Singing Back Our Lives W/out the Lies

We will look at the ‘Skeleton Woman’ myth as told in Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes and use it as a road map for learning how to identify, bring to light and transform ‘our skeletons’ to build stronger relationships with ourselves and others.

Skeleton Woman will help us identify the parts of ourselves that have been neglected and/or discarded, often subconsciously at a time when we were dependent on others and had to believe certain ‘lies’ to survive and stay safe.

ONLINE COURSE

This 8-week, online course runs once/wk with a ‘live’ instructor, up to 12 students (camera must be on for class discussions) and will be most beneficial with an hour or two of preparation each week. Each class will begin with a short meditation or breathing practice (3-5 mins) followed by a short presentation/lecture (10-15mins) and end with a full class discussion for the remaining 40-45 minutes.

2024 SCHEDULE:

• 1 class/wk for 8 weeks on Sundays from 9-10am – starting 8/10, ending 9/28
• WEEKEND INTENSIVE, Sat 9/28 from 12-5pm & Sun 9/29 from 12-3pm
• WEEKEND INTENSIVE, Sat 11/2 from 12-5pm & Sun 11/3 from 12-3pm

2025 SCHEDULE:

• 1 class/wk for 8 weeks on Sundays from 9-10am – starting 1/5/2025, ending 2/23/2025
• WEEKEND INTENSIVE, Sat from 12-5pm & Sun from 12-3pm
• WEEKEND INTENSIVE, Sat from 12-5pm & Sun from 12-3pm

All times listed are Eastern Standard Time (EST)

Make-up classes will be scheduled as needed on the weekend following the 3rd & 5th weeks of the series for anyone unable to attend a prior weekly class.

FEE: $200/8-class course

*price does not include suggested reading books – Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, PhD (We will read CH 5 that includes the Skeleton Woman myth but highly recommend reading the whole book!); also – for an intro to intersectionality & additional reading – On Intersectionality: Essential Writings by Kimberle Crenshaw

OPEN HOUSE

Not quite ready to ‘dive deep’? Maybe you just want to dip your toes in the water to test the temperature? Join TKCdreams to learn more about the Skeleton Woman concept and how our online classes & in person workshops can support you on your journey of self transformation and improve your relationships. You can drop in for a few minutes or stay to enjoy a free, 30-min yoga class and/or a participate in a Q&A with Coyote Christina to learn more about Skeleton Woman.

NO OPEN HOUSES ARE CURRENTLY SCHEDULED – new dates coming soon! :

• 30-min Q&A
• FREE yoga class
• breathing exercise (~ 5mins)
• meditation (~ 5mins)
• relaxation practice (~15mins)

WEEKEND WORKSHOP – 2025 dates will be posted in SEPT

Our 2-day, Skeleton Woman Workshop has 4, 3-hr sessions with two on Friday 7/12 & two on Saturday 7/13 – see agenda below.

Sessions run from 9am-12pm & 3-6pm, allowing plenty of time for an optional, early a.m. surf lesson &/or sunrise beach walk or for a midday surf lesson after the morning session. Alternatively, you can join the yoga/body movement class that follows the morning session.

TENTATIVE AGENDA:

DAY 1:

• 8.30am Breakfast
• 9am-12pm Session 1: Exposing Our Skeletons, Healing Our Wounds
• 12.10pm Yoga/Body Movement (included); 75-min Surf Lesson ($80 small group/$120 private)
• 1.30pm Lunch
• 3-6pm Session 2: Outline for Growth: Navigating Social Identity

DAY 2:

• 8.30am Breakfast
• 9am-12pm Session 3: Cut to the Core: The Beauty of Bare Tree Limbs 
• 12.10pm Yoga/Body Movement (included); 75-min Surf Lesson ($80 small group/$120 private)
• 1.30pm Lunch
• 3-6pm Session 4: Singing Back Our Lives, the Power to Define

FEE:

• $399/full workshop (includes all 4 sessions, breakfast, a yoga/body movement class & lunch both FRI & SAT)
• $250/day (2, 3-hr sessions, breakfast, a yoga/body movement class & lunch on FRI or SAT)
• $150/3-hr session (includes breakfast with a.m. session or lunch with the p.m. session)

*price does not include suggested reading books – Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, PhD (We will read the Skeleton Woman myth during the workshop but highly recommend reading the whole book & CH 5 about the Life/Death/Life nature of love); also – for an introduction to intersectionality & additional reading – On Intersectionality: Essential Writings by Kimberle Crenshaw and for an easy & uplifting read that is filled with insight & compassion, check out When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron

WORKSHOP OUTLINE

9am-12pm, DAY 1:

Session 1: Exposing Our Skeletons, Healing Our Wounds

Identity Formation during childhood & as a young adult: What were the main aspects of your identity formation?

9am Welcome, Workshop Overview & Session 1 Outline

9.15 Skeleton Woman Myth – What has been discarded, What do we need to reclaim?

10.10 Break

10.20 Breathing Exercise/Meditation

10.30 Finding Truth & Making Peace

11.20 Overview of Chakras 1 (to be), 2 (to feel) & 3 (to act) and how they can help us embrace our inner power and become more grounded in our bodies

“The quickest way to minimize the divine within is to interfere with its basic rights.” 

(Eastern Body, Western Mind, p26)

12.10 PM YOGA/BODY MOVEMENT

1.30 PM LUNCH 

3-6pm, DAY 1:

Session 2: Outline for Growth: Navigating Social Identity

Intentional Identity Formation: Honoring the past, embracing the present and planning for the future

3pm Introductions, Acknowledgements & Centering Intentions

3.10 Exploration: Intricacy of Intersectionality & Mapping Your Social Identity

4pm Break

4.10 Introspection: Understanding Social Implications & Complications of Our Identities 

5pm Break

5.10 Internalization: Honoring Our Lived Experiences & Those of Others

9am-12pm, DAY 2:

Session 3: Cut to the Core, the Beauty of Bare Tree Limbs

Curating an identity based on the truth within — it’s about getting to the bare bones, getting to a place with being OK with being cut to the core and embracing our inner strength to ‘sing back’ our lives without the lies

9am Session Overview & Introduction to Common Power Structures, Animal Medicine as a Personal Resource & Chakras Continued

9.15 Power Structures from the Outside In & How They Affect Our Vulnerability

10.20 Break

10.30 Breathing exercise/Meditation

10.40 Introduction to Animal Medicine – as presented in the book Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams & David Carson

11.15am Overview of Chakras 4 (to love), 5 (to speak) & 6 (to see) and how our energy/our vibrations attract and repel our greatest desires and worst fears to create the life we are living

“Learning to pay attention to the subtle currents and impulses that flow through the body.”

(Eastern Body, Western Mind, p151)

12.10 PM YOGA/BODY MOVEMENT

1.30PM LUNCH BUFFET

3-6pm, DAY 2:

Session 4: Singing Back Our Lives & the Power to Define

Celebrating who we are, where we’ve been & who we are becoming

3pm Overview & Review of Previous Sessions 

3.10 The Power to Define — New Creation Myth:

“Darwin may have been quite correct in his theory 

that man descended from the apes of the forest, 

but surely woman rose from the frothy sea, 

as resplendent as Aphrodite on her scalloped chariot.” 

— Margot Datz

4pm Breathing Exercise/Meditation

4.10 Break

4.20 Reaching the Shores of the Graces: Celebration & Sacrifice

5pm Break

5.10 Power, Perception, Perspectives & Peace

RETREAT – 2025 dates will be posted in SEPT

2025 retreats are being planned . . .