Embodied Expression
A transformational half-day retreat experience in Santa Barbara, California
Saturday September X
11:00 am – 3:30 pm
Location: A private retreat sanctuary in the Santa Barbara mountains close to the Mission
(More details upon enrollment)
A ritual journey of embodied transformation in a deeply supportive community
Through rituals, earth-based wisdom, somatic practices, intuitive movement and dance, you’ll connect deeply with what’s shedding and emerging within you.
Together you’ll explore the embodied process of transformation & change!
- Shed layers that are ready to be released
- Make space for the possibilities that are ready to emerge
- Nurture the expression of new potentials that are emerging
In our fast-paced world...
We often don’t have great frameworks to fully navigate transitions & our daily life with presence, trust, and in union with our embodied wisdom… or with an honoring of our unique process and natural timing.
Together, we’ll embrace the unknown, honor your journey, and allow new insights and expressions to come to light; integrating the wisdom of your mind, body, spirit, and emotions.
Join us for this powerful opportunity to gather and embody your innate expression through intuitive movement/dance, somatic practices, and thoughtful exploration. Deepening an embodied presence that roots you, and orients you to your true nature as you shed and expand in new ways.
Answer the Call!
This experience is for you if:
- You sense something shifting within you, (even if it feels uncomfortable, scary, or restless) and you know it’s time to answer the call.
- You’re currently in a process of metamorphosis. In between worlds. Knowing you are listening to a greater nudge, yet still in the fertile darkness of what is emerging.
- You’re feeling an inner ache for more aliveness, more permission, more of your potential to come forth and be expressed & embodied.
- You’re present to the tension of knowing there is something asking to be released…something that once untethered will create space for you to fully step into the next expression of your life. That something needs to end, to make way for what’s emerging.
- You’re yearning for something new, to bring to life a seed of potential, and you want to cultivate a relationship with your inner wisdom and inner faith as guides.
- You want to trust your innate instincts even more, moving through life freed up in your authentic expression, especially as you cross new thresholds in your life.
This is your space!
Our Journey Together
Our Sacred Location
Santa Barbara. We will gather in a majestic private retreat sanctuary immersed in nature in the Santa Barbara mountains (close to the Mission)
TIME
11:00 am – 3:30 pm
INVESTMENT
$111 USD
Through our immersive workshop, you’ll receive…
- 4½ hours of Guided Group Facilitation, with Melanie as your guide.
- Nourishing & spacious time for reflection.
- Sacred Rituals for Embodied Expression.
- A somatic & intuitive movement/dance guided journey.
- Community connection, immersed in nature.
- The possibility for new insights, and orientations to assist you in your life at this time.
- A sweet offering of Cacao to open your body & heart. To prepare you for your movement journey you’ll receive this sweet transmission of cacao so you can open your senses, and really receive the messages that want to be heard, felt, and experienced (led by the beautiful Ali Cortes, MA, LMFT - more info on her below).
Why Embodied Expression?
I’m passionate about this form of expression for many reasons…
During times of great change and potential this journey of Embodied Expression is intended to deepen your roots within your Self, expand your trust of the great unknown, and connect you more deeply with your authentic self and soul’s path.
Through Embodied Expression, you’ll engage in practices that help you shift from only intellectual/cognitive understanding of your transformation – to truly feeling and living that change in your body.
You’ll also find a supportive space to explore and embrace your authentic self, which fuels your capacity for greater freedom and liberation in how you express yourself every day. Immersed in a supportive, like-hearted community where you get to come as you are.
Reserve your spot now—only open to 20 participants for an intimate experience (I do feel we will fill up, so recommend signing up sooner than later.)
What are the powerful possibilities
for your life through Embodied Expression?
- Soul-Honoring Energy:Leading and being so intuned with the ways your intuition speaks to you that you trust more and doubt less.
- Divine Surrender:Resting more into the flow of life, rather than always feeling like you have to be vigilant, controlled, and forcing things to happen.
- Brave Action: Embodying such a deep trust in yourself and something greater that you bravely listen and take action from this way of being, even when you feel scared.
- Alignment: The confidence to stay true to your path of transformation. A new willingness to move through the discomfort of the unknown so you can sync up to your authentic path, and trust in the innate timing.
- Potency: Shifting any watering down, editing, or squelching you may be doing of your full expression to the allowance and embrace of all of you in full effect.
- True Embodiment: Claiming and Owning your most authentic way of being in the world, including deep ownership of, love for, and trust with your body.
Why Somatics?
Our bodies are our autobiography.
Our bodies hold all of our memories, emotions, energetic imprints, and experiences at a cellular level. These stored imprints can keep us recycling old patterns, beliefs, energetic tension, and a sense of feeling stuck.
When we’re wanting to embody a new choice, a transformation of something shedding and something ready to emerge, somatic practices help us access what we often can’t get to in just our mental reasoning alone.
These practices return you to your embodied wisdom, and help you redirect your essential energy so it flows and is in sync with your natural flow of energy and true nature.
Movement is Medicine
Movement, especially intuitive dance, allows us to express what words cannot. It allows us to feel and process through transformation in ways that words can often fall short.
Through movement, we can literally shake off old patterns, allowing the energy that’s been held in our tissues to be released. This can lead to profound shifts, as the body finds new ways of being and moving that align with our true selves.
Don’t worry, if you’re not familiar with somatics, you will be gently guided through this experience.
And if you’re all about somatics and using movement as medicine, I assure you this will still be a contribution. But you likely know that already.…
FAQ's
While it may be helpful to have some understanding of somatic practices and intuitive movement – no experience is necessary! This workshop is open to everyone, whether you’re new to these practices or have explored them before. You’ll be gently guided through the process, with plenty of support along the way.
It’s completely okay if you don’t know where to start. This workshop is a safe space where you’ll be gently guided to explore new ways of expressing yourself. You don’t need to have any experience—just an open heart and a willingness to explore.
This workshop is designed for people at all levels of experience. Whether you’re new to these practices or have explored them before, you’ll find a welcoming community here. We’re all on this journey together, and your presence is valued.
You don’t need to know anyone to feel welcome here. Our time together will be warm and inclusive. You are welcomed with open arms so you can truly explore and discover. This is also a great opportunity to meet like-hearted people on a similar journey.
What makes this workshop unique is the deep focus on embodied expression and the intentional, supportive space we create for true transformation. It’s not just about learning techniques; it’s about connecting with your inner self in a way that’s deeply personal and meaningful, and supportive on your journey. Each experience is tailored to support your unique process, even in a group setting.
Also, we are constantly evolving creatures. If you’re on this page, it’s likely some part of you is asking to go deeper. This space is here for you to do just that.
This workshop is designed to take you on a deep, transformative journey, and that requires time. The 4.5 hour length allows us to move through each phase of the experience with care and intention. It gives you the space to fully drop into the practices, connect with your inner wisdom, and process what emerges.
The body wants more than a quickie, it wants a spacious experience where it can be felt, heard, and seen.
By allowing ample time, we can ensure that each part of the journey—ritual, reflection, movement, and integration—is fully supported. This isn’t just a surface-level experience; it’s an opportunity to truly embody the transformation you’re seeking.
The extended time also creates a nurturing environment where you can explore, release, and express yourself without feeling rushed.
It’s okay if you’re unsure. The workshop will help you explore and discover what’s important to you. Through guided exercises and reflection, you’ll gain clarity on what you want to focus on and how to move forward.
The workshop is non-refundable because it requires significant preparation and commitment. To create an intimate environment we are capping participation at 20 spaces, so when you reserve your spot, you’re securing a space that could have been offered to someone else. The resources, time, and energy that go into creating this transformative experience are substantial, and your commitment helps ensure a focused and dedicated environment for all participants.
However, we understand that life happens, and if you’re unable to attend, please reach out to me. We’ll do our best to explore alternative options, such as applying your payment to a future event, or being able to extend your admission to a friend or someone on the waiting list.
Meet Melanie Your Guide
Women’s embodiment and transformational guide, somatic & intuitive movement practitioner, spiritual doula/midwife.
I am so glad you’re here..
For the past 12 years, I have supported 100’s of women, in journeys of deep and empowering transformation through retreats, women’s circle group programs, private mentorship and more.
I have been a midwife to this way of life for so many years. Holding space for those who are shedding old skins, waking up to their true nature, and desire a life of embodying their wise way of being. In order to step into my own creation of life of emergence, I had to let go of certain structures and ideas that were imposed and inherited towards the life I was “supposed to” or expected to live.
Living a life committed to the embodied presence of trust, and creating a business for the past nearly 12 years centered around the expression of emergence has brought, and continues to bring with it so much engagement and embodiment of my true self. Emergence requires re-orientations of self trust, befriending the unknown, and the allowance of going with the flow of life rather than against it.
My emergence, especially over these past 3 years, has been another major portal for evolution & letting go; from leaving a 9 year old relationship, to moving to Costa Rica, to allowing many of my old business models and offerings to die and be restructured. I chose to trust and lean into what my soul desired and asked of me to create. Going through this massive growth portal for the past few years is really informing the deepening of my work, and is inspiring the creation of this workshop.
The transformational portals I’m versed in have the capacity to hold us throughout our entire life; it reflects the birth and death cycle that brings new and releases old, as nature so powerfully reflects to us. Two decades worth of frameworks I’ve tapped into for this kind of journey are included in this experience and I am so excited to share them with you.
I am here to support you to catalyze the energy that is coming forth, to assist you in shaping it home to your true nature, and creating a life from within, designed from your soul, rather than looping back into another version of your life that is too small for you.
My professional background and modalities are steeped in my extensive training in Somatic Coaching, Yoga, Ritual, Feminine Embodiment, Seasonal living and cycles of nature that are closely matched to women, earth-based wisdom teachings, women’s spirituality, and more.
Alejandra Cortez
Special Guest Guide
Alejandra is a first-generation trauma-informed holistic marriage and family therapist and healing circles facilitator. Born in Tenochtitlan (now known as Mexico City) with a deep-rooted connection to her lineage from Oaxaca and the lands of Popocatepe.
She continues to learn the art of holistic healing and reclaiming our mind, soul, and body through a decolonized lens from Mexica and Mexteco elders. She empowers individuals, youth, couples, and groups, strengthening their strengths and catalyzing positive paradigm shifts. In 2020, Alejandra founded Bienestar Latinx (now known as Bienstar Counseling, Coaching, and Consulting), a visionary community and a platform dedicated to dismantling generational trauma within the Latine community.
Through cultural healing and resource accessibility, it stands as a beacon of empowerment to make visible the power of cultural resilience. Alejandra’s legacy is one of resilience, compassion, and transformative healing. Her unwavering dedication has garnered widespread recognition.
The Santa Barbara Independent has honored her as a Santa Barbara Hero, Mentor of The Year with BRAVO, The Commission For Women, and recipient of the Future Leaders of American Latino Legacy Awards. Her influence has been featured in the Los Angeles Times and multiple podcasts.
Join Me For This Incredibly Powerful Time Together.
I feel we are deeply craving in-person connection.
We’re deeply craving regenerative places to be in spaces that allow for the full process of the death/rebirth cycles that we will go through countless times here on Earth.
There’s a door opening now!
I invite you to listen to that yearning, that ache, that knowing that it’s time to cross that threshold for what’s next.
To embody the expression of yourself and your life that is asking to be claimed.
To feel liberated, freed up, and in allowance of your embodied expression in your life as a whole.
It is such a joy to receive you and guide you through this potent moment.
I hope to receive you in-person for this special experience.
Be a Part of Our Next Transformative Session!
Reserve your spot now.
Only open to 20 participants for an intimate experience
Location:
Santa Barbara
Investment:
$111 USD
Time: