Writing Warmth for Shame

Shame is the painful sense that we haven’t gotten it right, aren’t getting it right, and never will. It’s a full-body experience, often invisible to the outside world, that compresses the nervous system and whispers that we don’t belong.

Neuroscience shows us that shame lights up the left hemisphere with self-judgment and floods the body with cortisol, like a nervous system in freefall. Meanwhile, the right hemisphere, where we hold the nonverbal and the unknown, becomes overwhelmed by alarmed aloneness. Shame is a state of emergency that robs us of the bandwidth for presence, connection, and creativity.

At its least destructive, shame can serve as a gentle edge—a signal that we’re out of sync with ourselves or others. But when we grow up without resonance or accompaniment, when we’re told we’re wrong or bad, excluded, bullied, or misunderstood (especially for those who are neurodivergent), shame becomes a tidal force that shapes our identity.

Shame tells us our voice doesn’t matter. That no one wants to hear what we have to say. But when we begin to write about shame, it’s like tapping a marble egg—cracking it open to discover the gold within. 

Over the course of this six-week writing workshop, we’ll explore the lived experience of shame through the lens of neuroscience, resonance, and creative expression. Together we will begin to loosen the inner contracts and patterns that keep us living in shame.

We live in a world that treats warmth and care as optional. But the truth is, emotional warmth is a profound resilience-builder. In fact, warmth is more powerful than any other “emotional vitamin.” 

This class welcomes all forms of creative expression. There will be dedicated writing time during each session, and participants are free to use it however they’re moved to, whether that is through journaling, poetry, prose, or simply reflective rest.

My hope is that you’ll leave this class with more self-compassion, greater freedom from the shaming voices within, and a deeper capacity for creative movement that’s no longer held hostage by shame.

Where?

The course will meet via zoom. We welcome participants from all time zones who wish to learn asynchronously for some or all of the sessions. Recordings and visuals will be made available to those who are registered for the live program (typically available within 72 hours of the live session).

When?

This 6-week course runs from August 26, 2025 to September 30, 2025, with classes meeting each Tuesday morning from 8:00 AM – 9:25 AM Pacific Time (To convert to your time zone, please click here)

What To Expect:

A warm space that creates room for the flow from thought into expression, support and resonant feedback, all in service of unblocking your creativity and more fluid expression. In each 85-minute class, we will:

• Begin with a free writing period
• Offer a resonance exercise or demonstration to support the movement toward free expression
• Continue with a second free writing period
• Create space for sharing and resonant responses to each other’s work

The classes will be recorded for participants in many time zones.

What You’ll Learn Each Week:

Week 1: How We Are Ruled By Shame Contracts
Week 2: Shame vs. Guilt, and Alarmed Aloneness
Week 3: Trauma’s Role in Shame
Week 4: Broken Fields and Shame
Week 5: Shame and Our Reductive Vision 
Week 6: Imagining our Healthy Shame

Who Is This Course For?

For writers, artists, explorers and creatives looking for a resonant space in which to support their creative expression. The creative process work that we’ll explore in this class is for anyone involved in, or longing to be involved in, any kind of creative pursuit.

This Course Includes Resonant Assistant Support

Get assistant support during classes – experience resonant support from experienced practitioners when you need it during class times. Often, this work can have unexpected depth and touch on deeply held subconscious awareness and pain. Getting support when we need it most helps participants to integrate, regulate, and have a felt experience of the transformative power of resonance.

Cost

$175-$400

• This course is set up so that participants can contribute what they can.
• Please choose a variation that considers your financial resources as well as the contribution you would like to offer Sarah and her team.
• The standard tuition for this course is $300.  If you choose to pay more, your contribution will go toward supporting those with fewer resources to attend.

Please Note:

• Your tuition payment is non-refundable, but it is transferable.
• This course will be recorded for those who want to learn asynchronously for some or all sessions.
• This work is not therapy and is not a substitute for therapy. If you have a sense that you would be destabilized by yourself or others speaking about difficult events, then this course may not be for you. While we hope that the processes and information that we share can be of use in your journey, we do not have the resources to support extreme psychological difficulties.