Embodied Resistance: Healing Trauma in the Midst of Oppression
A Training with Ashira Darwish in Barcelona
May 11- 15, 2026
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Event Dates:
11/05/2026
to
15/05/2026
Registration End Date:
08/05/2026
Event Location:
Permaculture Barcelona Hub
Event Type:
In Person
Working with Continuous Trauma, Colonisation, and Collective Survival
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Some trauma ends.
Some trauma does not.
Across many parts of the world people are living inside continuous trauma. Colonisation, displacement, war, systemic violence. The nervous system never receives the message that the danger has passed.
Traditional therapy was not designed for this reality.
This immersive training explores how healing work must change when trauma is political, intergenerational, and ongoing.
Through embodied practice, neuroscience, spiritual wisdom, and liberation psychology, participants learn how to support individuals and communities living under sustained pressure without pathologizing their survival.
This is not a lecture-based training.
It is a body-based transmission.
See the full program
May 11 – Arrival and Opening Ceremony
Participants arrive in the evening
Welcome circle and grounding
Introduction to the training container and agreements
Opening Practice
Setting the Niyyah (Intention)
• Niyyah as orientation of the nervous system
• Speaking intention in present tense
• Aligning personal and collective intention
Shared dinner and gentle arrival
Day 1 (May 12)
Liberation, Colonization, and Continuous Trauma
Morning Practice
Ashira Active Meditation
Grounding, safety, and presence
Teaching Block
Liberation Psychology
• Trauma as political, not only personal
• Internalized oppression
• Dignity, agency, and healing
Teaching Block
Colonization and the Body
• Colonization as embodied condition
• Power, control, and fragmentation
• Identity under oppression
Teaching Block
Continuous Trauma
• Ongoing trauma as a lived condition, not a past event
• Hypervigilance and emotional suppression as intelligent adaptations
• The body’s innate ways of protecting and organizing under prolonged threat
• Working with the body’s responses rather than overriding them
Final Practice
Organ Transmutation
Removing trauma held in the body
Supporting the body to release and process under continuous trauma
Working with the organs to empty stored emotional charge and restore balance
Day 2 (May 13)
Lineage, Ancestry, and Intergenerational Trauma
Morning Practice
Ashira Active Meditation
Back body, support, grounding
Teaching Block
Intergenerational Trauma
• Transmission across generations
• Epigenetics and inherited stress
• Family silence and survival patterns
Teaching Block
Lineage and Ancestral Memory
• Reclaiming ancestral strength
• Just as codes of trauma are passed down, codes of healing are also carried through lineage
• Receiving these codes of resilience and restoration
• Unlocking pathways to inherited wisdom and support
Group Work
Small group exploration of lineage
Sharing, witnessing, embodied reflection
Evening Practice
Ancestors Meditation (Group)
Connecting to lineage
Releasing inherited burdens
Receiving strength, guidance, and healing
Day 3 (May 14)
Spiritual Frameworks, Practice, and Integration
Morning Practice
Ashira Active Meditation
Expansion with grounding
Teaching Block
Islamic and Palestinian Concepts in Trauma and Resistance
Sabr
Tawakkul
Hamd
Niyyah (deepened)
Sumud
• Faith as regulation
• Meaning making under oppression
• Spiritual dignity
• Sumud as lived, embodied resistance
• Cultural and collective expressions of resilience and continuity
Group Practice
Embodied exploration
Reflection in small groups
Teaching Block
The Nervous System and Spiritual Practice
• Rhythm, breath, and regulation
• Grounding versus dissociation
• Avoiding spiritual bypassing
• Integrating body and spiritual awareness
Teaching Block
Sustaining the Practitioner
• Preventing burnout
• Boundaries and resourcing
• Secondary trauma
• Staying regulated while holding others
Evening Practice
Dhikr and Sufi Whirling
• Repetition as regulation
• Movement as integration
• Whirling as embodied presence
Seated stillness and meditation
May 15 – Closing and Departure
Morning gathering
Closing circle
Returning to the niyyah set on Day 1
Shared breakfast
Participants depart
This training is designed for:
 therapists
; healers
; community leaders
; activists
; somatic practitioners
; people working with populations affected by war, displacement, and systemic violence
; and anyone seeking deeper understanding of how the body carries history.
Why this training?
The participant group is intentionally small to maintain a safe and regulated environment.
Maximum 18 participants.
What Participants Receive:Â
– Four days of embodied training
– Daily Ashira Active Meditation practice
– Tools for working with continuous trauma
– Practical somatic facilitation skills
– Optional practitioner certification
– Meals are shared each day to support community integration
– Delicious food prepared by our cooking team from Palestine, Syria and Venezuela
Where
We are thrilled to welcome you to the Permaculture Barcelona Hub located in the Poblenou neighborhood of Barcelona. The Embodied Resistance training will be one of our first! Watch a video about the Hub on the right, and see some early photos of the Hub in the current process of renovation and read more by clicking HERE.
Facilitator - Ashira Darwish
Ashira Darwish is a Palestinian somatic practitioner, educator, and founder of Catharsis Holistic Healing. Her work explores the intersection of trauma, colonization, and embodied liberation, integrating neuroscience informed somatic practices with ancestral wisdom, Islamic teachings, and liberation psychology.
Drawing from decades of activism, storytelling, and healing work across communities affected by war, displacement, and systemic violence, Ashira developed Ashira Active Meditation, a body based practice designed to regulate the nervous system, restore agency, and strengthen the spine and breath under conditions of continuous trauma.
Her approach weaves together somatic movement, intergenerational trauma work, organ-based emotional regulation practices, and spiritual frameworks including sabr, niyya, and embodied sumud.
Ashira teaches internationally, offering training, retreats, and community healing spaces for therapists, activists, and practitioners seeking tools to support individuals and communities living under ongoing political and collective stress.
Ashira was featured prominently in the powerful documentary “Where Olive Trees Weep” (see trailer above and interview along with Dr. Gabor Maté below).Â
When
May 11 – 15, 2026
Arrival: Monday, May 11 @ 17h CET
Departure: Friday, May 15 @ 11h after a closing breakfast celebration
Let us know if you need to arrive and depart at different times and we will look for a good solution 🙂Â
Fees
We offer a sliding scale for this course, and ask participants to offer what they can pay for this engaging training. Those who can afford to pay more on the higher end of the scale will help those who can only pay less, as well as funding scholarships for Palestinian participants.
The sliding scale recognises the differences in economic reality depending on what country a participant comes from, as well as their individual circumstances, so this is a practical way that people with more resources can act in solidarity.
What is included in the Fees
• Delicious meals – breakfast, lunch and dinner – along with snack and tea/coffee throughout the day
• Tuition for the training
What is not included in the Fees
• Accommodation and local public transport costs are not included in the fees. We can advise on local accommodation options, or you can organise your own.Â
Sliding Scale Fee Structure
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Solidarity Price – €400Â
You are welcome to choose this price if you have a low income or are unemployed, receive public assistance, do not have access to funds, etc.
If you are able to offer more for this quality program, please go back and choose one of the other prices.
Standard Price – €550Â
This price reflects the real cost of running the course. Choose this price if you cannot afford the Supporter or Patron pricing.
Supporter Price – €850
Please choose this price if you are able to afford it.Â
Patron of the Training – €1,050
By becoming a patron you are supporting opportunities for Palestinian participants and low income students. Thank you!
Payment Plan

You can choose to pay in two installments by paying a €200 deposit now and pay the rest in cash upon arrival to the training.Â
Note about food: while we will try to cater to all diets, the Permaculture Barcelona Hub welcomes ethical omnivores and vegetarians, so the meals we share may not be appropriate for strict vegans.
Refund Policy
30+ days before start of training: 75% Refund
15–29 days before start of training: 50% Refund
Less than 14 days before start of training: No Refund Possible