What is your relationship to your emotions?
How to Feel
Though this is pretty much considered normal in 2026, it doesn’t have to be.
We can learn embodied skills to actually feel and move through our emotions.
And in a collective time like ours, it’s necessary.
A six week course offering education
and embodied practice for
feeling your feelings
Oct 27th - Dec 1st, 2026
How to Feel offers an expertly supported space to learn practical embodied skills and frameworks to better understand and
actually feel your emotions.
Most of us tend to fall in one of three patterns:
1) Stuck up in our heads, dissociated from what we feel
2) Drowning in and overwhelmed by our emotions
3) Moving between the two states
A Combination of
Education + Practice
This course combines practical teaching, guided embodied practices and community support to help you deepen your understanding, build new neural pathways and expand your embodied capacity to move through emotion. We will use the principles behind somatics, Gestalt psychotherapy and anti-oppression to help you develop skills, re-inhabit your body and create a felt sense of safety even when rolling through intense emotion.
In This Course You Will Learn:
a more complex and nuanced understanding of your feelings, and their relationship to your thinking, embodiment, nervous system and behavioural patterns.
how to identify what you feel and what is happening underneath the feeling using awareness, physical sensation and deep listening.
how to actually feel your feelings by moving them through your body without getting stuck in thinking, avoidance, or harmful coping.
how to notice and re-direct when you find yourself projecting (aka blaming) your discomfort onto something or someone else.
embodied practices to help regulate your nervous system and feel grounded.
How to Feel Includes:
6 Live and Recorded Classes
Six ninety minute classes with corresponding guidebooks. Attend live or watch the replays!
6 Audio Practices
Six short audio embodiment practices to implement new somatic feeling skills.
Optional 1-1 Support
Two opportunities to ask questions, live or by e-mail. Audio recordings will be made available.
Weekly Practice Sessions
A series of optional calls to foster community and build a consistency of practice.
Once released, you will have content download links accessible for up to a year so you can work through them at your own pace.
LIVE CLASS SCHEDULE & SYLLABUS
Oct 27th - Dec 1st, 2026
Free Intro Week
Feelings 101 Class: October 20th, 6 - 7:30pm EDT
Free Practice Call: Friday, October 23rd, 12 - 12:30pm EDT
Week 1: Fear
Live Class: Tuesday, Oct 27th, 6 - 7:30pm EDT
Practice Session: Friday, Oct 30th , 12 - 12:30pm EST lead by Varia
Learn about fear from a nervous system perspective, and disover how to re-establish an “in this moment” sense of safety. This week’s embodiment practice is resourcing.
Week 2: Anger
Live Class: Tuesday, Nov 3rd, 6 - 7:30pm EST
Practice Session 2: Thursday, Jan 27th, 12 - 12:30pm EST lead by Holly
Yes, it’s safe to feel your anger. Learn how to move the hot energy of anger through you in a non-harmful way. This week’s embodiment practice will focus on containment.
Week 4: Grief
Live Class: Tuesday, Nov 10th, 6 - 7:30pm EST
Practice Session 3: Thursday, February 3rd, 12 - 12:30pm EST lead by Varia
Explore what grief is, how to create support for yourself so you can grieve, and how to move in and out of it so it doesn’t swallow you whole. This week’s embodiment practice will focus on softening.
Week 6: Joy
Live Class: Tuesday, Nov 17th, 6 - 7:30pm EST
Practice Session 4: Thursday, Feb 17th, 12 - 12:30pm EST lead by Varia
Struggling to access joy or feeling guilty about it when it comes up? “I’m scared to lose it.” Sound familiar? Joy is a very vulnerable thing to feel. Let’s learn to savour it. This week’s embodiment practice will focus on orienting.
Week 7: Shame
Live Class: Tuesday, Nov 24th, 6 - 7:30pm EST
Practice Session 5: Thursday, Feb 24th, 12 - 12:30pm EST lead by Holly
Shame is an evolutionary survival mechanism which can wreak havoc in our lives if left unchecked. Learn how to notice and ease feelings of shame. This week’s embodiment practice will focus on pendulation.
Week 8: Overwhelm
Live Class: Tuesday, 6 - 7:30pm EST
Closing Reflection & Dance Party: Time TBD lead by Varvara
Everything is happening at once. Learn how to pause in the moment of feeling overwhelmed to find your centre and regain your agency. This week’s embodiment practice will focus on titration.
TUITION AND REGISTRATION
How to Feel tuition is on sliding scale pricing which offers financial accessibility to those who need it and a chance for those with financial stability to share from it. A great big thanks to Alexis J. Cunningfolk for their writing on sliding scale pricing .
Course Only
Course + One on One Support
Course + 3 sessions with Assistant Teacher, Holly
$947 USD Upfront
$160 USD X 6 months
Holly has been in practice for 3 years.
Scholarship Price
$297 USD Upfront
*$55 USD X 6 months
The Scholarship Price is for you if you struggle to meet basic needs and paying for this class would be significant or stressful. Queer & trans, working class, disabled, BIPOC, neurodivergent and immigrant folks to the front please.
Standard Price
$497 USD upfront
$85 USD X 6 months
The Standard Price is the actual cost of the course. It’s for you if you have some financial stability and some expendable income. Paying for this class will likely mean prioritizing this above other non-essential spending choices.
Course + 3 sessions with Course Teacher, Varia
$1097 USD upfront
$185 USD X 6 months
Varia has been in practice for 10 years.
“It has allowed me to feel more resourced and grounded and also have a language to share my knowledge with my partner(s) and loved ones. Varvara’s approach is one I’ve been missing in many spaces (intersectional, inclusive, open minded, loving) and it makes me feel extremely happy and lucky for this opportunity. I’m definitely going to repeat with the new classes she offers!”
Early Bird Registration Opens on Sept 29th
Fill in the form below to join my newsletter list and be the first to know!
*If the Supported Price 6 month payment plan isn’t feasible for you, please be in touch with me at contact@bewith.org to request a longer payment plan or to get your name on a waitlist for a PWYC (pay what you can) scholarship.
HTF STUDENT FEEDBACK
“ I have spent a lifetime outside of my body. As soon as I started to realize that many of the answers I needed in order to heal from my traumas would require connection to my body, I was looked high and low for a starting point that felt accessible. I signed up for this class as soon as I saw the title “How to Feel” because, well, that’s exactly what I’m trying to learn. I’m so glad that I did. It was the perfect way to learn concrete tools that helped me understand where to start. I rarely feel safe around strangers, particularly people that I’ve never met in person, but Varvara has such an incredible energy - I was instantly at ease. She held the group with such grace, sweetness, and humor. I am so grateful to her for this offering and for the changes I’ve already seen in myself. ”
“This class legit taught me how to feel. I learned more about how to be in my body with my emotions. I learned so much more about how to be with my emotions instead of seeing them as an enemy. This was one of the best investments I have made. Varvara is so delightful. You will have a great time and your perspective on emotions will change in the process. I can’t recommend this enough.”
“Varvara’s enthusiasm, authenticity, and mastery shine through when she talks about feelings — the messiness of them, the nuances of them, and how to treat ourselves kindly while feeling them. Her teachings have totally transformed my capacity for self-trust and a felt sense of personal liberation. What a treasure.”
“How to Feel deepened my understanding of feelings and how we can use our bodies to feel and honor them. I appreciated Varvara providing affinity calls, audio practices, and allowing herself time to answer questions. I feel that she honored herself and embodied what she was teaching by allowing this. What a beautiful example of a guide and teacher, someone who embodies what they want to share with the world! This course is great for people who want an introduction to feelings and how they are connected to the body as well and others who already have knowledge they wish to deepen.”
“Varvara is so gentle and kind. I’ve learned about somatic experiencing before from another teacher, but Varvara teaches it in a more digestible way that I was able to use immediately after practicing once with her recorded audios. The practices have built my capacity to stay in my body during difficult moments. I also really appreciate her social justice and equity lens that she brings into her classes; her commitment and continued growth here are clear.”
“This class helped me grow through one of the most challenging experiences of my life. An old childhood wound was ripped open, on top of a pandemic, loss of a family member, systemic oppression of people of color coming to a head and so many other things. I can’t imagine how I could have managed to listen, get curious, and move into spaces of safety without this course.”
“Taking this course has made such an impact in my life and taught me that it’s okay to feel my feelings (emotions) and how to work through them so that I do not get stuck in the overwhelming part of it. Many times I turned my camera off and cried a little because I really resonated with so many things that were said in each class. Overwhelm was the class that resonated the most with me. It was as if you were telling a story of my life. Thank you for teaching me that I am not alone. I saved the resourcing practices and listen to them any time I need a little extra help with an emotion that I’m feeling.”
“Varvara’s How To Feel class is a game changer! It was more helpful than any book, therapy or course I have taken over the years, combined! I highly recommend this course if you want to understand your feelings more, be able to learn how to process them and become more grounded and feel better in your life.”
“How to Feel was a safe, compassionate, and trauma informed journey of self discovery lead by Varvara, a remarkable facilitator, who guided me and the other group members through the journey with kindness and respect for each of our bodies’ inherent wisdom. How to Feel allowed me to understand my nervous system without judgement, while making space for new skills to support increased regulation in a way that works with, instead of against, my body.”
“This class helped me in so many ways. As someone who is often overwhelmed, I was able to begin to learn how to slow down and support myself, which is empowering and oh so difficult. I know this is just the beginning but having a map of somatic practices to use in all circumstances in life, but specifically in ones which push me over the edge (in terms of anxiety), I feel less alone and stronger. I feel like I am able to do something productive instead of being frozen.
Learning about the connection between my nervous system and my mental health was truly transformational. Thank you Varvara, for making sure this information was anti-oppressive and trauma informed.”
“My emotional capacity is expanding with the new skills and understanding. I’m better able to work with myself in emotional moments - even in small ways. Reminding myself about the tools I’ve gathered affirms me that I’m not alone, that I can handle what’s rising in me, and that I’m supported and capable to surf whatever emotional wave.”
“How to Feel is the perfect class for anyone wanting to deepen their somatic practice. As an abuse survivor with C-PTSD, I appreciated her perspective, empathy and breakdown of all the theory. Varvara provides an amazing amount of information and detail about somatic practices that really help solidify an understanding of how to feel your feelings.”
“This course truly helped me to develop both my cognitive and embodied understanding of feelings, in a way that felt safe. Varvara is an incredible teacher and leads from a place of her own healing and continued work, sharing personal examples and demonstrating embodied skills in realtime. I learned an immense amount in this course and am so grateful for all it offered me.”
faq
Q: Do I need to be able to make the live classes in order to get the most out of this course?
A: Probably not, but it does depend on how you learn best! About half the students show up to class live and the other half catch the replays on their own time on their own pace. You have up to a year to download all the content so if the time feels right to do the class but you can’t make the live sessions, I recommend registering and working through the material at your own pace.
WHO THIS CLASS IS FOR:
You consider yourself highly sensitive and/or are surrounded by sensitive folks, and want to support yourself and others better.
You’re seeing how your feelings (or lack thereof) are negatively affecting your relationships, health, or intentions and you want to make positive change in this arena.
You’ve done enough personal development, therapy, or coaching to begin to see that growth is a practice, not a destination.
You’re existentially exhausted from the crises we are living through and want to develop more internal stability to ride the waves of emotion that come with being alive right now.
You sense that it’s time to go inwards to look for your answers, experientially not just intellectually.
You’ve started learning about trauma (personal and/or systemic) and feel curious to explore what that might mean for you.
feeling success STORIES:
Nancy Turnquist
STILL UNSURE? try these resources for free:
TEACHING TEAM:
Course Creator and Head Instructor:
Varia Erochina (they/them)
Holly Lowery
I’m a reluctant expert on feelings.
Having grown up in Moscow during the fall of the USSR, there wasn’t a lot of space for me to feel my feelings as a child. As a highly sensitive young person, I learned to ignore, control and hide how I felt no matter the cost.
Then came a traumatic immigration, fundamentalist christianity, chronic depression and multiple painful attempts at coming out as queer to a conservative culture and friends. The cost of not feeling, not being in my body and being there for everyone other than myself became too much to bear.
Cue thousands of dollars and over a decade of therapy later, I learned how to discern what I was actually feeling, developed the skills and capacity to stay with myself and get through to the other side of any emotion. This new capacity set me free and awoke me to the beauty of life, the wisdom of my feelings, and the gift of being embodied. It also helped me to see myself in the context of a complex world shaped by systems that created much of my suffering, including ableism, racism, patriarchy, classism, colonialism and more.
I’ve spent the last thirteen years offering embodied emotional support through one on one and group coaching, teaching, spiritual care, facilitation, storytelling and community building. My work is shaped by a cross-disciplinary approach to healing that combines my background in somatic trauma resolution, Gestalt psychotherapy, co-active coaching, creative arts and spiritual care. My approach is politicized, non-hierarchical, and process (rather than outcome) oriented. Queerness, immigration, class struggle, and lived experience of trauma orient my work towards justice for all and a practice of accessibility as love. My magic is in being with people. So is my joy.
Course Assistants:
Holly Lowery-Davis is a certified body oriented coach, somatic practitioner, group facilitator and educator with 8+ years of professional experience in the mental health landscape. She offers support and gentle guidance for folks who want to process emotions more fully, heal unresolved trauma and attachment inadequacies, support their nervous system and feel awake to life again. In holly's 1:1 practice she weaves together nervous system science, movement, visualization, parts work (IFS), spirit, somatic meditation, safety exercises, psycho-education, and cultural context to offer a gentle, whole-being approach to healing. Through this embodied framework Holly has helped dozens of clients transform trauma responses & painful emotional experiences into more generative, life affirming ways of being. Ultimately Holly's work aims to help clients build the inner stability and capacity to move through their lives with more consciousness, agency, self-trust, presence and wholeness. You can learn more about Holly's professional background and certifications, or book a free consult with her at hollylowery.com.
My formal training includes:
Alchemical Alignment: Somatic Imprints of Death in Life and Birth
Modules 8 - 14 , 2022 - 2023 (105 hours)
Brigit Viksnins MAT, SEP, RCST®, BCTMB, LMTFoundations in Embodied Ancestral Inquiry
Ancestral Reconnection and Repair Through Embodied Practice (50 hours)
Marika Heinrichs, MEd, RSME/TAlchemical Alignment: Bodywork for Trauma Resolution and Embodiment of Spirit
Levels 1-4 , 2021 (100 hours)
Brigit Viksnins MAT, SEP, RCST®, BCTMB, LMTCoaches Training Institute
Co-Active Coaching Fundamentals, 2015 (17.75 hours)
ICF Accredited Coach TrainingCertificate in Gestalt Psychotherapy Theory and Methodology
One-Year Traning Program for Professionals, 2012 (170 hours)
Year Two - Introduction to Field Dynamics , 2013(170 hours)
Gestalt Institute of TorontoFoundations in the Psychology of Counselling
As part of a Master’s of Divinity, 2013 (45 hours)
Dr. Marsha Hewitt, Trinity College, University of TorontoStudies towards a Master’s of Divinity
with a focus on Queer Theology, 2011 - 2013
Queen’s University, University of TorontoBachelor of Arts with Honours in Philosophy
York University, 2005 - 2009
Toronto, Ontario
Lineages of Practice:
My deepest gratitude is extended to my own lineage of practice, built first and foremost on the foundation of my own well-being. This foundation was and is made possible by the long-term support and encouragement of my community, as well as the pivotal guides in my own life - Katarina Maatta-Hebdon and Marika Heinrichs. I extend my deepest thanks to my teachers in healing, Brigit Viksnins and the faculty of The Gestalt Institute of Toronto, as well as Tele Darden and Steph Jagger who offer me private practice supervision and mentorship, respectively. My approach is shaped by the public teaching work of adrienne maree brown, Lindsay Mack, Brené Brown, Janina Fisher, Kathy Kain, Rachael Maddox and Rob Bell. My deepest bow goes to each of them, as well as to the ancient traditions that shape the lineages my work flows from, including the teachings of the Buddha, Indigenous teachings, Christian mystics, and earth based worship, ritual and magic.
At this point, I feel my life’s calling is to support myself and others to live in right relationship with self, others & the more than human world.
I am a cis white queer femme, a Russian immigrant, a cat mom and a wife to Tanya Neumeyer. I live in what is colonially known as Toronto in Canada, but has always been and will be Indigenous land. As both a settler and an immigrant in my lifetime, I hold the privilege, complexity and harm by which I get to call this place home seriously. The land I live on is part of the Dish with One Spoon Territory - a treaty between the Anishinaabe, Mississaugas and Haudenosaunee that bound them to share the territory and protect the land. Subsequent Indigenous Nations and peoples, Europeans and all newcomers have been invited into this treaty in the spirit of peace, friendship and respect. I look to this treaty as a guiding principle for how to live on the land, working towards decolonization through solidarity, education and when called for direct action.
““Varvara’s How To Feel class is a game changer! It was more helpful than any book, therapy or course I have taken over the years, combined! I highly recommend this course if you want to understand your feelings more, be able to learn how to process them and become more grounded and feel better in your life.” ”
“Varvara is a compassionate, thoughtful, and knowledgeable guide through the difficult terrain of human feelings. She is very skilled at both conveying theory and facilitating embodied practice, in a way that is accessible and tangibly useful in day-to-day life. This course has helped me to become way more attuned to my feelings, and more equipped to feel them all the way through rather than repress or project. The skills I’ve learned here will support me in strengthening my relationships with myself, my partner, my friends and family, and my broader community.”
“I feel like every human alive needs to take this class. The world would be so much better for it. When we heal ourselves, we heal the world. Varvara provides us with so many tools to heal ourselves.”
““Varvara is so gentle and kind. I’ve learned about somatics before from another teacher, but Varvara teaches it in a more digestible way that I was able to use immediately after practicing once with her recorded audios. The practices have built my capacity to stay in my body during difficult moments. I also really appreciate her social justice and equity lens that she brings into her classes; her commitment and continued growth here are clear.””
““How to Feel was a safe, compassionate, and trauma informed journey of self discovery lead by Varvara, a remarkable facilitator, who guided me and the other group members through the journey with kindness and respect for each of our bodies’ inherent wisdom. How to Feel allowed me to understand my nervous system without judgement, while making space for new skills to support increased regulation in a way that works with, instead of against, my body.””
AUDIO PRACTICE
Integration Q&A
“I came across the How The Feel practices on Instagram when I was bogged down and overwhelmed by all the different teachings, sayings, and quotations and feeling a little lost in it all. Fortunately, at that time, the only message I was receiving from myself and knew to be true was that I couldn’t run away from my feelings. I had known this for a while now but I just did not know where or how to begin listening to myself. All the different theories and teachings aimed towards productivity or ways to reach your maximum potential and it only felt agitating. Barbara’s classes are so gentle and her practices guided me in many, many, different ways to first understand the patterns that were ingrained within me or taught to me. This really resonated with me and coupled with the practice sessions, I am now able to feel a little safer in my own body. I have been struggling with anxiety for a long time now and have nervous jitters running through my body almost all the time, and I woke up today not feeling as jittery. There is a lot I still have left to learn about myself but I when I am experiencing something, I don’t feel lost or more overwhelmed. I know I owe this to Barbara and her gentle reminders only to witness myself with a soft, tender gaze.”
“This class was incredibly powerful and I honestly think every single human being could benefit from taking it. I feel a much greater understanding of my emotions and have concrete strategies to experience them in healthier ways.”
“I feel way more in touch with myself and more prepared to experience emotional situations in a way that is healthy and not self-destructive.”
“The live classes gave me a sense of accountability and the audio is something I will return to again and again – I am downloading them onto every device I own! ”