Welcome to this guided learning series.
During an increasingly turbulent political time, this is an invitation to pause, reflect, and root ourselves for the long-haul work of justice.
Many of us are riding the waves of big responses these days: urgency, overwhelm, shutdown, or the drive to act immediately. These reactions are deeply connected to our nervous systems, which instinctively respond to injustice in powerful ways. But reflexive or isolated action without connection or grounding can burn us out or miss the deeper change we seek.
In this series, we’ll explore how our nervous systems are shaped by trauma, history, and oppression—and how body-based and spiritual practices can help us stay present and connected in the face of injustice. From exploring our embodied histories and wisdom to redefining what power means, this series offers support to root into your values, expand your sense of agency, and find your place in the work of collective transformation.
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Building Strong Roots for the Long Work of Justice
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The Nervous System + The Web of Life
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Tending Our Humanness: Trauma & Embodied Stories
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Tending our Energies: Self-Stewardship and Solidarity
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Reimagining Power: Expansive Ways of Shaping our World
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Session 6 (Available in August)
Meet Your Guides
Anna Kendig Flores
Antiracism Coordinator of the PTCA
Anna Kendig Flores (she/her/ella) served as a certified interfaith and secular chaplain for over 10 years, and is a leader with specialties in mental health, addiction, organizational ethics & equity. In her role as Antiracism Coordinator for 55 congregations in the Twin Cities and beyond, she incorporates spiritual practices with a holistic approach to "anti-racist living" that seeks to build wholeness in communities from the inside-out.
When she's at play, Anna can be found nurturing her indoor/outdoor garden filled with the Mexican, Syrian & Lebanese foods of her family roots, practicing healthy urbanism on her bike, and reading solarpunk & afrofuturist fiction.
With a background in sociology, Rachel spent the first part of her career doing experiential education and leadership development with justice-seeking young adults. Eventually, she found her way to politicized somatic work, as a path for getting down to the embodied roots of our patterns of harm, and our capacity for change. Since then, she’s been gathering people around this learning and practice, often groups of fellow white folks with an antiracism focus. Rachel (trained in Somatic Experiencing) also does 1:1 somatic coaching with folks in her Minneapolis community.
Outside of work, Rachel loves spending time with her Ashkenazi Jewish and Scandinavian family, loves community singing, asking juicy questions, taking walks at Powderhorn Park, and laughing with her partner.
Rachel Svanoe Moynihan
Somatic Practitioner, Embodiment Facilitator
Ways You’ll Grow
Learn to Listen Inward
These sessions invite tuning in to your inner world—where embodied wisdom often speaks through sensation.
We’ll practice slowing down enough to notice what might be happening beneath the surface - rebuilding connection with our embodied history and deeper self.
Explore your Patterns
Each session invites you to get curious about inherited patterns and reflexive responses - creating new awareness about what might be animating your reactions to life.
As we learn to recognize the nervous system’s signals and relate to them with compassion— we find more space for choice and more alignment with our values.
Root to Rise
Nourish the practices that help you return to presence, connection and agency in the face of uncertainty and fear.
By grounding in the relationships that sustain us, we’ll grow the resilience and support needed for the long haul of the journey towards justice.
Course Cost
For Individual Use
For Small Group + Org Pricing, reach out!
Access Note:
If the cost of this offering is prohibitive to you for any reason, please reach out to racheljoysomatics@gmail.com about a sliding scale option! People facing systemic barriers to financial stability are especially encouraged to reach out. We are committed to ensuring that anyone with interest in this resource is able to access it.
Background of this Series:
This project emerged out of Rachel and Anna's shared desire to support our communities with a self-paced opportunity to learn about how our bodies’ survival systems might be responding to the moment and to explore some practices for relating to those responses with greater awareness and support. Anna has shared this resource in ways adapted to her context, and Rachel now hopes to share it with justice-seekers throughout her network & BothAnd Collective! This is a secular resource for anyone with openness to connecting with our bodies and spirits.
This fall we plan to release a small-group version with a facilitation guide for groups to learn and practice with together. Please reach out (www.racheljoysomatics.com/contact) if you have ideas for how this series might support people in your community.