Welcome to the Groups Page
This is the space dedicated to my group work — where I share announcements, upcoming events, and things I find genuinely worth putting in front of my crowd. If you've worked with me one-on-one, you already know that individual sessions are built around a personal approach and a tailored program. Group work is a different animal — less formal, more fluid, and shaped by whoever shows up in the room.
One thing I've learned over the years: mixing complete beginners with advanced practitioners rarely serves either group well. That said, it can occasionally give the more experienced folks something unexpected — a fresh perspective, a reminder of how far they've come, or a chance to deepen through teaching. So it's not a hard rule, more of a thing to be mindful of.
Everyone brings their stuff
Every person who walks into one of these events carries their own agenda, their own knowledge, their own baggage, and their own set of skills. That's just human. Because of the nature of the work — somatic, embodied, relational — we as facilitators are constantly adjusting, reading the room, holding the container, and making judgment calls in real time. Safety, comfort, group cohesion, individual needs... there are easily a hundred things being tracked at once.
When things get uncomfortable
This one's important, so I'll slow down here.
It happens fairly often that someone gets triggered by another participant — something they said, something they did, the way they moved or looked or spoke. And here's the uncomfortable truth most of the time: the one being triggered is where the work is, not the one who caused it. That's not about blame — it's about where the gold is.
Unless, of course, an agreement has been broken. That's a different conversation entirely, and I'll get to that.
We all carry our life experience everywhere we go. Some of it is processed, some of it isn't — and some of it needs to be triggered to finally get seen. Some people walk in knowing full well they're going to be activated by something, because the unresolved material has been sitting there, waiting. That used to be me too.
These days, when I feel triggered or overwhelmed in a group setting, I try to pause and run through a few honest questions: What actually just happened? What do I need right now? When have I felt like this before? Is this situation genuinely new, or is it pulling on something older? More often than not, it's the older story — something tucked away in the unconscious that's finally found a door. And if it's showing up now, my practice is to welcome it. Sit with it. It won't kill you. You're not reliving the event itself — you're remembering it. There's a difference.
The key questions become: Am I resourced enough to meet this right now? And whose responsibility is it to work with this?
When agreements get broken
This is where I stop being gentle.
Group agreements — especially around touch — are the foundation of everything. They're not suggestions. They're what makes it possible for people to feel safe enough to actually do the work. It takes real collective effort to build that container, and it only takes one person to destroy it.
The most common breach is touch: going beyond areas that were clearly agreed off-limits. I've seen it happen, and I've seen the ripple effect it creates. Once that boundary is crossed, the sense of safety for the whole group is compromised — often in ways that are hard to repair within that session.
I once had a participant who broke the touch agreement twice in the same class. Twice. I was right there, watching it unfold — and it was clear that this person wasn't present for what the event was actually about. They were seeking gratification, not connection or learning. That's a mismatch that affects everyone in the room.
The fairness thing
What I'm always looking for as a facilitator is fairness and honesty — even when it's awkward.
One situation that comes up in bodywork settings: someone is happy to receive touch but quietly checks out when it's their turn to give. No explanation, no communication — just a kind of passive refusal. That's not okay. It creates imbalance and quietly erodes the trust in the group.
I would so much rather someone just say it upfront — "I don't want to work with this person today, and here's why" — even if the reason is blunt or uncomfortable. That kind of honesty is workable. Silent withdrawal isn't.
We all have preferences. That's human too. But in this kind of work, transparency is care.
EditeEdited 25Feb26