COMMIT TO YOUR WRITING PRACTICE…

…WHILE FINDING CONNECTION IN COMMUNITY

I created The Layers monthly subscription to provide a weekly flow of self-discovery ideas for your writing practice,
as well as a community environment that offers inspiration and connection.

the layers subscription includes:

WEEKLY STORY WORK EXERCISES

The weekly exercises are for journalers, writers, storytellers and creatives who believe in the power of journaling for creative self-discovery. Subscribers receive weekly reflection exercises for writing about their lives, plus access to all the archives.

weekly emails delivered Sunday nights at 8 pm et
exercises center writing as a tool for deeper connection to self, to others, and the world
exercises integrate the process of writing to heal with the development of craft

Preview Exercises:

Reflection Exercise

**Quick to Judge**
“When we make judgments of ourselves or of others, we cast attention to a thought or belief that is limiting and sometimes negative and when taken to an extreme can put ourselves, or our flexible mind, into a box. So, thinking about how we look at and feel about the world and ourselves can affect whether we are open, accepting, and flexible enough to work at the top of our creativity.” — Alice Berry
Preview exercise

Upcoming practice session Guests:

Session #10 w/
Dr. Sophia Godkin

**Saturday, December 16 @ 11 pm - 12:30 pm et**
Sophia Godkin, PhD is a Health Psychologist, Happiness & Relationship Coach, and best-selling author. Known for helping people to develop true confidence, create satisfying relationships, and become truly happy from within, Dr Sophia shares practical tools for happiness through in-person and online individual and group coaching, courses, and writing. Dr. Sophia’s first book, *The 5-Minute Gratitude Journal: Give Thanks, Practice Positivity, Find Joy* was released in August 2020 and has garnered over 4,000 five-star reviews. Visit Dr. Sophia online at www.TheHappinessDoctor.com and find her on Instagram @thehappinessdoctor.

SESSION #9: Breaking Up with Your Inner Critic

**w/ L’Oreal Thompson Payton**
L’Oreal Thompson Payton is an award-winning journalist and the author of *Stop Waiting for Perfect: Step Out of Your Comfort Zone and Into Your Power.* Her personal essays, feature stories and celebrity interviews have been published in esteemed media outlets such as Bustle, Essence, Fortune, SELF, Shondaland, and Well + Good among others.
In this 90-minute workshop, L’Oreal Thompson Payton will help attendees identify their inner critic; guide them through a powerful journaling exercise where they will pen breakup letters to their inner critic; and learn self-compassion exercises to use when negative self-talk inevitably tries to get in the way.

SESSION #4: Where the world knows how to love

**w/ Rolanda Findlay**
Rolanda is high-vibrational energy. She is light. She is joy. She is passionate about evolving, creating, and being. Together in this session, we will read and discuss a specially selected poem as our initial inspiration. From that space, we will nurture and cultivate feelings of bliss, liberation, and abundance in our own words.

SESSION #8: Tending to Our Dreams

**w/ Carmen D. Harris**
Carmen D. Harris is a dreamer and a somatic spiritual coach. Carmen experiences joy in exploring Blackness, the dreamscape, and our embodied wisdom as a Source of creative possibility. She is the founder of a leadership coaching and consulting practice, www.imaginemefree.com and co-founder of twoinchesbeyond.black, a practice playfield for Black imagination, dreams, and joy. IG and Threads @carmendharris
In our time together will explore our sleeping subconscious as the oceanic and never ending Source of creative material and inspiration. We will use a dream as a starting point for cultivating trust in our practices, our voice, and our incredible capacity to create daily with ease.

SESSION #3: Relationship Status

**w/ Bree Melvin**
Bree is a writer, educator, advocate, and creative visionary. She is passionate about cultivating spaces that inspire connection, reflection, and growth.
In this session, Bree provided prompts to help us explore our ‘relationship status’ when it comes to writing.

THE PRACTICE: MONTHLY GROUP JOURNALING SESSIONS

Practice sessions are 90-minute monthly writing sessions featuring special guests and community members who share an exercise with the group. We have instruction followed by writing time, followed by voluntary sharing and discussion. Subscribers have access to all session archives.

creative inspiration and fuel for your writing practice
learn and grow from the collective wisdom of the community
build courage and confidence in your creative voice

Reflection Exercise

**Bridge from Loss to Love**
From a creative perspective, nostalgia can channel memories, inspire stories, and foster connection. It’s a helpful tool to use in personal storytelling when you want to convey a spectrum of feelings when remembering people, places and events from the past.
Preview exercise

SESSION #7: Shedding and Blooming

**w/ Latoya Torrance**
Latoya is a writer, storyteller, mental health advocate, and self-proclaimed recovering perfectionist. She’s always had a heart for uplifting Black and brown women, and with her brand, Human Over Perfect, she aims to help women like her heal from perfectionism and thrive in their personal and professional lives.
Latoya will be sharing a poem she wrote during a moment in which she felt raw, exposed, and vulnerable. She was at the start of her healing journey: going to therapy, uncovering trauma, and exploring the dark parts of herself. We will use her poem as prompt to discuss the power of vulnerability and the beauty of shedding before blooming.

SESSION #2: Pillars of Resilience

w/ Rachel Nusbaum

Rachel writes in pursuit of healing, with coffee and candy at hand. Crafting and sharing the story of decision-making on the cutting edge of medicine while pregnant with her son planted the seed for what became her creative business, Orchid Story (https://www.orchidstory.com/). Rachel lives with her husband and two kids in Virginia and is working on her first novel.

In this session, Rachel shared a writing exercise based on Dr. Shelly Harrell’s Three Pillars of Resistance.