Upcoming events
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Song Circle
First Monday of Each Month 6:30PM-8:30PM
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When The Heart Opens
Somatic & Embodiment Experience
February 14th | 12:00PM - 4:00PM
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Sacred Plant Gathering
February 5th | 6:30PM - 8:00PM
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Community Grief Ritual
March 15th | 2:00PM - 6:00PM
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Sacred Plant Gathering
March 12th | 6:30PM - 8:00PM
First Monday of each month | 6:30–8:30 PM | Somatic Wisdom Institute | Grand Rapids, MI | No Registration Necessary
Song Circle
Join us at the Somatic Wisdom Institute as we bring our voices together in the singing of heart songs! We will gather to share and celebrate songs of devotion from all around the world. These songs of love and healing are intended to connect us to our own hearts, to each other, to Mother Earth and to the Great Mystery. You are invited to bring any songs you feel inspired to share, we open sharing to the whole community the last 3o or 40 minutes of the gathering. Dancing and improvisation is encouraged!
February 2nd
March 2nd
April 6th
May 4th
June 1st
Thursday, February 5th | 6:30–8:00 PM | The Vital Hive | Lowell, MI | $35
Sacred Plant Gathering
An invitation for community based integration while exploring the powerful plant teachers Hapé and Sananga hosted by Brie Moblo and Lindsey Lutkenhoff. Both women have been working with these medicines for years and have a deep desire to share the practice and importance of creating humble connections with these sacred allies while understanding that creating space for integration can be as much the medicine as ceremony, big session work, or shifting awareness in our psyches.
Often, these plant medicines are powerful and clear big energies, assisting us in getting into our bodies while also bringing in a sense of deep connection to ourselves, the earth, and each other.
Hapé (also commonly spelled Rapé and pronounced "ha-peh") is a sacred plant medicine traditionally used by various Indigenous tribes of the Amazon rainforest. It is a finely ground powder made from a blend of Nicotiana rustica (a potent variety of tobacco), medicinal plants, herbs, and ashes served as a nasal snuff. The preparation and serving of Hapé is a sacred art, often involving prayer, chants, and song.
Sananga is a traditional eye medicine derived from the roots and bark of the Tabernaemontana genus, a native to the Amazon rainforest. The Sananga will be applied to the eyes in drops, assisting in cleaning and clearing of not only the ocular band but also negative energies. This medicine creates space for deep breathing, embodiment and connection to self, reminding us to be in the present.
Music is a beautiful medicine that assists in the movement of energy, opening of awareness and connecting to the divine. Kyle Joe, singer/songwriter, will be holding live music for the circle to attune to and enjoy throughout this gathering. Kyle has dedicated himself to his passion of medicine music and is deeply gifted in creating space for spirit to move with and into sacred healing spaces.
No previous experience necessary.
Please arrive prepared with a water bottle, a yoga mat, and anything else you may need to comfortably sink into this experience.
Contacts will need to be removed for Sananga to be served.
Address and parking instructions are emailed upon registration.
Saturday, February 14th | 12:00–4:30 PM | The Vital Hive | Lowell, MI | $95
When The Heart Opens
A Somatic & Embodiment Experience with Cacao & Breathwork
This gathering is an invitation to soften.
To open.
To remember how to fall in love with being alive.
So many of us learned—wisely and compassionately—how to shut down in order to survive. When life hurt too much, we learned to numb. We quieted our emotions, left our bodies, and guarded our hearts. These strategies helped us endure what once felt unbearable.
We have often had to choose protection over connection.
But the heart doesn’t close selectively.
When we numb fear, grief, or loneliness, we also dim joy, wonder, and connection. Over time, life can begin to feel muted—functional, but distant. Even when the danger has passed, the body often doesn’t know it’s safe to feel again.
This day is about learning how to feel—together.
When the Heart Opens… is oriented toward softening, opening, and expanding our capacity for love—re-entering relationship with ourselves, one another, and the living world around us.
The Flow
12:00 pm – Arrival & Opening Hapé and Sananga Circle
We’ll begin the day in circle with Hapé and Sananga, offered as grounding and clarifying medicines to help settle the nervous system, clear the mind, and bring us fully into the body.
These medicines support presence, humility, and right relationship—creating a stable foundation for the heart-opening work that follows.
Participation is always optional and invitational.
Bioenergetic Heart-Opening Practice
From there, we’ll move into a bioenergetic practice designed to gently unlock the chest, breath, and relational field. This includes partner exercises that support safety, attunement, and shared presence—helping the body experience opening with others rather than alone.
Cacao & Heart-Centered Breathwork Journey
Cacao will be introduced as we transition into the breathwork journey, weaving its heart-opening magic into the experience.
Cacao, breath, and live music from the Vital Hive Band will create a shared field—guiding us beneath the stories of the mind and into the intelligence of the body and heart. This is not about pushing, purging, or forcing release, but about softening defenses and allowing life to move through us again.
In this space, old armoring can loosen. Sensation, emotion, and memory may arise organically. We make room for beauty, grief, joy, longing, and love—each welcomed as part of the human experience.
Integration
We’ll close the ceremonial space with sound, singing, and sharing for those who feel led—supporting integration and grounding.
Evening Flow (Optional)
4:30 pm – Dinner, Sauna, Hot Tub & Cold Tub
We’ll then shift into a shared dinner, followed by sauna, hot tub, and cold tub time for those who wish to continue integrating, playing, and connecting.
Please bring a salad topping or side to share.
What to Bring
A yoga mat or pad
Blankets and pillows to build a cozy nest
Comfortable layers (temperature can shift during breathwork)
A water bottle
A journal and pen
Optional sacred or meaningful items for your nest
Salad toppings or a side dish if you plan to stay for dinner
A bathing suit and towel for sauna and cold tub
You’ll be invited to build a nest—a supportive, grounded space where your body can feel safe enough to open. Tending your nest is part of tending your nervous system.
Why This Work Matters
This is a practice of remembering.
Remembering how to feel without being overwhelmed.
How to love without abandoning ourselves.
How to be human again—in a world that often pulls us away from our hearts.
We can learn to numb less and feel more.
We can learn to suffer less and love more.
We can remember how to fall in love—
with ourselves,
with each other,
and with life itself.
Thursday, March 12th | 6:30–8:00 PM | The Vital Hive | Lowell, MI | $35
Sacred Plant Gathering
An invitation for community based integration while exploring the powerful plant teachers Hapé and Sananga hosted by Brie Moblo and Lindsey Lutkenhoff. Both women have been working with these medicines for years and have a deep desire to share the practice and importance of creating humble connections with these sacred allies while understanding that creating space for integration can be as much the medicine as ceremony, big session work, or shifting awareness in our psyches.
Often, these plant medicines are powerful and clear big energies, assisting us in getting into our bodies while also bringing in a sense of deep connection to ourselves, the earth, and each other.
Hapé (also commonly spelled Rapé and pronounced "ha-peh") is a sacred plant medicine traditionally used by various Indigenous tribes of the Amazon rainforest. It is a finely ground powder made from a blend of Nicotiana rustica (a potent variety of tobacco), medicinal plants, herbs, and ashes served as a nasal snuff. The preparation and serving of Hapé is a sacred art, often involving prayer, chants, and song.
Sananga is a traditional eye medicine derived from the roots and bark of the Tabernaemontana genus, a native to the Amazon rainforest. The Sananga will be applied to the eyes in drops, assisting in cleaning and clearing of not only the ocular band but also negative energies. This medicine creates space for deep breathing, embodiment and connection to self, reminding us to be in the present.
Music is a beautiful medicine that assists in the movement of energy, opening of awareness and connecting to the divine. Kyle Joe, singer/songwriter, will be holding live music for the circle to attune to and enjoy throughout this gathering. Kyle has dedicated himself to his passion of medicine music and is deeply gifted in creating space for spirit to move with and into sacred healing spaces.
No previous experience necessary.
Please arrive prepared with a water bottle, a yoga mat, and anything else you may need to comfortably sink into this experience.
Contacts will need to be removed for Sananga to be served.
Address and parking instructions are emailed upon registration.
Sunday, March 15th | 2:00–6:00 PM | The Vital Hive | Lowell, MI | $65
Community Grief Ritual
“When we grieve together, we remember we belong to one another,”
Join us in tending the village heart as we warm our winter bones in the communal stirring of grief. Whatever form your grief takes — loss, longing, change, or heartbreak — it is welcome here. Each flavor of grief becomes a vital ingredient in our shared healing.
In this ritual, we gather to honor grief as a portal to aliveness and connection. Together, we sing, move, and feel. We practice allowing the wild and tender places of sorrow to open us more deeply to joy.
This space welcomes people of all experiences and all griefs — those newly touching grief, those long acquainted with it, and those simply curious about what healing in community can look like.
The ritual will be facilitated by Nic Despres, inspired by the grief rituals of our friend and teacher Josh Fox (Asheville, NC).
What to expect
To preserve the emergent and spirited nature of this ritual, it will be held tenderly with open palms, following the stream of what is alive within the unique group that attends. We will gather around an altar, orient to the space and each other, and share about how we will hold this space together. A few of the ritual technologies we may employ to call in our grief are: storytelling, music, poetry, heart-sharing, games, and somatic practices.
What to Bring
Altar items — sacred objects, votive candles, flowers, photos or items representing ancestors, your younger self, family, or beloved places
Water bottle, journal & pen
If staying for the sauna and potluck: a dish to share, salad topping, swimsuit, and towel
We want this work to be accessible and affordable. If cost is a barrier, please email Nic HERE to inquire about financial assistance — no one will be turned away due to a lack of funds.
Address emailed upon registration.
We look forward to being in ritual with you,