Cultivating a Sustainable Writing Practice (Oct & Nov 2026)

An 8-week embodied writing programme for academic writers

It can be surprisingly difficult to carry on with academic writing. 

If you’ve found yourself easily stopped or ‘booted out’ of the flow of work you actually love — you are not alone. 

  • Maybe tight deadlines or rigid formats make it hard to feel spacious enough to connect with your thoughts or your words. 
  • Or perhaps your project feels fine one day, then out of reach and intimidating the next — making you wonder if you’ve set it up wrong or are doing something wrong.
  • Or maybe it feels like there are so many voices and opinions to consider that it’s hard to hear yourself.

Such experiences can spark worry and frustration, even when you know you’ll eventually find your way back in.

This programme teaches you to use the intelligence of your body to support your writing.

It does so through a structured container with movement and writing invitations that bring embodied awareness directly into the project you’re working on now.

In the solidarity of a small group, we turn writing into a practice of skillful, warm self-accompaniment.

The problem with ‘just do it’

In academia, there is this ideal type of the thick-skinned writer: someone who simply gets on with it, no matter what.

If we hold ourselves to being that way, it’s easy to conclude that having a more complex relationship with writing is a problem, or even a personal fault.

We tell ourselves: “I just need to do it”.  We try to be more disciplined, to push through. Or we try to care less.

It doesn’t feel good.

It also doesn’t work well, at least not in the long run. 

That we are affected by the work we do, and that we come to it with fluctuating energy and emotions, is a sign of our aliveness. This is also part of what makes us the researchers and writers that we are.

There has to be a way to work with rather than against that.

A different way forward

When you practise academic writing as an activity that involves your whole body, you begin to care for yourself as a writer in new ways.

Part of this is about letting yourself be who and how you are.

Part of it is about discovering that you can move, direct your energy, and write in different ways, so that you have more possibilities to draw on when you feel stuck or stale.

This is a lifelong practice, but also one that starts to shift things right away. 

You may notice that you no longer feel a sense of despair when your writing doesn’t go well. Or that you experience jolts of joyful surprise when something really interesting comes out, just when you thought making progress was impossible.

A sustainable writing practice

is one where we don’t abandon ourselves, override what we are sensing, or constantly feel that we’re doing it wrong. 

It’s a practice in which we know and trust ourselves, take pleasure, and keep inviting ourselves forward.

What this course has offered me is a way to cultivate a kinder, more gentle relationship to my writing and that of others—and, bonus, to become very productive in the process and to actually enjoy academic writing.
Nikki Mulder
PhD Researcher, Leiden University
This class has allowed to shift my relationship with my writing in the most beneficial ways; for the first time I really feel deeply that the fact that writing is hard does not mean I’m failing; instead I can observe what is hard a bit more than before, and start to build a toolkit to work with it.
J. Laurent
PhD candidate, University of Amsterdam

Why the body matters for writing

Most people don’t think about writing as involving their bodies beyond ergonomic desk arrangements and reminders to walk or stretch.

But how you are in your body — how your fingers move over the keyboard, how you breathe, how you sit or stand, even how you hold your face — is deeply implicated in the intellectual work of writing. 

This opens up an important opportunity: you can explore variations in how you physically approach writing, and learn ongoingly from what you notice.

The specific approach we take in this programme uses the four elements of Earth, Water, Fire, and Air as a map for that exploration. Each offers a different set of embodied qualities to draw on.

And when you’re stuck, they give you something concrete to try: shift something physical, and you often shift the whole situation.

My hope for you

My hope for you, through this programme, is that you:

  • feel held and supported, in ways you’ll also learn to offer yourself, so that whatever you’re working on this autumn feels more doable;
  • gain self-awareness and insights that make a real difference to how you approach writing;
  • find a deeper appreciation for who you are and what you bring to the world as a researcher and writer.

What results can I expect?

This programme fosters small but real shifts in how writing feels.

You won’t eliminate instinctive stress reactions to writing, such as feeling the urge to avoid it or feeling overwhelmed.

But you will have more ways to meet them: with more appreciation for who you are as a writer and a better sense of the options available to you.

Practising writing in this way has helped previous participants release negative associations with writing and rediscover the joy in it.

It has helped some participants find ways to work with emotionally charged content, and others to clarify what kind of writing they actually want to do in the future.

Additionally, it has enabled participants to write words that feel alive and meaningful— words they enjoy reading back.

About Catelijne

This work has very personal origins for me: from the earliest days of my academic career I grew increasingly familiar with writing blocks and struggles: a constant flickering of I can – I can’t in relation to my writing.

Finding it hard to sustain a research career, I found my groove in teaching and nearly gave up writing for publication altogether. But something pulled me back to it. I still knew myself to be a writer. And I knew I wanted a different approach.

My second career as a coach and facilitator opened my eyes to working with the body. I started to translate what I learned from my embodiment teachers to the realm of writing, and this felt like a missing piece falling into place. It has allowed me to keep writing and to help others reclaim and transform their academic writing practice in ways that have been truly empowering.

This is what I want for you, too.

I really appreciated your guidance, and the way you put all the right disclaimers in all the right places, to find some middle ground between pushing too hard and giving up. It made it really easy to stay engaged, on whatever terms were available and appropriate to me at any given moment in time.
Course participant

Programme overview

Part 1: October – Exploration

After our opening session, you’ll spend four weeks exploring different ways of moving with your writing, using the Four Elements as a map.

  • 2 October — Opening session
    Entering and creating the container together; setting intentions; introducing the Four Elements.
  • 5-9 October — Earth week
    Exploring the qualities of Earth: structure, regularity, slowness. Daily movement-and-writing invitations, a writing get-together, and a workshop to reflect on the week together. (This format stays the same in following weeks.)
  • 12–16 October — Water week
    Exploring the qualities of Water: softness, fluidity, receptivity.
  • 19–23 October — Fire week
    Exploring the qualities of Fire: directness, clarity, passion.
  • 26–30 October — Air week
    Exploring the qualities of Air: lightness, play, expansiveness.
  • Additional session on 21 October
    Design & Q&A for November Academic Writing Month.​

Part 2: November - Push

Now you’ll take your insights forward into Academic Writing Month and are supported to make a push with your writing before the year’s end. Four weeks of writing, then we close.

  • 2-27 November — Academic Writing Month
    Stepping up with courage and compassion, based on the goals-and-points system you've designed; weekly writing get‑togethers, check‑ins, and encouragement.
  • 1 December — Closing session
    Sharing insights, celebrating, and reflecting on how to keep nurturing your writing practice.
This course was incredibly helpful in realigning my approach to my writing. I spend much of my academic energy in my head, and as funny as that may sound, attending to my body, to what my body is doing when I write, has made a substantial difference for my ability to write, as well as how I write.
Sam Weiss Evans
Program on Science, Technology, & Society, Harvard University
As a seasoned movement teacher, I thought I stood on solid ground as far as body knowledge was concerned. This course offered a new encounter, one where the meeting of body and mind unlocked doors to deeply buried habits. Gentle, yet disciplined, structured, yet flexible, Catelijne’s method helped me squarely face the unknown and risk taking that next step towards writing freedom.
Glenna Batson
Professor Emeritus of Physical Therapy at Winston-Salem State University, NC; Independent Researcher and Lecturer in Dance, Somatics and Science

How will I know if this embodied approach is for me?​

You can try it out:

You don’t need prior experience with body-based ways of working. These practices are intuitive, and connect with movement and physical expression most people already know from everyday life.

They’re also adaptable: I’ll provide options for differently mobile bodies and different spatial setups.

FAQs

About six hours per week. In October, this includes two live group sessions and five movement-and-writing practices to do on your own. All of this is designed to support the writing project you bring into the programme, not to add extra work on top of it. Depending on your ambitions, energy, and schedule, you may be doing more. You could also do less, by lightly touching in with each week’s theme and leaving detailed experimentation for another time. In November, there won’t be much new content. Instead, you’ll spend your time writing and using what you’ve already learned to stay present with your own experience and your project.
My fundamental stance is that you should do what feels right for you. In the first month of the programme, I offer a rhythm of daily writing practice, because having regular, low-stress moments of contact with writing is a good thing for most people. But you're not 'behind' if you don't take up my invitations every day. You can use this programme to suit your own work rhythm.
The practice invitations are yours to keep and revisit anytime, so you don’t need to keep up with the pace at which I send them. In the past, many participants have saved some practices for November or for after the programme's end. If you miss a whole week, you can still move forward with the group and reserve your exploration of that week's Element for a later time. The learning platform you’ll have access to shows you the practices week by week, making them easy to find. You’ll have access to this platform for an additional six months after the programme ends, and you can also download the practices directly from there.
Yes. Your life, your circumstances, and your personal wishes for your writing are the context within which to set your goals for November Academic Writing Month. You can absolutely create your goals-and-points system to be gentle, and/or hold the very idea of 'goals' playfully and lightly.
The interactions with others in this programme mainly consist of sharing and witnessing individual experiences, and reflecting together on what we learn from tending to writing as an embodied practice. There is also a particular kind of magic in doing movement and writing practices together, even via Zoom, even with cameras and microphones off. For past participants, these interactions have been among the highlights of the programme.
Everyone but me will go off-camera during the movement-and-writing practices in the live sessions and writing get-togethers. It's more comfortable that way and allows the focus to be on what the movement feels rather than looks like.
It helps to have a space where you feel free to move without worrying about being seen or overheard. This matters not only for the live meetings, but also for the prerecorded practices you'll do throughout the week (in October). Privacy is the key factor, not the type of space. One past participant only had access to an office with a glass partition, and this prevented her from getting as much out of the practices as she would have liked to. If a fully private space isn't available to you, it's worth thinking through what you can arrange: an agreement with an office-mate, sign on the door, meeting room with no see-through, etc.
The 8-week programme is my synthesis of practices and approaches I have learned from others and have adapted for academic writing. The Four Elements framework is used in somatic education and embodiment coaching by several teachers. Mark Walsh, Marcella Widrig, and Dylan Newcomb are the ones I’ve learned from most directly. Stuart Heller is another influence. The methodologies of Co-Active Coaching and Positive Intelligence inform the programme's setup for personal and professional growth through a practice-path. Stephen Porges' Polyvagal Theory has been instrumental in my thinking about the nervous system in relation to writing. There's more, and I will share specific references throughout the programme where relevant.
Yes. Just as black-belt martial artists continue to go to the dojo, you can find support, enjoyment and new discoveries here. This programme's setup is non-hierarchical: it will provide support and encouragement for each participant’s personal path of practice, while also allowing everyone to draw inspiration and solidarity from witnessing how others navigate theirs.
If you're paying as an individual (not through your institution), I can offer a payment plan of three equal instalments, spaced so the full fee is paid by the end of the programme. Select "offline payment" at checkout, and write to me to arrange the details.
Yes. For me to invoice your institution directly according to its purchasing requirements, please select 'offline payment' at the checkout and I will liaise with you on the payment process.
Get in touch as soon as you can — I'm happy to talk through timing with you, including whether a short extension to the enrolment deadline might be possible given your situation.
Full refund if you cancel up to one week before the programme starts (by 25 September) — after that, registration fees are non-refundable. With only 8 spaces in this programme, a late cancellation has a real impact.

What’s included?

Live sessions via Zoom

  • 4 embodied writing workshops, Fridays in October
  • 8 writing get-togethers, Tuesdays across October and November
  • Additional: opening session, closing session, design and Q&A session for November AcWriMo

Course materials & platform

  • 20 prerecorded, guided embodied writing invitations (video, audio, or text)
  • Template of a goals-and-points tracking sheet for Academic Writing Month
  • Recordings of live sessions and workshops (note: the get-togethers are not recorded)
  • Access to a dedicated course platform where content is organized week by week

Additional support during November AcWriMo

  • Weekly asynchronous check-ins, via Signal or email
  • BONUS for 2026: 1 individual body-based writing coaching session (60 minutes)

You will have access to the course platform for 6 months after the programme ends, and you can download the prerecorded practice-invitations for ongoing use.

Dates, times, cost

Opening session and embodied writing workshops:
Fridays: 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 October 2026

Writing get-togethers:
Tuesdays: 6, 13, 20, 27 October; 3, 10, 17, 24 November 2026

Academic Writing Month setup session:
Wednesday 21 October 2026

Closing session:
Tuesday 1 December 2026

All sessions are recorded except the writing get-togethers.

All sessions are held from 15:15 – 16:45 Central European (Summer) Time.

Check this time in your location

In Europe, Daylight Saving Time ends on 25 October. If you’re planning to attend from a different timezone, please check how this affects the timings for your situation.

All sessions are 90 minutes.

There are 8 spaces in this programme

The early bird fee is €800 — available until 11 September 2026.

After that date, the fee is €920.

Registrations close on 30 September, or when the programme is full. 

To reserve a spot, please click the ‘continue’ button below.

The booking details below show just the first session — your booking is for the full programme.

During the 8 weeks of the writing workshop, I felt happier than I have been for a long, long time. I know this from myself, that I feel good when I have a structure, and also when I have a space to share regularly how I feel. Catelijne’s writing workshop gave that, and on top of that it went right to the heart of one of the things that matter most in my life: writing. It invited me to do embodiment exercises not in addition or outside of work. But as part of it and as its core. And by doing so, I, through my body, became more the story that I was writing. And that was just so beautiful.
Anna MannPostdoctoral researcher, Department of Sociology, University of Zurich
One of the aspects I truly appreciate about the embodied writing programme is how it’s designed to offer spaciousness. The extended time we had together created a rhythm I could return to gently, even amidst a scattered period in my life. The course platform and daily emails offered a soft structure that stayed with me. As someone who often finds email overwhelming, those daily hints of embodied writing felt unexpectedly reassuring. This programme has been a gentle but steady support as I navigate precarity in academia and try to return to the writing that means the most to me.
Lijiaozi ChengResearcher, University of Sheffield
In addition to the many original tools and creative approaches Catelijne shared (which were so inspiring and practical!), what also stood out for me was a glimpse into Catelijne's and other participants’ worlds and writing routines. Every writing get-together session was a revelation, and I was able to progress in my project.
Renata MandzhievaJunior scientist, Austrian Institute of Technology
This has radically changed how I write as an academic and how I feel about writing. I no longer dread that moment of sitting down to write and the fear that the words will not come, or the right words will not come.
Sue WaltersSenior Lecturer in Education, University College London
Catelijne's approach is a reminder to return to what it actually means to be alive in the writing.
Nikkie BuskermolenPhD researcher, Leiden University
The course helped me a lot in sticking with my writing through the pain and drama of it, tapping into my feelings and mobilising them, as well as being more daring and courageous in writing – at least in that moment with and for myself.
Miriam JaehnPhD candidate, National University of Singapore
Ah, the drama of writing a PhD dissertation! Catelijne’s course and her supportive approach to writing made the drama go away and the writing process much more enjoyable and personal.
Irene MorettiPhD researcher, Leiden University
I enjoyed this course immensely and appreciated the spirit of empathy, care and community that was generated during the process.
Kristy Kang Practice-based researcher in Singapore
Catelijne’s workshop introduced us to ways of writing that became experiments in living. I found my feet and gut as I wrote. I wanted to create space for my fear and frustration; others helped me. I re-drew some boundaries in who I write for and why I write. These possibilities turned out to be ready to hand.
Chin Chuan FeiPhilosopher and counsellor
A transformative experience that bleeds into every aspect of your writing practice.
Hélène Mialetphilosopher and anthropologist of science and technology

Photographs on this page: rock pigeon by Angelo Wagan, birds perched by Eduardo Sanchez, monkey by Laura Cross, spider & statue by Yanghong Yu, open gate by Annie Spratt, portrait by Kylie Sabine.