SOMASOURCE
SomaSource Cohort #2
Summer 2020 Welcome Letter
Dear SomaSource Cohort #2,
With heaviness in our hearts, fire in our bellies, and power in our capacities to work together in this time of collective initiation, we are being asked to stay close and connected. We pray as we push up our sleeves to meet this rugged terrain, orienting towards the potentials available at this turning point. Let’s continue to remember we were made for these times, although no one should ever have to face these kinds of oppressive realities.
Looking forward, we write today to share some practical plans for our SomaSource journey.
We are preparing to meet with you all next week, Wednesday, June 10th, 11am – 12:30pm MST for a SomaSource Community Meeting.
During this time, we will review the evolving path forward for our SomaSource Training as detailed below. We will review the plans, schedule, finances, curriculum; essentially Golden Bridge’s overall plans for the coming year. Additionally, please plan to bring your questions to that meeting. We will leave plenty of space for Q and A.
This email includes information and updates on the following:
- SomaSource Online Summer 2020
- SomaSource Online September 2020 – June 2021
- SomaSource In-Person Summer 2021
- Finances and Reciprocity in the Coming Year
We will send more details and links for each of these topics in the coming weeks and months. For now, here is a general overview:
SomaSource Institute Online Summer 2020
July 17 & 18 ~ Attendance Expected
Please plan to attend this SomaSource gathering, required for all of you on the SomaSource path. We will be building family groups and partners for the coming year along with journeying deeper into the work. That will be a time for us all to finally get in the “room” together. We have learned a lot about how to be together online. Thus, our experience together will be intimate and seminal. We will move our bodies a lot too!
This will be our primary time together as a whole community prior to summer 2021. Please plan to be with us, a time we all already set aside for our Summer Institute.
DETAILS:
Dates: July 17th & 18th: Friday & Saturday
- Time: 9am-1pm MST daily
Schedule for both days:- 9-11am: Session 1
- 11-11:30am: 30 Minute Break
- 11:30am-1pm: Session 2
- July 19th: Sunday: Movement Mass
Encouraged and Included for those who want.
- Cost: $75-$100 for two full days plus Movement Mass
- Sliding Scale (Read notes below regarding finances for the coming year. Your economic reality will be considered fully.)
- No one will be turned away for financial reasons.
- Important: We will only have the post-event recordings available for those who do not have access to a working internet.
SomaSource Online Classes
September 2020 – June 2021
Throughout the coming year, we will continue to offer online courses which will support and deepen our SomaSource development. Below is an overview of some of the online courses which will be offered by our SomaSource colleagues and other inspired professionals. Some tracks below will also be open to the public. Some of the courses will be required and many will be optional. A detailed schedule of online courses for the Fall will come out in the next couple of months.
- Required:
- Social Justice Track (This is for all SomaSource practitioners, all cohorts. We will also open to the public now.)
- Family Groups and Partners (These will be assigned during the 2020 Online Summer Institute)
- Two Community Study Groups, including deep dances and shadow work. November and March. All SomaSource practitioners.
- Optional coursework based on your development within the SomaSource Map:
- Somatics Track (Ex: Anatomy. Witnessing. Core Development. Somatic Tracking.)
- Social Entrepreneur Track
- Mini Tracks (shorter series) (Ex: Social and Emotional Literacy Practice, Rites and Initiations, Intimacy and Relationships.)
- Life Cycle Development will be offered between January-June. This will be encouraged for everyone who has not done human development depth work with Melissa or in another kindred setting. This will prepare us powerfully for our in person work together during our SomaSource Summer Institute 2021.
SomaSource In-Person Summer 2021
Please plan for being together during the following Summer 2021 dates:
- July 9 – 10: Pure Dance (Encouraged)
July 11 – 17: Life Cycles and Graduation (Required)
July 19 – 25: SomaSource in the World and Community Week (Optional)
July 26 – 30: Surfing the Creative (Optional unless you need to complete your participation in this process)
More details about Summer 2021 to come!
Finances and Reciprocity
Last year when we confirmed the pathway for SomaSource, we offered a particular outline for what completion of the training and the financial investment would look like. No one could have imagined how much the world would have changed in the last several months. We remain committed, as always, to access. We also find that now, as much as ever, we must all do our work to be in reciprocal relationships with one another. The programming for this coming year was not part of our original plan. As a result of this, the finances have also had to change.
With that in mind, here are some principles for how we will be relating to finances for the coming year:
- We remain committed to access for each of you who has already started this journey with us.
- For those of you for whom the additional costs of this year’s programming feels unfair or inaccessible, we can be in communication to find something that feels fair and right to all.
- We will offer a sliding scale for all classes for the coming year, much like the scale we are currently using for Movement Mass. We will create a similar scale for our program costs.
- We ask that you consider the various ways you can give back to Golden Bridge. Here are a few ideas: Posting about our work and each other’s work on Social Media; tagging Golden Bridge in your posts; actively supporting one another and mentoring one another with your gifts and skills; “passing along” the support and education you are receiving.
- We can talk about this more fully next week!
On June 10th, we will gather on Zoom to answer questions and get grounded together for our work going forward. Bring your questions and your suggestions.
Stay safe. Stay close. Stay true.
Love you.
Melissa, Maren, Abigail and the Golden Bridge Team