Things We Wish We Learned in School

A class for people tired of feeling so much stress, scarcity, separation and powerless, and ready to feel alive – joyful, curious, connected, agentic – again. Together, we remember what aliveness actually feels like and practice holding those feelings in a system built to make us forget.

Over the course of the six weeks, we'll practice:

• Remembering what “good” feels like
• Leaning back and letting go
• Being with discomfort and awkwardness
• Enoughness, as an alternative to scarcity
• Recognizing our agency, power, and potential
• Honoring our relationship with Life

Each class incorporates a mix of community check-ins, guided somatic meditations, imagining/visualizations, story-sharing, and practicing with peers. It's less “sit in a circle and talk about your feelings” and more structured practice with activities you'll be able to use long after the six classes end.

Olivia Powell, someone committed to nurturing imagination, agency, and aliveness in our communities and ourselves. Olivia is a somatic coach, storyteller, imagination activist, learning and experience designer, and workshop facilitator who's designed and led experiences with Columbia's School of the Arts, organizations across tech/healthcare/consulting/you name it, and local communities. That said, Olivia is not to “teach” i.e., be an expert who's hands you that one technique you've just been missing. Her role is this class is to invite you in, cultivate the conditions for aliveness in the class, and guide the practice; your role is to actively tune in and participate in your experience.

You're exactly right – you already have and know everything this class is about. So why join? Because so many parts of our daily lives are designed to pull us back towards stress and scarcity. So many of us feel stuck in some version of a life that's: Wake up, go to work, be at work, come home, complain about work, do something for yourself if there's time, maybe more caregiving or cleaning, go to bed, repeat. It's hard to practice noticing and honoring what else life has to offer alone. The class format offers structured time, regular practice, maybe some new insights or ideas, and perhaps most importantly, intentional connection.

You might notice feelings – like joy, wonder, contentment – that you'd normally rush past and let yourself bask in them instead. You might catch yourself mid-scarcity-spiral and remember there's another way to think about satisfying needs. You might start noticing the rhythm of your days, what's actually working for you and what isn't – and remembering that you have more say in the matter than it might feel like you do.

The end goal of this class is not to escape your rhythm, blow up your life, opt out. Or to get a certificate of aliveness. It's about expanding your awareness and skillfulness in a way that helps your daily rhythms feel truly worthy of your life.