for self-knowledge, healing, and creativity
Oct 9- Nov 17, 2023
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Have you been through an experience that calls for healing (hint – everyone has!)?
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Are you feeling stuck and want to find a way to release your mind and spirit?
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Are you searching for an outlet for self-expression?
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Do you get in your own way when you try to create and write?
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Have you hesitated because you thought your story wasn’t worth telling?
You Are Not Alone
What if I told you that all the above thoughts are shared by most creative people?
I know it’s hard to stop procrastinating because you care and want everything to be perfect, but this blocks flow. You can change this!
You see so many people sharing their stories and question why yours is worth sharing, but the truth is that your story is unique and your voice is unique, so the world needs to hear you.
I know from personal experience that your greatest vulnerabilities are your greatest strengths.
This is why I developed tools, skills, and rituals to help you find flow in your creativity, words for your experiences, and joy in your process.
Imagine if you had a sense of purpose so powerful that you could not restrain your flow:
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You wake up ready to write each morning, filling pages with your thoughts and ideas.
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You are undeterred in your heart, your mind, and on the page.
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You know that what you have to say is of value and communicate it meaningfully.
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Your words have an urgency and meaning that must be shared.
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You feel a sense of relief, release, and healing each time you sit to write.
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You take joy in your process and find satisfaction with your finished work.
So… ask yourself this…
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Do you sometimes struggle with getting your creative juices flowing?
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Are you looking for ways of understanding your experiences in order to heal?
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Do you want to explore your shadow side but are nervous about how to do it?
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Do you feel like you have something of value to share but don’t know how to share it?
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Have you doubted anyone would want to read your writing?
”Susanna is a powerful, generous and soulful person. She teaches from a genuine place in her heart and marries her deep knowledge with her rich life experience. When I take a writing course with Susanna (I’ve taken many), she guides me to open doors inside of me that I didn’t know existed. The thoughtful questions she asks, the intelligent phrasing of her words and the pace and tone of her voice. This is the magic of Susanna’s teaching.
Jo Anna Ishiguro, Yoga Teacher & Thai Massage PractitionerFrom Susanna's Embodied Writing Summer Camp
Time and time again, I am moved by the way Susanna’s own embodiment influences me. I feel a heightened sense of myself. I begin to play with my creativity and allow ideas to flow freely. Each course has taken me on a new journey. Susanna is a remarkable teacher! Every course is worthwhile.
I created Write To Your Center after sharing my own powerful healing experience through words and images on social media. People wrote to me asking about my journey, and for support on theirs. My writing was for my own healing, but publishers reached out to me inquiring about publishing what I had written. From this, Write To Your Center emerged. In this program, I share my own process, tools, and techniques with you.
My
Story
My
A few years ago I wrote an article for Yoga Journal about going on pilgrimage without leaving home. Pilgrimage is generally thought of as an external journey that creates an inner exploration, but in the article I asserted that a spiritual shift can happen wherever you are. The true pilgrimage is an inner experience. Wherever you are and whatever your life circumstances may be, you can always engage on a life-changing internal journey.
My personal experience with pilgrimage was my years of visits to the temples of South India, which transformed my values, my creativity and my spiritual practices. But in 2018, my annual pilgrimage was disrupted by another sort of journey: I had been diagnosed with Breast Cancer.
It was during this arduous year of surgeries and treatment that I did some of the most profound inner work of my life. At the heart of this work was my writing practice. Writing was my lifeline, helping me to purge fears and shadows, and helping me make sense of what was happening to me. Writing enabled me to release old ideas about myself so I could better accept my past, my present, and look toward the future through fresh creative eyes.
While I continue to manage this diagnosis in all of its complexities, I also continue to heal myself through writing. It is my lifeline. Writing offers me the ecstatic release of an exhale and the exhilaration of a new breath. It is hopeful. It is life-affirming. It is my inner creative impulse taking form in the world.
Putting words to an experience helps us to understand it. Once the experience has a life outside us in words, we are better able to contemplate and to come to terms with it. I personally know the transformative power of this kind of work, so I am inviting you to Write To Your Center too.
Writing heals. Writing offers catharsis. Writing gives the inner demons form so they exist in words outside the dark quiet corners of our hearts and minds, enabling us to wrestle with them in the light and ultimately manage them. Writing is a release that resonates in every aspect of our awareness and illuminates new ways for us to think and be in the world.
When we write to our center, we honor the story of our lives.
It is loving. It is healing. It is essential.
You can create a creative and spiritual shift wherever you are right now. Whatever your life circumstances may be, you can always engage on a profound and life-changing personal journey. Only you can access your unspoken thoughts and ideas, clothing them in words to heal yourself and guide others. Only you can write to your center.
I would love for you to join me.
Write To Your Center is based on my personal process as a writer and is based on these 5 Elements of creativity:
TRUST – trust your creative impulse
BELIEVE – believe in yourself and your value
FOCUS – be fearless in your focus
ACT – don’t hesitate-take action-dive in
FLOW – stop censoring yourself and let your creativity flow
In Write To Your Center you will:
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learn how to write from a place of truth and authenticity
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begin your healing journey through words
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gain clarity about your self-expression
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discover your direction for your future writing
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develop confidence in your voice and self-expression
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gain a proven system for your future work
”Susanna’s class offered me not just the opportunity to spend two hours every week immersed online in a community of writers for six weeks, it also encouraged me to cultivate a daily writing practice and to read texts in a more focused and mindful way. It is difficult to overstate how much those two dedicated hours flowed over into the rest of my life, spurring a very creative period in the midst of an otherwise difficult year.
Anna Kushner, Writer and TranslatorFrom Susanna's Write To Your Center
Write To Your Center is a 6 week immersive journey to your creative center.
The skills and techniques you will learn in WTYC will serve you in your future healing and creative work, expanding your self-knowledge and growing your means of expression.
You will participate in Zoom calls, receive worksheets and writing prompts, participate in several Writers’ Rooms, get personal feedback on your writing, and have 1-on-1 time with me.
When you join Write To Your Center, you will receive:
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5 Live Masterclasses on Zoom introducing new ways of thinking about writing and self-expression
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Custom Worksheets and Handouts to guide you through the process of cracking open your creative voice
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Unique Writing Prompts and Visual References to open new ways of thinking
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Insights by important writers on the art of writing
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1-on-1 Session on Zoom or Phone for feedback, strategy and brainstorming
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Email Support with me
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Links to Stream all classes and download 1-on-1 sessions
Plus +
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Accountability check-ins from me and from the group
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Writers’ Rooms in which to write together and share ideas and stories
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Yoga, Meditation, and Pranayama practices to stay focused and motivated
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Free Friday Yoga Asana class with me for the duration of the course (noon EST)
Your Investment: $575
Here’s the Plan
Week 1 asks the questions What do you DESIRE?
And Why write? You begin to explore your creative drive while implementing basic rituals such as meditation to stay focused. Writing this week will be an honest excavation and exploration of your creative history.
In Week 2 you COMMIT to stay on track in your creative process.
By creating an inner architecture for your work, establishing new habits and getting rid of old ones, you develop consistency in your creativity. You will engage in commitment practices to hold things together and to help you break through.
In Week 3 you will FLOW.
Flow is a harmonious state in which difficulties and challenges melt away because thought and action become one. Time seems suspended and your ideas endless. You will use a mantra practice to tap into flow and to unleash it, allowing your writing to pour forth in new ways.
Week 4 launches you to take ACTION.
Through owning your abilities and your worth. Putting aside self-doubt, unworthiness, and perfectionism, you begin to create and to heal through your writing.
Week 5 is when things get PERSONAL.
Consisting of hour-long private sessions with me exploring and elevating your writing and your process, diving deeply into your story. Be ready to write and to rewrite!
Week 6 elevates your ARTISTRY through ritual.
Just as writing is an outer expression of an inner reality, rituals are an expression of what you value and wish to cultivate. Ritual honors what you love and dream about. Ritual brings your desires into fruition. You will establish lasting rituals to support you as you move forward, celebrating your past, present, and future artistry.
Your wound is your greatness. Own it.
Your Investment: $575
FAQ
The Practical Stuff
When does the course begin and end?
October 9th-November 17th, 2023
How is the course delivered?
Weekly content and themes will be delivered via a newsletter packed with images, practices, links, and inspiration for the week.
The Newsletters arrive:
Oct 9, Oct 16, Oct 23, Oct 30, Nov 6, Nov 13
The Zoom Sessions are:
Oct 11, Oct 18, Oct 25, Nov 1, Nov 15 (week of Nov 8 is for 1-on-1 sessions)
What time are the weekly Zoom meetings?
Wednesdays 11-12:30pm EST.
What if I can’t make the calls live? Is it worth it?
ABSOLUTELY! The weekly calls are just one element of this course. You will be lavished with attention from me via email, voice and text messages, and our Writers’ Rooms! And you can always reach out to me privately – I will answer as soon as I see your message.
How does the 1 on 1 session work?
We can do this via Zoom or via a phone call, if you prefer. It will be recorded for you to download. Previous to our session, I will read and review some of your writing so our session will be rich, supportive, and useful.
When will we be able to access the weekly Zoom recordings if we miss the call?
Within 24-48 hours you will be able to stream and download the talk.
What if I fall behind?
If you don’t get to a particular writing prompt, that’s fine! Part of the creative practice is finding your own flow. The structure given in WTYC is designed to support and inspire you—not to confine you. And you can step back in at any time.
Are there refunds given?
There will be no refunds given for this course once it begins. There is a $50 processing fee if cancelled prior to start.
What if I want more individual input on my writing?
If you want to schedule another 1 on 1 session with me, as a member of this community, you may do so at half-price during WTYC. Normally $200, you will only pay $100! You can message me about this at any time.
FAQ
The Creative Stuff
Is it ok if I am a novice writer?
Yes! This is a perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in a supportive and inspirational writing community!
What if I’ve always felt blocked or frustrated in my writing?
Have no fear! One of my specialties is to banish writers block. I have countless techniques to eliminate it.
Is it ok if I’m an experienced writer?
Yes! As a seasoned writer you know that it is often very helpful to be given accountability structures and boundaries from time to time. Personally, I love people giving me writing prompts, supporting my work, and inspiring me. We all need support!
What should I expect to get out of Write To Your Center?
I will help you to set personal goals for this program. There will be a wide variety of reasons for people’s involvement, from beginning a journaling practice to writing essays, personal healing stories, or beginning a book. At the beginning of the course you will set a goal for yourself and I will help you stick to it.
Questions? Email Me!
