Where Community Becomes the Medicine

What We Offer

Upcoming Events

Free COmmunity Events

Somatic Peer Support Group: Bi-Weekly on Wednesdays

Trauma Informed Care Circles: Bi-Weekly on Wednesdays

FOUNDATION OF CARE SERIES MONTHLY WORKSHOP

Upcoming Workshop Theme: What is Trauma Responsive Care?

Friday, October 24 from 12:00pm - 12:45pm

FIND MORE EVENTS HERE

Our Next Collective pause Retreat

Friday, November 7 - Sunday, November 9

This retreat is a powerful, intentional pause designed to help you metabolize joy, reclaim your self-worth, and nurture a deeper connection with yourself and others.

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR COLLECTIVE PAUSE RETREAT

Community Voices

This space held me when the world wouldn’t.

Fuel the Movement

@TEAO_CANADA

♥️ Milestone Moment for TEAO Canada! 🫶🏾 We are thrilled to announce that our first cohort has officially completed their Peer Support Certification, becoming TEAO’s first Trauma-Responsive Care Personnel — ready to serve our community through crisis support, outreach, and embodied care. This certification marks a major step in our vision to make mental health support accessible, relational, and rooted in lived experience. Over the course of this training, participants explored: 1. Foundations of trauma-responsive care 2. Embodied practices for regulation and relational safety 3. The 5-Step Peer Crisis Support Model 4. Grounding, active listening, and curiosity-driven dialogue 5. Supporting without fixing — and caring without carrying ✨ What we witnessed: growth, reflection, compassion, and courage. Each participant showed up not just to learn, but to unlearn — practicing how to hold space with empathy, boundaries, and deep respect for the human experience. As these newly certified Peer Support Personnel begin their journey with TEAO Canada, they will be available to provide community crisis and outreach support, walking alongside others in moments of need with gentleness, safety, and solidarity. To our cohort — thank you for your presence, your stories, and your unwavering heart for this work. To our community — this is just the beginning. 🤲🏾 Together, we’re shaping trauma-responsive systems of care — one embodied conversation at a time. Thanks for you to for support through @wrcommfdn 🫶🏾👏🏾👏🏾 to make such trauma accessible training available to bridge and develop supports throughout Waterloo Region@ #TEAOCanada #TraumaResponsiveCare #PeerSupport #CommunityHealing #EmbodiedCare #CollectiveHealing #MentalHealthAwareness #TraumaInformed #CrisisSupport #SystemicHealing

🪴 Foundational Care Series: Building the Future of Trauma-Responsive Communities This past Friday, TEAO Canada proudly launched our Foundational Care Series — a monthly space (every 4th Friday) dedicated to nurturing & educating onthe roots of trauma-responsive, community-centered care. 🫶🏾 #scroll #through_the_details Our inaugural session set the tone beautifully. Together, we: ✨ Revisited TEAO’s mission — to bridge gaps in mental health care and make trauma-informed, embodied support accessible for all. ✨ Welcomed new volunteers, including psychotherapists, community advocates, and emerging leaders committed to collective healing. ✨ Explored what it means to offer care with communities, not to them — embodying compassion, responsiveness, and anti-oppressive practice. ✨ Discussed how trauma-informed, trauma-sensitive, and trauma-responsive approaches shape the spaces we hold and the systems we hope to transform. Our dialogue also touched on exciting initiatives ahead — from local healing retreats to data-driven community collaborations like the Rhythm & Blues Cambridge @rhythmandbluescambridge survey amplifying Black and racialized voices across Waterloo Region. 💫 Next Steps for Volunteers & Community Members: ➡️ Complete your volunteer portal registration (if you haven’t yet). ➡️ Join our newsletter via www.teaocanada.com for updates. ➡️ Participate in two volunteer activities this season. Share the Rhythm & Blues Cambridge Pulse Survey to help reach 1,000 community responses. Visit their IG link in bio or website for more instructions #staytuned for our #communitycollaboration with them too! 🫶🏾 The Foundational Care Series is more than a meeting — it’s a practice of belonging, accountability, and collective care in action. Join us next month as we continue deepening this work, one embodied conversation at a time. 🪴 #linkinbio #TEAOCanada #TraumaResponsiveCare #CommunityHealing #VolunteerWithPurpose #CollectiveCare #Embodiment #MentalHealthMatters #WaterlooRegion

Educational Awareness: #welovethis &hearts;️ #perspective #reality #realityshifting

Repost from @charlesmyssy
•
If we want a spiritual revolution, we need to stop bypassing the systems that keep people stuck in survival.

___

#TraumaResponsiv

Educational Awareness: #welovethis ♥️ #perspective #reality #realityshifting Repost from @charlesmyssy • If we want a spiritual revolution, we need to stop bypassing the systems that keep people stuck in survival. ___ #TraumaResponsiveCare #EmbodiedHealing #TraumaInformedTraining #SomaticAwareness #CommunityHealing

🌿 Day Two Complete 🌿: Trauma-Responsive Care & Embodiment Training for Racialized Leaders — “'your witnessing turns into carrying' - so deeply profound!!” - (JK participant) Last night’s session deepened our collective exploration into the tender terrain of vulnerability, shame, and survival. We unpacked how: 💔 Vulnerability reveals the unmet needs and misattunement injuries that live beneath our wounds. 🕊️ Shame acts as an invisible veil—protecting us from ever feeling that deep fear, sadness, guilt, or rejection again. 🛡️ Survival strategies—like overworking, controlling, fixing, or withdrawing—once sheltered our pain, but can now soften as we learn to feel, listen, and trust our bodies again. Through body mapping, grounding, and somatic reflection, participants connected the emotional landscape of trauma with the physical sensations of safety, power, and release. We honored how racialized bodies hold both generational pain and generational wisdom—and how healing begins when we meet our wounds with compassion instead of judgment. This training is a reminder that embodiment is not a luxury—it’s liberation. To feel is to reclaim. To slow down is to resist. To connect is to heal. With deep gratitude to all who showed up with courage, presence, and truth. ♥️ Stay connected for upcoming retreats and community offerings through 🔗 linktr.ee/TEAOCanada (#linkinbio) 🌐 www.teaocanada.com #TraumaResponsiveCare #EmbodiedLeadership #RacializedHealing #SomaticAwareness #CollectiveCare #CulturalHumility #TEAOCanada #EmbodiedHealing

🌿 Day One Complete 🌿 Trauma-Responsive Care & Embodiment Training for Racialized Leaders Last night, we gathered as racialized leaders, caregivers, and change-makers to explore what it means to lead from a trauma-informed, embodied, and culturally grounded place. Together, we: ✨ Rooted into the wisdom of our bodies. ✨ Reflected on protection, shame, and resilience. ✨ Honoured the ways our systems adapt to survive—and how awareness helps us reclaim choice, safety, and connection. This space reminded us that healing is both personal and collective — and that embodied leadership begins with nervous system regulation, compassion, and community care. Thank you to everyone who joined us with open hearts and presence. ♥️ Day Two continues tonight— same link, same grounding energy. Learn more about our work and upcoming trainings: 🔗 linktr.ee/TEAOCanada (#linkinbio) 🌐 www.teaocanada.com #TraumaResponsiveCare #EmbodiedLeadership #CollectiveHealing #TEAOCanada #RacializedLeaders #CommunityCare #SomaticHealing

Educational Post by @blackandbrownparenting &hearts;️

Here, we learn how to feel, speak, and reclaim ourselves because our ancestors didn’t have the privilege, but we do 🔥

#bipocmentalhealth
#culturalhealing
#culturallyresponsiveteaching
#ne

Educational Post by @blackandbrownparenting ♥️ Here, we learn how to feel, speak, and reclaim ourselves because our ancestors didn’t have the privilege, but we do 🔥 #bipocmentalhealth #culturalhealing #culturallyresponsiveteaching #nervousystemregulation #generationaltraumahealing #keynotespeaker

It’s Here! #soldout Trauma Responsive Care & Embodiment Training (For Racialized Leaders) 🌿 #thisweek Dear Participant, We are so glad you’ll be joining us for the Trauma Responsive Care & Embodiment Training (For Racialized Leaders), hosted by TEAO Canada. 🗓 Dates & Times: Wednesday, October 15 & Thursday, October 16, 2025 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM (EST) both days 💻 Join via Zoom About This Training: This two-day virtual experience is designed for racialized leaders, caregivers, community organizers, and those in helping roles who are seeking somatic tools to support personal and collective well-being. Whether you work on the frontlines or offer informal care within your communities, this training supports you in resourcing yourself through body-based awareness and practices. Together, we will explore: 1. The impact of trauma in racialized bodies 2. How to work with nervous system dysregulation 3. Practices of presence, grounding, and embodied care 4. Collective care strategies rooted in trauma-informed, culturally-responsive frameworks This offering is part of TEAO Canada’s commitment to providing accessible, high-quality, and embodied trauma-informed education for communities that have historically been under-resourced or overlooked. We are deeply grateful to offer this program free of charge to racialized individuals, thanks to the generous support of the Waterloo Region Community Foundation (@wrcommfdn) and our local community donors. *Important Update* This training has officially #soldout, and we’ve expanded our capacity to participants to meet the growing interest. 🌱 If you find you are unable to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so we can offer your spot to someone on the waitlist. Your communication helps ensure this training remains accessible and impactful for everyone. If you have any questions, please reach out to us at info@teaocanada.com. With gratitude, The Trauma & Embodiment Association of Ontario (TEAO Canada) www.teaocanada.com “Healing is collective.” ___ #TraumaResponsiveCare #EmbodiedHealing #TraumaInformedTraining #SomaticAwareness #CommunityHealing

Where Education meets Embodiment. 👏🏾👏🏾&hearts;️

Join TEAO Canada for the launch of our new monthly series, Foundations of Care, a 45-minute workshop and orientation designed for both community members and new volunteers.

Our October session exp

Where Education meets Embodiment. 👏🏾👏🏾♥️ Join TEAO Canada for the launch of our new monthly series, Foundations of Care, a 45-minute workshop and orientation designed for both community members and new volunteers. Our October session explores: What Is Trauma-Responsive Care? How Does It Differ from Trauma-Informed or Trauma-Sensitive Care? Discover how trauma frameworks support safety, healing, and embodied awareness, and learn how TEAO applies these practices across Ontario. This session also includes a short volunteer orientation. Come connect, learn, and explore what volunteering within a trauma-responsive organization looks like. Date: Friday, October 24, 2025 Time: 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM (Online via Zoom) Cost: Free Access Needs: info@teaocanada.com Register here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/foundations-of-care-series-volunteer-orientation-community-workshop-tickets-1736294556759?aff=oddtdtcreator or LINK IN BIO Supported by the Waterloo Region Community Foundation (WRCF). #CommunityCare #EmbodiedLearning #TraumaResponsive #VolunteerWithTEAO #HealingTogether #TEAOCanada

Healing isn’t a solo act — it’s a shared breath. 🌿 Each month we gather to move through grief, grounding, and joy — together. ✨ Next Collective Care Circle: Sunday, Nov 2 @ 1PM @thebranchesyoga Come as you are. Leave a little lighter. ♥️ #CollectiveCare #EmbodiedHealing #CommunityHealing #TEAOCanada

Interesting. “Winter isn’t the Problem Our Habits are”

Educational Perspective Shift repost from @earthymagnesium &hearts;️👏🏾

We call it cold and flu season as if the issue is the temperature itself, instead of our disconnectio

Interesting. “Winter isn’t the Problem Our Habits are” Educational Perspective Shift repost from @earthymagnesium ♥️👏🏾 We call it cold and flu season as if the issue is the temperature itself, instead of our disconnection from nature. But winter was never the problem. It’s the way we live through it. Humans were designed to move. To breathe fresh air. To eat from local food from nature. To rise with the sun. To commune with the cold, not fear it. Instead, we’ve insulated ourselves from everything that heals us. And we wonder why our nervous systems are fried, our immune systems sluggish, and our sleep restless. The home, once a sacred space of warmth, rhythm, and restoration, has become a box of invisible toxins. An altar to convenience. A place where we binge instead of breathe. Consume instead of connect. We forget that health is not found in a pill, a powder, or a protocol. It’s found in the choices we repeat daily. The subtle rituals we return to every season. The way we honour our bodies by aligning with nature, not fighting it. This winter, don’t just survive. Reclaim your biological intelligence. • Walk after meals to move your lymph and digest your food. • Air out your home — fresh air is medicine. • Eat slow, seasonal, ancestral meals made with your hands. • Ditch the LED haze and let your eyes rest in candlelight. • Choose healing discomfort over comfortable disease. The truth is: there’s nothing natural about being chronically unwell. It’s simply what happens when we forget who we are and what we come from. Nature is waiting. Your body is listening. It’s time to remember. #wellness #health #nature #healing #holistic #ancestral #knowledge #wisdom #consciousness #mindset #life

Educational Post Incoming: We love this ♥️ Reposted from @irinashakhova__ Want to try a different approach to bodywork? ✨ Come practice with me online 🌿 Start with my free 3-Day Body Reset (link in bio) — or go further in the Life Alignment Circle, with a full library of practices, meditations & mindset tools + weekly live group calls with me (link in Bio). ________ Before you try to calm your mind. Before you stretch your back. Before you chase clarity. 👉 Check your feet. They hold your stress. They mirror your stability. They carry your survival patterns, your emotional bracing, your daily overload. When your feet are stiff, your nervous system can’t fully ground. Because the feet are the only part of your body in constant contact with the Earth. They absorb shock, hold trauma, and affect your posture, breath, and even your mood. We ignore them — but they’re the key to feeling safe and steady. These 6 simple movements ground won’t take much time and will release tension from the root up 🔝 🔹Tiptoes lifts — Energizes without overworking. 🔹Rock from heels to toes — Regulates your balance and your brain. 🔹Inner & outer edges — Rebuild stability from the ground up. 🔹Foot doming - Wake up the arches — your root support system. 🔹Ankle rolls — Loosens old patterns. Literally. 🔹Massage with a ball — Release tension you didn’t know you stored. Healing doesn’t start in your head — it starts in your feet, your breath, your body. Follow for nervous system resets and body-first tools for real transformation @irinashakhova__ #bodyreset #wellnessjourney #nervoussystemreset #holistichealing #embodiedliving

Tonight:Trauma-Informed Care Circles &hearts;️

TEAO Canada invites you to an evening of gentle presence and community care.

Trauma-Informed Care Circles are “bi-weekly”, accessible gatherings that offer space for reflection, grounding,

Tonight:Trauma-Informed Care Circles ♥️ TEAO Canada invites you to an evening of gentle presence and community care. Trauma-Informed Care Circles are “bi-weekly”, accessible gatherings that offer space for reflection, grounding, and witnessing. Come as you are, with openness and care. Time: 6:45 PM - 8:00 PM Location: Cambridge Public Library - Hespeler Branch Register here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/trauma-informed-care-circles-tickets-1528907817439 or link in bio #free These circles are part of our commitment to fostering trauma-responsive, culturally grounded supports across Ontario, and are free to attend. Feel free to bring a friend. All are welcome. #CollectiveCare #HealingTogether #BelongingIsHealing #CommunityCare #TraumaInformed #InnerChildHealing #EmbodiedHealing #ConnectionIsMedicine #TEAOCanada

Repost from @matriarch.movement • 💔 Suicide rates in Indigenous communities remain heartbreakingly high, especially among youth. These aren’t just numbers, they’re lives, families, and communities impacted by trauma and systemic inequities. There is hope. Indigenous-led programs and supports are creating pathways to healing. 📞 If you or someone you love needs help, call the Hope for Wellness Help Line anytime: 1-855-242-3310 or visit hopeforwellness.ca. #IndigenousMentalHealth #SuicidePrevention #HopeForWellness #EveryLifeMatters #SupportIndigenousCommunities

✨ A Repost from us at @teao_canada to remind our collective community #fridaymotivation 🪴 “We need to be weapons of mass construction, weapons of mass love. It’s not enough just to change the system. We need to change ourselves.” – Assata Shakur 🪴 This is an awakening call. True liberation asks us to move beyond dismantling what harms — it asks us to embody what heals. 🌱 Mass Construction — to repair, rebuild, and reimagine futures in our bodies, families, and communities. ❤️ Mass Love — to ground our actions in compassion, care, and connection, so change doesn’t replicate the harm we seek to end. System change without soul change risks repeating the same cycles. Together, we are building new blueprints of belonging, justice, and collective care. 🔥 Be the healer. Be the builder. Be the love that transforms. #AssataShakur #CollectiveHealing #Liberation #MassConstruction #MassLove #SomaticJustice #EmbodiedHealing #TraumaInformed #TEAOCanada #CommunityCare

We love this somatic collective practice - and if you’ve been in community with TEAO you’ve probably done this with us! #grounding #embodiedhealing #tryitout Repost from @tinybuddhaofficial • “Placing your hand on your heart while taking 5 deep breaths activates your parasympathetic nervous system and releases oxytocin. This gentle self-touch tells your brain that you are safe and loved.” ~Inspirology #tinybuddha #quotes #dailyquotes #quotesdaily #quoteoftheday #wisdom #wordsofwisdom #wisdomquotes #dailywisdom #deepbreaths #mindfulness #nervoussystemregulation #safe #loved

THANK YOU TO OUR FUNDERS

THANK YOU TO OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT AND IN-KIND DONATIONS.