SGT Monthly Events
You are warmly invited to join any of our monthly events. As we go forth together in study and action, beauty-making and community connection, we would love to invite you into our community of Earth-tenders. We offer these events to feed body, mind, and soul.
Work that Reconnects Community of Practice
Guest Speaker
Somatic Practice and Support Group
Music As Medicine Community Sing
One-on-One
Thought Partnership Session with
Lydia Violet Harutoonian
Membership
Join our Community Platform for access to ALL of these events, every month!
$49 Per Month
Work that Reconnects Community of Practice
Hosted by
Lydia Violet & Adrián Villaseñor Galarza
Wed, Nov 20
5:00 PM - 06:15 PM PDT
ONLINE
$25
-
Practice the "Work That Reconnects" (WTR) within our warm and supportive community of practice. You are welcome to attend once, regularly, or any time that you like.
The "Work That Reconnects" (WTR) is a framework and set of practices developed by Joanna Macy, a scholar, environmental activist, and Buddhist practitioner. It is a holistic approach to personal and collective transformation that aims to address the ecological and social challenges facing humanity.
The Work That Reconnects is rooted in the belief that in order to create meaningful change in the world, we must first acknowledge and confront the pain and despair that arise from our current environmental and social crises. It provides a safe and supportive space for individuals to explore and express their emotions about the state of the world, while also fostering a sense of connection and empowerment.
Through engaging group exercises, deep listening, guided meditations, and experiential activities, we rediscover our interconnectedness with all beings and the Earth. And, cultivate a sense of gratitude, compassion, and responsibility towards all life forms.
-
This month, we have the beautiful opportunity to practice WTR with guest facilitator Adrián Villaseñor Galarza. Adrián has years of experience facilitating WTR in Spanish and in English, in North, Central, and South America. He is the translator into Spanish of Coming Back to Life, Joanna Macy's guidebook for facilitating the Work that Reconnects.
Adrián describes himself as passionate about human transformation in service of the living Earth in order to uncover the regenerative expression of our deep potentials.Integral ecopsychologist, academic professor, contemplative teacher, author ritualist–these are some of the tags that help give voice to his vocation. His work is often considered a Latin American referent when it comes to Deep Ecology, Ecopsychology, and Earth-based spirituality.
At the heart of what he offers there’s a confluence of Eastern liberation teachings, Earth-based traditions, and Ecopsychologies, resulting in an elemental framework for self-discovery, healing, and regenerative action. He has been engaged in transformative education for the last 17 years, actively offering workshopsand talks to academic audiences and the general public. He's worked with individuals for the past 9 years through a contemplative, eco-systemic, animistic, and transpersonal lens.
Guest Speakers
Steady Presence in Uncertainty
With
Leilani Navar
Wed, Nov 6
10:00 AM - 11:15 AM PDT
ONLINE
$25
-
This session will be the day after the U.S. election. Leilani will offer a context for holding ourselves and each other (and possibly our highly activated nervous systems) on this day. She'll speak to this moment through a deep ecology lens, exploring how we stay present, feel grounded, and find our clarity at a time of uncertainty. We'll do some body-based and Work that Reconnects practices for finding - and finding our way back to - steadiness.
-
Leilani is dedicated to growing the momentum of the Great Turning, here at SGT as Assistant Director, as a holistic healthcare provider, and as a mother.She helps with the design and administration of our programs, and facilitates some of our Work that Reconnects gatherings and our Somatic Practice and Support Circles.Leilani is also a mom of two and a Licensed Acupuncturist and dream worker. In her clinical practice, she supports people dealing with pain, disease, infertility, and stress, using acupuncture, traditional Chinese herbal medicine, modern functional medicine, and dreamwork. With groups, she facilitates the Work that Reconnects and teaches courses on practical wisdom from Chinese Medicine.Leilani attended Evergreen State College, where she earned a B.A. with a focus on Political Economy and Holistic Health, and the National University of Natural Medicine, where she graduated with a Masters of Science in Oriental Medicine. You can hear more from Leilani on Turning Season Podcast, a series of conversations she hosts with people around the world about how and why they're rising to their own unique roles in the Great Turning.
Music as Medicine Community Sing
With
KJ Song
Sun, Nov 10
10:00 AM - 11:15 AM PDT
ONLINE
$25
-
The Music As Medicine Community Sing is a morning of song & sanctuary hosted by SGT founder and music-maker Lydia Violet, and an amazing crew of rotating guest songleaders, including Maggie Wheeler, Shireen Amini, Te Martin, Kele Nitoto, and KJ Song.
For many millennia, music, and specifically music made together in community, has been a crucial way we bolster ourselves in hard times. Music can mend our bones and pour in the grace. It can transform our exhaustion and help us feel more held as a part of the choir. Just as it feels good to act in the companionship of others on behalf of life, so too is the homecoming of singing together.
All are welcome! No music experience necessary.
-
KJ Song is the queer, kinky queen of a cappella body-Gospel. A seasoned songcatcher and Voice Doula, KJ deeply understands the eroticism of singing and the harmonics of a life of devotion.
Defying stereotypes and belting through dogmatic Christian norms, KJ is at the forefront of inclusive Praise and Worship music. KJ is a proud member of the City of Refuge UCC Praise Ensemble, founder of the Queer Praise Choir and former co-director of WildChoir in Oakland. CA.
Let's get one thing queer... KJ is here to pray.
Somatic Practice and Support Group
With
Leilani Wong Navar
Sunday, Dec 15
9:00 AM - 10:15 AM PDT
ONLINE
$25
-
This space is open to anyone who would like to gather with the community to learn and engage in somatic (body-based) practices for soothing and release.
In these sessions, we explore a range of somatic (body-based) practices designed to cultivate a profound sense of safety, grounding, and empowerment. These include guided meditations, breathing exercises, gentle movement, body awareness explorations, and heartfelt group sharing, you'll tap into the depths of your own bodily sensations, emotions, and inner wisdom. Our circle is led by an incredible group of experienced facilitators, ensuring you receive the guidance and support you need along the way.
This month, we are so grateful to have Paula Ramírez Diazgranados joining us! She brings great depth of experience, a beautiful heart, and a wealth of knowledge about the somatic aspect of mental health in these challenging times.
She'll be supporting us with nervous system restoration through somatic awareness. No need to bring anything - simply bring yourself, in whatever state or place you may be in. -
Our Assistant Director at School for the Great Turning and host of Turning Season Podcast, Leilani is also a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine. She has been practicing qigong, martial arts and meditation for over 20 years. These somatic practices are essential to her well-being and full participation in the Great Turning. In her clinical practice, Leilani supports people dealing with pain, disease, infertility, and stress, using acupuncture, herbal medicine, modern functional medicine, CranioSacral Therapy, and dreamwork. With groups, she facilitates the Work that Reconnects and teaches courses on practical wisdom from Chinese Medicine.
-
This month, Leilani Wong Navar will facilitate movement practices for emotional wellness drawn from the deep well of traditional Chinese qigong and meditation. These practices are helpful for moving stuck energy related to the emotions happening in our personal lives as well as our pain for the world, and helpful for cultivating more capacity and resilience.
While most of this session time will be dedicated to somatic practice, we will also have time for optional sharing about a current grief or other pain each of us experiencing. With those in our awareness, we can bring them into the movement practices for release and resourcing. We'll reflect together after the practices as well.
For this session, you will need space to stand in, and a comfortable place to sit. If you need to practice lying down, sitting, or in stillness and using only visualization, all these practices are adaptable to those needs.
One-on-One
Thought Partnership Session with Lydia Violet
In these sessions, you can meet one-on-one with school founder Lydia Violet Harutoonian.
Feel free to bring in any questions you have about the "Work That Reconnects," projects you are working on, or anything else that feels relevant to seek thought partnership from Lydia about.
