We begin with an understanding of our embodied landscape, our neurophysiology, and the internal tensions and paradoxes we hold within ourselves. Participants will be guided into embodied awareness of the push and pull between conflicting parts of their identity and experience. Drawing from the confluence of somatic theory and depth psychology, participants will learn how to identify “shadow cycles” - patterns of unconscious behavior and somatic conditioning that simultaneously protect and limit us. In doing so, we will start to activate the transformative potential of integrating the shadow for personal, relational, and social change.

Learning Outcomes:

• Define, discuss, analyze the role of “shadow” in our own habits and interpersonal patterns
• Identify unconscious patterns and somatic contractions that keep us trapped in internal and interpersonal conflict
• Cultivate greater capacity for understanding the ways in which neurophysiology and embodied survival reflexes are tied into shadow aspects of the psyche.
• Practice embodied self-compassion for all parts of the self in a way that allows deep integration and more powerful effectiveness in situations of conflict and tension.
• Map personal and collective “shadow cycles” to unlock transformation.

Building on our personal exploration, we delve into the internal polarities—right/wrong, good/bad—that often create tension within us and the parts (often contradictory/paradoxical) that we hold. Through guided reflection and practice, participants will explore how we might find balance within these forces and move beyond binary thinking.

Learning Outcomes:

• Define “polarity” as a personal and relational experience through the lens of depth psychology and somatics.
• Identify polarities within the self and the ways that they activate and drive survival reflexes and conditioned tendencies.
• Apply metaphorical frameworks and somatic practices to personal experiences of polarization to release internal tension, harness powerful emotions, and enhance mental and nervous system flexibility under pressure.

This module expands into interpersonal realms, exploring how our internal conflicts manifest in relationships. Participants will engage in practices that foster deeper understanding of the contradictions we encounter in relational space. We also introduce the concept of the “collective body” as a way of framing group dynamics from a somatic lens and working with the phenomena of divergence, convergence, and emergence.

Learning Outcomes:

• Identify the relationship between internal sources of tension and conflict and how they shape moments of interaction within relationships.
• Develop greater capacity for deep listening and empathy.
• Learn how to define and describe group dynamics through a somatic lens within the collective body.
• Apply group facilitation practices from psychodrama/sociometrics and Processwork that illuminate “invisible” dynamics within groups.
• Use conscious leadership practices that encourage divergent voices to “speak” in ways that create greater psychological safety and creativity within groups.

Focusing on the edges of connection, this module explores how we might hold the complexity and paradoxes present in our relationships with others. Participants will work with tools to cultivate empathy, navigate differences, and integrate the shadow aspects that arise in relational dynamics.

Learning Outcomes:

• Understand “complexity” as a set of group and/or environmental factors within the collective body.
• Distinguish between “expert” and “emergent” approaches to working with complex issues and group dynamics and learn how to move fluidly with emergence.
• Craft the skills to navigate differences and integrate shadow elements that arise within relationships.
• Cultivate self-compassion for greater integration and resilience.
• Integrate an understanding of anti-oppression and power dynamics with an openness to dialogue and different ways of knowing.

In this module, we dive into the fundamental questions of hurt, harm, vengeance, justice, forgiveness, and repair that haunt the edges of conflict resolution and social justice work. Participants will be skillfully guided through discussion-based and experiential learning on how to understand, define, and apply common concepts in restorative, transformative, and punitive  approaches to justice. Challenging issues, such as how and when to forgive, the necessity of applying boundaries and consequences in order to stop harmful behaviors, and understanding the scope and limits of accountability will be addressed, as will the powerful and often contradictory emotions that accompany these topics.

Learning Outcomes:

• Understand, define, and discuss Transformative Justice and Restorative Justice and the distinctions between them within the context of social change work.
• Situate Transformative Justice within the context of colonization and the modern day criminal justice/prison system, with the understanding that dominant culture systems of “justice” are often extensions of colonial violence and social control.
• Engage skilfully and compassionately with common individual and collective tensions and polarities in the conversation about justice, such as the desire for punishment and revenge.
• Acquire and apply frameworks to support feeling and thinking about fundamental questions about forgiveness and punishment in the context of harm.

In the "Heroes and Villains" module of Edge Play, we explore the cultural tendency to cast people into simplistic archetypes—either all good or all bad. This "splitting" leads to dehumanization, whether by placing people on pedestals or tearing them down. By reflecting on how we embody these archetypes in our personal and cultural lives, we aim to disrupt this binary thinking. Participants will deepen their understanding of the complexities within themselves and others, fostering more nuanced and humane relationships beyond the hero/villain narrative..

Learning Outcomes:

• Learn the interplay of light and shadow in cultural archetypes and how they function to shape perception and behavior.
• Develop and deepen awareness of splitting and disavowal dynamics that play out on the cultural stage.
• Identify the presence and function of shame in relational dynamics and in the social sphere - what does it deny, what does it reveal?

This module invites participants to explore the two-sides-of-the-same-coin aspects of victimhood and perpetration. Victimhood (distinguished from acknowledgement of victimization) is a complex psychic dynamic that can lead to an ongoing narrative of powerlessness or resentment, while avoiding deeper feelings of shame often in the shadows. It can also serve to distance oneself from parts of ourselves that can enact perpetration. The perpetrator can be understood as the shadow side of our psyche that embodies the potential to cause harm, control or dominate others. Recognizing our own capacity for harm—rather than disavowing it—can be uncomfortable but is essential for true accountability and transformation. This awareness helps break down binary roles, fostering empathy and nuanced self-understanding.

Learning Outcomes:

• Understand the polarized yet deeply connected archetypes of the Victim and the Perpetrator and the ways that they affect personal behavior and group dynamics.
• Use attachment theory and Transformative Justice to gently and compassionately explore the often complex emotions that we may feel about people who have hurt or harmed us.
• Evaluate, apply, and adapt practical frameworks of apology and accountability to specific situations in relationships and group dynamics.
• Work with the somatic experience of being in the role of having caused harm in order to support centered accountability.

Sexuality and the erotic comprise one of the extreme edges of dominant culture: The erotic is at once taboo and highly fetishized; it dwells in the shadows yet is idolized and weaponized at every turn.  How - and why - is it that we live in a society that is both deeply sex negative yet also enforces compulsory sexuality?  In this module, we explore the ways in which colonization, capitalism, patriarchy, and other forms of oppression attempt to seize control of the erotic in order to dominate and control. Yet the erotic is also a fundamental aspect of the collective body, with enormous power for liberation, creation, pleasure and joy. In this module, we will engage with practices and frameworks drawn from queer theory, critical theory, somatic sex education and sacred intimacy in order to make contact with the transformative potential of the erotic.

Learning Outcomes:

• Bring clarity, de-stigmatization, and de-shaming into conversations about sexuality and the erotic and their role in the individual and collective bodies, with particular attention to anti-oppression and anti-racism.
• Engage with somatic practices that support empowered choice and voice, consent, pleasure and desire.
• Clarify the role of pleasure, joy, and fun in personal transformation and social change.
• Learn frameworks and strategies for bringing more pleasure in groups and organizations.