WiseBodies

About to drop into boiling water. Happy Passover. Have a good journey through tonight, and these days and nights, as we travel toward our collective liberation.

S*x Ed teacher and a few of the things from yesterday’s wonderful day-long class, in a month’s-long workshop.

Her character in S*x Education is fab. But a couple things: Her company, which refers to the G-**ot, is named after a guy whose name marks the s*xy interior space, so I’m curious why she chose that name for her company, And, as we know, the flowy embroidery on this gorgeous dress indicates the exterior (kinda!) part of the body, not the part she called the “va**na,” which is internal. And, of course, “va**na” means “sword sheath,” which can be super s*xy but also can be pretty gross. Interior parts don’t have to land flag-marker names for cismen (g***t), or be named after cisstraightmen as places to land weapons (va**na). And beautiful dresses with floaty v***as all over them can be hot, esp when properly named.

To cis-men:
I've been listening to, thinking about, holding and tending, and helping heal decades of stories from girls, teen girls, and women who've had our lives transformed by r**e. R**e done by cis-men. This continues to today, and will continue tomorrow. (I know some women r**e; I get it; I understand that, too. But I'm talking about what I'm holding right now, which is decades and decades of girls, teens, and women being r**ed by cis-men.)

I notice that it's not you all - you men - carrying the public face, the weight of anti-r**e actions, activities, classes, and workshops.

Why is that?

I notice it's not you learning and teaching whole s*xuality education (except the remarkable boys and men who have studied with me at WiseBodies, and co-taught, co-led classes, and have gone on to work at Planned Parenthood, etc.). Why is that?

I'm thinking Shame.

Something I know a fair amount about, too.(The button on my dress in the photo reads "F**k Shame." My favorite button.)
I want you, cis-men, to move forward, face whatever it is that holds you back, and come learn with me.

Learn whole s*x ed. Learn bodies. Learn about the v***as I'm holding up (Malene Waldron; thank you.) Learn about pen*ses. Learn q***r and trans bodies.
Then I want you to teach.
Teach little boys, young boys, teen boys, and men. Teach your peers, your friends.
Teach the neighborhood kids.
Before they open up p**n channels and mis-learn there.

Move this forward.

It's your job to stop men ra**ng us.

I'm offering you this (and women, since I don't actually have many men followers, please invite yours to contact me.): a course in human s*xuality.

Come join me at my home for 4 Tuesday evening classes in human s*xuality.
We'll do this in February.
We'll see where it goes from there.

Get in touch.

Class is open only to 5 men, so sign up.

Trans men are welcome; you can help me.

We must stop r**e.

It's on your shoulders, cis-men.
Get it together.
Come to class.

It will be expensive.
Your fee will help women come to class, women who can't afford it, often because we've been set back in all kinds of ways, following r**e.

Reach me at [email protected]

Getting ready for our first class, Cultivating Delight, starting this Friday at 5pm!! There are two spots left…so check out WiseBodies.org to register. We’d love so much to have you💕

This wonderful human, Lily, and I are teaching a class called Cultivating Delight. It is for women and non-binary folks who have experienced harm in our s*xual bodies.

We won’t be talking about harm! We truly will be cultivating delight (Imagine being sung to. Yum.)

The workshop begins this-coming Friday, Dec 22, meets 5 times, and will be in-person at my home in Kingston.

If you’d like to join us, there are two spots left. We would love to have you.

Interested? Email me, Isa, at [email protected] and let’s start a conversation to see if this would be a good fit.

It will be a sweet, deep way to spend the heart of winter.

I was thinking last night about the phrase “trauma informed care,” and imagined what it might be like if, instead, we were collectively imagining “wonder informed care.”

These photos are of Lily and me, and our classroom table. Lily and I will be leading a five part class called Cultivating Delight. It’s for women who’ve experienced s*xual harm, and would like to spend five Friday evenings experiencing warmth, togetherness, wonder.

To learn more, and to register, go to my website, wisebodies.org.

Cultivating Delight begins Friday evening, December 22nd.

The folks already signed up are lovely.

You’ll fit right in.

We’d love to have you with us.

If you're 79 or 69 or 59 or 49 and have never had a magical, gentle, deep, loving workshop focussing on your pelvis, come be with me starting Sat Dec 16, 1 - 4pm, and continuing through March, in person in Kingston. I want you in class with me! We'll talk about it all, and listen to each-other's life journeys. Sign up at wisebodies.org.

If you’re 79 or 69 or 59 or 49 and have never had a magical, gentle, deep, loving workshop focussing on your pelvis, come be with me starting Sat Dec 16, 1-4pm, and continuing through March, in person in Kingston. I want you in class with me! We’ll talk about it all, and listen to one-another. Sign up at WiseBodies.org 💕

27, at a demo, wearing my Madre t. What if what the medical industry - gynecology - tells us about our s*xual bodies is missing what’s most real? Wonder, delight!, the natural world, our right to know ourselves. Deeply.

I have a poem in this year’s The ‘24 Lunar Calendar. Pause on buying today, in honor, but starting tomorrow please support this small, independent press (thelunapress.com) that has made this perfect moon-honoring calendar for 48 years. This calendar is an excellent tool for folks who cycle (look up!), folks pre or past that time, and folks who never have/never will.

💕Me at 28 💕. I’d already taught hundreds of people how to look at, and understand, their own v***as. Yep. 64 now, imagine how many folks I’ve taught and talked with! If you’re not getting enough time - or don’t feel enough welcome - with your practitioner to talk about your v***a, or don’t feel like they have enough knowledge and experience, you can come sit in my cozy living room with me. It’s lovely here. We’ll drink tea, and take our time. Trades welcome. Or leave $20 - or $100 - cash in my hat.

Dear Friends,
After a very intense last 6 months of focusing my attention on folks who needed my help, I'm back to preparing to teach s*xuality classes.
I'm glad to be back, and am looking-forward!
Here's what I'll be up to, starting in December; perhaps some of you would like to join (So far there are no winter workshops for men; let's see what spring brings.):
Cultivating Delight (following s*xual harm) for women and non-binary folks.
Taught by Lily Kafka and Isa Coffey
5 Saturday eves, Dec 23, 2023 - Jan 20, 2024 4:00- 6:00 pm, in person. Description of this class is on our website: wisebodies.org
Being Together, a Sensual Body Winter Workshop for Wise Women and Non-Binary Folks Born with Ovaries, 49 and Older
Taught by, and location: Isa Coffey, in person at her home in Kingston, NY, with address shared upon registration.
Dates: 4 Saturdays: December 16, 2023; Jan 27(Note change: 4th Sat, rather than 3rd), Feb 17, and March 16, 2024.
Time: 1:00 - 5:00 pm (Eat a meal before you arrive; we’ll have tea and small things to eat as part of class.).
Registration: Register online at wisebodies.org, under Adult Classes (The class isn’t yet up; check back next week. For now, let me know you’d like to join me.). This is an on-going workshop, with knowledge and community built week to week; plan to attend all 4 classes.
Cost: Suggested donation is $20 - $100 per class, with money dropped into a hat upon arrival each week. If you’re able, please lean up, in support of those who can’t.
Description: This will be a sweet way to travel our perfect and perfectly-aging bodies together through this-coming winter.
We’ll describe experiences we’re having as our whole s*xual bodies grow older and older; it will be good to find shared space, and also to learn what’s different.
We’ll make things with our hands, and learn how to use them, including aphrodisiac teas, drinks, and baths; breast/chest balms; lubricants for internal touch; and erotic massage oils.
We’ll learn the art of breast/chest self massage.
We’ll practice consensual, sensual touch, including our feet and hands.
We’ll explore how we can use water in baths, teas, and soaks, for nourishment.
We’ll explore pelvic-steaming with sweet herbal infusions.
We’ll develop skills for becoming more empowered in the rooms in which we receive pelvic care.
We’ll focus on our growing powers, including what we’re noticing; what we have in-common, what our shared commons hold.
We’ll strategize ways we can together make up for our culture’s lack of recognition of us, in our time of power.
We’ll sing, rest, get really quiet. Together.
Let me know if you'd like to join either or both classes, or if you have questions.
Also, if you would please share with others who might be interested, I'd be grateful.
with love, Isa Coffey
Photos of your to-be teachers, both in red, and in their wilds

This brand-new WiseBodies activist workshop has just has gone up on our WiseBodies website:

Going Beyond Gynecology

We’ll learn together why gyn appointments are the way they are (we'll read Deirdre Cooper Owens book!), think about the various ways we're denied our power when we're in our gyn's rooms, learn the skill sets we need to find balance, and strategize for how we can help make the gynecologic experience a lot more welcoming and lovely for ourselves, for our friends, and for our practitioners.

This class is for all of us: lgbtq+, trans, cis folks - anyone who sees a gyn (Note: midwives are great; we're specifically focussing on gyn's, who have a totally different training.).

Let's see if we can change gyn culture in small and large ways so more of us can feel beautifully cared-for, safe and empowered, and able to direct the flow when we see our gyn practitioners.

Who’s invited?
Anyone and everyone who sees a gynecologist.

Where does the money for this class go?
To a fund that raises money for BIPOC/Q***r Hudson Valley folks to attend childbirth classes

Go to our website: wisebodies.org, Adult Classes, to see the gorgeous photo Kole chose, and to sign up.

Sign up!

https://www.trans-week.com/

Trans Week of Visibility & Action: March 25-31, 2022 Action in defense of trans lives is an essential part of all movements for justice. Join us this week and always.

https://www.aclu.org/legislative-attacks-on-lgbtq-rights

Mapping Attacks on LGBTQ Rights in U.S. State Legislatures In the last few years states have advanced a record number of bills that attack LGBTQ rights, especially transgender youth. The ACLU is tracking these attacks and working with our national network of affiliates to support LGBTQ people everywhere.

Hey everyone, we have a lot of incredible items up for bid at our silent auction fundraiser this Sunday! Peruse through a sample here and make sure you come through and get some of these goodies and dance and sing with us.

We have giftcards to amazing local biznesses, music & merch, art supplies, birdhouses, yoga classes, chocolate, books, and a bunch of other cool stuff.

Click each images to see the tag for each donation. Huge thank you to all the local businesses and friends who donated in support of us.

Tickets in bio if you don’t have them yet!

See you soon

🟣Registration is open for Circle Class!
🌟Learn more and register via the link in our bio.

Circle Class is a welcoming place for trans and cis girls and gender fluid kids 11 – 13 years old to learn about their whole bodies in relation to themselves and the natural world.

Our spring semester Circle Class will focus on our bodies, on everything related to s*x and s*xuality, on cycling, on pregnancy and pregnancy prevention, on navigating interfacing with medical practitioners, on straight, trans, and LGBTQ lives, and on internet safety.

Students help create our curriculum, and will help lead it. We’ll make sure we focus on the topics that most interest us.

As always, we’ll add some extra weekend days for students to lead us in baking (so fun!), in conversation about books we’re reading, and we likely will have a film night.

All this cool stuff happens on zoom, so Circle students can join us from everywhere!

New dates: March 1 - May 31. We'll meet on Wednesdays from 4:15-5:45 PM.

Facilitated by Isa Coffey and Brianna Pope

Beautiful flyers are up for our fundraiser on Feb 12!! Still time to get your tickets now. Link in our bio.
💙🪩

🌟Registration open now! Link in bio.

Circle meets weekly on Wednesdays from 4:15-5:45 PM, Feb 1 - May 3.

Circle Class is a welcoming place for trans and cis girls and gender fluid kids 11 – 13 years old to learn about their whole bodies in relation to themselves and the natural world.

Our spring semester Circle Class will focus on our bodies, on everything related to s*x and s*xuality, on cycling, on pregnancy and pregnancy prevention, on navigating interfacing with medical practitioners, on straight, trans, and LGBTQ lives, and on internet safety.

Students help create our curriculum, and will help lead it. We’ll make sure we focus on the topics that most interest us.

As always, we’ll add some extra weekend days for students to lead us in baking (so fun!), in conversation about books we’re reading, and we likely will have a film night.

All this cool stuff happens on zoom, so Circle students can join us from everywhere!

Facilitated by Isa Coffey and Brianna Pope

🌟 Registration open now! Link in bio.

We’ll meet virtually on Mondays from 5-6:30pm from Feb 6 to May 8.

In Q***r Teens Group we collectively make and hold space for each other in generating discussion, creativity, joy, community, and understanding. We welcome teens under the LGBTQIA2+ umbrella.

Together our group will generate topics we’d like to explore within and beyond the Trans, Q***r, and questioning universe. We’ll navigate this universe through conversation, games, doodling, writing, laughter, visioning, image-making, asking questions, watching films, reading, movement, storytelling, and more!

We will also check out local Trans and Q***r artists work across a range of different media and invite various guest artists to lead creative prompts within our class.

Throughout the semester we will ask students if they would like to contribute their creative output towards a zine as a gift to each other and future classes. We’ll make something very specific to this group of people to this moment. Won’t you be a part of it?

Facilitated by Jeremy Bloom and Kole Kovacs

This is the s*x ed class for which your whole body - including your heart, your mind, and your soul - may be longing.

Throughout this 9 month class, we’ll move slowly toward developing a deeper erotic, a deeper s*xual, self-knowledge. We’ll move slowly toward developing a more profound way of communicating with our own erotic selves, and with the erotic selves of others.

We’ll steadily create a trusted learning community within which we’ll work. This learning community might include strangers who will become close companions on our journey. It might include a lover. It might include a friend.

We’ll learn about our bodies. We’ll learn from our bodies.

We’ll learn about each other’s bodies. We’ll learn from each other’s bodies.

This class will be gentle, will move slowly, and often will be quiet. We’ll spend time listening, resting, sharing, moving, writing, and doing.

Some of what we’ll be doing will include deep learning about the anatomy of our s*xual bodies. While we work, we’ll look for insight into possible pathways between our physical, emotional, and spiritual selves. What we discover about our s*xual bodies may be surprising.

This journey can be transformative.

This class may become important to you; it may become profoundly important.

Meeting via zoom 1st and 3rd Thursdays 7-8:30pm. Registration link on Linktree in bio.

Recommended for q***r and questioning youth ages 14-17. Don’t you wish someone gave you an instruction manual for this life, this mind, this body? Um, yeah. We don’t have that. But what if we did? We’ll be asking what do I wish someone had told me? What do I need moving forward? What do I wish a q***r-led, q***r-centered s*x-ed class could be? Through non-thinking writing and art-making in real time, we’ll collect material to make our own zine/manual. No need to be an artist. In fact, it’s great if you’re not. Either way, this process will be about letting go of self-judgment and overthinking, embracing improv, humor, discovery. We’ll imagine we can have all the answers. Students will drive the content creation and steer conversations. We’ll sometimes outsource to visitors with specific expertise, knowledge or experience. Nothing's off-limits, and we will prioritize that this is a space for trusting, compassionate communication.

Teacher

Jeremy Bloom (he/him) works in community gatherings and art, including collaborating with Isa and WiseBodies on Pom-Pom Prom. He makes movies and more with Evenstar Films, makes plays and parties with Rady&Bloom, and helps to organize events and exhibitions at Athens Cultural Center. Hobbies include drawing with sharpies and discovering things he never knew he never knew. As a teacher, he continues to learn, and has taught workshops at NYU, Northwestern, Montclair State and various high schools. Jeremy is grateful for and inspired by WiseBodies.

We will meet via zoom on Mondays from 5-6:30pm. Registration link on Linktree in bio.

CIRCLE class is a welcoming place for trans and cis girls and gender fluid kids 11 – 13 years old to learn about their whole bodies in relation to themselves and the natural world.

Circle Class offers kids the chance to experience how amazing and powerful are our voices and our bodies; how intimately connected are our bodies to the plant world; how deeply similar are bodies we’ve known as “female” and as “male”; how we can use our voices in strength and in power; how our bodies grow and change through childhood and adolescence; what cycling is all about and how to prepare for it.

We’re in for a real treat this year: Circle kids, some of whom will be starting their 4th year with us, will be learning how to sew! Yep.

We’ve hired two incredible sewing teachers, Meredith Mack and Ellie von Wellsheim (Founder of The MoonCatcher Project, where Meredith has worked.) who’ll be leading us on a semester-long journey starting with learning how to thread your sewing machine and how to cut fabric; learning how to sew colorful cloth buntings, work aprons, pillows, flags, and more; to learning how to make your own US-style Mooncatcher kit.

We hold this space in joy and tenderness to welcome new kids, and to welcome back the kids who return, year after year, to learn with us.

*We’ll have student-led lessons on the ovulatory/menstrual cycle.
*We’ll get a chance to learn about the MoonCatcher Project, and hear what it’s like for kids around the world to get their periods.
*We’ll add a couple optional, very fun student-led baking classes on weekends during the semester, because we love to bake together.
*What if you don’t have a sewing machine and sewing supplies? We’ll loan them to you for the semester.

Classes will meet via zoom on Wednesdays from 4:15-5:45pm.
Registration link in bio. 🧵

Circle class students got up early today to make buttermilk biscuits. Led by a student, it’s one of many baking days we hold during the year. Part of whole s*x ed.

Kingston. Everywhere.