what is embodied book club?
A few months ago in LORE, I started leading embodied book club sessions each month where we explore what the words feel like in our bodies and I wanted to open that up to the greater Qoya community. An embodied book club combines the rich discussion we love from traditional book clubs with intentional movement and somatic practices that help us integrate the material more deeply. While we'll engage in meaningful conversations about the book's themes and insights, we'll also explore how these concepts feel and function in our actual bodies and lives. This might look like gentle movement exercises that help us embody a concept we're discussing, breathing practices that support emotional themes from the reading, or simple somatic awareness techniques that ground abstract ideas into lived experience. This approach recognizes that we learn and retain information more effectively when we engage multiple learning styles—not just intellectual processing, but also kinesthetic and experiential understanding. By incorporating our bodies into the learning process, we create stronger neural pathways for the material, making it more likely that insights will translate into lasting change in our daily lives. The result is a book club experience that honors both our love of ideas and our need for practical integration, offering a comprehensive approach to personal growth that extends far beyond our reading time together.
Sessions will be for 8 Fridays from 12-1pm EST. We will begin with a grounding practice, then dance the inquiries in the Reading Guide at the end of the book. There will also be an opportunity to write and journal about your experience. We'll close with an opportunity to do breakout rooms and group shares to harvest the collective wisdom of circle. The intention is that you get the opportunity to deepen your journey with this book in a collective way.
Here's how to join:
Step 1: Read or Listen to The Girl Who Baptized Herself
Step 2: Have your experience and then listen to your heart. Based on what you've received, what are you inspired to give? Are you called to bring your voice or resources to a cause that you passionate about as you explore the transformation from powerlessness to power? Would you like to buy 10 of Meggan's books and share them with people you love? Would you like to send me something on venmo? I trust you to navigate what is going to be in right relationship for you.
Step 3: Register for the FREE Embodied Book Club sessions by sharing your email below.
Step 4: Dance how the words live inside you as we explore the map of transformation in Thecla's scripture and the way it meets our own journey of transforming from the paradigm of powerlessness to power for 8 Fridays, starting on Lionsgate 8-8-25. August 8th is also referred to as Lionsgate, which is a powerful annual portal on August 8th when the star Sirius aligns with our sun, amplifying Leo energy and supporting us in stepping into our sovereignty and creative power.
I first met Meggan Watterson around the time her first book Reveal: A Sacred Manual for Getting Spiritually Naked came out in 2013. As a Harvard-trained feminist theologian, she realized in sharing her own journey there are many others who long for a spirituality that encourages embodiment rather than denies it, that inspires them to abandon their fears but never themselves, and to be led by the audacious and fiercely loving voice of truth inside them. Meggan's books are unique from a theology perspective, because they make space for the self, for the personal lived experience. I'll always remember the first meal we shared and the feeling inside of myself that I could be all of me. Every time I read her words or share a conversation, I continue to feel this invitation to become more myself.
When I attended Meggan's book release party this week for "The Girl Who Baptized Herself: How a Lost Scripture About a Saint Named Thecla Reveals the Power of Knowing Our Worth," I noticed how the story of Thecla and the lion coincided with Leo season and the new moon in Leo. I noticed how because Meggan's words were from the center of her self, because in a field of theology, where there was intentional erasure of the feminine voice, she was committed to bringing Thecla's story to us now. I wonder where it meets you? How can Thecla's story be a map for your own reclamation of power and worth? And do you want to explore it together?
The book is a map of how a woman who lived almost 2000 years ago overcame her fate and invoked her own divine will, called back her own power and had the audacity to live her own life in alignment with her soul.
I feel that Thecla's story may be a necessary next step for me. And maybe for you too. I'm inspired to offer this in the spirit of reciprocity. Please share your email below to get the zoom links for the FREE live sessions happening throughout August and September.
embodied book club
Free session schedule
all sessions will be held from 12:00pm to 1:00pm Eastern
Date | Session Exploration |
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August 8th, 2025 | Introduction Preface, and pages 1-11
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August 15th, 2025 | The First Stage: Exploring Erasure, A Love that Liberates, The Word, Yes & No & Maybe, Voice, Power and Purity, pages 17-61
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August 22nd, 2025 | The Second Stage: Exploring Worth and The Body's Body, pages 73-88
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August 29th, 2025 | The Third Stage: Exploring Courage and Purpose, pages 89-102
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September 5th, 2025 | The Fourth Stage: Exploring Possession, Love and Nakedness, pages 103-132 |
September 12th, 2025 | The Fifth Stage: Exploring Death and Prayer, pages 135-164
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September 19th, 2025 | The Sixth Stage: Exploring Sacred Rage, Sacrilege, Authority and Freedom, pages 165-196 |
September 26th, 2025 | The Seventh Stage: Exploring The Women All Cried Out in a Loud Voice, The Girl Who Baptized Herself, The Hot Gospel and Conclusion: A Very Few People
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