On one end, we are told that we should aim to be selfless and ever present for our children. On the other, we are told we need to double down on our self-care and “me time” to avoid burnout. What results from this crash of expectations is a sense of guilt and shame that leaves us split in half and unable to fully embrace all of the various roles life asks of us.

This 3 week workshop series is a way out of this frozen state and into a richer experience of motherhood and life as a whole.

Through creative, playful practices pulled from the worlds of Nonviolent Communication, Emotional Alchemy, and Somatic Embodiment, Sonja and Myriam will hold space for us to learn to make friends with our inner “bad mom” and see how good we actually are.

Sonja Semyonova was never supposed to be a mother. Once diagnosed with infertility, she eventually achieved a natural conception and a birth story reclamation that inspired her to reflect on motherhood as a path of spiritual awakening.

Her work is guided by the belief that we can turn our pain into power. By drawing on her diverse training as an emotional alchemist, intuitive witch, somatic sex educator, yoga teacher, and Ayurvedic practitioner, she has taught women to befriend the forgotten parts of themselves and honor the body as the temple of the divine.

Myriam Verzat is a creative community entrepreneur, an artist in dance theatre and a mom of a wonderful seven year old child. She has always loved having multiple hats and a diversity of projects on the go. She has spent the last seven years reflecting on the challenging and magical process of trying to offer a beautiful soil for a child’s growth while caring for her own needs. Her journey has led her to become a CNVC (cnvc.org) certified trainer in NonViolent Communication, an approach of communication based on empathy, caring for our universal needs and responsible self-expression.

Myriam also has a master’s degree in communication, a certificate in environmental education and six years of training and sharing NonViolent Communication. She shares her passion for resilient relationships with individuals, schools and organizations around Nanaimo and beyond.