Intoxicating and energetic, Bernadette Pleasant is a fiery Public Speaker, Somatic Healer, Sacred Grief Facilitator and Creator of Femme!, Emotion in Motion as well as Sacred Silence, mind-body wellness programs. In the Femme! Experience, Bernadette creates a safe space for all ages, genders and body types to explore their sensual selves. Everyone is empowered to fully embrace and embody all of their emotions and fully express them through movement; joy, sorrow, rage, ecstasy and more are all welcome at Femme!. In Femme! everyone is infused with the affirmation, “It’s your body; you can do whatever you want with it-including love it unapologetically!” Bernadette is a vibrant, sensual speaker who connects with those who have been silenced and shut down to support their physical, emotional, and healing journeys—whether in a classroom, on a podium, or one-on-one private session.

You can learn more at the Emotional Institute website.

Sara Nics has been working with the somatic sphere for 20 years, through ecstatic dance, authentic movement, contact improvisation and yoga.

By day she makes podcasts. She was a founding producer of the New Yorker Radio Hour. She is currently executive editor at Transmitter Media, where she guides the development of a suite of shows, including: "Alligator Candy", a personal series about trauma and grief in one family and its larger community. "Finding Fred", a 10-part series about Mr. Rogers that asks what it means to be a good neighbor in contemporary America; "Rebel Eaters Club", a show about food, pleasure and revolutionary relationships with the body; and many more. Sara has reported from a sinking island amid a tropical storm, managed a team of reporters in East Africa, covered breaking news in South Asia, performed radio every week in front of a live audience, and produced stories about Antarctic explorers, art thieves, wonder, ecstatic creativity, narrative self-concept, and a whole lot more.

She's a gardener, lover, community-builder and poem hunter.