AUTHOR UP:
A Two-Day Somatic Writer's Retreat to Structure Your Book and Write Chapter One
Writing with the Ancestors plus Teachings & Portals
to Write a First Chapter of Your Memoir or Hybrid Nonfiction Book
Writing with the Ancestors plus Teachings & Portals to Write a First Chapter of Your Memoir or Hybrid Nonfiction Book
April 18–19, 2026 | 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST (U.S) | 10 Hours Live Online
$222 for 2 days LIVE Class/Workshop
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A 2-Day, 10-Hour Online Retreat
Do you know the story is inside of you but doubt your ability to tell it,
as you keep starting your book
over and over?
Are you overwhelmed by all the stories you could possibly tell, lost on which ones to include?
Do you feel stuck, buried in years’ worth of free writes, journals, morning pages, and partially-written drafts gone cold?
Does thinking about your unwritten book and unrealized potential cause you anxiety, like you’re running out of time to reach your goals spiritually, emotionally, or in your career?
How would it feel to liberate not only your voice, but your power, and walk away with clarity and Chapter One?
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This Is For You IF...
You have always loved to express yourself through writing and storytelling. Likely, you’ve journaled throughout your life. Perhaps you've also written poetry, short stories or monologues. You’ve attended writing workshops, are an avid reader and may have attempted to write this book (or another) more than once, maybe even attending retreats. Perhaps you are also an actor, artist, healer, somatic practitioner founder or therapist.
Part of your deepest longing and inner identity is tied up in being a writer, even if you haven’t manifested it in the world yet.
You know in your gut and bones that you have an important message for others and are yearning to share it.
If any (or most) of the above resonates, I’ve designed our Author Up! specifically for you, to finish your first chapter and outline the path to completing your book.
For the last twenty-four years, I’ve helped over a thousand people finish their memoirs, nonfiction books, and solo stage shows. Beyond a writing mentor, I’m known to my clients as a completion coach. It’s likely the most powerful aspect of my story- medicine.
What many creative, inspired book mentors don’t seem to understand is that congruent completion is almost entirely dependent on how the beginning of the process unfolds.
The most critical steps in writing a compelling memoir or non-fiction book happen up front. Setting a clear intention arms you with agency and direction for the entire journey.
My mastery is in helping you set up an energetic container to hold you through the process so you can go all the way through, uncovering your grittiest, most compelling story from the get-go, so you can follow your golden thread all the way through completion of your first draft.
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Join Author Up
🗓️ Dates: April 18–19, 2026 at 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST
10 hours total (5 hours each day, including breaks)
$222 for 2 days LIVE class/workshop
💻 Location: Live on Zoom
Includes:
Live group sessions with Tanya
Ancestral constellation mini-sessions
Shimmering image writing prompts
Tanya’s 6 Step Framework (Fire and Bones)
Replays are available if you have to miss any part of the live sessions.
Access to the replay for Two Weeks
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Bigger Questions
One of the questions I’ve been asking myself, and my students for the past several years, particularly as I’ve been diving deeper into my own lineage work
(and became trained in Hellinger Family Constellations) is:
Who do you want to be as a future ancestor?
How can your ancestral healing + the writing of your memoir or nonfiction book contribute to this?
Because our books are more than commodities.
They’re not extensions of capitalism.
That’s not to say that your book won’t become the calling card for your business, or your work as a speaker, teacher, facilitator, artist…it can and will.
But here, we look at it through another lens:
Your book is your path to awakening.
Your ancestral path.
Your embodiment path.
Who do you want to be as a future ancestor?
How can your ancestral healing + the writing of your memoir or nonfiction book contribute to this?
Because our books are more than commodities.
They’re not extensions of capitalism.
That’s not to say that your book won’t become the calling card for your business, or your work as a speaker, teacher, facilitator, artist…it can and will.
But here, we look at it through another lens:
Your book is your path to awakening.
Your ancestral path.
Your embodiment path.
Doing this work alongside your writing becomes a gift to yourself, to those who came before you, and to those who will come after you, your family, and the human (and more-than-human) community. It’s layered. And in this retreat, we explore those layers.
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During the Retreat,
We Will:
Connect with the body of the book
Enter portals of story connected to your fire and bone stories.
Work with fascia stories that help shape your book’s transformational arc.
Explore how storytelling memory is held in your somatic body, your ancestry, and your relationship to land.
Discover the beginning and end of your chapter narratives using shimmering images
Learn to paint with words.
Images that act as portals to deeper truths
And most of all...you will write.
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By the End of This Retreat…
You Will Have Begun (or Completed)
A first draft of a chapter of your memoir or nonfiction book (2,500–5,000 words) using the shimmering images process to identify Fire and Bones stories…
Identified your book’s Central Metaphor
Explored a felt sense of your One Reader
Written with prompts, portals and as above/so below writing processes to access somatic memory and unfurl stories that want to be told…
Experienced Ancestral Constellation work as a writing catalyst
All this and so much more is included as we come together in deep, wildly creative community to (finally) begin to do the work of creating space for your book to emerge.
Let’s write our way into freedom... together.
Let’s honor our well ancestors – the blessed and beloved...
Let’s move toward clarity, structure, and abundance, and feed those in need while we do.
A first draft of a chapter of your memoir or nonfiction book (2,500–5,000 words) using the shimmering images process to identify Fire and Bones stories…
Identified your book’s Central Metaphor
Explored a felt sense of your One Reader
Written with prompts, portals and as above/so below writing processes to access somatic memory and unfurl stories that want to be told…
Experienced Ancestral Constellation work as a writing catalyst
All this and so much more is included as we come together in deep, wildly creative community to (finally) begin to do the work of creating space for your book to emerge.
Let’s write our way into freedom... together.
Let’s honor our well ancestors – the blessed and beloved...
Let’s move toward clarity, structure, and abundance, and feed those in need while we do.
✦
Kind Words
from a Few of Tanya's Clients
A sacred form of activism...
It is a rare experience for me to find a collaborator such as Tanya to do my deep work. She has an incredible capacity for insight and the ability to hold space for what is, meeting me exactly where I am. My first constellation session was clear, efficient, and abundant, giving me food for thought that continues to reveal itself. In this crazy world, wondering how one can contribute, working with Tanya in this way feels like its own necessary and important form of activism for both of us.
— Sarah Kerstin Gross (Writer, Business Owner)
“This work is helping me heal...”
Working with Tanya Taylor Rubinstein on ancestral constellation was truly transformative. I’ve done ancestral healing for years, mostly focusing on ancient, healed ancestors, but Tanya’s approach focused on the recent ancestors — those still carrying unresolved trauma.
During our blind constellation, the focus turned to my father and paternal grandfather, a man I knew little about. Through the process, I gained deep insight into how my father’s relationship with his own father mirrored the struggles I had with him.I also developed a new empathy for my grandfather’s wounds, his anger and criticism of his children and saw how that energy had been passed down.
Most powerfully, I began to recognize gifts from my father I had overlooked before. This work is helping me heal and shift how I move through the world.
If you’re ready to heal generational wounds and rewrite family narratives, I highly recommend Tanya’s work. It’s a powerful way to shift old patterns and gain a deeper understanding of your family’s story.
— Epiphany Jordan (Healer, Writer, Author, Tarot Reader)
“Impeccable space... anchored in the sacred.”
Tanya holds impeccable space that is steeped in the sacred – specifically connected to and deeply held by the wisdom of the land and the helpful ancestors who have come before us.
Working with her gave me insight into a pattern I had been operating from since childhood. Once identified, I could feel my system being unburdened by the weight I had been carrying.
A subtle release has been occurring since our session, and I feel I now have much greater access to my inner wisdom and higher self. I’ve also been able to set important boundaries with people from whom I had previously tolerated unhealthy behavior.
I feel much more inner authority, and life feels a bit easier. I am hopeful for what lies ahead.
— Jenn Tasnim Savage (Spiritual Coach for Women, Writer)
“She supported me in the ultimate radical soul liberation...”
Tanya has been the ancient midwife of my story. She cradled me, wept with me, sang me through my grief, coaxed my words, and gently guided me to the courage to birth my voice.
She once said to me, ‘I can’t promise you safety here.’ In its place, she supported me in the ultimate radical soul liberation -- the telling of my story
— Melissa K. Somatic Therapist and Author
“These stories heal, inspire and ignite in ways you never imagined.”
Tanya Taylor Rubinstein is the Story Shaman. Let us not use this word lightly. What she does, better than anyone I’ve met, is weave your calling, God’s purpose, and the mundane trivialities of life into a vibrant tapestry, called Story.
These stories heal, inspire and ignite in ways you never imagined. When you receive the call to be with her, listen.
— Susan C. Author
It is a sacred journey of remembrance and reconnection...
"Working with Tanya offers far more than writing a memoir; it is a sacred journey of remembrance and reconnection: bringing together ancestral wisdom, deep healing, and a living dialogue with the land that continues to hold our stories.
Joining this program opened my heart to the joy of writing and reminded me that writing is not merely a craft but a sacred practice. As an Iranian immigrant, I carried many secret stories buried deep within me, memories and experiences that had long remained unspoken. This program became a sanctuary where those hidden truths could rise to the surface and find their voice. Each session opened a gateway into my inner landscape, guiding me to shape fragmented memories into a meaningful and coherent narrative."
— ZariNaz, Painter, Writer
“I felt freer, clearer, and definitely more inspired...”
I just spent two magical days of writing at Tanya's "Author Up" retreat. I recently learned of Tanya's work through different podcasts and immediately felt called to work with her. Her unique and deep approach to writing through an ancestral and somatic lens deeply resonated.
I had never done ancestral constellation work before but was drawn to explore that and so a writing program that weaved writing with constellation work really spoke to me. So, I decided the day before the retreat to sign up and I am so incredibly grateful I did.
Tanya creates a structured, nourishing container that allows people to go deep into their personal memories and create beautiful writing. I felt freer, clearer, and definitely more inspired to delve deeper into my writing and to create a devoted practice. The other writers in the group blew me away with their writing shares. The weekend was full of power, inspiration and compassion.
— Jessica Marcy, Filmmaker
“I loved working with her...”
I was immediately interested in Tanya’s workshop when I saw that it involved Family Constellation work and writing with the ancestors. I loved working with her and am glad that I signed up for her workshop. I found her demeanor to be very kind and encouraging to each of us, and I appreciated how present she was with the group. I had the sense that she truly enjoyed what she was doing as she facilitated our work.
Her mastery of the topic was evident in the information she presented and the exercises she guided us through. She has done a great deal of inner work, and I felt comfortable with how genuine she was during the rare moments when she spoke about her own journey. I really enjoyed working with her and will pursue the possibility of having her help me as I continue writing my memoir.
I also hope to continue doing group work with her, as I found listening to her feedback to other participants very helpful. Together, we created a field in which I realized things about my past that I hadn’t previously connected with, and I loved how her prompts helped me write about them in a different way than I had before.
— Jeanie Underwood, Retreat Participant
“This was exactly the retreat I needed!”
"This was exactly the retreat I needed! My book has been calling me deeply and I didn't need a straightforward memoir class- they are everywhere. Your sessions were somatic, experiential and moved me out of my logical mind into my deeper writing. I recommend your approach highly to anyone who is ready to experience breakthroughs and inspiration in their writing.
I love the way you work!"
— Hyacinth Myers, Author, Women's Soul Coach
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About Your Guide:
Tanya Taylor Rubinstein
Founder of Ancestral Narrative
Creator of Writing with the Ancestors
Somatic Writing Practitioner | Storytelling Mentor
Ancestral Constellations Facilitator
Tanya Taylor Rubenstein has been a writer, story mentor, and solo performance coach for over 30 years. She began her journey as a performer, writing and starring in her first solo show, Honeymoon in India, which launched a career in monologue and storytelling rooted in personal transformation.
Trained as an actor at Carnegie Mellon University, Emerson College, and HB Studios in New York, Tanya studied with celebrated teachers such as William Hickey and Sandy Dennis. While at Emerson, she met her mentor, the late monologist Spalding Gray, who inspired her passion for solo performance. Tanya went on to create and perform three critically acclaimed solo shows, with her debut named one of Santa Fe's "Top 10 Performances" by The Santa Fe Reporter, alongside productions from Santa Fe Stages and the Santa Fe Opera.
Tanya has since devoted her life to mentoring others, particularly actors, musicians, and creatives, in writing and performing their personal narratives. Her students have performed at repertory theaters across the U.S. and at fringe festivals worldwide, including New York, Toronto, Edinburgh, and beyond.
Tanya taught writing workshops at Santa Fe Secondary School, El Castillo Retirement Community, College of Santa Fe and United World College (Las Vegas, N.M.)
In 2010, she co-created a yearlong memoir program with author Candace Walsh, helping hundreds begin the first draft of their books. Earlier, in 2002, Tanya released The Cancer Monologue Project, an anthology featuring work from students living with cancer. The project garnered national attention, with features in O Magazine, Rosie, NPR, Spirituality & Health, and The Dallas Morning News, establishing her as a leader in personal narrative work.
Tanya also developed The Life Monologue Project, supporting individuals facing trauma and serious illness in writing and performing their stories on stage. She has collaborated with organizations such as Gilda’s Club, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Cabrini-Green, Ambercare Hospice, San Diego Repertory Theatre, and the New Mexico Cancer Center to create safe, transformative spaces for storytelling.
In 2020, while living at the foot of Black Mesa outside Santa Fe, Tanya formally codified somatic writing as a process, a unique methodology integrating writing, embodiment, land-based wisdom, and ancestral healing. She continues to guide writers into deeper layers of truth by helping them access stories held in the body, land, and lineage.
In 2024, Tanya deepened this work by training in Hellinger Family Constellations, adding ancestral constellation work to her storytelling and memoir process. Today, she supports clients at the intersection of writing and deep healing, believing that when we tell our stories while healing at the root level, we unlock profound personal and collective transformation.
Join Us for Author Up!
An Online Writing + Ancestral Healing Retreat
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Beloved Writer,
There’s so much I want to share with you in these two days - particularly if you've been trying to write your memoir or nonfiction book for years (or even decades!)
Whether you're a mystic, healer, artist, visionary or mature spiritual leader, you know that you’re designed to write your soul story.
You’re not going to be satisfied just writing about your life experiences per se.
You’re called to deeply dive into the underworld, and explore the Heroine’s Journey, somatic writing portals and enter hybrid structures which make space for your body, dreams, ancestral remembrance, and spirits of the land.
In many ways, you’re writing this book, and at the same time, you’re remembering your magic.
You’re calling back your connection to other lifetimes, the beloved earth, your well ancestors, the Mighty Dead and your eternal connection to your inner storyteller!
This promises to be a potent gathering and I hope to see you there!
Love,
Tanya
🗓️ Dates: April 18–19, 2026 at 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST
10 hours total (5 hours each day, including breaks)
$222 for 2 days LIVE class/workshop
🗓️ Dates: April 18–19, 2026 at 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST
10 hours total
(5 hours each day, including breaks)
$222 for 2 days LIVE class/workshop
EARLY BIRD SPECIAL:
$144 for both retreat days plus BONUS of 1 month access to the Somatic Writers Vault
(over 200 videos of Somatic Writing Retreats, Art and Craft of Story classes, Writing with the Ancestors Circles,
Author interviews and more!)
Regular Price for Two Day Retreat $222
Reclaim your story.
Change your life.
