Authentic Relating is an in-person, experiential workshop for you to explore your relationships, desires, limits, and blocks. We use the practice of the Wheel of Consent to navigate the space and open up undiscovered wisdom.
January 31 - February 2
Oak Ridge, TN
$200-$600
About the course
In this course, we will be exploring the ways we join in relationship and community with one another through the practice of the Wheel of Consent®.
The Wheel of Consent® is a groundbreaking framework and awareness practice developed by Dr. Betty Martin (School of Consent website).
It brings clarity and discernment into what we want & how we ask for it, and it helps us understand why we haven’t received it.
The Wheel of Consent® is an embodied practice that can be done 1-1 as well as with couples, teams, or large organizations.
It is simple, subtle, and profound.
It creates a space to unlearn and unravel the ways we are taught to relate to one another in how we serve, give, receive, set limits, and show up authentically.
Since its inception, it has been brought into schools, universities, therapist programs, and organizations around the world.
It has reshaped how practitioners and professionals are trained and it has transformed how participants show up in their interpersonal relationships.
This is a deeply nuanced way to practice consent as an agreement that brings integrity, responsibility, and empowerment into all human interactions.
Our lens starts with the personal and expands to the global. It includes practices connected to your understanding of relationships, power dynamics, and social issues of equality and justice.
In this practice, we develop our capacity to tune into our bodies and our ability to skillfully and gracefully navigate interactions and dynamics in intimate and professional relationships.
You will come away with
You will come away from this offering with a deepened ability to navigate consent in all your interactions, including these practical embodied skills:
Create a felt sense of safety in your body and nervous system
Connect to what feels good and brings you joy
Notice, value, and voice what you want, what you are available for, and what you don’t want
Notice your tendency to go along with what is being done and reverse it
Be mindful of others' tendencies to go along with what is being done and respect their limits
Access two ways to receive and two ways to give and feel the joy of each of these four possibilities for interaction
Navigate power dynamics, trauma, and systemic oppression and their impact on our capacity to access choice and respect boundaries
Make choices that support your well-being and connection with others
Express your desires, limits, preferences, and willingness with more nuance and play
Our increased awareness enables more authentic relationships centered in safety, clarity, and ease.
Applied professionally, it makes us more effective practitioners, able to affect human change and healing.
Applied personally, it allows us to access deeper and more meaningful connections.
About the facilitator
Adam Nicholson (they/them) is a coach, mentor, guide, and facilitator based in Clarksville, TN. Their 1-1 and group work center around questions of how we can navigate relationships with more awareness of consent, power, and integrity. Their work is influenced by many teachers and thinkers including Paul Muller Ortega and his guidance within the Shaiva-Sakta non-dual lineage of tantra, Betty Martin’s Wheel of Consent, Resmaa Menakem’s Somatic Abolitionism, as well as many other teachers. Adam’s work with the Wheel of Consent over the last 6 years led them to further inquiries into how we create spaces of agreement that generate more love, pleasure, and fulfillment.
Guidelines and Rules
How we ask that you engage with each other:
Confidentiality — to share only about our own personal experiences and learnings
I statements - Share with intention, using "I" statements. Listen with attention.
Honor lived experience - Use the names and pronouns people request and honor the lived experience of others in the group. Notice and set aside assumptions about people's identities and experiences (e.g. gender, race, sexuality, etc.).
Limits - Stay within the stated limits of each practice. The workshop is clothed. We will not state wants for, or make requests or offers for unclothed or genital during exercises. There will be options to engage in practices with other participants and it is not required.
What we invite for your own experience:
Agreements to hold the group
Agreements are the intentions we use to hold the group. These are not rules, but repeated or intentional digression from the agreements can create harm within yourself, other participants, and the group.
Responsibility - I will take responsibility for my desires, limits, and body. I will not take away your responsibility to make choices around your desires, limits, or body.
Vulnerability - I will take responsibility for my desires, limits, and body. I will not take away your responsibility to make choices around your desires, limits, or body.
Curiosity - I will be consistently curious about my desires, limits, and body. I will question my habits, thoughts, and patterns, and work to unlearn pieces that I have been taught to be true by the dominant culture. When conflict arises, I will be curious about your actions and not project my own assumptions and thoughts.
Trust - I will be curious and questioning about what I want in order to feel safe enough to be present with myself and with you. I will ask for what I need to develop trust.
Presence - I will be conscious of my choices to be present. I will ask myself and others for what I need to be present physically, emotionally, energetically, and mentally.
Acknowledgments About Racialization, Neurodivergence, Disabilities
The course is open to anyone interested in learning the Wheel of Consent, and our intention is for this to be a safe enough space for learning for everyone. However, we recognize that this offering will not meet everyone’s needs. As facilitators and humans, we are committed to serving you as best as possible. Please email Adam to let us know your questions or accessibility needs, and they will do their best to accommodate them.
Pricing and Logistics
Location: East Tennessee Mentorship Association (111 Robertsville Rd, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, map)
Times:
Friday, January 31: 5 PM - 8 PM ET
Saturday, February 1: 9 AM - 5 PM ET
Sunday, February 2: 9 AM - 5 PM ET
Pricing is on a sliding scale, please choose what is best for you.
This group requests your time, energy, presence, and money. These all represent barriers to entry and if you’re someone who lives in a body that is traditionally marginalized and intentionally exploited in dominant culture.
While we do our best to create and hold groups that bring awareness to power, privilege, and rank – we know we alone cannot dismantle systems of oppression that exist in our cultures, groups, and interpersonal relationships.
Pricing is based on a sliding scale to ease at least one of those dynamics.
If you can afford to pay more than the base price, please do and understand that it helps support those who do not have as many financial resources.
If you cannot afford the base price, understand that you are helped and supported by others.
$200 - I am close to or below a living wage
$300 - I am slightly above a living wage
$400 - I am making ends meet and can afford occasional treats
$500 - I can afford minor travel, vacations, and investments
$600 - I have investments and can afford travel, vacations, and self-care
*If you have any questions, please email adam@adamnicholson.co.
Refund policy
If you are unable to attend, you may choose to have your payment refunded minus an administration fee, according to the following schedule:
More than 30 days before the event: Full refund, less $30 admin fee
15-30 days before the event: 50% refund, or, if you can fill your spot with someone else, a full refund
Less than 15 days before the event: No refunds, or unless you/we can fill your spot with someone else*
*In cases of illness or family emergency, we will endeavor to refund your full tuition less any unrecoverable costs, or transfer to a future offering.
*If you have any questions, please email adam@adamnicholson.co.