Workshops

From Actor to Author, an intimate 6-week in-person somatic journey, beginning October 5, limited to 6.

Applications Now Open

From Actor to Author · The Program

You deserve a life where your roles express your identity, not replace it.

From an early age, many of us learned who we needed to become in order to belong.

In the name of love and connection.
In the name of relationships.
In the name of safety.

We became…

  • The responsible one
  • The caretaker
  • The achiever
  • The peacekeeper
  • The one who never asks for too much

These weren’t flaws.

They were brilliant adaptations that helped us stay connected to the people we depended on.

And over time, the roles that once protected us became the identity we live from, leaving us wondering why, despite doing everything “right,” we no longer feel fully like ourselves. When was the last time you asked yourself:

Who am I beneath the role?What do I actually want? What do I truly feel? What kind of life am I trying to create?

If you’ve ever felt like you’re living according to expectations, obligations, or old scripts rather than your own truth, this journey is for you.

My Journey

The hardest part of my journey wasn’t becoming aware of the roles I played.

It was realizing how little space I had to discover who I was beyond them.

I grew up in a rigid, authoritarian home where obedience mattered more than individuality. There wasn’t much room to question, disagree, or explore who I was becoming. My nervous system learned early that safety came from adapting, being responsible, predictable, and becoming who others needed me to be.

When choice isn’t available, adaptation becomes automatic.

So I carried those patterns into adulthood without even realizing it. For more than twenty years, I lived on autopilot, never stopping to ask whether the way I loved, cared, achieved, or held everything together was truly me, or simply who I had learned I needed to be.

Over time, a quiet split emerged.

There was the mother, the wife, the responsible one, the daughter, etc.
The one everyone could count on.

And then there was another part of me.

The woman who came alive while working with clients. The one who felt intuitive, spacious, creative, deeply present, and connected to something much greater than herself.

For years, I believed these were two different identities.

They weren’t.

One was a collection of adaptations that had helped me survive and belong. The other was my individuality, quietly waiting beneath the roles I had mistaken for who I was.

Everything began to change when I created space.

Space to slow down, to feel, to notice my patterns without judging them.
Space to ask, “Is this how I want to continue living?”

That space gave me something I had never truly experienced before:

Choice.

Not the choice to abandon the roles I knew, yet the freedom to inhabit them from my true identity instead of from old survival patterns.

I didn’t need to let go of the adaptations that had protected me for so many years.

I needed the capacity to see and decide when they were truly needed, and when they were no longer writing the script.

That is why I created From Actor to Author: to help you create enough inner space to reconnect with the person beneath the roles, so your life is guided by your individuality rather than by your conditioning.

The Transformation

This is not about becoming someone new, it’s about embodying your identity. Together, we will explore the protective patterns that once helped you survive, and gently create space for something more authentic to emerge.

Moving from

  • Performing for approval
  • Hiding your real desires
  • Shape-shifting to fit the group
  • Avoiding rejection
  • Overriding your needs
  • Living from old identities and outdated stories
  • Feeling disconnected from your body’s wisdom

Into

  • Being seen without performing
  • Owning your voice
  • Expressing what you truly want
  • Creating authentic intimacy
  • Trusting your body’s signals
  • Interrupting old patterns
  • Acting from the future you desire
  • Letting your truth, uniqueness, and magic be visible

Why Somatics?

Most efforts to change focus on changing thoughts. Yet many of our patterns live deeper than the mind. They live in our muscles, our posture, our breath, our nervous system, our relationships.

Somatic developmental work helps us bring awareness to these unconscious patterns so we can move from automatic reactions into embodied choice. When the body feels safer, new possibilities become available. You don’t have to force transformation, you create the conditions for it to emerge.

What We’ll Explore

01

The Space

Exploring what it feels like to create and own your space.

02

The Body Wisdom

What your body already knows.

03

The Roles

Who you became to belong in your relationships.

04

The True Voice

Practicing the courage to name what is true and what you want.

05

Connection Without Self-Abandonment

Learning how to stay connected to yourself while being in relationship with others.

06

The Author

Integrating your learning and stepping forward with greater choice, authenticity, and self-trust.

This Journey Is For You If…

  • You’re tired of running on empty and calling it “being responsible.”
  • You’re ready to listen to your body instead of overriding it.
  • You’re craving more energy, softness, pleasure and aliveness.
  • You want to prioritize your wellbeing without guilt.
  • You’re ready to become your own safest place, your own best friend.
  • You long for deeper authenticity and connection.
  • You want to feel so good that people ask you what your secret is.

What Makes This Different?

An intimate group

The circle is limited to six participants.

You will not be one person in a crowded room. The small group allows for depth, individual attention, genuine relationship, and space for each person’s process.

This is a carefully held environment where you can be witnessed without needing to impress, explain, or perform your healing.

Body-led transformation

We do not only discuss your patterns.

We explore how they appear through sensation, breath, posture, movement, impulses, boundaries, voice, and relationship.

This helps bridge the gap between knowing something intellectually and having the capacity to live it.

Relational practice

Many of our protective roles developed in relationship.

Healing them cannot happen in isolation.

The group becomes a place to practise being seen, taking space, expressing a preference, noticing a boundary, receiving support, and remaining connected without disappearing into another person’s needs.

Integration for real life

You will receive simple embodied practices and reflective prompts between sessions.

These exercises are designed for busy lives and can be practised at home, outside, or within ordinary moments of your day.

You will receive practical anchors that help you bring the work into your relationships, decisions, boundaries, voice, and daily routines.

Transformation does not happen only during the sessions.

It develops through the small moments when you recognize an old script and practise staying connected to yourself.

Program Details

DatesBeginning October 5th · 6:30PM-8PM
October 5th and 19th
November 9th and 23rd
December 7th and 21st
FormatIn-person, bi-weekly
Group SizeMaximum 6 participants
LocationThe Brick House Collective, Edmonton
FacilitatorRaluca Sacalean

Bodynamic Somatic Developmental Practitioner · Registered Massage Therapist / Craniosacral Therapist

Your Reclaiming Authenticity Integration Kit ($150 value)

Designed to support the journey between gatherings. Includes:

  • 100 ml Reclaiming Authenticity Botanical Body Oil
  • Personalized Aini Body Brush
  • Reflective Questions & Somatic Integration Booklet

These tools help anchor the experience in daily life so the work continues long after each gathering ends.

Investment

From Actor to Author Circle

Includes all group sessions and integration materials.

VIP · Author’s Journey

For those wanting deeper individual support alongside the group experience. Includes:

  • Everything in the Circle experience
  • Two 90-minute private Soul Somatic Sessions
  • Personalized guidance and integration support

$1,195 Ideal for navigating significant life transitions.

Payment is also available via e-transfer to edmontonshouseofhealing@gmail.com.

Questions to Sit With

What part of your life feels written by old expectations? And what part of you is ready to write the next chapter?

Imagine Looking Back One Year From Now

What story do you want to be telling?
The year you trusted your voice.
The year you stopped performing and started living.
The year you became the author of your own life.

Applications Now Open

Because transformation happens in relationship, spaces are intentionally limited.

Upcoming Workshops

Join us for what’s coming next.

Bloom Into Softness · A one-day somatic & art retreat
Bloom Into Softness

A gentle return to seed. A one-day somatic, art and writing circle.

As autumn draws the energy of the natural world inward, we are invited to do the same, to slow down, soften our edges, release what no longer needs to be carried, and listen for what remains underneath the noise. Beneath the roles, the doing, the expectations and all the ways we have learned to hold ourselves together, there is something quieter.

Something essential. Like a seed beneath the earth, it does not need to perform, or prove anything. It simply needs enough space, nourishment, and stillness to be.

There is a season for reaching outward, blooming, creating, and becoming. And there is a season for returning.

An invitation to soften

Bloom Into Softness: A Gentle Return to Seed is a one-day immersive space inspired by the rhythm of autumn and the wisdom of the body, where together we will explore the movement from doing toward being, from holding to softening, from controlling to allowing, from disconnecting to sensing, from outward toward inward, and complexity toward what is essential. This is not about becoming someone else, it is about meeting yourself, just as you are.

What we’ll explore

Through somatic practices, intuitive art, and reflective writing, we’ll open space for connection with your body and inner world. You’ll be guided through:

  • Body-based practices to release tension, deepen awareness and connection
  • Nervous system support for greater capacity and presence
  • Gentle movement to reconnect with your natural rhythm
  • Intuitive art inspired by autumn, nature, leaves, seeds, roots, cycles and transformation (no experience needed)
  • Space for quiet, sensing, creating, sharing and simply being

This space may resonate if…

  • You sense a quiet longing for ease, and slowing down
  • You notice yourself holding back or overthinking
  • You want to reconnect with your body and creativity
  • You’re curious to explore yourself beyond words
  • You’re curious about what becomes visible when you stop pushing through

Perhaps softness is not about becoming less. Perhaps it is about returning to what is essential.

Investment: $222 + GST

Payment is also available via e-transfer to edmontonshouseofhealing@gmail.com.

What’s Included

  • All art supplies for your playful creations
  • Nourishing lunch
  • Fresh lemonade, coffee and tea station throughout the day

Everything is prepared so you can simply arrive, soften, and let your body remember how to play.

What to Bring

  • Something soft, comfortable, and free to move in (layers are lovely)
  • A yoga mat or blanket
  • A journal or notebook for any thoughts, drawings, or whispers that want to land
  • Anything that helps your body feel held — a favorite shawl, cozy socks, water bottle, or small comfort item

Come as you are. The garden and the day will hold the rest.

Past Workshops

A look back at gatherings we’ve held.

A 4-Week Somatic Series · Body awareness, grounding, boundaries, beliefs
A 4-week somatic series

01

Body Awareness & Breath

Would you like to understand the subtle signals your body is sending you, and connect more deeply with its inner wisdom? Awareness and breath are powerful tools that help us explore and trust the wisdom within. Knowing what you feel is the first step in knowing why you feel a certain way.

02

Grounding

Grounding helps us open subtle channels in our bodies so we can recognize the rich, nourishing energy provided by the larger field within which we exist. Your energy becomes more effective and your mind more focused. When your life flows better, you are less stressed — and a less-stressed body is more prepared to heal itself.

03

Boundaries

Explore, through movement, the connection between certain muscles and your senses, emotions, and boundaries. Boundaries separate us not only physically but also emotionally, spiritually, and relationally. They help you gain a clearer sense of yourself, boost your self-esteem, and bolster your sense of identity.

04

Clearing Limiting Beliefs

“I’m not good enough.” “I don’t belong.” How many of these stories have you told yourself? Awareness is the first step in recognizing the myths we adopted in the past. Once we uncover those limiting beliefs, we re-frame them and create new, empowering ones.