Core Course 2
Core Course 2 Outline
2025 Course Dates
- April 5-11, BIPOC only, in-person, Victoria, BC
- Teaching team: Kai Cheng, Onika, Sherika
- June 8-14, in-person, Victoria, BC
- Teaching team: Kai Cheng, captain
- October 19-25, in-person, Seattle, WA
- Teaching team: Katie, Corinne, Onika
- Dates TBD, Online
- Teaching team: Corinne, Onika, Sherika
- (Online intensives will be scheduled when we have a minimum of 6 students interested. Please reach out to express your interest and join our waitlist)
In-person option: 7 days $2,295 USD
First day: 11am to 6pm, subsequent days 10 am to 6 pm (with an afternoon of repose mid-week)
Online option: 10 half-days study and practice online $2,095 USD
Monday to Friday 9 am to 2 pm PST (with the weekend off)
This is the first of two intensives in a professional training for somatic sex educators. Whether you are attending online or in-person, you will be working with a cohort of students, two main faculty, plus guest teachers. Prepare for an intensive learning experience.
Our own erotic well-being is foundational for developing a professional practice as a somatic sex educator. During this week together we have a chance to unfold and share the personal and cultural journey to sexual wholeness. The intensive takes us through an arc of exercises and experiences in a way that mirrors the journey of a client working with a somatic sex educator, while resourcing us for professional practice.
We will begin with creating a “safe enough” container. This involves setting community agreements and honing and sharing our intentions. Study and embodied exercises help with understanding barriers to pleasure. We will learn and use actual practices, tools and competencies for empowering our own and others’ choice and voice.
Students will expand their embodied understanding of social locationality and sexual rights and freedoms. They will learn about how we somatize oppression and privilege, and practice technologies for unwinding some of these bonds.
We will work to create intentional, professional, erotic learning space. We practice using procedures that demonstrate professionalism, including intake and assessment. We discuss and offer diverse frameworks for ethical somatic sex education.
We cultivate capacity to feel and communicate body sensations as we increase our somatic literacy, developing a repertoire of embodiment practices we can use and share with clients.
The course includes a deeper dive into the science of somatic sex education and interpersonal neurobiology. The science of sexual happiness helps give language to the learning process, so we understand challenges and opportunities for expanded wellness. Knowing and sharing the science can help take shame away as we work with clients, and support each person in working and playing in their personal learning zone.
The intensive includes teaching in the somatic sex education core tool of Masturbation Coaching. We have an opportunity to explore the possibility of communal Mindful Erotic Practice, always within our personal learning zones.
We will have a chance to further explore genital anatomy and practice Genital Mapping. We will introduce the core tools of Affirmative Ritual Touch and Erotic Massage, while demonstrating how these tools can be integrated into somatic sex education sessions, whether offered in-person or online. All activities are done through the lens of empowering choice and voice.
This 7-day intensive will focus on building core competencies of somatic sex education.
Please review our Student Agreement Form, which outlines what our program offers, how students are evaluated and the process for working toward certification, and Institute policies and procedures, prior to enrolling. Our program is unique, and we encourage you to review this document so you know what to expect from us and what we ask of you. Upon registration you will be given access to the online curriculum where you will see this form again. At that time we ask you to initial to agree to each point and add your signature at the bottom. An electronic copy of your completed form will be emailed to you and one copy will be kept in our records.
Travel Information To Victoria
Victoria
Victoria is located on the southernmost tip of Vancouver Island, just off the West Coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is the capital city of BC, and is very accessible with flights and ferries from both Vancouver and Seattle. It is easily walkable or short taxi ride from bus stops and ferry terminals.
Please make sure to plan ahead for your ferry times and transfers, so you can arrive well before our start time. If you come without a car, please find accommodations in the James bay or downtown area so we can easily get you to and from Captain’s studio. From downtown you can take a bus, rent a bike, or walk to the studio. We encourage students to coordinate rides from the airport and to and from the intensive. The admin team puts people in touch who want to share accommodations: info@somaticsexeducator.com
Travelling to Victoria
Arriving by Ferry from Vancouver: To take a public transit bus to downtown is approximately 1.5 hours and the cost is $2.50. Get off downtown for downtown hotels, get off at the Legislature for accommodations in James Bay.
A 20-ish minute walk or 5-minute cab ride will get you into the neighbourhood of captain’s studio.
Arriving by Ferry from Seattle: The Victoria Clipper is a passenger-only ferry that travels between downtown Seattle and downtown Victoria and typically only has one ferry crossing each way per day. Please check the schedule and purchase a ticket ahead of time as this boat is sometimes full. In Victoria, captain’s studio is a short 5-min walk from the ferry terminal.
Arriving at Victoria International Airport (YYJ)
Public transit bus – $3 to downtown – 1.5 hour ride
Taxi – approx $60 – 30 min drive
Seattle
Seattle, Washington, is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound (an inlet of the Pacific Ocean) and Lake Washington and is the northernmost major city in the United States, located about 100 miles (160 km) south of the Canadian border. It is easily accessible via flight, train or car, or by ferry from Victoria and Vancouver, BC, and has excellent public transit.
Please make sure to plan ahead for your flights and transfers, so you can arrive well before our start time. We recommend students arrive the day before the course begins, and plan to leave the day after the course ends. The course begins at 11am on Day 1, ends at 5pm local time on the 7th Day.
Travelling to Seattle
Folks arriving in Seattle by plane will travel via the Seattle-Tacoma Airport (SEA).
Folks travelling via ferry from Victoria arrive at Pier 69 in downtown Seattle.
The intensive will be held at an AirBnB. The exact location may change, but it will always be accessible via public transport. The exact location will be available in your teachable course, or you can email the admin team: info@somaticsexeducator.com We usually have this information 3-4 months prior to the course start date.
There’s a light rail train that runs from the airport to downtown Seattle which runs every 10 minutes and costs $2.50. You can use the Seattle’s public transportation trip planner for schedule information to the intensive location: https://tripplanner.kingcounty.gov/#/app/tripplanning
An Uber or Lyft from the airport to the Airbnb house will cost between $40-$50 – this can vary widely based on time of day.
We encourage students to coordinate ride shares from and to the airport with each other.
Ferry from Victoria
The Victoria Clipper is a passenger-only ferry with daily service to downtown Seattle from downtown Victoria. http://www.clippervacations.com/seattle-victoria-ferry/
The MV Coho is a car ferry that makes regular trips between downtown Victoria and Port Angeles, Washington. https://www.cohoferry.com/ It is approximately a 3-hour drive between Port Angeles and Seattle.
Please be sure to arrive on time, and leave plenty of time on either end of your travels for the ferry journey, the journey to your accommodations from your arrival site, and then traveling to the intensive.
First day: 11am to 6pm
Days 2-6: 10 am to 6pm (There is an afternoon of repose on Day 4)
Day 7: 9 am-5pm
VICTORIA, BC
Victoria intensives are held at captain’s studio, located in the James Bay area of the city, near the waterfront.
Downtown Victoria and James Bay boast a wide variety of lodgings, from bed & breakfasts, budget hotels and luxury spas. We’ve listed a few of the most convenient accommodations below.
Accommodation
If you will not be bringing a car, you will want to stay in James Bay or Downtown Victoria. We can arrange ride shares – or you may wish to walk (it is a pleasant walk to captain’s studio from downtown on a nice day). Our admin team can help connect people who want to share accommodations or transportation, or you can use the FB group to post your suggestions.
SEATTLE, WA
Seattle intensives are held at an AirBnB. The exact location may change, but it will always be accessible via public transport. The exact location will be available in your teachable course, or you can email the admin team: info@somaticsexeducator.com We usually have this information 3-4 months prior to the course start date.
Accommodation
There will be some beds available for students at the AirBnB. The number and cost will be shared with registered students as soon as it is available, usually a minimum of 2 months before the course start date.
Cost will be approximately $75-$100/night, and students may stay for up to 8 nights, including the night before the intensive begins, and checking out the morning after the intensive ends.
Accommodation at the AirBnB includes use of the kitchen facilities- we supply lunch and snacks, students are responsible for their breakfast and dinners. You can connect with the admin team for more information: info@somaticsexeducator.com
Students staying offsite are responsible for their own accommodations, breakfast and dinner (lunch and snacks are provided) and for arriving onsite at the intensive in plenty of time each day.
Please bring light clothes without belts, buttons or bling. Yoga clothes are good for embodied practices. Weather on the West Coast any time of year can be wet and chilly, so bring layers. You are welcome to bring an item of personal significance for the altar. You may also wish to write your intention for the workshop on a piece of paper to bring to the altar. Altar items will return with you.
VICTORIA:
Captain’s studio is otherwise known as Grey Dragon, or SPARC – the sex-positive arts and resource center.
Accessibility info:
There are 10 brand new stairs into the house with a very solid handrail on the left. One bathroom. Participants will have full use of the kitchen. A quiet space for chilling and laying down will be set up during the whole time. Backjacks, pillows, mats and straight back chairs will be available for sitting. No scented cleaning products are used to clean the space. One dog lives in the house but will not be in attendance.
All participants are asked to help make a scent-reduced space by refraining from wearing perfumes, colognes or other scented products (including essential oils). If this is a problem for you we ask you not to attend as the results may be debilitating for members of the household. For more information on how to support folks with multiple chemical sensitivities, check out Peggy Munson’s writing.
SEATTLE:
Accessibility info:
The AirBnB for each intensive may differ; students can expect there will be stairs to enter the building and to access the bedrooms. Participants will have full use of the kitchen. A quiet space for chilling and laying down will be set up during the whole time. Backjacks, pillows, mats and straight back chairs will be available for sitting. No scented cleaning products are used to clean the space.
All participants are asked to help make a scent-reduced space by refraining from wearing perfumes, colognes or other scented products (including essential oils). If this is a problem for you we ask you not to attend as the results may be debilitating for other students and faculty. For more information on how to support folks with multiple chemical sensitivities, check out Peggy Munson’s writing.
FOR ALL INTENSIVES:
Please reach out to discuss your accessibility needs with us: info@somaticsexeducator.com
Course Pricing
On Completion of Course 1
- $USDFrom 2,095Incl. 5% GST
E-Book
- $FREEDownload
Refund Policy: Refunds for embodiment intensives are available as follows:
- Up to 2 months before the program begins: full refund minus $350 administration fee
- Up to one month before the program begins: full refund minus $700
- Closer than one month to when the program begins: No refund available