Workshops and classes in Berkeley — 26 upcoming

Primal Gestures: An Experiential Day of Movement with Liz Koch

Community & Practice Workshop / Practice

Sat, Oct 24 ·10:00 am ·The Berkeley Alembic ·Berkeley

A full-day experiential workshop with Liz Koch exploring primal gestures and spinal awareness through movement practice. Drawing on embryological and somatic paradigms, participants will engage in 6 hours of guided movement (10am–1pm and 2–4pm, with a one-hour lunch break) designed to stimulate neuroplasticity, reduce stress, and awaken creativity. Koch, an internationally recognized somatic educator and author with 45+ years of expertise in psoas and core awareness, frames the spine as the nexus of embodied being and explores how micro-undulations and spirals in tissue reflect planetary rhythms. A Friday evening lecture by Koch is available as a separate ticketed event.

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Mystic Songs of India — Priyal Maheshwari

Culture & Humanities Workshop / Practice

Sun, Oct 25 ·9:00 am ·The Berkeley Alembic ·Berkeley

An immersive workshop exploring the esoteric meanings within the poetry of Indian mystic saints—Kabir and Guru Nanak—through indigenous folk songs of the Malwa region. Priyal Maheshwari, a musician and yoga teacher, guides participants by singing and interpreting these 600-year-old oral-tradition songs while accompanying himself on tambura and kartaal. The workshop alternates between song, storytelling about Kabir's life and India's oral traditions, collective reflection, and shared silence. Printed translations enable participants to follow along and join the singing. A contemplative experience designed to deepen self-discovery and a sense of connection.

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Jungian Dreamwork: Uncovering the Symbols of the Psyche with Alyssa Polizzi

Community & Practice Workshop / Practice

Sun, Oct 25 ·1:00 pm ·The Berkeley Alembic ·Berkeley

A workshop on Jungian dreamwork exploring how dreams provide access to the unconscious and support psychological growth and individuation. Alyssa Polizzi, a Jungian scholar and founder of The Artemisian educational platform, guides participants through the foundations of dream interpretation, common archetypal motifs, and a practical four-step method for analyzing dream symbols. Attendees are invited to bring a dream or striking dream image to explore in class.

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Who Is Singing? Embody and Celebrate the Cosmic Nature of Sound: Improvise Icaros, Ragas, and Medicine Melodies with Silvia Nakkach

Community & Practice Workshop / Practice

Tue, Oct 27 ·6:15 pm ·The Berkeley Alembic ·Berkeley

A four-session immersive workshop with Silvia Nakkach, Grammy-nominated composer and sound shaman, exploring sound as a living cosmic force. Participants will learn to improvise medicine melodies—spontaneous transmissions from nature and the spirit world—drawing on practices from Peruvian Amazon icaros, Afro-Brazilian invocations, Indian ragas, and healing invocations. The workshop cultivates deep listening, tonal centering, and vocal freedom as forms of spiritual attunement and musical divination. No singing experience required; open to anyone willing to listen, feel, and explore the sacred intelligence of the voice.

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Plant Gall Gala

Science & TechCommunity & Practice Workshop / Practice

Sat, Oct 31 ·11:00 am ·Tilden Nature Area ·Berkeley

A guided nature walk and craft activity exploring plant galls—the bizarre growths created by insects, mites, and other organisms on plants. Led by Martha Cerda, this program combines botanical inquiry with creative play: after learning about gall ecology during a short forest walk, participants design and wear their own gall-inspired costume accessories, then parade them along the trail. All ages welcome; parent participation required. Drop-in, no registration needed.

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Grief Tending Circle with Shannon Knorr and Petra Gojun

Community & Practice SalonWorkshop / Practice

Sun, Nov 1 ·10:00 am ·The Berkeley Alembic ·Berkeley

A grief tending circle led by Shannon Knorr and Petra Gojun, designed as a container to honor and metabolize grief through somatic exploration, movement, dream tending, and creative art-making. Participants will engage in altar building, writing, and ritual to hold personal and collective grief — including grief from loss, life transitions, chronic illness, identity shifts, and systemic crises. This is not talk therapy but rather an earthy, concrete practice space welcoming all types of grievers. Bring a journal, writing materials, and comfortable clothing for movement; art supplies and yoga props provided.

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Cafecito in Nature - con raices y recuerdos

Community & Practice Workshop / Practice

Sun, Nov 1 ·6:00 pm ·Tilden ·Berkeley

A lantern-lit Día de Muertos walk to Jewel Lake led by Paula Urtecho, honoring deceased loved ones and extinct and endangered park species. Bring a photo of someone you wish to remember to add to a communal altar. The walk covers 0.5–2 miles on paved and gravel trails with minimal elevation change. Drop-in, no registration required.

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NORTH STAR: A Movement Workshop

Community & PracticeCulture & Humanities Workshop / PracticeUniversity / College Free

Mon, Nov 2 ·10:00 am ·Hearst Field Annex D23 ·Berkeley

A somatic movement workshop led by interdisciplinary artist Steffani Jemison, an Associate Professor at Rutgers University and exhibiting artist whose work spans mark-making, gesture, projection, and movement. Drawing on the children's game 'Marco Polo,' participants will explore orientation, perspective, and relation through guided improvisation, playful prompts, and contact improvisation. The workshop integrates theory, fiction, and poetry—referencing Dionne Brand, Tyrone S. Palmer, and Quincy Troupe—and is adaptable to all bodies and physical capacities. No prior movement experience required.

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Poetry Writing Workshop with Darius Simpson

Culture & Humanities Workshop / PracticeUniversity / College Free

Mon, Nov 2 ·4:00 pm ·675 Social Sciences Building ·Berkeley

A poetry writing workshop led by writer and educator Darius Simpson, exploring vulnerability and creative expression through verse as a form of resistance. The workshop welcomes all experience levels and draws on traditions of the Black Arts Movement and spoken word circles, fostering peer dialogue and collective learning. Simpson is a New Afrikan writer, farmer, and recipient of fellowships from the Poetry Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts; his collection Never Catch Me is recently published.

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Storytelling 101 @North

Culture & Humanities Workshop / PracticeLibrary Free

Tue, Nov 3 ·4:00 pm ·Berkeley Public Library – North Branch ·Berkeley

Learn to tell compelling stories across any medium with writer and filmmaker David Feather. This hands-on workshop explores story structure using popular media, examines storytelling techniques from cultures around the world, and includes collaborative writing and feedback on participant ideas. Designed for teens, tweens, and young adults. Part of Literally How, a monthly life literacy series at Berkeley Public Library's North Branch offering hands-on skill-building workshops.

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Election Night: Staying Open When the World Picks Sides

Culture & Humanities Workshop / PracticeBar / Cafe TalkBookshop ✦ burnoff pick

Tue, Nov 3 ·6:00 pm ·Book Society ·Berkeley

On election night, physicist and author Sky Nelson-Isaac guides an interactive workshop on staying grounded when politics divides us. Drawing on his forthcoming book *The Synchronicity Path* and years of seeking out people with different worldviews, Nelson-Isaac introduces SEW (Style, Emotions, Wholeness)—a simple framework for staying curious rather than taking sides. The event combines real conversation, wine, and collective inquiry into the deeper questions beneath recurring arguments.

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The United States & World Fascism: From the Spanish Civil War to Nuremberg & Beyond

Civics & PowerCulture & Humanities Lecture / ForumUniversity / CollegeWorkshop / Practice Free

Thu, Nov 5 ·2:30 pm ·Spanish & Portuguese Library, 5125 Dwinelle Hall, Level E ·Berkeley

A professional development workshop for K–12 and college educators on US involvement in fascism from the Spanish Civil War through the Nuremberg trials and beyond. Sebastiaan Faber of the Abraham Lincoln Brigades Archives and Oberlin College explores how American citizens, policy, and institutions responded to the rise of fascism in Europe and its legacies. Designed for teachers and students seeking historical context and pedagogical approaches to this period.

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“The Smallest Unit of Liberation”: Kuleana, Community, & Movement Building with Dr. Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio

Civics & PowerCulture & Humanities Workshop / PracticeUniversity / College Free

Fri, Nov 6 ·5:00 pm ·RSVP for location information ·Berkeley

A two-part workshop exploring movement building rooted in deep relationships and collective responsibility. Part One uses guided poetry and storytelling to explore kuleana—our responsibilities to ourselves, families, lands, and communities—through hands-on writing exercises. Part Two, facilitated by SOUL, RUKUS Society, and the Huli Movement, covers campaign strategy, organizing tactics, targets, messaging, and security culture for building sustainable movements. Led by Dr. Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio, a Kanaka Maoli organizer, scholar, and Associate Professor of Indigenous and Native Hawaiian Politics at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

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Listening with a New Consciousness A Group Imagery and Music Experience with Sophia Wang

Community & Practice Workshop / Practice

Fri, Nov 6 ·6:45 pm ·The Berkeley Alembic ·Berkeley

A 2-hour introductory workshop in Guided Imagery and Music (GIM), an experiential group practice rooted in the Bonny Method—a recognized music-psychotherapy modality developed from Helen Bonny's work supporting LSD-assisted therapy in the 1960s. Participants lie down and listen to two curated classical music programs designed to surface inner imagery, emotion, and insight, then integrate the experience through mandala drawing. No musical or art background required; the practice opens expanded awareness through sound, relaxation, and attention alone. Led by Sophia Wang at The Berkeley Alembic.

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Hootin' Habitats

Science & Tech Workshop / Practice

Sat, Nov 7 ·11:15 am ·Tilden ·Berkeley

Discover which owls inhabit the Bay Area and learn about their adaptations in this hands-on nature program led by naturalist Melissa Fowlks at Tilden Nature Area's Environmental Education Center. Participants will dissect owl pellets to understand these silent hunters' diets and behavior. Drop-in; no registration required.

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Sovereignty Through Sound: Mantra, Resonance & Return with Radhika Vekaria

Community & Practice Workshop / Practice

Sat, Nov 7 ·1:00 pm ·The Berkeley Alembic ·Berkeley

An immersive afternoon of mantra, sound practice, and embodied exploration with Grammy-nominated artist and teacher Radhika Vekaria. Through direct practice—chanting, mudras, breath work, and group vocalization—participants explore sound as an organizing intelligence for cultivating focus, presence, and inner coherence. The workshop draws on yogic philosophy to examine mantra's deeper meaning, the relationship between sound and resilience, and chant as a practice of clarity and courage. No prior experience required. The afternoon closes with a 75-minute live performance by Vekaria in a communal setting.

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Mapping Utopias

Civics & PowerCulture & Humanities Workshop / PracticeMuseum ✦ burnoff pick

Sun, Nov 8 ·1:00 pm ·BAMPFA ·Berkeley

Educator, anthropologist, and community organizer Isa Prieto leads a discussion and collective mapmaking activity exploring utopianism and the fragments of utopia already present in Bay Area neighborhoods. Participants will engage in hands-on mapping as both an intellectual and creative practice, examining how communities envision and build alternative futures. Hosted at BAMPFA (Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive).

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Lucid Dreaming: The Art of Navigating Your Own Mind with Nisha and Norma Burton

Community & Practice Workshop / Practice

Sun, Nov 8 ·6:00 pm ·The Berkeley Alembic ·Berkeley

A workshop on lucid dreaming as a trainable skill and gateway to psychonavigation—the art of moving through your own psyche with clarity and intention. Mother-daughter teaching team Norma Burton and Nisha Burton guide participants through foundational practices from cultures worldwide, including dreamwork, shadow work, and drumming journeys. Designed to build an inner map supporting healing, intuition, and discernment, the workshop also serves as preparation for integrating psychedelic experiences.

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Stories Only You Can Tell: A Memoir Workshop

Culture & Humanities Workshop / PracticeLibrary Free

Sat, Nov 14 ·2:00 pm ·Berkeley Public Library – Claremont Branch ·Berkeley

A two-hour memoir workshop led by Katharine Harer, a poet and creative writing instructor. Participants will excavate and write personal memories—sights, sounds, feelings, smells, tastes—and learn techniques for crafting vivid, emotionally resonant stories from lived experience. Harer has taught memoir and creative writing at the San Francisco Writing Salon for eight years and previously taught English at Skyline College. She is the author of seven poetry collections, including *Deconfliction* (2020) and *Jazz & Other Hot Subjects* (2016), with work published widely in literary journals, newspapers, magazines, and anthologies.

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The Alembic Celebrates: A Day of Practice and Community

Community & Practice Conference / SymposiumWorkshop / Practice

Sat, Nov 21 ·2:00 pm ·The Berkeley Alembic ·Berkeley

A day-long celebration of The Berkeley Alembic's new managing director Anisa Charucksiri and the organization's next chapter, featuring eight teachers offering art, meditation, voice, dance, somatic connection, and kirtan throughout the afternoon and evening. Co-founders Michael Taft and Erik Davis will share long-term visions, with a community gathering and guided meditation in the late afternoon, followed by dancing, kirtan, and live music into the night. Food trucks and tea service available. Open to the Alembic community and curious guests.

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Storytelling Workshop: An Introduction to Personal Storytelling & Live Performance

Community & Practice Workshop / Practice

Sat, Dec 5 ·12:00 pm ·Impossible Stage ·Berkeley

An interactive workshop for developing and performing personal stories. Participants will explore the fundamentals of crafting compelling narratives rooted in memory, identity, and lived experience through writing prompts, group exercises, and performance guidance. The workshop, led by Diaspora Arts Connection's storytelling program Third Culture Tales, focuses on emotional clarity, narrative structure, and authentic audience connection in a supportive, community-centered environment. By the end, participants will have the foundation of a personal story and the tools to perform it. Selected participants can then share their stories at Berkeley Open Stage, the festival's community storytelling event.

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Bling It On! Book Bedazzling Workshop

Community & Practice Workshop / PracticeBookshop

Wed, Dec 9 ·6:00 pm ·Book Society ·Berkeley

Transform your favorite books into glittering, one-of-a-kind keepsakes at this hands-on bedazzling workshop. Bring a beloved book from home or select from a curated menu of sassy classics provided on-site. All materials—rhinestones, gems, embellishments, and tools—plus step-by-step guidance are included. No crafting experience needed. Wine and snacks provided. Perfect for creating unique holiday gifts or adding sparkle to your own shelf.

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Any Ferns?

Science & Tech Workshop / Practice

Sun, Dec 13 ·11:00 am ·Tilden ·Berkeley

A guided nature walk exploring ferns and other ancient plants predating flowers, led by Anthony Fisher. Participants will identify species and learn about fern biology and ecology. Drop-in, no registration required. Meeting at the Environmental Education Center in Tilden Nature Area.

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Turn the Page: New Year’s Eve Journal Workshop

Culture & Humanities Workshop / PracticeBookshop

Thu, Dec 31 ·3:00 pm ·Book Society ·Berkeley

An end-of-year reading celebration and DIY book journal workshop at Book Society. Attendees share their favorite reads of 2026 on a Community Shelf, then craft a personalized reading journal for 2027 using provided templates and materials. The afternoon includes sparkling cider and closes with a toast to the new year. No artistic experience needed.

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Stacey Lindsay - Being 40

Culture & Humanities Book TalkWorkshop / PracticeBookshop

Tue, Jan 19 ·6:00 pm ·Book Society ·Berkeley

Stacey Lindsay, author of *Being 40*, explores the Autumn Queen—a mythological archetype embodying courage, creativity, intuition, and power that has been conspicuously absent from how we narrate women's lives. Historically, the Maiden, Mother, and Crone dominated storytelling; Lindsay argues this erasure was deliberate and shows how to reclaim this missing stage. The event combines conversation about the Autumn Queen with hands-on creative practice: guided journaling, sketching, and crafting to uncover your own inner Autumn Queen, including designing a tarot card and making a personal ornament.

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Read to Lead Workshop: Rest Rituals — Katherine May's Wintering

Culture & Humanities Workshop / PracticeBook TalkBookshop

Sun, Jan 24 ·10:00 am ·Book Society ·Berkeley

A practice-based workshop anchored in Katherine May's Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times. Rather than a book report, this session explores rest as a radical practice — reframing winter (both seasonal and personal) not as failure but as necessary dormancy. Drawing on May's reframing of fallow, slowed-down seasons as integral to a whole life, participants reflect on how to integrate rest into their own rhythms and resist the cultural pressure to perpetually produce. The workshop provides space, ideas, and guidance to move from understanding the concept to actually practicing it.

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