stronger together:
physical skills for tough times
a workshop series where we practice using our bodies to do hard things together, with a focus on collaboration, care, and not leaving anyone behind.
As climate catastrophes and political crises get more intense, there are moments that arise in our communities that require some folks to do physically intense things to take care of ourselves and each other.
Lots of different situations might require us to do challenging, physical things. Maybe the power goes out after a tornado and someone needs to carry oxygen tanks up 10 flights of stairs to an elder’s apartment. Maybe we’re running to safety and we need to get over a fence. Maybe a group of people, whose bodies have lots of different needs, need to walk 5 miles together to get somewhere safe.
The Right thinks about these moments with a militaristic, “only the strong survive” approach. But for those of us who are committed to taking care of each other, we can practice physical skills in a way that’s about keeping each other safe, drawing on the wisdom of the group, and not leaving anyone behind. Stronger Together is a space to experiment, learn, and practice these skills, in a curious, caring, and sometimes even playful environment.
I’ve been scheming on the idea for Stronger Together in the back of my mind for almost a decade. In 2025, my dear friend and mentor Susan Raffo gave me a nudge and an invitation to collaborate to bring it into the world. We co-led the curriculum in a couple of different formats, and now I’m continuing to build it out and offer it on my own.
What to expect at Stronger Together
We spend our time together (whether it’s a few hours or a few days) practicing with our own bodies and with each other in scenarios that might come up in intense moments. We’ll talk about some principles that can help us, do some physical practice focused on a specific scenario, and then debrief what we learned together. We may work with skills like:
balance
climbing over things
lifting and carrying heavy things, including each other
dealing with stairs
One focus is on learning and practicing physical skills to help our bodies accomplish these tasks more easily. Another focus is on building the skills to relate to ourselves and each other as we do challenging things. We practice working with others without losing track of ourselves.
If there are particular scenarios or skills that a group wants to work with, or that are relevant in a given moment, we can work with those. Recently run into a situation where you unexpectedly had to climb a tree, or push a car? Let’s practice it together.
Interested in Stronger Together?
This summer, I’m offering Stronger Together workshops that are open to any Twin Cities community members. For details on those sessions, click here.
I can also create a tailored offering for your group (including neighborhood groups, faith communities, grassroots organizations, and pods of family or friends). If you’re part of a group or a community that wants to bring Stronger Together to your folks, let’s connect.
If you’re an individual who wants to stay in the loop about future events, sign up here.
“Doing physical learning with others felt really empowering and the framing and warming up was very invitational and thought provoking.”
“I loved how much calmness and consent you infused into the whole process.”
“Outdoors, great intention + purpose, well-planned so I knew what to expect, helpful practices, good folks.”
“These workshops were really exhilarating and helped me feel like there are things I can do things to take care of myself, my loved ones, my neighbors in the case of emergencies even within my physical and health limitations”
“There was no push or rush in your approach, even though we were practicing skills for urgent times. The most helpful for me, probably, was that this was a space that was intentionally inclusive of people with disabilities, and not in a patronizing way, or in any sort of tokenizing way. Our experience was positioned as a necessary part of the process, and that was life changing for me.”
On accessibility
These sessions are for anyone who’s ready to engage with this material and with everything that arises in our bodies as we do. There will be physically challenging aspects, and participants will get to decide how they want to participate throughout. Everyone will be asked to stay in tune with their limitations and to make decisions accordingly, and to ask for help finding an adaptation that works for their body if they’re not sure.
Throughout, I will ask people to self-assess: is now a time for me to participate…
by challenging my body’s capacity?
by experimenting gently?
by observing while others move their bodies?
or by stepping out and resting?
All of these are ways to fully participate.
Working together with exactly the people who show up, and what their bodies can and can’t do, is exactly what this workshop is about. There may be moments when we don’t know what to do - how can we help this person get over a fence, when they’re having a hard time? I can’t promise that all access needs will be met, but I commit that we’ll meet those moments by slowing down, drawing from the wisdom that each person has about their own body, getting consent, and moving creatively. If I make mistakes when I hold these moments as a facilitator, I hope deeply that participants will give me feedback.
This workshop is probably not a good fit if you find that you often override your body’s limits when you’re in a group, or if it is often unpredictable whether something will or won’t be okay for your body.
Children are welcome to attend and participate, and many kids may enjoy the activities we do. However, there will not be separate kid-focused activities or spaces.
When our sessions are outdoors, masks are optional. If I’m coming to your group for a workshop, we’ll work together to make decisions about COVID/illness protocols.
If you have questions about accessibility and whether or not this workshop will be a good fit for your specific body and needs, I’m available for a 15-minute phone call to check in and answer questions. Contact me to set this up.