What working with me really looks like...

On Monday I told a group of women I'm guiding through group somatic yoga therapy that we were diving into "past self work."

And that this work the yoga, healing, all of it it's not just about feeling better or dredging up the past.
It's for your liberation, wholeness, freedom.

It's about reconnecting with yourSelf in a way that life...trauma...expectations slowly pulled you away from. 

And honestly, it's so you can have way more fun in this life.

If you've been around a while, you know that I rebranded to The Nourished Woman about a year ago. And if you don't know, The Nourished Woman isn't me...she's you, me and the vision you and I hold in our hearts of the women we already are and are undeniably becoming. 

After sharing this, the EMBODY ladies and I practiced.
Slow, intentional movement. 
Grounding into their feet, hips and bodies.

Feeling their strength, stability and power.
We worked with the root chakra, with safety and taking up space.

I guided them to use their voice, to make sound and let themselves be heard. 

There was laughter...real laughter the kind that feels unexpected in a room where you've also cried.  Even Snoop Dogg came up, because apparently he has a children's album now - my clients tell me, haha. 

And then we softened
Moved into stillness, bodies laid out loosely in the way that only do after a great yoga practice 
They breathed slow and all was quiet

Then into writing
About meeting parts of themselves that still carry things
The younger parts, the protective parts, the ones that learned how to survive

And then we shared. 
And this is the part that always get's me.
Because of the range...the depth...the humanity in the room.

One woman spoke about recovering from medical trauma.
Another about growing up with an addict mom who saw too much too early.
One shared the quiet excitement of apartment shopping for her very first place. 
Another spoke of the ache of wanting deeper friendships.
There were stories of sexual and emotional abuse. 
Of staying with the scared, lonely parts of yourself instead of abandoning them.
Of hitting your 40's and realizing...you don't know yourself anymore. 
Of seeing, in real time, just how deeply you love and cherish someone you lost. 

There were tears
And soft breaths
And long pauses
There were smiles too. 
And something you could feel shifting in the room...like weights being set down...one by one. 

And then they walked out.
Lighter, clearer, more connected.
With real grounded ways to move forward. 

That's the real magic of this work.
Not surface level.
Not aesthetic.
But women...coming home to themselves
Together. 

PS If you're interested in being part of this 6 week women's empowerment yoga program called EMBODY, I run it a couple of times per year. Sign up for emails with me to be notified of the next time it's offered. Sign up and get a free "Meditation for Women Who Think You're Bad at Meditation Guide," here: ​kerimarino.eo.page/meditationguide

Keri Marino is a Women's Empowerment Yoga Therapist and the founder of The Nourished Woman. With 16 years of experience guiding thousands of women, her work blends somatic yoga therapy, nervous system healing and devotional spiritual practice to help self-aware women who have "done the work" finally feel confident, connected and at home in your body.

​Through restorative yoga, meditation and compassionate inner work Keri helps women move from insight to embodiment - so the healing and wisdom you've gained can actually show up in your real life. 

Based in Greenville, SC with offerings in person and online. ​