InterPlay is a creative, engaged way to unlock the wisdom of the body, claiming sound, silence, story, song, movement, dance, stillness, witnessing, and affirmation as the birthright practices of all people. It doesn't promise healing, though many have found it can aid or facilitate breakthroughs on one’s healing journey. InterPlay's intention is to offer a toolkit for in-the-moment creation, reflection, and uplifting the good. Play supports us coming home to ourselves in all our abilities, limits, and “body deals.”

InterPlay meets us where we're at; we don't have to be feeling happy or any particular way to play. We come as we are and we play with what's present. Everything we do is by invitation--you get to decline anything that’s not right for you. If you're on the fence,here are some questions that might help you decide if you want to give InterPlay a try.

This group is for anyone who wants to play with their vocal capabilities in an experimental, fun, low-or-no-pressure way. You do not have to have ANY formal experience with singing or vocal training. You may have been told you have a “terrible voice” (shame on whoever told you that!) or a “great voice” (something we really all deserve to be told more). This group is for everybody ready to break out of the boxes that have defined or confined our voices… through play!

While this group welcomes & centers the experiences of BIPOC, 2SLGBTQIAP+, disabled, chronically ill, immigrant, youthful, elderly, & intersectionally oppressed peoples, the space is open to people of all identities who will co-sign the intention to witness, honor, & connect across differences as an act of resistance to all forms of domination & supremacy. All ages are welcome to participate, though the space is designed with adults and teens 17+ in mind. (If you have questions about the potential participation of youth younger than this, please reach out to me!)

Sessions will be led in English. While translation will unfortunately not be provided for this round of the group, use of other languages in the space is welcome! Closed captioning will be enabled.

We may or may not take a 5 minute break midway through sessions, though you are always welcome to tend to your body & relationships, dependents, etc. as needed throughout our time together (e.g. going off camera, stimming, fidgeting, stretching, moving your body at a time when everyone else appears still, using the bathroom off-cam, eating food, nursing a child or tending to children, letting your dog out/cat in, etc).

When doing movement-based activities, a few options will be given for ways to participate, which will always include doing the practice in your imagination if your bodyspirit is not able to or interested in doing it physically. You will always have the option to decline a practice invitation(s) as well. As a facilitator, I do my best to offer suggestions for a variety of bodies & access needs. Please email me at playfullythriving@gmail.com if you have any other access questions or indicate on the sign-up form if there is anything you want me to be aware of.

For folks who are deaf or hard of hearing, you are seen. Though ASL interpretation will not be available for this round of the group, it is my intention to continue to expand this work in the direction of all who want to participate in it. If you would be interested in a future edition of this group with ASL available, please drop me a line and know I am actively exploring it!

So much yes!!!!

I sure hope so! ;) The purpose of this space is not to improve our voices or learn new music, though it’s possible you might pick up a new song or two. While it’s possible you’ll have experienced some vocal warmups and activities like the ones we’ll do together, so much of what makes the InterPlay experience unique is in the connections we make between our bodymindheartspirits as we go, and between each other! No matter what level of experience or training you have, including with InterPlay, time and again I’ve experienced the power of the InterPlay toolkit to unlock new insights, feelings, and profound joy for folks. If for nothing other than fun, I highly suggest you try it!

This is a great question! While there are some challenges of working with the digital platform, there are actually some benefits, as well as some InterPlay practices that support us in orienting to this question. For one, some of the time we’ll just be making noise for ourselves, i.e. microphones off in the group, parallel playing in our respective living rooms. Other times, we may go back and forth with a partner, or in the big group, using our voices at separate times so there’s no overlap. During times where we will play with making sounds, toning, or singing all together, it can get a little choppy, distorted, even chaotic! This is where the InterPlay tools of “Easy Focus” and “Physicality of Grace” come in. We’ll talk more about these concepts in group, but in short, these are moments where we get to practice taking things less seriously, noticing if that’s easier or harder for us, & affirming our experience either way as one we can learn from. Yes, there are some Zoom settings we’ll enable like “original sound for musicians” to support our audio experiences, & sometimes, there may still be technical difficulties. When they arise, we’ll try to approach them with levity, maybe even mischief ;)

No, not this one. While some of my other courses are recorded, this one is more of an experience than a training, and much of what we’ll be experiencing has a “real-time” necessitated component to it. If you’re wanting to come but think you’ll miss a session or two, you’re welcome to factor that into the total you choose along the sliding scale.