Words in the Wood

An Internal Family Systems (IFS) and expressive writing workshop for calm, compassion, and connection during the festive season. Connect with the parts of you that come alive (or feel burdened) at Christmas

Unburden old memories, stories, and pressures tied to the festive season
Invite in new, chosen rituals rooted in peace and authenticity
Reduce stress and anxiety by strengthening connection with your core Self

Through a mix of guided meditations, gentle writing prompts, small-group reflection, and moments of stillness you can reconnect with your core self: the calm, compassionate presence that can hold all parts of you with love.

The festive season can stir up a ‘parts party’ inside us: the perfectionist, the people-pleaser, the exhausted caregiver, the inner child longing for magic, the one who just wants to escape it all.

This online session invites you to bring gentle curiosity to these parts through creative and therapeutic writing. Using principles from Internal Family Systems (IFS) and expressive journaling, we’ll explore how to listen to, honour, and soothe the different voices within us, so we can approach the holidays with greater self-compassion, clarity, and calm.

Our scars hold traces of what we’ve lived — reminders of what the body has endured and how it has repaired itself. In this two-hour online workshop, we’ll explore these traces through reflective writing and body attention. You’ll be guided through acknowledging your scars and interacting with them, noticing their unique landscapes and the qualities they bring to your life. The focus is not on retelling the past but on listening to what your scars communicate now: resilience, protection, tenderness, perhaps even beauty. Through words, breath, movement, and attention, we’ll meet the marks that shaped us with curiosity and compassion.

This workshop is for you if you…
– have a scar — physical or emotional — that still draws your attention.
– want to reconnect with a part of your body that feels numb, distant, or changed.
– sense that healing happened on the surface, but something still lingers underneath.
– wish to soften feelings of judgment or shame about your body.

Led by Elaine Konopka, somatic practitioner, writer, and editor. She is the founder of The Attentive Body online and in Paris, where she teaches body awareness to help people live healthier, more intense lives. An avid believer in the power of the written word, she has been facilitating writing workshops for over a decade.

Sunday, November 9th, 2 – 4 pm UK time
Standard rate: 25 €
Supporter rate: 30 €

This is a ten week online course, starting on Weds 21st January, 7 – 9.15pm looking at how to discover and promote compassion to all the parts of ourselves, with various poetic and writing prompts, pair work, and a spacious and gentle way of listening.

This is an innovative and inspiring approach to bring more compassion and understanding into our lives, through exploring resonance and accessing body wisdom.

Discounts are available if financial circumstances are difficult, so please inquire.