Writing the body: A poetry playshop
"Go back and take care of yourself. Your body needs you. Your feelings need you. Go home and be there for all of these things." - Thich Nhat Hanh
For this writing retreat, we'll be meeting on zoom on Tuesday, September 24th from 8 am-3 pm PST/9 am-4 pm MST/10 am-5 pm CST/11 am-6 pm EST time.
Update: Friends, this workshop is now full. If you're interested in joining, please contact us to join the waiting list. We'll reach out if a spot opens up. Love, Karly and Rosemerry
Befriending the body
We can have so many complex feelings about our bodies - love, joy, fear, appreciation, disgust, grief, resignation. Our relationships with our bodies are rich and multi-faceted! There are the things we treasure - what our bodies experience, hold, and do. There are the ways our bodies just are - this temporary house for the soul. And there are our bodies themselves - their frailty, strength, and the ways they hold and shape our lives.
Join us for a one day, online writing retreat where we'll use meditation, mindfulness, and poetry to learn, share and write our way into a more generous, deeper connection with our bodies.
Writing, poetry and meditation share a common bond of compassion, presence, awareness, listening and a willingness to be with what's here. When we bring these practices together - and when we practice them in a group, in a safe, sacred space - we experience a deeper, richer alchemy that opens doors to the heart and soul. We are fed and nourished by each other, and learn from each other's wisdom.
What might our bodies have to share with us? How might they want to meet us? How might we want to meet them? Together, we'll explore this rich mystery.
How the playshop works
We'll be meeting live on zoom on Tuesday, September 24th from 8 am-3 pm PST/9 am-4 pm MST/10 am-5 pm CST/11 am-6 pm EST time. (There is a 50 minute lunch break and two shorter breaks throughout the day.) There will also be time for writing when you can be off screen.
We'll discover the wisdom that can emerge from our bodies and our hearts as we explore creative writing practices, poetry, and our relationship with our bodies.
If you can’t join us live, we'll record our time together so you can explore it later at your own pace.
We offer three payment options for this writing retreat: $125, $150 or $175 USD. The retreat is limited to 20 spots.
Update: Friends, this workshop is now full. If you're interested in joining, please contact us to join the waiting list. We'll reach out if a spot opens up. Love, Karly and Rosemerry
About us, your guides
Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
At 54, I’m more curious than ever about my relationship with my body. I have felt at war with my body, betrayed by it, ashamed of it and overwhelmed by it. At last, I can also be truly gentle and compassionate with it.
Writing is a powerful tool for me to explore befriending the body, and, it turns out, the body is a powerful tool for writing. It acts as lie detector, tuning fork, and dowsing rod. And though the mind is perhaps where ideas begin, the body is the home of our stories.
I’ve written a poem a day since 2006, which is truly a practice in vulnerability, humility, courage and humanness. I’ve led over a thousand writing programs, and I thrill every time at the magic that unfolds as we explore this solitary art together.
You can find poems, resources, videos, events and more on my website, Word Woman.
Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
The Beholder by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
I was beautiful then, I think,
when I look at the picture
that Facebook shows me
from nine years ago.
I was slenderer, my shoulders
well-muscled, my brown hair
not threaded with gray.
But I remember the day
that picture was taken,
and I know full well
the woman smiling did not
believe she was beautiful,
though perhaps she would
have looked at an image
of herself from nine years before
and thought oh, I was beautiful then.
How is it beauty is something
I can’t see in myself in this moment,
only from a decade away?
So today, when I look in the mirror
and see the papier-mâché skin
above my eyes, the deepening lines
that etch my lower lip to my chin,
the thick hips, the thick thighs,
I try to see myself with the eyes
of myself nine years from now
knowing she would look
at the woman in the mirror
and say to me, sweetheart,
I’m not surprised you cannot see
what I see, how the broken world
has opened you, changed you.
And though it has nothing to do
with your eyes, your hair,
my goodness, you are beautiful.
Karly Randolph Pitman
My relationship with my body - in all her ages, shapes and sizes - has been a place of wonder, joy and connection and a place of fear, worry, and confusion. My body has felt the wonder of birth and breastfeeding, the delight of long walks, and the agony of depression, eating disorders, and shame.
Unraveling my bond with food, bringing kindness to my body and bringing care to my body shame has been a journey of homecoming.
I'm a mother, craftswoman, and long time meditator; a writer, teacher, and facilitator who supports people in healing their relationship with food. You can learn more about me at Growing Humankindness, the home of my work.
I live in Austin, Texas with my family and beautiful live oak trees, where I love to go for long walks, make anything with my hands, lay on the earth, and marvel at the garden.
Karly Randolph Pitman
Matins by Karly Randolph Pitman
The morning I woke, my bed clothes damp,
I was confused – can menopause revert?
Am I bleeding again? But no, this is a
different kind of moisture. My grandmother
said we start in diapers and end in diapers.
I didn't think I'd be here now, at 49, but here
I am. And I can't help but think, after
the first shock of surprise, then grief,
and after asking my husband to please
let me know if I smell like pee, what a
wonder this is - to mother myself in this
new way, to care for my body, my body
who does so much for me, my body that
loves me so. Now it's my turn, my love,
to care for you. I can't hate my body
for growing older. I can't hate my body
for failing any more than I can hate
the broccoli plants that can't flower in the
too cool summer nights. I never thought
I'd see incontinence as joy, as the chance
to love myself, but here it is. I never thought
the years of self hatred, the shame of living
in human flesh, would thaw in my disintegration,
but here it is. What a wonder, this love, that
doesn't feel humiliated by my body's demise
but fully alive, dignified.
We offer three payment options for this writing retreat: $125, $150 or $175 USD. The retreat is limited to 20 spots.
Update: Friends, this workshop is now full. If you're interested in joining, please contact us to join the waiting list. We'll reach out if a spot opens up. Love, Karly and Rosemerry
Frequently Asked Questions
Is writing experience required? What if I'm not a writer?
No writing experience is required! You don't need to be an experienced writer, poet or meditator. This playshop is open to all levels - from experienced writers to beginners, from those new to mindfulness to long time meditators.
We're not here to perform or critique, or even to write something 'good,' but to explore our relationship with our bodies and to open to our experience, seeing what wants to come through.
This offering is for people with a sincere desire to explore, share, write from the heart, and listen from the soul, and who want to connect with others. We get to be together, from all over the world! The only requirement is a willingness to show up and to offer your presence to the group.
What should I bring to the playshop?
Bring writing supplies, those things that help you feel comfortable (water or tea, a cozy chair or blanket), and a device that connects securely to the internet. It's also helpful to settle into a quiet space where you can feel well nourished and present.
Will there be breaks or time off screen?
We'll have a 50 minute break from 11:35-12:25 PST/12:35-1:25 MST/1:35-2:25 CST/2:35-3:25 EST. We'll also have two additional five minute breaks throughout the day, and there will be writing time where you can be off screen.
Can I cancel?
Yes, you may cancel up to Monday, September 9th. You have several options when you cancel - you can pass your registration onto a friend, you can donate your registration fees to our gathering, or you can ask for a refund. Please contact us by email to cancel your registration or to request a refund.
I tried to sign up but it's sold out. Is there a waiting list?
Yes! If you're interested in joining, please contact us to join the waiting list. We'll reach out if a spot opens up. Love, Karly and Rosemerry
