Do you want to hear your truth in your body + on the page?
When you combine body-affirming movement, truth-telling writing + transformative-witnessing community, you get a sacred container of being seen and heard - by yourself first and foremost, and also by others who get it.
This practice looks like yoga + writing from the outside, but from the inside it’s a portal into what you’ve been looking for: living from your body’s truth.
Here’s how it works:
We begin with the body because that is where we always begin. I am a longtime yoga teacher, so our movement is of course inspired by that. But what we’re doing here is just as rooted in embodiment and listening to your body.
So sometimes we may do more familiar yoga poses, but other times we will do simple movements to see what your body wants next, or we’ll shake out our bodies from head to toe, do guided meditation, lie down and rest, or some combination.
Next we move into the writing portion of the practice. It begins with me reading a poem and giving you a few jump-off lines to get you going. You know how we usually start our movement with a few breaths? That’s what the jump-off line is: an inhale. It gives you a way to begin.
Then I’ll read the poem again because this is often the time when your body starts to feel what’s being stirred within from the poem. Next I offer the jump-off lines again (+ an alternate), and then we put pen to paper and write as fast as we can for about 10 minutes, pen never leaving the page.
The third component of community, when each of us reads what we just wrote out loud (including me!), is really what brings the experience together because it is rare that we find ourselves in a witnessing space. When your words get to stand without feedback, simply encouragement for showing up, something can start to shift within you. What that something is is a bit different for each of us, but for me it has helped me to feel both more connected to my own truth and stronger in choosing to live from it.
This is the part that feels scariest to most people at first, but it’s also what ultimately makes the practice come fully alive for most people. When I said this is what keeps people coming back to one of the groups I lead live, I’d never seen a group of people nod their heads so fast and so hard!
Sound like your thing?
What you can expect:
01
Movement
You do not need to know anything about yoga or consider yourself “flexible,” and you can do the practice from seated in a chair, seated on the ground, standing, or lying down. You are always in choice, and I offer lots of options for everything we do.
02
PoetrY
You also don’t need to know a thing about poetry to participate! I choose poems that walk you into a mood, a memory, an inner truth, or whatever else arises for you. Each poem is there to open a door into feeling, and all you need for that is a willingness to listen and see what stirs within you. I promise that no pop quiz is coming on poetic form!
03
writing
You never start with a blank page in this practice. The poem has already moved something in you, and all you do is let it keep moving onto the page with one of the jump-off lines I offer (or one you might hear while you listen!).
You’re not writing a five paragraph essay, and what you write doesn’t need a beginning, middle, or end. We’re here for the truth-rich details of life, as well as what might come through at the end when you really let yourself keep writing until time is up. You might be surprised by how often the truth you didn’t know you need to hear comes in the last thirty seconds.
04
Embodiment
The movement and writing practices are beautiful on their own, but something alchemical happens when we bring them together. First we land in our bodies through movement, and then we deepen the experience on the page and through both listening and being listened to.
If you ever find it challenging to listen to your body (who doesn’t?), What the Body Knows is a powerful place to practice. What we find in these groups again and again is that once you have a practice like this, it informs and affects so much of your life!
05
community
Most of us don’t have a regular place in our lives where we get to hear ourselves speak our own truth and hear others do the same - especially without worrying about others’ feedback. Our experience of community happens through witnessing, and we have many people who return to this practice session after session for this very reason: it becomes a place to know and be known that is unlike most others.
participant love
This is for you if:
You can feel this practice calling you
(even if you’re nervous!).
You want to live in a more embodied way and want practices that support you.
You suspect that this style of writing could be a way in for you (or you already love writing and want to experience more freedom on the page!)
You want a movement practice that is rooted in what your body actually wants and needs in this very moment.
This isn’t for you if:
You want to workshop a piece of writing or receive editorial feedback.
You’re not open to a body-led, gentle style of movement.
You’re not interested in showing up in a human way, letting your writing be whatever it will be.
You’re not willing to share your writing
(we all share, no skips - including me!)
Want in?
How to join:
get on the waitlist
I always open registration here first!
one
Choose a group that works for your schedule
So everyone feels comfortable sharing, we do not provide recordings. If you have to miss a week, we’ll give a wave and see you next time!
two
get ready to practice
All you need is a place for some gentle movement, paper + a pen!
three
Tuesday Group
$180
10:15-11:45am PT
1:15-2:45pm ET
Sept. 22 • Sept. 29 • Oct. 6
Oct. 13 • Oct. 20 • Oct. 27
FULL
Full Pay | $180 (registration will open again late 2026 for the
Winter 2027 series)
Two Pay | two $90 monthly installments
Thursday Group
$180
4-5:30Pm PT
7-8:30pm ET
Sept. 24• Oct. 1 • Oct. 8
Oct. 15 • Oct. 22 • Oct. 29
FULL
Two Pay | two $90 monthly installments
Full Pay | $180 (registration will open again late 2026 for the
Winter 2027 series)
frequently asked questions
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Brand-new beginners are welcome! While all of our yoga is designed to meet people where they are, that is especially true in What the Body Knows because we are always angling to land in our body so that we can then do the same on the page. The yoga portion of our practice is gentle, welcoming, and always encourages you to do what works best for you in the moment.
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I know this might sound funny, but this is a writing practice that isn’t about Capital-W Writing as we are sometimes taught to fear it. In this practice, I offer 3 jump-off lines from a poem. They’re designed to give you a way in so that you don’t have to start with a blank page. After that, you put pen to paper, pen never leaving the page, for about 10 minutes. We’re writing what comes through and what is true. We’re not trying to impress anyone -- especially ourselves!
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First, you’re definitely not alone! Pretty much everyone is the first time they try it. And this is the part that keeps most people coming back. It’s rare in life that we have spaces where we can hear our own truth out loud and have it held in the space of witnessing -- no feedback, just gratitude. I wish this kind of space for everyone!
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That’s fine! While I encourage writing by hand when it’s available to people, that’s mostly because it can bring us into a different space when we’re used to typing all day. But if writing by hand isn’t doable for you, by all means go ahead and type! You can have a blank doc ready to go during class, and my suggestion is to close/hide all your open tabs so you don’t get tempted to quick check your email in the middle of writing (not that I have any personal experience with that!). ;)
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This is exactly why er offer lots of options in our practices! But if you want or need more personal advice, I always welcome talking about that and am happy to make suggestions!
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I generally offer What the Body Knows as a seasonal, six-week practice (though in the summer it’s more likely to be three weeks). Most seasons I offer two or three groups at a time, with a maximum of eight participants per group.
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I always open registration first to past participants and people on the waitlist. To make sure you get first heads up, you can join the waitlist right here.
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All you need is Zoom access in a private space (we ask that people not have others around so people feel comfortable knowing they’re sharing only within the container of the group).
For the movement portion, I always recommend comfortable clothes. You don’t need a yoga mat, but you can certainly use one. If I’m planning to offer options with yoga props, I’ll suggest something you can use from home instead if you don’t have them. Other than that, all you need is pen/paper!
Have any other questions? Reach out and I’ll be happy to help!
Hi, I’m Anna!
Founder of
what the body knows
In late 2021, I was in a desperate place, in the throes of a two-year fertility challenge while also wading through the muck of an ongoing trauma healing process and all of this during the pandemic. I felt like my feet were regularly slipping, few footholds in sight.
There was a truth I needed to tell myself in those days that I could only get to through moving my body and through writing. And I’m not talking about writing a five paragraph essay or something with a neat and tidy linear trajectory. I’m talking about putting pen to paper and writing as fast as I could, letting what was in my body come forward onto the page. I surprised myself, I cried, and I gasped when I caught a glimpse of what I was having such a hard time saying to myself: we were not going to have another baby. I do have to end that particular relationship. I have done so much healing work, and I still have so much to do.
I was so far from my body that if I tried to just sit down to write, I had a really hard time finding a way in. But if I spent even a few minutes moving my body intentionally first, it was like a channel opened. Combining body-affirming yoga with writing in this way made me both remember and want more of my own aliveness.
I founded Curvy Yoga in 2010, so I was already a longtime yoga teacher. And though I have a master’s degree in English and have taught it at the high school and college level, I knew I needed something different for the kind of writing we’d be doing through What the Body Knows. I’d been writing with Laurie Wagner and her Wild Writing practice for many years and always wanted to do her training, so I did that in 2022. The first What the Body Knows group started in 2023 (and many of those early participants are still with us today!).
I never really intended to spin another practice off from Curvy Yoga, but just like with that, What the Body Knows called me, and I’m so grateful it did!
Still not sure if this is for you?
I’m always happy to answer your questions and help you decide! All you have to do is reach out!