Why This Membership?

(& Why Now?)

Life is happening right now - anywhere you put your attention: things and beings are expressing exactly what they are, with their unique and illuminating qualities. Your tummy might be grumbling, wisely telling you: time to eat! Someone nearby, a stranger or beloved, may be silently expressing a palpable sadness or radiance that opens your heart. Maybe the wind is alive outside in the branches, and indeed it is inside, here in our lungs. Even the objects many may call inanimate, have a resonance. A voice. That stone that fits so well into the palm of your hand and warms gently with the heat of you, has journeyed through many epochs to be ready to meet you here, in this particular shape, in this specific moment.

This membership of practice structures, guidance, and community is your invitation to enter your writing through the vital portal of Life Itself, here and now. When we practice this way, alone and together, consistently over time, we can remember the bounty of being interconnected with all things vast and tiny, infinite and infinitesimal. Our writing can become an emerging conversation fueled by the inherent meaning of existing here on earth.

Maybe we don't have to try so hard when we guide and allow our imaginations to unfurl naturally like a peony in June, or the cold night sky in December. When we practice letting our attention rest in receptivity until our souls speak like the dark depths and frothy surfaces of great oceans. Maybe together we can find a lush relaxation and powerful gravitas when we let the voices of our own living bodies express what's true.

Come for nourishment. Come for inspiration. Come to feed and be fed by the wider web of Life to which you've always belonged. You are most welcome here in KIN.

An Introduction

From Brooke & Rachel

“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.”

~ Roald Dahl

How Does It Work?

The Flow of the Program

The KIN membership involves weekly regular touch points offering many different ways of serving your writing (and you!). The various ways we meet plus dates and times for the year ahead are listed below. Live meet ups are always on a Monday. The membership fee is listed in British Pounds. For more info on how this translates into your own currency, scroll down to the investment section.

Guided Monthly Practice Sessions
Once a month Rachel & Brooke facilitate a live guided practice session focussed around a different aspect of the Living World and invite you into a creative response to it. Each workshop consists of a check in, a guided somatic, inner visioning process, a little teaching from us, a writing prompt and a sharing space. All these monthly sessions are recorded and made available for revisiting on an exclusive private membership platform.

Co-writing Sessions
The following two consecutive weeks there are co-writing spaces lightly facilitated by either Brooke or Rachel (and occasional guests) at times that suit multiple time zones. These are not recorded and are designed for us to write together with focus and more depth.

Community Playground
These take place once a month at the usual time on a Monday and are an unstructured, teacher free hang out. You can use these spaces how ever you like. Co-working, sharing, socialising. Come and go as you please.

Private Community Space
Membership gives you access to a private community space hosted on Mighty Networks. This is a space where you are invited to share your work, if that feels resonant; read the work of others; give and receive feedback, ask questions, share about your process and invite social connections.

Seasonal Deeper Sharing Spaces
Every season we host a Deeper Sharing Space. This is a place to compliment and amplify the Mighty Networks sharing space. It is a 90 minute session where you are invited to come and use it how you like. Facilitated by Rachel or Brooke.

Somatics & Poetry Workshops
Twice a year (every 6 months) there are longer workshops that are opened up to the general public. (All the other monthly practice sessions are membership exclusive).

You can join the KIN membership for as long or as little as it is feeling alive for you.
Yes! Subscribe for £40 per month

“...along with the other animals, the stones, the trees, and the clouds, we ourselves are characters within a huge story that is visibly unfolding all around us, participants within the vast imagination, or Dreaming, of the world.”

~ David Abrams The Spell of the Sensous.

Is This Membership For Me?

What makes it special?

This membership is for you if you:

- are longing for a regular facilitated practice space for supporting your writing.

- enjoy writing in and along side a focused, interactive group environment.

- find deadlines and co-working useful for accountabliity.

- appreciate having feedback on your work in moments that it feels right to you as it evolves.

- long for your writing to flow from a source that is deeper and wilder than the part of you that thinks it knows.

This membership might not be for you if:

- you aren't that keen on group experiences or co-working.

- you prefer to work in a more rational cognitive way.

- You don't want to write!
I'm in! Subscribe for £40 per month

“Listening is the lifeline to the deepest peace possible. There’s never any time lost in a day spent listening. The perpetual and eternal sounds of nature—including the utterances of human beings—are the feast of life.”

~ Zenju Earthlyn Manuel

What's Included?

Here's what you get ~

  • Monthly Guided Practice Sessions

    Guided Practice Sessions are facilitated by Rachel & Brooke each month. Always on a Monday. Always with a different creative focus. Twice a year these are deeper Guided Practice Sessions that run over 2 hours.

  • Bi - Weekly Co-writing Spaces

    Exclusively for members. These spaces are run by either Brooke or Rachel & occasionally guests. Lightly facilitated, they occur at various times to accommodate multiple time zones. Twice a month.

  • Seasonal Deeper Sharing Sessions

    Once a season Brooke & Rachel host a sharing space exclusively for members. These are designed to compliment and amplify your community space on Mighty Networks. This live, facilitated space is for sharing anything that wants to be shared: your writing, the giving or receiving of feedback, asking questions and reflecting on your experience in Sangha.

Date Flow and Timings

* All the live sessions happen on Mondays. We have added the timings across all sessions for the first few months below. We are anticipating this membership will be working across many timezones, and daylight savings shifts, so please do check your local time against the UK / MT times HERE.


April 28 - Anchor Workshop (Somatics & Poetry For Feeling Your Feet On The Ground): 5pm - 7pm UK / 10am - 12pm MT

May 5 - Co Writing space 1   8pm - 9pm Melbourne / 10am - 11am UK 

May 12- Co Writing space 2    5pm - 6pm UK / 10am - 11am MT 

May 19 - Deeper Sharing Space (Spring) 5pm - 6.30pm UK / 10am - 11.30am MT


May 26 - Guided Practice:  5pm - 6pm UK / 10am - 11am MT

June 2 - Co Writing space 1   8pm - 9pm Melbourne / 10am - 11am UK 

June 9 - Co Writing space 2   5pm - 6pm UK  / 10am - 11am MT / 

June 16 - Community Playground: 5pm - 6pm UK  / 10am - 11am MT / 


June 23 - Guided Practice:  5pm - 6pm UK / 10am - 11am MT

June 30 - Co Writing space 1: 8pm - 9pm Melbourne / 10am - 11am UK 

July 7 - Co Writing space 2: 5pm - 6pm UK / 10am - 11am MT / 

July 14 - Co Writing space 3: 5 - 6pm UK / 10am - 11am MT 


July 21 - Anchor Workshop (Somatics & Poetry for Cultivating Soft Eyes and Wonder): 5pm - 7pm UK / 10am - 12pm MT

July 28 - Deeper Sharing Circle (Summer): 5pm - 6.30pm UK / 10am - 11.30am MT


August 4 - BREAK WEEK!


August 11 - Co Writing space 1: 10am - 11am UK / 7pm - 8pm Melbourne

August 18 - Co Writing space 2: 5pm - 6pm UK / 10am - 11am MT


August 25 - Guided Practice:  5pm - 6pm UK / 10am - 11am MT

Sept 1 - Co Writing space 1: 10am - 11am UK / 7pm - 8pm Melbourne

Sept 8 - Co Writing space 2: 5pm - 6pm UK / 10am - 11am MT 

Sept 15 - Co Writing space 3: 5 - 6pm UK / 10am - 11am MT  


Sept 22 - Guided Practice:  5pm - 6pm UK / 10am - 11am MT

Sept 29 - Co Writing space 1: 10am - 11am UK / 7pm - 8pm Melbourne

Oct 6 - Co Writing space 2: 5pm - 6pm UK / 10am - 11am MT 

Oct 13 - Deeper Sharing Space (Autumn): 5pm - 6.30pm UK / 10am - 11.30am MT

Oct 20  - Co writing space: 5pm - 6pm UK / 10am - 11am MT 


Oct 27 - Guided Practice:  5pm - 6pm UK / 11am - 12pm MT

Nov 3  - Co Writing space 1: 9am - 10am UK / 8pm- 9pm Melbourne

Nov 10 - Co Writing space 2: 5pm - 6pm UK / 10am - 11am MT

Nov 17  - Co Writing space 3: 5pm - 6pm UK / 10am - 11am MT 


Nov 24 - Guided Practice:  5pm - 6pm UK / 10am - 11am MT

Dec 1  - Co Writing space 1: 9am - 10am UK / 8pm - 9pm Melbourne

Dec 8 - Co Writing space 2: 5pm - 6pm UK / 10am - 11am MT


Dec 15 - Anchor Workshop (Somatics & Poetry): 5pm - 7pm UK / 10am - 12pm MT

Dec 22 - Deeper Sharing Circle (Winter) 5pm - 6.30pm UK / 10am - 11.30am MT


WINTER BREAK

Investment

We have priced this membership to make it accessible. We want it to feel like an oasis in your life - offering you and your writing space to breathe - supported and guided by teachers with a depth of experience in guiding creative practice.

This site uses GBP (British pounds) as the base currency. At the time of publishing, this translated to roughly $51.00 USD / $74.00 CAN / €47.00 EU / $82.00 AUD. If you're paying in any currency other than GBP, this exact amount will vary as local taxes may apply and exchange rates fluctuate.

If you are keen to join us and this amount makes it impossible, please be in touch. We will be allocating scholarship rates on a needs basis to folks from places in the world (or in life conditions) where resources are scarce.

Quotes from people who have worked with us:

- click/swipe left and right to read more -

Brooke & Rachel are wonderful space holders to invoke the questions needed to engage with the edge of your creative life, and the support of community does a lot to buoy the soul on its journey.

Infinite thanks - I recovered my identity as an artist and a deep connection and relationship to my own creativity, which I feel like is fully alive and flourishing again.

I have never experienced such a sensitively, generously, unconditionally held space by two beautiful kick-arse womenfolk, where nobody was excluded, everyone was important, and we focused on connecting to the things that matter: ourselves as creative beings in a beautiful, abundant, magical world.

Brooke and Rachel are magical facilitators who react to the needs of the group. They seem to know exactly which elements to add or remove at the right time to create something succinct and moving.

So much space and permission was given for anything and everything to be ok. Acceptance was set up right from the start and that imbued the energy of the group, which became a very loving, accepting, holding space. This made it easier to relax and open up, be vulnerable and share. The very clear thought and intention put in by R&B was evident and appreciated. The somatic sessions were deep and rich and revelatory at times. The poetry that blasted me open!

I love you two teaching together - really powerful combo! You are both such potent, powerful beings and skilled teachers/stewards/guides.

I loved the variety of activities from mindfulness, body-based awareness, poetry, dance, creativity, somatic learnings and so much more. It is both yin and yang and allows spaciousness to discover aspects of yourself that you may not even know are lying dormant. It is restorative and a rich reminder of our humanness. I came away with a deeper connection to my animal body, to the greater animal body of the cosmos, and a sense of community and the diversity of our group.

FAQ

Anticipating some of the more frequent questions

  • When does it begin?

    We set sail on April 28th 2025 with our opening Anchor workshop: Somatics & Poetry for Feeling Your Feet On the Ground. And we continue from there.

  • Can I join or leave at any time?

    You can join the KIN membership for as long or as little as it is feeling alive for you.

    After our initial opening in May 2025, the membership will open to new members twice a year - Once in June/July and again in November/December.

    You can leave the membership at any time you want.

  • What are the kinds of topics the Guided Practice Spaces and longer workshops will explore?

    Great question. Our themes will be drawn from what is bringing us alive in the moment. We are invested in an Animist world view - meaning we are especially curious about the aliveness in everything. This means we can venture together pretty much anywhere our curiosity takes us!

    So one month we might see what our Hands have to say. Next month, it might be a Tree we visit, or an ordinary item of food in your fridge. And it might just as easily be your Microbiome, an Ancestor, or a Planet! We can literally go anywhere.

    Our theme for each month will be kept a secret and only be revealed the week before to our members - except for the longer anchor workshops which will be publicly advertised.

  • Will the live sessions be recorded?

    Yes (and no!)

    Yes the monthly workshops, public workshops and seasonal sharing circles will be recorded and available for members to re-watch on the course hub.

    The bi-weekly co-working spaces will not be recorded, but are attuned to be available across multiple time zones to optimise the possibility for live engagement.

  • I'm in the Southern Hemisphere / A time zone that doesn't work well with the live workshops. Will I still get something out of it?

    Absolutely. The recordings of the live workshops and practice sessions will be available to re-visit / re-do from with in 48 hours of the live call.

    Also, Rachel will be holding monthly live co-writing spaces at times that suit Australasian regional time zones.

  • I have questions about payment / tech issue / having trouble accessing the course hub. Help!

    For any of these kinds of questions, our brilliant assistant Jayme is your gal on the scene.

    Her email is [email protected]

  • Will there be any 1:1 time with Brooke or Rachel as part of this membership?

    No. You will, however be able to book coaching or mentoring with either Brooke or Rachel for an additional fee if you do want additional 1:1 time. One of the advantages of this program is your teachers will already be familiar with you and your work, so the time together will likely be very applied, deep and well spent.

More About Rachel Blackman

Rachel Blackman is a Somatic Coach, Trainer and Educator, Mentor, Theatre Maker and Feldenkrais Practitioner.

She trains coaches to work with embodied intelligence at The Somatic School. Themes that really bring her alive include creativity and the generative principle, biological intelligence and supporting change at the level of neuroplasticity.

She is an Animist and and loves to hold spaces that weave together connections between the sacred, the embodied and our biosphere.

Rachel works with people 1:1 and in groups, coaching and teaching embodied intelligence, Earth honouring ritual and creative practice. She is one half of The Aliveness Lab with Kate Daisy Grant, whose aim is making embodied practices that are normally only available in 1:1 contexts, more accessible. She is also the mama of an online space and art project called The Museum of Tiny Failures, which is all about taking the shame out of our non-award winning moments.

In her life as an artist, you are most likely to have seen her as Charra in Matrix Revolutions. She is also an award winning theatre maker and has created 4 full length original plays.

Rachel is down-lineage of - way back - European, Scandinavian, Scottish and English ancestry and more recently, a mixed bag of convicts and settler colonists to Australia, where her family now live mostly on the unceeded territory of the Bungalung and Yugambeh Nations. She is now based in Brighton UK where she lives with her husband Shad and bonus son Akash by the big wild Mama sea.

This photo is by Shad.

www.vibrantbody.co.uk

More About Brooke McNamara

Brooke McNamara, MFA, is a poet, creativity coach, meditation instructor, and transmitted Zen teacher and lineage holder.

She has published two books of poems: Bury the Seed and Feed Your Vow. She loves to create poems from 3 main ingredients: the raw material of everyday life, wholehearted and visceral listening, and the mind of meditation. For her poetry, Brooke is the recipient of the Charles B. Palmer prize from the Academy of American Poets.

A dancer and writer since childhood, movement, meditation, and poetry have always been her way of sensing meaning in this wild world. From Tinkerbell to Clara in the Nutcracker to some mind-boggling, experimental contemporary performances, Brooke loves engaging mind, body, soul, and spirit to seek and ignite connection on many levels. From 2003-2018, she danced professionally with Malashock & Dancers (San Diego), LEVYdance (San Francisco), Sweet Edge Dance (Denver), and in extensive collaboration making dance-theater duets with Lauren Beale (Boulder).

Brooke has taught at Naropa University in Yoga Studies and at the University of Colorado, Boulder in Dance. She is president and a founding teacher at Dragon Lake Zen, and teaches in-person and online courses and retreats to facilitate the awakening of innate wisdom, compassion, artistry, and play. She continues to study and deepen with her Zen teacher, Diane Musho Hamilton Roshi.

Originally from San Diego, Brooke now lives in Boulder, CO on the unceded territories of the Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapahoe people, with her husband, Rob, their two sons, Lundin and Orion. They continuously teach her every day how to live in love.

www.BrookeMcNamara.com
www.DragonLakeZen.org