Poetry Dojo
Dojo is a training place, a place to be on a path with others, a place to try out new ways of being. In the poetry dojo, participants work with language and bodies to expand their sense of themselves as poets and as humans.

Renée's Poetry Dojo is experiential and integrates poetry-making and somatic work. Participants will be engaged in both bodily and writing practices, so wear comfortable clothing.  We will explore how our bodies can teach us about ourselves, and how writing can be affected by knowledge.  We will cultivate a more relaxed and aware bodily state and write from that place.  Participants will leave the workshop with practices they can incorporate into their writing lives.

Renée’s intent is to offer monthly Poetry Dojos so that participants can engage in practices on their own in-between the monthly dojo.  In this way, those who attend the poetry dojo can begin to see the difference these practices make to both writing and self over time. 

For more info, contact Renée at: reneeclaire@cybermesa.com
or download informational 80k pdf here

Workshops in Poetry and Somatics
Renée’s long-time practices of both aikido and poetry have brought her to the juncture of combining the two into one arena. In the introduction to her book Water Shed, she writes: “I have learned that the shapes the body makes of itself, the ways it holds back and explodes forth, all say something vital about what it is to be human. … I am interested in the exploration of form and psyche, how transformation becomes possible through the repetition on certain bodily and mental activities.”

In her workshops, Renée combines centering principles, partnering exercises and somatic work with writing exercises that are geared toward opening students up to full expression and authenticity. In our bodies, we can practice to surrender to gravity, let go of resistance, and fully feel our bodily sensations—all of which help to create writing that is more fully alive. Renée works with the premise that as we ground and center ourselves, our perceptions shift and we see more clearly and sharply.  If we do not live fully in our bodies, then we cannot live fully on the page. When we are centered, we are also more able to meet what is not-us in a full way, with open seeing. She explores with her students the ways in which bodies meet language to create energetic prose and poetry.

For more info, contact Renée at: reneeclaire@cybermesa.com

Somatic Coaching
Renée also works with individuals one-on-one. Somatic work begins with the body, with working through the body as a source of learning and information about ourselves. In our increasingly fast-paced, technologically driven world, it is easy to live a life outside of our deepest selves. Through simple bodily movements that lead to awareness, we can begin to come back into touch with what’s most alive and creative within us, and begin to move more and more from this place of excitement and clarity. We all have a purer place within us from which our authenticity shines, and to contact this place is to begin to realize our creative wellspring—to the benefit of ourselves, our work, and those we come in contact with.

In somatic coaching, Renée works with clients in the following manner:

Working with what you care about as a starting point, we will explore how to center yourself around what you care about, and how to get back to a strong center within yourself when you get thrown off by a circumstance, event or person in your life. We will look at the ways in which you can present yourself to yourself as well as to others. We will work with your ability to listen to yourself and to others and work towards increasing your ability to tolerate uncertainty and conflict. You will also work with understanding your own automatic responses to pressure and how to shift these responses and moods. We will work mainly with bodily stance and movement along with clarifying discussion around the bodily work. Where appropriate, we could also work with issues in your writing and writing life as they arise in the bodily work.

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