ABOUT my practice
Soma el Deen, the name of my practice, is a dedicated reclamation to the ways of our ancestors. Soma directly translates to mean body in english. But the body is more than what society has told us it is. Soma is all of the elements, the senses, the felt sense, the feelings and emotions. Soma is our way of connection to each other, to the earth, to the sacred and the ancient.
Deen is an Arabic word (the language of my ancestors), meant in more modern times to mean religion but it’s original use was to mean a devotional way of life, the way, or the light. Soma el Deen is a reclamation of what I understand the truth of these words to mean.
Soma el Deen is devotion to the wide expansive being that is our bodies. It means the body is the way. It is honoring the sacredness of our bodies and living each day in veneration to the ancient wisdom that is the body.
In this journey together, we are in ceremony of the body. It is a way to embody your soul expression. It is the ceremony of life.
Currently located on the lands of my ancestors in Cairo, Egypt.
About Me
I'm Mona (Mun-na), a student of gentleness, tenderness, of the elements and all living beings, an explorer, and practiced in somatic therapy, somatic archaeology, shadow work, and ancestral healing.
I have immense gratitude for the path I get to walk each day. When I consciously committed to my personal healing, I had no idea what I was embarking on, but what I’ve discovered is that it is a return to the woman I am, a return to my roots, my ancestors, and the wisdom and medicine they carried that is held within my DNA, within my bones. Through this journey, I have learned that there is no linear path to healing, and that healing is a recovering of my sould expression, beyond the layers of oppressive systems and patterns the “modern” times have convinced us we need.
My body has been my guide through this journey.
One day, I sat in meditation and certain words kept coming to me.
The next day I found a Somatic Therapy program whose focus was on touch and from there I surrendered to what my mind couldn’t even fathom, but my body already knew. I gave myself permission to participate in reclaiming our relationships with our bodies, individually and as a collective. Along the journey of becoming a Certified Somatic Therapist, I couldn’t help but feel that something was missing. In this exploration I found my teacher who I was blessed to walk a more spiritual path with. She helped me reconnect with my ancestral lineage and see what I knew was missing in my personal and client practice.
Thanks to my spiritual path, and the ceremony of my body, my offerings continue to expand and take on new shapes and forms, and I imagine will continue to expand and deepen as I continue on my path and in my learnings of the sacred mysteries. Through the expansion, one thing remains in the center - the body is the path of devotion. The body is the way we decolonize, remember, and reclaim the wisdom and medicine within us. The body is ceremony.
It began with me having intense physical reactions to being at my workplace, and it became increasingly impossible for me to ignore what my body was yelling at me - that the life I was living wasn’t working, that it was out of alignment. No longer was it this subtle message in the back of my mind, the guidance was being felt within my whole body.
Since leaving that space and committing to a path with an undefined destination, my body has guided me every step of the way. In learning to trust my body more, I came up against new and different edges and challenges, and really had to learn how to listen and discern what my body was trying to tell me.
Shadow Work
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Archetypal Work
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Earth-Based Practices
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Shadow Work • Archetypal Work • Earth-Based Practices •
I give gratitude to all of my teachers over the years. The plants, animals, earth and ancestors, as well as my teachers in human form. I am so grateful for the privilege and honor of getting to work with such wise beings who are gracious enough to bestow their wisdom and teachings upon me. I give thanks to Eres, Maya Blow, Myranda Bennet, Dr. Jennifer Lisa Vest, the Somatic Therapy Center, and Dr. Ruby Gibson to name just a few of those who have entrusted me with their wisdom and guidance. Without them, I would not be.
my commitment to you
Firstly, I am committed to Spirit, to my ancestors and guides, to Oum el Dounya (Mother of the Earth in Arabic) and all of the ways they guide and support me in each moment. This relationship, collaboration, and commitment is at the heart and forefront of anything I do.
I am committed to always being a student. One who learns from my teachers, the Earth and the animals, my ancestors, and who also learns from you.
I am committed to actively working towards decolonizing myself and pulling myself out of the different systems I have been made to think I am dependent upon.
I am committed to actively being anti-racist and ensuring that I do my own personal reflection around my privileges of being an ethnically ambiguous cis woman and bring that focus into the way I work and offer my services.
I am committed to offering accessible pricing, specifically to People of the Global Majority, Black, Indigenous, and 2SLGBTQ+ communities.
I am committed to the practice of receiving feedback on the places and ways where I can be or do better.
I am committed to you, to our relationship, to honoring the privilege of working with you and your body, and to creating safety in our work together.
My core values
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SAFETY
It all starts with safety. When we create safety in space and relationship, we can begin to hear the language of our bodies.
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CURIOSITY
In this space we focus on curiosity and witnessing what’s present. We leave assumptions and stories aside and focus on what’s being shown to us.
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SLOWNESS
This space is dedicated to slowing down. The body loves when we slow down. In the slowness is where we can really receive the wisdom of our bodies.
Testimonials
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