An experiential workshop where somatic tools
meet writing practice for all storytellers.
SUNDAY, 18 January 2026
10 am - 4 pm
details
Hosted at Magic Hour Tea
217 E Matilija St, Ojai, CA 93023
Registration $77 includes tea & light snacks (there will be one-hour break for lunch)
In this workshop you’ll:
• Learn simple somatic self-regulation tools that release tension, open creativity & build flow.
• Craft a weekly writing practice to start creating now.
• Get structure, prompts, and creative feedback to feel safe and supported in how you tell your story.
• Explore the body as your primary creative tool to get out of your head and into your voice.
The nervous system is
the gatekeeper of voice.
Our bodies carry our stories—in tension, in breath, in hesitation—before words ever reach the page.
When your relationship with your body leads, writing becomes more expressive, more integrated, more impactful.
Share your story.
Start your year by embodying creative possibility.
hosted by
Kristen McGuiness
Kristen is a bestselling author, NYT-bestselling editor, and Publisher and CEO of Rise Literary based in Ojai, California. With 25+ years in publishing, she’s helped writers shape and sell their work, earn major advances, and craft stories that land with power and impact.
She has written and co-authored over 20 books and her writings have appeared in Oprah Daily, People, LitHub, Rolling Stone, Shondaland, amongst others.
vyana novus
Vyana is an ecological artist and educator based in Ojai, California, exploring how creativity sustains and heals us. Blending earth pigments, somatic practice, and multimedia storytelling shaped by deep time, their work supports intergenerational healing and legacy-making.
Their work & facilitation is heavily inspired by their near death experience bringing a blend of levity & reverence, humor & awe to their workshops & retreats.