support participants to: • Connect more deeply with the wisdom of the body • Drop out of the head and into the present moment • Learn a joyful form for improvisation • Practice synchronizing mind and body • Name and claim more joy, freedom and expression
This class is open to anyone who identifies as Black, indigenous or as a Person of Color who wants to develop and deepen practices for more embodied living.
Register here...
Accessibility info: This workshop is at InterPlayce, the home of InterPlay. Yay! The space is wheelchair accessible, with all activities happening at ground floor.
To support the space, please don’t use any fragrances or scented products.
Join our Facebook Group for more info and to hear about more class offerings.
Cost: $100 per person or $150 for you and a friend (that $75 each or 25 percent off)
Registration/Information: See Link
Venue
InterPlayce
2273 Telegraph Avenue (at 23rd St.)
Oakland, CA 94612
InterPlayce is the center of the InterPlay universe. The offices for Body Wisdom, Inc. are also located here. The building is at the corner of 23rd and Telegraph, one block north of West Grand. It is just a few blocks from the 19th Street Downtown Oakland BART station, and on several convenient bus lines. On-street parking is always available at night and metered during the day. It is also easily accessible by several of the major freeways.
Click here for a map.
Leaders
Kira Allen
This Certified InterPlay leader is an author, collage artist, activist, advocate, and facilitator who specializes in working with Black, Indigenous, People of Color and Queer communities. She holds an M.A. in Transformative Arts from John F. Kennedy University, and a B.A. in English/Creative Writing from Mills College. Bearing witness to her own traumas and triumphs through a wide variety of modalities inspires her work with participants of all ages in: classrooms, homeless shelters, churches, non-profits and intimate circles inside people’s homes. Ms. Kira cultivates sacred creative spaces invoking all her experiences to empower marginalized communities. Her poetic memoir, Write This Second, was republished in April of 2019 and can be ordered through any local independent bookstore.
Kelsey Blackwell
Kelsey Blackwell (she/her) is the author of , Decolonizing the Body: Healing, Body-Centered Practices for Women of Color to Reclaim Confidence, Dignity & Self Worth (New Harbinger 2023). As a somatic practitioner, ritualist and numerologist her work weaves spiritual and embodied practices for anchoring in our inherent “enoughness” and healing intergenerational wounds. In addition to being transformative, Kelsey believes walking towards liberation must also bring joy. She lives in San Francisco, CA, the land of the Ohlone Ramaytush.