The Somatic Playground
Moving at the Rhythm of Connection and Trust!
Getting ready for FOURTH YEAR year for the fall!
Get on the WhatsApp group (link below) to stay informed of connected events and upcoming Somatic Playground classes!
Praise about The Somatic Playground!
"Oh my goodness, I have so much fun attending these events!! Now Monday nights are one of my fave nights of the week. 🤣
The Somatic Playground is a friendly and supportive place to explore many fun, body- and awareness-based connection activities. So often I noticed myself contemplating things I learned or connections that moved me during the event. It’s such a nourishing and community connected way to grow and develop in really playful and empowering ways! I’m grateful and will keep coming back." ~ Carley
"Facilitated exercises have created a comfortable space to explore ourselves and engage in deeper interactions with others. The building of the Somatic Playground community, and its varied range of teachers, has given us a path into exploring other communities in the Bay Area. As a couple, it’s been a wonderful place to learn about ourselves and our relationship" ~ Kai & Eric
"I had high expectations because of my experience with the work of the producers of Somatic Playground and I was NOT disappointed. I wanted to go deeper into what's possible within the realms of sensation, creativite expression, and attunement to myself and others. Relatable facilitation, great models for conscious relating and body presence. I comenoutbof the classes totally alive with an amazing experience of soft and juicy self intimacy and awakend connection to myself and others." ~Katharine
"I love Somatic Playground because it enables me to try out different skillsets in a group of likeminded individuals and hosts week after week building a community and learning while we do it. Every week is different but hinge upon similar goals to connect more deeply with people through targeted exercises, games, and frameworks created by the diverse array of highly skilled facilitators. // There is something for everyone through Somatic Playground, whether you’ve been immersed in somatic workshop spaces before, are comfortable with sensual, or you’re brand new, nervous, or are wanting a beginner space, different classes offer different levels and interests making it accessible to a diverse array of folks. There really is space for everyone no matter how you identify or what other types of events you attend. // My favorite part is often being able to discuss and debrief, which happens in each class in between exercises and time for open play. It’s a really incredible space and I’ve made some deep friendships through it, learned skills, and healed parts of myself and am excited to continue on in this wonderful community." ~ Elle
"I've really got a lot out of this series, appreciating the variety of approaches from the facilitators. They've brought me movement, stillness, breath, depth. I've found better connection with my own inner experience, and I'm enjoying the company of a community of somatic fellow travelers!" ~ Joseph
"I attended a class at The Somatic Playground to get out of my comfort zone and meet positive people. I was scared because it was the first time exploring a more emotional side of me and I was doing it in front of strangers. I couldn’t have chose a better place. Every one was so open minded and accepting of me, I felt safe and comfortable the whole time. It was an unforgettable experience!" ~ Brian
"The Somatic Playground hosts workshops that create a safe and welcoming environment where participants can dive deep into introspection while having embodied connections. From the beautiful rope workshop to the "Play Your Way to Authenticity" workshop, each experience is a testament to the care and creativity of the facilitators. The combination of trust-building activities, guided meditations, and interactive games create a sensory based journey and camaraderie among attendees, leading to the feeling of genuine community." ~ Heather
"Thank you so much for organizing the Somatic Playground a second time. When I started attending last fall my partner and I were just beginning to explore more movement and somatic awareness activities. I came to the workshops initially intending to connect with others in ways that I was not yet conversant. As each workshop is different, with a full-fledged teacher sharing their passions and skills, I have left each one filled with a broadened sense of community and support in finding out together just how deep and full and mysterious living can be. The work here is important as it brings together many teachers and students to explore the beauty of being fully alive." ~Kent
What is the Somatic Playground?
✨ Weekly Monday classes with some of your favorite FireLight & SoulPlay teachers, and more!
✨ A place for you to learn, embody, and grow somatic, primal, emotional, and energetic intelligence!
✨ A space to co-create community with a common language around relating & intimacy!
✨ An opportunity to slow down, connect, and move at the pace of connection and trust!
✨ A time to play, move, and dance together!
Join us for a series of collaborative exploration at The Somatic Playground!
These in-person events take place on Mondays 7-10pm
Get ready to immerse yourself in a unique experience of connecting with yourself and others in a playful, expressive, & intimate way. Through various somatic exercises and activities, you'll discover new ways to move, connect, let go, and build trust with those around you.
Whether you're a seasoned dancer or have never stepped foot on a dance floor before, this event welcomes everyone. We're cultivating a thoughtful space to explore your body's language, express yourself freely, and connect with like-minded individuals.
In the Somatic Playground, we will cultivate a community of somatic attunement and relational intelligence. Each week, a different facilitator will guide you on a journey of research, play, and practice, honing your abilities to dive into your somatic, emotional, primal, energetic, and relational bodies - learning to listen through touch and taste the pathway of motion. An open jam will follow as a way to continue exploring together sparks and curiosities from class.
So, mark your calendars and come join us at The Somatic Playground for an evening filled with exploration, movement, touch, and connection. Don't miss out on this opportunity to let loose, meet new people, and discover the joy of moving at the rhythm of connection and trust.
Our Community Agreements
As teachers, facilitators, and participants, while we support everyone engaging with sovereignty (making good choices for themselves and others), we also understand that trauma has a huge influence on people's behavior and experience, so we are trauma informed in the ways we teach, engage, and/or participate in these classes. We also recognize and continue to learn to be aware of the power dynamics that exist or might arise as we engage, and seek to level the playing field of power whenever possible, and engage with utmost attunement, care, and consideration for each other.
Erotic energy may emerge but is not the goal. Sensual touch is welcome - we are exploring all that is possible in terms of how we relate to each other through sensing. Sexual touch and intoxication are not a part of this container.
Diversity and Inclusion
For each class series, we seek to include a diverse group of facilitators to express the full range of humanness, bodies, and experience around race, age, gender, identity, sex, sexual orientation, and more. Some series may appear at first glance to favor some subgroups, and while may be accurate that this is what was available at the time, we continue to include facilitators who fit all of these subgroups.
Similarly, and in collaboration with the Plura App/Community, we seek to include a diverse group of humans and celebrate all experiences, bodies, and identities, especially of those who have historically been less favored or appreciated.
Please reach out with any questions.
Refunds or Transfer
If it ever turns out that a class wasn't for you or that you missed a class for any reason, we'll be happy to refund you! 🫶
No one turned away for lack of funds, text/whatsapp (+14155050786) or email us (thesomaticplayground@exquisite.love) to chat!
Tickets
7-10pm
$30 prepaid | $40 at the door
Classes
Brazilian Zouk: Embrace in Flow
An exploration of the possibilities within a close embrace.
There are so many ways to hug: tentatively, full-body, the octopus, the one that feels like a massage where you finally remember to breathe, and more. The flow of Brazilian Zouk allows us to remember what it feels like to be human with each other, without any other agenda in the first place. How do we communicate when we're not comfortable and ask for what we need and desire. How do we switch textures in an attuned way.
This class lives in that space of two bodies, close together, learning to listen and speak through touch, weight, breath, and the thousand tiny signals that move between people when they're genuinely paying attention.
We'll play with what an embrace can hold, how to enter one, how to negotiate and move within one, and with whatever comes up when we get into a space this vulnerable and intimate.
What to bring: Playful curiosity and a willingness to get a little closer than usual. There will be a smooth transition into a hug, we go at the speed of our nervous system.
Please shower beforehand and come smelling nice, though easy on the strong scents for the sensitive noses 🙂
No dance background needed. No dance partner needed, we'll all dance with each other. If you wanna stay with your partner, that's also welcome.
Bio:
Brigitte is a somatic movement facilitator and embodied leadership guide based in San Francisco. Her work lives at the intersection of Brazilian Zouk, somatic practice, and the kind of intelligence that only the body knows.
She's been working with movement as a medium for transformation for over twenty years, guiding people back to what's already alive in them: how to inhabit their full presence and be genuinely themselves in connection with others.
Her work draws on archetypal exploration, polarity, and the somatic wisdom that lives underneath our habits, stories, and roles. Spaces where people remember how to feel, how to move from their own center, and how to meet others without losing themselves.
Her offerings are for anyone curious about what their body is already doing: leaders ready to lead from the inside out, and anyone who senses that eros as a life force, not just a feeling, might be one of the most honest guides they have.
https://www.instagram.com/b_moving
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bwittmer/
Less Technique, More Connection with Rope
Discover how rope play can be a powerful catalyst for heightened physical connection and presence. Using just one simple knot to anchor rope to the body, we’ll explore different variables you can play with to quickly drop into your sensual bodies and create an attuned rope scene without having to focus on remembering a pattern. This class will get you out of your head and expand your landscape of possibilities with rope.
Come with a partner to tie with and one piece of rope 24-30 ft long. Rope will also be available to borrow.
Bio:
Gina and Ben (Tightly Bound) began tying together in 2023, and with their combined 15 years of experience, rope has become a beautifully rich way for them to connect and collaborate. Ben’s tying is influenced by his experience as a Hakomi-trained somatic coach and Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioner, and Gina’s tying and bottoming are influenced by her dance and movement background spanning Argentine tango to contact improv. While they teach non-dogmatically, they have taken inspiration from the teachings of Nicolas Arnoys and Akira Naka. Ben and Gina emphasize attunement, communication, and safety, how to tap into desire, and how to incorporate movement and body locking to create dynamic scenes. They host rope jams and classes in the Bay Area, California, teach at weekend events in the US, and are co-teachers with the State of Ropes progressive class series in SF.
Deep Eros in the Dance
Come home to your body and your sacred eros as we slow down and drop in together. Refine your awareness of how eros moves through you. Open your body and voice to express new levels of sensation. Learn to expand this erotic energy in an integrated grounded way that makes you a trustworthy and attuned body on the dance floor. Explore guided touch scores to build trust, consent, creativity, and intimacy. This 2 hour class will open into a 1 hour jam. You may come solo or with a beloved. You are encouraged to bring a water bottle and knee pads.
Bio:
Z (aka Zahava Griss, they/them) is the founder of Embody More Love, in its 27th year! Z serves people dedicated to a life of extraordinary relationships & bodies desiring to be fully, passionately, lived in. Z welcomes you into personal & cultural liberation. Their work weaves dance, secure attachment healing, grief eros ritual, kink, coaching, spiritual, energetic & ancestral tending practices.
https://www.EmbodyMoreLove.com
Alchemy of Kink: Using Power Dynamics for Healing & Intimacy
Ideal to come with a partner but not required
Fresh off blockbuster sessions at Firelight, Alchemy House, and Revel, we are returning this workshop to the Bay! This event is for both experienced players wanting more tools for hotness and intimacy, as well as new folks exploring how consensual power play can turbo-charge healing and transformation.
The first part of the evening will be beginner-friendly and accessible for anyone kink-curious. This features the classic Alchemy of Kink tools launched in 2014 in Boulder, Austin and Burning Man. The practices are heart-opening, easy to implement, and immediately hot! Past participants will also find this first half valuable. We will go further into your desires, longings, and edges around intimacy.
After a break we will go deeper into hands-on partner playshop in a 60 minute container. This is for people already comfortable navigating boundaries, safewords, and scene negotiation. This time will include negotiation, play, and some group integration. Usually solo participants can find a practice partner for this time, but we can't guarantee that in advance.
The workshop includes time to clarify your own desires and turn-ons, small discussion groups with others who share your interests, and hands-on practice if you match with or bring a complementary partner. This is not a physical techniques class on spanking or bondage. It is a dive into how your erotic self is connected with your life energy and your deeper pull toward growth and healing.
“Alchemy of Kink was transformatively amazing!!! The wisdom I learned from you was more powerful than I expected and made it easy and fun to create a robust scene.”
"Sasha held a space so full of care and lightness that wounded parts of me began to heal almost immediately. He shared easily digestible and memorable tools that have been easy to carry into practice, and have entirely transformed my approach to play for the better. I wish I had this information so much sooner!"
"Sasha’s workshop was my favorite. It was a very calm, warm, nonjudgmental environment for a kinky one and that really healed something tender in me. It totally reframed kink as this sweet thing and I still feel it."
"I’ve been to other conscious kink workshops and have worked with a number of private facilitators, I found your Alchemy of Kink to be my favorite, deepest, most meaningful experience so far. You hold an authentic, down to earth space, that is welcoming and relatable."
Bio:
Sasha’s biggest turn-on is deep connection. He loves the feeling of excitement, awkwardness and wonder that follows big scary self-disclosures. Sasha has been teaching the Alchemy of Kink workshop since 2013 and had rave reviews at Firelight, Revel and the Alchemy Society.
Entering the kink scene in 2008, he discovered that consensual power dynamics could create a container for healing and empowerment. Since then, and with amazing collaborators like ghost sonata and Dr. Hazel-Grace Yates, PhD, his approach has crystallized into simple, down-to-earth tools for creating profound connection, hotness, and wonder.
Outside of kink, Sasha Loves You has taught embodied leadership, improv theatre, and group process work since 1999. With his collaborators his work has been offered at Burning Man, Colorado Leatherfest, the Rocky Mountain Poly Living conference and the Integral Center Circling Summit.
http://instagram.com/yessashalove/
Divine Eros
DESCRIPTION TO BE ADDED
Bio:
Malkaprem Beloved is an Ordained Tantrik Mystica and Soma Sensual Embodiment Mentor for 22yrs !
She offers Transmisson from “the Soma of the Primordial Womb Field.”
She Guides Full-Spectrum healing from Therapeutic Somatic Healing and Parts-Work to the Tantric and Subtle Spiritual Womb-Energetics.
You can follow-up to work with Malkaprem through her exquisite, Private Deep Venus Healing & Mentorship Programs for Women, Venus Temple Body Work & Ritual Journey Sessions, Group facilitated experiences, and retreats local to Santa Cruz and Globally !
Who's Your Daddy? Exploring Caregiver/Little dynamics
Daddy/Little (or more broadly, Caregiver/Little) is one of the most misunderstood dynamics in kink. And, in our opinion, one of the hottest! Far more than a single roleplay, it's a rich constellation of consensual adult power exchange dynamics centered around creating a specific emotional experience for both participants. In this interactive workshop, we'll explore the many flavors of Caregiver and Little (including Daddy, Mommy, Princess, Good Girl/Good Boy, Bad Girl, Brat, Kitten and more) and discover how these archetypes can be embodied by people of any gender. We'll demystify common misconceptions, discuss consent and negotiation, and explore a wide menu of playful, nurturing, and erotic roleplay possibilities that participants can adapt to their own relationships.
Before we get to the "how," we'll dive into the deeper question of why these dynamics can feel so profoundly exciting, meaningful, healing, or transformative. We'll examine the powerful emotional experiences that often lie beneath Caregiver/Little play, such as praise, protection, belonging, surrender, guidance, care, playfulness, devotion, and being deeply seen. Next, we’ll move into an embodied exploration of the CG/L archetypes and desire a personal menu of words, activities, and energies for expressing them. Through discussion, partner exercises, and self-discovery, you'll leave with a richer understanding of your own desires, new inspiration for creating authentic CG/L dynamics, and practical tools for designing scenes and relationships that feel uniquely alive for you. You can attend solo or with a partner.
Bio:
River Black (she/they) is a Sacred Intimate and a Somatica-certified sex and relationship coach. As a sexual healer, they believe all bodies are sacred. They create loving presence, witness without judgment, and hold space for transformation to emerge. As a coach, River teaches workshops on embodied boundaries, consent, and polyamory and sees clients on Zoom and in her practice in Berkeley, CA. She founded the first-ever Sex Workers Student Union while in grad school and is passionate about ending sexual shame, expanding the menu of options, and creating more avenues for pleasure.
https://berkeleysexcoaching.as.me
Chuck’s passion is to empower people to bring more pleasure and sensuality into their lives. He combines lessons from the Somatica® Institute, the Orgasmic Meditation community, NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) and developmental psychology to teach about touch, emotional intimacy, and hidden routes to pleasure. As a facilitator, he is skilled at creating a container of safety, acceptance and eroticism that lays the ground for deep transformation and freedom. Chuck’s a certified Somatica Sex and Relationship Coach, Orgasmic Meditation Life Coach & Trainer, and NLP Master Practitioner.
https://www.chuckrockey.com
Order Something Different: An exploration of relational range
We tend to return to a familiar handful of ways of being with other people. This workshop invites you to try something different.
Through clear prompts, you’ll explore relational flavors like vulnerability, desire, authority, need, tenderness, predator/prey, influence, and beyond. You’ll pair with another person to explore each flavor for the length of a song.
The music creates the container: a clear beginning and ending that gives you permission to enter ways of relating you might normally avoid, interrupt, soften, or struggle to locate.
Bio:
Ali Williams is the founder of Dragon Academy, a relational gym for expanding our range in intimacy, desire, power, vulnerability, and embodied leadership. Her work is about reclaiming authorship over who we are and cultivating agency, freedom, self-possession, and range in how we relate. A former Olympic-level synchronized swimmer and UCLA-trained leadership coach, she is also the steward of Hawaii Tantra Festival and COO of REVEL, a 350-person immersive convergence.
Heart & Heat: Exploring the Erotic Blueprints Through BlissDance™️
Discover more of your erotic nature through movement!
BlissDance™ is a facilitated somatic movement practice that uses dance as a laboratory for embodied exploration and discovery. In “Heart & Heat,” we’ll use the five Erotic Blueprints as pathways into different expressions of pleasure, desire and Eros. Through guided movement, music and relational play, you’ll explore Energetic, Sensual, Sexual, Kinky and Shapeshifter qualities, then discover what happens when these different flavors meet, mingle and expand your erotic range.
Bio:
Claire Rumore is an intimacy coach, erotic educator, Certified Erotic Blueprint™ Coach and the first newly certified BlissDance™ facilitator in a decade. Her work draws from more than 20 years of exploration in sexuality, somatics, conscious touch, movement and human connection. She creates playful, experiential spaces where people can get out of their heads, learn directly from their bodies, and discover more of their erotic range, expression and aliveness.
Sitar Is For Lovers: Connection & Pleasure Journey for the Solstice
A live sitar and tanpura journey of presence, intimacy, and sacred connection, moving through a four elements pleasure practice and guided partner exercises, ending in a divine sitar sound bath.
Come with a partner or come alone; either way, you'll be held.
Open to singles and couples.
Bio:
Will Marsh is a professional sitar musician whose work draws from the devotional and meditative traditions of Indian classical music. His music is often experienced as grounding, emotional, and subtly transformative.
https://www.instagram.com/marshstrings
Joyce Guan West is the founder of Magic & Medicine, a dating coach, love strategist, and conscious matchmaker for conscious, embodied humans. By day, Joyce is the founder of Coaching With Empathy, where she works with Silicon Valley leaders and executives as a career coach and executive coach.
https://confessionsofacoach.substack.com/
Together, Joyce and Will created Sitar Is For Lovers, a live music and connection experience for couples and conscious singles.
Chakra Sex Magic and Sensual Awakening of the Energy Lines
Whether you are arriving with a partner or on your own, and no matter where you lie on the gender spectrum, this workshop was created with you in mind. This workshop will be done clothed and with exclusively non-sexual touch, however a very real and pleasurable sensation of Tantric energy in the body can be expected.
You have likely heard of the Chakra energy system that runs up your spine from root to crown, but have you ever directly felt the energy of each Chakra? Have you ever experienced the gentle, steady pleasure that can be cultivated from this awareness? Here is your opportunity to do just that, while learning a fantastic practice that can be adapted to greatly enhance the pleasure experienced in self pleasuring sessions as well as lovemaking sessions with a partner.
Before beginning any instruction, attendees will be invited to write down a highly specific manifestation ""ask"" that will be referenced later in the class.
We open with a breath and visualization practice, to ground us and establish a feeling of safety and presence in our mind and body. We will then move into practice of awakening certain energy lines that run up and down the body. Here we will gently trace these lines with our fingertips, a feather or a rose, in a pattern and sequence that builds a sensation of warmth and subtle pleasure in the body. This practice is a fantastic way to ""warm up"" the energy body before beginning a self pleasuring or lovemaking session.
Next we will begin exploring the Chakra Sex Magic practice. In this practice we cultivate the energy of each Chakra, working from the root Chakra all the way up to the crown Chakra, using awareness of the breath, and the visualization of the location and qualities of the Chakra to build the sensation of each energy center. Even though we will only be using non-sexual touch, either from our own hand or that of our partner, gentle touch throughout the practice can help maintain our focus and enhance the sensation of each energy center. As we arrive at the higher Chakras, the throat, third eye and crown, we can bring to mind our manifestation, its image, felt experience, and the gratitude of already having it come to fruition. We culminate the practice by releasing this desired reality out the top of our head, with several cycles of full body breath that rises up our entire spine and out our crown.
Finally we will ground all that amazing Tantric energy, by lying in Savasana Pose, and using a slow steady breath to allow the energy to settle. We can also do some gentle energy line sweeps to help encourage the energy to not stagnate and instead move out of the body.
As stated above, the practice of Chakra Sex Magic can greatly enhance the sexual pleasure experienced alone and with a partner, and is a fantastic way to play the game of manifestation. If you do this practice and have your manifestation realized please come tell me the story! Hearing such stories never gets old.
Notes: Attendees should bring a pilates-type thick mat or comfy pad to lay on, as well as a pillow for one's head and possibly a second if one is desired for under the knees as well. Come dressed in loose fitting comfortable clothes with little to no jewelry. Attendees arriving as partners will need to be able to kneel and do kneeling lunges as the giver will be working on a person lying on the ground.
Bio:
Faeryn Rose is a multi-disciplinary artist, healer and Tantric Practitioner. Her artistic offerings include fire dancing and event entertainment, event production, blacklight body painting and costume creation. Her healing modalities include massage, facilitated stretching and spinal health coaching. Faeryn is has been a student of Tantra for nearly 10 years, is a certified Tantric Practitioner through the Tantric Awakening Institute, and revels in sharing the transcendent joy of Tantra in her workshops and 1:1 coaching sessions.
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