hello
I wonder... when was the last time you truly honoured your body?
Not admired her. Not criticised her. Not weighed her. Nor apologised for her.
Not wished she was different or wondered whether she was too much...or not enough.
I mean: Honoured her.
When was the last time you stopped long enough to ask:
"What has it been like... to be you?"
To be the body that has carried me since the day I was born.
Because your body has never simply been a body. She has been your companion through every moment of your life.
She has carried your first breath.
Your first heartbreak.
Your excitement.
Your fear.
Your laughter.
Your illness.
Your sensuality.
Your exhaustion.
Your dreams.
She has held you together when your world fell apart.
She may have carried children.
Or the grief of not carrying children.
She has worked.
Driven.
Cooked.
Cleaned.
Created.
Comforted.
Loved.
Protected.
Endured.
And for so many women... she has carried experiences that no body should ever have had to carry.
Women's bodies have been judged.
Controlled. Silenced. Shamed.
Touched without permission.
Expected to keep giving.
Expected to keep smiling.
Expected to keep coping.
Across generations, women have inherited messages about what their bodies should be.
Beautiful but not vain.
Sexy but not sexual.
Strong but never intimidating.
Giving but never needing.
Visible but never too visible.
Our bodies have learned these stories.
Sometimes without a single word being spoken.
And yet... beneath all of that... your body is still there.
Still breathing. Still waiting.
Still holding a wisdom that perhaps has never been fully listened to.
I don't believe healing begins because someone gives us the right answers.
I believe something extraordinary can happen when a woman is finally accompanied as she begins listening to her own body.
Not rushing her. Not fixing her. Not telling her what she should find.
But creating enough safety that she can begin asking her own questions.
What has my body carried?
What has she protected me from?
What has she never had the opportunity to express?
What does she want me to know now?
This is why I created Honouring the Body of Woman.
This is not an art class.
We are not workshopping our body!
Not even as therapy in the traditional sense.
It is a carefully held experiential, therapeutic, creative experience where we use conversation, reflection, curiosity, art, writing and relationship to gently explore the stories our bodies have carried throughout a lifetime.
Sometimes we delve.
Sometimes we excavate.
Sometimes we encounter profound grief.
Sometimes fierce anger.
Sometimes unexpected tenderness.
Sometimes joy.
Sometimes relief.
Sometimes a woman quietly realises: "My body has been trying to protect me all along."
The less you know about 'art' the better this flows. The paintings themselves are never the goal.
They become witnesses.
Witnesses to a conversation that perhaps has never before been allowed to happen.
Again and again in my work I have watched women stop looking at their bodies as problems to solve...
and begin meeting them as faithful companions that have carried impossible burdens with astonishing courage.
I think this matters. Deeply matters.
Because I don't believe women need another place where they're told how to improve themselves.
I think they need places where they are deeply accompanied as they remember who they have always been.
If something inside you has quietly stirred as you've been reading this...
perhaps your body is already beginning the conversation.
If you'd like to continue that conversation, I'd love to welcome you to:
Honouring the Body of Woman.
Together we'll spend 12 weeks in a small, carefully held therapeutic space, using conversation, reflection, writing and expressive painting to explore, honour and give voice to the wisdom your body has carried all along.
There are 14 comprehensive videos and prompts gently guiding you through my process and my group is there for you to share images, journaling and you will be met by me, Kassi Martin - therapist, artist, researcher, writer of 27 years.
No artistic experience is needed.
Only curiosity, kindness, love and empathy.
Only a willingness to listen to your body.
AND if you prefer to work through this self paced you can... no need to join my group, simply explore and work through as you wish during the year long access. And I am still here for you if you wish to email me and share... YES I mean this <3
Perhaps this is the moment to stop asking your body to keep carrying everything alone... and begin honouring her instead.
As well as the 12 week group with me, you also receive a whole year's access to the entire course material from my website.
Here is the all important link:
With love,
Kas