Hello dear reader,
How have you been since we last touched base?
I'm not going to pretend like it hasn't been a bit turbulent over here. Summer is slowly coming to an end in the Northern hemisphere, and as the temperature drops, I find myself in a more reflective and restless space.
In many cosmologies around the world, September is known as the harvest month. And although most of us no longer live on or with the land, that lingering impulse of doing, organizing, and getting ready for a dark, long winter still lives in our bodies.
The dark winter is inevitable; we cannot control nature or reshape time. But we can make space for whatever is emerging from that sense of powerlessness.
So here are two questions I've been sitting with since September started. You can use them as writing prompts, meditate on them, or embody them in any way you see fit. And before engaging, I invite you to ground and center in a way that is easily accessible to you.
Question One: "What compulsive pattern or behavior do I keep repeating to protect myself from the unknown?"
Question Two: "What resource have I learned this year, and which can help me let go of the pattern or behavior, and step into the unknown, trusting I can handle whatever comes?"
And as always, if you need extra support, below you will find all TDK's upcoming workshops, events, and one of our latest publications. Until next time!
With care,
Tania
1. Last Call: Virgo New Moon Embodied Writing Circle (FLINTA ONLY)
This Friday, September 11th, we will be moving gently through somatic voice activation and guided embodied writing. We will invite the New Moon energy in conjunction with the Virgo season to ask:
"What needs and boundaries have I been denying myself? And what payoff do I get from not taking responsibility for them?"
If you've been feeling like your throat space is tight and holding back words, and like you're struggling with clear communication—especially with boundaries—this might be for you.
Here is what others have to say about the Lunar Writing Circle:
" Absolutely loved the full moon writing workshop. The space was carefully and masterfully held. The somatic practices Tania facilitated helped to unlock some deep knowing(s) within... As well as release some emotions I didn't realize were there. Can't wait to participate in more!"
— Sara Aw.
For a 10% subscriber discount, use "SECRETMOON10" at the check out.
2. The Deep Dive E05: On Sacred Travel, Ethical Retreats, and Ecosomatics — with Sonia Aoula
In this episode of The Deep Dive, on September 30th, I will be interviewing Sonia Aoula: an Algerian somatic practitioner in training and founder of Soultana Selene, a platform rooted in ancestral knowledge, land, and the body’s wisdom.
Through Saharan retreats in Timimoun, Algeria—and in collaboration with Indigenous craft communities and women-led NGOs—Soultana Selene explores the power dynamics embedded in travel while supporting vulnerable heritage and crafts.
Together, we will be diving into:
→ Why we must exit the extractive paradigm of modern-day retreats.
→ Who can be our teachers in our process of decolonizing travel?
→ And how can we center land, local communities, and heritage, using ecosomatics as a bridge?
The Deep Dive is a monthly community-supported gathering, where we invite collective practice and participation. If you'd like to ground and center with us, ask either of us questions, or simply tune in while going about your day, register below.
3. Reimagining Safety: A Four-Week Intensive with Zeena Ismail and Tania S. Shoukair
Registration is now open
In case you missed it, last month, The Deep Knowing launched its first collaborative course with Zeena Ismail: Reimagining Safety In Somatics.
This is a 4-week container for practitioners, therapists, body workers, healers, social workers, and coaches who are asking what our work is actually in service of. And what becomes possible when we place context, relationship, and our own bodies at the centre of the work.
This is by us, for us, to reclaim our spaces as the fertile ground for liberation.
4. Reading Suggestion: Why Being Trauma-informed Is Not Enough.
The word trauma-informed never felt right in my body.
Not when I trained to be a trauma-informed practitioner, not when I temporarily used the term for the lack of a better option, and not as I finally sat down to write this essay.
Before I became a practitioner, I had spent years entering therapeutic and healing spaces that describe themselves as trauma-informed, and yet I didn’t always experience them as such. And I finally understand what my body knew and which I couldn’t yet articulate.
As someone with both cPTSD and systemic trauma—and who arrived at this work through the extreme ecology of her own body and the lack of holistic trauma care in therapeutic spaces—I don’t believe trauma is something we can simply be informed about.
Trauma is something we touch or are touched by.
Thank you for being part of the TDK đź’™
And remember, if you ever feel like diving deeper, you can always book a discovery session with me
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