If you are looking for more personalized instruction and guidance on your meditation, breathwork or embodiment journey, working with Eli individually (or in pairs/duos/trios!) might align with your healing. They have work with folks on weekly, bi weekly, and monthly schedules typically consisting of half hour to hour long sessions. During these sessions, we have the time and space to build trust and intimacy with our capacities for self care and expansion. These spaces, as all of Eli’s offerings, are intended to foster co-creation, add to your self-regulation and exploration tool kit, and provide an outlet for communal healing.

An introductory session often includes a grounding exercise such as a guided body scan, followed by silent meditation and then breathing exercises. At the end, Eli shares briefly and there is space held for reflections, discussion, and check-in’s. We build off this framework based on your needs and path, building out your meditative practice together. Continuing sessions can include, but are not limited to: silent meditation, body work, breath work, sound bath/music meditation, mind-body reconnection, collaborative care, meditative movement, ancestral connection, and ritual building.

Whether in-person or virtual, Eli engages with students of all ages and disciplines with a comprehensive dive into the breath, body, and learning experience. She has hosted finals week programming, LGBTQIA+ Resource center workshops, artistic process workshops, and more for various universities and student groups. Sessions can include, but are not limited to: panel participation, community dialogue, themed workshops, identity work, silent meditation, body work, breath work, sound bath/music meditation, mind-body reconnection, collaborative care, meditative movement, ancestral connection, and ritual building.

For examples of previous academic visits, please see the CV page.

Ryn facilitates various workshops both virtually and in-person. The content of each workshop can be tailored, customized and co-created with those seeking the offering. Most one to two-hour workshops contain an introduction to meditation from my particular context as a Black, queer and nonbinary abolitionist, breath and bodywork exercises, guided meditation, a short dharma talk, space for questions/dialogue, and group reflections or check-ins. These workshops, whatever their practical focus may be - breathwork, stress release, self-investigation, compassion cultivation, abolitionist practice, formal meditation instruction, or otherwise - they are structured to foster self and co-regulation, trust, and safety in practice and community.

For examples of workshops previously offered, please view the CV page.

Whether you are looking to establish regularly occurring sits for your group or to fulfill a need for expansive wellness and embodiment resources, booking a group session is a way to explore meditation in an flexible, low stakes capacity. Shakutake is able to offer guest instruction, dharma talks, co-facilitation, and consultation/assistance in forming your own community meditation space and group. As a lay dharma leader, she offers her personal experience, access to meditation instructors/resources, and transmitted rituals, forms and wisdom to community to the extent of her capacity. Her formal meditation training is in the Rinzai Zen lineage, liturgical training in Zen and the Jodo Shinshu lineage, and martial arts training in the Aikikai Aikido lineage.

Grieving is an intense, often overwhelming, and sacred transformation process that affects each facet of our being. Often, we may feel alone or unsupported in our grief, especially while under the pressures and isolation of capitalist time. Working with Ryn provides the opportunity to tap into communal grieving processes that so many of us have not been able to receive or participate in. We approach healing through the breath and the body, exploring how we might collaborate with our nervous systems to be more embodied and intentional with grief expression and release.

Ryn has sat with folks who have lost loved ones, who are moving through the dying process themselves, and who are processing the compounded daily griefs often experienced while living with a marginalized identity. These sessions can include, but are not limited to: silent meditation, body work, breath work, sound bath/music meditation, mind-body reconnection, collaborative care, meditative movement, ancestral connection, and ritual building.

If your group of friends, community org, work team, etc., is looking for a more intensive workshop series, Shakutake can lead half-day, full-day, and multi-day meditative retreats! She designs these retreats specifically for the group asking, building from her experience participating in both monastic and lay retreats. These often center around a larger theme or intention that the group has agreed or develops collaboratively with Shakutake beforehand. She has experience in and is available to be booked for leading or co-facilitating existing retreats and artist residencies. See CV page for retreat-based speaking appearances and guest instruction.

Typically, I end each meditative session with a short dharma talk or by sharing about the theme/focus of the topic in depth after we’ve gotten a chance to embody it through practice. If you would like to view a sample of recorded talks I have given, they can see watched on my youtube channel.

On my patreon, you will find resources to connect with your breath, your body, and yourself! On this page, you'll find full meditation sessions, breathwork, bodywork, meditative stretching, chanting guides, and so much more! I provide live and prerecorded videos weekly, biweekly and monthly for folks to enjoy. Whether you are just starting to explore meditation, or have been a lifelong practitioner, there will be guides and videos that will enable you to deepen your practice and find some calm, insight, and sense of inner stability.

We will explore release, ritual, and rest in all of our meditative exercises while building a community of support for each other along the way. What does it look like to build an abolitionist practice, individually and in community? How might our meditative practices foster curiosity, exploration, and play as we dream of new futures and dream up new selves? Folks will be able to share their experiences with each other through the page, enabling the often scary and lonely first steps to be celebrated and encouraged in community.

To learn more about Samu and it’s importance to my practice, please view this info page!

Samu offerings:

As I try and maintain sliding scale and donation-based offerings, I am seeking to expand my range of offerings in order to be of service to community while sustaining my basic living and housing needs. One way I can share my practice outside of instruction, guidance and facilitation is through samu! Have a one to two hour cleaning/organizing task you need done? Perhaps a garage cleared, yard mowed, dog walked, kitchen deep cleaned, car detailed, or another household/workspace related task that you haven’t had the time or resources to complete? I can be of assistance! If you are local to Chicago, reach out on the contact page to inquire about how to utilize my physical work services.

Basic offering categories:

·household chores/cleaning
·car detailing/wash
·pet care services
·basic painting, furniture assembly, handy work, etc.