LARA DUNKEL
EMBODIED EXPERIENCES OF YOURSELF
ecosomatic horse assisted trauma support
ITANCA means «inner guidance». It’s the idea of our inherent self-leading to more inner freedom of being – being alive in connection with oneself, nature, each other and with what is. By acknowledging what is, the healing movement of regulation can re-emerge as antidote to trauma. With a somatic trauma- and feminist-sensitive approach I accompany your personal life journey. In the interconnected presence of body, nature and horses, I like to encourage to follow your own ITANCA towards a more whole self. The invitation is to meet yourself in the here and now, to taste your own truth and to expand with it to new lively possibilities of yourself.
Let’s collect moments of inner shifts!
MY INVITATIONS TO YOU
My trauma support in German and English includes therapeutic accompaniment, counseling and coaching. It’s dedicated to you wether you like to get to know yourself somatically for personal growth, healing, purpose and activism – seek for alternative trauma integration for PTSD or high stress – or long for new experiences such as being with horses and in nature.
SOMATIC EXPERIENCING SESSION
We explore yourself somatically and train your self-regulation muscle. With curiosity we learn about and listen to your autonomic nervous system and re-invite the natural flow of expansion and contraction. This resource orientated focus supports trauma integration, so you can lead yourself towards self-regulation in high stress and trigger situations. This includes an educational part.
60 min @ A Room To Grow Berlin, Schöneberg & Online via Zoom
URBAN NATURE SESSION
Let's get inspired by nature’s wisdom around and within you. It’s natural rhythm can be such a transformative support and medicine to experience yourself. Nature can offer great exploration and learning ground to build a somatic bridge within. In it’s presence we may can allow ourselves to come back home to the nature inside of us a bit more.
60 min @ Naturpark Südgelände
S Priesterweg
RURAL HORSE SESSION
Horses embody movement through states. Their wisdom can give great impulses for getting to know yourself and own truth. It’s a space for a mutual, explorative interaction between two species. The horses decide how they like to share their presence and space with us. Thus it can be a meeting of primal nature and exchange from the ground, with no tools of domination. No horse experience is necessary.
90 min temporarily paused
URBAN NATURE WORKSHOP
CURIOSITY’S CURE
SATURDAY 25TH OF JANUARY @ A ROOM TO GROW 3-5PM
This space is dedicated for cultivating your individual relationship and mutual co-creation with nature and its beings such as plants, horses and yourself. We invite a somatic conversation with nature by focusing on our body’s perception. Interbeing means interconnectedness and -dependence with all things. It is inherent, unconditional wisdom. With changing topics, this trauma-sensitive group circle offers explorative ground and tools to re-experience an access to that – so it can be supportive in all day life. During winter time the 4th circle’ topic is curiosity and will take place at A ROOM TO GROW in Schöneberg Berlin. For detailed information, feel free to reach out or sign up.
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TRAUMA-SENSITIVE
»Trauma is when we aren’t seen and known.« – Bessel v. d. Kolk. Trauma is omnipresent and often understood as an internal unprocessed wound of a boundary. The antidote is completion to wholeness. With Somatic Experiencing (SE)® we don’t go in conversation with the story, we talk to the autonomic nervous system. We explore what is needed for sustainable regulation to complete and integrate stucked survival states. It can bring embodied repairing experiences in noticing nuanced differentiation from the past to the present. Through trauma swirls we navigate within your individual wheel of tolerance, so curiosity can appear in exploring yourself. My impulses are invitations to experiment with. Your own truth will guide you to more aliveness and containment.
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FEMINIST-SENSITIVE
I especially recognise trauma wounds of internalised current white, patriarchic, oppressive structures – such as intersectional discrimination and exploitation through colonization, misogyny, racism, classism, ableism, queer/trans phobia and anthropocene. This also applies to the relationship with nature and horses. Thus I’m aware that safety and freedom is relative and not universally accessible. Individually and collectively we can acknowledge and witness these wounds. We can hold space and explore them towards more moments of safety and new embodied self-empowering narratives. Let's support each other in un-learning from a state of being with ourselves. So we can invite more internal and external feminist shifts in society.
We shape a sustainable future by perceiving ourselves holistically as nature, embodying its inherent connectedness and falling in love with aliveness.
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M Y V I S I O N
Hey there
♥ MISSION
I’m Lara Dunkel (she/her), feminist trauma therapist, based and born in Berlin. ITANCA emerged, when my heart and wounds of patriachy guided me out of advertisement agencies to an ongoing healing and discovery journey of myself. It encouraged me to connect humans and horses for mutual trauma support, rather than one-sided beneficial human therapy. Horses as lifelong part inspired me to live feminism and a non-dominant language. I love to creatively connect worlds, contrasts, observe and to feel. I like to invite to rewild each other towards more interweaving, equality and freedom with the body and nature.
✦ QUALIFICATIONS
B. A. mediadesign (2016) • horse assisted coaching (2019-22) • GfK trainings (2020) • trauma therapy with horses & SE® Equimotion (2020-22) • Somatic Experiencing® (SE) training (2021-24) • alternative practitioner in psychology «Heilpraktiker:in*« (i.e. 2024)
✹ SELF-EXPERIENCES & COOPERATIONS
Hilcoaching & Salus rehab clinic (2019-22)• Elsa Sinclair Freedom Based Training clinics (2021- 23) • MiMer Centre workshops: «horses as companions« (2020) & «horse assisted trauma-sensitive mindfulness« & «learning wild« support (2022) • Equinimity Tucson AZ volunteering & «interbeing circle« (2022-23) • Holistic Horse Academy SA experimental learning holiday (2023) • cooperation with Elisabeth Enke since 2022
CONTRASTFUL
Being with what is, can invite to simultaneously perceive different nuanced qualities. Observing this both-ness on a spectrum widens the capacity to hold and flow with life’s inclusive diversity and paradox complexity.
CONNECTING
In connection happens wound and repairing. It inherently owns disconnection. By attuning to this both - andness experiences of more moments of interconnectedness with the body, mind, soul, each other and inherent nature can emerge.
COURAGEOUS
Exploring the inner world somatically and being vulnerable with what is, is brave! Meeting yourself there and turning towards seeming discomfort can be more sustainable for the inner freedom of completion.
CURIOUS
Curiosity and playfulness supports in encountering the unknown self. In learning and inner exploring it’s invited by the safety of the individual vessel of tolerance. This can replace judgement with curious inquiries about what is and oneself.
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CONSENSUAL
One key in repair and completion is consent and choice. Consent with the past, present and mutually with each other – whether a horse or human. Consent can be about finetuning to the truth of individual boundaries and its re-negotiations. This re-nourishes self-efficacy in being with what is.
CIRCULAR
Growing, learning and healing are non linear processes. Cycles of expansion and contraction are human’s nature, just like nature itself. This regulative movement invites to trust an ongoing self-discovery journey, rather than focus on specific outcome.
Let’s get
more
specific.
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For arranging a first meeting, directions, any questions or further requests, email me:
hey@itanca.com -
✹ Somatic Experiencing Session – 65€ á 60min / Online 55€
✹ Urban Nature Session – 65€ á 60min
✹ Rural Horse Session – 100€ á 90min
✹ Interbeing Circle – donation based
Please feel free to reach out, if the fees exeed your current financial situation. We’ll find a solution. Cancellations after 24 hours will be charged. -
✦ Somatic Session • Berlin A Room To Grow (10829 Schöneberg) & Online via Zoom (Germany CET)
✦ Urban Nature Session • Naturpark Südgelände S Priesterweg
✦ Rural Horse Session • paused
The specific locations I’ll share in personal contact.
MAIL LETTER TO YOU
I’d love to touch base with you through this newsletter. Three times a year I share inspiration of my journey, trauma sensitive and feminist topics, impulses and exercises.
GUIDE TO NOTICE WHAT IS
We experience ourselves holistically on different interconnected levels. Paying attention to them already can shift our perception. Explore with me: Which levels are present right now for you?
SENSATIONS ✹ SENSES ✹
SENSATIONS ✹ SENSES ✹
IMAGES ○ FEELINGS ○
IMAGES ○ FEELINGS ○
THOUGHTS ✦ MOVEMENTS ✦
THOUGHTS ✦ MOVEMENTS ✦
FAQ
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If my offerings invites you to reach out, we can meet on a free 30min first intro meeting online. We can talk more specifically about SE, your needs and which kind of sessions would fit. You can sense the vibe between us and decide afterwards if you like to go in a process with me or book a one time experience. I recommend a long term accompaniment for seeing a progress. We can meet in a rhythm of 2-3 weeks with enough integration space in between. There are exeptions we can clarify in person. Book here.
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Yes! You’re super welcome. My offerings are for people who are interested in new experiences, general personal growth, healing AND alternative trauma integration for PTSD or high stress.
Small and big Trauma is omnipresent and the somatic responses can appear anytime to some degree as stucked energy of activation. If so - I navigate through it with you to more wholeness. Learning about your nervous system and train regulation with me can be beneficial for everyone. My trauma-sensitive and self-leading approach may can be enriching for you to experience in comparison to other services. Please reach out for any further questions.
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No. It’s about having your unique exploration with the horses - also if you do have experience. The invitation is to be open beyond anything you might know. I’ll give general safety instructions. I’ll be aware and with you all the time. In the process we decide together with the horses which distance or closeness is comfortable. This also can mean that we do a session with a front of the fences with a distance. This is your choice and your indivual experience.
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Yes. Horses are very sensitive like us and our animalic autonomic nervous systems commune with each other. And there’s nothing wrong about sensing respect or fear. It’s our compass of safety and boundaries. In order to feel safe as horse and human it’s important to authentically be with what is. So, we will address any fear and negotiate what’s needed for more safety and regulation. I’ll guide you through this activation and we’ll see what emerges from there. Also the horses are free of choice to join us or to leave for their comfort. This is a big difference that prevents reactions from oppressed emotional states.
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My feminist-sensitive approach is an orientation for you which values, focus and ethics are important to me. This doesn’t need to be framed as feminist. There are many past and current images and meaning connected to this term. If this resonates with you, it’s perfect. If not, it’s perfect, too and we may don’t match. You always can book an intro session to get a first taste and also in the process we can check in.
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coming soon
SHARED EXPERIENCES
»Lara always gave me the feeling that everything was allowed to be there. With this incredibly beautiful attitude, there was no pressure and it was totally okay to simply not feel anything. I really took a lot away from SE and Lara. It gave me a whole new perspective on certain things. I was able to reflect on some of the experiences I had. I finally understood some of my feelings and patterns. I am incredibly grateful to Lara for this new experience.«
»The great thing about this approach is the switch between one aspect and another - between when I feel good and feel safe and where I don't feel good and feel safe. What I find so impontant in this, is the stepping out of the energy and being aware that I can do that. This also creates a stepping back, so I can look at it fnom a distance and not being exposed to these feelings, this inner experience. And what happens by switching fnom one energy to another, is movement and thereby a change in yourself.«
»Thanks to Lara and her practice I learned about my nervous system and how to react to its needs. She did not just practice exercises with me but also gave me a framework to understand what was going on. I feel like I have now more courage to work with my inner world and explore it deeper instead of escaping its unknown depths. «
PETER A. LEVINE
Join the journey!
This is my digital experimental space and hub where I share offerings, feminist, trauma-sensitive impulses and self-experiences.
strong back ✦ soft front ✹ wild heart ♥
strong back ✦ soft front ✹ wild heart ♥
Brené Brown