Work With Me

 
 

The body can guide us toward how to live our lives with more confidence, connection and clarity, all we have to do is listen.

My work is to support you in that listening. 

 
 

Tuning in to the body means connecting to what is happening below the head and trusting what is revealed. It means moving at the pace of the body even when it feels like you’re behind. It means prioritizing downtime, rest, play and creativity. It means creating practices for ritual and healing. It means trusting your intuition and protecting your boundaries. 

What I most desire for my clients is that our work brings them more deeply into relationship with themselves. 

As a guide and teacher, I focus my somatic seeing on what’s getting in the way. This means our time together is both deeply personal and often addresses the impacts of systems designed to keep us from claiming what inherently belongs to us. 

I am currently accepting clients.

Kelsey Blackwell with brown coffee mug
 

Ready to feel more… yourself?
Schedule a 1:1 call to see if somatic coaching is right for you.

There Are Three Ways to Work With Me

 
 
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Group Movement Meditation

 

Individual Somatic Coaching

 

I work with women twice a month for a minimum of 4 months. 

We are mothers, professionals, artists, coaches, consultants and teachers identifying as BIPOC, third culture, mixed-race and more. It’s rare to find spaces where all of us gets to belong. It’s rare to be with another specifically exploring our intersections through the body. 

Sessions are 60 minutes and take place over Zoom.

Kelsey Blackwell and computer.

What My Clients Say

  • She expertly discerned minute changes or shifts in my body

    Kelsey brings a beautiful, sensitive presence to each session. She's skilled in holding space I needed to feel safe (and eventually courageous) in exploring my somatic experience. Even over Zoom she expertly discerned minute changes or shifts in my body and brought them into my awareness for noticing and exploration. Working with Kelsey triggered a subterranean shift in me that opened me to new ways of being with my Self and in the world. With the practices she gave me I have no doubt that I will continue to develop and deepen in body, mind, and heart.

    — Margaret M., Life Coach

  • One of the most powerful things I walked away with was to trust my own authority

    I was able to release conditioning to fragment my self under the pressures of external experiences and systems. The somatic practices that we did together were flexible to the moment and to what my body needed in each moment. One of the most powerful things I walked away with was to trust my own authority, to trust my own capacity to discern, to embody my purpose, my shape. Even if I don’t see other shapes like me, that is even more the reason to be as I truly am, free, and whole. Thank you Kelsey for sharing your gifts. You have made an impact in my life.

    — Vanessa M., Facilitator, Creative, and Writer

  • She makes space for the unique experiences of a Black woman.

    Kelsey's care, deep empathetic listening and racial equity overlay have helped reveal more about myself than any CBT therapist has. What I love about her and this work is that when our time together is complete, I will have tools and practices to support my own resilience and continued growth. She incorporates and acknowledges the impacts of internalized oppression. She makes space for the unique experiences of a Black woman. She invites getting in touch with my ancestors and the spiritual nature of this work. This is not therapy but a practice to cultivate to come into better alignment with our full humanity — not just the parts of us that capitalism and racism has conditioned us to value. Partnering with Kelsey has been a forever gift that I am so grateful to have received.

    — Jamina O., Inclusive Leadership Coach

  • Kelsey is helping to shape the kind of world I hope our future will inherit.

    Kelsey gave me suggestions and practices for ways to break apart some old patterns and more fully embody my values. The work of somatic coaching resonates beautifully with her many gifts. I continue to integrate these embodied leadership practices in my work and am encouraged to know that Kelsey is helping to shape the kind of world I hope our future will inherit.

    — Donna M., Dreamwork Practitioner SoulDreams

  • I found working with her inspiring and transformative

    Kelsey is warm, inviting and thoughtful in her ability to support clients to connect with the wisdom of their bodies. I found working with her inspiring and transformative as I was able to access how my body holds on to old patterns/stories that have held me back and how to make subtle shifts to embody something new and of my choosing. Anyone with a desire to free themselves to be more of who they truly are would benefit from working with Kelsey.

    — Chana F., Director of the LeaderPower Collaborative

  • I felt seen and held in an empathetic process

    Kelsey is the rare individual who employs keen insight as well as kindness, groundedness and spaciousness in her work. In our months of coaching, I felt seen and held in an empathetic process that offered deep insights and surprising growth — it was organic yet very impactful.

    — Catherine H., Media Creative

  • As a busy school teacher and Director, this was such a powerful tool

    Working with Kelsey was such an incredible and empowering gift. Kelsey holds a sacred, gentle but powerful container for healing and awakening to deeper truths. This allowed me to navigate some really challenging times, along with receiving incredible healing tools that were so accessible and really supported my daily life, shifting from overwhelm into balance within a few minutes. As a busy school teacher and Director, this was such a powerful tool to embody in a matter of a few heartbeats.

    — Angharad P., Director, Teacher & Healer

  • Today I had the most beautiful breakthrough

    Thank you for a wonderful session yesterday and all the invaluable insights and support you provided throughout our time together. I cant tell you how much I appreciate it and have grown. Today I had the most beautiful breakthrough of trusting and loving my body and being while playing tennis. It felt amazing, joyful, long overdue and like something familiar I can now rest into and enjoy. I wouldnt have experienced it and many other embodied experiences without your coaching.

    — Jeff O., Non-Profit Executive

  • She has patience and a deep compassion that holds space

    I've been working closely with Kelsey for over a year and have been so moved by her ability to see through a tangle of emotions and words to get to the heart of what is trying to be communicated. She has patience and a deep compassion that holds space for whatever I might be experiencing. Kelsey's intuitive wisdom combined with her lived experience of how trauma and disenfranchisement live in the body lends itself to an incredibly healing and uplifting experience every session.

    — M. Singh, Somatic Bodyworker and Lawyer

  • Kelsey nudges her clients to dig deeper into their somatic patterns.

    Through working with Kelsey, I have become more attuned to listening to the messages of my body. Kelsey has been integral in this journey. Her deep knowledge of soma, skillfully guided practices, and keen observations have led to subtle but profound shifts for me. Kelsey nudges her clients to dig deeper into their somatic patterns. She creates an authentic, supportive, and non-judgmental space for this inquiry. As a minority, her ability to see me as I am has been invaluable. I would highly recommend working with her for anyone seeking the freedom that comes from listening to the wisdom of our bodies.

    — Nadia M., Civil Service

  • She wields her wisdom with a light touch.

    “Kelsey has an uncanny ability to make it feel easy, fun, and profound to tap into my body's wisdom. She wields her wisdom with a light touch. Working together is always full of "a-ha!" moments that linger long afterwards.”

    — Annie Rose L., Facilitator and Performer 

Decolonizing the Body Program

 

Women of color possess a rich and intrinsic wisdom that lives in the bones. Decolonizing then is a practice of intentionally allowing ourselves to trust what we have always known.

This 8-week program encourages health, grounding and rest to combat ways women of color have embodied unhealthy patterns rooted in systemic oppression. 

During our time together we’ll: 

  • Slow down 

  • Engage in practices for cultivating confidence 

  • Practice feeling and making boundaries 

  • Allow ourselves to receive 

  • Follow our aliveness through rest and breath work. 

This is an intimate space limited to 20 participants. I’ve designed it this way intentionally as it is my hope that our inner work also supports deepening in community. 

I offer this program once a year in a Fall. Use the link below to hear when registration opens for the 2024 cohort.

 

Program Testimonials

  • I am weaving how to divest from white body supremacy.

    The pacing, amount of sections for each week, and meetings to reflect on the learnings were really useful. I am weaving how to ask for support when I need it because I am valuable and deserving of care and love. I am weaving how I show up in the world. I am weaving how to divest from white body supremacy.

    — Bhumi P., Choreographer

  • I was able to bring to the surface emotions that have been suffocated.

    This was a space that welcomed my authentic self. By learning and exploring myself more fully through the videos, readings, and prompts, I was able to bring to the surface emotions that have been suffocated. I am grateful for Kelsey’s use of decolonized, femme, revolutionary writers’ and artists’ work to support our healing journey. Through this course, I better understand the gentle nudges of my body to move and rest in ways that honor how energy needs to flow in and through me.

    — Shari G., Leadership Coach and Consultant

  • I feel more connected to my 'self', my body, my partner, and my children.

    This program has transformed the way that I live, love, parent and work. The exercises and practices that we were introduced to are practices that feel like a lifeline to me now. I feel more connected to my 'self', my body, my partner, and my children.

    — B. Perez, Psychotherapist and Consultant

  • I have been hungry for ways to align more deeply with my body and the Earth.

    This experience offered me a goodie bag of tools and resources for reflection and embodiment. I have been hungry for ways to align more deeply with my body and the Earth. Thank you for giving me tangible practices to add to my spiritual toolkit.

    — Syon

  • I am moving in the direction of a totally liberated body

    So much has bubbled up over the last couple of weeks. I am learning to feel and name it. I am recognizing what happened to me in dealing with my ex for the last 4 years. I am moving in the direction of a totally liberated body - the ancestors brought me here. Thank you for offering this space for us to slow down and for modeling how to begin a practice for embodiment.

    — Anne M., DEI Facilitator  

  • Decolonizing The Body was a wide-open doorway into exploration, expansion, nourishment, creativity, and healing

    So, wow! Decolonizing The Body was a wide-open doorway into exploration, expansion, nourishment, creativity, and healing, all held within a wonderfully supportive community. Everything – from the thoughtfully curated materials, videos, embodiment exercises, and group gatherings – were intriguing, enriching, and challenging. I wanted to push my growth edge as I work to decolonize my heart and mind and write new narratives for myself and this course could not have been more relevant to this process. Throughout it all, Kelsey's thoughtfulness and warmth touched every aspect of the journey and she has an incredible ability to hold light and dark, joy and sadness, gentleness and fierceness, ambiguity and clarity, complexity and simplicity with skill and wisdom. I am so grateful she created this wonderful offering.

    — Dina B., Nonprofit Consultant  

  • Thank you Kelsey for creating this space

    The 5-week program has sprouted a new-found curiosity and healing journey for me. I looked forward to our weekly gatherings and I noticed how quickly my body felt at ease to be in the company of other women of color. The facilitator was amazingly in tune with all of us which also helped me open up and feel connected. Thank you Kelsey for creating this space and I hope that you can continue to build this program for more women to connect and heal.

    — Alicia C., Artist and Therapist

  • True healing is being in community with other Women

    I enjoyed the themes that are important to women of color and that need to be emphasized for us including slowing down, setting boundaries, building confidence, and going for our aliveness. Often I find myself in survival and pushing mode. True healing is being in community with other Women like me and true liberation is following my passion and aliveness. Letting the world take care of itself instead of trying to save it myself.

    — Zeshan M., Somatic Coach

Group Movement Meditation

 

Join Me For Movement Meditation

“Your choices to listen to your body has resulted in your ability to cultivate safer communal body learning-unlearning-creative exploration-healing spaces. The handful of times I’ve been in those spaces I have been able to experience such a beholding and holding of this glorious container I’m in. I say this with my whole chest, I have not ever experienced a space like the one you hold every month. ”
— -Bernadette, monthly MM participant

Meditation and movement practices are important all the time but especially when we're under stress. In connecting to ourselves we open  possibilities for sensing and feeling. This listening connects us to  "more of ourselves" and supports taking actions from deeper knowing.

What will we do?

During this 60-minute virtual gathering, I'll lead us through a  centering practice and a guided movement practice. We'll then move our  bodies as we feel for a song or two and then have time for optional  sharing. 

Who is it for?

While we all need spaces where we can be and rest, those who are marginalized particularly need this support. For this reason, I offer this space specifically for women of color. Come as you are -- pajamas, unshowered, bedhead, we're all in this  together. Also know, this gathering welcomes all children and pets --  especially if including the family is the only way to get a moment for  yourself.

Is There A Cost?

Nope. This gathering is my gift to the community I support. If you’d like to make an offering to support my work, that can be done via PayPal kelsey@kelseyblackwell.com.

When’s the Next Gathering?

We meet the second Thursday of each month at 11:00 a.m. PT.  Sign up below.

 

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Somatics? 

The word Somatics comes from the Greek root soma which means "the living organism in its wholeness." It is the best word we have in English to understand human beings as an integrated mind/body/spirit, and as social, relational beings. In somatic speak, we call this embodiment, "shape," and the collective "body" or collective psycho-biology. 

Somatics is a path, a methodology, a change theory, by which we can embody transformation, individually and collectively. Embodied transformation is foundational change that shows in our actions, ways of being, relating, and perceiving. It is transformation that sustains over time. Somatics pragmatically supports our values and actions becoming aligned. It helps us develop depth and the capacity to feel ourselves, each other and life around us. Somatics builds in us the ability to act from strategy and empathy, and teaches us to be able to assess conditions and "what is" clearly. Somatics is a practice-able theory of change that can move us toward individual, community and collective liberation. Somatics works through the body, engaging us in our thinking, emotions, commitments, vision and action.

— "What is Somatics," Generative Somatics 

What is a somatic coach?

With gentleness and curiosity I work with clients to uncover embodied conditioned tendencies, patterns we’ve learned and carry out often unconsciously. These patterns may not align with our values or true intentions which can make us feel stuck or unable to bring about the changes we seek in our work, life and relationships.  We’ll look at the patterns your body holds, explore their costs and benefits and establish new embodied actions that align with what really matters to you. We’ll also create measurable outcomes to help us gauge if we’re on the right track.

Sessions gradually build on each other to help you become familiar with your body, its wisdom and how it communicates. Embodiment and mindfulness tools are offered to help you go deeper at your pace. We’ll also explore practices that invite creativity and play, which I believe are essential for easing the nervous system and inviting discovery. 

What do you mean when you say decolonize?

Disrupting the status quo of the colonial reality by consciously examining and operating outside of frameworks rooted in white superiority, capitalism, patriarchy, heteronormativity and other systems of oppression. As a person of color, examining how these systems are internalized and consciously choosing and prioritizing embodied practices that connect you with your inherent wisdom, dignity and worth.