Sanctuary in Times of Chaos
Somatics, Wisdom and Practice
An Embodying the Mystery Online Retreat
with Richard Strozzi-Heckler, PhD, MCC
With special live sessions for leaders, changemakers, coaches, and therapists
led by Staci Haines, Anjali Sawhney, Maura Bairley and Wendy Haines
September 16-25, 2022
A somatic reality reveals that by embodying our aliveness we are able to have a direct experience of our interconnectedness to all of life. This opens us to the responsibility we have for the preciousness of the time we have together on this extraordinary planet. We can think of ourselves as having an obligation to the shared moments with others and the environment. By affirming this aspect of life… we open our hearts to the utter mystery of being alive in this breath, with the acorns falling from the oaks and the stars burning in the night sky, being consumed by wonder and awe.
— Richard Strozzi-Heckler,
Embodying the Mystery
hello,
When you are able to embody the true meaning of Soma and Spirit, you cultivate lasting change in your life, relationships, and work. You don’t have to travel far to discover this new way of being: it’s already within you.
You may have been seeking a way to find deeper meaning in your life, but your efforts at mindfulness and meditation or goal-setting and support groups haven’t changed a thing. Often, our failure to make lasting change is in part because we make the mistake of thinking that if we change our awareness, new behaviors will follow.
But to simply have a good idea about something is not enough to manifest change. We want to show you that you can move beyond what is holding you back.
You can awaken and open your body to its inherent wisdom and potential.
In Sanctuary in Times of Chaos: Somatics, Wisdom and Practice, you’ll become reacquainted with your body as the portal for your spirit, taking you into deeper connection with the fullness of your aliveness.
Sanctuary in Times of Chaos – Two Weekend Retreat:
Day One, September 17 – Ground: The Life of Spirit
Day Two September 18 – Entering onto the Path of Practice
Day Three September 24 – Eclipsing the Self: Exploring States of Consciousness
Day Four September 25 – The Unbounded Space
Sanctuary in Times of Chaos: Somatics, Wisdom and Practice is a live online retreat held over the course of two weekends. Richard Strozzi-Heckler brings his five decades of experience and wisdom to 3-hour sessions each morning, and in the afternoon, you can choose between the “changemakers and leaders” track or the “coaches and therapists” track, both led by Strozzi Institute teachers and designed to deepen your exploration in a global community of your peers. The retreat experience was designed with care by Strozzi Institute teachers Staci K. Haines and Lise Melvin.
Each day of the retreat features live in-depth teaching, guided exercises, Q&A time, and powerful somatic practices you will be using right away. We help you recognize the processes that emerge as you acknowledge and embody the interdependence of body, energy, Mystery, and Self. As you proceed on this journey, you will experience greater connection to others and to your work in the world.
You will…
- Learn how your emotions, needs, wounds, joys, and your longing, are the elements that help you wake up…
- Recognize the “shapes” of your feelings and experiences, culture and society in your body, and learn to work with those shapes as informants in your quest for authenticity
- Explore how your body is a doorway to skillful action, grounded compassion, pragmatic wisdom— and a way to love the world, and let the world love you.
- Move through deepening practices alongside your new global community of fellow seekers to dignify uncertainty and embody vulnerability.
We look forward to being with you in this inquiry of embodying spirit and mystery.
Warmly,
Richard Strozzi-Heckler, PhD, MCC
Staci Haines, Anjali Sawhney, Maura Bairley, Wendy Haines
and Team Strozzi
how will sanctuary in times of chaos benefit you right now?
Gently steer yourself towards what matters to you most so you have more love and less suffering.
Establish your boundaries and take a stand for yourself to develop greater capacity for choice.
Know what questions to ask, how to stay with those questions, and how to let go of controlling what isn’t solvable yet so you can stay curious and hold the complexity.
Have more clarity of purpose, and stay in meaningful action so you experience less internal chaos and self-questioning.
Develop authenticity and build trust through authentic action
The body isn’t simply an object or a tool, as I first thought of it, but the shape of our aliveness. Our actions, emotions, and moods are not led by a disembodied mind but by the inherent wisdom of our soma. In this view we don’t have bodies, we are bodies.
– Richard Strozzi-Heckler, from Embodying the Mystery
Here's Everything That's Included With
sanctuary in times of chaos
Somatics, Wisdom and Practice
1) A special Friday session to welcome you and orient you to the retreat
Set yourself up for the best experience possible with this opening session on Friday evening, September 16th.
2) Four 3-hour morning sessions with Richard Strozzi-Heckler
Teaching, stories and anecdotes from Richard’s book Embodying the Mystery
3) Two afternoon session paths:
Our afternoon sessions offer two unique tracks with Strozzi Teachers for Changemakers and Leaders and Coaches and Therapists:
Changemakers and Leaders Track with Staci Haines and Maura Bairley
Coaches and Therapists Track with Anjali Sawhney and Wendy Haines
Get guidance and focused learning including small group breakout sessions for practice
4) Daily Practice & Reflection
Daily Exercises and Journal Prompts to deepen your discovery
5) Special post-retreat Q&A session
On October 6, Richard Strozzi-Heckler will host a 90-minute Q&A session following up on your retreat experience
6) Access to a private online learning platform
All your course materials in one easy-to-navigate site, supported by our dedicated customer service team.
7) Downloadable worksheets, transcripts, and recordings
All the teaching sessions are downloadable for you to keep and reference.
8) Access to the private Embodying the Mystery community
Plus, These Bonuses:
1) Hope is a creative, somatic discipline — A Conversation with adrienne maree brown and Richard Strozzi-Heckler
adrienne maree brown grows healing ideas in public through her multi-genre writing, her music and her podcasts. Informed by 25 years of movement facilitation, somatics, Octavia E Butler scholarship and her work as a doula, adrienne has nurtured Emergent Strategy, Pleasure Activism, Radical Imagination and Transformative Justice as ideas and practices for transformation. She is the author/editor of seven published texts and the founder of the Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute, where she is now the writer-in-residence.
2) Wisdom, Poetry, and Beauty — A Conversation with David Whyte and Richard Strozzi-Heckler
David Whyte’s writing explores the timeless relationship of human beings to their world, to creation, to others, and to the end of life itself. His poetry can be heard in the boardrooms of Fortune 500 companies, the hallowed halls of educational institutions, and from the stages of literary festivals and theological conferences. In each of these disparate settings, his work and compelling speaking style is moving and relevant, transcending the confines of any individual context.
3) The Power of Purpose — A Conversation with Richard Leider and Richard Strozzi-Heckler
Richard Leider, founder of Inventure – The Purpose Company, is one of America’s preeminent executive-life coaches. He is ranked by Forbes as one of the “Top 5” most respected executive coaches, and by the Conference Board as a “legend in coaching.” Richard holds a master’s degree in Counseling and is a National Certified Counselor, and a National Certified Master Career Counselor. His work has been recognized with many awards including a Bush Fellowship, the Outstanding Scholar for Creative Longevity and Wisdom award from the Fielding Institute, and Sage-ing International.
Richard is a Senior Fellow at the University of Minnesota’s acclaimed Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing, and an Education Fellow with the Retirement Income Institute. Richard serves as the Purpose Ambassador for Blue Zones, The Whole Health Institute, the Vail Alliance for Purposeful Living, and Blue Spirit Costa Rica.
4) Beyond our own Imprisonment: Opening to the Great Mystery — A Conversation with Fleet Maull and Richard Strozzi-Heckler
Fleet Maull, PhD, is an author, meditation teacher, and entrepreneur, who developed Neuro-Somatic Mindfulness (NSM), a deeply embodied, neuroscience and trauma-informed approach to meditation offering an accelerated path to healing, awakening, and integration. He is both a Zen roshi and a senior teacher in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He founded Heart Mind Institute, an education platform for embodiment & resilience training courses and summits. He also founded Prison Mindfulness Institute and National Prison Hospice Association, catalyzing two national movements. while serving a 14-year sentence, 1985 to 1999. Dr. Maull is the author of Radical Responsibility: How to Move Beyond Blame, Fearlessly Live Your Highest Purpose and Become an Unstoppable Force for Good.
5) Revealing our Oneness through Aikido practice — A Conversation with Linda Holiday and Richard Strozzi-Heckler
Linda Holiday is a senior American Aikido teacher who began her practice of Aikido in California over forty years ago, in 1970. In 1973 she moved to Japan for several years to receive instruction from the generation of Japanese Aikido teachers who had studied directly with the founder of Aikido, Morihei Ueshiba. Linda was one of the first Westerners to live in the remote Kumano area of Japan and undertake rigorous physical and spiritual practice at the Kumano Juku Dojo.
In 1982 Linda Holiday founded Aikido of Santa Cruz (North Bay Aikido, Inc.), a nonprofit educational organization and dojo, where she serves as executive director and teaches regularly as chief instructor. Following in the tradition of her teachers, she emphasizes the heart and spirit of Aikido as a multifaceted practice of peace. Traveling nationally and internationally, Linda leads and co-teaches Aikido events that draw together teachers and students from a wide variety of affiliations.
6) Cultivating Presence in Emerging Leaders — A Conversation with Lisa Picard and Richard Strozzi-Heckler
Lisa Picard is a progressive real estate leader who invested and drove technological change across many organizations. She is a frequent writer on the future of work, mindful leadership and business transformation. She held board positions at Honest Buildings (ProCore Exit) and Katerra (up to Softbank financing) and sits on the board of View (2021 SPAC) and MiiR (B Corp).
Lisa’s +25-year experience in real estate spans nearly every sector developing over $8 Billion in complex ground up projects (i.e. office, multifamily, hotel and mixed use) during her career. Most recently, Lisa was the CEO of Blackstone’s office investment platform (EQ Office) leading the 200+ person organization and strategy for a portfolio valued over $27 Billion.
Lisa holds two Master’s degrees from MIT and is a recovering bike racer and cross country ski competitor. She resides in Seattle and west Sonoma County.
7) Guided Embodying the Mystery meditation practice with Richard Strozzi-Heckler
Drop in for a deep, 15-minute meditation whenever you want with this downloadable video and audio meditation recorded especially for participants of this retreat
8) Guided Somatic Practice Videos
Including the foundational practices of Centering, Gratitude, and Extension
9) Reflection Questions from Richard
Journal and reflect during the retreat with this series of thought- and embodiment-provoking questions from Richard Strozzi-Heckler
10) Center Is a Verb: Reset Practice Video from Richard
11) Optional Practice Buddies for the Retreat
Get connected with a fellow participant to share about your practice and experiences
Here's What You'll Learn In
sanctuary in times of chaos
Somatics, Wisdom and Practice
Day One - Ground: The life of spirit
September 17th
What does it mean to engage with Spirit — not as a concept or good idea — but as something that lives within the temple of the body? We will open the retreat with an inquiry into how we are drawn into the life of Spirit, and explore the Dojo/Place of Awakening/Spiritual lineage by working through the soma-body.
In our opening day, you will learn:
- What it means to engage with Spirit
- About Spirit as something that lives in the soma
- The power of embodied declarations
- States of consciousness and the 1/2/3 practice
Day Two - Entering Onto The path of practice
September 18th
On Day Two, you will examine how your past conditioning sabotages your present and how to work with it, and you will learn practices to distinguish between the apparent, the unseen, and the sacred.
In Day Two, you will explore:
- The inquiry of the path of practice
- The importance of concentration, relaxation, and choiceless awareness
- Sitting with nothing
- How your past conditioning sabotages the present and how to work with it
Day Three - Eclipsing the self: exploring states of consciousness
September 24th
On the first day of our second weekend, we will deepen into our practices together and become more intimate with what is relevant now to our lives. We will work with dignifying fear in a somatic way, and explore our emotions as guides to healing and spiritual life.
On the first day of our second weekend, you will examine:
- How your emotions can be guides to an embodied spiritual life
- How to deepen into your practices and become more intimate to what is relevant now in your life
- Dignifying fear and working with it somatically
Day Four - The Unbounded Space
September 25th
Finally, we will examine the call to let go of what is no longer relevant and to let go into the Mystery. What keeps us from letting go, and how can we deepen our practice?
On the final day of this retreat, you will learn:
- How to let go of what is no longer relevant and to let go into the Mystery.
- What keeps you in a historical shape that is no longer relevant
- What keeps you from letting go into the unknown
- How you can deepen into your practices
AFTERNOON SESSIONS
The interactive afternoon sessions, led by Strozzi Institute teachers, will focus on embodiment and discovery. Through demonstrations, conversations, and collective practice, we’ll explore how you access the Mystery and embodied spirituality, and how this can guide and inform you as changemakers, coaches, therapists, and leaders in unprecedented times.
These sessions, designed with care by Strozzi Institute teachers Staci K. Haines and Lise Melvin to complement the sessions with Richard Strozzi-Heckler, offer opportunities to create community with others committed to embodying the Mystery and taking action in — and for — our world.
CHANGEMAKERS & LEADERS TRACK
This track is for business and civic leaders at all levels, as well as any community members who are committed to making a positive difference in their world, family, organization and beyond.
What does embodying the mystery have to do with being a changemaker?
Led by Staci Haines and Maura Bairley
COACHES & THERAPISTS TRACK
People in the coaching, healer, or therapist roles often hold the most intimate spaces for others while seeking to make a positive difference in their lives, communities and the world.
What does embodied spirituality have to do with healing and transformation?
Led by Wendy Haines and Anjali Sawhney
Vision, relaxation, aliveness, and courage are all a part of an embodied spiritual path. In our afternoon sessions, we’ll put what we are learning into action, and connect embodied spirituality, practice, and transformation in daily life.
You’ll discover where you hold contractions and embodied patterns that were once useful, but no longer serve you. You’ll learn how the shift from holding to softening and enlivening, is key to your work in the world. You’ll explore the unbounded space, receptivity, and centered surrender, and how this serves both your work in the world and your embodied relationship with the Mystery.
We’ll share stories of spiritual path, dignifying our fear and vulnerability, as we seek to both create change for good, and create a strong community.
Here's Everything That's Included With
SANCTUARY IN TIMES OF CHAOS
Somatics, Wisdom and Practice
1) Friday welcome session
2) Four 3-hour morning sessions with Richard Strozzi
3) Four 3-hour afternoon sessions with Strozzi Institute Teachers
4) Daily Practice & Reflection
5) Special post-retreat Q&A session with Richard Strozzi
6) Access to a private membership site
7) Downloadable worksheets, transcripts, and recordings
8) Access to the private Embodying the Mystery community
Plus, These Bonuses:
1) A Conversation with adrienne maree brown and Richard Strozzi-Heckler
2) A Conversation with David Whyte and Richard Strozzi-Heckler
3) A Conversation with Richard Leider and Richard Strozzi-Heckler
4) A Conversation with Fleet Maull and Richard Strozzi-Heckler
5) A Conversation with Linda Holiday and Richard Strozzi-Heckler
6) A Conversation with Lisa Picard and Richard Strozzi-Heckler
7) Guided Embodying the Mystery meditation practice with Richard Strozzi-Heckler
8) Guided Somatic Practice Videos
9) Reflection Questions from Richard
10) Center is a Verb: Reset Practice Video from Richard
11) Optional Practice Buddies for the Retreat
Enroll Now
For a Limited Time Only:
$497
Join Richard Strozzi-Heckler, PhD, MCC; Staci K Haines, Maura Bairley, Wendy Haines, and Anjali Sawhney for this special online training
The Strozzi Institute is pleased to offer support in the form of a significant tuition discount for traditionally marginalized communities with regard to race, sexual identity, and socioeconomics.
If you feel you qualify for this discount, please click here to enroll.
Meet Your Presenters
Richard Strozzi-Heckler
Richard Strozzi-Heckler, PhD, MCC is founder of the Strozzi Institute and the Strozzi Somatic Coaching Certification, as well as the original architect of Strozzi Somatics – a unique embodied learning approach that fully integrates meditation, martial arts, action-oriented communication, somatic psychology, bodywork, social context, and generative conflict training into a pragmatic and depthful transformative methodology. He has spent over five decades researching, developing, and teaching Somatics to organizational leaders, coaches, executive leadership teams, start-ups, military, and governmental agencies.
He was named one of the Top 50 Executive Coaches in The Art and Practice of Leadership Coaching, and in Profiles in Coaching. He was featured on the cover of The Wall Street Journal for developing a ground-breaking leadership program for the U.S. Marine Corps. He is the co-founder of Training Across Borders (TAB), and the Mideast Aikido Project (MAP), which brings together Palestinians and Israelis, as well as citizens of warring countries through the practice of Aikido and Somatics.
Richard is the author of eight books, including The Leadership Dojo, In Search of the Warrior Spirit, The Anatomy of Change, Holding the Center, and The Art of Somatic Coaching: Embodying Skillful Action, Wisdom, and Compassion. From 2002 to 2007 he was an advisor to NATO and the Supreme Allied Commander of Europe, General Jim Jones.
Richard has a PhD in Psychology, is the founder of Two Rock Aikido, and is a seventh-degree black belt Shihan in the martial art of Aikido.
Staci K. Haines
Staci K. Haines is a national leader in the field of Somatics, specializing in intersecting personal and social change. She is a senior teacher at Strozzi Institute and the Director of Methodology, having studied and worked with Strozzi Institute since 1995.
Staci is the co-founder of generative somatics, a multiracial social justice organization bringing somatics to social and environmental justice leaders, organizations, and alliances. She is also the originator of Somatics and Trauma, and leads courses teaching psychologists, social change leaders, and other practitioners to effectively transform the impact of individual and social trauma and violence.
Staci is the author of The Politics of Trauma: Somatics, Healing and Social Justice (North Atlantic Press 2019) and Healing Sex: A Mind Body Approach to Healing Sexual Trauma (Cleis 1999, 2007). Healing Sex has been nationally recognized and translated into German, Japanese and Spanish. She also released the video Healing Sex (SIR Productions 2004). Lastly, Staci is the founder of generationFIVE, a community leadership organization whose mission is to end the sexual abuse of children within five generations.
Maura Bairley
Maura Bairley, MA, (she/they) is a founding partner of co-LAB, a women of color consulting collective. Her approach to transformative leadership and organizational development is rooted in her 30-year commitment to racial and gender justice. She supports and challenges leaders to clarify purpose and vision, align values and practice, and create organizations that are liberatory, sustainable and adaptive.
Maura is a Core Faculty member with Move to End Violence, a project of the NoVo Foundation, where she leads a team of transformational coaches and consultants to support leadership and organizational development. Maura is a strategic partner and advisor with numerous philanthropic capacity building and organizational strengthening projects; her work focuses on change, complexity and collaboration across differences.
Wendy Haines
Wendy Haines has 16 years of transformational coaching experience, is certified with the International Coaching Federation, is a Certified Somatic Coach through the Stozzi Institute, and is a member of the Strozzi Institute Teacher Training Program.
Since 2003, as Founder of Illumine Education, Wendy creates and facilitates workshops in the arenas of Success, Purpose, Vision, Effective Action and more. Wendy has a passion to create positive impact in the world ~ a visionary leader who calls out the best in people with a gift for bringing possibility to life.
Anjali Sawhney
Anjali Sawhney is a Certified Integral Life Coach, New Ventures West (2005) & a trained international Leadership Embodiment Teacher (based on Aikido and Mindfulness, 2010). She has been studying and working with the Strozzi Institute since 2018, including participating in numerous in-person and online teaching teams. She has coached and led workshops for hundreds of individuals and teams including those untapped in the non-profit, corporate, and educational sectors. In the recent past, she worked with Van Jones and The Dream Corps’ Social Justice initiatives, and earlier she was a Director of Product Development at Charles Schwab & Company.
100% Risk-Free Money-Back Guarantee
We are confident you will really enjoy and benefit from this online retreat. However, if you are not 100% satisfied, please contact our support team at support@strozziinstitute.com by 9am PDT on Sunday, September 18th and we will give you a full refund, no questions asked.
Testimonials
“Embodying the mystery left a deep mark on me. The simplicity of it all, complemented beautifully with the way Richard Strozzi teaches elements of mystery, shifted me to a deeper source of knowing within me. I will be going back to the videos many times.”
— H.A.
“I have been a coach for decades. The work with Richard over the last decade has been by far the most valuable work I have done for myself and for my coaching.”
— Jeff M.
“This course met me where it matters, in my heart and my gut, as well as my thinking.”
— Scott E.
“One of the hardest and most rewarding aspects of being human is to have practices and the space to get in touch with the self. Somatic work with Strozzi Institute provides the structure and instruction to do just that.”
— Bonnie K.
“Embodying the Mystery was an eye opening and approachable introduction to a topic that had previously felt outside my comfort zone. The simple practices introduced a door to an alternative way of being which will be an ongoing resource for years to come. Richard’s presence, humility, and wisdom created an environment of vulnerability that allowed us to learn from each other while collectively delving into unfamiliar territory.”
— Sam W.
“The retreat was meaningful on many levels and the practices that Richard taught were both practical and powerful. It was wonderful to see Richard’s heartfelt way of working with people in the course.”
— Michaael S.
Here's Everything That's Included With
sanctuary in times of chaos
Somatics, Wisdom and Practice
1) Friday welcome session
2) Four 3-hour morning sessions with Richard Strozzi
3) Four 3-hour afternoon sessions with Strozzi Institute Teachers
4) Daily Practice & Reflection
5) Special post-retreat Q&A session with Richard Strozzi
6) Access to a private membership site
7) Downloadable worksheets, transcripts, and recordings
8) Access to the private Embodying the Mystery community
Plus, These Bonuses:
1) A Conversation with adrienne maree brown and Richard Strozzi-Heckler
2) A Conversation with David Whyte and Richard Strozzi-Heckler
3) A Conversation with Richard Leider and Richard Strozzi-Heckler
4) A Conversation with Fleet Maull and Richard Strozzi-Heckler
5) A Conversation with Linda Holiday and Richard Strozzi-Heckler
6) A Conversation with Lisa Picard and Richard Strozzi-Heckler
7) Guided Embodying the Mystery meditation practice with Richard Strozzi-Heckler
8) Guided Somatic Practice Videos
9) Reflection Questions from Richard
10) Center is a Verb: Reset Practice Video from Richard
11) Optional Practice Buddies for the Retreat
Enroll Now
For a Limited Time Only:
$497
Join Richard Strozzi-Heckler, PhD, MCC; Staci K Haines, Maura Bairley, Wendy Haines, and Anjali Sawhney for this special online training
The Strozzi Institute is pleased to offer support in the form of a significant tuition discount for traditionally marginalized communities with regard to race, sexual identity, and socioeconomics.
If you feel you qualify for this discount, please click here to enroll.
Frequently asked questions:
We will meet on two weekends:
Friday welcome session, September 16, 5pm PDT / 8pm EDT / 1am BST
Saturday & Sunday, September 17 & 18
Saturday & Sunday, September 24 & 25
Morning sessions are 3 hours starting at 9am PDT / 12pm EDT / 5pm BST
Afternoon sessions are 3 hours starting at 2pm PDT / 5pm EDT / 10pm BST
We will gather on Thursday, October 6th at 10am PDT for a 90-minute Q&A and integration session with Richard Strozzi-Heckler.
All sessions will be recorded and available for you to download in our online learning platform.
You will select a track at checkout. However, all participants will be provided with links and recordings for both tracks.
Changemakers and Leaders are business and civic leaders at all levels, as well as any community members who are committed to making a positive difference in their world, family, organization and beyond.
Coaches and Therapists are people in the helping professions who often hold the most intimate spaces for others as they seek to make a positive difference in their lives, communities and the world.
Still not sure? Send us an email: support@strozziinstitute.com. We’d love to help!
This retreat has an entirely different format to prior Embodying the Mystery retreats. Participants will still learn directly from Richard’s decades of wisdom and experience with the addition of new instructors in the afternoon who bring their unique social locations, genders, and ethnicities. Also, similar to yoga — where you attend more than one class — this is a practice; each time you show up a new version of you is present to absorb and integrate the practices with a new perspective.
No, embodiment work is for all bodies. Every practice we share has a seated or standing option.
We are confident you will really enjoy and benefit from this online retreat. However, if you are not 100% satisfied with your purchase, you may contact our support team at support@strozziinstitute.com by 9am PDT on Sunday, September 18th and we will give you a full refund, no questions asked.
Course materials will be available to you for 1 year after the course ends.
We will offer a letter of completion with total hours completed for the course that can be submitted to the ICF for resource development credits once you’ve attended or viewed all the sessions and your progress in the online learning platform registers 100%.
