My Thirtieth Year
Breathwork, Gateless Writing News, Retreat Dates, and a Poem
In 1994, I walked into a classroom in Cal State Hayward, (now called East Bay) to teach my first ever class. Twelve students— all from the same neighborhood in Hunter’s Point—were open, kind, and so much fun. I can’t even wrap my head around how much I didn’t know, but I was well supported with other new teachers and mentors who came into my class regularly. This small group taught me so much—about education, culture, race, and love. It’s hard for me to image that most of these students are now in their late 40s, likely with children and grandchildren. During that 12 week quarter, I was taking classes on composition theory, tutoring strategies, alongside my George Eliot and Poe seminars. It was before kids, my MFA, and so many lessons ahead. Anniversaries like these are interesting in that I can trace so much of my teaching life back to this first class. Now, my teaching reaches beyond the classroom, but it continues to be filled with wonder, humility, and fun. I will forever be grateful for this journey.
Breathwork Updates
Breathwork is such a powerful practice that is a privilege to facilitate. With a curated playlist, intention setting, and a relaxing private environment, clients find a lot of benefits. I have been holding online breathwork sessions with a handful of clients the last few months. Most report more capacity to remain regulated during typically stressful situations, better sleep, reduced stress, fewer negative thought cycles, deeper awareness, and a closer relationship with themselves. If you are interested in trying out a breathwork session, please contact me; I’d love to support you. For the next month, I’ll also be subbing for a local yogi and neighbor, so I’m excited for eight in-person breathwork sessions over the next month at Calala Lodge here in Cabuya.
Gateless Writing News
The last few months I’ve had another handful of clients who I have collaborated with to work on their writing. The projects have ranged from poetry manuscripts, to a speech, and even a training manual—but a really inspired, heart-centered one. 😉 I love working with writers both in groups and 1:1 using the Gateless method. Gateless Writing has really changed my teaching and academic praxis. If you have a writing project you want to work on and desire a Gateless informed guide, send me a note.
This February give your inner critic some love! Three Thursdays in February, we will gather in the evening to breathe, write, share and celebrate. Each session includes a short talk, breathwork guidance, 25 minutes of writing time and sharing. Check my website for all the details.
My other piece of exciting Gateless news is that my proposal to publish a paper and make a presentation was accepted by The Learning Ideas Conference in New York. I’ll be presenting June 12th-14th. It’s entitled "Positively So: Applying Gateless Writing Strategies to Peer Review in College Writing Courses." For my sabbatical (three Fall quarters 2023, 2024, 2025) I’m examining how peer review is taught to community college students. Specifically, I’m unpacking how separating peer criticism from creative generation and craft tools might hold some promise for improving student confidence and agency. Basically, as teachers and as students we are all taught to zoom in on all the problems that need to be fixed, blind to what is working, what is alive and powerful in a piece of writing. The inner critic is working overtime for inexperienced student writers. If peer review can be refocused to create a conversation of support and positive potential, perhaps that can improve our most marginalized students’ buy-in and resilience as college writers.
Upcoming Retreats
Tranquilo: A Wellness Retreat for Parents of Neurodiverse Children
Gather in community in Costa Rica with other parents of neurodivergent children for Tranquilo: a retreat crafted especially for you. Our second annual retreat will be held at V Entertainment retreat center and spa, in Barva, a district in the Heredia province of Costa Rica, just a 30 minute taxi ride from SJO, the Juan Santamaría International Airport. Surrounded by the colors and sounds of Costa Rica's rich biodiversity, we will integrate somatic practices with neuroscience based tools for parenting and nervous system self-care. The Tranquilo Retreat is for parents who are seeking to embrace a holistic understanding of their parenting journey of neurodiverse children--of all ages. Whether you are adjusting to a recent diagnosis or you have been on the path for many years, we will provide an environment of radical acceptance and support.
We will hike, move, breathe, and relax deeply. Each day we will offer
-Parenting workshop sessions
-Breathwork sessions
-Gateless writing sessions
-Daily opportunities for hiking and other movement
-Sound healing
-One free Massage, on us!
-free time for a spa appointment, rest, connect with new friends, or explore.
Leave feeling resourced, deeply seen, supported, and rejuvenated. All meals and snacks are included and will be prepared by an onsite chef.
Women’s Wellness Retreat: Spring Renewal
Save the date: Sunday, May 19th in Mill Valley, CA from 10am-5pm.
Back by popular demand. Give yourself a day long wellness retreat! This spring do some inner cleaning with a day away to dive deep with other like minded ladies. On Sunday, May 19, 2024 from 10am-5pm, I’m teaming up again with my favorite women: Christine Falcon-Daigle, Holiday Johnson, and Janine Cook for a day of deep healing and care through yoga, Gateless writing, mindfulness, and energy work. We welcome you to a serene waterfront home in Mill Valley, CA, where you will be nurtured by an opening circle, movement & yoga, and a Gateless Writing session with supported energy work. A chef will be serving a scrumptious lunch and snacks throughout the day. By request we are extending the day and bringing you a few new surprises. $315 (Limited to 12 participants.) Reserve Your Spot
Mendocino Glamping Women’s Weekend
Save the date: May 31-June 2
For those who want more time to go inward and immerse themselves in nature, this weekend is made for you. We will be spending the two nights and three days glamping at a beautiful ranch in Mendocino. There will be Gateless writing, yoga, hikes, sacred circles, storytelling and so much more. We’ll post more soon, with an opportunity to put a deposit to hold your spot.
Poem
I want to leave you with a poem from a Costa Rican poet who also writes in English. I can feel this in my bones as it captures such an element of Costa Rica that I treasure.
Pilgrims
Costa Rica
The bus arrives in the orchid heat,
in the place where coffee grows
like rubies in the valley’s black soil.
We disembark, walk in twos so we
don’t slip on the genesis mud.
The woman next to me carries
three cellphones as gifts for cousins
and a bucket of chicken to share.
How is it that I have come this far
with nothing, that I am empty-
handed in this country of blessings?
A procession of rust-colored macaws
glides above us. Their ashy shadows
draw crosses onto all of our heads.