WHY THIS GRIEF JOURNEY

Uncharted Waters: A Somatic Exploration of Colonial Grief invites colonized bodies to dive deeply into the embodied currents of loss left by colonization. Rooted in my personal journey, growing up in Benin, a land profoundly shaped by colonial history, and now living in Portugal, the birthplace of this legacy, this workshop offers a collective space to feel, grieve, and create with what remains.

Together, we will somatically navigate the unspoken grief of:

• What was erased and what could have been.

• The voids, wounds, and silences carried by the land and the ocean.

• The sorrow and anger left within us, how do we hold them, process them, and transform them?

Colonization has left behind not only loss but also rage and resentment, a rage for the stolen lives, stolen futures, and ongoing injustices. What do we do with this anger? How do we let it move through us without consuming us? How do we honor it without being trapped by it?

Meanwhile, many of the European countries that colonized continue to glorify and romanticize this period, while still profiting from the wealth they acquired. But what remains somatically within us, the descendants of the colonized? What does our grief feel like in our bodies? How do we carry the weight of a past that is still present? How do we stop romanticizing a past we were never allowed to fully know, and instead begin creating from what remains? How do we grieve the fractures, the erasures, and the silences, without being trapped in longing for what was stolen?

This is a space to honor our bodies, the land, and the ocean, the vast witness to centuries of pain and resistance. For the same waves that brought us colonization will, one day, carry our grief and sorrow away.

Through reflection, embodied practices, storytelling, rituals, and creative expression, we will chart a course through colonial grief, transforming sorrow into remembrance and anger into creation.

WHO CAN JOIN THIS JOURNEY

This grief journey is EXCLUSIVELY for BIPOC and people from the Global South, those whose lands, ancestors, and bodies carry the imprint of colonization. About 80% of the world was colonized and even today some lands are still in the process of being colonized, leaving behind a legacy of loss, fragmentation, and displacement. This space is for those who feel the echoes of that history in their bones, whether through forced migration, stolen languages, severed lineages, or the ongoing systemic inequalities that persist today.

It is for those willing to explore the grief they may have inherited but never been given space to name.

It is for those who want to sit with what was lost, what remains, and what can be reclaimed, not alone, but collectively.

Through this journey, we acknowledge that grief is not just personal; it is historical, generational, and structural. Together, we will explore how colonial grief lives in our bodies, how it moves through us, and how we might begin to transform it, create with it, through remembrance, through creation, through rituals, and through community.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN THIS JOURNEY

This journey is a weekly gathering spread over three months (Every Friday on zoom), retracing the colonial routes that shaped the world. Using the very paths that carried conquest, exploitation, and displacement, we will navigate our grief—honoring what was lost, feeling what remains, and imagining what can be reclaimed.

Each session will invite participants into:

• Somatic Practices – Tuning into the body as a vessel carrying history, memory, and grief.

• Collective Witnessing – Grieving and processing in community, breaking silence together.

• Storytelling & Reflection – Unraveling the personal and collective impact of colonization.

• Ritual & Creative Expression – Stitching loss into creation, honoring what endures.

This is a live journey, what unfolds happens in the moment, in the presence of those who are part of it. To honor the intimacy and privacy of the group, sessions will not be recorded. However, a dedicated space on a community platform (CIRCLE.SO) will be available for participants to stay connected, share reflections, and exchange knowledge and resources between sessions.

Journey Structure: Sailing Through Colonial Grief

🚢 Phase 1: Departing Lisbon (Portugal) – Setting Sail into the Atlantic (Europe to Africa & Brazil)

• The journey begins where many colonial expeditions did, Lisbon, Portugal.

• We explore the ocean as both a witness and a graveyard of history.

🌊 Phase 2: Crossing the Indian Ocean

• Moving along the colonial trading routes from East Africa to India and Southeast Asia.

• Holding the weight of histories of indentured labor, cultural erasure, and resistance.

🌀 Phase 3: The Transpacific Currents – Legacies of Empire & What Remains

• Reckoning with ongoing imperialism, mixed identities, and diasporic grief.

• Exploring the void: what do we do with the loss? How do we stitch together what was severed?

• Creating with what remains: How do we transform grief into remembrance, anger and resentment into movement, wounds into creation?

This is not a journey toward closure, colonial grief is still unfolding. Instead, it is a space to name what has been lost, to feel deeply, to imagine new ways of being with grief and to transcend rage and resentment and create with grief.

DATES

APRIL: Phase 1: Departing Lisbon (Portugal) – Setting Sail into the Atlantic (Europe to Africa & Brazil)

Fridays 11th, 18th, 25th

MAY: Phase 2: Crossing the Indian Ocean

Fridays 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th

JUNE: Phase 3: The Transpacific Currents – Legacies of Empire & What Remains

Fridays 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th

PRICES

This 12-week journey is offered at an accessible price to honor the reality that many BIPOC communities have limited financial resources. It is important that those most impacted by colonial histories have the space to grieve and create without financial barriers.

STANDARD PRICE: 360 Euros (23% Portuguese VAT included) (Equals 30 euros per sessions)

COMMUNITY PRICE: 260 Euros (23% Portuguese VAT included) (Equals 21,66 per sessions)

Pay this price if you are unemployed or currently experiencing financial hardship.

Payment in 2 installments is possible for both Standard and Community prices (50% in the beginning and the second 50% until May 12th 2025). If needed do not hesitate to get in touch via the contact box completely below.

CANCELATION POLICY:

Free cancellation and full refund until 2 weeks before the start of the training.